#synapsida — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #synapsida, aggregated by home.social.
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Of all the headlines to all the internet articles you read today, can you top this one?
"Two million years of Llamas"
(It's an accurate title too, although the article's author @JKRevell goes on to clarify that they're "technically referred to as lamins", being the domesticated llama and alpaca, and their respective wild ancestors, the guanaco and vicuña.)
Read on if you want the latest llama learnings.
http://synapsida.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-history-of-south-american-camels.html
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Of all the headlines to all the internet articles you read today, can you top this one?
"Two million years of Llamas"
(It's an accurate title too, although the article's author @JKRevell goes on to clarify that they're "technically referred to as lamins", being the domesticated llama and alpaca, and their respective wild ancestors, the guanaco and vicuña.)
Read on if you want the latest llama learnings.
http://synapsida.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-history-of-south-american-camels.html
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My day's just started but already my word-of-the-day has got to be "semi-zygodactyl."
"This is a pattern seen in owls and ospreys, among other birds, and it means that the fourth toe can be rotated backwards on a bony flange so that it can face in either direction as the bird wishes."
http://synapsida.blogspot.com/2026/03/the-thrush-beaked-consort-bird.html
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My day's just started but already my word-of-the-day has got to be "semi-zygodactyl."
"This is a pattern seen in owls and ospreys, among other birds, and it means that the fourth toe can be rotated backwards on a bony flange so that it can face in either direction as the bird wishes."
http://synapsida.blogspot.com/2026/03/the-thrush-beaked-consort-bird.html
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#Synapsida[a] is a diverse group of tetrapod vertebrates that includes all mammals and their extinct relatives. It is one of the two major clades
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I've enjoyed the final post of 2025 on JK Revell's (@JKRevell) Synapsida blog. It's Prehistoric Mammal Discoveries 2025 and it's got all sorts of exciting finds like the oldest known fossilised cowpat (20-million years old), the longest ever fossilised horn from a woolly rhino (164 cm!), an expansion of the known range of the extinct European jaguar, and evidence that Glyptodonts (VW beetle sized armadillo relatives) walloped each other with clubs on their tails.
That just scratches the surface. Check it out.
http://synapsida.blogspot.com/2025/12/prehistoric-mammal-discoveries-2025.html
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I've enjoyed the final post of 2025 on JK Revell's (@JKRevell) Synapsida blog. It's Prehistoric Mammal Discoveries 2025 and it's got all sorts of exciting finds like the oldest known fossilised cowpat (20-million years old), the longest ever fossilised horn from a woolly rhino (164 cm!), an expansion of the known range of the extinct European jaguar, and evidence that Glyptodonts (VW beetle sized armadillo relatives) walloped each other with clubs on their tails.
That just scratches the surface. Check it out.
http://synapsida.blogspot.com/2025/12/prehistoric-mammal-discoveries-2025.html
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Why do most bats fly only at night? Is it because they're afraid of birds of prey? If so, do they try to avoid owls?
Turns out the answers are not that clear cut, as @JKRevell explains in the latest article on #Synapsida
(I like that parts of the old internet like the Synapsida blog are still going strong, and I can subscribe to their RSS feeds and read interesting and ad-free and AI-free content. *Big thanks* go to those that are still adding quality content to the internet with the aim of informing us instead of making money or manipulating what we think.)
https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2025/06/i-aint-afraid-of-no-owls.html
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Why do most bats fly only at night? Is it because they're afraid of birds of prey? If so, do they try to avoid owls?
Turns out the answers are not that clear cut, as @JKRevell explains in the latest article on #Synapsida
(I like that parts of the old internet like the Synapsida blog are still going strong, and I can subscribe to their RSS feeds and read interesting and ad-free and AI-free content. *Big thanks* go to those that are still adding quality content to the internet with the aim of informing us instead of making money or manipulating what we think.)
https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2025/06/i-aint-afraid-of-no-owls.html
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"The bulk of the scientific literature on the species amounts to "ooh, we saw one!" followed by some locality where they hadn't been seen before."
I'm enjoying learning about deep ocean dolphins on the latest #Synapsida post by @JKRevell. That quotation is referring to "pygmy killer whales", which are dolphins that are not whales and not closely related to orcas. This open ocean dolphin is "one of the least likely dolphin species to be seen" and "we know essentially nothing about their mating habits and reproduction".
It's a vast blue world out there.
https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2025/05/delphinids-dolphins-of-deep-seas.html
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"The bulk of the scientific literature on the species amounts to "ooh, we saw one!" followed by some locality where they hadn't been seen before."
I'm enjoying learning about deep ocean dolphins on the latest #Synapsida post by @JKRevell. That quotation is referring to "pygmy killer whales", which are dolphins that are not whales and not closely related to orcas. This open ocean dolphin is "one of the least likely dolphin species to be seen" and "we know essentially nothing about their mating habits and reproduction".
It's a vast blue world out there.
https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2025/05/delphinids-dolphins-of-deep-seas.html
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@JKRevell on his #Synapsida blog has an interesting (and alarming) new article on how a massive mass of warm water in the North Pacific affected Alaskan sea lions. It’s Sea Lions vs. The Blob. http://synapsida.blogspot.com/2025/05/sea-lions-v-blob.html #ClimateChange #MarineBiology
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@JKRevell on his #Synapsida blog has an interesting (and alarming) new article on how a massive mass of warm water in the North Pacific affected Alaskan sea lions. It’s Sea Lions vs. The Blob. http://synapsida.blogspot.com/2025/05/sea-lions-v-blob.html #ClimateChange #MarineBiology
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It's always time for a dik-dik pic, and here is one to accompany my recent blogpost on the subject.
https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2024/11/antilopine-antelopes-dik-diks.html
#Science #animals #Synapsida -
The strange bipedal giraffe-gazelles of Africa...
#animals #Science #Synapsidahttps://synapsida.blogspot.com/2024/07/antelopine-antelopes-giraffe-gazelles.html
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On the relationships between early cats and a new fossil species from Spain:
https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2024/05/before-cats-could-purr.html
#science #fossil #Synapsida -
Just how sophisticated is communication between elephants?
https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2024/04/call-of-elephants.html
#elephant #science #Synapsida -
A 36-million-year history of pelicans...
https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2024/03/flight-of-fossil-pelicans.html
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On play behaviour in young animals, and how it may help some ground squirrels adapt to the world.
https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2024/02/playing-squirrels.html
#science #Synapsida #animals -
Every year my animal science blog takes a look at all the species of a particular kind of animal. In 2024, that will antelopes... which is kind of odd, as they don't really exist 😉
#Synapsida #science #animalshttps://synapsida.blogspot.com/2024/01/no-such-thing-as-antelope.html
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A short history of horse evolution *after* they developed the single hoof...
https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2024/01/rise-of-one-toed-horses.html
#Synapsida #horses #science #fossils -
My blog series on the world 30 million years ago moves to North America to look at early beavers, camels, and more.
https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2023/12/oligocene-pt-6-devils-corkscrews-and.html
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When group-living mammals decide to move to new pastures or hunting grounds, it's not always the biggest male who gets to call the shots. On matriarchy, democracy, and actually knowing what the heck you're doing...
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On whether the giant hyenas of the Miocene munched on the bones of scavenged carrion... or would have killed you themselves first and *then* munched your bones into fragments.
https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2023/10/attack-of-giant-hyenas.html
#hyena #science #synapsida #fossil -
The third part of my series on skunk species turns to the American Southwest - and also to South America.
https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2023/10/skunks-of-world-hog-nosed-skunks.html
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#NewPaper #Paleontology #Synapsida
Bishop, P. J., & Pierce, S. E. (2023). The fossil record of appendicular muscle evolution in Synapsida on the line to mammals: Part II—Hindlimb. The Anatomical Record, 1–71. https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.25310
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#NewPaper #Paleontology #Synapsida
Bishop, P. J., & Pierce, S. E. (2023). The fossil record of appendicular muscle evolution in Synapsida on the line to mammals: Part II—Hindlimb. The Anatomical Record, 1–71. https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.25310
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#NewPaper #Paleontology #Synapsida
Bishop, P. J., & Pierce, S. E. (2023). The fossil record of appendicular muscle evolution in Synapsida on the line to mammals: Part I—Forelimb. The Anatomical Record, 1–62. https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.25312
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#NewPaper #Paleontology #Synapsida
Bishop, P. J., & Pierce, S. E. (2023). The fossil record of appendicular muscle evolution in Synapsida on the line to mammals: Part I—Forelimb. The Anatomical Record, 1–62. https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.25312
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This week's Synapsida covers skunks that do handstands! (Unfortunately, I couldn't find a free picture of one doing so, but they do).
#skunk #Synapsida #science #animals -
How one species of bat picks just the right place to sleep during the day... #bats #Synapsida #Science
https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2023/08/picking-right-crevice.html
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How the environment shapes the mating strategies of different goat species: #science #Synapsida #goats
https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2023/08/love-on-mountain-tops.html
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Well, that didn't work, so let's try it again: Me on the subject of a mammal that lived alongside the dinosaurs -
https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2023/08/not-quite-placentals-of-gobi-desert.html #fossil #science #Synapsida -
Some thoughts on a very early mammal at my latest blogpost... #fossils #science #Synapsida
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Now it's time for my favorite non-dinosaur dinosaur! I've always been fascinated by early proto-mammals, especially dimetrodon. Halfway through I realized I didn't have enough paper but I think I made it work.
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Now it's time for my favorite non-dinosaur dinosaur! I've always been fascinated by early proto-mammals, especially dimetrodon. Halfway through I realized I didn't have enough paper but I think I made it work.
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#NewPaper #Paleontology #Synapsida
Bendel E, Kammerer CF, Smith RMH, Fröbisch J. 2023. The postcranial anatomy of Gorgonops torvus (Synapsida, Gorgonopsia) from the late Permian of South Africa. PeerJ 11:e15378 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.15378
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#NewPaper #Paleontology #Synapsida
Bendel E, Kammerer CF, Smith RMH, Fröbisch J. 2023. The postcranial anatomy of Gorgonops torvus (Synapsida, Gorgonopsia) from the late Permian of South Africa. PeerJ 11:e15378 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.15378
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Today's post on my #zoology blog #Synapsida (I mean, you've got to start with a toot about #cats, right?):
https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-sex-lives-of-female-jaguars.html -
#NewPaper #Paleontology #Synapsida
Harano T, Asahara M. 2023. Revisiting the evolutionary trend toward the mammalian lower jaw in non-mammalian synapsids in a phylogenetic context. PeerJ 11:e15575 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.15575
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#NewPaper #Paleontology #Synapsida
Harano T, Asahara M. 2023. Revisiting the evolutionary trend toward the mammalian lower jaw in non-mammalian synapsids in a phylogenetic context. PeerJ 11:e15575 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.15575
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#NewPaper #Paleontology #Synapsida
Maurício Rodrigo Schmitt, Agustín Guillermo Martinelli, João Felipe Leal Kaiuca, Cesar Leandro Schultz & Marina Bento Soares (2023)
Old fossil findings in the Upper Triassic rocks of southern Brazil improve diversity of traversodontid cynodonts (Therapsida, Cynodontia)
The Anatomical Record (advance online publication)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.25244
https://anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ar.25244 -
#NewPaper #Paleontology #Synapsida
Maurício Rodrigo Schmitt, Agustín Guillermo Martinelli, João Felipe Leal Kaiuca, Cesar Leandro Schultz & Marina Bento Soares (2023)
Old fossil findings in the Upper Triassic rocks of southern Brazil improve diversity of traversodontid cynodonts (Therapsida, Cynodontia)
The Anatomical Record (advance online publication)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.25244
https://anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ar.25244 -
#NewPaper #Paleontology #Synapsida
Christian F. Kammerer, Pia A. Viglietti, Elize Butler & Jennifer Botha (2023)
Rapid turnover of top predators in African terrestrial faunas around the Permian-Triassic mass extinction
Current Biology (advance online publication)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.04.007
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0960982223004554
https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(23)00455-4 -
#NewPaper #Paleontology #Synapsida #Paleoneurology
Kayla D. Bazzana-Adams, David C. Evans & Robert R. Reisz (2023)
Neurosensory anatomy and function in Dimetrodon, the first terrestrial apex predator
iScience 106473
doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.106473
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004223005503 -
#NewPaper #Paleontology #Synapsida
Lautenschlager, S., Fagan, M.J., Luo, ZX. et al. Functional reorganisation of the cranial skeleton during the cynodont–mammaliaform transition. Commun Biol 6, 367 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-04742-0
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#NewPaper #Paleontology #Synapsida
Li-juan Xie, Jian Yi, Jian-ru Shi, Zhi-shuai Kang, Shi-chao Xu & Run-fu Wang (2023)
The morphology and histology of a juvenile Sinokannemeyeria from the Middle Triassic Ermaying Formation of Shanxi, North China.
China Geology 6: 1-10.
doi: 10.31035/cg2023030.
http://chinageology.cgs.cn/article/doi/10.31035/cg2023030?pageType=en -
#NewPaper #Paleontology #Synapsida
Kerber, L., Roese-Miron, L., Bubadué, J. M., & Martinelli, A. G. (2023). Endocranial anatomy of the early prozostrodonts (Eucynodontia: Probainognathia) and the neurosensory evolution of the mammalian forerunners. The Anatomical Record, 1– 32. https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.25215
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#NewPaper #Paleontology #Synapsida
Mann, A., Henrici, A.C., Sues, HD. et al. A new Carboniferous edaphosaurid and the origin of herbivory in mammal forerunners. Sci Rep 13, 4459 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-30626-8
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#NewPaper #Paleontology #Synapsida
Maho T, Bevitt JJ, Reisz RR. 2023. New specimens of the early Permian apex predator Varanops brevirostris at Richards Spur, Oklahoma, with histological information about its growth pattern. PeerJ 11:e14898 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.14898