Muton

HMNS Fossil Snake CT Scanning at Methodist Hospital by Houston Museum of Natural Science on Flickr.

dorcatherium:

Rewind back to last winter:

So on top of all of my own research and presentations, in the past year I’ve gotten to do some scientific illustration!  The above image is a line drawing of the vertebral column of Pakasuchus, or “Cat croc” in Swahili + Latin.  Pakasuchus has gotten a lot of press in the past few months (and consequently, so has my illustration!).  It’s now famous for having mammal-like dentition.  If you’ve ever seen a crocodile, you’re probably aware of its extensive row of peg-like teeth.  Pakasuchus, on the other hand, is doing something very, very different.  Let’s just say that if you were looking at your cat yawn, you’d see a variety of teeth, all specialized for puncturing and slicing.  If this were 65 million years ago, you would see the same teeth if Pakasuchus were yawning.  In fact, “cat croc” is similar to your house-cat in other aspects: it’s about the same size and height, and has a very flexible back bone for maneuverability!  Pakasuchus was discovered by one of my advisors, Dr. Patrick O’Connor, also of Ohio University Biomedical Sciences, and the rest of the Rukwa Rift Basin Project team, including my PhD advisor, Dr. Nancy Stevens.

You can read more about Pakasuchus at these websites:

• National Science Foundation “These Crocs were made for Biting”
• National Geographic ”Ancient Cat Crcodile Discovered”
• Smithsonian Magazine Blogs ”Pakasuchus, the Croc that ate like a mammal”
• Discover Magazine Blogs “The Crocodile that’s Trying to be a Mammal”

(via scientificillustration)

astrotastic:

14-billion-years-later:

A CT Scan of Young Mammoth.

Lyuba is the best preserved mammoth known to science and weighing in at a dainty 50 kg (110 lb) also one of the cutest. At her time of death Lyuba was only 1 month old and it’s believed she suffocated in thick mud which at the same time is responsible for her almost pristine condition. The young mammoth itself was discovered in 2007 in Russia’s Yamal Peninsula.

Science!

(via gardant)