Hello, it’s Call of the Horizon Day, so here is a collection of images by #photographers on Tumblr to evoke the feeling of staring into the hazy blue of distance where the planet meets the sky and wondering what’s beyond, what’s next, what’s waiting for you out there. Where have you been? Where are you going? Whew, big thoughts for a Tuesday. Seize the dream of the horizon. Or, y'know, just enjoy these pretty pictures.
Another month, another art challenge! As we embark on July (and with it, Julycanthropy), let’s take a moment to celebrate all the gorgeous unicorn art that came out of Junicorn. Just look at all these fantastic beasties!
People on Tumblr come from all walks of life and all areas of expertise to grace our dashboards with paragraphs and photographs of the things they want to share with the world. Whether it’s an artist uploading their speed art, a fanfic writer posting their WIPs, a language expert expounding on the origin of a specific word, or a historian ready to lay down the secrets of Ea-nasir, the hallways of Tumblr are filled with specialists sharing their knowledge with the world. We Asked an Expert is a deep dive into those expert brains on tumblr dot com. Today, we’re talking to Dr. Mark D. Scherz (@markscherz), an expert in Herpetology. Read on for some ribbeting frog facts, including what kind of frog the viral frog bread may be based on.
In a battle for my heart, I think amphibians beat out the reptiles. There is just something incredibly good about beholding a nice plump frog.
In a battle to the death, I have to give it to the reptiles—the number of reptiles that eat amphibians far, far outstrips the number of amphibians that eat reptiles.
In terms of ecological importance, I would give it to the amphibians again, though. Okay, reptiles may keep some insects and rodents in check, but many amphibians live a dual life, starting as herbivores and graduating to carnivory after metamorphosis, and as adults they are critical for keeping mosquitos and other pest insects in check.
This doesn’t really answer your question, but did you know that tadpole arms usually develop inside the body and later burst through the body wall fully formed? I learned about this as a Master’s student many years ago, but it still blows my mind. What’s curious is that this apparently does not happen in some of the species of frogs that don’t have tadpoles—oh yeah, like a third of all frogs or something don’t have free-living tadpoles; crazy, right? They just develop forelimbs on the outside of the body like all other four-legged beasties. But this has only really been examined in a couple species, so there is just so much we don’t know about development, especially in direct-developing frogs. Like, how the hell does it just… swap from chest-burster to ‘normal’ limb development? Is that the recovery of the ancestral programming, or is it newly generated? When in frog evolution did the chest-burster mode even evolve?
You can get involved with your local herpetological societies if they exist—and they probably do, as herpetologists are everywhere. You can upload observations of animals to iNaturalist, where you can get them identified while also contributing to datasets on species distribution and annual activity used by research scientists.
You can see if there are local conservation organizations that are doing any work locally, and if you find they are not, then you can get involved to try to get them started. For example, if you notice areas of particularly frequent roadkill, talking to your local council or national or local conservation organizations can get things like rescue programs or road protectors set up. You should also make sure you travel carefully and responsibly. Carefully wash and disinfect your hiking boots, especially between locations, as you do not want to be carrying chytrid or other nasty infectious diseases across the world, where they can cause population collapses and extinctions.
Click through for Mark’s response to these absolutely wild headlines, more about his day-to-day job, his opinion on frog bread, and his favorite Tumblr.
Dearest gentle readers, whether you’re team Polin or team Creloise, there is certainly enough drama to go around in the most recent installment of Bridgerton. And so, without further ado and with much wistful pining, swooning, and sighing, please enjoy these hand-picked artworks brought to you by your esteemed artists on Tumblr.
Hello to you, especially if you’re still celebrating last week’s Trans Day of Vivian. Obviously, some other cool stuff happened in the reboot of The Thousand-Year Door. But if we’re honest, the real win is Vivian’s restored trans identity.
Hello, Tumblr. June is here, and you’re all arting hard. This Tuesday would like to cordially wish you all a very good and community-fuelled Pride month. Please enjoy this roundup of delightful fanart and OC art, celebrating the beginning of this month of more gay art than usual on tumblr dot com.
(And here are some Pride art/writing challenges running this month: an identities-themed drawing challenge; a Baldur’s Gate 3 art challenge; a pride color pallette art challenge; a fandom art challenge; and finally, some Destiel pride creative prompts)
Yes, it’s that time of year again. We’re celebrating July the only way we know how—by sharing some excellent lycanthropic art from across Tumblr. We hope all (were)wolf-enthusiasts enjoyed the Buck Moon on Sunday, and that you delight in these powerful beasties, brought to you by your very own #artists on tumblr.
(Please proceed with caution if blood, gore, or animal parts squick you out, as there is mild body horror ahead—you know, the kind you might expect on a post about humans morphing into creatures and vice versa.)
It’s a Hades art collection! All your favorite drapey ones, right here on your dash. Please join us in celebrating the incredibly talented artists in this fandom. They are doing us all such a solid while we anxiously await the official release and its delicious family drama.
Well, wow. Who knew one thing moving in front of the other could elicit in us such childlike wonder? Turns out, pretty much everyone, actually. The untimely darkness! The crescent dapples! That bright corona! You’ve all enjoyed them immensely. Here’s an eclipse collection for the annals.
Well, chaps, Mermay is in full swing, and we thought we’d share a little selection of its masterpieces. Who knows, maybe you, too, will feel moved to immortalize the noble merperson. Call it inspo. Call it appreciation. Whatever you do, please do feast thine eyes and enjoy.
(As is often the way with the beasties, some of these have fins, eyes, bones, and other potentially upsetting sticky-out bits. Please proceed with caution if any of this squicks you out).
Oh, look, it’s everyone’s favorite disaster and his exes. You’ve all got it bad for these undead artistes, and the art is stunning. Please enjoy this collection of Interview with the Vampire fanart.
