I have always thought this Scythian-related felt bird from a tumulus burial at cold Pazyryk was actually a stork and not a swan. (One of my favorite artifacts anywhere!) #2026MMM
www.livescience.com/archaeology/...

Sign says Fatality

#2026MMM (click pic to see whole word)

And so it was written #2026MMM

A photo of two male lions. One is walking towards another resting at the base of some a brambly bush. The scene is calm.

a stork that has seen better days, standing in a field

LIONS DEFEAT STORK!!!! #2026MMM #2026mmm

a close up of a person 's foot on a tile floor with the letters br on the bottom Alt: a gif close up of a person's shoe on a tile floor. they lift their shoe and gum is stuck to the bottom of it.

Paws that carry Torn Ear Lion's particular scent... and something else... MOLD HAS TAGGED ALONG ON THE LION'S PAW! #FungusAmongUs #LingeringIsNotAnAdvance (Golan & Pringle 2017) #2026MMM #2026mmm

Torn Ear waits for his brother... self grooming away a twig caught in his paws... Paws that carry his particular scent bouquet that transfers from when he claw-scours his urine spots (Andersen & Vulpius 1999). #2026MMM #2026mmm

a version of a meme of Danny Devito holding an egg and asking if he can offer a nice egg in this trying time, but he's holding a frog instead of an egg.

Torn Ear runs over to the kill as Dark Mane tears into the Stork. Torn Ear tries to co-feed but with a tense growl, Dark Mane makes clear the stork is not big enough for sharing - co-feeding will not be tolerated #2026MMM #2026mmm

Dark Mane POUNCE-PIN-KILLS the stork! The Lion leaps, pins Stork to the ground by its wings, Dark Mane delivers crushing bite to the windpipe (Eloff 1973) #FATALITY #CARNAGE #2026MMM #2026mmmhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpJvpVnNnwk

WHOMPF #2026MMM #2026mmm

Watch our White Storks fly! YouTube video by Hawk Conservancy Trust

Torn Ear isn't quite fast enough and flushes White Stork into a hobble-run-flap to take off... www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Bs1... #2026MMM #2026mmm

Torn Ear sees the flash of White Stork's wings as the bird is focused on the frog... Lions prefer ungulates, but will also consume birds like ostrich, secretary bird, & kori bustard given the opportunity (Eloff 1984; Funston et al. 2001) #2026MMM #2026mmm

NaturOparc Stork Reintroduction Center in Hunawihr Wander among free-roaming storks at the sanctuary that helped save them from local extinction.

A frog! The recent rains have brought out a favorite of White Stork - he hasn't had cuisses de grenouille since he last summered in Alsace #2026MMM #2026mmm www.atlasobscura.com/places/natur...

White Stork is picking at some chicken bones when Stork spies some movement in his periphery (Chenchouni 2017). Stork turns just in time to see... #2026MMM #2026mmm

Torn Ear strays toward the dump with Dark Mane ranging a bit ahead. The Lion Brothers look and listen for potential prey, either their preferred foods or less preferred opportunistic prey (Banardo et al. 2020). #2026MMM #2026mmm

Nearby our Lion coalition is similarly famished. Lions didn't hear any hyena cackles or see any vultures indicating easy scavengings or #kleptoparasitsm opportunities this morning, so it looks like they'll have to find their own breakfast. (Pereira,Owen-Smith,&Moleón 2014) #2026MMM #2026mmm

a man in a tank top says i 'm the in a bar Alt: A gif of Danny Devito in a trash bag toga saying "I'm the trash man"

White Stork is feeling PECKish. Luckily, he's close to one of his favorite foraging grounds: the trash dump behind a local safari lodge! #DumpSweetDump (Ciach and Kruszyk 2010) #2026MMM #2026mmm

After White Stork settled the disput(ation) between Bird and Fish, #MMMagic translocates him from his breeding range of the Mesopotamian marshes... his ALSO familiar winter range! #BirdsGetAround #2026MMM #2026mmm

Tonight's battle is on an African savanna. The air is crisp and filled with the lovely petrichor that follows a heavy rain. The savanna is active and vigilant as this area teems with predator and prey #2026MMM #2026mmm

They're the trash men - A photo of white storks foraging in a landfill

White Storks can be a valuable measure of how healthy a habitat is (a bioindicator!) across their migratory range : exposure to different levels of pollution causes clear physiological/behavioral responses (Bjedov, Mikuška, &Velki 2025) #2026MMM #2026mmm

a man in a tank top says i 'm the in a bar Alt: A gif of Danny Devito in a trash bag toga saying "I'm the trash man"

In contrast to the prey preferences of the king of the jungle, White Storks are opportunistic feeders. So opportunistic they are increasingly foraging in landfills (e.g. Rabaça 2020, López-García et al. 2021, López-Calderón et al. 2023, Catry et al. 2025). #2026MMM #2026mmm

Beef: It's What's For Dinner [1 min] (1992) YouTube video by The TV Madman

When hunting, males tend to prefer preying on buffalo, while females more often go for the most abundant medium-sized ungulates, like wildebeest and zebra. (Funston et al 1998) #2026MMM #2026mmm www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeNT...

two male lions wrestling/eating a cape buffalo

While female lions are well known for doing most of a pride's hunting, males are equally capable of bringing home the bacon (Funston et al 1998) #2026MMM #2026mmm

A photo of a white stork flying

A photo of two male lions walking on the savanna.

Next up: #2 Lions (Panthera leo) vs #7 White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) #2026MMM #2026mmm

a man in a suit and tie is standing in a doorway with the words it 's go time . Alt: Keanu Reeves in a suit and tie is standing in a doorway with the words it 's go time .

TONIGHT!! ROUND 2 of MONEY MAMMALS & LIBRARY LEGENDS #2026MMM

#2026MMM if you liked the art tonight, and you'd like to support the art team who made it, you can find it available as stickers in the Erminea shop: ermineainc.org/shop/

I’m an NIH whistleblower. The scientific community cannot afford to avoid politics “Scientists are often encouraged to avoid politics. But this advice is outdated, if it was ever correct in the first place,” writes Jenna Norton, NIH whistleblower.

A heads down approach will not save science. We need to speak up, live our values, and demand integrity.

www.statnews.com/2026/03/12/n...

Historic oil painting RCS 15 from the church with signs of biodeterioration on both sides. (A) Front side of the painting, (B–D) Back, (E–G) Stratigraphy of the painting under UV light. (E), the ground layer, the paint layer, and the surface of the varnish (F), and the ground layer and the paint layer (G), all with visible penetration of dark septate hyphae. Light and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) (K–M) images show conidiogenous structures of Aspergillus on the back and massive growth on the front side of the painting.

RIP the mold? Or the library?

Xerophilic fungi like Aspergillus thrive at very low moisture and slowly consume paintings and paper—maybe by switching on enzyme genes that digest cellulose, glues, and binders.

#RIP #2026MMM www.mdpi.com/2309-608X/10...

a wooden table features an upright green book with the title "Panthera leo". Winding library shelves in a curving corridor can be seen behind the book, with 2 lions facing away from the foreground

#2026MMM #LibraryDivision #TeamLions Art by Olivia Pellicer @opellisms.bsky.social

#2026MMM 😉

If we define mold as the specific structure a fungi takes, the destruction of that structure would qualify as a kill for #2026MMM intents and purposes 🤓 bsky.app/profile/chum...