I realised I never posted the finished version so here ya go

Adventurers beware when wandering near bodies of water, as they might encounter an apparently innocent, ethereal looking horse. It might look friendly and approachable, but will drag and consume under the water anyone as soon as it gets the chance: the Kelpie (Abyssohippus falaciter).

#dungeonmeshi

A little piece I did last year, baby ammonites from Prehistoric Planet season 2, I absolutely LOVED this episode, and these cuties were definitely my favourite part :>

#paleoart#prehistoricplanet

•Sandabblers (Psammobenthavinae):
A cosmopolitan anatid subfamily of diving soft sediment specialists that can be found in both fresh and saltwater ecosystems, but the majority are often associated with soft sediment ocean shores.

#speculativeevolution #specevo #birds #seabird

•Mergeese (Sirenianseridae):
Aquatic grazers very specialised for their lifestyle, with a large crop that is used for fermenting the plant material. Because of this diet, they're highly associated with seagrass meadows in the Indo-Pacific, Caribbean and European regions.

•Anatorants (Sulanatidae):
A flying, basal offshoot of the phociornithiformes, presenting a similar morphology as their relatives but less specialised. Given their flight capabilities, they're found much more widespread than their northern relatives, extending far into the southern hemisphere.

•Seahens (Littogallidae):
Omnivores found in areas not far from the coast of every continent. They are diverse and occupy a wide variety of niches, specialising on different diets depending on the available resources.

•Taorns (Hastanhinga sp.):
A pantropical genus highly associated with clamoral reefs and other high diversity, shallow water ecosystems, slowly stalking prey hidden in crevices or substrate with pinpoint precision.

•Shellpeckers (Mergupicidae):
One of the few non-gull marine charadriiformes left, these have taken a rather unique approach to a durophagous diet, using a strong beak and a hammering motion to open the shellfish it dives for.

•Wakageese (Wakaereformes):
A basal offshoot of the waterfowl clade, it has evolved a unique style of swimming and very specialised, hydrodynamic feathering. It evolved isolated on Antarctica soon after it started to thaw, and is now distributed mostly around the southern ocean.

•Basketgulls (Pelecanoidae):
Another voracious, but unrelated group of birds, closer to cacklers, found offshore on every ocean except for the arctic. Better flyers, they usually plunge into the water to catch shoals of small prey.

•Bagshags (Euryrhamphinae):
A diving predator capable of gulping down fish larger than itself, these voracious, near flightless birds can be found in coasts and freshwater systems of the tropics and temperate areas of the world.

•Kelp Ruddies (Phycophaganatidae):
Specialised algae grazing ducks distributed along the cold coasts of every continent except Africa.

•Labrosone Geese (Auloceratidae):
Waterfowl with a unique nasal structure, some marine species can be found along the coasts of Afro-Eurasia.

•Windtellers (Aequoelanus sp.):
A genus of kites that can be found offshore of coastal forests across the world, lunging on fish too close to the surface.

•Titan Gulls (Laroposeidonidae):
The largest of the seabirds, these long distance flyers can be found on the open ocean across the southern hemisphere and the Pacific Ocean.

•Coast Cacklers (Neolaridae):
A living fossil amongst the full clade, they're generalist predators found in coasts and open seas all across the world, from pole to pole.

•Penmorants (Pinguriliiformes):
Fully flightless cormorants, these are much more widespread and pelagic, being able to be spotted in the open ocean in every region, but with the highest diversity being in the northern hemisphere. Unlike vessel birds, these need to come back to land to breed.

•Balamars (Balaornithidae):
Another cosmopolitan member of the gull clade, they are adapted for speed, being able to plunge dive and pursue prey at incredible velocity.

•Shagseals (Phociornithiformes):
They include the largest seabirds of the Artechocene. This is due to their dense bones, which they use to swim along the seafloor at depth to feed. To breed, they must come out to land, there they use a specialised armpit pouch to brood the eggs and young.

•Umibozulles (Bathostyxiformes):
A unique offshoot of the gull clade native to the Pacific, Arctic and north Atlantic regions, these fully nocturnal seabirds are extremely cryptic and hard to see, leaving their colonies at night to dive and incredible depths in search of invertebrates and fish.

•Seadrakes (Thescelodyptidae):
A family of very diverse, cosmopolitan sea ducks found mostly in cold oceans, that are characterised by their colorful males and hardened papillae inside of of their mouths, specialised for each species' diet.

•Harpansers (Dinomergidae):
Found mostly around the northern hemisphere, these sea ducks are specialised fish eaters that can dive and swim particularly well in large groups, coordinating to hunt down entire schools.

•Corsairfishers (Piratosagipterines):
Kingfishers relatives that use kleptoparasitism as one of their main feeding strategies, often following larger, more specialised seabirds.

•Dumingos (Anabalaenidae):
A cosmopolitan group of filter feeding ducks, they are typically found in inland waters, but a few species, like the sea dumingo (Pinnatocetus celer), have been able to exploit its endless amount of plankton.

•Sea Songbirds (Thalassopasseridae):
A unique family of passeriformes found mostly around the southern hemisphere, the scallywags (Pelagopasser sp.) are a genus of open ocean specialists that are found on every ocean except the Arctic, gliding on the surface to feed on small planktonic prey.

•Kitegulls (Milvulari):
Close relatives of cacklers, they are long distance flyers, feeding on surface prey and rarely landing, only to breed on isolated islands across their expansive range in temperate and tropical oceans worldwide.

•Vesselbirds (Caravelorniformes):
A widespread group of the largest of the Artechocene seabirds, they have abandoned land completely, brooding being taken care of by a specialised structure on the male's back that acts as a nest.

Seabirds of the Artechocene Oceans:

The Anthropogenic Extinction Event was devastating for ocean ecosystems and the seabirds that relied on it, with only a few groups surviving the event. 39my later, life has recovered and now new seabird groups dominate the seas:

(info below👇)

OMG I LOVE THIS!!! This might be a signal to come back to bluesky lol

The Words You Say

A commune of Homo floresiensis on the beach of Flores island 75.000 years ago.