COLD DARK ROOM

[Tidgy's Dad]

Do y'all make brownies the the UK? Or do you call them something different ?

Yes, we have brownies there.
Good afternoon, Bea!
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

OK, I got side-tracked by kitty cuteness!
These are my 2 boys, Monty (grey) and Julio (orange). In these pictures they appear to be snuggling sweetly, but that is NOT the case! They were originally fighting over the PRIME morning sunspot through the bathroom window, but as the sun warmed them and worked its magic, the fighting got slower and slower as they got drowsier. They finally forgot what they were fighting about and fell asleep together!
In the first photo, Monty still has his paws pushing against Julio, just a bit... This happens with ridiculous frequency!!!!

View attachment 202357

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Play nice, guys!

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

I love cats too! This is Ruby (dog) and Harry, they love each other..

How lovely!

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Cats and dogs are often best friends. But my dog Annie and my cat Baily are more than friends.
The adult cat thinks that he is Annies baby. And he suck on her and when he sucks for a loger time, the dog gets milk like she is having babies and the big cat Baily sucks.....
See:

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Very sweet, pretty, but slightly confused animals.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

i found a new pet for my shelf at work... View attachment 202365

just as backup

Please post this on gecko talk, John.
Preferably under general discussion or something asking what species it is.
Seriously.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

View attachment 202367

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you, too, Grandpa!
Guinness ?
Irish Whiskey ?
Or Bud ?
Let me guess........................

 

[johnandjade]

Please post this on gecko talk, John.
Preferably under general discussion or something asking what species it is.
Seriously.

i shall do

just remind me

 

[JoesMum]

Good evening. Busy afternoon of moderating elsewhere. I even had to dust off the ban hammer to give one persistent rulebreaker a holiday.

No fighting this time. Just people trying to advertise without paying.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

2700+ posts…sorry friends I can't do it. I do though, have this for our good friend and Colleague Adam, and for anyone else that may find some interest in it…

Human skull evolved along with two-legged walking, study confirms
17 Mar 2017, 10:12 AMView attachment 202378

Comparison of the positioning of the foramen magnum in a bipedal springhare (left) and its closest quadrupedal relative, the scaly-tailed squirrel. (Image from Russo and Kirk, Journal of Human Evolution)
The evolution of bipedalism in fossil humans can be detected using a key feature of the skull -- a claim that was previously contested but now has been further validated by researchers at Stony Brook University and The University of Texas at Austin.

Compared with other primates, the large hole at the base of the human skull where the spinal cord passes through, known as the foramen magnum, is shifted forward. While many scientists generally attribute this shift to the evolution of bipedalism and the need to balance the head directly atop the spine, others have been critical of the proposed link. Validating this connection provides another tool for researchers to determine whether a fossil hominid walked upright on two feet like humans or on four limbs like modern great apes.

Controversy has centered on the association between a forward-shifted foramen magnum and bipedalism since 1925, when Raymond Dart discussed it in his description of "Taung child," a 2.8 million-year-old fossil skull of the extinct South African species Australopithecus africanus. A study published last year by Aidan Ruth and colleagues continued to stir up the controversy when they offered additional criticisms of the idea.

However, in a study published in the Journal of Human Evolution, UT Austin anthropology alumna Gabrielle Russo, now an assistant professor at Stony Brook University, and UT Austin anthropologist Chris Kirk built on their own prior research to show that a forward-shifted foramen magnum is found not just in humans and their bipedal fossil relatives, but is a shared feature of bipedal mammals more generally.

"This question of how bipedalism influences skull anatomy keeps coming up partly because it's difficult to test the various hypotheses if you only focus on primates," Kirk said. "However, when you look at the full range of diversity across mammals, the evidence is compelling that bipedalism and a forward-shifted foramen magnum go hand-in-hand."

In this study, Russo and Kirk expanded on their previous research (published in the same journal in 2013) by using new methods to quantify aspects of foramen magnum anatomy and sampling the largest number of mammal species to date.

To make their case, Russo and Kirk compared the position and orientation of the foramen magnum in 77 mammal species including marsupials, rodents and primates. Their findings indicate that bipedal mammals such as humans, kangaroos, springhares and jerboas have a more forward-positioned foramen magnum than their quadrupedal close relatives.

"We've now shown that the foramen magnum is forward-shifted across multiple bipedal mammalian clades using multiple metrics from the skull, which I think is convincing evidence that we're capturing a real phenomenon," Russo said.

Additionally, the study identifies specific measurements that can be applied to future research to map out the evolution of bipedalism. "Other researchers should feel confident in making use of our data to interpret the human fossil record," Russo said.

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by University of Texas at Austin. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Journal Reference:

Gabrielle A. Russo, E. Christopher Kirk. Another look at the foramen magnum in bipedal mammals. Journal of Human Evolution, 2017; 105: 24 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.01.018

Hi, Ken, good to see you.
Very interesting, but not surprising, I supported this idea.
Happy St.Patrick's Day.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

adam


... 'm working on it , perhaps rover

Adam.
Everyone and everything should be called Adam.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

ahhh haaa haaa!!! meanwhile!!! mean white iphone strikes again

Racism!

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Aah ok, I will take a look. Did you find fossils?

Oh, yes!
Lots and lots of super things.
Photos to follow some day soon.

 

[JSWallace]

Oh, yes!
Lots and lots of super things.
Photos to follow some day soon.

Wow I will look forward to seeing them. What do you do with them all?

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

i shall do

just remind me

i shall do

just remind me

Reminder.
Nag nag nageddy nag.
Gecko picture.
Gecko Talk.
Nag.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Good evening. Busy afternoon of moderating elsewhere. I even had to dust off the ban hammer to give one persistent rulebreaker a holiday.

No fighting this time. Just people trying to advertise without paying.

Naughty, naughty.
(not you, the naughty advertiser).
Where can I purchase a ban hammer ?

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Wow I will look forward to seeing them. What do you do with them all?

I have a laboratory / museum upstairs and I sell some.
Also I have fossils in museums across Europe and North Africa.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

Where can I purchase a ban hammer ?

Maybe eBay? Just becareful, many are knockoffs made in China.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Maybe eBay? Just becareful, many are knockoffs made in China.

Sound advice.
I'll have a careful look.

 

[JSWallace]

I have a laboratory / museum upstairs and I sell some.
Also I have fossils in museums across Europe and North Africa.

Ha I would live to be able to say 'I have a museum upstairs '

 

[Laura1412]

How's all my room mates this evening