I've enjoyed the final post of 2025 on JK Revell's (@JKRevell) Synapsida blog. It's Prehistoric Mammal Discoveries 2025 and it's got all sorts of exciting finds like the oldest known fossilised cowpat (20-million years old), the longest ever fossilised horn from a woolly rhino (164 cm!), an expansion of the known range of the extinct European jaguar, and evidence that Glyptodonts (VW beetle sized armadillo relatives) walloped each other with clubs on their tails.

That just scratches the surface. Check it out.

http://synapsida.blogspot.com/2025/12/prehistoric-mammal-discoveries-2025.html

#paleontology #mammals #blog #Synapsida

Why do most bats fly only at night? Is it because they're afraid of birds of prey? If so, do they try to avoid owls?

Turns out the answers are not that clear cut, as @JKRevell explains in the latest article on #Synapsida

(I like that parts of the old internet like the Synapsida blog are still going strong, and I can subscribe to their RSS feeds and read interesting and ad-free and AI-free content. *Big thanks* go to those that are still adding quality content to the internet with the aim of informing us instead of making money or manipulating what we think.)

https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2025/06/i-aint-afraid-of-no-owls.html

#bats #biology #evolution #mammals #owls

"The bulk of the scientific literature on the species amounts to "ooh, we saw one!" followed by some locality where they hadn't been seen before."

I'm enjoying learning about deep ocean dolphins on the latest #Synapsida post by @JKRevell. That quotation is referring to "pygmy killer whales", which are dolphins that are not whales and not closely related to orcas. This open ocean dolphin is "one of the least likely dolphin species to be seen" and "we know essentially nothing about their mating habits and reproduction".

It's a vast blue world out there.

https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2025/05/delphinids-dolphins-of-deep-seas.html

#cetacean #dolphin #MarineBiology #oceans

A brief history of Ice Age cave bears:

https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2024/10/from-dragon-to-cave-bear.html

#fossils #animals #IceAge #bear #science #Synapsida

A look at some of the science behind why horses and other hoofed animals groom one another...

https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2024/10/you-scratch-my-back.html

#synapsida #animals #Science