Sasha Vakulenko's

14/05/2025

22/02/2023

22/02/2023

22/02/2023

'Staggering number' of titanosaur nests discovered in India reveals controversial findings about dino moms

About 70 million years ago, titanosaurs the length of school buses stomped through what is now west central India to lay their eggs by a riverbank. While these long-necked sauropods and the river are long gone, many of their nests remain intact, full of fossilized dinosaur eggs that reveal clues about how these massive herbivores nested and laid their eggs, and whether they took care of their hatchlings.

22/02/2023

Never-before-seen pterosaur had nearly 500 teeth and ate like a flamingo

During the late Jurassic, a pterosaur with an unusually shaped bill lined with hundreds of tiny, hooked teeth stalked the waters of what is now Bavaria, Germany. The now-extinct animal likely gulped down its seafood prey while wading in ancient ponds and lakes, just like flamingos chow down today, a new study shows.

22/02/2023

Largest penguin ever discovered weighed a whopping 340 pounds, fossils reveal

Scientists have unearthed the fossilized remains of the largest ever known penguin on Earth, a 340-pound (154 kilograms) behemoth that glided through the oceans around what is now New Zealand more than 50 million years ago.

The fossils of this newfound species, Kumimanu fordycei, were found alongside eight other specimens inside beach boulders in North Otago, on New Zealand's South Island. Five of the remaining specimens belonged to another newfound species, Petradyptes stonehousei, one belonged to another known giant penguin, Kumimanu biceae, and two were unidentified. The rocks dated to between 59.5 million and 55.5 million years ago.

20/02/2023

Cheetahs: Earth's fastest land animals

Known as the fastest land animals, cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) are members of the big cat family, which includes tigers, jaguars, lions, leopards, snow leopards and pumas. Their name comes from the Hindi word "chita," which means "spotted one," according to the book "Cheetahs: Biology and Conservation(opens in new tab)" (Elsevier, 2018).

With aerodynamic bodies, long legs, and blunt, semi-retractable claws, cheetahs are formidable carnivores that can sprint at speeds of 60 to 70 mph (96 to 112 km/h), according to the Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute(opens in new tab).

18/02/2023

the keebler movie is a go, but not without a price...

18/02/2023

quarantine: day 2
stay safe 🙏

18/02/2023

Fish moms that carry young in their mouths sometimes eat their babies for breakfast

Few sights in nature are more heartwarming than that of a mother caring for her young — unless that nurturing act ends with an episode of cannibalism.

Female cichlids — fish in the family Cichlidae — are mouthbrooding fish, carrying their young in their mouths first as eggs and then as hatchlings. As the young fish, known as fry, grow inside their mother's maw, she is unable to eat. And when cichlid moms get hungry enough, they sometimes eat their own offspring, scientists recently discovered.