from The Gay Science

Just finished @evolarlin.bsky.social's Mutation, Randomness, and Evolution. He argues that mutation isn’t “random” in any meaningful sense, but systematically biased, and that “the course of adaptation may reflect modest quantitative biases in ordinary mutations”.

Maybe obscure, but here's another form of early crustacean fossil for #Crustmas. These stunning fossils detail setae (hairs) on ~509 mya mouthparts and limbs, suggesting complex feeding. Only thing is they are bits, not whole animal. A lot to learn still 🧪🦑

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Feel like Nietzsche would have liked Playboi Carti

Went to a very cool seminar yesterday presented by @xebernal.bsky.social. She's studying how Túngara frog mating calls are influenced by "eavesdroppers", predators and parasites who detect these signals in order to locate and feed on their producer. www.frontiersin.org/journals/eco...

Figurine made of fired clay/bone mix from Dolni Vestonice, Czechia. Gravettian, about 30,000 years old. Photo Don Hitchcock.

More new #paleoart at #Patreon: an attempt to show a realistic take on #dinosaur copulation. A lot of what's said about dinosaur mating is pretty ridiculous so, in an essay accompanying the hi-res version of this image, I try to cut to the sensible stuff. www.patreon.com/posts/89965576 #sciart 🧪

Happy Autumn equinox🍂