Maija Karala
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maijakarala.bsky.social
Maija Karala
@maijakarala.bsky.social
3.4K followers 480 following 460 posts
Illustrator, science writer and a bit of a crazy rat lady. Paleontology, biodiversity, animal behaviour.
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maijakarala.bsky.social
Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · Feb 7
Our @arador-innovations.bsky.social newest project is up for preorder now, both in English and Finnish!

After our acclaimed The Mind of a Horse comes a new book: The Mind of a Dog. Science Meets Comics! It's cutting edge animal cognition science packaged into a comic book story.
Digital drawing of a coarse-haired puppy holding a book in their mouth with little teeth showing. The book has a blue-and-white cover with the words "Koiran mieli" (Finnish for "mind of a dog") and two playfully leaping dogs on it. Kuva kirjasta nimeltä "Koiran mieli". Kirjan kansi on sinivalkoinen ja siinä on kaksi leikkisästi loikkaavaa koiraa, toinen keltainen labradorinnoutaja, toinen valkoinen sekarotuinen. Kuvan yläosassa on teksti: ennakkotilattavissa nyt - arador.info/koiranmieli Image of a book titled "The Mind of a Dog" with a blue-and-white cover featuring two playfully leaping dogs, one a golden Labrador retriever, the other a white mixed breed dog. On the top of the image, there's a text: Pre-order now - arador.info/mindofdog A sample page of an upcoming comic book "Mind of a Dog". It features a part of a story in which adult dogs come to visit and socialize with four puppies on their owner's yard. One of the dogs - a dachshund - is scared of the puppies, and the illustration details the body language of his fear and defensive aggression. He gets to stay outside the fence. The other dog - a white mixed breed dog - is scared of strange adult dogs and barks at them, but she's friendly to puppies. There is also an illustration detailing the body language of her calm and friendly face.
maijakarala.bsky.social
Nice puppy... I hope.

Borophagines, or bone-crushing dogs, are an extinct group of canids with hyena-like teeth, wide skulls and high foreheads, somewhat resembling domestic dogs such as Rottweilers and mastiffs. I wonder if they had the same powerful-but-cute look?

Just a goofy little doodle.
A digital portrait drawing of a Borophagus, a massively-built extinct type of canid with hyena-like crushing teeth. The dog seems to be smiling with a half-open mouth and relaxed expression. The close-up perspective causes him to look goofy with an oversized nose.
December 19, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Reposted by Maija Karala
rosemarymosco.com
Animals with misleading names. I'm seeing this go around as part of a viral tumblr thread so I thought I'd reshare it.
A comic called Animals with Misleading Names. There's an electric eel labeled "not an eel". There's a mountain goat labeled "not a goat." There's a maned wolf labeled "not a wolf." There's a king cobra labeled "not a cobra. Also, snakes are typically self-governing." There's a peacock mantis shrimp labeled "Not a peacock. Not a mantis. Also, not a shrimp." There's a horny toad labeled "Not a toad. Only thinks of you as a friend." There's a mayfly labeled "active through the spring and summer." There's an eastern kingbird labeled "found in the west. Many birds do not recognize its authority."
December 15, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Reposted by Maija Karala
arador-innovations.bsky.social
Vielä ehtii jouluksi! 🎄🎅 Jos tilaat viimeistään to 18.12. www.aradorsuomi.fi/kauppa saat kirjasi viimeistään ti 23.12.

Myymäläsaatavuus: Tällä hetkellä Koiran mieli löytyy ainakin Akateemisesta kirjakaupasta ja Turun Sarjakuvakaupasta.

Kuvassa pakataan tänään Aradorista lähteviä kirjoja 😊
December 15, 2025 at 1:00 PM
maijakarala.bsky.social
Flirting Diplodocus.

A new study was able to locate melanosomes inside fossilized diplodocid scales. It concluded they had patterns and several types of pigment. Here's a somewhat creative interpretation on their possible appearance. #SciArt

royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article...
A digital illustration of two Diplodocus walking from right to left, one turning to look back at the other. They have intricate patterns of black-ish, brown, cream and blue. One is darker and reddish with only a little bit of blue, imagined to be female, while the other has a less saturated shade of brown and multiple large blue spots on his neck. In front of them, a human figure (very small) is standing and looking up at them.
December 14, 2025 at 4:53 PM
maijakarala.bsky.social
With pets, heartbreak is inevitable, but wow, does it sometimes come in shocking ways. We lost both Taika and Nikos last weekend, within a day of each other.
Grayscale, obituary-style photo of a black and white rat, Taika, looking at the camera. Greyscale, obituary-style photo of a grey rat, Nikos, perching on my arm.
December 13, 2025 at 7:41 AM
maijakarala.bsky.social
We had sunlight today! It was, in fact, such an unusual occurrence it was featured on national news (with a livestream, no less).
Photo of a Helsinki urban forest in winter, with light frost on the fround and sun shining low on the horizon. Though the photo seems to depict a golden evening light, it was in fact taken around midday.
December 12, 2025 at 5:24 PM
maijakarala.bsky.social
It was so much fun getting to meet different dogs to create the characters for our science comic book, The Mind of a Dog. Milo was based on a young and very enthusiastic Dachshund called Mauri.
December 12, 2025 at 3:56 PM
maijakarala.bsky.social
Tänään ja huomenna Koiramessuilla Helsingissä. 🐕
arador-innovations.bsky.social Arador Innovations @arador-innovations.bsky.social · 14d
Hyvinvointia kotikonstein! Koiramessuilla 6.-7.12. hyväntuulinen esitys tärkeästä aiheesta: niksejä käyttäytymistarpeiden toteuttamiseen.

Tapahtumakehä, la klo 11.40 ja 15.20, su klo 10.40 ja 14.00.

Myynnissä ja selailtavana myös uutuuskirja "Koiran mieli. Tiedettä sarjakuvana"!

#koiramessut2025
December 6, 2025 at 8:40 AM
Reposted by Maija Karala
arador-innovations.bsky.social
Do you know a dog owner who would be delighted to get this for Christmas?

#dogs #comics #nonfiction #books #christmas
December 3, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Reposted by Maija Karala
arador-innovations.bsky.social
Onko lähipiirissäsi koiraihminen, joka ilahtuisi tällaisesta pukinkontissa?

Katso näytesivuja: www.arador.fi/koiranmieli

#koirat #lemmikit #kirjat #tietokirjat
December 2, 2025 at 10:45 AM
maijakarala.bsky.social
At this time of the year, I find myself daydreaming about faraway places. I miss sunshine and warmth, tall mountains and blue seas and green forests. And insects.

This was the front cover of children's magazine Sieppo a few years ago, set in the Sinharaja rainforest reserve in Sri Lanka.
A colorful illustration depicting a rainforest scene. There is a slow loris sitting on a branch, two small green hanging parrots and various smaller animals and plants.
November 26, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Reposted by Maija Karala
hbrappap.bsky.social
So happy to announce our new preprint, “A geothermal amoeba sets a new upper temperature limit for eukaryotes.” We cultured a novel amoeba from Lassen Volcanic NP (CA, USA) that divides at 63°C (145°F) 🔥 - a new record for euk growth!
#protistsonsky 🧵
November 25, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Reposted by Maija Karala
joschuaknuppe.bsky.social
Yesterday we had a special #MonkeyCruise stream in honor of Jane Goodall! Her contributions to primatology and our understanding of animal intelligence changed the worldview of whole generations and her caring and critical voice will be missed.
Referenced artworks below...
November 25, 2025 at 5:15 PM
maijakarala.bsky.social
A little chain of scritches.
Photo of a black and white pet rat being groomed by a grey rat, which is in turns being petted by my hand.
November 12, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Reposted by Maija Karala
maijakarala.bsky.social
Spiny friends!

Stegosaurs bore a fantastical variety of bony plates, spines and osteoderms, probably a mix between ornamental, defensive and offensive.
Side view illustration of Thyreosaurus, a large stegosaur dinosaur with weird oblong plates on its skin. Side view of Hesperosaurus, a smallish stegosaur with classic Stegosaurus-like plates and a spiny thagomizer on its tail. Side view illustration of Tuojiangosaurus, a relatively gracile stegosaur with shoulder spines in addition to a doible row on plates and spines on its back and tail. Side view illustration of Huayangosaurus, a small stegosaur with small plates but and impressive spine on the shoulder.
October 24, 2025 at 8:30 AM
maijakarala.bsky.social
Shelter cats.

I visited the animal shelter at Lohja, southern Finland, in preparation for an upcoming book project. Despite decades of work, cats still end up in shelters in shocking numbers.

I’m not usually a cat person but seeing these poor guys, I might have taken a few home with me if I could.
Illustrated sketches of five cats looking variously pitiful. One is meowing after humans, a large tomcat is looking derpy with extra toes and his tongue hanging out, a long-haired white cat is looking ill with most of her fur cut off to get rid of the matting. There are also two kittens about ten weeks of age.
November 3, 2025 at 10:50 AM
maijakarala.bsky.social
Wake me up when spring comes, please.
Cute drawing of a brown rat sleeping curled up, using his own foot as a pillow.
October 31, 2025 at 5:02 PM
maijakarala.bsky.social
Phew, finally done with the introductions! It took almost three weeks this time, but all the big boy rats have now accepted the newcomers.

There doesn't seem to be any rule to the varying difficulty of rat introductions. It can take a couple of ours or a month - just roll the dice and try.
Photo of a big grey-brown rat, Nikos, hugging a small yellow one while being held in my lap. The big one looks worried becayse he's very shy and always on edge when outside the cage. A small brown rat looking sleepily out of a nest box while using a big black and white rat as a pillow.
October 30, 2025 at 5:18 PM
maijakarala.bsky.social
I haven’t had much time for drawing anything personal lately, but here’s a quick doodle of my rat Hönö, who curled into this seemingly very uncomfortable position and then promptly fell asleep using himself as a pillow.
Drawing of a brown male pet rat sitting curled up leaning on the outer wall of a nest box, resting his head on his stomach with his hind paws up in the air on either side of his head. He looks relaxed and ready to sleep, though his eye is cracked open and looking at the viewer.
October 29, 2025 at 5:30 PM
maijakarala.bsky.social
Beginning of the Polar Night.

It's this time of the year again - sun barely rises and is most of the time obscured by clouds. Back in the Cretaceous, Arctic winters would have been even darker and greyer: warmer climate meant little snow, and studies suggest a permanent polar cloud cap. Poor dinos.
An older digital painting of a Nanuqsaurus - a smallish, arctic Tyrannosaurus relative - stalking behind a multi-trunked dead tree. The sky is grey, the ground brown and covered with dead leaves and needles, and water on the foreground is frozen. The entire landscape is a kind of grey twilight.
October 29, 2025 at 9:16 AM
maijakarala.bsky.social
Spiny friends!

Stegosaurs bore a fantastical variety of bony plates, spines and osteoderms, probably a mix between ornamental, defensive and offensive.
Side view illustration of Thyreosaurus, a large stegosaur dinosaur with weird oblong plates on its skin. Side view of Hesperosaurus, a smallish stegosaur with classic Stegosaurus-like plates and a spiny thagomizer on its tail. Side view illustration of Tuojiangosaurus, a relatively gracile stegosaur with shoulder spines in addition to a doible row on plates and spines on its back and tail. Side view illustration of Huayangosaurus, a small stegosaur with small plates but and impressive spine on the shoulder.
October 24, 2025 at 8:30 AM
maijakarala.bsky.social
Tulkaa tällä viikolla moikkaamaan kirjamessuille! 😊

If you happen to be around Helsinki this week, come meet me and @villesinkkonen.bsky.social at the book fair!
arador-innovations.bsky.social Arador Innovations @arador-innovations.bsky.social · Oct 22
Tule tapaamaan suosittujen tiedesarjakuvien tekijöitä @helsinginkirjamessut ! Tekijätiimi on Aradorin osastolla 7g135 la ja su klo 13-15 ja 16-18, osa tiimistä myös muina aikoina.

Messuilta saat kirjan edullisemmin kuin muualta!

#koirat #lemmikit #kirjamessut #helsinginkirjamessut #kirjamessut2025
October 22, 2025 at 11:01 AM
maijakarala.bsky.social
These are seriously wonderful books with so many talented artists featured! I'm honored (and still a bit amazed) to be featured in part II.
October 20, 2025 at 9:33 AM
maijakarala.bsky.social
Pet rat update: we have new babies! 💗

These adorable little boys moved in a week ago. I’ve been getting to know them, trying to think of names and slowly introducing them to the big boys. It has been a bit more of a hassle than anticipated.

A little thread on introducing new pets to older ones.
Photo of two seven-week old pet rats curiously peeking out from inside a fluffy bathrobe. One is a soft milk coffee brown, the other a warm creamy colour. Photo of two little rat heads peeking out from inside my sweater. They are very cute.
October 17, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Reposted by Maija Karala
arador-innovations.bsky.social
Our new book of nonfiction comics is out now! 🎉

In English: www.arador.info/mindofdog

In Finnish: www.arador.info/koiranmieli

Created by the same scientist-artist team as the multiple-award-winning book "The Mind of a Horse. Science Meets Comics" 🏆

#dogs #pets #animals #nonfiction #comics
October 15, 2025 at 6:17 PM