Laura Cunningham
@paleolaura.bsky.social
Paleoart, biology, conservation, desert. 🇺🇦
Lightning flash makes cloud tops glow for an instant. Night photo with iPhone of Arizona monsoon storm as seen on horizon from southern Nevada 150 miles away
July 3, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Lightning flash makes cloud tops glow for an instant. Night photo with iPhone of Arizona monsoon storm as seen on horizon from southern Nevada 150 miles away
Touch of rainbow between thunderstorms in the northern Mojave
July 2, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Touch of rainbow between thunderstorms in the northern Mojave
A mural segment I painted on a wall in 2006 showing Dimetrodon and a Permian scene. Geology 2 building, Fresno State University CA. I wish I had better photos. Alkyd paint, about 4 feet high. #paleoart
June 29, 2025 at 4:10 PM
A mural segment I painted on a wall in 2006 showing Dimetrodon and a Permian scene. Geology 2 building, Fresno State University CA. I wish I had better photos. Alkyd paint, about 4 feet high. #paleoart
Volcanic dome of silica-rich lava rock, Panum Crater in the Eastern Sierra region by Mono Lake, California. The last eruption was 650 years ago. The pumice crater surrounds the plug.
June 21, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Volcanic dome of silica-rich lava rock, Panum Crater in the Eastern Sierra region by Mono Lake, California. The last eruption was 650 years ago. The pumice crater surrounds the plug.
Alkali wetland with Saltgrass in Sarcobatus Flat, Nevada, on east side of Death Valley National Park. Don’t sell off these #publiclands
June 19, 2025 at 2:07 AM
Alkali wetland with Saltgrass in Sarcobatus Flat, Nevada, on east side of Death Valley National Park. Don’t sell off these #publiclands
This is what I seek: bitterroot blooms (Lewisia rediviva) and native bluebunch wheatgrass, in the sagebrush steppe of NE Nevada, protected from cattle grazing. We found elk scat here
June 5, 2025 at 11:32 PM
This is what I seek: bitterroot blooms (Lewisia rediviva) and native bluebunch wheatgrass, in the sagebrush steppe of NE Nevada, protected from cattle grazing. We found elk scat here
Many millions of acres of Western US public lands are seeded with crested wheatgrass, a Eurasian cool-season bunchgrass that is often genetically engineered as cattle forage. Native sagebrush steppe is so much more biodiverse
June 5, 2025 at 3:22 AM
Many millions of acres of Western US public lands are seeded with crested wheatgrass, a Eurasian cool-season bunchgrass that is often genetically engineered as cattle forage. Native sagebrush steppe is so much more biodiverse
Cassin’s vireo migrating through cottonwood groves in upper Amargosa River desert riparian area, southern Nevada. This one was singing a slow conversational series of phrases 🪶
May 27, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Cassin’s vireo migrating through cottonwood groves in upper Amargosa River desert riparian area, southern Nevada. This one was singing a slow conversational series of phrases 🪶
Yellow warbler in willows. This male was singing “Sweet, sweet , sweet I’m so sweet.” They breed in spring-fed desert riparian areas in the Death Valley National Park area 🪶
May 24, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Yellow warbler in willows. This male was singing “Sweet, sweet , sweet I’m so sweet.” They breed in spring-fed desert riparian areas in the Death Valley National Park area 🪶
Just when you think the desert is dry to a crisp and dead and nothing is blooming, a spinystar cactus (Escobaria vivipara) erupts in color. Never underestimate the Mojave Desert
May 21, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Just when you think the desert is dry to a crisp and dead and nothing is blooming, a spinystar cactus (Escobaria vivipara) erupts in color. Never underestimate the Mojave Desert
A swarm of Swainson’s thrushes is moving through riparian groves in the upper Amargosa River wetlands in the northern Mojave Desert, Nevada. They are hunting insects in mud patches and leaf litter. One sang a soft complex ascending spiraling song. #birds
May 20, 2025 at 1:52 PM
A swarm of Swainson’s thrushes is moving through riparian groves in the upper Amargosa River wetlands in the northern Mojave Desert, Nevada. They are hunting insects in mud patches and leaf litter. One sang a soft complex ascending spiraling song. #birds
Western tanager in honey mesquite with a caterpillar. Northern Mojave spring system in upper Amargosa River east of Death Valley National Park. #birds
May 18, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Western tanager in honey mesquite with a caterpillar. Northern Mojave spring system in upper Amargosa River east of Death Valley National Park. #birds
Mojave Desert rare wetlands and riparian areas are migrant traps right now, with warblers, flycatchers, vireos, and thrushes stopping into lush willow-cottonwood groves for insect feasts. I took this photo of a pretty boi Summer tanager showing off #birds
May 17, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Mojave Desert rare wetlands and riparian areas are migrant traps right now, with warblers, flycatchers, vireos, and thrushes stopping into lush willow-cottonwood groves for insect feasts. I took this photo of a pretty boi Summer tanager showing off #birds
American badger, about 2 years old. Mojave Desert, upper Amargosa River, Nevada.
May 15, 2025 at 7:23 PM
American badger, about 2 years old. Mojave Desert, upper Amargosa River, Nevada.
Mojave Desert vista with rain clouds, Clark County, Nevada. Public lands are under threat of disposal and urban sprawl by sneaky congressional bill, which proposes to ax the Ivanpah Area of Critical Environmental Concern that protects tortoise and white-margined penstemon
May 9, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Mojave Desert vista with rain clouds, Clark County, Nevada. Public lands are under threat of disposal and urban sprawl by sneaky congressional bill, which proposes to ax the Ivanpah Area of Critical Environmental Concern that protects tortoise and white-margined penstemon
I use both digital and traditional media for #art and illustrations. I like Photoshop as a powerful tool, especially if there is a fast deadline. But I’ll never quit using pencils, paper, and paint. In fact I collect old traditional media such as ancient drafting supplies
May 6, 2025 at 3:16 PM
I use both digital and traditional media for #art and illustrations. I like Photoshop as a powerful tool, especially if there is a fast deadline. But I’ll never quit using pencils, paper, and paint. In fact I collect old traditional media such as ancient drafting supplies
White-winged dove chases off larger Eurasian collared dove from old ranch roof
May 5, 2025 at 5:31 PM
White-winged dove chases off larger Eurasian collared dove from old ranch roof
Sunset view of Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in southern Nevada with Joshua trees and Mojave yuccas
May 3, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Sunset view of Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in southern Nevada with Joshua trees and Mojave yuccas
Hiking up and down Red Cone in Crater Flat volcanic field in the upper Amargosa River watershed, Nevada. This California bush buckwheat was blooming. I was have a hard time keeping the camera level sliding down the steep cinder slope.
May 2, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Hiking up and down Red Cone in Crater Flat volcanic field in the upper Amargosa River watershed, Nevada. This California bush buckwheat was blooming. I was have a hard time keeping the camera level sliding down the steep cinder slope.
I’m working on a #paleoart commission to illustrate Miocene, Pliocene & Pleistocene scenes for a museum, 4 big paintings that will be hung on display next to the fossils. I’m going to share progress on this project over the months. I’m starting with research #paleontology
April 18, 2025 at 12:18 AM
I’m working on a #paleoart commission to illustrate Miocene, Pliocene & Pleistocene scenes for a museum, 4 big paintings that will be hung on display next to the fossils. I’m going to share progress on this project over the months. I’m starting with research #paleontology
My thoughts on dire wolves and conservation biology at @counterpunchmedia.bsky.social www.counterpunch.org/2025/04/16/t...
The Dire Wolf Has Not Been Revived: Problems for Conservation Biology
In early April, Colossal Laboratories & Biosciences claimed they had resurrected the long-extinct Ice Age dire wolf using gene editing techniques such
www.counterpunch.org
April 16, 2025 at 5:16 PM
My thoughts on dire wolves and conservation biology at @counterpunchmedia.bsky.social www.counterpunch.org/2025/04/16/t...
Neogene North American studies from a while ago. Three-toed horses, Nimravid sabercat, and assortment of bizarrely horned Dromomerycids (extinct ruminants). Plus a Stylemys tortoise. Pencil on paper. #paleoart
April 14, 2025 at 4:58 AM
Neogene North American studies from a while ago. Three-toed horses, Nimravid sabercat, and assortment of bizarrely horned Dromomerycids (extinct ruminants). Plus a Stylemys tortoise. Pencil on paper. #paleoart
No wildflowers this spring in the northern Mojave Desert, but the wild views are still stunning. Sarcobatus Flat, Nevada, volcanic pumice flat.
April 12, 2025 at 12:57 AM
No wildflowers this spring in the northern Mojave Desert, but the wild views are still stunning. Sarcobatus Flat, Nevada, volcanic pumice flat.
The cheatgrass cycle: we’ve lost a tremendous amount of native perennial grasslands to livestock grazing, which then enter a vicious cycle of weedy conversion to introduced annual grass, thriving on disturbance. This is why most fuel breaks in the sagebrush zone fail to halt wind-driven wildfires.
April 4, 2025 at 3:57 PM
The cheatgrass cycle: we’ve lost a tremendous amount of native perennial grasslands to livestock grazing, which then enter a vicious cycle of weedy conversion to introduced annual grass, thriving on disturbance. This is why most fuel breaks in the sagebrush zone fail to halt wind-driven wildfires.