I once went on a date with somebody who used to work at a supposedly haunted historical site, and she told me that the actual old ghost stories that had been passed down about the place were all really grim. Like you could supposedly hear the footsteps of a man who killed himself pacing the floor right before pulling the trigger, reliving his agonizing final moments again and again. So she and some other employees made up a new, silly ghost to tell tourists about to lighten the mood. This one just rattles things in the kitchen and I guess is chill overall.
Reblogged thefantasticone
just learned that magnolias are so old that they’re pollinated by beetles because they existed before bees
They existed *before beetles*
Why is this sad? Why am I sad?
This is how I feel about Joshua Trees. They and avocado trees produce fruit meant to be eaten and dispersed by giant ground sloths. Without them, the Joshua Trees' range has shrunk by 90%.
(my own photos)
Not only they, but the entire Mojave ecosystem is still struggling to adapt since the loss of ground sloth dung. their chief fertilizer.
Many, many trees and plants in the Americas have widely-spaced, extremely long thorns that do nothing to discourage deer eating their leaves, but would've penetrated the fur of ground sloths and mammoths. Likewise, if you've observed a tree that drops baseball or softball-sized fruit which lies on the ground and rots, like Osage Oranges, which were great for playing catch at my school, chances are they were ground sloth or mammoth chow.
You can read about various orphaned plants and trees missing their megafauna in this poignant post:

First quote from the linked article. Found it poetic.
Reblogged thefantasticone
i am massively overdue for a very very good week where not a single bad thing happens and everything is easy
reblog to give prev a very good week where not a single bad thing happens and everything is easy