Marsupial - Tumblr Posts
Cute baby wombat
Some progress shots from a newly done commission of a thylacoleo carnifex. Looks rather alien and bony doesn't it? Steelwire armature padded with tinfoil, bound by soft steel wire, basic skull and skeletal structure, and premade custom size eyes and very rudementary anatomy "filling". Finished product up on Firday 10th. . Been thinking about doing process videos/time-lapse videos of sculptures. Would you be interested? . Been a few hectic and exhausting weeks! I haven't shown much from the animation project I'm working on for ADHDNorge and Extrastiftelsen..don't know why? Will show some soon as my contract is nearing an end✌😢 On top of this I've been working more on my more seasonal job lately, so, very little time energy to do anything but!😪 #armatureworks #armature #art #artinprogress #wip #artistofinstagram #artist #paleoart #thylacoleo #thylacoleocarnifex #dropbear #marsupial #animalart #sculpture #sciart #fantasyart #creature #creaturedesign #paleoartist #creaturedesigner #dinosaurart #iceage #iceageanimal #maquette #supersculpey #sculpey #supersculpeyoriginal https://www.instagram.com/p/BxRCDPSlR28/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=n0oznum5h44d
Thylacoleo carnifex enters the arena! Thylacoleo, commonly called the "marsupial lion" was the largest carniverous marsupial to have ever lived, and could reach about the same weight class as an African lion! Some of it's closest relatives are the kangaroos and wombats. It has a series of adaptations suggesting it stems from an arboreal ancesstor, and it may have evolved carnivory from a mostly herbivorous diet along its evolutionary tree. It actually doesn't have usable canine teeth like most carnivorous mammals do, instead it used its well developed incisors, possibly in combination with its meathook "thumb" claws to deliver a fatal bite to the neck or back of the skull of its prey. . Commission done for @caitlinmillerm I hope you enjoy! And do share if you're painting it or do something fun with him! If you are interested in a commission, contact me through DMs😊 (cannot promise i can do anything until August due to work, but we can talk and plan out the details) #miniature #artistofinstagram #artistoninstagram #paleoartist #sculptor #sculpture #supersculpy #paleoart #thylacoleo #thylacoleocarnifex #maquette #creatureart #creaturedesign #creaturedesigner #arksurvival #dinosaurart #iceage #iceageanimal #marsupial #marsupialion #commission #art #jurassicworld #jurassicpark #toymaker #prehistoricanimal https://www.instagram.com/p/BxTN-SAl6wr/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ougp2n01xyi1
Footnote: This is my new blog! Due to some technical issues with the old one, I will be rblging the original MMM and CFF posts on this account, as well as continuing both lil series!
Creacher Feature Friday 2: Ode to the Opossum
Oh, you marvelous, misaligned, misunderstood marsupial, how I salute you~
Introducing a classic North American underdog and everyone’s favorite garbage gobbler, the Virginia Opossum! Not, of course, to be confused with the Australian common possum.
Ngl, the more I’ve come to learn about these funky lil fellas throughout my years, the more they solidify their spot as my favorite animal, but also the more their bad rep absolutely befuddles me.
Going by the pop culture representation of the poor things you would think they were just rat-tailed raccoons. But they’re so flipping unique and underrated.
Getting the obvious out of the way, not ratty at all! Not even remotely rodent. That’s all pouch-baring marsupial, baby, like kangaroos and bandicoots and mongooses. They’re also the ONLY marsupial native to the United States. And just like the cobra-eating mongoose, they also happen to share a high resistance to snake venom! We love them down in the south where they’re a fearless and very successful predator of copperheads, water moccasins, and rattlesnakes. They also help keep Lyme disease in check each year. They rarely catch it and/because they eat most ticks that latch onto them, making them not a key reservoir species for the pathogen.
You know what else they love eating? Slugs and snails the sorts that otherwise wreck gardens left unchecked. They call them rabid pests? Why, opossums are straight up free pest control! And the “rabid” thing is the most ridiculous part.
Like, can someone seriously, please tell me how on earth THIS little guy becoming the poster boy for rabies jokes makes any ounce of sense? I mean, other than for the hilarious irony when you realize a little known fact:
Virginia opossums have a natural resistance to contracting the rabies virus, too. No joke. They’re probably near the very bottom of the list of animals you’d have to fear the disease from. While any mammal certainly can become rabid, it’s phenomenally rare for opossums be reported as active carriers of rabies, and this comes down to the simple trait that is their curiously low body temperature.
Most mammals like to keep their innards in a cozy range of about 97°F to 104°F (~36 °C to 40°C), the Virginia Opossum enjoys a comfortable homeostasis all the way down to about 94°F (~ 34 °C). As luck would have it for them, rabies has a hard time being able to incubate at such a low temperature under normal circumstances.
Got a hunch, but maybe the “vicious/rabid” stereotype comes from the way they act when humans do happen to encounter them up close. They’re horribly near-sighted, slow moving little wanderers (big reason they get roadkilled so often), so they don’t really have fleeing in their set of options when facing down a threat. When an opossum gets frightened, the first thing they know to do is…. Bluff. Open up their mouths real wide and hiss and growl as convincingly scary as they can manage. I think it looks really goofy tbh, like
“:V”
The thing being, while this is pretty a intimidating act, it’s not much anything more than that. I’ve never actually learned about a wild mammal LESS willing to commit to defending itself. They’re complete cowards that seldom ever attack or bite people. There’s videos out there of professionals being able to handle wild females WITH babies on board and the things never actually go for a bite.
And this is mostly because their plan B after the bluff isn’t working out is, well… you know, playing possum. It’s not even something they choose to do. It’s actually an involuntary reflex due to shock. They curl up, keep that mouth wide open, and basically pass out on the spot. To make the corpse audition even more “convincing” they additionally secret a foul odor from their anal glands, so they can smell as dead as they look. The hope is that whatever was spooking them so badly just looses its appetite and moves on, leaving the opossum unscathed.
⚠️Important note that this is of course NOT an endorsement to try your luck for yourself by picking up or petting the first one you see. No wild animals are 100% predictable, especially when cornered, and even if these are relatively docile, dealing with them should be left to the licensed professionals (who do still wear gloves when they do, just in case) and any kind of unnecessary contact is going to be extremely stressful to them. We understood? Ok 👍🏻
Really, unless you’re a chicken farmer there’s really no reason to be so darn afraid of them. All they mostly do is just bumble along trying to mind their own business. Look at these super moms, mad respect.
This is seriously what they do for a while after the babies are too big to chill in here pouch, and it makes me smile very widely.
Not to mention the babies themselves are drop-dead adorable. Check out this lil punk and his fingerless gloves! This teeny silly billy and his prehensile tail?
Stupendous and gorgeous. Hats off to the common opossum, please keep being yourselves. We know you’re trying your best.
And that will be all until next Friday. I promise, pinky out and everything, I will definitely fill you in by then on the whole “mind-control fungus that turns cicadas into bisexual zombies” thing I mentioned last time. Just sit tight.
IM GOING TO PUNCH YOU IN THE DICK BONE YOU TERRIBLE MARSUPIAL 🦘🦘🦘!!!!!!!!
I care for the creatures of the forest big and small 🌳🍃
(My friend is a wildlife rehabber!)
home is wherever i am with them. 🖤
if fat tailed dunnarts have no fans i am dead!!