I have always thought this Scythian-related felt bird from a tumulus burial at cold Pazyryk was actually a stork and not a swan. (One of my favorite artifacts anywhere!) #2026MMM www.livescience.com/archaeology/...

Pazyryk Swan: A 2,400-year-old plush swan from Siberia tied to the 'creation of the universe'

Archaeologists think the felt figurine was used as a symbol of life by the Iron Age people of the region.

livescience.com

Mauna Dasari@chumblebiome.bsky.social · 6mo ago

White Storks can be a valuable measure of how healthy a habitat is (a bioindicator!) across their migratory range : exposure to different levels of pollution causes clear physiological/behavioral responses (Bjedov, Mikuška, &Velki 2025) #2026MMM #2026mmm

#2026MMM (click pic to see whole word)

Next up: #2 Lions (Panthera leo) vs #7 White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) #2026MMM #2026mmm

TONIGHT!! ROUND 2 of MONEY MAMMALS & LIBRARY LEGENDS #2026MMM

a man in a suit and tie is standing in a doorway with the words it 's go time .

Alt: Keanu Reeves in a suit and tie is standing in a doorway with the words it 's go time .

media.tenor.com

#2026MMM if you liked the art tonight, and you'd like to support the art team who made it, you can find it available as stickers in the Erminea shop: ermineainc.org/shop/

A heads down approach will not save science. We need to speak up, live our values, and demand integrity. www.statnews.com/2026/03/12/n...

I’m an NIH whistleblower. The scientific community cannot afford to avoid politics

“Scientists are often encouraged to avoid politics. But this advice is outdated, if it was ever correct in the first place,” writes Jenna Norton, NIH whistleblower.

statnews.com

RIP the mold? Or the library? Xerophilic fungi like Aspergillus thrive at very low moisture and slowly consume paintings and paper—maybe by switching on enzyme genes that digest cellulose, glues, and binders. #RIP #2026MMM www.mdpi.com/2309-608X/10...

#2026MMM #LibraryDivision #TeamLions Art by Olivia Pellicer @opellisms.bsky.social

that book was delicious but now it’s time for me to win #2026MMM a mold’s gotta do what a mold’s gotta do

Last Up: #2 Lions (Panthera leo) vs. #15 Mold (Aspergillus sp.)! A #2026MMM collab between @mammalssuck.bsky.social and myself!

And if you want to learn more Sumerian hymns--especially those about a wide variety of deities--you can see many transcribed and transliterated here! #2026MMM I haven't found the word for the himri yet, but I'm working on it. etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk

Mauna Dasari@chumblebiome.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Stork vs Himri is a tribute to the earliest known recorded literature: the Sumerian Disputation Poems. These poems were written in Sumerian cuneiform on clay tablets in the 3rd millennium BC. Only one Disputation features two animals: Bird and Fish. #2026MMM www.worldhistory.org/article/2160...

Seems more “eggshell” than white to me #2026MMM

#2026MMM #LibraryDivision #TeamWhiteStork Art by Valeria Pellicer @veppart.bsky.social

#RIP Mesopotamian Himri 🐟 Carasobarbus fish are hexaploid, which means they carry 6 copies of each chromosome instead of the usual 2! This ancient genome duplication makes their DNA uniquely complex. #2026MMM #RIP zookeys.pensoft.net/article/3291/

Narrator @chumblebiome.bsky.social demonstrating that the most recent citations are not always the best citations! #CiteYourClayTablets #2026MMM #bcvammm

Mauna Dasari@chumblebiome.bsky.social · 6mo ago

"Bird sought for Fish, searching the marshes. Bird peered into the deep water for Fish, watching closely." #2026MMM

As it was written, so it was done. #2026MMM

Next Up: #7 White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) vs. #10 Mesopotamian himri (Carasobarbus luteus) #2026MMM

A mouse in the house? Almost definitely. The house mouse (Mus musculus) moved in with humans 15,000 years ago, but they’re new to the Americas—hitching a ride on European ships in the 1500s. #2026MMM pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

Lagomorphs were common doodles & illustrations in the margins of illuminated manuscripts made vibrant with gold silver & other bright pigments. These books were written by hand (and copies made by hand) in the Middle Ages almost exclusively in the libraries of medieval monastaries. #2026MMM

Hate that #2026MMM

Heidi Lyn@heidilynphd.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Silverfish can jump #2026MMM

RIP #2026MMM

Chris Anderson@cnanderson.bsky.social · 6mo ago

A Eurasian eagle owl named Yoda was issued a library card by the University of Bath for it's services to scare gulls away. Yoda passed away from cancer in 2023, but I like to think it provides guidance from the great beyond #2026MMM

When you’ve got a species like cats who’ve caused like, 60 different species extinctions, that bat was no match #2026mmm

Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) may yet outlive its competitors. This tiny bat weighs < two pennies but can live up to 15 years—mice last only ~2. Bat genome comparisons point to changes in DNA repair & immune genes that may slow aging #RIP #2026MMM www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Plot twist: “ancient domestic cat” wasn’t a domestic cat after all. Genomics of 5,400-year-old bones from China revealed a leopard cat instead. Domestic cat (Felis catus) likely reached China via Silk Road trade only ~1,400 years ago. #2026MMM www.cell.com/cell-genomic...

I remember playing croc papyrus scissors when I was a kid. #2026MMM

TONIGHT! Round 1 of the LIBRARY LEGENDS!!!! Tonight we will explore some amazing taxa that are associated with libraries- through symbolism, through lifestyle, invited guests and pesky pests! #2026MMM

#2026MMM

a wrestler says i said are you ready in front of a crowd

ALT: a wrestler says i said are you ready in front of a crowd

media.tenor.com

NEXT UP: 3rd-seed Wild Yak (Bos mutus) vs. 14th seed Zorilla (Ictonyx striatus)! #2025MMM This battle is by @chumblebiome.bsky.social!

NEXT UP: 6th-seed Mountain Zebra (Equus zebra) vs. 11th seed White-Faced Capuchin (Cebus capucinus)! #2025MMM This battle is by @chumblebiome.bsky.social!

Next Up: 3rd-seed Wild Yak (Bos mutus) vs. 6th-seed Mountain Zebra (Equus zebra), written by @chumblebiome.bsky.social #2025MMM