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A Gorgeous Little Theropod.

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Greetings. Allosaurus. Carnotaurus. Spinosaurus. Velociraptor. The iconic Tyrannosaurus rex. Theropods all. Included in that particular group of animals are all birds, avian dinosaurs numbering about 11,000 living species today. One particularly beautiful living example is Pharomachrus mocinno.  The resplendent quetzal, Pharomachrus mocinno, is a small bird found in Central America and southern Mexico that lives in tropical forests, in particular montane cloud forests. A member of the family Trogonidae, the resplendent is for the most part omnivorous; its diet mainly consisting of the fruits of plants in the laurel family, occasionally preying on insects, lizards, frogs and snails. Pharomachrus mocinno possesses a colorful and complex plumage that differs substantially between the sexes. Males have iridescent green plumes, a red lower breast and belly, black innerwings, and a white undertail. Females have grey lower breasts, bellies, and bills, along with bronze-green heads, and sh...
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A Miocene Species, Extant, Advanced & Prehistoric.

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Greetings. The hoatzin, Opisthocomus hoazin, is a species of tropical avian dinosaur that arose in the Miocene approximately 23 million years ago, a native of the Amazon and Orinoco river basins of South America.  The only extant species of the ancient genus Opisthocomus, the hoatzin occupies swamps, mangroves, and other tropical forest habitats. The species has been successful since it first appeared in the fossil record, and has several contradictory physical characteristics that confirm its ancient lineage, yet suggest advanced evolutionary processes at work. The young of the species possess claws on two of its wing digits, unique to modern birds, and reminiscent of Jurassic and Cretaceous Period birds. Adults have digestive systems that are capable of fermentation and the processing of plant matter, two attributes known from some primates and herbivorous ungulate mammals, but not known from any other species of modern bird.  Hoatzins have a length of about 65 centimeters, ...
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The Penchant for Conspiratorial Jumps.

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Greetings. The United States had not landed anything, manned or unmanned, on the Moon since December of 1972. That changed on February 22nd of 2025 when the unmanned Odysseus moon lander touched down at 6:23pm Eastern Standard Time. When the lander commenced broadcasting signals back towards the Earth, the strength of the signal was immediately seen as somewhat less powerful than expected by the technicians in charge of the probe's operation and mission itinerary. When this particular bit of news became public knowledge, the conspiracy theorists immediately began their speculations. Some made statements alleging that the mission of the probe was to somehow "hide something" from the public, although what that something is was not elaborated on. Some made the wild claim of "aliens!" Such rhetoric is typical of the UFO subculture, particularly the "woo" crowd. As it turns out, mission technicians believe that one of the probe's landing pads made conta...
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