Emballonuridae is a family of bats commonly known as sheath-tailed or sac-winged bats. I’m surprised these bats aren’t better known, because they have very uniquely appealing little faces. I think it’s the perpetually upturned nose.
They also have a stunning variety of colors, from the pure-white northern ghost bat to the dark chocolate of the Hill’s sheath-tailed bat.
Among them are some excellent camoflaugers, such as the proboscis bat, which looks like a bit of lichen or damaged bark on a tree.
In fact, many species in Emballonuridae roost on the trunks and branches of trees, in broad daylight, depending on their camouflage to keep them safe. They like to do it in neat little lines.
Sometimes they also stack.
You may have noticed their short little tailed. They’re sometimes called sheath-tailed bats because these tails protrude out of the membrane between their back legs, which can be pulled up to “sheath” the tail. Here’s a video if you don’t quite understand what I mean.
As I mentioned earlier, they’re also called sac-winged bats. This is because they have special pouches near their wrists designed to release pheromones into the air when they flap their wings. Below is a close up of the pouch, closed and then opened.
For the most part these are very small bats, with weights as low as three to four grams- one of the smallest, the proboscis bat, can get caught in spiderwebs and eaten.
Aside from roosting in trees, these bats roost in caves, crevices, and occasionally, human-made structures like wells or stone tombs. Because of this, several species are known as tomb bats. They’re pretty adorable little harbingers of death if you ask me.
Photo credits:
Main set (species in photo caption): Bat Conservation Intl / Jasmine Vink / University of KwaZulu-Natal / Merlin Tuttle / Michael Penney
Emedded in text: Bateleur Nature Reserve / ARKive / Riley Pearce / PSUNHM / Christian Ziegler
i think especially with relatively near future sci-fi and alternate present/just off reality sci-fi and fantasy, it’s a lot more effective to play off of “this word is the same, but the thing it refers to is in fact different than what you’ll initially picture or assume” than to invent a bunch of cutesy fake slang (again, ESPECIALLY for things we already have good words for)
like, for a real life example of what im talking about– we had “phones” in 1977, and we still have “phones” in 2017, but MAN would a time traveler from the 70s be confused by the things we call “phones” now, and the ways we use and relate to them– “im typing this text post on my phone, and autocorrect keeps cramping my style” is a straightforward and easily understandable sentence to me in 2017. it would sound like word salad to someone from 1977. (how can you TYPE something on a PHONE?? what does “post” mean in this context, or “text”? the fuck is “autocorrect”??)
but we still call them “phones”, you know, and not, idk, “cyberrectangles”
interplanetary shuttle system makes use of automated, pre-scheduled wormholes to get you to your day job on mars every morning – still called taking the bus.
super high-tech window protectors that keep out the deadly light of the ultra-bright sun? “close the curtains, tom, it’s almost dawn.”
your zero-g space station’s air filtration system is malfunctioning, threatening to cause a fiery explosion as all the waste co2 builds up in the engine room rather than the greenhouse? time to call the plumber.
This is why memetic sciences are more than making memes on the internet, they’re the linguistic and intellectual shorthand that underpin society and it’s really kinda neat when you realize that in the process of becoming a member of a society, you get these sorts of shared symbols that represent larger concepts.
Things like the symbols from ISO 7000, the official repository for symbols used on machinery, the concept of ‘librarian’ and ‘plumber’, and the concept of municipal spaces like ‘park’ and ‘red light district’.
forget wanderlust, sonder, all those words for vague dreamy feelings… what I’m asking for is a concise word for the feeling you get when someone makes an assumption about you that’s 100% correct but you really don’t like that anyone was able to make that assumption. for now I’m calling it a fuckor
“he asked me ‘you main junkrat right’ and a wave of fuckor wracked my feeble body”
As a child I was supremely inspired by science fiction films and made up hundreds of “space aliens” to populate an imaginary galaxy. My brother and I then play-acted adventures set in this fictitious realm.
My parents kept all my drawings; there are dozens upon dozens of pages, each populated with multitudes of aliens, complete with descriptions of every species and character.
Earlier this year I started putting together a portfolio of zany “trope” aliens, with the hopes of getting a gig designing aliens for a popular animated show. (Guess which?)
Instead of designing things from scratch, I decided to resurrect and re-draw ten characters from my childhood. Here they are, complete with original drawings and vitally-important attributes and descriptions.
Tri-Bots (1992) – Actually a lego-like colony of semi-organic robots. – Head robot gets to be the brain. – If decapitated, they play a form of robotic “rock paper scissors” to elect the new leader.
Meta-Snake (1992-3?) – Not a real snake, but a trans-dimensional entity that can slip between dimensions. – Glowing jaws help Meta-Snake open up portals between worlds. – Its face is a fake face; Meta-Snake’s actual eyes are the pore-like things between its body segments. – A sardonic character; refers to itself in the third person and speaks in riddles. – Occasionally speaks backwards because it has a different concept of time. – Can grant wishes, alter the universe and save you from the most dangerous situations… – … but you can’t really trust it.
Ogrenas (1995) – A scary-looking insect-reptile with a heart of gold. – Misunderstood and shunned, actually very kind and harmless. – Its species lives in big hives; glowing eyes can project holograms. – Scary teeth evolved to gnaw on the bark of giant trees. – Glands on its chest secrete a clear goo that Ogrenas must rub all over its body to avoid sunburn. Other species covet this goo as a valuable drug.
Sirian [IKMASH] (1995) – Very intelligent fellow, but devoid of feelings. – Gets a sadistic streak sometimes. – The classic grey alien but also a bit like a cat. – Lonely last member of a once-proud master race; vain and pompous personality. – Makes inappropriate advances to women of all and any species he meets, particular to brunettes. – Operates machines light-years beyond human technology. Can turn light into matter.
The Sultis Megadon Monster (1995) – From the same planet as Ogrenas (see above). – A predatory animal with a hollow head, people can get in via a door-like flap behind its jaws and drive it around like a car. – Controls inside look like tentacles, pustules and glands, you must tug at them. – If you crash into someone the Sultis Megadon Monster eats them. – If two Sultis Megadon crash head on, the larger eats the smaller. – If they are the same size, they start mating.
Veridian (1996) – Cryptic and shy intelligent species, comes in many varieties with different head-frills. – Their planet is full of snakes! – Scared of open places and doesn’t like being touched. – Will sting you to death with its extremely pointed jaw, but does not want confrontation. – Has no vocal cords, talks by shaking its elaborate, winged tail rattle.
Voidian (1996) – Friendly but annoying frog character. – Makes bad jokes and talks too much, but ultimately harmless. – Its race once lived on trees, but have now been banished to a network of caves. – Has the annoying habit of jumping on people to startle them.
Pudd (1997) – Cryptic member of a mollusk-spider race where everyone calls themselves “Pudd”. – In fact that’s the only word they can speak. – They actually communicate with a very sophisticated sign language performed by their top four limbs. – Shy characters; only want to play with strange devices they build in trees. – Scary claws help them climb enormous redwoods. Not predators. – Skip on the ground from tree to tree on well-developed monopod. – Hermaphrodites: Both lovers get pregnant when they make out. – Pale spigot on body squirts a kind of defensive ink. – Salt works like a dangerous drug on them; Pudd will crave it even as it kills them.
VIXON (1997) – A gregarious and boisterous space merchant of an unknown race. – Travels in a flashy spaceship that has many bright lights and chrome polish. – Enjoys giving people an awkward time. – Fun to hang out with but he WILL swindle you if you give him the chance. – Has glowing tonsils as a result of space herpes infection. – Every arm has a testicle and an ejaculatory pipe that Vixon uses in place of a thumb and forefinger… -… except the third pair, which has ovaries and other female genitals. But Vixon can’t get pregnant from himself.
Snirfle (1997) – Very smart dude, can hack any device. – From a backwoods planet; got where he is by sheer hard work. – Its hands are only used for grooming; Snirfle uses his triple proboscii to type on computers. – Can digest almost any type of food; prone to binge-eating, keep food away from him! – Sings when no one is looking.
I see your “romantic relationships shouldn’t be more important than platonic relationships” and raise you “romantic relationships shouldn’t be rooted in anything but strong, healthy, and mutually rewarding friendships anyways”
i haven’t stopped seeing notes for this since I posted it and I just wanna reiterate: it’s really important that you don’t get romantically involved with people you can’t be friends with. Separating a romantic relationship from a platonic context is unhealthy. Your romantic partner/s should always be your friend/s.
Time's Vengeance 