Pretty Spooky Things 🎃
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prettyuglythings.bsky.social
Pretty Spooky Things 🎃
@prettyuglythings.bsky.social
300 followers 1.1K following 140 posts
Amateur naturalist, serious collector, and appreciator of the unusual things our planet is capable of… based out of Tucson!

Purveyor of minerals, succulents, isopods, and information
https://prettyuglythingsaz.com // https://prettyuglythingsaz.etsy.com
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prettyuglythings.bsky.social
Pretty Spooky Things 🎃 @prettyuglythings.bsky.social · Jan 12
Oh hi
A greater roadrunner standing at alert
prettyuglythings.bsky.social
Ash Meadows is off the beaten path but an absolute treasure. If I recall correctly, it has one of the greatest concentrations of endemic species in the world!
The desert around Ash Meadows, with low scrubby brush in bare ground, with flow marks around them from recent water flows. View from the boardwalk at Ash Meadows, with scraggy desert trees mixed with dense green reeds hiding a waterway. The same spring in the quoted post because it’s just so darn pretty, with crystal clear green-blue water.
December 11, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Reposted by Pretty Spooky Things 🎃
drkatfish.bsky.social
One is the loneliest number: the Pahrump poolfish is the last living member of its genus (Empetricthys). The 3 others (Ash Meadows poolfish, Raycraft Ranch springfish + Pahrump Ranch killifish, all also found only in Nevada) had gone extinct by 1960 due to human activity #25DaysofFishmas
A Pahrump poolfish wearing a Santa hat; the text says December 11
December 11, 2025 at 2:06 PM
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jeffontherock.bsky.social
Sugared Sunburst Lichen (I love that name), Xanthoria sorediata. Northwest Territories, Canada.
#lichen #fungi #fungifriends
Photo of a bright orange lichen growing in a rock crevice.
December 11, 2025 at 12:09 AM
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coastalpaleo.bsky.social
#tidepooling Last month my cousin got married in Laguna Beach during king tides, so I snuck out just before the rehearsal dinner and saw a bunch of new critters! Here's a branched dendronotid nudibranch (~5 mm long), Dendronotus frondosus - a new one for me! 🦀🦑
A small pale sea slug on a red algae branch, with many branched tentacle like structures with gold parts sticking off of its back. A small pale sea slug on a red algae branch, with many branched tentacle like structures with gold parts sticking off of its back. A small pale sea slug on a red algae branch, with many branched tentacle like structures with gold parts sticking off of its back. A small pale sea slug on a red algae branch, with many branched tentacle like structures with gold parts sticking off of its back.
December 10, 2025 at 5:44 PM
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sarahmackattack.bsky.social
One of my neighbors has been putting up these fish facts posters. All kinds of different fish, marine, freshwater, deep, shallow, all kinds. This is a good one. “Stg this real fish” took me out. Good work, neighbor.
A poster on 8.5 x 11 inch paper saga Fishtown fish facts: red lipped catfish or of ocephalus Darwini. Then a pic of that freaky fish with 4 limbs it rests on the ground and then the words “stg this fish real red-lipped batfish walk ocean floor with they flippers RLBF have RBF, not they fault RLBF have a bioluminescent lure that glows to attract dinner RLBF lipgloss is popping, RLBF lipgloss is cool, all the fish keep jockin, they chase RLBF after school RLBF got scales like armor and shine bright like a diamond Red-lipped batfish will teach you how to dougie, I can promise u that. @yaboyni Take a moment And and realize the moment You took has already passed Thank you See you next time
December 7, 2025 at 3:39 PM
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nadwgab.bsky.social
334 of #365Minerals 🧪⚒️

Spinel:
- An oxide mineral
- Forms via metamorphism
- Can be various colours due to impurities
- Its name comes from the Latin word "spinella" (little thorn) because of its pointy octahedral shape #minerals
An opaque, black modified octahedron of spinel on a matrix containing calcite and idocrase. From Greenwood, New York, USA. Specimen on display in the Natural History Museum, London. Dark blue spinel octahedra in a matrix containing muscovite and calcite. From Lake Baikal, Siberia. Specimen on display in the Natural History Museum, London. An octagonal mixed-cut translucent pink spinel gemstone. From Sri Lanka. This information is repeated on its display label. BM.89175. Specimen on display in the Natural History Museum, London.
November 30, 2025 at 12:48 PM
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nataliajagielska.bsky.social
Doodles for Hong Kong 🇭🇰

In response to the tragic Tai Po fire, I'm doing charity commissions. Anyone who puts over £25/250HKD into "Feeding Hong Kong" or Hong Kong SPCA can request a coloured doodle of any prehistoric animal 🙏
November 29, 2025 at 12:53 AM
prettyuglythings.bsky.social
I enjoy rescuing moths from water. They often find their way into bird baths and water dishes, I just put a finger under them, lift out, and let them rest until they dry off.
A pale tan moth on the tip of a finger, its wings wet, drooping, and stuck to the finger. The same moth on gravel with wings spread, dry and recovered
December 2, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Reposted by Pretty Spooky Things 🎃
mossworm.bsky.social
thrips
flat color cartoon drawings of several thrips, small insects which may have four wings or none. clockwise from top left: a thrips with very complex fringed wings, a thrips with large crab claws, two drawings of thrips with no wings and a dark brown front end and tan back, and a long and thin black thrips with red legs photos of the real animals that are drawn in the previous image; Arachisothrips has large and complex wings, Stephanothrips is wingless with a dark brown head and thorax, Idolothrips is very long and thin, and Carcinothrips has very large crab claw-like forearms
December 2, 2025 at 1:34 AM
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prisonculture.bsky.social
I learned about two projects that are supporting people to get food.

This one allows you to cover someone's groceries: findagrocerybuddy.com/become-a-don...
Become a Donor | Find a Grocery Buddy
Fund a verified grocery order through Find a Grocery Buddy. Pay securely via PayPal — we’ll place the Instacart order and send you proof of delivery.
findagrocerybuddy.com
December 1, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Reposted by Pretty Spooky Things 🎃
nickybay.bsky.social
This is the Sunburst Candy Spider from Thailand. Not AI (sucks to have to declare this). Very real and had been on my wish list for a long time.

The taxonomic placement is unclear, so we are leaving it at Cyrtarachninae.
November 29, 2025 at 3:15 PM
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drrelling.dev
@franzanth.bsky.social you may already be aware of the existence of this, but I felt like it needed to be brought to your attention if not: store.steampowered.com/app/2053910/...
Save 20% on Isopod: A Webbed Spin-off on Steam
You're a tiny pill-bug in a big world! Roll, zip, and slam your way through the gorgeous landscapes of the Australian bush, unite your fellow bugs, and fight back the greedy Fire Ant Conglomerate!
store.steampowered.com
November 28, 2025 at 11:18 AM
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nadwgab.bsky.social
331 of #365Minerals 🧪⚒️

Andalusite:
- An aluminosilicate mineral
- A polymorph of kyanite and sillimanite
- A common low grade metamorphic mineral
- Used in the production of high temperature ceramics
- Named after Andalusia in Spain #minerals
Twin crystals of andalusite (variety chiastolite) in a grey mica schist. The crystals are beige and look like flowers with four petals. A cut and polished slice. From Bimbowrie, South Australia. Specimen on display in the Natural History Museum, London.
November 27, 2025 at 10:36 AM
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rachelschine.bsky.social
My annual traveling turkeys post! What do you do when a New World bird visits the Mughal court? Paint it in miniature, of course! This essay by Neha Vermani follows the Muslim reception of our feathered friends.
www.folger.edu/blogs/shakes...
The turkey's journey from the Atlantic to the early modern Islamic world | Folger Shakespeare Library
Folger Shakespeare Library is the world's largest Shakespeare collection, the ultimate resource for exploring Shakespeare and his world. Shakespeare belongs to you. His world is vast. Come explore. Jo...
www.folger.edu
November 27, 2025 at 2:23 PM
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artologica.net
I wrote a while back about the many scams and crappy "opportunities" that target artists
The Subtle Scam
Artists, beware of these "opportunities"
open.substack.com
November 27, 2025 at 3:16 PM
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geohenning.bsky.social
You’ll be visited by 3 spirits

The three spirits
Igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks
November 26, 2025 at 3:32 PM
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nadwgab.bsky.social
329 of #365Minerals 🧪⚒️

Anorthite:
- A calcium-rich plagioclase feldspar
- Forms in mafic igneous rocks
- Found on the Moon and and in comets such as Comet 81P/Wild
- Its name comes from the Greek words "αν oρθός/an orthós" (not a right angle) because its crystals have an oblique form #minerals
November 25, 2025 at 10:26 AM
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rosemarymosco.com
As the year comes to an end, I'm reposting some of the comics I made this year, including this ridiculous thing.
A six-panel comic. In the first panel, a yellow warbler says "Hey so I'm going to go out on a limb here." In panels two through five, the warbler hops along a long branch against a blue sky with clouds. In panel 6, it stops at the end of the branch and sings.
November 25, 2025 at 3:19 PM
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bealeiderman.bsky.social
A very furry moth in the genus Trosia. It flew through the rain and got some water in its eye so it looks like it’s crying 🌱

#insect #macro #nature
A moth on a stick. I picked it up on the stick to photograph it. The wings are covered in cream scales but the wings themselves are bright orange and they show just a bit among the scales. There is a line of black dots running from the middle of the wings diagonally towards the bottom tips. The thorax is covered in fur, cream with longer tufts of orange. It looks like a fancy cape a king might wear. The face is very furry and bright orange with black eyes and antennae. The legs are furry and bright orange close to the body and then black near the feet.
November 24, 2025 at 10:26 PM
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adapalmer.bsky.social
A 35-day deep-sea expedition in the Southern Ocean has uncovered 30 new species: from a carnivorous “death-ball” sponge to iridescent armoured worms, black corals and even the first-ever live footage of a colossal squid in its natural habitat. buff.ly/9uVWJvN
#ShareGoodNewsToo
Armored worms and death-ball sponges among array of life newly documented from the deep sea
In the darkness of the deep ocean, where pressure crushes and light fails, an expedition has found an astonishing array of life, including a carnivorous “death-ball” sponge (from the genus…
buff.ly
November 24, 2025 at 1:50 PM
prettyuglythings.bsky.social
Aww yeah look at the uropods on that baby
Close view of the rear end of a milkback porcellio laevis isopod, with focus on the well-built pleons and elongated uropods, the latter of which look like two spikes on its butt
November 23, 2025 at 10:45 PM
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lucagalletti.bsky.social
Bats are literally just tiny Dragons
November 20, 2025 at 6:22 PM
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dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social
There are two types of people in the world: people who fucking love maps, and people who don't.
November 8, 2025 at 7:44 AM
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whatevermaranda.com
Love this so much. 💜
Meme: a quirky hand-drawn cat beneath the script "AHEM - please don't give billionaires more of your money this holiday season - buy something cool and handmade from some fun weirdo instead & help them eat. Shop small, y'all." Image credit: "Small businesses need your support more than ever 💗 By Sugarhouse Ceramic Co."
November 15, 2025 at 4:17 AM
prettyuglythings.bsky.social
Climate change isn’t real, it’s normal for my orange tree to be blooming in *checks notes* the middle of November 👍
A bee visiting a white citrus flower
November 16, 2025 at 4:16 PM