Ruben Comitini
@rubencomitini.bsky.social
190 followers 230 following 190 posts
🎓 BSc in Natural Sciences in 🇮🇹 🎓 Ongoing MSc in Palaeontology in 🇫🇷 Palaeontology (dinos and other reptiles + fossil plants sometimes) | Clean tech and sustainability | Biodiversity and nature conservation | I'm gay 🏳️‍🌈 & love BL series 🏳️‍🌈🇹🇭 | K-pop & T-pop 🇰🇷🎸🇹🇭
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
rubencomitini.bsky.social
I have been away from social media for a while, not only because I was overwhelmed by recent political events, but also because it appears that studying natural sciences in France is much more stressful than in Italy. But now I'm getting used to my new university and... I'm back here on Bluesky!
rubencomitini.bsky.social
#FossilFriday: an ichnofossil - probably a crustacean burrow - from the Pliocene (the site is dated at 3.7-3.5 Ma) of the Cervo River "Canyon", Biella Province, Piedmont.

#ichnology #ichnofossil #tracefossil #invertebrate
An elongated burrow preserved as a relief on coarse-grained sediments. A scale bar shows that the observable part is around 20 cm long and 1-1.5 cm wide. It appears that the burrow branches on the right of the image.
Reposted by Ruben Comitini
himmapaan.bsky.social
Tyrannosaurus rex was named 120 years ago today on 4th October, 1905.

I would do things a little differently now, but this drawing is from 2020.
Graphite and brown pencil drawing of the head of a Tyrannosaurus rex, mouth agape, in profile, facing left. The drawing is characterised by intricate linework and texture.
Reposted by Ruben Comitini
doublebeam.bsky.social
#ZAVACEPHALE IS FINALLY OUT! 🥳 Our first definitive Early Cretaceous pachycephalosaur! (~15 my older than the previous oldest pachycephalosaurs) And the first hand material for the clade! I can't tell y'all how much of a pleasure it was to review this paper! ☺️
rubencomitini.bsky.social
Interesting thread, waiting for the next part!
rubencomitini.bsky.social
I haven't been posting for a while because I was moving to Lille, France to join a Master's Program in Palaeontology! Starting to live here has been tough, but I can't wait to start my studies...
Photo from a short walk in the centre of Lille, with the Opéra de Lille in the foreground.
Reposted by Ruben Comitini
biodiversitypix.bsky.social
🦗 Natural history of Victoria. Dec.11-15
Melbourne, J.Ferres, government printer;1885-90.

[Source]
Historical illustration titled "Zoology of Victoria (Insects)" from 1885-90 showing two detailed, color drawings of green mantises—one with wings fully spread from above, the other viewed from below with wings partially open. Surrounding these are multiple smaller black-and-white anatomical sketches focusing on mantis body parts including the head, forelegs, midlegs, and hindlegs, highlighting claw structures and segmentation. The illustration emphasizes the mantis’s distinct triangular head, large compound eyes, elongated thorax, and spiny raptorial forelegs adapted for grasping prey, reflecting scientific study of Victorian-era Australian insect species.
rubencomitini.bsky.social
In our most recent #fossil prospecting excursion we went to a #Carboniferous outcrop on the Little St. Bernard Pass (French-Italian border) together with french colleagues. What was once a coastal swamp covered by lush vegetation is now located at 2.2 km of altitude, surrounded by a scenic setting.
Our team looking for fossils in the spectacular setting of the Little St. Bernard Pass. All the dark rocks in the foreground are Carboniferous and potentially fossil-bearing. The view from the site, looking South-West. A large slab with fossil shoots being cleaned on the field. An example of the most common type of fossil found in the site: a partial stem of the arborescent horsetail Calamites. This stem is well-preserved and it is ca. 9 cm wide and 13 cm long.
Reposted by Ruben Comitini
Reposted by Ruben Comitini
albertonykus.bsky.social
New specimen of the enantiornithean ("opposite bird") Shangyang with evidence of an iridescent feather crest: elifesciences.org/articles/103... 🪶🧪 (📷Li et al.)
Fossilized skeleton of an extinct bird-like dinosaur with feathers preserved around its body.
rubencomitini.bsky.social
Today I'm observing multiple damselflies (Zygoptera) mating in my garden.
Very cool!

#insects #entomology
A couple of damselflies mating on the edge of an artificial pond.
rubencomitini.bsky.social
So sorry to hear this! I'm sending you tons of support and compliments for your always breathtaking art! สู้ ๆ นะครับ
Reposted by Ruben Comitini
himmapaan.bsky.social
🪶Red-whiskered bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus).
Watercolour on paper-backed silk, 114 × 165 mm.

Another bird which seared itself into my childhood memories in Chiang Mai. We in the North know it as นกปิ๊ดจะลิว ('Pitjaliu bird') after its call, though its Thai name is นกปรอดหัวโขน. 1/3
Painting of a mostly brown bird with a lighter underside, a black head with a prominent feather crest, a red vent, and red tufts of cheek feathers: the 'whiskers' for which it is named. It's seen in profile, facing right, perching on a guava branch whose none-too-healthy (but visually interesting) leaves are speckled with rust-coloured spots and blotches.
Reposted by Ruben Comitini
sophiesaurus98.bsky.social
Today's random piece of nostalgic palaeoart: Zdenek Burian's "Brontotherium" (Megacerops)

As with many of Burian's paintings, this was a major work in defining the way its subjects were imagined for decades to come, only overshadowed by Charles Knight's older, more rhino-like reconstructions. (1/5)
A herd of scruffy-furred, powerful bronotheres amble about a open plain, converging on a shallow pond. In the distance, two volcanos belch plumes of smoke and cloud the sky with ash.
Reposted by Ruben Comitini
nataliajagielska.bsky.social
An illustration I did for a competition in China 🤞Anchiornis
rubencomitini.bsky.social
I absolutely agree 100% that we should cut massively the number of cars, but I also want those vehicles that remain to be electric. And since switching to EVs would already provide many benefits, I'd rather hate on ICE vehicles than e-cars (but on social media I often see the opposite attitude!)
Reposted by Ruben Comitini
himmapaan.bsky.social
Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo
Acrylic inks and acrylic gouache on MDF coaster, 98 mm square.

Created as part of the #BirdWhisperer Project curated by @amandamakepeace.bsky.social & @melissagayyy.bsky.social. Referenced from a photograph by Penny Ash. bsky.app/profile/bird...

1/3
Painting on a square coaster of a Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo perched on a branch. The cockatoo's back is turned towards the viewer while it's head is turned towards the right and is seen in profile. Its vibrant yellow crest and white form, over which bluish leafy shadows are cast, stand out against the muted golden browns of the rest of the painting.
rubencomitini.bsky.social
3) I think that we shouldn't give much attention to hate against EVs that is usually focused on giving support to combustion vehicles (that is what the petrol and most of the car industry want). This doesn't mean that EVs are the solution to everything nor that we shouldn't have way way less cars.
rubencomitini.bsky.social
Also: 1) EVs have other benefits other that eliminating tailpipe emissions (think of noise pollution, no engine oil, almost no brake emissions); 2) Hydrogen is way worse in terms of efficiency and as already lost any chance to become usable on a large scale.
rubencomitini.bsky.social
Basically all peer reviewed studies on the topic agree that electric vehicles provide huge benefits in terms of environmental impact compared to the current situation... And unfortunately we cannot eliminate all wheeled motorized transport immediately (we can reduced them obviously).
rubencomitini.bsky.social
All birds are dinosaurs in the same way that tyrannosaurs are dinosaurs. This one has nothing special in relation to non-bird dinosaurs.
rubencomitini.bsky.social
Grazie! Thank you so much! 😊😊😊
Reposted by Ruben Comitini
orlabe.bsky.social
This impressive crest of #Mirasaura had densely overlapping individual appendages with feather-like contours. But our work shows these are unlike true feathers and indicate an independent evolutionary origin 🦎🪶
Reposted by Ruben Comitini
serpenillus.bsky.social
Here it is! Please welcome the AMAZING Mirasaura grauvogeli, a NEW MARVELOUS Drepanosaur published in NATURE today!
This astonishing reptile lived during the Middle Triassic in Europe and it possessed an amazing crest made of plume-like structures!

I was commissioned to bring it to life
#paleoart
Illustration showing a pair of Mirasaura perched on fern fronds. The green animals show their tall orange, brown and white crests while a small beetle flies over one of them
rubencomitini.bsky.social
#FossilFriday: a fragmentary leaf of a hackberry (Celtis, Cannabaceae) from the Pliocene of the Argille Azzurre Formation, found by me in Cuneo Province, Piedmont.

#paleobotany #fossil #Pliocene
A partial carbonified leaf on a small block of greyish-blue clay. The color of these clays gives the Argille Azzurre Formation its name (literally "Blue Clays Formation"). Plate from the 1885 book "Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz", with illustrations of a modern species of the genus Celtis, the European nettle tree or Mediterranean hackberry (Celtis australis), native to Southern Europe, West Asia and Northern Africa.