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Tom Astle

@tjalamont.bsky.social

30K followers 1.9K following 2.2K posts

Writer & nature photographer, especially macro photography of arthropods. Desert Tortoise conservation advocate. Fan of California, Montana, the rest of the planet. Photo website: https://www.tomastlephotography.com/

www.tomastlephotography.com

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Tom Astle @tjalamont.bsky.social · 1h

--birthday present. It was from my aunt Liz, who never bought generic presents but always found gifts specific to me, the science/animal kid: hermit crabs for my birthday, geckos for Christmas.

Tomorrow, I'm going to Liz's funeral. Thanks, aunt Liz, from the boy who is still wild about dinosaurs. 🦕

A closeup detail of the title page of a 1960s era dinosaur book, showing a skeleton of a pterosaur and the last five letters of the word "Dinosaurs." At the top is an inscription: "To Tommy J. on his fifth birthday - who, I hear, is wild about Dinosaurs. Love Aunt Liz".

Tom Astle @tjalamont.bsky.social · 1h

--Mary Anning's discoveries. It's the most memorable plate in the book for me; it was in my head when I finally saw Mary Anning's fossils at the @nhm-london.bsky.social in London two years ago, and it's why I had tears in my eyes.

Finally, a postscript. As I said at the start, this book was a--

A color plate illustration from a 1960s era dinosaur book, showing Mary Anning, the woman who discovered Ichthyosaurs, looking at a fossil skeleton of an ichthyosaur embedded in a cliff on England's Jurassic coast.

Tom Astle @tjalamont.bsky.social · 1h

--plate showcasing a dynamic scene, not just large lumbering beasts in a static environment. But I think most importantly, this book is how I learned about--

A color plate illustration from a 1960s era dinosaur book, showing a smaller Ornitholestes dinosaur leaping to try to grab one of the two Archaeopteryx (early birds) flying away from it. The landscape depicts tree ferns and conifers.

Tom Astle @tjalamont.bsky.social · 1h

--art. I loved this page, showing dinosaurs as agile swimmers and not just slow brutes. I think he imagined more than the science of his time; I can't think of another image like it from my other kid dino books. Here's another--

A color plate illustration from a 1960s era dinosaur book, showing two different crested, duck-bill-type dinosaurs, Corythosaurus and Parasaurolophus, fully underwater and swimming near each other.

Tom Astle @tjalamont.bsky.social · 1h

--that extinction is therefore their fault. It's a story that is used (every. single. time.) to make us feel not only blameless but superior and deserving (see the opossums in this illustration?) when extinctions occur, especially ones for which we are in fact responsible. But back to Zallinger's--

A color plate illustration from a 1960s era dinosaur book, showing a deceased T-rex on a beach, with a storm raging in from the sea, whipping the palm trees in the background. Near the dead dino in lower right are tiny opossums, symbolic of the mammals that would outlive the dinosaurs.

Tom Astle @tjalamont.bsky.social · 1h

--to five-year-old me it made sense. I remember feeling bad for them. I thought it must have been hard to be so heavy and slow. What I didn't realize then was that this narrative was also victim-blaming, part of an overall narrative that extinct creatures are always ill-suited for survival and--

A color plate illustration from a 1960s era dinosaur book, showing Brachiosaurus half submerged in a swamp. A flying pterosaur is in the deep background, along with two other Brachiosaurs, one half submerged, one out of the water. The top of the head of one more is barely peeking out of the water.

Tom Astle @tjalamont.bsky.social · 1h

--I learned that flowering plants weren't abundant until the Cretaceous. Back then, large sauropods were thought to be heavy and awkward, so much so that they required water to support their bodies. We don't think that now, of course, but--

A color plate illustration from a 1960s era dinosaur book, showing Monoclonius, a single-horned Ceratopsian dinosaur, with some early flowering plants nearby.

Tom Astle @tjalamont.bsky.social · 1h

--Allosaurus remains my favorite badass theropod meat-eater; T-rex in the book is big, and gets his own story, but he's just brown, whereas Allosaurus is orange and stripey and just, well, cooler. The illustrations (like the mural) also do a pretty good job on vegetation; this book is how--

A color plate illustration from a 1960s era dinosaur book, showing an orange colored Allosaurus biting the neck of a Brontosaurus, which is standing up to its belly in a swamp. Another Allosaurus and a duck-billed dinosaur are in the deep background.

Tom Astle @tjalamont.bsky.social · 1h

--earth-toned and and tail-dragging, because that's what was thought then. However, I was captivated by the exceptions Zallinger depicted with vibrant colors - this Plateosaurus was my favorite. Even at five I knew modern reptiles were often colorful, so it just made sense. I think it's why--

A color plate illustration from a 1960s era dinosaur book, showing three Plateosaurus dinos in a green, fern-dominated landscape. The dinosaurs are depicted as bluish-purple with reddish banding.

Tom Astle @tjalamont.bsky.social · 1h

--illustrated by Rudolph Zallinger, the artist famous for his 1947 110-foot mural "Age of Reptiles" at the Yale Peabody Museum (which I've never seen in person and would dearly love to). The art is gorgeous, but of course the ancient reptiles are mostly described and depicted as slow and--

A color plate illustration from a 1960s era dinosaur book, showing sail-backed early reptiles, Dimetrodon and Edaphosaurus.

Tom Astle @tjalamont.bsky.social · 1h

🧵1/10 @sophiesaurus98.bsky.social posted a great thread the other day about a beloved childhood dinosaur book and her young ideas about it. I thought I'd chime in with my own. I got this book for my 5th birthday in 1965(!) It was written by Jane Werner Watson (author of a zillion Golden Books) and--

The cover of a book called "Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Reptiles," showing a color illustration of a brachiosaurus eating ferns while half submerged in a swamp, with an Allosaurus in the background along with a flying pteranosaur. The book is worn, with tape holding the binding.

Tom Astle @tjalamont.bsky.social · 5h

I was lucky - it wasn’t too swampy and I found flytraps and some really nice pitchers 🪰🪤

Reposted by Tom Astle

Nash Turley @nashturley.bsky.social · 11h

Big fan of this weevil's color scheme, pointy snoot, and huge feet!

www.inaturalist.org/observations...

black and yellow weevil on a green leaf with long thin rostrum and very large foot pads

Tom Astle @tjalamont.bsky.social · 13h

Throwback pic from October '21 of a female Golden Orb Weaver (Trichonephila clavipes) at Green Swamp Preserve, NC. The background shows a hint of the habitat, longleaf pine savanna. I love this shot because it reminds me of a gorgeous day; I saw only one other person in six hours. #Arachtober 🌿🐙📷

A closeup photo of a golden orb weaver spider, hanging upside down diagonally along a strand of silk. The spider has an elongated orange abdomen, and long orange and black banded legs. The background is out of focus vertical tree trunks in the upper third, with greenery in the lower two thirds.

Tom Astle @tjalamont.bsky.social · 1d

A tiny moth, barely bigger than a rice grain, from the Mojave Desert. The curved "horns" are mouthparts, the labial palps. They help the moth both taste and smell - including being sensitive to changes in CO2 levels. I think they make the moth look like a mythological creature up close. 🐙🌿

A macro photo of a ghostly white moth on almost-white sand. The moth is seen from a front 3/4 angle; only the face and part of one antenna are in focus, and the back third of the body is out of frame. The moth has long, backward curving mouthparts called labial palps that look a bit like the curved horns of a mountain goat.

Tom Astle @tjalamont.bsky.social · 1d

Thanks for all the kind comments, everyone 🐾

Tom Astle @tjalamont.bsky.social · 1d

Thanks, Kris.

Tom Astle @tjalamont.bsky.social · 1d

Thank you, Greta.

Tom Astle @tjalamont.bsky.social · 2d

We said goodbye to Charlie, our 13-1/2 year old standard poodle, today. He was an amazing dog with a huge happy soul. He loved everyone and everydog he ever met (and loved our tortoises Eddie and Bob, too, although I'm not sure the feeling was reciprocated). We're pretty wrecked today.

A photo of a big fuzzy caramel-colored standard poodle named Charlie sniffing a desert tortoise named Eddie. They are on a tan tile floor. There's a painting of a snowy owl above the white brick fireplace in the background. Eddie has a purple flower stuck to his nose.

Tom Astle @tjalamont.bsky.social · 3d

The adults, especially adult females, have striking black bands and stripes. But I liked how this immature one was almost invisible on the sand

Reposted by Tom Astle

Eric R. Eaton @bugeric.bsky.social · 3d

bugeric.blogspot.com/2025/10/what... #JaneGoodall #blogpost

What Would Jane Do?

If there was ever a person whom I wanted to remain immortal, it would probably be Dr. Jane Goodall. It was therefore devastating to learn of...

bugeric.blogspot.com

Tom Astle @tjalamont.bsky.social · 3d

Water flowing over rocks in the Mojave Desert early yesterday morning. This spot is usually dry this time of year, but a large storm a couple of weeks ago recharged things. (sound up)

Tom Astle @tjalamont.bsky.social · 3d

So sorry for your loss. The obituary describes such an amazingly multi-talented and giving person.

Tom Astle @tjalamont.bsky.social · 3d

Prowling spider, Syspira sp., one of my favorite desert species. This one was barely 1/2 inch including leg span. Shot at 4.5X & a slight crop; nine shots stacked together to get the whole face in focus. I love how well camouflaged it is on the pale sand, like a little spider ghost. #Arachtober 🌿🐙👻🕷️

An extreme closeup photo, at ground level, looking into the face of a cream-colored spider on similarly-colored sand. The spider has sparse dark hairs and several longer spiny hairs, and dark eyes. All eight eyes are visible. Most of the legs are out of frame. There's a bit of crinkly silk in the lower left.

Tom Astle @tjalamont.bsky.social · 4d

I think it also has medically significant venom, although I don’t know how well it has been studied. There is a vanishingly small chance of being bitten by one - they live in areas with few people, and are, well, reclusive. I actively look for spiders and and have never been bitten by any spider.