Rat Portrait 3 of 9: Basil I'm making little portraits of each of my rats, trying to capture their unique personalities. Basil is hard to fool and seems to know way more human words than he should. He's generally vary and suspicious, which makes his trust in me feel extra special.

Rat Portrait 2 of 9: Lumo I'm making little portraits of each of my rats, trying to capture their unique personalities. Lumo is cheerful but not very bright. His head is permanently cocked due to an inner ear infection. He loves meeting people and giving kisses and is pretty much the perfect pet.

Rat Portrait 1 of 9: Elmo I'm making little portraits of each of my rats, trying to capture their unique personalities and quirks. Elmo is hot-tempered and rather dramatic, often puffing up his fur for the mildest annoyances. However, he's also a giant cuddlebug and demands lots of attention.

Queen Fire Lizard Lately, I have been rereading parts of Anne McCaffrey's classic Dragonriders of Pern scifi-fantasy books and got the idea to draw a fire lizard as they are described in the books. The books, written between 1968 and 2018, haven't always aged well, but I'm oddly fond of them.

For the most part, the boys have been enjoying life in their new home and doing very well. We'll see what future has in hold for them next. 🐁

Next, he got an eyelid infection and then reacted badly to the cortisone cream he was prescribed for it. Some rats are very sensitive to cortisone and will lose their appetite even at small doses. Rufus lost a lot of weight and I had to cut his medication short, but he's doing better now.

Overall, the boys have been remarkably healthy, the only exception being old Rufus who's turning 2 this summer. First, he somehow managed to knock off both his upper incisors. Luckily, they grew back on their own in just a week! The ever-growing teeth of rodents never cease to amaze me.

It's been a lot of fun making veggie portions for all the mouths I'm feeding. In each of these, the big plate is for me, the second largest for my 7 boys, and the two small ones for the quarantine rats. There was one for the spouse, but he's so hasty he tends to grab it before I can take a photo.

Since we now have rooms to spare, we took in some temporary furballs. These four came from Czechia and after a two-month quarantine, will go on to live with several local pet rat breeders. They're certainly a good addition to the gene pool of Finnish pet rats. Even with rats, inbreeding isn't great.

In April, we moved houses. It again brought out the personality differences between rats: some of them settled in a few days while Basil took a month to feel fully at home. Our new place is lovely! We now have the luxury of a small garden that provides the rats with all the fresh greens they need.

Pet rat update! This spring and early summer have been quite eventful (which is also why I haven't been posting much). On the rat side of things, most important news is that nobody has died: it seems we did get rid of the horrific lung epidemic of last winter. A little 🧵 of cute rats:

Starting slowly around 4000 years ago, a global trend arrives to the north: agriculture. Goats, cattle and cereals are imported and, as farming becomes more common, human populations again start to rise. With farming, numerous commensal species also arrive, from weeds to farmland birds.

Around this time, spruce (Picea abies) finally arrived, having taken its time after the last glaciation. Sphagnum moss spores increase in the palynological record, signaling a rise of bogs. Spruce &bogs are today very characteristic of the Finnish landscape despite being such recent arrivals.

Populations of ungulates also fell drastically, possibly a combination of less favorable climate and overhunting by the quite dense human population. In this new time, the remaining people became much more dependent on small prey, such as birds, as seen in archaeological midden piles.

Around 5,000 years ago, the warm and humid Atlantic Period came to a close. Climate in Finland turned cooler and most of the country became covered in boreal coniferous forests as it still is today. This caused a major, near-apocalyptic population crash for the local hunter-gatherers.

Dawn of Agriculture Last of three landscape illustrations for my recently published article in the Finnish magazine Tiede Luonto. This one depicts southern/central Finland about 5,000 to 3,500 years ago, time passing as we go from left to right. A little thread on what's there. 🧵 #SciArt

Animal cognition science is a relatively young discipline that has taken enormous leaps in the past couple of decades. It is now possible to understand the minds and emotions of our animal companions far more deeply that it was - and hopefully, our book can help people access that knowledge.

In addition to comics, there are in-depth text pages at the end of each chapter, extra online content as well as a full list of scientific references. This makes the book suitable for a wide audience: we've gotten positive feedback from kids, everyday dog owners as well as veterinary professionals.

Through their stories, we take a dive into dog cognition and it's practical applications in everyday life with our canine friends. Why are some dogs afraid of being bathed and how to fix it; what are the behavioural needs that dog brains require to stay healthy; how to recognize pain, and much more.

The Mind of a Dog has a cast of dog and human characters who face different situations, grow and learn through the story: a working dog, a puppy arriving to his new home, a dog with chronic pain and much more.

Wonderful news! Our comic book The Mind of a Dog is finally available on Amazon (US and UK). Find it by searching "arador mind dog". #SciArt Made by @arador-innovations.bsky.social, myself and @villesinkkonen.bsky.social, it's a mix of storytelling and cutting edge animal cognition science. A 🧵

Archaeological finds indicate that during this time, Finland was home to at least some southern species such as wild boar and roe deer, which later disappeared and only recolonised these areas in the 1900s.

In the beginning of this period, as temperatures were raising and new species arriving, Finland briefly went through a phase of woodlands dominated by pines and birches. Moose arrived early and thrived in these forests.

At this time, Northern Europe experienced a more localized warm and humid climatic phase known as the Atlantic Period. Much of southern and central Finland was covered in temperate broadleaf forest which is today mostly seen in Central Europe. Oak, elm, ash, pine and hazel formed lush woodlands.

A Golden Age Second of three landscape illustrations for my recently published article in the Finnish magazine Tiede Luonto. This one depicts southern/central Finland about 8,000 to 5,000 years ago, time passing as we go from left to right. A little thread on what's there. 🧵

While many of the smaller plants are speculative, much is based on a pollen record recovered in a sediment core from Laihalampi, Hartola, which is located in southern Finland. It shows birch has been a success story throughout post-glacial Finland, first to arrive and still thriving.

And right behind the reindeer came the reindeer hunters. There are several archaeological finds from different parts on the country from about 10,000 years ago, showing that the hunter-gatherers were quick to explore and adapt to this new land, where possibly no human had even walked before.

Reindeer seems to have been one of the very first mammals to arrive, coming right at the heels of the tiny plants to graze on. This species was widespread in the cold steppes of the Pleistocene, ranging all the way south to Spain. As climate warmed, they took refuge in the north.

It didn't take long for life to return. The first plants were probably the same ones that can be seen clinging to bare rock near persistent snow and small glaciers in the far north of Finland & Norway. This is glacier buttercup (Ranunculus glacialis), a rare and protected species in Finland today.

Up until about 12,000 years ago, Finland was covered by a massive glacier up to kilometers thick. As climate shifted, the glacier melted on all sides at once like a chunk of ice cream left in the sun. Underneath, there was just bare rock, gravel and sand.