Please watch and like (if you like it) my newest YouTube
#animation #video about
#microscopic #lifestories inside
#dinosaur #dung:
youtu.be/gzv-TZmU5G4?si=OGCC…
Why would anyone decide to bring the
#distantpast to life on
#film? Why should it be interesting to delve into events that took place some 70 million years ago? And: why
#telling #stories about what happens in animal
#excrements?
Because the dung of large animals can have a significant impact on the surrounding
#ecosystem. Therefore, it's important to understand how dung actually
#decomposes in its natural environment. Anyone concerned with
#climateprotection and greenhouse gases knows that cow dung is a source of the greenhouse gas methane, which is released during its decomposition. On the other hand, under natural conditions, cow dung transforms into fertilizer that provides
#nutrients to the surrounding vegetation. Thus, organisms that decompose dung return organic pollutants to the natural
#carboncycle. Therefore, being interested in dung and the details of its decomposition is by no means bizarre or tasteless, but highly significant and surprisingly
#interesting.
Dung, especially from large herbivorous animals, is a haven of hidden
#biodiversity. And not only that, it's also a stage on which great dramas and beautiful success stories can unfold. A stage with complexly interwoven
#storylines, which we humans can only truly appreciate when these stories are brought into the spotlight. Numerous biologists could easily provide this. Every tiny group of organisms has a scientific specialist dedicated solely to it. And the biodiversity in cow dung is so vast that there's plenty of work for many specialists worldwide. However, it's not so common for such research findings to be visualized and presented in a clear and engaging way to a wider audience. A story needs to be told, with a beginning and an end, with protagonists and supporting characters, with the overcoming of small challenges and the overcoming of existential ones. This is what I've attempted to achieve in the form of my short animated film. I could have reported on recent
#lifestrategies in mammal dung, but I chose to focus on dinosaurs.
Why? Firstly, to emphasize that everything that lives originated through
#evolution at some point. And that the necessary basic conditions were often complex. My focus is on mites, which develop in
#ephemeral, bacteria-rich
#habitats and travel as
#stowaways on insects for further propagation, a phenomenon known as
#phoresis. However, a close interaction between insect and mite could only arise if suitable insects were available in the first place. The evolution of
#insects is a fundamental prerequisite, and this depended on the evolution of
#floweringplants, which first took place in the Cretaceous period. That's why my film is set in the Cretaceous period and not today. But another reason I decided to make a film about the time of the dinosaurs is because it was actually feasible for me. Manual CGI animation would not have been proportionate for a three-minute film. New possibilities for creating moving images based on an illustrated, self-made
#storyboard using suitable
#AIassistance require time and patience, but lead to a result faster than the (of course much more precise and flexible) work we know from large animation production companies.
Please note the high-resolution footage of the
#Histiostomatidae mites in my video. They are the only subjects of my short film that I haven't animated.
I hope that while watching my short animated film, you will be able to share some of my
#enthusiasm for telling stories from the animal world. Follow with me as we move from the defecating dinosaur to the defecating microscopic mite that inside dinosaur dung.
©
#StefanFWirth Berlin 2025
#Pictures:
Dinosaur dung and flies designed with KI assistance, free living mites filmed via light microscope and 4K recording during my research of the last years, © Stefan F. Wirth 2025