This is a swap for oviraptorfan

I suddenly realize that I need to set the diet for the planktonic larvae, and probably draw a visual of them.

Quilled Wigglemaw Slippicus splatticus

Ancestor: Marocta
Creator: colddigger
Habitat: Rhodix Trench Zone, Rhodix Midnight Sea Mounts, LadyM Ocean Abyss Zone, LadyM Ocean Midnight Zone
Diet: Carnivore (Shimmering Marephasmatises, Blubdub, Deep Glowswarmer, Mini Whorls, Miniswarmers); Larvae: Detritivore (Marine Snow)
Size: 20 cm long
Support: ?
Respiration: ?
Thermoregulation : Ectotherm
Reproduction: sexual, gametes covered by gelatinous material

The Quilled Wigglemaw split from its ancestor the Marocta. It moved into the open waters surrounding Rhodix Vents. Their frontmost and rearmost ribbon-like fins have changed into four short and highly mobile fins to allow the organism to more easily maneuver in its open water home. Meanwhile the other ribbon-like fins have changed into a selection of movement sensitive quills toward the rear of the body, to detect motion through the water, and to deter predators. The tips of the quills are dark and hardened.

The body is divided into two distinct pieces, the rear having a well-defined exoskeleton where the majority of the organs are located, and the front section which is mainly mouth, crop, and stomach and supported by flexible but firm semi-external and notochord-like structure of both living cells and cuticle. The supporting structure extends all the way to the front of the body where it rings the toothless mouth and provides an anchor point for the muscles that control the front fins, pincers, and eye nubs.

What had once acted as the nubby bases for short teeth in its ancestor now support the eyes that have traveled from deep inside the mouth forward. They are now located on the back side of these nubs which must be flared outward from the mouth in order to see its surroundings. On either side of the mouth are very sharp and hard pincers that carry a venomous bite, these weapons are essentially the only means that this organism has for subduing prey. Once prey is captured then it's drawn toward the mouth opening and the nubs are used to pull the body into the mouth and force it down into the crop where it's stored and processed until passing to the stomach.

The spore reproduction of its ancestor has been replaced with gamete reproduction, the gametes simply being the result of spore production having switched over to meiosis. Gametes are kept on the ventral side of the rear portion of the body, and when a second member of the species is met then they will couple up and exchange gametes. The resulting zygotes are not actually fed by their parent but continue to stick on their body for safety until they're ready to venture off on their own in a planktonic form.

This is Great, I love the island Finch name reference.

"since they no longer to soar all day," missing word

"They on nest on the ground" missing word

"ground both die to lack of predators " wrong word

"body is photosynthetic. Their wings " should use comma instead of period

"Their wings in particular are nightly concentrated with". Wrong word

Wonderful eight limbed beasty

I think it works

It's not a direct ancestor, but seems to be the first I've noticed that elaborated on how they actually get taller.

I'm curious how their trunks grow.

On earth that texture on the surface of a trunk indicates heavy scarring from leaf or branch loss.

In the carnofern lineage it seems the trunk grows during hibernation

https://sagan4alpha.miraheze.org/wiki/Rainforest_Carnofern

"During the winter the branches will fall off and a cap will grow over the the top of the trunk. This builds up over the years allowing the trunk to grow taller and taller. When spring comes along the top will open up and allow for new branches to grow."

It sounds very slow honestly.

I like all of these

One thing to consider regarding bamboo as an example is how those culms are growing during that period of rapid height gain.

What a fun and rowdy creature

I think so, it sounds like an important tidbit

Oh this is delightful, I love how there's so many little nuggets of information about it, it's the style of writing about a critter that I enjoy.

These are very pleasant, I like their rupee-esque shape.

Based on their large tops and narrow bases I would assume they have their most rapid growing points at their extremities, rather than core or base.

I've never been quite sure on how crystals grew, it always seemed like the oldest tissue was at the base, expanding, while the youngest tissue was at the top, extending.

Though due to their shell and soft tissue inside it's not as though the expansion at the base could have been like in woody plants, with a layer of growing tissue on the surface of a woody center that simply hardens and gets built on.
Possibly the green shell outside expands.itself, and this strain stimulates the red inside to grow more itself. In this fashion we can prevent the cracking so often seen on mature tree bark.

The growth at their tips could have been fairly plant typical though.

I would consider the possibility of calling these mint-like if their freshest tissue were at the tip.

But given that thought of how crystals normally expand their bases, the most mature point on them, you could reverse this. In that way the top would be oldest, and had the most time to expand in growth, with fresh crystal pushing up from a growth point normally found on the tips of its cousins.

This growth would be regulated by the green tissue, and can be done with a simple flip in hormonal sources. I'm sure more touching up on that concept would be needed, but this would allow the crystal to be more even durable and grass-like.

The exoskeletal toes reminded me of the hexapod rocker of yore.

https://sagan4alpha.miraheze.org/wiki/Hexapod_Rocker


I like the advancement in the waste sac, I think that gives it a great advantage for being active in hot dry environments over other plents.

I'm surprised the twineshrog didn't just tie them up for infinite food


From the base of the tail, how far up can you cut a piece of the torso off before it's too much and it dies?

Like if it lost the bottom quarter could it regrow that?

Like is it planaria level? Could you list binary fission as reproduction?

I mean for the diet aspect in the Sagan 4 project

What happens when a prong snaps?

Ah, these are not "lichens" like crystals, correct?
So their sexual reproductive method should be fairly easier to develop. If you wanted to do that.

I'm kinda curious about the iron respiration as well, roots on plants breath just like the rest of the plant, taking in oxygen to burn sugar. It's just more energetically profitable than fermentation or anaerobic metabolism. They even form air tubes to allow this in oxygen poor environments, the ones that can survive anyway.

The use of iron respiration could mean easier survival in iron rich but oxygen poor environments, though yielding less energy than oxygen based respiration.

I'll have to look into iron bacteria and how they do it.

Is there no filter for food capture? Such as bristles?

I think respiration for this group is through the skin, plents have it easy saying they crack water and make oxygen, a non Photosynthesis critter this size I would think would need more specialization.

I now wonder about the support and respiration of this group of critters

You could also mention the affect it has on other Flora competition, and the forest floor beneath them.

Maybe these dense stands suck up all the water resulting in a dry forest floor, packed with their roots, and rather barren of smaller Flora.

It's fun to see these giant horse tail things, at first I thought they were very small.

Contorted Volleypom Natarenux contorta
Ancestor: Shaggy Volleypom
Creator: colddigger
Diet: Photosynthesis
Habitat: Martyk Temperate Woodland Archipelago, Iiteum Plains Archipelago, Iiteum Temperate Beach, Martyk Temperate Beach, South Darwin Plains, Koseman Temperate Woodland
Height: 30 m Tall
Thermoregulation: Heliothermy (Black Pigmentation)
Support: Cellulose, Lignin (Cell Walls)
Respiration: Passive (Tracheal system in leaves, air labyrinth throughout tissue)
Reproduction: Sexual, Hard Shelled Megaspores, Airborne Microspores

The Contorted Volleypom split from its ancestor in Martyk Temperate Woodland Archipelago, shrank considerably, and spread throughout the coastlines of Martyk Temperate Sea.
The majority of their populations hug the coastal edges of their given biomes, getting windswept and contorted as they grow. Though they are unable to survive on seawater they will grow, albeit stunted to only 3 meters, in the dunes behind the high tide mark of beaches and growing along tops of cliffs. Their large bases attach to broad root systems that work quite well at preventing erosion in their otherwise dynamically changing environment.

Both summer and winter leaves have become narrower to prevent dessication from the constant ocean breeze and have a near constant PHB bioplastic coating as a response to the salt in the air and wind. Populations further inland or protected from sea winds do not have this constant layer. The winter leaf has simplified further to only have a single pneumathode on the tip to minimize its surface. Trichomes are commonly found in varying degrees similarly, and for similar reason, to its ancestor. That is, light intensity dictates if a particular surface develops them and how much or how long they are.

The clusters of microsporangia are smaller, individuals being about 2-3 cm long in clusters only 40 cm long. Individuals are less tightly grown together compared to those of it's ancestor, the sporangiums may even be without contact between each other once mature. The megasporangium grow in small clusters of up to three, but more often are lone individuals. These 10 cm papery structures form fewer, and larger, megaspores inside themselves. Sprouts grow at a rate of about 1 meter a year, and begin to reproduce at about 4 years old, producing microsporangium in small numbers, with megasporangium appearing a few years later.

A new feature to the megasporangium of the Contorted Volleypom that can be attributed to its success is the formation of an air pocket at its base as it matures. This pocket is a result of both water being moved from the surrounding tissue into the large megaspores, as well as increased dessication from coastal winds. These pockets are smaller among inland populations due to lack of environmental influence. As fallen megasporangium get moved around their environment, by wind or rain or other organisms, many of these crinkly structures make it into the surrounding saltwaters. Without the air pocket they would sink a short while after entering the water, their heavy megaspore cargo dragging them down. But the air pocket instead allows them to bob slightly at the surface and either wash back to shore from where they came or to new shores to give the young they carry a second chance.

The bark of the Contorted Volleypom is a little smoother with much wider sheets that develop in comparison to its ancestor the [[Shaggy Volleypom]]. This change helps protect it from climbing herbivores that may otherwise find footholds along the surface. Dead twigs, killed from environmental stresses, can be common in their canopy. Most other characteristics are fairly similar to their ancestor.

Contorted Volleypom Corticihirsuti contorta
Ancestor: Shaggy Volleypom
Creator: colddigger
Diet: Photosynthesis
Habitat: Martyk Temperate Woodland Archipelago, Iiteum Plains Archipelago, Iiteum Temperate Beach, Martyk Temperate Beach, South Darwin Plains, Koseman Temperate Woodland
Height 30 m Tall
Thermoregulation Heliothermy, black pigmentation
Support lignified Cellulose Based Cell Walls
Respiration Passive (Tracheal system in leaves, air labyrinth throughout tissue)
Reproduction Sexual, hard shelled megaspores and airborne microspores

The Contorted Volleypom split from its ancestor in Martyk Temperate Woodland Archipelago, shrank considerably, and spread throughout the coastlines of Martyk Temperate Sea.
The majority of their populations hug the coastal edges of their given biomes, getting windswept and contorted as they grow. Though they are unable to survive on seawater they will grow, albeit stunted, behind the high tide mark of beaches and growing along tops of cliffs. Their large bases attach to broad root systems that work quite well at preventing erosion in their otherwise dynamically changing environment.

Both summer and winter leaves have become narrower to prevent dessication from the constant ocean breeze and have a near constant PHB bioplastic coating as a response to the salt in the air and wind. Populations further inland or protected from sea winds do not have this constant layer. The winter leaf has simplified further to only have a single pneumathode on the tip to minimize it's surface. Trichomes are commonly found in varying degrees similarly, and for similar reason, to is ancestor.

The clusters of microsporangia are smaller, individuals being about 2-3 cm long in clusters only 40 cm long, and are less tightly grown together compared to it's ancestor, the individual sporangiums may even be without contact between each other once mature. The megasporangium grow in small clusters of up to three, but more often are lone individuals. These 10 cm papery structures form fewer, and larger, megaspores inside themselves. Sprouts grow at a rate of about 1 meter a year, and begin to reproduce at about 4 years old, producing microsporangium in small numbers, megasporangium appearing a few years later.

A new feature to the megasporangium of the Contorted Volleypom that can be attributed to its success is the formation of an air pocket at it's base as it matures. This pocket is a result of both water being moved from the surrounding tissue into the large megaspores, as well as increased dessication from coastal winds. These pockets are smaller among inland populations due to lack of environmental influence. As fallen megasporangium get moved around their environment, by wind or rain or other organisms, many of these crinkly structures make it into the surrounding saltwaters. Without the air pocket they would sink a short while after entering the water, their heavy megaspore cargo dragging them down. But the air pocket instead allows them to bob slightly at the surface and either wash back to shore from where they came or to new shores to give the young they carry a second chance.

The bark of the Contorted Volleypom is a little smoother with much wider sheets that develop in comparison to its ancestor the Shaggy Volleypom. This change helps protect it from climbing herbivores that may otherwise find footholds along the surface. Dead twigs, killed from environmental stresses, can be common in their canopy. Most other characteristics are fairly similar to their ancestor.

A seedling would be very small.

But maybe that's more to bother with them it's worth for the diet aspect

Does it eat the sprouts of seedling trees, resulting in their demise and prevention of certain species spreading as deer in real life can do?