QUOTE (Cube67 @ Feb 15 2023, 10:34 PM)

Does the “sweet”, but awful taste of the plant and the collection of water for passing spardis foreshadow the evolution of nectar? If so, I think you could have cut to the chase and made them do that instead, but as of now it’s an okay method of pollination. Don’t the “lung-shaped” structures have a name? It’s been so long that I forget what it was, but it’s probably some type of sporophore (ugh, guess I’ll have to learn these guys all over again) Don’t worry about the plant seeming “too overpowered”, by the way; when making the Drylicad I may or may not have unintentionally set it up to be the progenitor of the planet’s most angiosperm-like plants with the whole pollination aspect. Combine that with it being the last of its lineage and I get the feeling that this will be a highly competitive lineage regardless (but perhaps I’m biased).

No, it's not meant to foreshadow the development of nectar, although similarities did occur to me while making it. The detail about the cloying taste wasn't in its 2021 draft, but I added it today because I realized the structures would be a big target in hot, dry areas, and since they're so important to reproduction, there's significant evolutionary pressure to have a protective mechanism for it.

I briefly considered calling them "sponge-lungs", but it sounded silly, and, in retrospect, deceptive.

To be honest, I don't even know what the pink structures at the base of the flower stalk did in its ancestor, so I made up a justification.

This is a wildcard, using the habitat flavors of Steppe (scrub), Mixed, Woodland, and Arid.

Some of my Drylicad descendants were made to be adaptable, to the point of using a wildcard, but this just feels ridiculous. Fast-growing large shrubs/small trees adapted for hot, dry conditions that can bypass Talon Hot Desert (such as through the South Talon-Orpington Tropical Beach or through dry, hot weather resistance), can live in huge chunks of each subcontinent. I actually had to remove this from Ovi Chaparral and the veldts because it surely can’t be fire-resistant too, though who knows how frequent the fires are. Not even shade in forested environments can stop this because there are no forest/rainforest subcontinental barriers, even if there were large trees already in existence. I’m not even sure if possible clay soil around rivers (most importantly, Black and Niyo) could stop it, since it spreads by airborne spores. Really, I’m not even sure what’s stopping it from getting to temperate environments: if there’s no ice caps, what’s the likelihood there’s killing frost or especially low temperatures? It seems the climate is like that of the Jurassic.

Lisgon (Circulufolium diffusus)
Ancestor: Drylicad
Creator: Coolsteph
Diet: Photosynthesis
Habitat: Drake-Orpington Subtropical Woodland, Orpington Tropical Scrub, Orpington Tropical Savanna, Talon Hot Desert, Talon Tropical Scrub, North Talon Tropical Savanna, South Ovi Subtropical Scrub, Obi-Dixon Hot Desert, Dixon Veldt, Dixon Chaparral, North Ovi Tropical Scrub, Ovi Hot Desert
Size: 2.5 meters
Support: Cellulose (Cell Walls)
Respiration: Unknown
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm (Flora)
Reproduction: Sexual (Metagenesis, airborne spores)

Lisgons are tremendously adaptable flora, living across a wide range of temperatures, soil types, climates, and even shade conditions. Only strong shade, or very wet or very dry soil conditions significantly limit them. They thrive in hot conditions, so long as there is sufficient water.

Physiology

Lisgons have shorter lifespans than the Drylicad. Their adaptability, fast maturation, and abundant spores make them weed-like. At time of evolution, they are the dominant large flora in various environments.

Lisgons grow in full sun to dappled shade.

2.5 meters is the average for adult specimens across all their habitats, but the top sizes vary by habitat. In ideal habitats, they can grow up to 4.5. Lisgons continue to grow after reaching maturity, if more slowly. Lisgons take at least 10 years to grow to maturity, at which point they have two layers of notches on the trunk. As they grow, the bark is initially softer and photosynthetic, with less pronounced jagged edges.

Like the Drylicad, a Lisgon has both very deep roots, which can reach as far as the water table in some areas, as well as a network of shallow roots. The exact level of investment in shallow or deep roots depends on local conditions, though genetically-adapted subpopulations are, of course, better-suited for local conditions. With the exception of the bark-covered trunk, all its aboveground parts are covered in wax, reducing the rate of transpiration.

It requires a film of water on its reproductive bulb for fertilization of its gametes. Rain accumulates at the base of its two layers of leaves, much like the water that accumulates in the leaves of a pineapple plant. The reddish-pink tissue at the base of its flower stalk, vaguely resembling lungs, works like a sponge, soaking up rainwater initially captured from the leaves. The spongy tissue is fairly easy to chew apart and is often a good source of water, yet is important for Lisgons’ reproduction. As a protective mechanism, the spongy tissue has a cloying, sweet, medicinal taste with a harsh aftertaste, like cherry-flavored cough syrup, which is particularly concentrated on the dryer, tougher outer cortex.

At night, when conditions are cool and moist, water from the spongy structures is transferred to the reproductive structures, creating the necessary water film.The exact reproductive season depends on whichever time of the year reliably has cool, moist, windy nights. Like their ancestor, they are occasionally pollinated by nocturnal Spardiflies species, which try to drink their collected water and in the process brush up against spores. During the daytime, the reproductive structures dry up, conserving water.

Like their ancestors, they have a complicated reproductive cycle with three reproductive types, which mix and match on the central stalk to form six possible gene combinations.

Occurrences & Microhabitats

Lisgons require well-drained soil, and so do not grow in high-clay soils. Lisgons require slightly more manganese than its ancestor, so they’re comparatively more prone to manganese deficiencies in more alkaline soils, such as especially dry deserts, or poorly-drained places like swamps.

They can survive about two hours of exposure to frosty temperatures (32 F), allowing them to live in warmer parts of temperate biomes on a warm planet which rarely had frosty temperatures for long in the subtropics anyway.

Wow, you actually remembered my Starfruit Caonach, Gelatinous Caonach, and Veinnach artworks from years ago. Since the map changed, I'll have to adjust their ranges, and I might have to re-do the art for the Gelatinous Caonach, so it will take longer. The Veinnach will likely be released first.

Rockshot Shootstem (Herbavernii ephemeralis)
Creator: Coolsteph
Ancestor: Shootstems
Size: 15 cm
Habitats: Niyo Tropical Watershed, Niyo Riparian, Towel Subtropical Watershed, Rose Subtropical Watershed, Rose Riparian, Towel Riparian
Reproduction: Sexual (Windborne Spores)
Diet: Photosynthesis
Reproduction: Reproduction: Sexual (Metagenesis; Windborne Spores)
Respiration: ???
Support: ???
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm

The name “Rockshot Shootstem” is a fanciful one: the flora’s shape vaguely resembles shotguns crossed with ray guns. As they often occur in gravelly debris or in patches of greyish powder (decayed organic matter mixed with greyish silt), one can imagine they shot small rocks with buckshot, hence the name “Rockshot”.

Rockshot Shootstems are oddly Mellowbulb-like in their lifestyles: they live on rocks very close to slow-moving streams that have accumulated various "pond scum”-like organisms (e.g., Continentadoras, Binucleid Rope Algae) and other organic matter. While Mellowbulbs only live in yearly, stable water sources and their edges, and require water films on their surfaces, Rockshot Shootstems are able to live in habitats that become significantly drier over the course of the year.

In contrast to its ancestor in the Shootstems genus group, it does not live for a full year, but mere months, having adapted to the lifestyle of a late winter/early spring ephemeral. Oddly, it dies when the weather gets hot, at temperatures Shootstems can typically survive. Depending on local climactic conditions and yearly fluctuations, it lives for two months to two-and-one-third months. Despite living in semi-arid habitats, it’s not descended from a scrubland- or desert-dwelling variety, but a grassland variety.

Though the species originated in Niyo Tropical Watershed, it has the most genetic diversity in subtropical climates, where the temperatures are somewhat cooler.

(Trivia: I did not actually intend it to be a pun on “shoot” as in “firing a firearm” and plant shoots. “Rockshot Shootstem” was simply the first name that came to mind, and I had to justify it somehow.)

Heavy Metal Ovipine (Gazebofolium postapocalypsin) (Gazebo-leaf after the apocalypse)
Creator: Coolsteph
Ancestor: Ovipine Dwarf Gazebo
Habitat: Ovi Veldt, North Ovi Tropical Scrub, Ovi Chaparral, Ovi Temperate Woodland, Ovi Temperate Savanna
Size: 55 cm tall
Diet: Photosynthesis
Respiration: ???
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm
Reproduction: Sexual, Hermaphrodite (Airborne Spores)


A very hardy species, capable of surviving cold, dry, and hot conditions with fairly poor soils, so long as there's at least a thin layer of organic matter. Its fairly high nitrogen needs and relatively slow growth compared to local purple flora or asterplents usually limits it to areas too cold, dry, hot, or some combination of those to be ideal for contemporary purple flora or asterplents, such as mountains. Still, its high nitrogen needs for its size means it struggles to live on especially high elevations, with less organic matter.

Its leaves are thick, waxy, and matte-colored; they grow most abundantly at the sides of the legs, forming stiff tufts. Not all of its roots are petrified: only its oldest, biggest ones. As the leg-roots rise above the ground, they grow thicker bone-bark. Underground, its leg-roots taper into thinner-shelled areas, until the petrification is merely a crispy shell. It retains an innate “mycelia” of fungus-like tissues. It is very good at “mining” for phosphorus and nitrogen, as well as obtaining moisture, compensating somewhat for its fairly high nitrogen needs compared to contemporary flora in the wake of a planetary nitrogen crash. Metals it sucks up from the soil accumulate in its stony bark. Where the soil is especially rich in metals, its trunk becomes slightly more silvery and shiny.

Its exceptional tolerance for heavy metals allows it to carve a unique niche living beside cryoflora, which have similar tolerances to cold, montane conditions. However, it can survive where the soil is not high in heavy metals, though it may not have as much of an advantage against cryoflora. It is often more common in the higher-elevation parts of its habitats, due to colder temperatures deterring competitors.

It can be used as a gazebo by sufficiently small (roughly <= 15 cm) fauna; for large fauna, however, its use as a gazebo is questionable.

To clarify, no respiration method was listed in its ancestor. It seems there's less attention to respiration in flora.

Merlinhat (Merlinia montibus)
Creator: Coolsteph
Ancestor: Branching Cryotable
Habitat: Ovi-Drake Montane Forest, North Drake Rocky Shrub, North Drake Montane Steppe, Ovi Rocky Shrub
Size: 50 cm tall
Diet: Photosynthesis
Respiration: ???
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm
Reproduction: Sexual (spores)

In its local habitats, where very few large local flora grow, there was tremendous opportunity for local flora to expand and diversify...including the Branching Cryotable descendant, the Merlinhat, a slow-growing tealflora that form huge fields of hard, spiny, glass-like flora.

While nonvascular, they managed to grow to such a huge size (by nonvascular standards) due to their intricate, supportive structures of almost bone-like silica, leaning up against each other with ridged stems and tiny hooked hairs, evolving after a mass extinction, and the lack of competition in their habitats.

They live close together in large clumps, using each other like supportive stakes. While the steppe environment may not seem conducive to year-round, abundant flora, Sagan 4’s hot climate (at time of evolution) allow for easier living up on steppes than one might expect, particularly for organisms so tolerant of cold. Still, as an adaptation to their harsh environments, they grow slowly.

Merlinhats so dominate their environments as to cause distinctive microbial assemblages in the soil beneath them, even for miles. Indeed, they grow in such density as to create warmer, more sheltered, more shaded microclimates beneath them, although their dense growth and hard, spiny bodies make it difficult for all but the smallest organisms to exploit. Dead Merlinhats, eventually hollowed out of photosynthetic tissues, form tiny, slightly leaky “greenhouses” with their own bodies, or, if they fall, just beneath them.

Something like a sunflower, their flat photosynthetic surfaces can move to track the sun; the tips of their stalks are less reinforced to allow for the necessary flexibility. They reproduce by releasing waterborne spores during rain or snowmelt events.

I see now that the problem was that the Week 4 Ecosystem page (https://sagan4beta.miraheze.org/wiki/Week_4/Ecosystem#Genus_Group_Biomes) hadn't been added to the Ecosystem reference page (https://sagan4beta.miraheze.org/wiki/Ecosystems). I could fix that myself.

If there are any problems on the Sagan 4 wiki that require correspondence with others (so not just typos), such as apparently misplaced organisms or organisms not marked as extinct, discuss them here. Prolonged discussions of biological problems in organisms on the wiki may be better suited for a different topic.

---

The latest ecosystem page lists the Cryomower as being extant, but it is actually extinct. Was this just a one-of-a-kind oversight? Is there a way to automate checking for any other mistakenly listed species?

QUOTE (Slipte @ Feb 3 2023, 03:52 AM)

Andere Möglichkeit Idee die Kreature ( funktioniert nur wenn die sicht beschränkt ist) in ihrem natürlichen habitat zeichen zum beispiel in der tief see so weit entfernt damit man nur bestimmte sachen wie bioluminescen und co zeichnen muss

Slipte, could you explain what just happened here?

Keep in mind that it probably wouldn’t be able to walk very well with hooves that pointy, but since they sort of resemble klipspringer hooves, I’m going to presume they still can walk. This isn’t a significant issue because they seem to spend most of their time aloft, and are probably much lighter than they look anyway. This may be more of an issue for the chicks, if the chicks are like their ancestor’s and cannot fly.

The easiest solution is that the hooves on chicks naturally wear away on rocks or tree bark as they walk, keeping them squarish, whereas adults’ hooves get pointy because they rarely use them to walk on land and so don’t wear them down. Having such pointy hooves could make it harder to pole-vault up into the air, which is a particular issue when feeding young, but if they nest on top of tree branches or on top of rocky cliffs on islands, they could easily fall off and fly that way. If they glide by their young and drop or regurgitate food, they wouldn’t even need to land, but this is an odder solution.

Its jaws don’t seem to have any cutting flanges. With that being said, it easily could have flanges too small to see at this resolution, much like how some ducks have ridges along the edges of the bill that help in catching slippery fish.

It would help to make the eyestrain underneath the jaws a little more conspicuous, if the eyes are meant to wrap around the jaws. At first glance, it seems to have significantly fewer eyestrils than its ancestor, which is not impossible, but is worth noting.

HethrJarrod,

Only a few minor issues remain. Arguably, it’s ready for approval right now, but I wanted to remind you to be more conscientious about your submissions so future submissions don’t require quite as much feedback as this one. It’s particularly important to respond fully to feedback, like the “Topmast Fuzzpalm” typo (which was pointed out twice before), so people don’t have to repeat it later.

There are some stray lines on the edges of the Flurroom. They could be interpreted as suggesting a fuzzy surface. While lines for art don’t have to be perfect, the consistently of this style of line-drawing could easily suggest a surface texture it doesn’t actually have. The easiest solution is to indeed confirm it’s a fuzzy texture. This would probably slightly reduce desiccation, and might be useful sensory structures.

The way the branch’s lines are drawn underneath the tentacles suggest the tentacles are transparent or translucent. It’s hard to justify why that would be so, given its environment and physiology, so I recommend coloring over those lines.

There’s an extra space before the first paragraph, which should be deleted.

An instance of “Topmast Fuzzpalm” remains in the description. When people provide feedback, I recommend using Ctrl+F to find all instances of the typo pointed out. For common typos without legitimate uses in the description, you can use LibreOffice (and potentially Microsoft Office) to automatically swap out typos for the correctly-spelled words by specifying the typo and the word to change it to.

There’s no need to italicize the names of host flora, although this is a minor error that would be corrected on the wiki anyway.

“Host plant” Flora. They aren’t in the kingdom Plantae, so they aren’t plants. The “plants” on Sagan 4 can be very different from normal Earth plants, so it’s important to remember they’re not normal plants, even if their ecological function is often very similar.

@Slipte, there are a lot of problems on the image, template, sentence, paragraph, and conceptual level, including typos, puzzling word and phrasing use, and errors in capitalization, punctuation, and formatting. Using Microsoft Office or LibreOffice could allow you to catch some errors, as would using Grammarly. (There's a free option.)

Since I need to help an influx of new members, some of which need a lot of help, there’s a limit to how much feedback I can reasonably give to any one entry submission. Therefore, you'll need to fix most of the problems yourself, or try again with something simpler, before I grant feedback on your entry submission. If you choose to start with something simpler, which I really recommend, I recommend the following list of easy-to-draw flora.

Try looking at the compendium for clarity on how descriptions should look.

---

@KiwiPistola15, given your level of English proficiency, I really do think it would be better to start with a simpler organism that’s easier to write about. But, since you seem to believe you can handle it nonetheless, I’ll direct you to certain classes of problems which need correction, and you can see for yourself whether you ought to start with something simpler. Keep in mind that with the influx of new members who’ve had trouble with making their first submissions, there are limits on how much help I can grant you specifically per submission. Try looking at the compendium for samples of how to write descriptions.

Art

1. While that leg shape is technically possible, it would surely be impractical as a weight-bearing posture. It looks like it’s crouching. Its toes are separated from each other, like one is a dewclaw. While a possible anatomical development, its foot structure consequently looks too flimsy to hold the weight of a 1.8 m long, 1.5 cm tall creature. Imagine a human with legs bent like they’re sitting on an imaginary chair, except they must balance their weight on only the balls of the foot. That would be uncomfortable. Now imagine something even bigger in body size. Generally, the bigger an animal gets, the straighter its legs become. Squirrels’ legs are more curved than elephant legs, for example.

Language Use

1. Capitalization errors (pointed out before, which you did not respond to): “Jaguar”, “Carnivore”, “Parents”, “The”. I will count the capitalization of the second word in the scientific name as a capitalization error.
2. “Paardavogel” in the diet ends with a period. “Scavanger” [sic] ends with a period.
3. Typos: “Scavanger” “wich” (x3)”eyestrills” (it’s “eyestrils”, like “nostrils”), “life’s”, etc.
4. Word misuse: “preys” (you’re using it as a verb, not a noun), “into the prey’s neck” (when you meant “onto”) [……]“his” (for most instances, this is not appropriate, while for one instance, it is semi-coherent but odd), “got a better vision”.

Conventions & Customs:

1. Size: if it’s above 100 cm, it’s 1 m. Therefore, it’s 1.8 cm long, 1.5 cm tall.

Other:
The paragraphs are all blurred together, and need to be separated. Subparagraphs for related sections, however, are acceptable.

--

@DemonicTigerBr and @demon7sword, do you intend to finish your entry submissions? Technically, there's not a time limit on entry submissions, but it's been a while with no responses to feedback.

--

@mayith, while some errors remain in your entry submission, and MNIDJM should have waited to admit you to the team until those were corrected, you have nonetheless been admitted. (See January 29 post from MNIDJM on Page 10) Given this is a topic for entry submissions for new members, no further feedback is needed now for your Sun-Eyed Phlock. When Generation A167 opens, re-submit it in the forum, and I will provide further feedback.

I made that a long time ago, when I didn't pay as much attention to skeletal details. Even when I made it, I had no idea of the anatomical function of the "ghost bone", which is some kind of clavicle/fused sternum. I think I put it there because it looked weird to keep that spot empty.
I think I assumed the legs were like elephant feet, and the toe bones rested on a cushion of fatty tissue.
I think I didn't know how to make the jaws work with an eye in the way of the cheekbones.
This was probably made with a vague recollection of dinosaur and amphibian skeletons (frogs don't have ribs), and perhaps a dash of horse skeleton.
It eats crystalflora, so it would logically have pretty tough jaws, although the exact toughness depends on whether crystalflora chitin is calcified, and if so, to what extent.
The face looks sort of like a hawksbill sea turtle, which could provide inspiration for its structure.
Really, it's a mess. It would probably need a complete overhaul. However, fixing this is a very low priority. As misinterpretation-fixing goes, me finishing and uploading the new Greencrest art is a higher priority.
For now, I'll mark it on the wiki as "Deprecated - No Longer Canon".

QUOTE (colddigger @ Feb 5 2023, 03:08 AM)

I didn't know we were switching up respiration and diet on microbes

Technically, it might not be necessary to make it respire sulfur and copper. Sulfur and copper could be included as particular nutrients it needs in very high levels, alongside using a source of carbon. However, given the particular environment it lives in is devoid of oxygen, it makes sense it would have adaptations to "breathe" something else, and breathing sulfur and copper seems parsimonious.

“The fraboohorn have returned”. This would flow better with a comma after “fraboohorn”.
“Shell & horn”: “shell and horn”.

Otherwise, it seems sound.

Because of the new Microbe Diet rule (https://sagan4.jcink.net/index.php?showtopic=1&st=15), you’ll have to specify where it gets its carbon from. It can’t be made purely of sulfur and copper, after all. The easiest solution is for it to get carbon by fixing carbon dioxide from the surrounding water, and to “breathe” (respire from) sulfur and copper, rather than “eat” it. I suggest looking at Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acidithiobacillus_thiooxidans). This species of sulfur-breathing bacteria, while not ecologically equivalent to the Coppertop, is a particularly well-studied sulfur-breather.
This may also provide clarity:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/...30129080624.htm

“Next, the colony will concentrate on”: This suggests intentionality, which is a lot to suppose from a colony of microbes. You could use quorum sensing, though. I doubt it could open up new hydrothermal vents entirely, although perhaps it might be able to expand the cracks in the seafloor.

There’s an extra comma in “Wide” in the size line. The second part of the scientific name should not be capitalized.

I recommend cleaning up at least most of the smudges in the art.

You misspelled your name in the template.
“Topmast Fuzzpalm” needs to be revised to “Topship Fuzzpalm”. Nothing’s stopping you from making a “Topmast Fuzzpalm” later, but for now, the typo must be corrected.

“Diverging away” is redundant phrasing: “diverging” would be be better.

The problem with “Futilely” has been pointed out before. One option is “reflexively (if futilely)”.
“Juvenile” should not be capitalized in the description.
“The Flurroom” This seems to be a using odd pluralization, like “deer” or “sheep”. Is that intended? Regardless, “When the Flurroom become an adult” suggests they all collectively become a single adult, which is incorrect.
I don’t think a “proto-cuticle” could really develop into a nutrient-leeching appendage. In plants, cuticles on leaves are separate from roots.
While “gonads” is a widely-used scientific term, and is used in things as different from humans as, say, a scallop, I still personally prefer using “reproductive organs” or “reproductive glands”.

To put it in the terms of TVTropes, for a likely future update to Sagan 4's Sagan 4's TVTropes page:
"Foreshadowing: As of Generation 167, the recurring phrase "fat, hairy sausage" has proven to be foreshadowing for the Saucege, whose entire concept can be summarized as such."

It barely even has a sauce, though I suppose its lifestyle doesn't really necessitate a big brain anyway.

QUOTE (kopout @ Feb 3 2023, 10:57 PM)

I think the consensus is that worms have live tissue exoskeletons and don't molt

I figure they could still molt in the same way a snake molts, which would similarly justify finding a sheltered spot.

Approval Checklist:
Art:
Art Present?: Y
Art clear?: Y
Gen number?: Y
All limbs shown?: Y
Reasonably Comparable to Ancestor?: Y
Realistic additions?: Y

Name:
Binomial Taxonomic Name?: Y
Creator?: Y

Ancestor:
Listed?: Y
What changes?:
* External?: Compressed body segments, pointy cloacal segment, round head segment, shorter legs, spiracles, thicker exoskeleton, different color.
* Internal?: Spiracles.
* Behavioral/Mental?: Hissing.
Are Changes Realistic?: Y
New Genus Needed?: (If yes, list why) Y; it’s not a “worm-shaped roach” (the meaning of its ancestor’s genus name) and its spiracles/drastically modified spiracles seem significant enough to justify a new genus.

Habitat:
Type?: Tropical, Subtropical, Temperate
Flavor?: Rainforest, Woodland
Connected?: Y (Surprisingly. This one flightless bug with no notable means of travel can spread across nearly half the megacontinent because it got very, very lucky from the distribution of rainforests and woodlands.)
Wildcard?: N

Size:
Same as Ancestor?: N
Within range?: Y
Exception?: N

Support:
Same as Ancestor?:
Does It Fit Habitat?:
Reasonable changes (if any)?:
Other?:

Diet:
Same as Ancestor?:
Transition Rule?:
Reasonable changes (if any)?:

Respiration:
Same as Ancestor?: Unknown
Does It Fit Habitat?: Unknown
Reasonable changes (if any)?: Unknown
Other?: Unknown

Thermoregulation:
Same as Ancestor?: N/A
Does It Fit Habitat?: N/A
Reasonable changes (if any)?: N/A
Other?: Thermoregulation is not specified, though it would surely be “ectotherm”.

Reproduction:
Same as Ancestor?: Y
Does It Fit Habitat?: Y
Reasonable changes (if any)?: N
Other?: N/A

Description:
Length?: Y
Capitalized correctly?: Y
Replace/Split from ancestor?: Split.
Other?: N/A

Opinion: Pending: Respiration and support could be delayed, but it’s surely an ectotherm. It’s small, so this is likely. It has no pelage, and I don’t think its ancestors have ever had pelage. Most compellingly, it and its ancestors seem to have made to fit the niche of roach-like bugs.

“Right to mate” is oddly anthropomorphic phrasing.
“Through the region” is missing a period at the end.
I’m still not sure how the warm waters of Barlowe would necessarily have plentiful food. It’s not specified. (See September 6, 2022 comment for more.)
The warm water detail is the only important one left, and my comment provides easy workarounds. After that is clarified, we can proceed to approval.

Approval Checklist:
Art:
Art Present?: Y
Art clear?: Y
Gen number?: Y
All limbs shown?: Y
Reasonably Comparable to Ancestor?: Y
Realistic additions?: Y

Name:
Binomial Taxonomic Name?: Y
Creator?: Y

Ancestor:
Listed?: Y
What changes?:
* External?: Quill-mane is now smooth like scale mail; has clear hairs on some parts; narrower, longer skull and non-goat like pupils; minor changes in cheek-horns, tail, feet, and torso
* Internal?: None, unless implied reduced gut capacity and therefore torso size count, which is accounted for in its diet
* Behavioral/Mental?: Rubs berry juice on itself
Are Changes Realistic?: Y
New Genus Needed?: (If yes, list why) N

Habitat:
Type?: 2: Tropical, Subtropical
Flavor?: Tropical Beach, Subtropical Beach, Subtropical Mangal, Tropical Mangal
Connected?: Y
Wildcard?: N

Size:
Same as Ancestor?: Y
Within range?: Y
Exception?: N

Support:
Same as Ancestor?: Y
Does It Fit Habitat?: Y
Reasonable changes (if any)?: N
Other?: N/A

Diet:
Same as Ancestor?: N
Transition Rule?: N/A
Reasonable changes (if any)?: The diet is broader than its ancestor’s and includes berries, but it’s still a herbivore which wouldn’t require notable specialized adaptations for its new diet.

Respiration:
Same as Ancestor?: Y
Does It Fit Habitat?: Y
Reasonable changes (if any)?: N/A
Other?: N/A

Thermoregulation:
Same as Ancestor?: Y
Does It Fit Habitat?: Y
Reasonable changes (if any)?: Y
Other?: Y

Reproduction:
Same as Ancestor?: Y
Does It Fit Habitat?: Y
Reasonable changes (if any)?: Y
Other?: N/A

Description:
Length?: Good.
Capitalized correctly?: In paragraph 3, there are inconsistencies in capitalization.
Replace/Split from ancestor?: Split.
Other?: There’s some odd phrasing and typos that have not been corrected.

Opinion: Pending: There are multiple typos remaining: see the December 28 message on Page 2 and January 15 message on Page 3. The capitalization errors may be the most conspicuous and important. Were it not for the capitalization errors, the typos may have been slight enough to justify being corrected after the fact on the wiki.

Jarlaxle, please don't use the word "politically" so flippantly. You surely knew that making such a novel, complicated anatomical development would be subject to scrutiny to ensure its plausibility.