Even if this were to be allowed, it also has other issues with how it behaves. Shrogs are not primates; they don't fight in wars and they don't form tribes. The twigfisher shrog in particular does not hunt large game. If it were to make the jump to sophonce as it is, it would most likely live in widely spaced family groups, more like modern rural homes than a village, and domesticate insect analogs such as gundis and minikruggs for food. It would also most likely not wear clothes, as clothing is modified from self-decoration animal behavior and also ties in with modesty (something shrogs don't have to worry about, as their external reproductive organs are naturally well-hidden when not in use).

1. This is the wrong place, non-members submit species as replies here: http://sagan4.jcink.net/index.php?showtopic=4
2. Sophonts (human-level intelligence/advancement) is not allowed.
3. You need to use the submission form given in the rules: http://sagan4.jcink.net/index.php?showtopic=1

That literally does not work. Dweller ears are broken and implausible. My take on attempting to explain them is that they are instead "hearing" through vibration sensitive bones in the eye socket with the pinnae acting somewhat like a mosquito's antennae. Low-pitched calls would actually be easy to pick up, coincidentally.

Wait, hold up. How exactly is a flap of skin that serves roughly the same mechanical purpose as a bra less appropriate than a creature evolving to literally wear clothes that cover up its genitals? One of those things has considerably more sexual implications than the other.

EDIT: After getting a little bit of outside input, I've added in a clarification that the pouch and teats are only present in late pregnancy and while nursing. They don't have permanent breasts. My question still stands.

QUOTE (Coolsteph @ Jun 26 2021, 06:36 PM)

I was planning on doing that today, but tried to prioritize some real-life matters. I suppose I'll do my review a few hours early. ". It is also a decent climber, each" With each. "built-in bra". ...that's...questionable phrasing. I would rather not connect six-eyed alien otters with such private female undergarments. (Despite the fact I hope to someday give Flunejaws loincloths made by Silkruggs, loincloths seem to cause different reactions when it concerns alien fauna wearing them.) Just ending the sentence at "her teats" is better.

I thought "built-in bra" might be an acceptable comparison with at least a slight humorous aspect due to its brevity, unexpectedness, and complete accuracy. I've spotted a number of bra gags in recent cartoons targeted towards small children, so it's not like it's something that's avoided like the plague in anything trying to be family-friendly. (Loincloths also probably aren't the garment I would use as a male analog to a bra, but that's a whole different discussion)

I've made the other edit.

Coolsteph could you do your normal species review on Tambuck please? (Mni said it was okay to insert an unrelated species in their place)

I just remembered this thread exists. Help is still needed.

I would like for tummorsuses to be decanonized. I made them during my "this is alpha so I can do whatever I want" phase and they're not only implausible, but intentionally so, and I regret ever submitting them and wish they had been rejected.

To take the slot they filled in Generation 161, I submit this descendant of the Tamjack, which was extant at the time:


Tambuck (Scandonychotherium albus)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Tamjack
Habitat: Jlindy Tropical Beach, Jlindy Tropical Coast, Dass Temperate Beach, Dass Temperate Coast, BigL Tropical Beach, BigL Tropical Coast
Size: 2.5 meters long
Support: Endoskeleton (Bone)
Diet: Herbivore (Tlukvaequabora, Marbleflora, Snotflora, Carnurtain, Olltooka, Tethered Mine Layer, Double Bubblgea, Harp-Hum, Greater Droopgea, Flashkelps, Pioneer Raftballs, Pinprong, Mainland Fuzzpalm, Obsidibend, Carnosprawl)
Respiration: Active (Lungs)
Thermoregulation: Endotherm (Fur)
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Placental, Milk)

The tambuck split from its ancestor, the tamjack, when some floating nests drifted further east into the waters surrounding the supercontinent. Unlike the tamjack, the tambuck does not drift far out to sea, instead living among tlukvaequabora mangrove-reefs which encircle Dixon. It is a somewhat better swimmer than its ancestor; its spikes are now mobile and can be pulled flat against its body as to not interfere with swimming. It is also a decent climber, with each of its three-toed feet bearing a semi-retractable, semi-opposable thumb, which allows it to wander among tlukvaequabora roots and logs that rise above the water's surface. As a tamjack, the tambuck is somewhat intelligent and has advanced instinctive nest-building capabilities.

The tambuck is named for its enlarged incisors, which it uses to bite through flora. They do not grow continuously, unlike a rodent's teeth, so their large size ensures that they last at least as long as the tambuck's natural lifespan. It primarily feeds on aquatic flora, but it may venture onto the beach to consume flora found there as well. Tambucks without nests will also travel to beaches in search of good wood for nest construction. Tambucks are naturally monogamous and generally live as small family groups consisting of a mated pair with young, though they are not territorial and will interact amicably with neighboring families.

Though the tambuck still constructs radial basket-like boat-nests, these are mostly immobile and set among the mangroves where they will not drift away. Instead of dispersal, the floating nest now serves a new purpose--protection of its young. The pouch was a vestige of their ancestry because tambucks are placental and their young outgrow it quickly, and it created an unnecessary limitation on their ability to feed and doomed a mother to either starvation or drowning her babies if her mate were to die. So, the tambuck completely forgoes the pouch and can leave its offspring behind in the nest while foraging for food. As the nest is floating, it isn't in constant contact with any surface from which parasites or small predators might crawl on board. The sun beating down onto the nest keeps it warm enough that the young babies won't be chilled to death before their mother returns and they can nurse. The pouch is not completely lost, but now serves to streamline a mother tambuck's underbelly by containing her teats, somewhat like a built-in bra. The pouch and enlarged mammary glands are only present during late pregnancy and while nursing, as is the case in many Terran mammals.

The tambuck reproduces more often than its ancestor, giving birth to 2-4 babies at a time every 1-2 years. Tambucks gestate for 6 months, take 3 years to reach full size, and, barring early death by disease or predation, they can live for up to 30 years.

QUOTE (Coolsteph @ Jun 25 2021, 10:44 PM)

Since the Shrew Lizard-focused diorama could be used as a gallery image for the Shrew Lizard itself, could the Scrubland Hornface and Tigmadar-focused image also be used as a gallery image for the Scrubland Hornface and the Tigmadar? Could the Nonibble depiction be extracted from the greater image and made into a gallery addition?

The image with the scrubland hornface and tigmadar was already approved to be placed on the page for tigmadar. I figured it shouldn't go on the hornface's page as well because it's showing a juvenile getting grabbed by the tail with blood.

The nonibble suggestion is a bit weirder. If that's done, it could be done for all dioramas. There's a lot of those with a lot of species. I suggested it be on the shrew lizard page because that particular species is featured prominently.

I think there needs to be more illustrations like the shrew lizard scene I drew in general. With how old Sagan 4 is, it's surprising there hasn't been a lot of non-member-made fanart of ecosystems accumulated over the years, and illustrations like that really help tie things together by showcasing ancestors of familiar modern groups in their natural environment.

Only if Coolsteph still wants me to change that line.

Artist: Disgustedorite
Biome: Huggs Temperate Forest
Week/Generation: 11/75 (Biocatian period)
Flora: Puffkin (various juveniles and adults, out of season, leaf litter), Gyroleffo (roots, leaf litter), Stickyballs, Nidbin, Mawring, Double Plent (juvenile, leaf litter), Upplenbell (leaf litter)
Fauna: Shrew Lizard, Nonibble, Ketter, Vicious Sauceback footprint
Microbes: None

This could also probably go among the gallery images for the Shrew Lizard.

Well, crud. Most of the pieces I've done have been grassland scenes with very few species and only one of those meets 5. I have other pieces that have more species, but one is old and bad and the other has non-native species as the only flora due to shrog meddling. That leaves me with just the one.


Artist: Disgustedorite
Biome: Dixon-Darwin High Grassland
Week/Gen: 26/162 (Bonoian period)
Flora: Arid Puffgrass, Fuzzyfan, Sprawling Quillball, Robust Arid Ferine (mostly obscured and barely visible in the distance)
Fauna: Scrubland Hornface (Juvenile), Tigmadar
Microbes: None

The flora in this one are a tad difficult to distinguish because I drew them at a realistic density...sorry about that

While waiting for the form to be up so I can officially submit some older pieces, I'll post something I've been working on. This piece is based on an observation that the earliest shrews and the earliest nodents not only existed in the same environment, but were predator and prey. Here's the progress so far:

I believe gilltail ram gills fall under semi-active. There's movement but it's not pumped the way lungs or buccal pump gills are.

The only place to submit dioramas is a (dead) thread for week 26 specifically. Shouldn't there be a place to submit dioramas regardless of contest status or depicted time period?

I ask because I've done several pieces and it's still not clear what's supposed to happen next.

These two species have illegal diets (the vast majority of their prey have no scales and have never had scales, some of the others used to have scales but lost them secondarily, and the few that actually do have scales don't cover their ranges completely and some don't have fish-like scales at all), and therefore they also have illegal ranges and nonsensical descriptions caused by misinterpretation:
https://sagan4alpha.miraheze.org/wiki/Sucker_Swarmer
https://sagan4alpha.miraheze.org/wiki/Left-Right_Scalucker

What should be done?

Gilltails do not have scales and never have.

I recommend tweaking the design to fix the teeth.

I disagree with the plausibility of reduplicated incisors. Plent teeth are already extremely bendy, and cutting them into smaller thin parts renders them completely useless as incisors.

Note that this has already been approved, since it happened entirely over discord, and I'm only making a note here as a public record of it happening; the wolvershrog has been redrawn.

Anyway, the changes to those species in the redraws seem a bit large. Could you justify some of the changes / explain why they were made? Nergali

http://sagan4.jcink.net/index.php?showtopic=682

Snowmelt Srugeing (Volanix annuss)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Srugeing
Habitat: Maineiac Tundra
Size: 20 cm long
Support: ?
Diet: Juvenile: Carnivore (Cloudwarmer Larvae, Miniswarmers); Adult: Carnivore (Minikruggs, Vermees)
Respiration: Juvenile: Semi-Active (Ram Gill); Adult: Semi-Active (Gill-Lung)
Thermoregulation: Juvenile: Ectotherm; Adult: Heterotherm (Basking, Muscle-Generated Heat)
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Spawning)

The snowmelt srugeing split from its ancestor. It moved into Maineiac Tundra, where its niche was unfilled, and developed a very strange annual lifecycle. In order to survive in the tundra, it must take full advantage of the short polar summer. In the winter, it only exists as eggs locked in ice, using antifreeze proteins to stay alive and slowly develop. When the summer snowmelt arrives, the eggs are set free from the ice and hatch in the massive pools of water which form. In only 1 month, after feasting on tundra-adapted miniswarmers and cloudswarmer larvae which also take advantage of the snowmelt, the hatchlings grow into adults which then emerge from the water on the wing. The adults spend the remainder of the short summer spawning into every pool they come across, feasting on tundra-adapted minikruggs and vermees in between to replenish their gametes until the arrival of winter causes them all to freeze to death. About 30% of eggs survive the freeze and hatch the following summer, repeating the cycle.

The snowmelt srugeing loses most of its fins in adulthood for streamlining and heat retention, and it is smaller so that it may mature more quickly. The adult is better-suited to surviving the low humidity of the tundra, as its skin is relatively tough and chitinous, somewhat comparable to a Terran caterpillar. Its wings are leathery and more opaque. Small sclerotised hair-like growths around its wing muscles provide a small amount of insulation so that the heat generated by flight isn’t instantly lost, but if it ever stops flying for more than a few seconds, it must bask to recover. It is capable of keeping its lung-gill moist on its own, but may still dip its gill opening into the water to moisten it quickly. Its gill opening is usually held tight against its neck with only small openings at the corners exposed, so that it remains streamlined and can protect its respiratory system from invasion by disease or parasites. The lung is internalized in adulthood rather than bulging outwards in order to protect it from damage and further streamline its shape.

The juvenile snowmelt srugeing looks far more like a generic gilltail, though with some differences. Even at hatching it has unusually large pectoral fins, so that they may grow into wings as quickly as possible. Its gill anatomy resembles that of the surge gilltail, and the gill internalizes and turns into a lung before adulthood.

Why do the threads you make just spawn into existence without showing as the latest post it's kinda weirding me out