Polar Baron (Baronisaurus densicutus)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Baron Signaltail
Habitat: Drake Tundra, Drake Polar Scrub
Size: 5 meters long
Diet: Carnivore (Lumbering Pasakerd; As Juvenile: Steppe Lizalope, Grazing Gossalizard, Shortface Sauceback, Woollycoat, Loafpick, Lipped Sauceback, Shaggy Glasseater, Gutsy Phlyer, Feral Tuskent), Scavenger
Respiration: Active (Lungs)
Thermoregulation: Mesotherm/Gigantotherm (Blubber)
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Leathery-Shelled Eggs)
The polar baron split from its ancestor. This large solitary predatory snapper resides in polar biomes, as its name suggests. Lacking fibrous integument to protect it from icy winds, it instead employs much thicker skin and a layer of blubber to keep it warm. Its crests have been replaced with a rough keratinous crown, which is better-protected from the cold. It is completely solitary, no longer employing mob-hunting. It uses its bioluminescent tail to signal its presence during dark polar winters, warning off competitors. It has lost its armor, though the end of its tail is keratinized to protect against the cold. Its eyes are arranged in triangle formation to make more room for powerful jaw muscles. Unlike its ancestor, its lips cover its teeth.
Adult polar barons consume lumbering pasakerds almost exclusively, grappling with their forearms, pinning with their feet, and using their powerful jaws to break through the carapace. They are able to keep the pasakerd in check by hunting and killing large numbers of them. Juvenile polar barons, which are more cursorial than the adults, will chase down juvenile lumbering pasakerds as well as steppe lizalopes, grazing gossalizards, and many other smaller fauna to consume. Both juveniles and adults will consume the carcasses of any fauna which succumbed to the cold.
Like its ancestor, the polar baron lays leathery-shelled eggs. Its breeding period takes place during the annual thaw. Both parents participate in protecting the eggs, but the father will leave after they hatch. Juveniles can stand up and run soon after birth. Parental care continues until the juveniles learn to hunt, at which point they leave their mother and go off on their own.
Is there any chance you could expedite this? I have species ideas for next gen that, while not dependent on it, will be severely affected by it on a multi-paragraph edit level.
Why was this approved? It still has active issues, the elbow thing that Coolsteph pointed out still needs to be fixed. MNIDJM colddigger
In every collaborative spec evo project, someone tries to submit a sapient species at least once. Sagan 4 is no exception; outside the canon sapients, there have been numerous others that were submitted (or planned to be) but ultimately rejected, including Azelangur, Chimpus, Smart Plesioraptor, and many others. After talking with a few members I've also found out that some had ideas for sapient species that they never submitted, such as Buff's ideas for a sapient pedesorm (yes, a pedesorm), Ichthy's idea for a sapient jellysquid, and Mnidjm's idea for a sapient uktank.
I find the world of scrapped and rejected sapients to be very interesting; I myself actually had an idea for a sapient as my first ever submission concept (which was later nerfed to become the Bannertail). Have you ever had an idea for a sapient species that never got made, or perhaps remember a rejected sapient that's otherwise lost to time? Please reply with examples, I'm very curious about this.
I find the world of scrapped and rejected sapients to be very interesting; I myself actually had an idea for a sapient as my first ever submission concept (which was later nerfed to become the Bannertail). Have you ever had an idea for a sapient species that never got made, or perhaps remember a rejected sapient that's otherwise lost to time? Please reply with examples, I'm very curious about this.
According to Sporistics, this recreation of the Soriparasite is 31% mean.
Since Sagan 4 was inspired by Spore, it's surprising there aren't very many Sagan 4 species that have been made in the creature editor and shared online.
I've made every single sauceback and every single azelak in spore and all of them have been shared on the online sporepedia. I am also working on making every single shrew. Does anyone else here like to make Sagan 4 creatures in Spore?
I've made every single sauceback and every single azelak in spore and all of them have been shared on the online sporepedia. I am also working on making every single shrew. Does anyone else here like to make Sagan 4 creatures in Spore?
Technically, much like its relatives the saucebacks, the "head" is actually the segment the wings are on and the part in front of it is a proboscis.
This is the wrong place and submissions for Beta are still closed. Automatic rejection.
| QUOTE (Coolsteph @ Apr 18 2021, 12:42 PM) |
| Is it possible for it to "redevelop" teeth on its lower jaw? |
Yes, in real life some frogs that only had teeth on one jaw regained them on the other. I actually covered this in my post about atavism; if a feature is lost in one part of the body but intact in another, atavism becomes considerably easier. This is also seen with functional digits and claws on the forelimbs of some birds.
Wildcard actually does exist in Alpha, but I imagine this isn't meant to be wildcard anyway
"Respiration: Aerobic"
This should be "Respiration: Passive (Stomata)"
This should be "Respiration: Passive (Stomata)"
Hairy Flyworms
The Eyed Flyworm was the last flying creature left on the planet, having avoided a UVB-irradiated demise by happening to reside in a cave. When the world outside transformed into one where the sun was a deadly laser, some of its descendants which emerged from the cave rapidly developed nocturnal adaptations, producing the hairy flyworms. Like a Terran moth, a coat of chitinous setae holds in the heat they generate through flight, allowing them to stay active in the cold of night. Further, their “sticky pad” feet have extended into functional, unsclerotised hydrostatic legs, allowing them to move quickly to avoid predators or sunlight when exposed. Hiding under rocks and soil by day and flying about in search of food by night, these fuzzy little wingworms soon spread all over the planet, taking over some of the niches that had been vacated by the extinction of all other flying creatures.
The most basal and instantly prolific group of hairy flyworms are the fuzzflies (Pellimuscavermis spp.). Staying true to their ancestral niche, with all the dead organisms quite literally covering the ground, these flying scavengers diversified into over a thousand species, ranging from tiny creatures only a millimeter in length to “giant” inch-long forms. They utilize chitinous bristles on their tongues to tear into their meals. They are present in nearly all terrestrial biomes, and at dusk they will swarm in large numbers to the carcasses of fauna which were stranded and perished in the burning daylight.
Another basal group of the hairy flyworms is the puckbugs (Basimuscavermis spp.), which have modified their mouths for sucking. Puckbugs primarily consume sap, though some species are not impartial to drinking blood. Having diversified into over a thousand species, much like their close cousins the fuzzflies, the puckbugs are cosmopolitan and present in nearly every terrestrial biome. The largest species are only around one centimeter long, the majority being between 3 and 5 millimeters.
The lampredates (Dracomuscavermis spp.) are a far more derived variety of hairy flyworms. They have gained an additional pair of eyes on their cephalic segment, allowing them to easily pursue and prey on other flyworms. Their mouths bear chitinous spines, which are similar to the oral ring of their distant ancestors as well as their cousins the saucebacks, but the spines are immobile and not homologous with the teeth their ancestors lost; they can be likened to the keratinous “teeth'' found in the mouths of some Terran birds in this respect. Their first and second pairs of wings flap together, as do their third and fourth, allowing them to fly with less energy compared to other flyworms. They can reach up to about an inch (2.5 cm) in length, though the majority of species are smaller, generally in the 4-8 mm range. Similar to their cousins, they are cosmopolitan, being present in nearly every terrestrial biome.
The Eyed Flyworm was the last flying creature left on the planet, having avoided a UVB-irradiated demise by happening to reside in a cave. When the world outside transformed into one where the sun was a deadly laser, some of its descendants which emerged from the cave rapidly developed nocturnal adaptations, producing the hairy flyworms. Like a Terran moth, a coat of chitinous setae holds in the heat they generate through flight, allowing them to stay active in the cold of night. Further, their “sticky pad” feet have extended into functional, unsclerotised hydrostatic legs, allowing them to move quickly to avoid predators or sunlight when exposed. Hiding under rocks and soil by day and flying about in search of food by night, these fuzzy little wingworms soon spread all over the planet, taking over some of the niches that had been vacated by the extinction of all other flying creatures.
The most basal and instantly prolific group of hairy flyworms are the fuzzflies (Pellimuscavermis spp.). Staying true to their ancestral niche, with all the dead organisms quite literally covering the ground, these flying scavengers diversified into over a thousand species, ranging from tiny creatures only a millimeter in length to “giant” inch-long forms. They utilize chitinous bristles on their tongues to tear into their meals. They are present in nearly all terrestrial biomes, and at dusk they will swarm in large numbers to the carcasses of fauna which were stranded and perished in the burning daylight.
Another basal group of the hairy flyworms is the puckbugs (Basimuscavermis spp.), which have modified their mouths for sucking. Puckbugs primarily consume sap, though some species are not impartial to drinking blood. Having diversified into over a thousand species, much like their close cousins the fuzzflies, the puckbugs are cosmopolitan and present in nearly every terrestrial biome. The largest species are only around one centimeter long, the majority being between 3 and 5 millimeters.
The lampredates (Dracomuscavermis spp.) are a far more derived variety of hairy flyworms. They have gained an additional pair of eyes on their cephalic segment, allowing them to easily pursue and prey on other flyworms. Their mouths bear chitinous spines, which are similar to the oral ring of their distant ancestors as well as their cousins the saucebacks, but the spines are immobile and not homologous with the teeth their ancestors lost; they can be likened to the keratinous “teeth'' found in the mouths of some Terran birds in this respect. Their first and second pairs of wings flap together, as do their third and fourth, allowing them to fly with less energy compared to other flyworms. They can reach up to about an inch (2.5 cm) in length, though the majority of species are smaller, generally in the 4-8 mm range. Similar to their cousins, they are cosmopolitan, being present in nearly every terrestrial biome.
Is your brightness turned way up? It doesn't look like that to me.
Nimbuses: Algae of the Sky
(Artwork by Hydromancerx)
The nimbuses are a relatively young lineage of airborne microbes. Though the sky would seem like the worst place for any organism to be with the current state of the ozone layer, it is like heaven to nimbuses, which use UVA light for photosynthesis. Though they do not utilize all wavelengths, these extremophiles are also highly resistant to UVB and even gamma radiation, not unlike the Terran Deinococcus radiodurans.
With no reason to take a different path, the nimbuses of this timeline have convergently evolved colonial forms analogous to the canon nimbus clouds and hair nimbuses. However, they have also taken on an additional novel form: the nimbuswebs.
Unlike other colonial nimbuses, which are attached by their fronds, nimbuswebs are actually attached cell to cell in string-like colonies resembling a long line of dandelion puffs. Lightweight and incredibly thin, their puffs no more than a few millimeters thick and the cells themselves microscopically thin, they are as light and delicate as spider silk and are carried through the air by the slightest breeze.
(Artwork by Hydromancerx)
The nimbuses are a relatively young lineage of airborne microbes. Though the sky would seem like the worst place for any organism to be with the current state of the ozone layer, it is like heaven to nimbuses, which use UVA light for photosynthesis. Though they do not utilize all wavelengths, these extremophiles are also highly resistant to UVB and even gamma radiation, not unlike the Terran Deinococcus radiodurans.
With no reason to take a different path, the nimbuses of this timeline have convergently evolved colonial forms analogous to the canon nimbus clouds and hair nimbuses. However, they have also taken on an additional novel form: the nimbuswebs.
Unlike other colonial nimbuses, which are attached by their fronds, nimbuswebs are actually attached cell to cell in string-like colonies resembling a long line of dandelion puffs. Lightweight and incredibly thin, their puffs no more than a few millimeters thick and the cells themselves microscopically thin, they are as light and delicate as spider silk and are carried through the air by the slightest breeze.
Glicker's Glintdagger Takeover
While Glicker had lucked out in the technical number of species that survived the gamma ray burst, far fewer of its native flora species had innate features that gave them an edge over other flora. The best that its native flora could do is be able to grow quickly enough to reproduce once before exposure to intense UVB radiation kills them, and what could survive began to evolve ways to reduce exposure through either shade tolerance or reflective structures. However, one particular plant, the glintdagger, was already somewhat suited to the harsh conditions due to its reflective leaves, though nowhere near to the same degree as the seafoam and rust grasses of Wright.
(artwork by Somarinoa; note however that the stickyballs attached to the plant are extinct)
Its range soon encroached that of other grasses, but it could not outcompete them, as they already had a foothold. However, everything changed when primarily granivorous descendants of the nouse known as nomsters took notice of their bioluminescent seeds.
Nearly all living fauna in Glicker are nocturnal, so existing strategies of attracting fauna such as bright colors did not work as well. However, by pure chance, the glintdagger had evolved bioluminescent seeds prior to the extinction event. This meant that nocturnal granivores such as nomsters which regularly foraged for seeds would see them before anything else and bring them back to their underground food stores, often completely ignoring other seeds. If they are not simply abandoned and sprout from where they were stored, the stored seeds may then be eaten by larger creatures such as shrews and thief plents, which will then therefore spread them even further away through their feces. As a result, simply by having a preference for their easy-to-find seeds, the humble nomsters, seemingly insignificant creatures rarely more than 15 centimeters in length (the smallest species being as little as 5 centimeters!), have facilitated the rapid spread of glintdaggers, which have taken over as the dominant ground cover over most of Glicker.
While Glicker had lucked out in the technical number of species that survived the gamma ray burst, far fewer of its native flora species had innate features that gave them an edge over other flora. The best that its native flora could do is be able to grow quickly enough to reproduce once before exposure to intense UVB radiation kills them, and what could survive began to evolve ways to reduce exposure through either shade tolerance or reflective structures. However, one particular plant, the glintdagger, was already somewhat suited to the harsh conditions due to its reflective leaves, though nowhere near to the same degree as the seafoam and rust grasses of Wright.
(artwork by Somarinoa; note however that the stickyballs attached to the plant are extinct)
Its range soon encroached that of other grasses, but it could not outcompete them, as they already had a foothold. However, everything changed when primarily granivorous descendants of the nouse known as nomsters took notice of their bioluminescent seeds.
Nearly all living fauna in Glicker are nocturnal, so existing strategies of attracting fauna such as bright colors did not work as well. However, by pure chance, the glintdagger had evolved bioluminescent seeds prior to the extinction event. This meant that nocturnal granivores such as nomsters which regularly foraged for seeds would see them before anything else and bring them back to their underground food stores, often completely ignoring other seeds. If they are not simply abandoned and sprout from where they were stored, the stored seeds may then be eaten by larger creatures such as shrews and thief plents, which will then therefore spread them even further away through their feces. As a result, simply by having a preference for their easy-to-find seeds, the humble nomsters, seemingly insignificant creatures rarely more than 15 centimeters in length (the smallest species being as little as 5 centimeters!), have facilitated the rapid spread of glintdaggers, which have taken over as the dominant ground cover over most of Glicker.
Hydro and Barlowe actually have relatively little shade in their forests, the obsiditrees there are very different from the ones on the supercontinent.
Only in Wright, it's still unfeasible for stuff to raft between the two continents because of the whole "ozone layer's gone" thing. I'm gonna make a flora update for Glicker next.
Seafoam and Rust: Purple Flora of Unusual Color
The gamma ray burst hit Wright far worse than it hit Glicker, and much of the terrain was left barren of all but microbes. What little visible life that remained on the surface consisted of grass-like flora, which only lived long enough to reproduce once before succumbing to the harsh ultraviolet radiation. However, not all flora suffered equally. Though fewer species survived in Wright overall compared to Glicker, what did survive included two distinct types of purple flora which already utilized pigments which incidentally protected them from the harsh sunlight, allowing them to rapidly take over the continent.
Emerging from the river system, descendants of the rivergrass re-adapted for life on land and rapidly took over the continent, becoming the seafoam grasses. Though a type of purple flora, the seafoam grasses are green in color due to the presence of a greenish non-photosynthesizing pigment, which can be seen as analogous to the anthocyanin of Earth’s plants due to it being complementary to their natural purple photosynthesis. Unlike anthocyanin, however, this green pigment reflects harmful ultraviolet radiation, preventing its transmission into the plant’s tissues and allowing the seafoam grasses to grow and thrive in spite of the burning sun. Their ancestor remained extant as well, unchanged, and thrived throughout Wright's freshwater and wetland environments.
The seafoam grasses were so successful that they even began to outcompete other purple flora. However, they were not the only flora on Wright lucky enough to be able to withstand the harmful ultraviolet radiation.
Descendants of the rust bush known as rust grasses now dominate much of western Wright, utilizing an iron-based accessory pigment which reflects most harmful UVB radiation. Though not all is successfully deflected, the remainder is less energetic and rendered harmless, as the pigment will capture it and pass its energy to their purple chloroplasts for use in photosynthesis. This gives them an edge over the seafoam grasses, which only deflect and cannot actually utilize the radiation for food production, and as a result they are far more diverse. Because of their dependence on iron, however, they are restricted to regions rich in that metal. Due to a general lack of fauna, their fruit has gradually shrunken down into a simple extra flesh casing over the seed within.
It is thanks to these two varieties of flora that Wright is on its way to becoming habitable once more. They have even allowed the spread of centiworms throughout the continent, including descendants of both the original centiworm and the rainforest centiworm. One particular descendant of the rainforest centiworm, the colossal centiworm, reached a whopping 2 meters in length due to a complete lack of competition.
The gamma ray burst hit Wright far worse than it hit Glicker, and much of the terrain was left barren of all but microbes. What little visible life that remained on the surface consisted of grass-like flora, which only lived long enough to reproduce once before succumbing to the harsh ultraviolet radiation. However, not all flora suffered equally. Though fewer species survived in Wright overall compared to Glicker, what did survive included two distinct types of purple flora which already utilized pigments which incidentally protected them from the harsh sunlight, allowing them to rapidly take over the continent.
Emerging from the river system, descendants of the rivergrass re-adapted for life on land and rapidly took over the continent, becoming the seafoam grasses. Though a type of purple flora, the seafoam grasses are green in color due to the presence of a greenish non-photosynthesizing pigment, which can be seen as analogous to the anthocyanin of Earth’s plants due to it being complementary to their natural purple photosynthesis. Unlike anthocyanin, however, this green pigment reflects harmful ultraviolet radiation, preventing its transmission into the plant’s tissues and allowing the seafoam grasses to grow and thrive in spite of the burning sun. Their ancestor remained extant as well, unchanged, and thrived throughout Wright's freshwater and wetland environments.
The seafoam grasses were so successful that they even began to outcompete other purple flora. However, they were not the only flora on Wright lucky enough to be able to withstand the harmful ultraviolet radiation.
Descendants of the rust bush known as rust grasses now dominate much of western Wright, utilizing an iron-based accessory pigment which reflects most harmful UVB radiation. Though not all is successfully deflected, the remainder is less energetic and rendered harmless, as the pigment will capture it and pass its energy to their purple chloroplasts for use in photosynthesis. This gives them an edge over the seafoam grasses, which only deflect and cannot actually utilize the radiation for food production, and as a result they are far more diverse. Because of their dependence on iron, however, they are restricted to regions rich in that metal. Due to a general lack of fauna, their fruit has gradually shrunken down into a simple extra flesh casing over the seed within.
It is thanks to these two varieties of flora that Wright is on its way to becoming habitable once more. They have even allowed the spread of centiworms throughout the continent, including descendants of both the original centiworm and the rainforest centiworm. One particular descendant of the rainforest centiworm, the colossal centiworm, reached a whopping 2 meters in length due to a complete lack of competition.
I've started adding links to relevant canon species and also added the official gamma ray burst art - I figured I don't need to redraw what's still canon
In Beta, "rocky shrub" is a mixed biome, like a savanna or a chaparral, while "tropical scrub" is classed as steppe because it's so much drier. There's no such thing as a "rocky scrub" or a "tropical shrub".
Respiration: Active (Lungs)
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm
--
Where's the generation number? Can you get a clearer image?
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm
--
Where's the generation number? Can you get a clearer image?
Inkflora
With the extinction of most flora and the oceans left devoid of macroscopic phytoplankton, a significant portion of solar energy went to waste. With photosynthesis reduced globally, even with the few fast-growing flora that managed to live and reproduce on land, Sagan IV was at imminent risk of an oxygen crash of massive proportions, threatening all multicellular life.
However, there was still hope. Among the surviving flora was a sort of colonial black algae, the bank baalgae, which had already begun to expand its range with the extinction of nearly all of its competition. A particular offshoot gained the ability to produce gamete cells, allowing it to combat radiation damage through genetic recombination as well as disperse and spread without breaking apart. In order to resist the intense UV radiation beating down on it, it evolved special pigments which reflected harmful UV light. This aberrant black algae became a new kind of multicellular “plant”: the inkflora. With their superior radiation defenses, the inkflora rapidly outcompeted their ancestor and spread globally.
In defiance of the sun’s threat to life, huge mats of inkflora cover the ocean’s surface like an iridescent black blanket. Like their unicellular black algae cousins, they absorb light from the entire visible spectrum, though not nearly as efficiently as other types of flora. Their iridescent appearance comes from specialized UV-reflective pigments, which serve as a defense against the deadly sun. With their ability to cover much of the planet's surface and resist radiation damage, the inkflora were able to almost single-handedly prevent oxygen from dropping below critical levels, effectively saving all multicellular life. Though they have little in the way of defense against predators, the fact of them being the only thing standing in the way of deadly radiation killing whatever is underneath them deters significant predation, allowing them to grow freely.
Smaller forms also exist in brackish and freshwater environments, particularly lakes, marshes, and slow-moving streams, where they serve as shelter for small aquatic fauna which would otherwise die from exposure to sunlight. Inkflora as a whole have facilitated the return of many kinds of fauna, including krillpedes, urchips, luliformids, marephasmatoids, and beakworms, to the shallows, sunlight zone, and freshwater biomes, though larger oceanic fauna remain restricted to the deep sea.
With the extinction of most flora and the oceans left devoid of macroscopic phytoplankton, a significant portion of solar energy went to waste. With photosynthesis reduced globally, even with the few fast-growing flora that managed to live and reproduce on land, Sagan IV was at imminent risk of an oxygen crash of massive proportions, threatening all multicellular life.
However, there was still hope. Among the surviving flora was a sort of colonial black algae, the bank baalgae, which had already begun to expand its range with the extinction of nearly all of its competition. A particular offshoot gained the ability to produce gamete cells, allowing it to combat radiation damage through genetic recombination as well as disperse and spread without breaking apart. In order to resist the intense UV radiation beating down on it, it evolved special pigments which reflected harmful UV light. This aberrant black algae became a new kind of multicellular “plant”: the inkflora. With their superior radiation defenses, the inkflora rapidly outcompeted their ancestor and spread globally.
In defiance of the sun’s threat to life, huge mats of inkflora cover the ocean’s surface like an iridescent black blanket. Like their unicellular black algae cousins, they absorb light from the entire visible spectrum, though not nearly as efficiently as other types of flora. Their iridescent appearance comes from specialized UV-reflective pigments, which serve as a defense against the deadly sun. With their ability to cover much of the planet's surface and resist radiation damage, the inkflora were able to almost single-handedly prevent oxygen from dropping below critical levels, effectively saving all multicellular life. Though they have little in the way of defense against predators, the fact of them being the only thing standing in the way of deadly radiation killing whatever is underneath them deters significant predation, allowing them to grow freely.
Smaller forms also exist in brackish and freshwater environments, particularly lakes, marshes, and slow-moving streams, where they serve as shelter for small aquatic fauna which would otherwise die from exposure to sunlight. Inkflora as a whole have facilitated the return of many kinds of fauna, including krillpedes, urchips, luliformids, marephasmatoids, and beakworms, to the shallows, sunlight zone, and freshwater biomes, though larger oceanic fauna remain restricted to the deep sea.
Yes, I love the quote "the sun is a deadly laser" very much.
"Individual species" and "genus group" don't have much meaning in the format I'm going for. There will certainly be entries that are what one would traditionally call a genus group, however there will be no lumping, and some megafauna will be presented in group entries as well.
For the most part, microbes aren't gonna get much focus except where it's relevant or if there's significant change. That said, they will not die of neglect either; the way I intend to handle them will become more clear in a future entry.
"Individual species" and "genus group" don't have much meaning in the format I'm going for. There will certainly be entries that are what one would traditionally call a genus group, however there will be no lumping, and some megafauna will be presented in group entries as well.
For the most part, microbes aren't gonna get much focus except where it's relevant or if there's significant change. That said, they will not die of neglect either; the way I intend to handle them will become more clear in a future entry.
Y'all are allowed to talk here, I feel weird just posting update after update with nothing in between even though I know people are commenting on it in the discord
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