Core Rules

- You may only evolve from species which are considered canon to Sagan 4 Beta, which can be found on the wiki or using Sagan Bot on the discord server.
- You may choose any living creature to work on and post as many as you want. No one can claim ownership over any one organism or group
- You many only evolve from a previous generation or before. (Not the same generation).
- Each generation is done when it reaches the species cap or when 2 weeks have passed, whichever comes last.
- Each week is done when it reaches 5 generations no matter if it takes 5 days or 5 months.
- At the end of each week, the Moderation team will see what species are still alive and what are dead. A new ecosystem list of where each species lives will then be posted. In mass extinctions, a list of all groups that have gone extinct will be given with the exceptional survivors.
- Taxonomy is primarily handled by Sagan 4 moderators and specifically-appointed members. If you create a lineage and would like to name its taxonomic groups, or if you think a taxonomic group has become too large and broad, you are free to suggest revisions. However, on your own you cannot simply make up new groups other than genera and families.
- Please post your organisms in the Organism Submission subforum. Once there, create a new thread just for your organism stating its name, week number, and generation number (with a B ) within the thread title.
-- If you are not currently a part of the Sagan 4 team, please see the New Member Submissions thread. If you are a returning member from before the limbo or are otherwise already a member of Sagan 4 Alpha, however, you should instead message an active Sagan 4 moderator (ie, Coolsteph, TSSL, or Disgustedorite) and they will have your Sagan 4 team member status restored.
- To reduce strain on moderation, members are limited to 6 active submissions at one time. An active submission is any submission that has neither been approved (placed in the compendium) nor rejected. Official contest and challenge entries are exempt.

Standalone Descriptions Rule
An organism's description must be a standalone read. Writing 'The organism is mostly the same as it's ancestor but has a red crest and now lives on the beach.' is not acceptable, you should briefly summarize how exactly it is the same/similar to its ancestor. We do not expect you to write about every little detail ever prescribed to that lineage, that will be covered in the Taxonomy section, but we do expect you to talk about what your organism's biology and psychology and behaviors are like.



- Each species must have the following information filled out so it may be copied and pasted into the Sagan 4 Wiki.[/li]

(IMAGE)

Common Name (Genus species)

Creator: [ that would be you ]
Ancestor: [ see ancestor ]
Habitat: [ see ecosystem list ]
Size: # in metric long/tall/wide/wingspan (Note: Typically you would choose the dimension (long/tall/wide) that is largest. Wingspan cannot be the sole measurement. Use the measurement that is the average size of your organism. Colonial microbes and flora should also feature their colony size range in brackets)
Support: [ see ancestor ]
Diet: [ see other species and diet rules below ]
Respiration: [ see ancestor ]
Thermoregulation: [ see ancestor ]
Reproduction: [ unless you intend to change it, see ancestor ]

[ Any other information not stated above is put here in the description]

Note that some species have unknown support, respiration, and thermoregulation because these fields were implemented after the project began. This is not an invitation to make something up; instead, it is recommended that you either leave them blank or request assistance in filling these in.

i fORGOT THE WHISKERS

I've seen dormant photosynthesis noted on cave and deep sea species before.

I intend to make a diorama of the driftwood islands underbelly once it has some organisms in it

Underbelly Diaminet (Ventralinet lutovore)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Symbioraft Diaminet
Habitat: Driftwood Islands Underbelly, Jujubee Ocean Twilight Zone, North LadyM Ocean Twilight Zone, South LadyM Ocean Twilight Zone
Size: 6 meters wide
Diet: Detritivore, Dormant Photosynthesis; Sapling Only: Carnivore (Miniswarmers, Grabbyswarmers, Krillpedes, Shimmering Marephasmatises, Dragon Marephasmoids, Glowgill, Gillarill, Eusuckers)
Respiration: Passive
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm
Reproduction: Sexual (Hermaphroditic, Waterborne Spores)

The Underbelly Diaminet split from its ancestor. It has taken the mostly unclaimed niche of feeding on organic matter on the “underbelly” of the Driftwood Islands, as such increasing significantly in size due to lack of competition. It no longer floats at the surface of the ocean, instead reaching buoyancy in the twilight zone. It naturally floats upside down as a “sapling”, its roots rising above instead of dragging below. After living as roughly 10 centimeter tall plankton for a time, it eventually takes root on the underside of a floating island, consuming any organic matter it can reach. Its waste is released into the ocean; this would seem to imply that its influence would make the islands shrink down and eventually sink, but on the contrary, it actually shifts the ratio of sinking and floating matter in favor of what can float. As it grows, the Underbelly Diaminet becomes less dense in order to push itself upwards and deeper into the underbelly, which makes it more difficult to dislodge and also helps keep the islands afloat. It is now hexaradial instead of tetraradial.

The Underbelly Diaminet no longer forms symbiosis with floating flora, as they cannot survive in the dark depths. It gets all the nitrogen it needs from its food instead. It is only a predator as a “sapling”, losing its numbing toxins in adulthood. Mature Underbelly Diaminets are connected to their neighbors by special roots which grow from their corners. They transfer nutrients throughout the colony, keeping all parts healthy so that they form an unbroken net supporting the entire island. In addition to this trait simply being inherited from their ancestor, they must do this to survive and keep their food source intact, as older, thicker islands may be dependent on the crystals to stay afloat. If a large portion of the colony dies off, it can destabilize the island and cause it to sink or break apart, which can wipe out the colony.

Like its ancestor, the Underbelly Diaminet reproduces using waterborne spores. Colonies are often genetically diverse and made up of many unrelated individuals, as it is very rare for an individual’s offspring to take root anywhere close to its parents. Saplings which are ready to take root will grow out their net-roots, “reaching” for established colonies. The sapling net roots are very long and can physically prevent it from settling in a location where it has no space to reach full size. Once the sapling takes root, the net-roots will connect with those of its neighbors, and unused ones will shorten and stiffen, only extending again if they touch a new neighbor’s net-root. The optimal colony would have all members arranged in a tessellating, honeycomb-like pattern, but this is very rare; most colonies just look like tangled messes. The shortening method for the net-roots can also be used with the feeding roots, allowing colonies to slowly rearrange into a more stable pattern by having the members move in certain directions based on hormonal cues.

In addition to growing on the Driftwood Islands Underbelly, the Underbelly Diaminet can also grow on the undersides of so-called “rogue islands”, giant floating islands which are not a part of the Driftwood Islands landmark. Though the climate on the surface of rogue islands is too variable to support permanent biota, even the grasses that built them swiftly dying off when they drift into polar waters, the temperature of the mostly twilight-depth underside remains the same, allowing the Underbelly Diaminet to survive and keep the island intact without its original builders being present.

==Notes==
Original concept by Hydromancerx.

Edited jerky section for clarity.

Also, I'm slightly concerned about that body pillow comment. The only options I can imagine are either something like those anime body pillows with a graphic of a shrog laying on it, or something like this really cursed My Little Pony-themed body pillow I saw once with an angled shape that suits the creature's body plan. I don't know which would be weirder.

Coolsteph I think you triple-posted a bit there.

Edit: Personally I think no change is needed. A wood spear will bounce right off of that. The Sparkleshrog even notes it as not being preferred prey.

I believe it's customary to include in the description something like this at the end:

QUOTE

==Note== Coloring by {{User|Disgustedorite}}.

I think double dashes are formatted to emdashes on the wiki.

I've made edits. I meant the final segment of the finger.

The "blond" one is dishwater blond. I think that can be called blond.

Coolsteph do you intend to comment on this? You commented on most of my other things.

They can see 9 primary colors if I remember right, most of the rest is mixed colors (real and "made up" like magenta) they can look at and see it's a fundamental different color. I'll edit to clarify.

Dry grasses here are pink/peach. Dry grasses on Earth are yellow, see how many animals are yellow as a result

Okay, it's Stellasorex now

Made it more generic preservation.

Sparkleshrog (Stellasorex canis)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Seashrog
Habitat: Driftwood Islands Chaparral, Driftwood Islands Tropical Woodland, Driftwood Islands Temperate Woodland, Driftwood Islands Tropical Bank, Driftwood Islands Temperate Bank
Size: 2 meters long
Diet: Carnivore (Quillmow, Marine Tamow, Tamwodjir, Adorned Tamow, Stegomizer)
Respiration: Active (Lungs)
Thermoregulation: Endotherm (Fur)
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Placental, Pouch, and Milk)

The Sparkleshrog split from its ancestor and became the first major predator on the Driftwood Islands. It is just as smart as its ancestor, but it has switched its hunting method to be based more on rushing towards its prey from cover. Its face is longer and dog-like, which helps it to bite and tear its prey apart. It retains tool use, but it focuses this ability largely on manipulating its environment. It contributes greatly to the integrity of the Driftwood Islands, as it will lay logs between floating islands to make bridges for easier travel between them. The Raft-Building Cone Puffgrass grows into the bridges and causes the colonies to merge into an even larger island. Doing this grants the Sparkleshrog easier access to prey and mates without having to swim between islands, though it will still do that as well. It still utilizes spears, though mainly as a means of controlling its armored prey without getting a torso full of spikes, as it mostly uses its jaws and occasionally tail to do the actual killing. It may go for the throat to cause its prey to bleed out, or for the belly to disembowel. It will sometimes hunt Stegomizers by flipping them over from a distance with a stick and lunging for the throat before they can recover, but they are not its preferred prey.

Normally, a large predator would have drab countershaded coloration in order to be better hidden from its prey. However, the Sparkleshrog visibly contradicts this tendency; its coat is shiny and reddish-black with white speckles all over, its nose and paw pads are blood-red, and its claws and osteoderms are iridescent blue. It looks more like a sparkledog fursona than like an apex predator. This is because it has found a way to camouflage itself far more effectively than what natural coloration could ever accomplish, and therefore has no need to look cryptic at all, instead opting for “beautiful” coloration that showcases its health to potential mates. The Sparkleshrog has has learned to use Mainland Fuzzpalm and Fuzzpile berries to glue clumps of flora, bark, and driftwood together to form artificial camouflage to use while hunting. This comes in the form of smaller mats draped over its back and larger “tents” which it waits under. It hides under the artificial camouflage it has created, either lying in wait or slowly sneaking up on a potential target, until it is close enough to burst out from under it and strike before its prey has a chance to react. This camouflage is so effective that occasionally, an herbivore will graze the flora used to construct it without even noticing the colorful Sparkleshrog underneath. Though it does not eat the berries at all, using them for these camouflaging covers has nonetheless made it one of the primary species distributing these flora throughout the Driftwood Islands.

The Sparkleshrog is mostly solitary in terms of living and hunting, though eating is somewhat of a social event when it takes down large prey. An individual’s hunting grounds is centered around a central dome-shaped den which is usually overgrown with grass. The den often contains extra spears, camouflaging materials, salt, and leftover food. The Sparkleshrog is able to preserve meat as jerky to feed on when food is scarce or when its island drifts into the temperate woodland region with harsher winters, using mineral sea salt which is readily available on the surface of the driftwood islands. This jerky-making behavior originated with the shrogs applying salt to meat for better taste. It prefers to stay on one island and expand it as it collides with others, but it can relocate and swim across stretches of water to reach new islands when necessary.

The Sparkleshrog is no longer monogamous, though it still lacks a breeding season and mates often. Females are almost always pregnant or nursing. A high birth rate is still required due to the frequency of islands breaking up and the inherent danger that comes from hunting. Males may still compete for mating rights by wrestling, but bright healthy colors are the main attraction, so to speak, for both sexes. Gestation lasts about four months, juveniles are independent at 3 years, and they’re fully grown at 6. Although solitary as mentioned before, Sparkleshrogs will watch out for and protect the juvenile offspring of their neighbors.

The Sparkleshrog has spread the Cleaner Borvermid and False Cleaner Borvermid “inland” by providing a nest microclimate for them.

Edited.

On plainness, sometimes organisms don't need to be some epic innovation. Conventional, relatively ordinary-looking critters are fun too.

Fast note, the "direct, bodily attack" bit is foreshadowing the carnivore I'm gonna drop soon

I shrank it a bit. Though, elephants are bigger than that; 4 meters is about rhino-size.

Quillmow (Susorex hystrix)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Marine Tamow
Habitat: Driftwood Islands Chaparral, Driftwood Islands Tropical Woodland, Driftwood Islands Temperate Woodland, Driftwood Islands Tropical Bank, Driftwood Islands Temperate Bank
Size: 1 meter long
Diet: Omnivore (Fuzzpile roots and berries, Mainland Fuzzpalm roots and berries, Fuzzweed berries, Qupe Tree roots and fruit, Carnosprawl roots and fruit, Supershrooms, Sapshrooms, Minikruggs, Silkruggs, Gamergate Gundis, Vermees, Teacup Sauceback larvae), Scavenger
Respiration: Active (Lungs)
Thermoregulation: Endotherm (Fur)
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Pouch and Milk)

The Quillmow split from its ancestor. Its scales have thinned into many quills upon its back and tail, more like its distant ancestor the Whiskerpick. Unlike its large cousin the Adorned Tamow, which just eats boatloads of grass, the Quillmow seeks out high-quality food such as roots, shrooms, fruit, and berries. It will also consume small ground fauna to supplement this diet. Many tams, including its ancestor, have bulbous noses which rise above their snouts; the Quillmow has modified this into a hog-like nose, which it uses to help it find buried food. Though it no longer has the broad tail of its ancestor, the Quillmow retains webbed feet and it paddles between islands when food becomes scarce. It has taken on a champagne coloration to blend in with dry grass.

The Quillmow sleeps in roughly radial scrapes in the ground. It does not dig very deep, as much of the Driftwood Islands’ “land” is very close to sea level and it would quickly hit mud; if it sleeps in mud, harmful microbes may grow in its fur. These scrapes are generally well-hidden among flora. It will flee into tall grass to hide from predators, its spikes only being able to protect it from a direct, bodily attack.

The Quillmow is no longer strictly monogamous, and though social it will not usually congregate in large groups. Males will swing their heads to fight one another over mates with their long tusks, which are absent in the females. After mating, the male will stick around and guard the female, preventing other males from trying to mate with her, though this is not always successful. The male will leave about a week after the joeys are born. The joeys are born fetal and helpless after just 2 weeks, but take as long as 4 months to develop sufficiently to leave the pouch. Their mother may leave them in a nest scraped in the ground, returning to feed them a few times a day. The juveniles become independent at one year of age and are fully grown at 2.

I mean, it looks a lot like the first tamow.

Edited.

I don't really see the similarity apart from them both being rotund and having big scales all over.

Adorned Tamow (Ornatotherium pascor)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Marine Tamow
Habitat: Driftwood Islands Chaparral, Driftwood Islands Tropical Woodland, Driftwood Islands Temperate Woodland
Size: 3 meters long
Diet: Herbivore (Floating Island Greatgrass)
Respiration: Active (Lungs)
Thermoregulation: Endotherm (Fur)
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Pouch and Milk)

The Adorned Tamow split from its ancestor and became the Driftwood Islands’ first large herbivore. It is a grazer, mowing down the grasses which cover the floating islands. It even grazes in the forests, as there are no shade trees to inhibit the growth of the grasses. In order to island hop, it retains its ancestor’s ability to swim and will regularly swim between islands, as, in a sense, it instinctively believes that the grass is "purpler" on the other side (that is, crossing water will lead it to better grass). This instinct can occasionally cause a single Adorned Tamow to swim back and forth between the same two islands every few hours until ocean currents push them too far apart. It has hoof-like nails to support its weight and uses fermentation with help from symbiotic microbes such as Guttoplaques to digest the large amount of grass it consumes daily.

The Adorned Tamow retains its ancestor’s flat tail. It can still use it to swim, but it also uses it to pat down mud so that it can walk across surfaces it would otherwise sink through. Its body is covered in keratinous armor, similar to its distant ancestor the Scaleback Tamow, making it difficult to attack. Though prolific, it is solitary, as having armor means it doesn’t benefit from living in herds, though a female’s offspring will follow her. Large and nomadic, it no longer constructs nests like its ancestor did.

Due to its large size, wide tail, and sharp armor plates, mating is an awkward and difficult process for the Adorned Tamow. Like its ancestor, it gives birth to helpless fetal young. Males do not participate in parental care at all. Joeys will live in their mother’s pouch and drink milk until they start to grow in their armor, at which point they leave the pouch already able to run from predators. They are fast as juveniles, but slow down considerably as they age and their armor finishes growing in. Juveniles will continue to suckle from their mother for up to a year after leaving the pouch before they are weaned and begin eating grass instead.

--

I have a predator in progress for this too, just waiting on another herbivore...

Floating Island Greatgrass (Magnopratum altus)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Pelagic Puffgrass
Habitat: Driftwood Islands Chaparral, Driftwood Islands Tropical Woodland, Driftwood Islands Temperate Woodland, Driftwood Islands Tropical Lakes, Driftwood Islands Temperate Lakes
Size: 4 meters tall
Diet: Photosynthesis
Respiration: Passive (Stomata)
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Spores, Cone, Airborne Eggs), Asexual (Budding)

The Floating Island Greatgrass replaced its ancestor and outcompeted the Raft-Building Cone Puffgrass in its range. Though the smaller grasses continue to contribute to the formation of new islands, once the islands have gotten large enough to support the greater biomes, the Floating Island Greatgrass can establish itself and quickly outshades the smaller grasses, leaving them to only exist on the banks. Evolving in an arms race with itself and with predators, it can grow very fast and very tall, reaching as great as 4 meters in height when not grazed lower. Its average height considering grazing as a factor is closer to just 1 meter. It can be likened to the Terran elephant grass, which is also very large but otherwise pretty traditionally grass-like. Similar to its cousin, the Raft-Building Cone Puffgrass, the Floating Island Greatgrass has gained the ability to reproduce asexually, but instead of using runners it buds new individuals from its roots. It can thrive even when submerged in the water of the salt lakes. It disperses between islands easily with its windborne spores.

Like its ancestor, the Floating Island Greatgrass is able to deal with excess salt by transporting it to specific leaves which are eventually shed. It mainly does this in and near the lakes. However, it is also able to function with higher salt content within its cells, reducing the need to shed such salty leaves. It is still capable of growing on driftwood, but it often overgrows and tips over into the ocean when it does so, preventing it from having an established oceanic population.

The Floating Island Greatgrass grows its cones very quickly despite their size and reproduces many times throughout a time corresponding to spring and summer in the southern hemisphere. The female cones are more complex and can open and close through nastic movement, allowing them to collect many spores and produce as many offspring as possible while also protecting developing offspring from the elements. The mother applies capsules of cellulose and starch around the zygotes while the zygotes themselves grow into embryos with long hairs which are caught by the wind. This is modified from their ancestor’s early germination strategy and has resulted in something resembling a puffy seed, except that morphologically it is in fact an egg and the puff is attached directly to the embryo instead of to the casing. The eggs are only a millimeter wide, while the hairs of the puff are usually 2-3 centimeters long. The puff catches wind, allowing the eggs to disperse. Only a small number will survive and reach maturity.

When dry, the Floating Island Greatgrass turns peach in color, and when it dies it turns brown. Its appearance when dry may encourage large fauna in the open biomes in its range to take on a peach or “champagne” coloration.

--

An herbivore for this is also coming soon, just need to finish writing it

It's actually named after the dingo, as a reference to the fact that it evolved out of its relationship with the Seashrog on a strange new landmass.

I got input from Mnidjm on the diet and did it like that because actually listing every single organism it can eat would take up 90% of the infobox.

"Crystalflora"???