Looks like it was incorrectly added to Fermi. MNIDJM Week 23 Drake Tundra biota cannot have made it to Fermi.

Aw crud, I forgot I needed to make a map for this.

I'll try to make it today.

While in Beta, species could still be evolved from in the same gen they were replaced or outcompeted, this is not the case on Alpha. (this dates at least as far back as week 14). It would be simpler to make this a descendant of Terronooga.

I don't think this would taste them at all until after swallowing when it's too late, based on where sauceback taste buds are.

This thing's hunting strategies are extremely variable. Pack hunting alone is specifically mentioned as basically coming and going and jumping around the population. Also, the predators I have it killing are ones that it has the competitive advantage against; unfortunately, plents don't actually make very good carnivores due to wood, especially live wood, being very soft and bendy.

Every rule can be broken if justified. Today, I have chosen "no non-aesthetical differences between subspecies".

Argusraptor Complex (Argusraptor complicatus)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Brighteyes
Habitat: Dixon-Darwin Boreal, Dixon-Darwin Rocky, Dixon-Darwin High Grassland, Dixon Savanna, Dixon Tropical Scrub, Dixon Tropical Woodland, Javen Tropical Woodland, Javen Tropical Scrub, Darwin Savanna, North Darwin Tropical Scrub, North Darwin Tropical Woodland
Size: 1.2-1.6 meters long
Diet: Omnivore/Carnivore (Ouranocorn, Hikahoe, Gnarbolonk, Ramchin, Neoshrew, Swiftsnapper, Barkback, Shrubrattus, Oviaudiator, Thorny Toadtuga, Spineless Toadtuga, River Hikahoe, Spinemander, Montemsnapper, juvenile Westward Haglox, Short-Necked Shrew, Scrambled Shrew, Phouka, Regal Sphinx, Gryphler, Brighteyes, Dusty Spelunkhoe, Rosybeak Phyler, Cragagon, Dualtrunk, Sitting Dundi, Nightsnapper, Binsnoo, Scrub Brakback, Robynsnapper, Xatazelle, Pickaxe Tamow, Desert Tilecorn, Gracilxata, Xatagolin, Tasermane, Briarback, Hedgimal, Snoronk, Varant, Dundigger, Grassland Lizatokage, Shroom Herder, Mothhead, Rainforest Buttpiper, Grabnub, Xatadeega, Dixon Hookphlyer, Umbral Sphinx, Vermisnapper, Exoskelesor, Fluneinzee, Bristlepile fruit, Sapsrooms, Supershrooms, Berry Arbourshroom, Tamed Berry Arbourshrooms, Crystal Brambley, Boreal Tubeplage fruit, Crystal Swordgrass, Gecoba Tree fruit, Bloodsap Melontree fruit, Signpost Crystamboo, Pagoda Crystal, Scrubland Tubeflage fruit, Crystamble, Fuzzpile berries, Mainland Fuzzpalm berries, Tropical Gecoba Tree fruit, Woodland Grovecrystal, Pixy Plyent, Crown-Of-Thorns Plyent, Tropical Crystamboo, Caprystal, Rifamboo, Fruiting Grovecrystal, Minikruggs, Leafplate, Snowplower, Robust Rainforest Ukjaw, Plehexapod, Striped Phlock, Drakogg, Giant Hornface, Snoofloo, Scrubland Hornface, Phanadon, Proto-Uksoar)
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Bird-Like Eggs)

The Argusraptor Complex is a pair of closely-related predatory saucebacks, the Lesser Argusraptor (A. c. amicus) and the Terrible Argusraptor (A. c. dirus), which are locked in a constant cycle of separation and hybridization, causing them to be so deeply intertwined that despite disparate niches they are nonetheless a single species. This occurred as a result of the massive competitive advantage they have over other saucebacks in their range, which placed taking already-filled predatory niches on the path of least resistance and in turn caused them to radiate and push other species out of their niches significantly faster than they could speciate from one another. They have completely lost their echolocation ability, no longer needing it at all.

These Argusraptors have very high genetic flexibility, but the two main subspecies remain more or less consistent during stable conditions. The Lesser Argusraptor is smaller and more omnivorous, while the Terrible Argusraptor is larger and primarily eats meat. The two regularly trade genes related to pack hunting, resulting in spurts of wolf-like Lesser Argusraptors and, more significantly, pack-hunting Terrible Argusraptors capable of filling the role of a significantly larger superpredator. This constant trade of genes and shifts in niche and behavior makes the Argusraptor Complex too complex and adaptable for many fauna to compete against. This has resulted in their conquest of predatory niches affecting not just saucebacks, but many of the other carnivores in their environment as well, including ones significantly larger than them.

These Argusraptors are able to eat a myriad of creatures both large and small. The chitinous jaws make short work of wooden armor found on many plents and almost completely bypass defensive spikes. They will even eat plyents. They also readily eat fruit and crystal flora, which are easy to digest. They are still capable of running up steep slopes, though instead of just flapping feathers they make use of the entire outer toe. They only walk on the inner toe, effectively reverting them back to a more primitive state for saucebacks. They can also still glide, though this ability is diminished in larger individuals. Like Terran wolves, they vary in coloration across their range to blend in with a myriad of environments. (Pictured are just two of many variations, an obsidian forest morph of the Terrible Argusraptor and a rocky shrub morph of the Lesser Argusraptor.)

The teeth of these Argusraptors are unusual among those of saucebacks in that all of the teeth in the oral ring can extend out of the mouth and be pulled back in. This creates a grabbing motion which eases the process of devouring meat and grappling with large prey. The position of their eyestrils do not line up with the positions of their teeth, with the section of skin which forms them instead lifting away from the teeth and moving into different positions during embryonic development.

These Argusraptors lay hard-shelled eggs. Their lack of echolocation means that predators cannot locate their nests by sound. The babies hatch legless and featherless and are fed regurgitated food by their parents. In pack-hunting groups, the entire pack will help raise the young of the lead breeding pair.

The Argusraptor Complex has caused the complete local extinction of Gnarblunter, Harnessback, Desert Ukjaw, Shikaaree, Stride Sauceback, and Terrorbeak through outcompetition. As mentioned before, they were able to outcompete especially large predators by hunting in packs. However, they have failed to outcompete the Shepherd Harnessback, as it is able to defend herds against argusraptor attack. A number of oddly-colored organisms which they do not particularly compete with have also been eaten to extinction within their range due to them not being prepared for the appearance of a sauceback that hunts by sight and can see such a wide range of colors: Leafplate, Snowplower, Robust Rainforest Ukjaw, Plehexapod, Striped Phlock (it was not particularly dazzled by its conspicuous colors), Drakogg, Giant Hornface, Snoofloo, Scrubland Hornface, and Phanadon. It has also eaten the Proto-Uksoar to extinction locally as a result of the species being maladapted. All of these sudden extinctions--an inevitability of the Dixon-Darwin interchange, even if not by sauceback tusk--have created a significant ecological vacuum.

It doesn't really benefit that much from it, especially as a large animal that's more than capable of just staying hidden. Most large animals don't waste energy on big spikes on their butts, no matter how many predators they have.

Also, there's a bit of a predator apocalypse incoming. Most of its ancestor's predators will be extinct shortly.

Kruggs are pretty huge for supposed insect analogs, and this isn't maintaining a constant high body temperature. I'd say it's realistic.

I'm excited to see your end!

Long-Tailed Flunejaw (Spinomaxilla longicauda)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Needlespike Flunejaw
Habitat: Dixon-Darwin Boreal, Darwin Alpine, South Dixon Alpine, North Dixon Alpine, Verserus Alpine
Size: 2.5 meters long (excluding tail); 1.5-2 meter long tail
Diet: Carnivore (Climber Crystalkrugg, Bloodback, Common Fraboo, Minikruggs, Grovecrystal Krugg, Soaring Phlyer nestlings)
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Hard-Shelled Eggs)

The Long-Tailed Flunejaw replaced its ancestor and outcompeted the Mountain Flunejaw. As its name suggests, it has a very long tail. This is used to assist it in keeping its balance on rough terrain, and is among the key factors in its replacement of its ancestors. The length of the tail varies somewhat among individuals, usually being longer in subspecies found in rougher, harder-to-climb terrain. Like its ancestor, it is capable of generating some of its own body heat; however, it is significantly better at doing so, being able to maintain enough body heat that it doesn’t need to bask at all. It is not yet an endotherm, however, but a mesotherm; it depends on the environment to raise its body temperature above its maintained minimum. It has lost its spikes, as they did not help it gain heat at all and were actually the main part of its body losing heat at any given time, contrary to the erroneous descriptions of its ancestors and relatives. It is found across the entire range of elevation of its ancestor and ancestor’s ancestor.

Similar to its ancestor, the Long-Tailed Flunejaw hunts by stalking its prey and pouncing. Its long tail can be swung to change trajectory in midair if needed, such as if it misses its pounce and is headed straight for a cliff. Its blind spot is greatly extended due to an important change it has made; its eyes are arranged in a triangle, as having eyes further back would restrict its jaw muscles and having eyes along its snout would make its upper jaw incredibly fragile and prone to shattering. The extension to its blind spot this has created is mitigated by the fact that, like its ancestor, it can turn its head to look around for predators. Like its ancestor, it will kill and eat injured soaring phlyer nestlings.

The Long-Tailed Flunejaw has lost its colorful neck scales, as the dim environment created by the prominence of black shade trees made them too difficult to see. Instead, its body scales are iridescent black: cryptic in the dark, but shimmeringly beautiful when they catch light. The iridescence is present in both males and females, but it’s less prominent in the latter. Similar to its ancestor, it has poor senses of taste and hearing. It is not completely deaf, despite lacking external ears; it can sense vibrations using its jaws, similar to many “earless” tetrapods on Earth.

Being a poor digger due to its hooves, the Long-Tailed Flunejaw sleeps in dens within natural caves or abandoned burrows created by other fauna within its range. It kills more kruggs than it will eat at a time and stashes them around its territory to consume later, especially for over the winter in the southern parts of its range. Stashed kruggs may still technically be alive, just with crushed or removed heads, preserving them while preventing their escape.

Like its ancestor, the Long-Tailed Flunejaw is most active at night. However, in the dark, oddly warm shadows of the Obsidoaks, night and day can sometimes be indistinguishable; as a result, it’s possible to find Long-Tailed Flunejaws out and about even in the middle of a sunny day.

The joey wouldn't exactly have anything prominent going on anyway but it's at least been determined roughly what a male shrew looks like from behind.

I think people have largely intentionally depicted females to avoid the issue of what the males look like. In some basal furred shrews the artwork even explicitly depicts females (pouch visible, sexually dimorphic traits are clearly feminine).

I probably depicted the rear end of the juvenile accurately. I just also arrived at that appearance by misinterpreting a photograph of an opossum.

Some intense forum downtime later spanning the entire time between those these two messages, there has now been thorough discussion of shrew genitalia on the discord server. I'll have to think it over before determining whether I need to edit the art.

You know, between it never being depicted before in any species and Cheatsy expressing his strong preference for shrews to have subtle bird- or lizard-like genitalia, I'm surprised not one person has said a word about how I depicted the juvenile's bottom.

Edited.

It will travel into the forest for more wood if there's not any available right on the floodplain. When I was working on another species with similar behavior, Mnidjm said I would need to include biomes that it only enters for wood.

I've edited in a note about the river lyngbakr, and I've also made note of their nests being pretty widely spaced from one another.

Yes, its ancestor is among those with the knee accidentally flipped. Flipping it back is valid, and I plan to make a descendant of the same ancestor that does the same.

I actually struggled with the nose while drawing and got Mnidjm's input, and he confirmed this is accurate.

"Neopet" is an interesting descriptor to use.

I had actually put this species on hold and forgotten about it until after I made those trees. I'd originally put it on hold for lack of building materials, but I didn't have it in mind when I made those trees. I basically accidentally fixed the concept, which allowed me to return to it. This actually happened with several other seashrog descendants I have in my plan doc that moved inland, too.

I've changed sexy to attractive. I'll look into the river lyngbakr thing later, as I only just woke up.

Maineiac Shailnitor (Brachyukus maineiacensis)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Shailnitor
Habitat: Maineiac Temperate River, Maineiac Temperate Riparian
Size: 25 cm long
Diet: Scavenger (Maineiac Rivershrog food stores), Coprovore (Maineiac Rivershrog, Cleaner Bovermid, False Cleaner Bovermid), Detritivore
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Eggs in Water)

The Maineiac Shailnitor split from its ancestor. It co-evolved with the Maineiac Rivershrog, as such gaining the ability to survive and reproduce in a freshwater environment. It retains an inherently cute appearance with a face like that of a baby Maineiac Rivershrog. It lives primarily inside Maineiac Rivershrog nests, where it consumes dung and spoiled meat. It is notably more active and social than its ancestor, to fit the stationary, close-together nests which the rivershrogs construct, commonly leaving its home nest to socialize with others of its kind outside of mating season. It lives exclusively in Maineiac Rivershrog nests, being completely dependent on them for survival.

The Maineiac Shailnitor has a mating season in the spring. A male and a female will enter water and mate side to side facing opposite directions. The eggs are laid in pools created by spring floods, hidden in flora which prevents them from being swept away by currents. The aquatic hatchlings survive on detritus early in their lives, but gain their terrestrial adaptations quickly and soon make their way towards a Maineiac Rivershrog “village”. A Maineiac Rivershrog may allow as many as 10 Maineiac Shailnitors to live inside its nest, but there is often still a surplus of shailnitors each year; it is not uncommon for juveniles to be killed and used as bait when they become overpopulated, keeping their numbers in check.

Similar to its ancestor, the Maineiac Shailnitor has active respiration through a lung in its shell, which differs from that of non-shailnitor uktanks in that it is filled with air instead of water. It has desiccation-resistant chitinous skin, and ears derived from its shell.

Maineiac Rivershrog (Lutrasorex maineiacensis)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Seashrog
Habitat: Maineiac Temperate River, Maineiac Temperate Riparian, Maineiac Boreal (only for wood)
Size: 1 meter long
Diet: Carnivore (Scorpodile, Riparian Scorpodile, Maineiac Shocker, Srugeing, Dwarf Maineiac Gilltail, Red-Eye Seaswimmer, Miniswarmers, Grabbyswarmers, Flashfin Gilltail, Scraperbeak Gilltail, Pruning Gilltail)
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Live Birth)

The Maineiac Rivershrog split from its ancestor, moving into the Maineiac river biome and becoming a carnivore. Its tail saw has been altered to only form a stiff solid piece at the end, with osteoderms along the length of the tail taking over its purpose while granting more flexibility. It will still use the stiff saw at the end to lop branches off of logs. It has a competitive advantage over the local piscivore, the Tipsnapper, but their niches were easily partitioned due to the Maineiac Rivershrog’s violet pelt blending in with flora best while the Tipsnapper blended best with mud and soil. It competes somewhat with the River Lyngbakr as well and can sometimes even be preyed on by it, but it avoids encounters by preferring shallower side-streams over the main, open river. Retaining its ancestor’s intelligence, this shrog uses wooden spears to catch piscine fauna, which it has learned to attract with bait.

Some of the species listed as prey to the Maineiac Rivershrog are not its primary diet, mainly being consumed when larger prey is not available. Though young individuals will eat tiny gilltails, adults use these mainly as bait for larger prey. The Maineiac Rivershrog is more social than its ancestor, allowing it to take down large prey such as the scorpodiles as a group despite its smaller size.

Though its social intelligence level would normally only allow for mob hunting, the Maineiac Rivershrog has managed to circumvent this due to intelligence in other areas. In particular, the use of its name-barking has been modified: the Maineiac Rivershrog has given names to four cardinal directions (based on upriver, downriver, and which side of the river) and to nests. When combined with their own names, a social group can discuss amongst themselves where they will be positioned when tackling prey, on the level of detail of “Fred, upriver-side Henry’s nest”. It still lacks a hierarchy instinct, so these discussions can go on for hours if there is any disagreement. As the sounds for these are names rather than instinctive calls, they vary regionally and have to be learned by foreigners, but with how simple this “language” is--only 5 words apart from names of individuals--this hardly limits mixing between groups. Instinctive calls remain largely the same, apart from being somewhat higher-pitched than its ancestor.

No longer limited in resources, the nest of the Maineiac Rivershrog is more complex than that of its ancestor. To protect the nest from flooding, as it is typically built near the river, it is set up on stilts. This would appear to be rather difficult to build, but nest-making is usually a collaborative effort, and many logs are used for support during construction that are removed later to be repurposed elsewhere. The nest can have multiple chambers, each resembling the ancestral seashrog nests. The main, central chamber has an entrance at the bottom as well as on the top, while others usually only have entry from the top. Nests are constructed in a semi-communal effort by related rivershrogs in the same social group. Lacking fuzzpalm berries to use as glue, pieces of wood are instead tied together using roots and baebula branches. The nest itself is typically constructed of repeating treebion and four-prongion wood found in the surrounding boreal and floodplain forest, cut into planks and beams using the tail saw and bent into the needed shape before it dries. In order to cut through thick-trunked flora, the Maineiac Rivershrog partly wraps its tail around it and moves in a circle, cutting from the outside until it’s weak enough to be pushed over. The heartwood in the center is usually too stiff and dead to bend, so this is the part that is most often used for beams. Similar to its ancestor, the Maineiac Rivershrog stores food and tools inside its nest.



The Maineiac Rivershrog’s reproduction is similar to its ancestor’s. Like many spiny animals on Earth, it mates belly-to-belly. Being in a more dangerous environment with potential predators around, it no longer squeaks loudly while mating. It is placental and gestates for three months and gives birth to live young, which are naked and helpless and live in a pouch. It develops more quickly than its ancestor due to its smaller size, reaching maturity at about 4½ years of age. Though it can live up to 40 years like its ancestor, living in an inherently more dangerous environment has reduced its average life expectancy to only around 15. It has gained a mating season, mating in the fall and giving birth in the spring. Like its ancestor, the Maineiac Rivershrog is also known to engage in homosexual behavior, though in this case it tends to be more bisexual rather than strictly gay. It is polygynous and tends to pick any individual to mate with who’s attractive enough; the horn-like crest on the nose serves as a major health indicator. Mating rivalry exists, with conflict over the best mates being settled by non-fatal ritual combat--a clashing and raking of horns.

Through its nests, the Maineiac Rivershrog has spread the Cleaner Bovermid and False Cleaner Bovermid to Maineiac Temperate Riparian. The role of cleanup is filled by a new species descended from the Shailnitor, the Maineiac Shailnitor. Though the Maineiac Rivershrog finds the Maineiac Shailnitor to be cute, the narrow habitat range which they inhabit can cause the shailnitors to become overpopulated, so the rivershrog has been known to actually kill the surplus to use as bait.

Though a collection of nests belonging to a specific social group of Maineiac Rivershrogs may be referred to as a "village", it's important to note that the individual nests are not particularly close together. A group of only fifteen shrogs may have a "village" spanning as much as 2 kilometers of river, their nests being so widely spaced to avoid conflicts caused by competition for building materials and their still-low social intelligence. It isn't hyper-social like the Terran human, which also builds villages, and therefore doesn't benefit from a high population density.

Tigmadar and Scrubland Hornface (juvenile depicted)

General: Making Of A Plausible Genus Group

For the longest time, genus groups were regarded as something very difficult to make because of how much there is to cover when submitting an entire genus of organisms. But then I showed up, and sure, my first few were rough, but then I started knocking out multi-paragraph genus groups like it was nothing in both timelines, to the bafflement and occasional terror of the rest of the community. This is because I approached the concept of genus groups from completely outside Sagan 4's context (even the post explaining how they work was thought lost at the time), so my entries were based on what I felt made sense based on real ones rather than on the original Sagan 4 approach.

Some people have successfully copied the method I use to make genera, but others struggle. So, here I will share an explanation of how I approach creating a genus group, and why.

Genus Vs Genus Group
First, let’s look at what a genus group actually is. It’s easy to look at how a genus group is multiple species in a genus, and therefore approach it as you would multiple species submissions. This is how most genus groups were before the revival. However, while the disparate niches you might get out of that in normal submissions could all be in one genus, that is not how a genus group that has hundreds or even thousands of species works on Earth.

In real life, the highly specious genera that the genus group system is made for do not have the same diversity you might see in, say, the genus Vulpes (foxes). It is better to look at genera that are highly specious in real life, such as Camponotus (carpenter ants) and Astragalus (milkvetch). Any investigation into these reveals something very important about highly specious genera: Variation in anatomy and diet are extremely low, with the vast majority of variation lying in size and local climate adaptations.

First, let’s look at Camponotus. Species in this genus chew out tunnels in damp wood to make nests, farm aphids for honeydew, and have polymorphic workers including majors and minors. They are generally carnivorous, hunting other insects or scavenging for food, though they may also drink nectar and other sugary liquids when available. The previous two sentences apply to most, if not all of the 1000+ species in the genus. This is very different from something like Vulpes, where the different species may have completely different diets and social structures. The variation that does exist between Camponotus spp. is so small that one has to look closely to even tell them apart; most of the differences are in color to blend in with different environments, with only a few species that really have anything particularly unique about them. (For the purpose of Sagan 4 as a game, something like the Cylindricus complex (exploding carpenter ants) would belong in a local species split.)

Now, for the plant example, let’s look at Astragalus. Members of this genus are flowering herbs or shrubs which have pinnately compound leaves and clusters of bilaterally symmetric flowers in a raceme. Like most plants in the bean family, they fix nitrogen, the flower’s calyx is tube-shaped, and they have three types of petal: the banner, wings, and keel. There are both annual and perennial species. As with Camponotus, this description applies to most if not all members of the genus. The distinctions between species, apart from size and coloration, are largely local adaptations and fruit shape. For instance, the shaggy milkvetch (A. malacus) is covered in hairs which protect it from water loss in its arid environment, and the alpine milkvetch (A. alpinus) lives near water and depends on floods for seed dispersal.

I think these are good models for what should vary and what should stay largely the same when making a genus group. Minikruggs*, Xenobees, Cloudswarmers, Miniswarmers, Pioneeroots, Glaalgaes, Chitjorns, Neuks, Vermees, and other multi-niche variable-behavior/anatomy genera are implausible or otherwise gamebreaking and must be split up and/or replaced for this reason, and similarly variable genera must be rejected in the future.

So, What About Making A Plausible Genus Submission?
With those real-world examples in mind, making a genus group is actually very easy--in fact, I’d argue that it’s even easier than making a single-species submission, as the weight of working out the diet and habitat is severely reduced. Here’s my general process when making one:

First, I think of the unifying characteristics of the genus--what the typical species is like in general anatomy and niche, basically. I approach this aspect more or less the exact same way that I approach a single-species submission. For example, the original idea behind the Parasitic Floats was just a parasitic colonial sky plant that resembles a chain or vine of Cloudbubbles and attaches one end of the colony to other flora. I could’ve submitted it as a single species, but I decided it made more sense as a genus group, due to its small size, parasitic niche, and rapid reproduction.

After I worked out what they were, I worked on variation. They ended up having no need for significant shape variation, so I gave them variable pigmentation and lighting preferences based on where they live. I threw in occasional branching because I found there was nothing physiologically wrong with them doing so, and it’s a fairly easy mutation in real life.

Finally, I put all of that in a description. I won’t go too deep into my description-writing method, but I typically organize genus submissions into an opening paragraph (split or replace, most important defining characteristics), a section explaining the important or unifying traits in more detail as well as diet and behavior, another section about what it has in common with its ancestor and how it reproduces, and a final paragraph detailing the variation between species within the genus.

Hopefully this post is understandable for those looking to make genus groups. I’m willing to clarify if any part is confusing.

--

*: Minikruggs have since been retconned into opportunists, fixing the issues brought up.

With all those trees I submitted, the forest floors (currently excluding taigas but I'll get to them) on the different landmasses now have distinct light levels which can influence the future evolution of organisms. From darkest to lightest:

Dixon-Darwin and Vivus: Nearly pitch black; shadows cast by Obsidoak, which is a shade tree, contain very little reflected light due to it being black flora, and the same goes for the Gargantuan Obsiditree especially in the rainforests. Smaller forest flora on the supercontinent should be adapting to extremely low light levels.

Drake and Ramul: Dim, but not lightless. Crystals are reflective, so a fair bit of green light should be reaching the forest floor. There should be a fair amount of flora on ground level.

Maineiac: Fairly bright, enough to potentially support a diverse collection of smaller bushes and shrubs, as the large flora there do not cast huge shadows. The forest floor should be fairly lush, though gaps should also exist.

Hydro and Barlowe: Brightest, most sunlight reaches the forest floor, due to the native flora being unbranching/palm-like and not being able to form anything resembling unbroken canopy. The forest floor should be extremely lush.

Fermi excluded because it has no forests.

Is this helpful as a reference? I can try to update it as the continents shift and more flora evolve.

It doesn't have much defense, apart from size and speed of reproduction.