Okay, it now explains how they get thicker.

I feel referring to the underbelly as an "all-you-can-eat buffet" is an acceptable amount of humor.

It's throughout the gyre.

I forgot to clarify how they get thicker; let me edit that in.

This landmark is partially inspired by that gigantic patch of garbage in the ocean on Earth.

Driftwood Islands
Creator: Disgustedorite
Location: South Jujubee Temperate Ocean, Jujubee Tropical Ocean

The '''Driftwood Islands''' are a massive collection of Raft-Building Cone Puffgrass colonies which formed in a large ocean gyre in Jujubee Ocean. It was able to get so massive because the ocean currents would push driftwood in but never remove it, only slowly rotate and shear it. Many islands within the gyre are as big as 20 kilometers wide and 300 meters thick. The east and west ends of this "archipelago" have some islands as wide as 50 kilometers. The founding colonies consist not only of driftwood, but also of incorporated Seashrog and Marine Tamow nests. Soil formation has occurred on all large colonies, and they can support larger flora and fauna as a result, making these islands into a set of biomes in their own right. Due to their position, the southern half of the Driftwood Islands are fairly dry but not quite desert-like, the inland conditions being like a terrestrial chaparral biome while the edges are more like temperate beaches. The northern half, meanwhile, is wetter and more forest-like.

The islands are organized into east, west, and circulating islands. The eastern and western islands are larger and more stable, generally staying in the same place indefinitely. The circulating islands are smaller and move between either end of the main gyre, and they collide and break apart more often. Species exclusive to just one of these are restricted to rapidly-speciating genera, such as minikruggs, which speciate so fast that they would already have produced a new species by the time they’re transported to the other side; everything else is transported between the two ends too often for anything to be exclusive to just one. Islands get thicker as a result of collisions; they can thicken as a result of being compressed, and it is not uncommon for one island to be "subducted" under another. Vertical mass is also accumulated through deceased sky organisms falling down onto the islands.

Mature floating islands consist of several layers. The bottom-most layer, which can hang deep enough to brush the boundary between the sunlight and twilight zones, is made of a mud-like sludge created by the decomposition of higher layers. Further upwards, this transitions into a thick layer of muddy soil and occasionally the remains of the island’s founders, saturated with seawater. This layer is almost completely devoid of oxygen, though it may contain significant pockets of methane produced by anaerobic microbes. These methane pockets play a significant role in keeping the island afloat. Above the water level is more soil and increasingly intact floral remains, as well as more oxygen, until one reaches the sunlit surface which is covered in grass. When standing on the surface of a large, mature island, it is nearly indistinguishable from a land biome except in the absence of stone--though biogenic silica makes its way into the island’s makeup through silicon-using phytoplankton, and fragments of bone and shell can be found in every layer, the Driftwood Islands contain no true rocks unless some are brought to them artificially.

Insular dwarfism and gigantism apply freely on the driftwood islands.

(Pictured are just a small selection of islands; though they seem small from this angle, the largest of them is roughly 8 kilometers long.)

==Biomes Created==

Map Caption: Map. Note that the driftwood islands' biomes are not solid masses, but collections of many floating islands. Broken up shapes represent decreasing frequency of the islands in certain parts of the gyre, while the two circles in the east and west contain the largest and most stable islands.

The Driftwood Islands form several unique biomes. In most of them, any species present must have some method of island-hopping.

The main surface biomes at the time of formation are dominated by grass and dotted with clumps of trees and bushes, though this is likely to change as more flora and fauna come to inhabit them. Moisture-wise, they consist of a chaparral-like biome (Driftwood Islands Chaparral, temperate + mixed) dominating most of the southern half of the landmark, temperate woodland (Driftwood Islands Temperate Woodland) in the southeast, and tropical woodland (Driftwood Islands Tropical Woodland) spanning the entire northern half. Despite being classed as woodland, however, the constant shifting means that actual forest-like growth is rare. Any flora present inland must be in all of these biomes or be able to go dormant or enter a dormant generation when conditions change, due to the islands shifting constantly.

The next new biome is the '''Driftwood Islands Underbelly'''. This is the underside of the islands, consisting of murky water and an all-you-can-eat buffet of detritus. It is a completely unique biome which is considered to be part of the twilight zone. No light reaches the underbelly, and any species which lives on the underbelly must have some ability to spread between islands. Their type and flavor are Ocean + Unique.

The third new biome is the '''Driftwood Islands Bank'''. This is considered both a beach and a salt marsh/swamp, as it has features of both. It is a muddy biome lapped by salty ocean waves. Their type and flavor are Temperate + Beach/Wetlands for the southern half of the landmark, and Tropical + Beach/Wetlands for the northern half.

The fourth new biome is the '''Driftwood Islands Shallows'''. The Driftwood Islands Shallows are parts of a given island which are submerged and connected to the open ocean, and they are classified as shallows. Rather than sand, the floor is made of mud. Any species which live here must have some way to move between islands. Their type and flavor are Temperate + Shallows in the south and Tropical + Shallows in the north.

The fifth new biome is the '''Driftwood Island Lakes'''. These are isolated bodies of water which form “inland” where part of a given island dips below the sea level. This usually occurs as a result of islands getting thinner from being pulled apart or from natural lowlands sinking as they grow larger. They are saltwater and usually have nothing living in them when they form. They are classified as temperate salt lakes. Any species which live here must have some way of traveling between lakes. Their type and flavor are Temperate + Salt Lake in the south and Tropical + Salt Lake in the north.

The sixth new biome is the '''Driftwood Islands Water Table'''. It consists entirely of mud and detritus, and is summed up as subterranean wetlands. This connects directly to the lakes and the bank, and it is almost completely devoid of oxygen. As there is no rock in the Driftwood Islands, no caverns are formed, so only microbes, decomposers which can grow through the mud, and very small burrowing fauna may reside here. This biome is home to [[Seacleaners]] and may contain massive pockets of methane. All species in this biome must have some way of moving between islands. Their type and flavor are Subterranean + Wetlands.

==Founding Biota==
In addition to various global genus groups, the Driftwood Islands supported the following species when they formed:
* [[Raft-Building Cone Puffgrass]] (Bank, Chaparral, Temperate Woodland, Tropical Woodland)
* [[Pelagic Puffgrass]] (Bank, Chaparral, Temperate Woodland, Tropical Woodland)

The following species colonized the islands as a result of shrog activity and various nests being incorporated:
* [[Seashrog]] (Bank and Shallows)
* [[Cleaner Borvermid]] (Bank and Shallows)
* [[False Cleaner Borvermid]] (Bank and Shallows)
* [[Kakonat]] (Bank and Shallows)
* [[Shailnitor]] (Bank and Shallows)
* [[Stowaway Harmbless]] (Bank and Shallows)
* [[Cocobarrage]] (Bank)
* [[Obsidibend]] (Bank)
* [[Mainland Fuzzpalm]] (Bank, Chaparral, Temperate Woodland, Tropical Woodland)
* [[Fuzzpile]] (Bank, Chaparral, Temperate Woodland, Tropical Woodland)
* [[Gumjorn]] (Bank)
* [[Hockel]] (Bank)
* [[Marine Tamow]] (Bank and Shallows)
* [[Shorelance]] (Bank and Shallows)
* [[Qupe Tree]] (Bank, Chaparral, Temperate Woodland, Tropical Woodland)
* [[Fuzzweed]] (Bank)
* [[Baebula]] (Bank)
* [[Carnosprawl]] (Bank)

Raft-Building Cone Puffgrass (Thalassastipes ratis)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Pelagic Puffgrass
Habitat: Wind Temperate Coast, Dass Temperate Coast, Jindy Tropical Coast, BigL Tropical Coast, Clarke Temperate Coast, King Tropical Coast, Chum Tropical Coast, Elerd Temperate Coast, South LadyM Temperate Ocean, LadyM Tropical Ocean, North LadyM Temperate Ocean, South Jujubee Temperate Ocean, Jujubee Tropical Ocean, North Jujubee Temperate Ocean, Fermi Temperate Coast, Soma Temperate Coast, Fly Tropical Shallows, Hydro Tropical Coast, Oz Temperate Coast, Maineiac Temperate Coast, Yokto Salt Marsh, Always Salt Swamp, Glicker Salt Swamp, Jeluki Salt Swamp, Gec Salt Swamp, Biocat Salt Swamp, Huggs Salt Marsh, Blocks Salt Marsh, Bone Salt Marsh, Irinya Salt Marsh, Blood Salt Swamp, Ichthy Salt Swamp, Terra Salt Swamp, Bardic Salt Swamp, Kenotai Salt Swamp, Wright Salt Swamp, Pipcard Salt Swamp
Size: 80 cm tall, varied colony width
Diet: Photosynthesis
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Spores, Cone), Asexual (Runners)

The Raft-Building Cone Puffgrass split from its ancestor. It has gained the ability to reproduce asexually using runners. However, these runners are not used to carpet their driftwood home; instead, they only emerge near the edge of the driftwood piece and serve to “grab” other pieces of driftwood to create a larger, more stable raft. This is where it gets its name, and this capacity is what allows it to build what is perhaps Sagan 4’s most unique microbiome.

Raft-Building Cone Puffgrass colonies can be massive, sometimes even a few kilometers in width, but they rarely exceed a few meters due to storms and fauna activity tearing them apart. In the event that a colony survives the test of time, it can get larger and larger, and it will also get thicker as new grass and even other flora such as trees grow on top of old individuals. This can form floating islands, but in the grand scale of geologic time, they don’t last that long as they can still rot apart or collide and sink. The underside of these islands are quite literally made of detritus, even after the original driftwood making up the island rots away, attracting all manners of decomposers and detritivores to feed on them. Methanogenic microbes such as Seacleaners may live inside the islands, feasting on the detritus as well as helping to keep them afloat by producing often massive pockets of methane gas.

The female cone of the Raft-Building Cone Puffgrass is shorter and more compact, but it is still fleshy. Its reproduction is unchanged; male spores are airborne and will land in female cones to fertilize them, and the fertilized spores are dispersed using the long hairs that give the puffgrass lineage its name. They germinate early, producing necessary structures such as leaves and roots so that they can obtain food and water while waiting to land in a suitable place to grow. Similar to their ancestor, they remove excess salt by transporting it to specific leaves which are then shed.

The ancestor is explicitly external. This is explicitly internal.

It would still also need to be smaller to actually squeeze its entire body into its prey, especially since the connections between strings need to be taken into account.

I also still hold that a multi-string species makes no sense as fully internal. If only one string matters, why have so many?

This still changes the strategy from the ancestor. It would be inaccurate, misleading, and dishonest for this to be a genus replacement by the same name.

I already said so on the discord, but I approve this

It doesn't look flipped to me.

It seems I misinterpreted the description and the strings are what are 1 micrometer wide. This is still too skinny for the size and complexity of its genome storage, and the description lends itself heavily to misinterpretation. The other issues still stand and it now also has the issue of it being too big to actually pass through a cell wall to do what it is stated to do, so my rejection also stands.

Looking into this more, it also appears to violate the laws of physics. This is so small that, given its shape, it physically cannot have a cell membrane, nuclear membrane, and even just a single strand of DNA all packed in there; even if it could all be scrunched in, there's no room for actin filaments, which are necessary for its strings to move. The features of the original species also make no sense for an endoparasite and are more like the characteristics seen in some predatory cells in real life.

This would need to be completely revamped from scratch to be acceptable given all above issues. Therefore, I reject this.

That version of the description literally says it penetrates other cells and sucks out their insides, with no mention of actually entering them. It reminds me of a cell I saw once that has a long neck, though instead of sucking stuff out it just bit out whole chunks of its fellow cells.

Out of curiosity, what does the name mean?

"The females also have a backwards facing pouch, allowing for their joeys to not have to climb into a pouch."

Backwards-facing pouches are the default for marsupials in real life and the fetal offspring still have to climb.

Are you certain you are interpreting them correctly? In fact, it looks like they were uploaded wrong on the wiki and are in fact called string cells, not sting cells. Further, the art shows an empty center.


I think the text is also implying the nucleus structure is in some way string-like. Also, it is explicitly a cytovore, not an endoparasite.

Jlind11 successfully located. turns out I've been following him on Tumblr since 2019 and we literally had a discussion about Sagan 4 over Tumblr IM once

The tail is odd. I'm not sure how useful it would be for a cursorial species.

Many times in Sagan 4's past, there have been failed attempts to rid it of all earth clones. Sometimes, these are just plagues or competition; other times, they will be "alienified" in order to "fix" them. I would hope that the current opinion of Earth clones is neutral; that said, I would still like to make a case that earth clones in xeno projects are not bad and can actually be used in interesting ways without making them something completely different.

Take Pluvimundus, an alien planet conceptualized by Dylan Bajda (better known as Sheather).


One thing noticeable in this image is that there are apparently mammals, right there in the middle left, albeit with some pretty odd display structures--Pluvimundus has inexplicable mammals on an alien planet too! And if anything, they're even more Terran than Sagan 4's Shrews, and they come in plenty of suspiciously familiar forms, if not for their odd coloration and bipedal tendencies.



Indeed, the majority of small, unspecialized mammalogues on Pluvimundus just look like familiar small mammals, like rodents or shrews. However, everything changes with the larger, more specialized species:




These are still clearly derived from a mammalian base, and they even converge on distinctly mammalian strategies such as trunks and fangs, yet combine features in unusual but logical ways to create distinctive creatures that don't look out of place on another world. Principals such as convergent evolution are clearly applied, these are clearly mammal clones, and they did not replace their extremely terran ancestors, but they are distinct and they aren't bad.

I think the takeaway from this should be that earth clones have more potential than just to be earth clones, and they shouldn't be "fixed" by turning them into something completely different. I hope that this example will prevent us from ever going through another "kill all the bad Earth things" era.

Vivus update: I found archived forum posts from a lot more recently, which messes up the timeline a bit. I'm not as sure about the Vivus thing anymore.

I was actually able to obtain the email address of Russ1 (as well as Clayren), but I haven't gotten any response.

Some updates:

Found:
- Badger Man 22: She is not a man. It's unclear what she actually goes by now, but she's on the Sagan 4 Alpha discord server.
- Krakow Sam: Turns out he was just. sitting there on the gamingsteve discord server unaware anyone was looking for him

Possible leads:
- Nuclearchinchilla: I've found a possible lead on reddit, however I can't find any sign of them after 2019.
- Bonosaber: I discovered a third username he went by. It hasn't panned out yet, though.

Misc:
- Devlimjm: Well.

I've done quiet a few of these, specifically 1, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11, and 13 (and I'll do several more next gen)

Does it still have the ludicrously high mutation rate?

I think diet-changers like that should simply be rejected. The species must evolve the ability to digest a food source in another kingdom, not be retroactively made to. Being able to edit species like that freely does not set a very good precedent.

As I've interpreted the subspecies rule as being about having, say, a specific subspecies in a specific range of habitats like a subsubmission, I don't believe this is in violation.