alright.

Could you re-add the alternate angle/diagram as a supplementary image? More visual information is always good.

@Coolsteph any chance you could do your usual comments on this?

@Coolsteph any chance you could do your usual comments on this?

I have added a bunch of new terms, including many suggestions from Discord.

Terran is already listed

This is the Sagan 4 Glossary, which contains definitions for various terms that are commonly used on Sagan 4. I figured something like this might be useful so that new people know what the words we use mean. Please suggest more words and I'll add them.

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A

• alienified - In reference to a submission, made to seem more "alien" in some way. This is commonly used to refer to unlikely developments that only serve to make an organism "weirder", especially if there is no good reason for it.
• anipede - A major group of fauna on sagan 4 which somewhat resemble arthropods. Sometimes shortened to just "pede".

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B

• beakworm - A type of binucleid worm which resembles a fish with a beak.
• black flora or blackflora - A major group of flora on Sagan 4 which resemble Terran plants, but with black or grey leaves.
• bora - Any organism which lives in the microclimate formed by the fuzzbora and its descendants.
• [b]bubblehorn - A type of binucleid worm which resembles a snail with ten legs and bubbly "horns".

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C

• carpozoa - A major group of fauna on Sagan 4. The term is commonly used to refer specifically to the vertebrate-like spondylozoans, which look more or less like conventional Earth vertebrates but with 6 eyes.
• cephalic segment - A body part present on all binucleid worms which includes the mouth, brain, and, in certain groups, legs, wings, fins, eyes, and/or flippers. Sometimes also known as a "sauce segment".
• challenge - A variety of official challenges, which usually consist of a species prompt and may involve prizes.
• cross swap - A rarer type of swap where each side is for a different project. Usually this is between Sagan 4 Alpha and Sagan 4 Beta. See swap.
• cryoflora Synonym of glass flora. May also be used to refer to related flora in Sagan 4 Beta.
• crystal flora - A major group of flora on Sagan 4 which resemble crystals and behave similarly to both plants and fungi.

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D

• diorama - Any illustration of an ecosystem on Sagan 4. Sometimes, these are made for contests, but other times they are just made for fun. Dozens of them exist.

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E

• earth clone - A derogatory or ironic term for an organism which closely resembles something from the planet Earth. At one time these were greatly frowned upon, however they are currently embraced as an important part of Sagan 4 and its history.
• ecosystem page - A page on the wiki which lists every single biome and every single species within that biome for a particular time period.

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F

• fauna - Organisms which are, for all intents and purposes, animals. We use this term instead of "animals" because our fauna come from several different kingdom-level origins rather than forming a single animal kingdom.
• fermisaur - Any species of a clade of turtsnappers descended from the thornback, which are endemic to Fermi island.
• flavor - Short for "biome flavor", it refers to what "kind" of biome a particular biome is (such as woodland or desert). This is one of the two axes for a single-species submission's habitat range, along with type.
• flora - Organisms which are, for all intents and purposes, plants or fungi. We use this term instead of "plants" because our flora come from several different kingdom-level origins rather than forming a single plant kingdom.
• foundation group - A type of genus group which specifically encompasses flora (plants) such as trees.

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G

• generation - The smaller unit of time on Sagan 4, which generally lasts about 2.5 million years in-universe and contains all new species submitted during it.
• genus group - A type of submission consisting of an entire taxon, usually a genus of flora or small fauna (think insects). Unlike species, genera will typically come in a range of sizes and have a broad region listed for their habitat.
• gilltail - A type of beakworm which has gills running through its tail.
• glass flora or glassflora - A major group of flora on Sagan 4 which have chitinous, lens-like shells.
• gundi - A subgroup of nodents, more specifically noants, which are often eusocial. They are the crown group of noants.

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H

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I

• iron biota - A major group of both fauna and flora on Sagan 4 which have a considerable amount of iron in their makeup.

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J

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K

• keystone group - A rarer type of genus group without which the ecosystem would completely collapse, such as those involved in the nitrogen cycle or soil formation.

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L

• landmark - A submission consisting not of a species, but of a place. These are usually geological formations, such as mountains or hot springs, but they can also sometimes be formed by the activity of organisms.
• lizardworm - A type of scuttlecrab with a lizard-like face.

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M

• Mason - Sagan 4's moon. At one time, it was its own project which ran simultaneously with Sagan 4, to some controversy as they took up generation slots without any compensation even though they otherwise did not interact with Sagan 4's biota.
• Mason replacement - Any retroactive Sagan 4 organisms which serve specifically to "reclaim" generation slots that were previously filled by Mason's life-forms.

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N

• naucean - A sapient species created by Sagan 4 founder Hydromancerx, which has some canonical involvement with Sagan 4.
• nodent - A group of plents on sagan 4 which are known for their resemblance to Earth rodents.

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O

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P

• phlyer - a type of flying plent.
• plague - An organism which serves only to wipe out other species using disease. These have a lot of history but are frowned upon today.
• planda - A panda-like species of plent which was the center of Sagan 4's first drama in 2006. It has since become a bit of a meme.
• planimal - A general term for any fauna on Sagan 4 which has plant-like characteristics, or any organism which cannot be nearly fit into "plant" or "animal". Some noteworthy examples are plents, crastrums, and wormflora.
• plent - One of the major groups of fauna on Sagan 4. Sometimes used to refer only to ambulatory plents, which can be identified by their wooden teeth, horns, and/or claws and the presence of a "nostril" on the rump or the end of the tail.
• purple flora - A major group of flora on Sagan 4 which resemble Terran plants, but purple.

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Q

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R

• replace - In reference to a submission, a species which "replaces" its ancestor is the result of the ancestral species entirely evolving into it, leaving no more representatives of the ancestral species behind.

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S

• Sagan - The star which Sagan 4 orbits around.
• Sagan 4 or Sagan IV - The planet on which this project takes place.
• SaganBot - A bot used on the Sagan 4 Discord server which allows species to quickly be looked up.
• sauce - An external plate present on the cephalic segment of some binucleid worms, under which the brain usually lies.
• sauceback - A noteworthy subgroup of binucleid worm which typically resembles an armless theropod dinosaur with hooves and bug jaws. The "sauce" is named for this group.
• scuttlecrab - A noteworthy group of binucleid worm which resemble arthropods, particularly crustaceans.
• shrew - A somewhat infamous group of carpozoans which look pretty much exactly like Earth therapsids (including mammals), but with 6 eyes. They are notoriously "indestructible", having survived not only several mass extinction events but also no less than three different attempts at wiping them out on purpose.
• skunik - A group of swarmer plents which have 6 limbs and often some amount of exoskeleton. Also known as "land swarmers".
• skysnapper - A type of carpozoan which generally resembles a 6-eyed raptor with pterosaur-like wings.
• split - In reference to a submission, a species which "splits" from its ancestor still coexists with the ancestral species.
• supplementary image - Any artwork for a species which is not the primary image. These are usually anatomical diagrams or depictions of morphs and life stages, but they can also include redraws, fanart, and illustrations of the organism in its environment.
• swap or species swap - An activity where two Sagan 4 members trade submission ideas to work on.
• swarmer - A major type of plent which is typically an aquatic filter-feeder.

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T

• tam - A subgroup of furry shrews which often have scales or osteoderms distributed through their fur.
• terran - In reference to a submission, the organism has familiar "earthly" traits. Also sometimes used to distinguish Earth species from Sagan 4 species.
• treenus - Portmanteau of "tree" and "genus". Synonym of foundation group, and may specifically refer to foundation groups which contain trees.
• turtsnapper - A type of carpozoan which bears some resemblance to Earth reptiles, named for their turtle-like common ancestor.
• type - Short for "temperature type", it refers to the climate of a biome (tropical, temperate, montane, etc). This is one of the two axes for a single-species submission's habitat range, along with flavor.

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U

• ukfauna - A noteworthy group of fauna on Sagan 4. They can usually be identified by their superficially cephalopod-like appearance and prominent tooth.

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V

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W

• week - The larger unit of in-universe time on Sagan 4 typically consisting of 5 project generations and of 12.5 million years in-universe. The map usually updates at the start of each week. Its name is a holdover from when a single in-game week was one real-world week.
• wingworm - A noteworthy group of binucleid worms on Sagan 4, which have eyes on their backs and many of which fly using as many as 12 wings.
• worm - Short for "binucleid worm". A major group of fauna on Sagan 4 descended from exoskeletal worm-like creatures.

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X

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Y

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Z

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I will note that you did not actually need to crop the rest of the image. It provided a lot of important information. I don't know why Coolsteph told you to do that. @Primalpikachu

It can be in multiple biomes, as long as they are all connected

There isn't wind on the forest floor. There's a lot of water in a rainforest, though.

is this basically like a deflated cloudbubble in anatomy?

The description is kinda short. I'd recommend elaborating some - for example, how does its new lifestyle change its reproduction?

sruglettes are a bit too chunky for this

they just dump the dead outside for scavengers. Real bees do this too.

I will draw a juvenile.

I don't think the claw would realistically take that long to evolve so

Minibees (Xenoapicula spp.) (alien little bee)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Xenobees
Habitat: Wallace, Koseman, Fermi, Vonnegut, Steiner, Ramul, Drake, Barlowe, Lamarck, LadyM Ocean (floating flora), Mnid Ocean (floating flora), Jujubee Ocean (floating flora)
Size: 1.25-3 cm long
Support: ?
Diet: Nectarivore, Spores
Respiration: Semi-Active (Unidirectional Tracheae)
Thermoregulation: Heterotherm (Basking, Muscle-Generated Heat, Heat-Trapping Fuzz); Regional Endotherm (Cephalic Segment and Abdomen)
Reproduction: Sexual (Hermaphroditic, Eggs)

Minibees split from their ancestor, originating in Wallace and spreading to many landmasses thanks to topship fuzzpalms out at sea providing a source of nectar. They are significantly smaller than their ancestors, making them less conspicuous to predators and better able to access smaller flowers. They have shorter, rounder, more aerodynamic bodies, as well as more fuzz even on their carapace to keep them warm. The bulbous shape of the abdomen serves to raise their eyes enough to see in front of them. Their wings are optimized for forward flight, rather than backward, and the three front-most wing parts have tiny claws allowing minibees to shuffle on the ground and climb with ease. They are important pollinators, and have even taken over as the main pollinators for some flora due to their smaller size and climbing adaptations, but they have not replaced the xenobees.

The rods of minibee wings are flexible and can be bent by tendons inside of them, like the wings of other xenobees, but they snap back straight when relaxed. However, minibees have a locking mechanism that holds the tendon in place and allows them to stay bent when clinging to flora without getting tired. The sudden straightening of the wings can launch them into the air for flight. Taking flight can dislodge hairs, which irritate the eyes of predators, though they lack the poisons of their distant batworm ancestors.

The nests of minibees are located in trees and are made from silk and bits of flora. They often use wood and bark for the exterior to disguise it, while the interior might use a variety of leaves and crystal shells to produce floors and walls. The nests are expanded over time, and they sometimes have secondary nests either as an extension of the main nest or attached somewhere nearby in the same tree. Larger nests will have an open cavity where a minibee can comfortably fly in the middle. An especially popular nest location is within a tree hollow where they are well-hidden and most of the work is done for them. Inside the nests, they store honey and spores. When a minibee dies inside the nest, its carcass is dropped from the nest and usually falls to the ground to be collected by scavengers later. Their honey is usually yellowish because it is made using sugary nectar, unlike the green honey of their ancestors which was made using differently-colored compounds.

Minibees store honey, but do not exclusively eat it in that form. Instead, they mix it with the spores produced by many of the flora they pollinate to produce something resembling bread, which is easier to transport than either ingredient on its own. Social and altruistic, and with every individual being an important part of the colony and its gene pool, minibees will bring this bread to their young, sick, and injured, which will repeatedly lick the air to communicate their hunger. Rarely, they have also been observed offering bread to unrelated small fauna that they perceive as “injured” because of a similar gesture, such as the tongue-flicking of sweetworms, as the instinct to aid one another is strong enough to overcome species boundaries.

Minibees are hermaphroditic and mate several times a year. They are not eusocial, unlike the Terran bees they are named for. They typically mate while out foraging, having a preference for mating outside their colony to maintain genetic health, though they will mate inside their colony over winter. When a colony grows too large to gather enough food, it splits up, with many young minibees leaving to join with dispersers from other colonies to found a new one.

It is inaccurate to call the offspring of minibees, or of any xenobee or batworm in general, larvae. They are flightless, but technically do bear wings with underdeveloped membranes. As they grow, so too do the membranes, becoming more extensive by covering the chitinous wing rods in translucent skin. After an initial helpless stage where they must be fed directly, the juveniles are actually quite active and climb around the inside of the nest, unlike other batworms, exercising their wing muscles by hopping and fluttering around the nest. Flightless juveniles aid in caring for those even younger. They become capable of prolonged flight when they reach about two-thirds of their adult length after about 3 weeks, at which point they graduate to gathering food and live on for as long as 3 months.

Image caption: Juvenile, indeterminate species, enjoying some honey. Note the shorter fuzz and small wings with incomplete membranes.


There are many species of minibee, which are often colored such that they are inconspicuous in and around their nests. They generally depend on trees or shrubs as nest sites, but in the absence of these they can also nest on cliffs. Temperate and subpolar minibee species hibernate over winter. They do not stay asleep the entire time, however. They periodically wake up to mate and lay eggs, feed from their food supply, remove their dead, and patch damage to the nest, and their movement keeps the nest warm enough that they do not freeze. Species in the coldest subpolar, polar, and montane biomes often have longer, denser fuzz to keep warm and allow them to stay awake for longer during the year. Some species that pollinate floating flora nest on beaches and wait for food to come to them, at which point they go on a nectar- and spore-gathering frenzy which earns them enough honey to last until the next opportunity.

Island chains do not have independent genus groups from the mainland.

That was not necessary. What I took issue with was changing the core of the submission by adding the iron features and redesigning the artwork when the changes would have made more sense in a descendant for next gen.

Please listen to and implement feedback, and do not be passive-aggressive about it. If you do not undo this unnecessary total reversion, this will have to be rejected.

Changes shouldn't be so massive they turn it into a different submission.

Fly paper is baited.

Sudden wild changes to your submissions don't sit right with me. This was previously passable with ultimately only minor issues but then you suddenly completely changed parts of it and it's causing problems and basically reset the review process. I suggest that if you anticipate making heavy changes to a submission, you should post it in the work-in-progress thread instead.

Note, once a submission is already approved, this degree of editing will no longer be allowed. You seem to like changing large parts of your submissions sometimes to the point of being unrecognizable, so I thought you should probably know.

@HethrJarrod I'm going ahead and rejecting this, as it cannot be made acceptable without an overhaul at which point it will be a different submission entirely.

Reasoning:
- Completely disconnected habitat - no possible exceptions would allow it to travel that far. Switching to its native range makes its adaptations no longer make sense.
- Artwork is anatomically wrong for its lineage and is clearly just an edited illustration of a vesuvianite tree. Bits of color from the vesuvianite illustration underneath it is even still visible. A complete redraw would be needed to fix it.
- Several of the features I feel need some elaboration, especially how reproductive structures got to a completely different part of the organism's body, but I suspect this will result in you basically remaking the organism anyway, at which point, just resubmit it.
- It appears that its partner submission has has mention of it removed anyway.

I don't think this organism's feeding method would actually work. Spiderwebs work because they're hard to see and wind passes through them. This is a solid membrane and I don't think it could take on a web shape in one step.

I've basically rewritten the migration section

I added shoots, but note it also eats the fruit.

The ancestor exclusively ate ferines, and ferries are an entire genus of flora, so I figured it should be sufficient. I could add more stuff but most of what would be in the same edibility range is in different kingdoms.