Voting is now closed. Congrats to Nergali with their submission the Scalescooter!

Kuyasha (Kuyasaphyta spp)

Creator: MNIDJM
Ancestor: Nimbuses (Ultravisphyta spp.)
Habitat: Global (Sagan 4)
Size: 0.5 mm wide cells
Diet: Photosynthesis
Reproduction: Binary Fission

The Kuyasa genus split from the nimubuses, as they specialized specifically to a clustered, marine and freshwater lifestyle. All species just above the surface of the water, and gains water and nutrients from ocean spray and morning fog, thus they are more abundant near the surf zone. While clouds can grow to a few meters or so across with millions of individuals they are still microscopic in size and they each hook together to help the cloud avoid dispersal. They are varied in size and shape of their feather-like pseudopods, though all share the same function of hooking together and carrying them in the wind. They are constantly swept into the water by spray, and when they do they simply unhook and float on the surface. Evaporation or spray will eventually take them airborne again, and once they are there chemoreceptors direct them to find others and merge back together. There are about 60 species recorded, all hovering around areas of high moisture.

Notable representative species:
Maineiac Seambus - Native to the coastal waters around Maineiac
Jujubee Nimbus Fog - Marine species found primarily in the open water
LadyM Seambus - Marine species found primarily in the open water
Darwin Freshwater Nimbus Fog - Living in the River waterways of Dixon
Southern Ice Seambus - Found around the [[South Sagan 4 Ice Sheet]]. Go dormant during the dark winter months

Any update on approval?

Gec Gigarystal (Gigacrystalis gec)

Creator: MNIDJM
Ancestor: Wave Gigarystal (Gigacrystalis examen)
Habitat: Darwin Alpine, Gec Tropical Riparian
Size: 50 cm Tall
Diet: Detrivore, Consumer
Reproduction: Fast growing Spores

The gec gigarystal is, as it's name suggests, a divergent population of wave gigarystal that have made their way to the Gec waterway. They can be found not only in the waterways of Gec, but in the surrounding alpine rainforests, living short lives in pools of water collecting from snow meltoffs and rain. Speculation into how they arrived in Gec point to these sporatic populations, as the rapid life cycle and wide dispersion of spores of their ancestors point towards puddle hopping.

They are rather much like their founding ancestors, though the Gec offshoot appear to have shrunk further. Their dark coloration has spread, and these crystalflora now appear a deep crimson. Like their ancestor they grow extremely fast, expelling spores off their sides monthly. Individuals take 3-5 days to grow and live for 5 years, though those that are not along the Gec River proper tend to die rather quickly.

Since you're not on the alpha discord I'll post my WIP of the image here:

Deep Glowswarmer (Aleawalic tawhaj)

Creator: MNIDJM
Ancestor: Glowbulb Swarmer (Miniplenti nitor)
Habitat: Otter Vents, Jujubee Ocean (Trench Zone), LadyM Ocean (Trench Zone), Rhodix Vents
Size: 2 cm long
Diet: Planktivore, Detritivore
Reproduction: Sexual, Spawning, 2 Genders

As they began to adapt further to the Otter vents and the deeper waters as a whole, the glowbulb swarmers began to shift away from the traits that remained from their more epipelagic ancestry. They have completely lost their photosynthesis, instead relying on shifting drifts of bacterial blooms and marine snow. They have fully developed a symbiotic relationship with a strain of symbiocells that now lives within skin sacks on abdomens. These sacks grow without a distinct pattern on the swarmer, and no two swarmers will have the same amount and distribution of them. They control the glow using tissue spasms. As they are the only creatures in the deep sea with any form of color vision, they use this bioluminescence to find and coordinate the swarms. They have significantly smaller than the ancestor they have replaced, reflecting the decreased availability in acquiring food. They are extremely common in the deep oceans, living in swarms of millions, and are a vital source of food for higher tropic levels.

Image WIP

Coolsteph Atoll

Creator: MNIDJM
Week: 26
Habitat: Soma Temperate Coast

The Coolsteph Atolls are a small collection of low island limestone outcrops that are the remains of the eastern seaside cliffs of the extinct Coolsteph Island. They can be found throughout the Soma coast, but by far the largest collection can be found 5 km off the western shores of Ramul. They are low elevation, rarely reaching higher than 30 m above sea level. They have provided a refuge for many ancient lineages that once inhabited the Coolsteph ecosystem, allowing them to not only survive, but survive long enough to establish a foothold on Ramul. Geological scans of the surrounding oceans and landmasses show that these islands were more common going back to the earlier centuries after the loss of Coolsteph. Scans further show that the north western shores of Ramul have limestone deposits consistent with those found in Coolsteph, leading to the theory that Ramul has in fact merged with a few of these low islands. Whether this merger allowed for the survivors of Coolsteph to reach its shores, or if island hopping lead to the seeding is as of yet undetermined

Location or largest atoll:

No objections, approved.

I figured it was a good candidate because the species is currently split between Maineiac, Bumpy, Colddigger, and Fermi Polar Coasts and the Huggs Salt Marsh.

Nah, go ahead. But I recommend doing so quickly.

Please refrain from voting for yourself.

Submissions are now closed. Please vote here. Voting will close at 11:59 PST Sunday August 9th

Already in progress

Hey everybody, we're restarting Prime Specimen once again. For this challenge, the species chosen is quite a shocking one... why it's none other than the Shockscooter! If you'd like to participate in this, simply come up with a split for this species, and on Saturday the 1st we'll all start posting our submissions and then hold a vote on them. Remember, you can submit multiple submissions for Prime Specimen, but you only get one vote, and you can't vote for yourself. Have fun and lets start evolving! If you want to join, just reply here or on the Discord

https://sagan4alpha.miraheze.org/wiki/Shockscooter

Galleon Lyngbakr (Lyngbakr oneraria)

Creator: MNIDJM
Ancestor: Umbrascale Lyngbakr (Lyngbakr umbra)
Habitat: Jujubee Tropical Ocean (Sunlight Zone), South Jujubee Temperate Ocean (Sunlight Zone), Jujubee Ocean (Twilight Zone), Jlindy Tropical Coast, Chum Tropical Coast, Elerd Temperate Coast, Wind Temperate Coast, Dass Temperate Coast, Hydro Tropical Coast, Fly Tropical Shallows
Size: 30 m Long
Diet: Planktivore
Reproduction: Sexual, Live Birth, 2 Genders

The Galleon Lyngbakr split from their ancestors as a response to the evolutionary pressure set up by the Terrorfang Hafgufa. They have begun to move into the warmer southern waters, as a way to avoid the adults of the terrorfang hafgufa. They live primarily in the Tropics, but will mate and rear their young in the more temperate colder waters of the south. They live in matriarchal pods, lead by a mother or grandmother of the members. The pods generally consist of a grand mother, a few daughters, and any young born that season along with their fathers. Male are rather transient, though will generally live with either their familial pods, or will live with their mate and young. The males are slightly smaller than the female, averaging 25 m, but are extremely aggressive and will fiercely protect the pods they are with.

The adults spend most of their lives in the sunlight zones, sifting plankton out of the water. They breed in the southern temperate waters, and the females will have a staggered mating seasons,so that not all females withing a pod will have children at the same time, allowing for their aunts to help with raising the young and protection. Once the young reach mating age, roughly their 12th year, they will generally stick with their mothers to help, but once the pods grow to a certain size, the oldest daughters will split off along with her young and form a new pod.

Marine Crystals (Marecrystallus spp)

Creator: MNIDJM
Ancestor: Marine Crystal (Aquacrystallus iceageus)
Habitat: Global (Sagan 4)
Size: 15-20 cm Tall
Diet: Detritivore, Photosynthesis
Reproduction: Asexual, Spores

The marine crystals first appeared after the during the [[Geologic_Timescale#Yannickian_Period|Yannickian Period ]] in the Chum salwater lake systems. They soon spread to the oceans and began to thrive, as the global cooling freed up many marine enviroments for them to take the place of the basal photosynthetic flora. Once the global freezing event subsided, this genus began to find itself spread out through all shallow saltwater systems of Sagan 4. Soon the basal Marine Crystal species was replaced with over 60 descendant species, along all the major coastal and salt marsh regions.

The genus is characterized by a hard photosynthetic chitin that have tiny pores that intake water to filter out organic matter. Inside, their red fungi-like interiors consumes the organic matter, expelling the excess water and salts from their base. This same fungi-like material forms a base, which have a root-like system, which both anchors the crystals, and allows it to absorb further needed nutrients and minerals from the soil. They all reproduce asexually using spores, which are generated in the crystal interiors and expelled out of the filter pores. They are all capable of producing mild toxins, which when ingested by most herbivores cause digestive muscle spasms, leading to expulsion of their stomach contents. This has been taken advantage of by a few species in the more nutrient poor environments near Fermi, and have allowed them to spread their spores, as the spores will use the expelled organic matter to begin growing.

I approve the monkey-salamander.

Bijadadu (Scootypuffsr ramuli)

Creator: MNIDJM
Ancestor: Shockscooter (Scootypuffjr coolsteph)
Habitat: Ramul Temperate Beach, Ramul Temperate Woodland, Soma Temperate Coast
Size: 32 cm tall
Diet: Opportunistic Omnivore (Neuks, Larvaback, Scuttlers, Dartirs, Sapworms, Frabukis, Xenobees, Minikruggs, Krillpedes, Vermees, Miniswarmers, Belumbias, Twinkiiros, Pioneeroots, Marbleflora, Snotflora, Burraroms, Twinkorals, Larands, Flashkelps, Keryhs, Chitjorns, Shelpads, Luminus, Silkruggs, Grabbyswarmers, Miniwhorls, Drake Uktank larvae, Qupe Tree fruit, Tonboswarmer, Fuzzweed, Drakescooter, Bashercoat young, Treeneer, Elahpekomlap Bubblehorn, Flippskima larvae, Darwin Thornshell leaves, Vermair, Shockscooter, Eeyore Stalks, Sailmail tadpoles, Syrup Ferine berries, Sleeve Ferine berries, Drake Uktank eggs, Elahpekomlap Bubblehorn eggs, Swaggersnapper eggs, Uklunk Eggs, Sailmail eggs, Baron Signaltail eggs, Finback Flunejaw eggs, Immense Flunejaw eggs, Bijadadu young), Scavanger, Coprovore, Detritivore
Reproduction: Sexual, Spawning, Two Genders

As the millennia crawled on, the island of Coolsteph began to sink lower and lower into the sea. Erosion began in the northern most coasts at first, but eventually Coolsteph began to fracture into dozens of smaller islands, before each was reclaimed by the sea. The shockscooker population bottlenecked as they found their food sources becoming less available as the Magnificent Slaesosaurus found other areas to breed. Some populations of Shockscooters began to compensate by becoming more opportunistic with their diets. At first they were observed eating the the dung of all larger species of the island. . As those became less frequent, their diets appeared to expand to dead purple flora that make up the slaesosaurus nests. Soon, as populations began to dwindle more and populations began to fragment, inbreeding began to take a toll. Neurodegenerative and genetic disorders set in, and sterility became a recurring issue.

Reprieve came as the southern most islands collided with island off shoots of the main Drake continent. Soon the trends reversed, as coastal beaches be to increase in size and availability. However the damage was done, and genetic drift had lead not only to speciation, but changes in behavior. Dissection has show that their brain capacity has shrunk 15% compared to that of their ancestors. They are now highly aggressive and competitive, no longer capable of communicating and anticipating the actions of organisms around them.

Pica became observed in all members of the species. They will eat any item that they can fit in their mouths, be it flora, fauna, dirt, rocks,or even their own young. As such, they have developed the ability to digest most of what they eat, however the inedible components have to regularly be regurgitated out. It is a compulsive behavior, and studies show that they have lost the ability to fully distinguish between food and nonfood items. They have become a regular recurring scourge on the island, reappearing every summer and eating everything they can. They are not particularly fast species, dragging themselves along at about 1.5 km/h, so they are limited to capturing slow or non motile species. They are occasionally preyed upon, but they have retained their ancestors electrical defense, which discourages most predators.

They breed in the early autumn months, laying eggs in saltwater pools or in areas around the coastal waters. They rely on numerical advantage for their eggs, with an adults capable of releasing 10000 eggs at one time. The eggs will hatch around early spring, and be fully grown in about 3 months. The numbers are necessary, as surveys show that only about 5-10 individual offspring will survive on average

This is an incomplete list of possible diets. While the possible diets for your submissions are not limited to the terms on this list, please refrain from using an alternate version of terms here.

Predatory, Carnivorous, & Parasitic

Consumer: A microbe that eats other microbes.

Carnivore: A species that eats live fauna.

Parasite: A species that feeds off another creature but doesn't kill it.

Parasitoid: A species that is parasitic during part of its life cycle, especially one that eventually kills its host.

Sanguivore / Hemophagic A species that drinks the blood of fauna.

Insectivore: A species that eats only small exoskeletal fauna.

Piscivore: A terrestrial species that eats only aquatic fauna.

Ovivore / Oophagy: A species that eats the eggs of fauna.

Pyroivore / Stachtophagic - A carnivore which uses fire to kill its prey, likely consuming the charred remains.

Pathogen: A microbe that enters another organism with the intent to reproduce at the expense of the host.

Cytovore: A microbe that consumes the cytoplasm from other microbes.

Paedophagic / Paedophagy: A species that eats only young fauna.

Herbivorous

Herbivore: A species that eats flora.

Nectarvore: A species that eats the nectar of flora.

Pollinivore / Palynivore: A species that eats the pollen of flora.

Frugivore: A species that eats the fruit of flora.

Granivore: A species that eats the seeds or nuts of flora.

Folivore: A species that eats the leaves of flora.

Rhizophagy: A species that eats the roots of flora.

Sapivore / Mucivore: A species that eats the sap of flora.

Mycophagic / Mycovore: A species that eats the fungi part of flora.

Xylophagy: A species that eats the cellulose of flora.


Heterotrophic & Energy-related

Photosynthesis: A species that converts light into food.

Photovoltaic: A species that converts photons into electricity.

Chemotroph / Chemosynthesis: A species that converts non-biological chemical energy into food.

Kinetivore: A species that converts kinetic energy into food.

Radiotroph: A species that absorbs radiation and converts it into food.

Osmotroph: A species that uses osmosis to absorb dissolved organic compounds.

Thermotrophy: A species that absorbs thermal energy to convert into food.


Scavenging, Waste-Consumption & Mutualism

Scavenger: A species that eats dead fauna.

Kleptoparasite: A species that eats dead fauna killed by other organisms, generally by chasing it off or threatening it.

Detritivore : A species that eats dead flora and other rotting biomatter.

Coprophagic: A species that eat the dung of other species.

Lepidophagy: A species that eats the skin of fauna.

Trophallaxic: A species that eats the vomit of other species.


Other Methods

Microbivore - A macro species that eats microbes.

Planktivore - A marine/aerial macro species that eats microbes and mesobiota/meiobiota.

Filter-Feeder: A macro species that eats microbes by filtering liquids.

Lithivore / Lithotroph: A species that converts minerals into energy for food.

Geophage: A species that consumes earthen compounds such as soil.

Omnivore: A species that eats both fauna and flora.

Liquivore: A species that dissolves its food.

Finished.

You can keep the size, I just in my head treat the Size section as more or an average, so specifics are a bit foreign.

That’s a bit of a drastic development in the leg department. Did they evolve knees?

Nice, though that's a bit specific of a size.

Unrelated to this, this give me an idea for filling up the West Darwin Tropical Rainforest by having a large creature such as this transplant flora.

yeah we could do 25, I wasn’t planning on closing until Gen 164

With Week 26 comfortably in full swing, it's time once again for a diorama contest! You do not need to be a Sagan 4 team member to participate; entries from fans are welcome.

Rules:
- You may only enter one diorama for the contest.
- The diorama must be in color.
- It must depict an ecosystem in week 25.
- The ecosystem must be depicted accurately ie. if it's a forest and there are sufficient flora present in it, it should look like a forest.
- All species depicted must be reasonably accurate to their size and biology. Feel free to ask their creators for anatomical help.
- The diorama must have at least 2 out of 3 of the following: flora, fauna, or microbes. eg, flora and fauna, flora and microbes, fauna and microbes, or all three.
- Unless the given ecosystem has fewer species, a minimum of 5 species must be present in the diorama.


To enter, all you have to do is draw any week 25 ecosystem (listed here) and submit your entry in this thread using this form:

CODE

[image] Artist: Biome: Flora: Fauna: Microbes:

On Sept 4th, contest submissions will be closed and we will hold a vote. The top 3 winning dioramas will be featured on the week overview page on the wiki, while they and the rest will be added to the pages and bot entries for their respective locations.