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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.

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

Broad-Trunk Obsiditree (Negrapetalum piotrunkus)

Creator: MNIDJM
Ancestor: Lacy-Leaf Obsiditree (Negrocaeus paxus)
Habitat: Dixon-Darwin Boreal, Darwin Temperate Woodland, Vivus Boreal
Size: 10 m Tall
Diet: Photosynthesis
Reproduction: Sexual, Airborne Cylindrical Spores

The broad-trunk obsiditree has arose from and replace the lacy-leaf obsiditree populations in the Dixon-Darwin Boreal, and risen to be one of the most dominant large flora in the montane regions of the Dixon-Darwin-Vivus Supercontinent. Thanks to lacking in large scale competition within the Dixon-Darwin Boreal, the lacy-leaf obsiditrees grew rapidly, taking advantage of the plentiful nutrients of the soil and attempting to outgrow competition from each other. As the millennia progressed, they became the keystone species of the region, making the vast majority of the trees-like flora within the region.

Their ancestors proto-branches have developed into true branches, which terminate in smaller, flat leaves. The branches are semi-flexible, allowing for them to shed snow, though their main defense against snow is their dark coloration. The dark pigmentation allows them to absorb heat from sunlight and discourage the formation of snowpiles and icicles. The darker coloration allows for them to maintain leaves throughout the year, as the more equatorial mountain ranges see little temperature variations, though they mostly grow their leaves in the wetter seasons of the years. They regularly shed their leaves, which provide an abundant source of nutrients in the soil that smaller flora take advantage of.

Like their ancestors they produces many granular airborne spores out of this chamber. The clouds are so abundant that they cause an orange haze to appear within the soil and snow. The spores combine in the air and settle on the soil or snow, and will wait for the soil to thaw or the snow to melt enough to implant. They spore will bud quickly, first sprouting meter deep roots before producing a 10 cm shrubling within a month. They have a slow growth rate later in life, due to the cooler temperatures of the regions they inhabit. They will take roughly 50 years to grow to full size, and will live for centuries, though as they lack internal ring a maximum ages is difficult to measure.

Shailnitor (Brachyukus castor)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Shaillor
Habitat: Jujubee Tropical Ocean (Sunlight Zone), North Jujubee Temperate Ocean (Sunlight Zone), South Jujubee Temperate Ocean (Sunlight Zone), LadyM Tropical Ocean (Sunlight Zone), North LadyM Temperate Ocean (Sunlight Zone), South LadyM Temperate Ocean (Sunlight Zone), Soma Temperate Coast, Maineiac Temperate Coast, Oz Temperate Coast, Hydro Tropical Coast, Fly Tropical Shallows, King Tropical Coast, Chum Tropical Coast, Jlindy Tropical Coast, BigL Tropical Coast, Dass Temperate Coast, Wind Temperate Coast, Clarke Temperate Coast, Elerd Temperate Coast, Fermi Temperate Coast, Soma Temperate Beach, Maineiac Temperate Beach, Oz Temperate Beach, Hydro Tropical Beach, King Tropical Beach, Chum Tropical Beach, Jlindy Tropical Beach, BigL Tropical Beach, Dass Temperate Beach, Wind Temperate Beach, Clarke Temperate Beach, Elerd Temperate Beach, Fermi Temperate Beach, Ramul Temperate Beach
Size: 30 cm long
Diet: Detritivore/Scavenger (spoiled food in Seashrog nests), Coprovore (Seashrog, Stowaway Harmbless, Cleaner Bovermid, False Cleaner Bovermid, Kakonat)
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Eggs in Water)

The Shailnitor split from its ancestor. This little uktank has regained amphibious characteristics. The inside of its shell chambers are moist and highly vascularized, which, given its ancestor already filled its shell with air, allows it to actually breathe air more directly than its more terrestrial relatives. This grants it true active respiration independent of water, which is a necessity for the niche it fills. As it had to redevelop terrestrial adaptations, it does not quite resemble other land-adapted uktanks, particularly in that its body is horizontal and its hind toe points forwards instead of backwards.

The Shailnitor is the latest addition to the Seashrog nest ecosystem. As the Seashrog developed the ability to store food instead of eating it as it’s gathered like other seafaring Shrews, there were no pre-existing symbiotes or commensals to clean up the large amounts of spoiled leftovers. The transitional ancestors of Shailnitors were often attracted to beached nests by the smell of rotting food. This competition-free surplus encouraged them to adapt to be able to survive inside Seashrog nests. The Shailnitor spends most of its life on or inside the nest feeding on dung and spoiled food, only leaving when the nest makes landfall so it can find a mate. Mating occurs in water, and the eggs are typically hidden in flora. Afterwards, the shrog that “owns” the given Shailnitor will usually find it and return it to the nest so they can go back to sea. If this does not occur, such as if the Shailnitor gets lost or the shrog that owns the nest gets eaten, it will live along the beach and coast until a new nest comes along for it to board. The Shailnitor can move its ears more than its ancestor could, allowing it to more easily find shrogs based on their vocalizations.

Another notable development for living with the Seashrog is that the Shailnitor has developed a face that Seashrogs find cute, as it resembles their juveniles. It accomplished this by developing a very short face, the shortest of any jawed uktank thus far. It also has spots above its eyes that make it look as though it has six eyes, like a shrog. This has resulted in shrogs “naming” them as though they were their offspring. This helps greatly with ensuring that the Shailnitor will return to the same nest it came from, as when it comes time to return to sea the shrog will call out to it as though it were its offspring. Shailnitors respond to the name they are given, and though they do not instinctively understand other shrog vocalizations, they are able to learn to do so.

Like its ancestor, the Shailnitor has beaked jaws partially formed from a limb and ears derived from its shell. Unlike its ancestor and nearly all other uktanks, its method of direct air-breathing allows it to survive on land without ever returning to water to refill its shell. It is much lighter than it looks as well, due in part to using air instead of water in its shell. As it spends rather little time in water throughout its lifespan, to help it retain water the outer layer of skin now consists of dead skin cells filled with chitin. Unlike other uktanks, it has a cloaca, which points slightly off to the side so that it does not defecate on its hind leg. It mates side by side facing opposite directions like a Terran snail.

--

Sorry it took so long to fill my end of the swap! I went through a bit of a funk lol, mental illness amirite

This post has been edited by Disgustedorite: Sep 11 2020, 01:28 AM

Shorelance (Neodromuflora peregrinus)

Creator: TheBigDeepC
Ancestor: Jaydohve
Habitat: South Jujubee Temperate Ocean (Sunlight Zone), South LadyM Temperate Ocean (Sunlight Zone), Dass Temperate Coast, Wind Temperate Coast, Elerd Temperate Coast, Fermi Temperate Coast, Dass Temperate Beach, Wind Temperate Beach, Elerd Temperate Beach, Fermi Temperate Beach, Fermi Polar Beach, Colddigger Polar Beach
Size: 35 cm Long
Diet: Omnivore (Vermees, Scuttlers, Dartirs, Minikruggs, Cleaner Borvermid, False Cleaner Borvermid, Flamboyant Fan Bloister, Boneweed, Pioneeroots, Fuzzweed berries, Sunstalks, Marbleflora, Mainland Fuzzpalm berries, Stowaway Harmbless, Kakonat), Scavenger
Reproduction: Sexual, Live Birth, Male and Female

The shorelance split and has evolved to be considerably different from its ancestor. For starters, the shorelance has a much more omnivorous diet, feeding on all sorts of things that can fit into its beak including vermees, dartirs, sunstalks, and marbleflora. It has also evolved a body more suited for running on land by considerably reducing the webbing in its feet and developing stronger legs than its ancestor. In order for it to defend itself, the shorelance has not only evolved small wooden spines on its back, but it has also evolved petrolignin (calcified cellulose), much like its distant relative, the stonebeak phlyer, in its beak and teeth; with this petrolignin, its pecks and bites are considerably more effective than other plents of similar size. It has also evolved peculiar patterns that help camouflage it on beaches; the dominant phenotype having blue splotches while the recessive phenotype has green splotches instead.

In terms of behavioral evolution, the shorelance is still social, migratory, and aggressive, much like its ancestor. A group of shorelances is called a 'meander' and these meanders typically consist of 6 to 10 members. The shorelance now uses the sun and moon to orient itself and to migrate north and south. During the winter, they travel to more temperate regions to keep warm; whereas in the summer, they travel to more polar regions to keep cool. When shorelances cannot see either one, typically during cloudy days, they typically stay put and wait for the sun or moon to show up again. If this takes too long, the shorelances will wander in circles, along with eating and drinking. Shorelances are crepuscular and when it's time for them to sleep, they gather together and rest; being crepuscular further helps them avoid nocturnal and diurnal predators.

Shorelances have also taken upon hitch-hiking seashrog nests, which has caused them to spread further out from their island origin. Shorelances living in seashrog nests also live in somewhat smaller groups than those living on the beaches and they still manage to migrate either by waiting for the seashrog to travel to their destination or by hopping from one nest to another that’s nearby. Shorelances living in these nests tend to mooch off some of the food stored by seashrogs, but they make up for this by not only keeping out pests, but also killing kakonats on board as well. This makes them fairly useful for the seashrogs keep in their nests. The shorelance and the kakonat are practically mortal enemies as kakonats will eat baby shorelances and sometimes weaker adults, while meanders of shorelances will gang up on and peck and bite kakonats to death and eat them.

An image depicting a Shorelance with the recessive phenotype



This post has been edited by TheBigDeepCheatsy: Sep 17 2020, 12:44 AM

Gryphler (Gryphomancerxia serinus)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Quone Phlyer
Habitat: Huggs Temperate Riparian, Dixon-Darwin Boreal, Darwin Temperate Woodland, Vivus Boreal, Bone Temperate Riparian, Irinya Temperate Riparian, Dixon-Darwin Rocky, Vivus Rocky, Darwin Chaparral
Size: 20 cm long
Diet: Granivore (Quone nuts, Quilbil seeds, Segmented Carnofern seeds, Luroxal seeds, Twin-Tail Orbibom seeds, Tubeplage fruit, Quhft fruit, Fruiting Grovecrystal fruit, Boreal Tubeplage fruit, Feroak berries, Tropical Gecoba Tree fruit, Gecoba Tree fruit, Bloodsap Melontree fruit, Whirlybulb seeds, Yuccagave seeds, Snow Windbulb seeds, Robust Arid Ferine berries, Hengende fruit, Marblemelon melons), Photosynthesis
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Live Birth)

The Gryphler replaced its ancestor. As a warm-blooded organism, at its relatively small size and with its ability to fly, ultimately being fat and having dark colors alone was not enough to insulate it against cold nights and winter frost. Much like with the evolution of feathers in the ancestors of dinosaurs, strong evolutionary pressures have led it to make an integumentary innovation: it has developed an indumentum of trichomes. These initially grow as a single greatly elongated cell on the surface of the skin, but the cell eventually dies, leaving behind a strand of dead cellulose which functions like hair. The Gryphler’s entire body is covered in this fuzz, keeping it warm. The only exceptions are its feet, beak, and stabilizers, which are naked but woody, and its ears, which need to be naked to function. Some light passes through its indumentum, allowing it to still perform only slightly weakened photosynthesis.

The Gryphler’s hooves have been altered, gaining a slight branching toe-like structure. Wood is bendy and tends to return to its original shape, so these are a solid unarticulated piece which serve to help propel it as it walks. The insides of many of its other wood structures, including its beak and skeleton, have a modified form of lignin within them that makes them stiffer and stronger than normal wood. This has resulted in its beak being as hard as chitin, which helps it to crack open seeds. The stabilizers lack this, as they work better when they’re flexible. Its trichomes also lack it and are rather fragile as a result, but they regrow too quickly for this to have a negative impact.

Like most plents, the Gryphler mates mouth-to-mouth. However, its ancestors had never innovated this further despite evolving large beaks that made successful mating more difficult. The Gryphler’s beak being solid makes mating even more of a challenge than ever before. Therefore, its tongue has been modified to double as a reproductive organ. The tongue has an opening under it in females to accept the male’s, which has a smaller opening at the end. These openings are usually held closed so that food and harmful microbes don’t make their way inside. So in essence, it mates by “kissing” like other plents, except its kisses are tongue kisses. Like other plents, its womb is in its neck area, though unlike most plents where it's a gular sack-like structure, its womb hangs just in front of or slightly between the forelegs as to interfere less with feeding; pregnant females, therefore, may resemble birds with full crops.

Like other plents, the Gryphler breathes out a “butt nostril” on its rear, though it is not particularly visible between its short tail and fluffy coat. It is located about where the anus would be on, say, a carpozoan. It has a blind gut, and like other plents a good portion of its waste is excreted through its skin, though to account for its trichomes it has developed an internal excretion sac so that much of that waste can be regurgitated with the larger indigestible parts of its food. It can dig shallow burrows with its beak, and it will store seeds underground to consume out of season. It can scent using chemoreceptors on the inside of its mouth and vocalize with a “toot” from its butt nostril.

Through seeds, nuts, and fruit, the Gryphler has spread the following:
* Quone to all its Rocky and Temperate Riparian biomes
* Quilbil to all its Temperate Riparian, Chaparral, and Temperate Woodland biomes
* Segmented Carnofern to all its Temperate Riparian biomes
* Luroxal to all its Temperate Riparian biomes
* Twin-Tail Orbibom to Vivus Boreal
* Boreal Tubeplage to Vivus Rocky and Vivus Boreal
* Feroak to Vivus Boreal and Vivus Rocky
* Gecoba Tree to Dixon-Darwin Boreal, Dixon-Darwin Rocky, Darwin Chaparral, and Darwin Temperate Woodland
* Bloodsap Melontree to Dixon-Darwin Boreal, Dixon-Darwin Rocky, and Darwin Temperate Woodland
* Whirlybulb to all of its Temperate Riparian biomes and, indirectly, their corresponding Salt Marshes
* Yuccagave to Vivus Rocky and Darwin Chaparral
* Snow Windbulb to Vivus Rocky
* Robust Arid Ferine to Vivus Rocky
* Hengende to Dixon-Darwin Boreal, Dixon-Darwin Rocky, Darwin Chaparral, and Darwin Temperate Woodland
* Marblemelon to Dixon-Darwin Rocky

This post has been edited by Disgustedorite: Nov 29 2020, 07:21 PM

Brushrums (Crescoasterus spp)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Calmstrum
Habitat: Global (Sagan 4)
Size: 1-5 cm wide
Diet: Photosynthesis, Planktivore, Detritivore
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Spores), Asexual (Budding)

The Brushrums split from their ancestor. These marine planimals regained some mobility in their leaves and took on a more benthic lifestyle. Unlike their suction cup-using relatives, however, they are crawlers--using their filter-feeding tentacles to creep along the seafloor. They are also able to flap their leaves to quickly ascend, should they encounter a predator. They accomplish this with the beginnings of a nervous system--a chemical-based nerve net running through the leaves and tentacles. They have a blind gut in their center with six tongue-like mini-tentacles surrounding it, which lick plankton and detritus off of their larger bristly tentacles to eat. They capture food passively as they walk along the seafloor.

The reproductive method of the Brushrums has been altered. Several paired gonads exist along the edges of each leaf. These gonads release spores, which join with other spores of the opposite sex and eventually grow into new Brushrums. Juvenile Brushrums are planktonic and can be found out in the open ocean, living a similar lifestyle to their ancestor where they float at the surface, soaking in sunlight and filter-feeding. As they grow, they become denser and eventually sink down to the shallows to assume the adult benthic lifestyle. They retain the ability to reproduce by budding as well.

There are many species of Brushrums. They have not developed good osmoregulatory capabilities, so they are absent from rivers. Polar species are typically darker in color and will bury themselves in sand over the winter to hibernate. Some species drag their tentacles through the sediment, rather than lifting them off the ground, to capture benthic microbes. Though uncommon, some species live as deep as the twilight floor and live exclusively off of plankton and detritus, losing their photosynthesis and turning a ghostly white as they mature. Some tropical species have purple striping, allowing them to camouflage in reefs and undersea forests without harming their photosynthesis.

Soil Chitinuses (Solicolonus spp.)

Creator: MNIDJM
Ancestor: Colonuses (Colonus spp.)
Habitat: Global (Sagan 4)
Size: 500 µm to 1 mm wide
Diet: Saprotroph (Crystal Flora)
Reproduction: Binary Fission

The soil chitinuses are a branch of the colonuses that have adapted specifically to digesting the crystal litter of decomposing crystal flora. They produce a form of chitinase that allows them to break apart the glycosidic bonds in the crystal shells, converting them into useful multimers that can be utilised by both the cells and other organisms. They are an extremely important component to ecosystems with an abundance to crystal flora, as they help degrade the floral litter into once again useable materials. Many species begin their life cycles as endophytes on the still living red fungal tissues within the crystal flora. They can act as a minor defence, as colonies present within and on the surface of the flora can produce bitterants or non digestible waste products that would make the crystal unappealing to potential predators. Still others appear to take the opposite approaches, releasing sugary and nutrient rich waste or pheremonic compounds to attract predators. These predators will then ingest the colonies, which can pass relatively unharmed through their digestive systems allowing for a dispersal of these microbes across wide distances. They exist on all terrestrial and freshwater environments on Sagan 4, with each species specializing to be unique to each species of crystal flora. Their abundance and important role in the nutrient cycles have allowed them, in certain locations, to make up a significant percentage of the soil biomass.

Fermibiyss (Adipospurius negro)

Creator: TheBigDeepC
Ancestor: Jaydohve
Habitat: Fermi Polar Beach, Fermi Polar Coast, Colddigger Polar Beach, Colddigger Polar Coast, Nemo Polar Shallows, Krakow Polar Shallows, South LadyM Polar Ocean (Sunlight Zone), South Jujubee Polar Ocean (Sunlight Zone), South Sagan 4 Ice Sheet; Hunting Grounds only: Nemo Twilight Sea Mount, Krakow Twilight Sea Mount, Fermi Twilight Sea Mount, South LadyM Ocean (Twilight Zone)
Size: Male: 4.75 m Long; Female: 3.75 m Long
Diet: Carnivore (Marine Arthrofin, Marine Gilltail, Finback, Marine Urpoi, Greengill, Shellear, Burrowing Quid, Caliga, Hairy Slitherworm, Southern Gillfin, Deep Ribbon Gilltail, Colonial Trapinout, Seafin, Crallsnaper, Stegosnaper, Ribbon Gilltail, Cerulean Gillfin, Surge Gilltail, Globe Gilltail, Sealid, Southern Strainerbeak, Strainerbeak, Vicious Gilltail, Maritime Shockshell Gilltail, Schutzhund Scylarian; Only Eats When Necessary: Glowlight Scylarian, Rosy Scylarian, Bloodfin Scylarian, Ruberarian, Slender Seaswimmer, Sanddigger Seaswimmer, Seamaster Seaswimmer, Marine Filtersquid, Marine Bubblepede, Bubbleweed Seaswimmer, Citadel Trapinout, Turnip Limbless, Squat Limbless, Sealyn, Tileback, Tilepillar, Shortface Thornback, Voracious Anklebiter Thornback, Slaesosaurus young, Larlap juveniles; Only Eats When Prey is Wounded: Swift Hookphlyer, Icejumper Leafshell, Wading Leafshell, Bladesnapper, Keensnapper, Torpcoat, Marine Woollycoat, Krakow Woollycoat, Marine Shocker, Spotted Shocker, Jaydohve)
Reproduction: Sexual, Live Birth, Male and Female

Jaydohves living on Fermi island found themselves splitting and evolving into the fermibiyss. The fermibiyss has practically seized the polar marine regions of southern Sagan 4. In order for this to have happened, the fermibiyss went through insular gigantism, allowing it to become considerably larger than its ancestor and allowing it to feed on prey animals of all sorts, such prey animals typically consist of various gilltails and gillfins, larger anipedes, squids, and shellears. On top of these typical prey, the fermibiyss is capable of hunting and eating some predators that live in its regions such as seaswimmers, some scylarians, and even the occasional baby slaesosaurus. Lastly, proving that the fermibiyss is hardly a finicky eater, it will sometimes feast on wounded prey that it would normally never find with its usual routines of fishing such as leafshells, skysnappers, and even phlyers that get stranded in the water.

To further help with its fishing lifestyle, the fermibiyss has evolved countershading with its top being black and its underbelly being white, providing some form of camouflage while it swimming in the ocean. Along with that, the black on the fermibiyss helps it absorb heat from the sun and helps keep it warm in the icy polar waters. On top of that, the fermibiyss has a thick layer of blubber that gives it further protection against the cold.

Much like its ancestor, the fermibiyss is an example of convergent evolution. In this case, the fermibiyss has petrolignin in its body, similarly to its relative, the shorelance; however, unlike the shorelance, the fermibiyss’ beak, teeth, skull, backbone, and claws are composed of petrolignin, providing more weight to its body and allowing it to dive deeper than its ancestor could. To further help with its deep-sea hunts, the fermibiyss has evolved a second butt-nostril to help it take in more air and even continue breathing air while its other butt-nostril is submerged. Another adaptation that the fermibiyss has to help it deal with low oxygen levels is that its spleen has not only considerably enlarged, but also has become highly vascularized, repurposing it to be especially good at absorbing and storing oxygen. On top of that, the fermibiyss is able to slow down its own heart rate to further reduce oxygen consumption while it is in the Twilight Zone. Lastly, the fermibiyss has the ability to switch between aerobic and anaerobic respiration; more specifically, it can provide its muscles with enough oxygen to boost it or switch to keeping the oxygen going in its heart and brain, this is similar to how Terran penguins manage to survive deep-sea dives. These means of respiration allow the fermibiyss to further conserve oxygen during its dives.

The fermibiyss is still migratory and still highly aggressive like its ancestral jaydohves. Fermibiysses will charge, bite, peck, headbutt, body-slam, and vomit on any invaders coming into their territory. Fermibiysses live in large groups called ‘gluts’ that consist of 2 males and 10-18 females. The males will defend their mates from other rivals by fighting until either one yields or dies. Should rival males win, they will kill the previous males’ offspring in order to mate with the females and produce its own. For their fishing routines, one male and his set of females will forage for food to feed not only themselves, but also their offspring and the offspring of the other male and remaining females; then it switches to the other male and its females doing the foraging and so forth. For migration, the fermibiyss spends a large portion of its life in the open ocean until breeding season, wherein they gather around the polar beaches and the South Sagan 4 Ice Sheet to raise their young. The fermibiyss typically has 1-2 offspring at a time that the mother protects from the cold by huddling close or by getting the father to help carefully lift their young to lie on the mother's back.

This post has been edited by TheBigDeepCheatsy: Sep 25 2020, 09:56 PM

Tigmadar (Caniequis harenacursor)

Creator: MNIDJM
Ancestor: Tigmow (Spinatherium rubor)
Habitat: Dixon-Darwin High Grassland, Dixon Savanna, Dixon-Darwin High Desert
Size: 2 m Long
Diet: Carnivore (Striped Phlock, Snoofloo, Dualtrunk, Drakogg, Giant Hornface, Scrubland Hornface, Hedgimal, Shroom Herder, Plehexapod, Xatazelle, Gracilxata, Xatagolin, Varant, Grassland Lizatokage)
Reproduction: Sexual, Live Birth, Two Genders, Pouch and Milk

The Tigmadar split from their ancestor and adapted to life in the hot sands of Dixon. They have become well suited as a middle trophic level predator of their environments, they have become pack hunting pursuit predators, using their numbers to overwhelm and exhaust prey, chasing them until the prey collapses from fluid or energy expense. Their most radical change has been in their legs, which have become proto-hooves, allowing for further support for running. Their fur is generally soft and thin, notably softer on the belly than on the back, and have adapted a more beige coloration to help blend into the sands of the drier Dixon regions. Their ears are not as wide as their ancestors, as large ears are a hindrance for aerodynamics for running, but still provide some cooling effects. Instead, their nasal passageways have widened to allow for greater intake of cool air.

Tigmadars live in groups consisting of parents and their offspring, parents and their grown offspring, parents and their grown offspring and immature offspring. While they are capable of breeding year-round, the vast majority of pregnancies occur in the cooler months, when hunting is easier. After emerging from the mother, they crawl to her pouch, latch onto a teat inside, and drink the milk. Due to the difficulties of gripping with hooves, the front limbs have retained some claws, though they lose flexibility in them as they grow. The females also have a backwards facing pouch, allowing for their joeys to not have to climb into a pouch. The embryos/newborns are pink, hairless, small-eared, and lack spikes on their back. Though born with all their eyes closed, within two weeks their first pair of eyes (the ones closest to the nose) will open.

Their pickaxe shaped thagomizers are now solely used for defensive purposes, mainly as a means of defending kills from scavengers or protecting their young from potential predators, like the [[Stride Sauceback]]. The spikes have become less prominent, and have a ball joint developing near the tip of the tail where the thagomizer meets the tail body, allowing the thagomizer to rotate so that the spikes do not provide as much drag when they run.

Lipped Sauceback (Secretorostrum labrum)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Mae Sauceback
Habitat: Mae Volcanic, Drake Boreal, Drake Rocky, Drake Taiga, Drake Polar Scrub
Size: 1 meter long
Diet: Herbivore (Pagoda Crystal, Luroot, Umbrella Plyent, Forest Quone, Forest Venomerald, Lurspire, Lurcreeper, Towering Grovecrystal, Glountain, Crystalfir, Emeraldfir)
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Eggs)

The Lipped Sauceback replaced its ancestor. A mutation placed its jaws back inside its mouth where they belong, resulting in it basically having lips covering them. It can retract its lips to expose the jaws to bite into flora, or extend the lips to form a sort of proboscis for feeding on softer parts. This has the effect of making its lips incredibly muscular and flexible, even more so than before. It has also gained pinhole eyes derived from two of its scent pits, convergent with the unrelated Hearthead; though it has fewer eyes, not using all of the nostrils has allowed it to improve its sight much faster, and its own eyestrils do not have chemoreceptive capabilities. The spherical shapes of the eyes are supported by chitin. It is able to see a blurry greyscale image of its surroundings. This is very helpful for detecting predators and not giving away its position, not to mention far more useful in the snow which would otherwise absorb the sound and leave it blind.

Being able to see means that the Lipped Sauceback has less need for echolocation, so it could afford to shrink its ears--a helpful change in its frigid home, which is well within the arctic circle, as it reduces the risk of frostbite. Some additional features to help it in the cold include longer plumage, closable slit-shaped scent pits, and broad camel-like feet for walking on snow. The tail spike has been lost in favor of covering its entire tail in a bottlebrush-like layer of fluff.

The polar climate made depending on water for reproduction more risky than it was worth. The Lipped Sauceback has reverted to an earlier state of sauceback reproduction from before the ice age. It lays and incubates 3-8 soft-shelled eggs which hatch into limbless babies, which are already covered in a dense layer of downy feathers. The mother will “kiss” her hatchlings clean, basically lapping egg juices away and fluffing up their feathers, so that they can more quickly withstand the harsh cold. The young grow quickly, but less than half survive their first winter.

Like its ancestor, the Lipped Sauceback is an herbivore, using its beak to chomp through even the toughest flora. It can even chew through wood. It is social, but unlike its ancestor it does not form large herds, as its environment is not ideal for supporting such groups. Unlike its ancestor, it is awake during the “day”, but that term is relative in the northernmost parts of its range.

Cloudbubble Tropoworm
(Flamelle magnapinna)

Creator: Bufforpington
Ancestor: Herbivorous Tropoworm
Habitat: Sagan 4 Atmosphere (Troposphere)
Size: 25 cm Long
Diet: Herbivore: (Cloudbubble)
Reproduction: Sexual, Hermaphrodite (Eggs)

After the second generation of atmospheric ecosystem was destroyed during the mass extinction at the end of the Bloodian period, the tropoworm and herbivorous tropoworm's populations crashed due to the lack of substantial amounts of food. The once numerous swarms dropped to groups containing only a handful of individuals as the species grew increasingly rare. However, with the evolution of the marbubble, and later the cloudbubble, the third generation of atmospheric ecosystem is dawning, and the herbivorous tropoworm was quick to jump at the opportunity of being successful once more. As a result a population split from their ancestors and began feeding on the cloudbubble.

The cloudbubble tropoworm has adapted to better survive in the troposphere. Their wings have become more broad, allowing them to fly with less effort. This allows them to conserve energy, which is hard to gain in a largely barren habitat like the troposphere. Their once-rough gray segment has become smooth, making it more aerodynamic, allowing it to fly with greater ease. They have also grown smaller, decreasing the amount of nutrients needed to spend on growth. In order to feed on the cloudbubble, their lower mouth bristles have been modified into simple mandibles, which allow them to grab and pop cloudbubbles before flying forward to swallow the cloudbubble's remains. Their mating ritual also centers around cloudbubbles, in which they will lay their eggs on cloudbubbles due to them being the only available surface to deposit their eggs on. The larvae hatch at a size of 1 mm long and can fly from birth. They use their upper mouth bristles to aid them in filter-feeding, which will sustain them until they reach their full size. Only then can they begin feeding on cloudbubbles.

Windfilter
(Ventuphagus nareconus)

Creator: Bufforpington
Ancestor: Dry Shrubite
Habitat: Maineiac Volcanic, Maineiac Rocky, Maineiac High Grassland, Maineiac Boreal
Size: 1.8 meters Tall
Diet: Filter-Feeder (Aeroplankton)
Reproduction: Asexual (Spores)

With the advent of aeroplankton, a new opportunity came for the dry shrubite. Its diet, once restricted to microbes and nutrients in the soil, could be expanded to include various microorganisms, spores, and seeds floating through the atmosphere. However, individuals living up in higher altitudes were able to better exploit this new food source, due to the aeroplankton being denser up there. As a result, the windfilter split from its ancestor and evolved in the mountains of Maineiac.

While the windfilter may look like an ordinary shrubite on the outside, its internal anatomy tells a different story. It has developed an orderly network of channels that run throughout the organism that lead to openings in the middle of the spiral segments. The windfilter's new anatomy is built around these channels, which are designed to capture and digest aeroplankton. The windfilter consists of five types of cells. The first is the body cell, which makes up the bulk of the windfilter and is most similar to the original type of shrubite cell. Their purpose is to help support the windfilter. The second type of cell is the mantle cell, which makes use of the shell-building attribute of the original shrubite cell type. These cells occur on the outer edges of the organism and produce and maintain the shell. The third type of cell is the growth cell, which are located in the core of the organism. These cells make more cells, and allow the windfilter to grow upwards and outwards. The fourth type of cell is the consumer cell, which make up the walls of the channels. These cells make use of the original shrubite cell's capturing and digestion abilities to consume and digest aeroplankton. The fifth cell type is the reproductive cells, which produce spores in the uppermost segment of the windfilter. If the wind blows through the porous uppermost segment, it will blow the spores out of it. These spores will then drift through the atmosphere until they reach a new habitat. While they contribute to the overall aeroplankton. However, these spores do not remain viable for extremely long periods of time, preventing the species from colonizing other continents. However, if a spore is particularly lucky, it might be able to settle in a suitable biome on another continent, it may give rise to a new species in a new land.

This species prefers high-altitude scrublands and plains, as there are fewer obstructions between it and its aeroplankton prey. While there is a population in Maineiac Boreal, they are extremely rare and often stunted in growth. They also fare poorly in extremely cold environments like the alpine, and will always die if they take root there.

Table Cushion
(Culcitaflora mensa)

Creator: Bufforpington
Ancestor: Floating Stickyball
Habitat: Maineiac Water Table
Size: 8 cm Tall
Diet: Detritivore, Filter-Feeder, Consumer (Microbial mats of genus group lithotrophs)
Reproduction: Asexual: Fast Asexual Budding, Very Resilient spores

The table cushion evolved from a population of floating stickyballs that settled on the walls and floor of Maineiac Water Table and took root much like its distant ancestor: the limestone ball. They usually form large colonies that grow to be many meters wide, feeding on the massive microbial mats that frequent the walls of the water table. Once the mats are depleted, the table cushion will resort to filter feeding. However, when the population density grows too high for the table cushion to properly filter-feed, a die-off will occur, leaving new spaces for the microbial mats to occupy. This gives Maineiac Water Table's walls and ceiling an uneven, patchy appearance, with some areas being occupied by table cushion colonies and others being occupied by microbial mats.

Villigrass (Robigoflora villotapeta)

Creator: Bufforpington
Ancestor: Rustmolds
Habitat: Maineiac Water Table
Size: 6 cm diameter
Diet: Lithotroph (Iron), Consumer, Herbivore (Table Cushion), Detritivore
Reproduction: Asexual (Runners), Sexual (Conjugation)

The Villigrass has split from its ancestor in Mainiac Water Table. It diverged from a group of rustmolds that had ferrophile symbiotes, and shares a common ancestor with Fungiferrus magnephilus. Individual villigrass are 6 cm in diameter, but can form vast colonies that can grow to be hundreds of meters in diameter. However, most colonies are only tens of meters in diameter. Villigrass feed on the redoxed iron provided to them by the ferrophiles, which reside in microscopic pits that dot the surface of the villigrass. Once the iron 2+ is passed into the villigrass' mycelium, it is then converted into iron 3+. The villigrass have developed villus-like structures that increase their surface area and in turn, their exposure to the iron oxide that drifts about the cave floor. The villigrass will also consume any organic matter that it can dig its rhizoids into. This includes microbial mats, table cushions, and detritus. They use the carbon component of their diet to produce carbon-based structures, and use iron as a source of energy. While their voracious appetite often leaves vast swathes of Maineiac Water Table's floor smothered in the red organism, they are limited in growing space by the concentration of iron oxides. Because the cave lacks any currents, all of the iron oxides from the decaying shells and exoskeletons of iron fauna accumulate on the cave floor. This results in the villigrass only occupying the cave floor, leaving the walls and rocks to be colonized by table cushions. In addition to this, areas heavily grazed by the magnekite often are uncovered long enough for table cushions and microbial mats to grow. Villigrass will typically reproduce asexually via runners, spreading their colony throughout the cave. However, when they run into another colony, they will reproduce sexually via conjugation. The two colonies will extend gametangia-bearing pili that will produce zygotes when fused together. These zygotes then produce spore stalks, which will then release spores into the water column. These spores will then hitch a ride on passing iron fauna like the magnekite as it grazes on the villigrass colonies. The spores will then hopefully fall off and germinate somewhere far away from the two colonies, producing a new, genetically distinct individual that will in turn form a new, genetically distinct colony.