Thermoregulation is now required to be specified for all new species. However, this presents a problem for...basically any plent.
Plents are all over the place, flipping back and forth between forms suited for endothermy or ectothermy (sometimes literally between lizard form and mammal form) seemingly at the creator's whim. Only a small handful of lineages are explicitly endothermic, the rest just seemingly do whatever the hell they want. Some species have illogical and often incompatible combinations of endotherm characteristics (full-body insulation) and ectotherm characteristics (depending on the sun to warm up). Outside of ambulatory plents, all text seems to indicate that skuniks were somehow endotherms on landfall with no explanation. Flying swarmers must at the bare minimum be heterotherms, as they could not fly otherwise, but this is never explained. The only plents we can know for sure are ectotherms are aquatic plents like swarmers that have never touched land or air. This mess is worsened by the fact that plents are perhaps the most popular faunal lineage on Sagan 4, meaning there are a lot to sift through.
Assistance in figuring this out and adding thermoregulation to plents would be greatly appreciated. Some especially difficult lineages include nodents, sprinters, ketters, phlyers, plentpeckers, bearhogs...well, basically all that aren't either gulpers or nobits.
This post has been edited by Disgustedorite: Mar 20 2021, 01:34 AM
Plents are all over the place, flipping back and forth between forms suited for endothermy or ectothermy (sometimes literally between lizard form and mammal form) seemingly at the creator's whim. Only a small handful of lineages are explicitly endothermic, the rest just seemingly do whatever the hell they want. Some species have illogical and often incompatible combinations of endotherm characteristics (full-body insulation) and ectotherm characteristics (depending on the sun to warm up). Outside of ambulatory plents, all text seems to indicate that skuniks were somehow endotherms on landfall with no explanation. Flying swarmers must at the bare minimum be heterotherms, as they could not fly otherwise, but this is never explained. The only plents we can know for sure are ectotherms are aquatic plents like swarmers that have never touched land or air. This mess is worsened by the fact that plents are perhaps the most popular faunal lineage on Sagan 4, meaning there are a lot to sift through.
Assistance in figuring this out and adding thermoregulation to plents would be greatly appreciated. Some especially difficult lineages include nodents, sprinters, ketters, phlyers, plentpeckers, bearhogs...well, basically all that aren't either gulpers or nobits.
This post has been edited by Disgustedorite: Mar 20 2021, 01:34 AM
It would help to clarify mesothermy and its variants for those cases.
It seems some ectotherms can become endothermic as needed. (e.g., sphinx moths and tegus)
According to the BBC:
In a way, those mammals are regularly ectotherms, despite having integument.
The same article mentions:
"For instance, newborn mammals' body temperature is entirely dependent on the temperature of the environment. The ability to produce internal heat only kicks later in development."
It could be that some endothermic lineages lost endothermy, a la naked mole rats, due to living in very temperature-stable environments, like burrows.
Even endotherms (vulturesvultures) can regularly bask; they apparently maintain the nighttime body temperatures lower than their daytime temperatures.
It is possible that some plents from endothermic lineages living in warm, stable environments, such as perpetual caves or perhaps rainforests, could lose the ability to be endothermic, because it wouldn't be as necessary.
I'd suggest:
The Scaleskunik is, at least, a facultative endotherm, a la a tegu.
If it's a smaller flier with no integument, and lives full-time in areas that get cold either daily (some deserts) or seasonally (subtropics and colder, boreal and higher) , it either heats itself up for flight by the movement of its flight muscles, or, if improbable, is a hummingbird/bat-style heterotherm. Depending on exactly how cold the environment is, hibernation or similar states can be assumed.
For seemingly-endothermic fliers which don't have integument, in environments where it doesn't really need it (e.g., rainforests, perhaps savannas) the best comparison would be copying the metabolism of the hairless bat, or, if information is unavailable, close relatives of the hairless bat.
Sub-rule: If it's really big (exact size undecided), and it has some way of reducing heat loss via its wings (assuming uncovered skin), it can be assumed to be a giganototherm of some sort.
If it has integument and appears warm-blooded, but depends on the sun to warm up, it lets its body temperature drop at night (a la vultures) and basks in the morning, or it outright enters torpor, kind of like hibernation, during nighttime. (If in doubt, the big ones that can keep in body heat better or the especially fuzzy ones are vulture-like.)
Notably, an ancient goat species was ectothermic, apparently due to a lack of food on its tiny island.
It's possible the Blind Hoofplent could have lost some measure of thermoregulation, due to living in a stable and possibly food-limited cave environment (Ferret Limestone Caverns). If its descendants lived in warm environments, or environments that are normally cold but are pretty warm due to climactic fluctuations, they might keep that state of being somewhat ecothtermic. Nighttime temperatures are generally colder, though, so it seems more likely they would become more endothermic (barring integument) if they're nocturnal.
This post has been edited by Coolsteph: Mar 20 2021, 07:24 AM
It seems some ectotherms can become endothermic as needed. (e.g., sphinx moths and tegus)
According to the BBC:
| QUOTE |
| Smaller mammals – including many rodents, insectivores, bats, marsupials and even some primates – have evolved a way to push this temperature reduction much further. They enter an energy-saving state known as daily torpor. |
In a way, those mammals are regularly ectotherms, despite having integument.
The same article mentions:
"For instance, newborn mammals' body temperature is entirely dependent on the temperature of the environment. The ability to produce internal heat only kicks later in development."
It could be that some endothermic lineages lost endothermy, a la naked mole rats, due to living in very temperature-stable environments, like burrows.
Even endotherms (vulturesvultures) can regularly bask; they apparently maintain the nighttime body temperatures lower than their daytime temperatures.
It is possible that some plents from endothermic lineages living in warm, stable environments, such as perpetual caves or perhaps rainforests, could lose the ability to be endothermic, because it wouldn't be as necessary.
I'd suggest:
The Scaleskunik is, at least, a facultative endotherm, a la a tegu.
If it's a smaller flier with no integument, and lives full-time in areas that get cold either daily (some deserts) or seasonally (subtropics and colder, boreal and higher) , it either heats itself up for flight by the movement of its flight muscles, or, if improbable, is a hummingbird/bat-style heterotherm. Depending on exactly how cold the environment is, hibernation or similar states can be assumed.
For seemingly-endothermic fliers which don't have integument, in environments where it doesn't really need it (e.g., rainforests, perhaps savannas) the best comparison would be copying the metabolism of the hairless bat, or, if information is unavailable, close relatives of the hairless bat.
Sub-rule: If it's really big (exact size undecided), and it has some way of reducing heat loss via its wings (assuming uncovered skin), it can be assumed to be a giganototherm of some sort.
If it has integument and appears warm-blooded, but depends on the sun to warm up, it lets its body temperature drop at night (a la vultures) and basks in the morning, or it outright enters torpor, kind of like hibernation, during nighttime. (If in doubt, the big ones that can keep in body heat better or the especially fuzzy ones are vulture-like.)
Notably, an ancient goat species was ectothermic, apparently due to a lack of food on its tiny island.
It's possible the Blind Hoofplent could have lost some measure of thermoregulation, due to living in a stable and possibly food-limited cave environment (Ferret Limestone Caverns). If its descendants lived in warm environments, or environments that are normally cold but are pretty warm due to climactic fluctuations, they might keep that state of being somewhat ecothtermic. Nighttime temperatures are generally colder, though, so it seems more likely they would become more endothermic (barring integument) if they're nocturnal.
This post has been edited by Coolsteph: Mar 20 2021, 07:24 AM
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