Nimbuses: Algae of the Sky
(Artwork by Hydromancerx)
The nimbuses are a relatively young lineage of airborne microbes. Though the sky would seem like the worst place for any organism to be with the current state of the ozone layer, it is like heaven to nimbuses, which use UVA light for photosynthesis. Though they do not utilize all wavelengths, these extremophiles are also highly resistant to UVB and even gamma radiation, not unlike the Terran Deinococcus radiodurans.
With no reason to take a different path, the nimbuses of this timeline have convergently evolved colonial forms analogous to the canon nimbus clouds and hair nimbuses. However, they have also taken on an additional novel form: the nimbuswebs.
Unlike other colonial nimbuses, which are attached by their fronds, nimbuswebs are actually attached cell to cell in string-like colonies resembling a long line of dandelion puffs. Lightweight and incredibly thin, their puffs no more than a few millimeters thick and the cells themselves microscopically thin, they are as light and delicate as spider silk and are carried through the air by the slightest breeze.
(Artwork by Hydromancerx)
The nimbuses are a relatively young lineage of airborne microbes. Though the sky would seem like the worst place for any organism to be with the current state of the ozone layer, it is like heaven to nimbuses, which use UVA light for photosynthesis. Though they do not utilize all wavelengths, these extremophiles are also highly resistant to UVB and even gamma radiation, not unlike the Terran Deinococcus radiodurans.
With no reason to take a different path, the nimbuses of this timeline have convergently evolved colonial forms analogous to the canon nimbus clouds and hair nimbuses. However, they have also taken on an additional novel form: the nimbuswebs.
Unlike other colonial nimbuses, which are attached by their fronds, nimbuswebs are actually attached cell to cell in string-like colonies resembling a long line of dandelion puffs. Lightweight and incredibly thin, their puffs no more than a few millimeters thick and the cells themselves microscopically thin, they are as light and delicate as spider silk and are carried through the air by the slightest breeze.
If that blue orb is the moon...then the bright blue reflectiveness on the nomster doesn't look right. It's reflecting as if it has shiny, reflective skin next to a blue lightbulb a few feet away. The moon is much farther away.
Hurray, having red, bio-luminescent seeds turned out very handy.
Hurray, having red, bio-luminescent seeds turned out very handy.
Is your brightness turned way up? It doesn't look like that to me.
Hairy Flyworms
The Eyed Flyworm was the last flying creature left on the planet, having avoided a UVB-irradiated demise by happening to reside in a cave. When the world outside transformed into one where the sun was a deadly laser, some of its descendants which emerged from the cave rapidly developed nocturnal adaptations, producing the hairy flyworms. Like a Terran moth, a coat of chitinous setae holds in the heat they generate through flight, allowing them to stay active in the cold of night. Further, their “sticky pad” feet have extended into functional, unsclerotised hydrostatic legs, allowing them to move quickly to avoid predators or sunlight when exposed. Hiding under rocks and soil by day and flying about in search of food by night, these fuzzy little wingworms soon spread all over the planet, taking over some of the niches that had been vacated by the extinction of all other flying creatures.
The most basal and instantly prolific group of hairy flyworms are the fuzzflies (Pellimuscavermis spp.). Staying true to their ancestral niche, with all the dead organisms quite literally covering the ground, these flying scavengers diversified into over a thousand species, ranging from tiny creatures only a millimeter in length to “giant” inch-long forms. They utilize chitinous bristles on their tongues to tear into their meals. They are present in nearly all terrestrial biomes, and at dusk they will swarm in large numbers to the carcasses of fauna which were stranded and perished in the burning daylight.
Another basal group of the hairy flyworms is the puckbugs (Basimuscavermis spp.), which have modified their mouths for sucking. Puckbugs primarily consume sap, though some species are not impartial to drinking blood. Having diversified into over a thousand species, much like their close cousins the fuzzflies, the puckbugs are cosmopolitan and present in nearly every terrestrial biome. The largest species are only around one centimeter long, the majority being between 3 and 5 millimeters.
The lampredates (Dracomuscavermis spp.) are a far more derived variety of hairy flyworms. They have gained an additional pair of eyes on their cephalic segment, allowing them to easily pursue and prey on other flyworms. Their mouths bear chitinous spines, which are similar to the oral ring of their distant ancestors as well as their cousins the saucebacks, but the spines are immobile and not homologous with the teeth their ancestors lost; they can be likened to the keratinous “teeth'' found in the mouths of some Terran birds in this respect. Their first and second pairs of wings flap together, as do their third and fourth, allowing them to fly with less energy compared to other flyworms. They can reach up to about an inch (2.5 cm) in length, though the majority of species are smaller, generally in the 4-8 mm range. Similar to their cousins, they are cosmopolitan, being present in nearly every terrestrial biome.
The Eyed Flyworm was the last flying creature left on the planet, having avoided a UVB-irradiated demise by happening to reside in a cave. When the world outside transformed into one where the sun was a deadly laser, some of its descendants which emerged from the cave rapidly developed nocturnal adaptations, producing the hairy flyworms. Like a Terran moth, a coat of chitinous setae holds in the heat they generate through flight, allowing them to stay active in the cold of night. Further, their “sticky pad” feet have extended into functional, unsclerotised hydrostatic legs, allowing them to move quickly to avoid predators or sunlight when exposed. Hiding under rocks and soil by day and flying about in search of food by night, these fuzzy little wingworms soon spread all over the planet, taking over some of the niches that had been vacated by the extinction of all other flying creatures.
The most basal and instantly prolific group of hairy flyworms are the fuzzflies (Pellimuscavermis spp.). Staying true to their ancestral niche, with all the dead organisms quite literally covering the ground, these flying scavengers diversified into over a thousand species, ranging from tiny creatures only a millimeter in length to “giant” inch-long forms. They utilize chitinous bristles on their tongues to tear into their meals. They are present in nearly all terrestrial biomes, and at dusk they will swarm in large numbers to the carcasses of fauna which were stranded and perished in the burning daylight.
Another basal group of the hairy flyworms is the puckbugs (Basimuscavermis spp.), which have modified their mouths for sucking. Puckbugs primarily consume sap, though some species are not impartial to drinking blood. Having diversified into over a thousand species, much like their close cousins the fuzzflies, the puckbugs are cosmopolitan and present in nearly every terrestrial biome. The largest species are only around one centimeter long, the majority being between 3 and 5 millimeters.
The lampredates (Dracomuscavermis spp.) are a far more derived variety of hairy flyworms. They have gained an additional pair of eyes on their cephalic segment, allowing them to easily pursue and prey on other flyworms. Their mouths bear chitinous spines, which are similar to the oral ring of their distant ancestors as well as their cousins the saucebacks, but the spines are immobile and not homologous with the teeth their ancestors lost; they can be likened to the keratinous “teeth'' found in the mouths of some Terran birds in this respect. Their first and second pairs of wings flap together, as do their third and fourth, allowing them to fly with less energy compared to other flyworms. They can reach up to about an inch (2.5 cm) in length, though the majority of species are smaller, generally in the 4-8 mm range. Similar to their cousins, they are cosmopolitan, being present in nearly every terrestrial biome.
I like the fur detail, colors and shading, variety of poses, the blank-faced menace of the Lampredates, and whatever bug dance that blue Puckbug is doing.
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