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Beyond being more flexible than bones, how would you propose they differ in regards to joints and limb shape? Fewer bones, perhaps? Some missing sections? Do you have an alternative arrangement of bones for the Dundigger, which can be used as an educational reference for the shape of the hind limbs of its descendant? It doesn't seem OviraptorFan's re-draw was contested on the basis of inaccurate joints, despite its tetrapod-like configuration.

I impulsively made another Dundi, this time a Treedundi descendant that glides like a colugo. It's not as good at flying as its batlike physiology might suggest: its ancestor already had spindly limbs.
The hind toes function as bird-like halluxes. It is lightweight and small and uses its ears as stabilizers. It has a small tail: the line above it is some kind of fleshy padding, because otherwise it would look too weird, and it already looks weird.
Knobbiness was added to the joints just to remind me of their positions.

I realized I forgot the spur-toes on the back hind legs. Do not point that out in a reply.

I think Ovifan is making a species kinda like that

You use really thick lines.

I'm making an absolute monster of a submission to test the new subgenus system. Nearly every biome on the supercontinent will have at least one species of sausophrey by the time I'm done.






I have just one more left to draw to complete the submission. Any suggestions for poses, etc?

QUOTE (Disgustedorite @ Oct 26 2021, 11:29 PM)

I think Ovifan is making a species kinda like that You use really thick lines.

It was only a sketch, so I didn't pay much attention to the thinness of the lines. The lines have a size of 7: it's just a small image compared to what you make because, well, it's a sketch. I didn't want to put too much effort into something I would have to scrap or massively re-draw. In any case, as long as we make ours in separate areas, convergent evolution can justify having the two similar-looking submissions, though this one is lower-priority than my Fermi ideas.

Subgenus? That seems important enough to put on the forum ahead of time. Are those supposed to be equivalent to a small but widely-spread genus of owls, as compared to a genus of many species of, say, carpenter ants?
I suppose you could make a bald eagle or fishing owl-esque species adapted to the ocean or large lakes, if you haven't done that already, unless the concept strays too much from the others.

Ah, I forgot subgenera weren't announced here.

Subgenera are a submission format that allows a large number of redundant species to be submitted in a single entry. Each species within functions as an independent entry as far as the submission rules, ecosystem page, dynamic page lists, cargo table, and Sagan Bot are concerned, but they occupy one readable wiki page and just a single submission slot. This helps account for megafauna bias so that little guys, rabbit analogs, and mesopredators can spread more realistically. Each entry must be effectively like its ancestor but in a new location, occupying a similar or identical niche.

@Coolsteph
Here is my attempt at your Dune Dundigger idea. Its a pretty loose sketch but It generally shows how I'd see this thing existing.

Thoughts on it's appearance?

I was hoping to show it from an angle other than directly from the side, because showing organisms only from a direct side view does get dull after a while. I'll have to adjust the tail, nails and butt-nostril and make it a little more lithe, but, otherwise, it's a good basis.

Well. I'm in quite the problem.
I made good art for a Sealkey descendant for the artist profile contest. However, it's very wrinkly, because I was emphasizing the bare, wrinkled look of Wayne Barlowe designs. However, all the habitats accessible for a direct descendant of Sealkeys are sub-polar. Something with wrinkled elephantine skin over all its body would not be able to survive there, not even in summer. I don't know what to do with this.

It could be repurposed for next gen if you can make a transitional form. You'll probably need to make something else for the challenge, though.

QUOTE (Disgustedorite @ Oct 31 2021, 10:50 PM)

It could be repurposed for next gen if you can make a transitional form.

That did occur to me. Unfortunately, that means this is impossible to salvage for the contest, even if it weren't already too late. Making this subtropical, putting it in the lower part of East Darwin Tropical Rainforest, and making an intermediate at uses Elerd Temperate Coast as a manatee-like organism seems the most efficient...but it has to go through a small part of Vivus Boreal and Vivus Temperate Rainforest first. Even this design doesn't make a lot of sense for its intended environment. Sealkeys are quite happy being lazy hot springs manatees, and the surrounding area seems to have a lot of competition for various herbivore niches. If it gets very hot in the summer in Vivus Temperate Rainforest in blackflora-tree-filled areas, it just might justify something a little like this, making development easier.

Unless the contest is extended, it won't be possible for me to make something else.

This was from a Fermi organism paper from roughly July 9, 2015. I'm actually not sure if it was originally designed for Fermi at all, but it was on the same page as several Fermi ideas, so I'll put it there.

Since I intend for it to be a descendant of the Xenobees genus group, I have to wonder: how did Xenobees even get to Fermi? They feed on nectar and mucus, and there's no adaptations for going weeks without food. Were they blown there by strong winds? Did some mucus-eaters with incredible stamina get lucky to feed on mucus from various fauna at the surface of the water? Did mucivores hitchhike on Tamjack and Marine Tamow nests and feed on their mucus? If there's not some plausible explanation, they'd have to be eliminated from the Global section.

If it helps, Spooky Xenobees are intended to have a taste for blood, convergently to its relative, Bloodbees/be descended from Bloodbees engulfed into the Xenobees genus group.

why does it have fangs on its cloaca

I think I made this back when I confused the rear ends for the front end of Xenobees, as I did for the Xenobee.
I justified that after the fact in a nearly-complete description I made today. They're mating claspers that can be mistaken for fangs. Its actual mouth is in its tail-like proboscis, of course.
In any case....any further feedback on how to deal with Xenobees being in Fermi?

Well, there are probably flora on the beach that need pollinators. Shrogs spread basically everything that had a fruit.