Sagan 4 Forum [Menu]

Could be made by some method with its nostrils. Maybe its a series of repeated exhaling snorts.

QUOTE (Cube67 @ Nov 1 2021, 05:41 PM)

Also, one question: by what mechanism does The Hideous "cackle"? What does it sound like?

I imagined it as sounding like obnoxious laughter, perhaps a little like SpongeBob SquarePants' laugh. Beans' idea seems to make sense.




The first is an Earwax Caonach, a durable lichen-like Wright Caonach descendant or grand-descendant that lives on rocks in harsh habitats.
The second is a Starfruit Caonach, which I plan to put in semiarid and/or savanna habitats. It tastes like starfruit and is high in oxalates. It's closely related to the Gelatinous Caonach.

Those look a bit deepfried. I hope they aren't meant to be the final art.

QUOTE (Disgustedorite @ Nov 1 2021, 08:28 PM)

Those look a bit deepfried. I hope they aren't meant to be the final art.

Not quite...I saved them as PNGs. Small artworks made with colored pencils just doesn't look good when scanned at high resolution. The Glassbelly and Villati were similarly affected, just not as severely. Later, I could spruce them up or just adjust the total size so the pencil roughness and pixelation aren't so obvious.

Slithering Goblin (Radiosimius lamiae)
Creator: Jarlaxle
Ancestor: Crystal Goblin
Habitat: Darwin Subtropical Woodland, East Darwin Chaparral, Mid Darwin Temperate Woodland
Size: 90 cm long (Female), 50cm long (Male)
Support: Endoskeleton (Bone)
Diet: Prongleg scaleworms, paneltopedes, Rolyknights, Shed Knightworms, Nightworms, Spardiflies, Darwinian Crestgills, Tambug, Sentrok (juveniles), Hoppok (juveniles), Eriken (juveniles), Catbug (Juveniles)
Respiration: Active (Lungs)
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm
Reproduction: Sexual (male and female, live birth)

The slithering goblin has replaced its ancestor within its territory, evolving sexual dimorphic forms to support two distinct lifestyles.
Unable to carve out their own territory or mimic crystal flora bigger than themselves, juveniles had to adapt to a lifestyle of active hunting.
While males would lose these adaptations in adulthood and settle into a lifelong sedentary lifestyle once they were large enough to acquire their own territory, females had to risk abandoning their territory each year in search of mates, a time when they wouldn't necessarily be near crystal growths and have to actively hunt for prey, sometimes longer if they can't reestablish a territory after the mating season.
Retaining the juvenile adaptations for an active lifestyle helped them survive such situations, eventually maintaining the active hunting lifestyle throughout their lifetime, culminating in female neoteny in form (but not in size) and extreme sexual dimorphism.

Juveniles:
To better navigate the active lifestyle, they have further specialized their arms, slithering about utilizing a combination of strategies similar to those used by various species of terrestrial snakes of another time and place.

The anal arm has specialized in the classical serpentine lateral undulation, lowering parts of it and raising others while pushing against the ground with a continuous wavy motion propagating from the main body.
The two side arms have specialized in sidewinding lateral displacement, each curling up into an S shape and pushing against two main anchor points in a sidewinding wave, using an asymmetrical gait when trying to conserve energy, shifting the main body's weight from side to side and placing it between opposing wave curves, or a symmetrical gait that puts the main body at the tip of the curve when trying to maximize speed.
The forearm has specialized in a pulling concertina motion, reaching forward, anchoring down, and scrounging up to pull the main body along. The forearms fingers have hardened significantly and are mostly bone, similar in structure to horns, giving them a better grip on the ground as well as prey. It is the lightest and fastest of the arms, with the main muscles concentrated at its "hip" from the main body, looking like a thick thigh though in function more like the base of a terrain elephant's trunk. For juveniles, it is the forearm that will be used to capture prey and deliver it to the mouth, almost exclusively.

Adult females:
The females will retain the same locomotion as the nymph stage, and continue to grow the muscle of their anal and side arms. The anal arm will continue to grow and be the thickest of the 4 arms, allowing more of the digestive system to extend into it, distributing more of the weight along the arm and less in the main body.
Females will often prefer larger prey, especially after giving birth, to avoid competing with their own juveniles for the same food. If she grabs something larger that won't die as easily she will use the two side arms in constriction to subdue the struggling prey.
Their faces have also adapted to their lifestyle. The edges of their mandibles harden like their forearm fingers, with mature females sporting a hind-mandible crest shaped like a hooked bill curving over the fore-mandible to tear pieces of flash from constricted prey, and ridges over the eyes and nostrils to avoid blood splatter when the prey can't be gobbled in one bite.

Adult males:
In males the passive lifestyle allows all 4 arms to utilize the less efficient concerti pulling motion, freeing all of them to be used to grab food and extend the feeding radius, and upon maturity, all the arms will develop hardened fingers that mimic the shape of crystal flora.
Like the females, they too have a hardened boney crest extending from the hind mandible, but the main purpose is to better mimic crystal flora and attract potential prey to approach their mouth.
If two adult males encounter each other, or if a young male tries to challenge the territory of an older male, they will use their hardened fingers and crests as weapons and shields respectively, though most encounters end in intimidation by waving their arms and competing for who has the larger healthier crest rather than allow themselves to be harmed and risk the quality of their mimicry.

They reproduce much like their ancestors, with the nomadic females seeking mates during summer and springtime. If they successfully find one, they will eventually give live birth to several babies and leave them to fend for themselves.

This post has been edited by Jarlaxle: Feb 14 2023, 04:03 PM

Vinegooroon (Lapilluvam fonsiratus)
Creator: Jarlaxle
Ancestor: Mucus Quataetar
Habitat: Adult: Ovi Tropical Beach, Ovi Subtropical Beach, West Dixon Subtropical Beach, Rose Subtropical Riparian, Ovi subtropical Riparian, Banelord Subtropical Riparian; Juveniles: West Ovi Tropical Coast, West Ovi Subtropical Coast, West Dixon Subtropical Coast, Rose Subtropical River, Ovi Subtropical River, Banelord Subtropical River, Rose Subtropical Watershed, Ovi Tropical Watershed, Banelord Subtropical Watershed
Size: 20mm tall adults, 4mm tall juveniles
Support: Soft-Bodied (Muscular Hydrostat), Shell (Calcite)
Diet: Adult: Harbivore (Corcraonach, Wright Caonach, Starfruit Caonach, Gelatinous Caonach, Veinnach, Violetpalm litter, Shootstems litter); Juveniles: Filter feeders
Respiration: Active (Lung-hearts, gills)
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm
Reproduction: cryptosexual (unisex, water spawning)

The Vinegooroon has split from its ancestor, stemming from a branch of Mucus Quataetars that favored sour mucus rather than bitter mucus to make them unpalatable to predators, increasing the Mucus pH levels to do so, which had the unfortunate effect of harming the shell over time. Their ancestors fought off the negative effects through shell overgrowth and mucus output restrictions, the latter culminating in "mucus lines", specialized mucus transportation vessels reaching from glands near the anus into various lines of mucus output pours stretching along the skin. Using the mucus lines to break the shell overgrowth around the pseudopods into their own segments allowed the overgrowths to continue without restricting movement while providing additional protection.

==Juveniles: ==
The young grow entirely within the shell, anchoring to the coastal sediment and growing as filter feeders, but unlike their Shellstar forebears who reached out of their armor, they siphon water through the front opening of the armor and out of the 4 side openings by the gills. Once they are ready, they'll break the bottom oral sections of the armor into 4 helmet segments, which will provide them with protection and additional support once they leave the water. The curves of the helmets raise the eyes and the area just above the gills, allowing them to breathe while eating.

==Lifestyle: ==
They are crepuscular, spending the twilight hours feeding on Caonach, supplemented by purple flora litter, for which they've developed a taste, quite literally, evolving taste buds around the rim of their mouths to distinguish what they are eating. During the day and night, or when in danger, they will roll into a ball to avoid desiccation and predation. If attacked they will squeeze their pseudopods around their anal glands and squirt acidic mucus at the attacker. Their mucus gives them their distinct vinegar-like smell, for which they are named.

==Reproduction: ==
They reproduce by spawning large swarms of gametes into the water out of a protective circular genital flap around the anus. To further ensure healthy numbers, their gametes have evolved a distinct key system, each gamete carrying their parent randomized key and a specialized ribosome that reads the keys of potential mating gametes and will only allow mating if it finds a mismatch, preventing inbreeding and saving the gamete to find other potential mates, without the use of genders and wasteful mismatches between gender counts.

This post has been edited by Jarlaxle: Feb 14 2023, 04:05 PM

I am going to need @MNIDJM @Disgustedorite to sign off on this not just as admins, but as lineage creators. Their reproduction hasn't been described since they were lilistars, so I'm filling in the blank.

Regarding habitat I have seen species having different habitats for larva and adult stages, but I am not sure if they were wildcards. As of now the Vinegooroon have 5 total habitat flavors, 2 adult (beaches and riparian) and 3 juvenile (coast river and watershed), I hope this is allowed.

credit goes to @Beans for coming up with the witty name.

This post has been edited by Papainmanis: Jan 9 2022, 12:37 AM

Immortazmenian Bunvil (Vesicapodus diaboli)
Creator: Jarlaxle
Ancestor: Fangbunny
Habitat: Krakow Tropical Beach, Hydro Tropical Beach, Mancerx Riparian
Size: 10 cm long
Support: Soft-Bodied (Muscular Hydrostat)
Diet: Adult: Carnivore (Bundom, Spinybun, Tootsy Nibbler, Honorable Crownworm, Dragnt Spardyvern (Juveniles), Rainbun, Corpse Spardi, Spardiflies, Warmbuns, Rainbun, Toothgrip Bristlebunny, Bouffant Knightworm, Knightworm, Shed Knightworm, Rolyknights, Darwinian Crestgills, Ferrofilament); Larva: Filter-feeder
Respiration: Semi-Active (Pressure swing membrane)
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Broadcast-Spawning in Water, Eggs)

The Immortazmenian Bunvil has split from its ancestor, nearly doubling in size with the aid of respiratory adaptation, it has evolved to make the most out of the opportunities around it and to weather the risks of a small opportunistic carnivore with its extreme regenerative abilities.
Its eyes have evolved into protected pinhole eyes and have moved forward into the base of the counter arms, allowing them to move and wiggle around, while neuron clusters with short-term memory behind the eyes layer multiple blurry images from slightly different angles to synthesize high-contrast mental images, while a similar cluster at the base of the tail uses multiple smell measurements to draw a vector to the source of the smell. Having its critical sensory input coming from opposing ends, it has so far resisted cephalization, but learned associations are retained in small neuron clusters along the sides of the body. This leads to a reflexive flight response, as sometimes the back legs can start running in response to a negative association before the front legs, so when pushed forward the front limbs will immediately start running, assuming the back limbs are already doing so.

==regeneration: ==
When injured, it will grow a wound epidermis, using the overabundance of macrophages to break down dead cells and feed a blastema mass, bringing the cells into a juvenile stem state from which the tissues and organs will regrow. It can regrow its tail, limbs, fang segments, and entire body segments, as long as there's enough of it left to sustain and provide for regenerative growth. The regeneration is linked to the endocrine system's pain response. This sometimes leads to fatal chronic pain condition that causes the last segment to continuously grow additional segments as if they were the end of amputation. Individuals suffering from this will continue until they can't eat fast enough to sustain their growth and die of malnutrition. When this condition strikes younger individuals, the limited gap between the many segments will restrict healthy gonad development. Older members afflicted by the condition sometimes do manage to spawn before they die, but will lose out on mating if they lack a tail with which to detect pheromones.

==Respiration:==

(Caption: Breathing membrane closeup.)

Having lived through the nitrogen crash, its ancestor's respiration evolved to maintain a higher rate of oxygen exposure while the planetary nitrogen levels recovered. Covering the respiratory membrane hanging on its underbelly, remnants of its ancestral slug-foot, are tiny hairs made out of long tightly packed baits, used to capture dirt dust, and pathogens, which are regularly cleaned by mucus produced by glans lining the top of the membrane. As the air travels into the trachea, it will pass by side chambers lined with groups of specialized bait cells that intersect and bind their long baits into a porous spiral that acts as a zeolite-like nitrogen bed. These chambers work in pairs, as one will be capturing nitrogen from the trachea while the other releases previously captured nitrogen externally, turning the trachea into a hydrostatic pressure swing, increasing the oxygen concentration in the alveoli, a bulbous cauliflower-like structure with very thin walls, facilitating oxygen exchange with a closed circulatory system extending down from the heart of each segment. Eventually, the nitrogen beds lose their structural flexibility and ability and get stuck with nitrogen, getting digested internally as dead cells and coming out as nitrogen-rich dung.

==Reproduction:==
It otherwise lives much like its ancestor, hatching as a larva in the water until it is ready to emerge to land, killing prey with the fangs of its counter arms and seeking the pheromones of its kind to gather and spawn along bodies of water.

This post has been edited by Jarlaxle: Feb 14 2023, 04:07 PM

The post above is planned to replace the Lobestar as my first new member submission and act as a transitional form for a future lobestar like species.

Hexagoleaves (Phylloaptus turfavus)
Creator: Papainmanis
Ancestor: Tesseleaves
Habitat: Krakow Tropical Rainforest, Kraow Tropical Beach, Krakow Tropical Watershed
Size: 12mm wide
Support: Cell Wall (Cellulose)
Diet: Photosynthesis
Respiration: Passive Diffusion
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm
Reproduction: Sexual (Spores), Asexual (Fragmentation)

Hexagoleaves have replaced their ancestor within their habitat of Krakow island, originating from a tasseleaves on the rim of the Krakow watershed, a random split from 4 sided symmetry into 6 allowed them to maximize the connection surface area to each neighbor and overcome the weaker of connection of square shapes in their corners, improving nutrition, signal flow within and structural integrity within the resulting honeycombs. They now regularly expand their mats onto land, dipping a corner into the watershed and delivering water to the rest of the mat, which in turns sends back nutrition taken from the ground surface.

Like their ancestor, the mat forms a connected superorganism that releases a mild toxin when disturbed. They reproduce by waterborne spores, though with enough wind some will be carried by air from the parts that are tied to land.

This post has been edited by Papainmanis: Jan 14 2022, 08:25 PM

Hatted Mycostume (Viridiscaena rubigaleam)
Creator: Jarlaxle
Ancestor: Ghost Mycostrums
Habitat: Krakow Tropical Rainforest
Size: 20cm tall fruiting body
Support: Rubber
Diet: Detritivore
Respiration: Passive Diffusion
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm
Reproduction: Sexual (airborne spores, conjugation), Asexual (budding)

The Hatted Mycostume has split from its ancestor, using the defensive adaptation of another for shelter, in response to the invasion of Crownworms to Krakow. Both male and female spores will stick to [[Hexagoleaves]] and use them as "meeting spots" on which to fertilize, from which they'll grow their mycelial network under the honeycomb. During the wet seasons, they will each grow a single large fruiting body under the mat, using the hexagleaves toxins to defend themselves, and raising section of the mat in the process, giving them their namesake appearance, an impression further reinforced by the strands of spore-covered mycelial "hairs" on the rim emerging under the cap. They will further try to reinforce the associations with the hexagoleaves through color, which occasionally works on those who have experienced the toxins in the past.

To help protect the stem of the fruiting body and support the additional weight, they extrude a mixture of polysaccharides, resin, tannins, alkaloids, oil, sugar, and starch, more commonly known as latex, which coagulates into a rubber covering around the stem when it is exposed to air on the outmost layer of the stem. Latex reserves can be found within the underground mycelial network in liquid form accumulating year-round in preparation for the annual fruiting.

They are otherwise much like their ancestors, fulfilling a critical ecological role in converting captured nitrogen into ammonium, often from the nitrogen-rich waste of Immortazmenian Bunvils.

This post has been edited by Jarlaxle: Feb 14 2023, 04:09 PM

Tonguegrooved Locrint (Dimachaerus bilinguis)
Creator: Jarlaxle
Ancestor: Sand Locrint
Habitat: Adults: North Ovi Tropical Scrub, Ovi Tropical Savanna, South Ovi Tropical Scrub, Ovi Tropical Beach, Ovi Subtropical Beach, West Dixon Subtropical Beach; Juveniles: Rose Subtropical River, Ovi Subtropical River, Banelord Subtropical River, Rose Subtropical Watershed, Ovi Tropical Watershed, Banelord Subtropical Watershed, Towel Subtropical Watershed, Niyo Tropical Watershed
Size: 25 cm long (adults), 50 mm long (Juveniles)
Support: Exoskeleton (Bony Plates)
Diet: Adults: Twistworms, Paneltopedes, Wortopedes, Scorpioworts, Wormback, Scrubwort, Basketeater, Mucus Quataetar, Slooíde, Vinegooroon, Talpack Larvae, Golden Notback larvae, Vicious Little Notback Larvae, Scuteback larvae, Asterplent Larvae, Chunky Asterplent Larvae, Tombstone Asterplent Larvae, Palmcap Larvae, Basket Asterplent Larvae, Devourer Asterplent Larvae; Juveniles: Filter-feeding, Detritivore
Respiration: Active (Back-Lung)
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm
Reproduction: Sexual (Oviparous, 2 sexes)

The Tonguegrooved Locrint has split from its ancestor, specializing in catching prey much smaller than itself, using its upper pincer tentacles to pierce and poke through underground mounds tunnels, and burrows, and producing a sticky mucus on its lower tentacles to catch as many as it can in one "lick", much like the anteater tongues another time and place. Adapting to use both in tandem, the upper pincer-tentacles has evolved its namesake groove through which the lower tongue-tentacles can extend into the habitat of its prey, and by extending its cheek-noses into the groove, it can smell into the burrow, and by lowering and raising its back lung with the thick muscles in front of it, it can create intense suction through the groove and pull in additional prey, lining one nostril on the inside of the groove while still maintaining two nostrils outside to watch for danger, along with its flexible eyes.
As the lower tentacles are hidden the vast majority of the time, they have become the canvas for display colors with minimal disruption for the camouflage. During mating rituals males will take out their lower tongue-tentacles and swing above their heads in a macho display of dexterity and strength, trying to capture the attention of the female with their bright yellow colors, while female tentacle-tongues are colorless.

To help it search and dig out underground tunnels, it has adapted its forelimbs for digging, extending its palm-plates and claws into large shovels. Each of its palm-plates curves upwards, giving the claws their own muscle attachments that allow each claw to bend independently and aid in poking for tunnels. It will also use its digging capacity defensively, digging multiple burrows in its range to sleep and hide in if threatened.

Evolving a thick hind leg to support itself while digging has allowed it to change the way it reproduces. As the mating pair will hop towards each other, they will tie their tentacle together and use each other for support with their claws, holding each other erect and embracing each other in a hug until they are close enough for a cloacal kiss. Like its ancestor, the male will then leave to seek out other females but will die slightly after, while the female will seek out fresh water to lay her eggs in and die in the process. As they no longer need to siphon water for copulation, but still need water for spawning, the females will usually inhabit ranges closer to fresh water sources than the males.

This post has been edited by Jarlaxle: Feb 14 2023, 04:10 PM

I had a lot of mental stamina this week, so I started a WIP of an Azderoo descendant that replaces it on the east side of Darwin.(hopefully this link works)



Azentry (Celersaurus uigilias)
Creator: Changeling
Ancestor: Azderoo
Habitat: Darwin Tropical Rainforest, Darwin Tropical Savannah, East Darwin Chapparal, Darwin Subtropical Woodland
Size: 38 cm
Support: Endoskeleton (Bone)
Diet: Carnivore (Rolyknights, Shed Knightworms, Fluttering Spardi, Corpse Spardi, Mycostrum Knightworm)
Respiration: Active (Lungs)
Thermoregulation: Mesotherm
Reproduction: Sexual (male and female, live birth)
Description: The Azentry has emerged on the Eastern side of Darwin fulfilling much the same role of its ancestor. However the young it carries on its saddle now have a further strategic purpose. While an Azentry is hunting for its prey, it’s young will search the landscape around them for traces of predators. If something is spotted, the pup will squeak, alerting its parent to danger. This inadvertently alerts other adult Azentries in the area, not just its parents but any within earshot. This is not an intentional communication, but perhaps this could lead to more complex socializing in a descendant. Regardless, at the sound of a squeak all Azentries will then hop away, scattering hopefully away whatever threat might be nearby.

Given its early warning system, the Azentry have been able to prosper, growing slightly bigger as well. As it and the Azderoo share a diet and strategies for hunting, it has steadily out competed it’s ancestor in the eastern side of Darwin. However it is unable to cross the Taiga and can only cross the monsoon forest outside of the rainy season. For this reason the Azderoo persists on the western side of Darwin unthreatened, and the Azentry population in the Darwin Tropical Rainforest is somewhat isolated.

The Azentry lives in groups of two to four, with typical structure of two mated adults and two pseudo-radical pups. When an Azentry has reached a certain point in its adolescence it is compelled to seek out a mate and leaves its parents, however Azentries are tolerant of each other as all their pups keep them safe. Because of the usefulness of them as sentries Azentries have evolved to find their pups cute and want to protect them, and to degree feel this with the young of other Azentries and to a lesser degree even other Stinzer young.

While its front arm has atrophied as an adult, Azentries now use it for a sexual display. The limb has developed a red blot, which is waved during mating. The more red and larger the blot is, the odds are that the prospective mate is more successful at evading predators, thus making it more encouraging as a mate. Azentries can mate for life, though some will seek a new mate if their old one dies.

As a predator it continues to ambush its prey, using its mandibles and teeth to pierce and hook onto them. Knightworms, Rolyworms, and some species of flying Spardi are its preferred prey, much like its ancestors.

Noodleaves (Solisodalicium catenacohors)
Creator: Jarlaxle
Ancestor: Flopleaves
Habitat: Krakow Tropical Rainforest, Krakow Tropical Beach
Size: 5-10 cm long (Individual), 25-150 cm long (Colony)
Support: Flexible Exoskeleton / Cell Wall (Cellulose)
Diet: Photosynthesis, Detritivore
Respiration: Passive (Stomata)
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm
Reproduction: Sexual (Alternating Hermaphrodite, Seed-Like Eggs)

During the nitrogen crash, their ancestors experienced extremes of nutrition and starvation. Large fields of flopleaves would flood the horizon to feed on the decayed matter only to starve out and be replaced by barren land. To overcome this, social flopleaves were able to raise themselves above the rest. By anchoring their roots into each other, they were able to share water and nutrition from the ground and sugars from photosynthesis.

This eventually led to the colonial form, the Noodleaves. Local to Krakow Island, they were able to nearly replace their ancestors within their territory. Each Noodleaf can be made of anywhere between 5 to 15 Individuals, all siblings of the same age and parents. Along the chain, each noodleaf zooid will interlock its 4 leaves with the 4 root branches of the zooid in front of it, creating a "handshake". Inside the handshake, a pool of sap acts as both a reserve and a resource exchange between the pores of the lower zoid and the roots of the one on top of it. While any zooid with sun exposure along its stalk generates some sugars from photosynthesis, the frontmost "flowering zooid" produces the most, and likewise, while any zooid with ground contact touching the exposed roots of its "handshake" will take in some ground nutrition, the last "tail zoid" takes in most of the nutrition. Using their combined strength they can dig their burrows and access deeper sources of nutrition on one end, out-compete other flora for the sun on the other, use their shared pools of resources to travel further on their journey, and seek better grounds by combining their nervous systems and comparing levels of sun exposure, forming a very basic form of vision which they use to avoid shadows, track the sun throughout the day and determine the time of day. During the nighttime, they will roll into their borrows. Only when in pain they will disband, at a great cost of resources that is only slightly less costly than death, after which they will seek each other out by pheromones and touch.

At any given time each Noodleaf is either fraternal or sororal, all male or all female. When they are ready to mate, fraternal Noodleaves will close their flowering zooids and seek sororal noodleaves to rub their heads against, often requiring that they will be able to reach the same height or crawl along the sororal Noodleaf's stalk. Once mated, the fraternal Noodleaf will seek a new burrow in which it will transform into a sororal Noodleaf, while the sororal Noodleaf will grow full seeds and seek out new territory where she will dig multiple small burrows each with several seedlings, after which she will dig a new burrow of her own where she will transform into a fraternal Noodleaf.

This post has been edited by Jarlaxle: Feb 14 2023, 04:13 PM

Judging by a quick glance through them, these seem intriguing. I like the diagrams and extra views of them. I spotted a few typos while glancing through one: "overtime" should be "over time", and "vassals" should be "vessels".