I've been working on descendants of the Seashrog for next gen, and I sketched up some concept art for a nest constructed by one of them.



The fact that what's basically a purple unicorn otter lives in an elevated house by the river feels like the most stereotypically Sagan 4-ish thing I have ever done, even though I explain it extensively in the description.

To be clear, the record broken is most species spread by one species. rip seashrog, beaten same gen in which it was submitted

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

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

Norat


I don't know why or when, but it feels like I've drawn this nodent before.

Yeah, though Alpha doesn't have as high standards as Beta, that description could fit a single species with no modification. It should probably go at least a little into the different species and their regional adaptations.

I'm having trouble reading the creature from the image. Can I suggest a 1/4 or 3/4 view?

Mudferra (Ferrowort spp.)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Pionferruses
Habitat: Global (Sagan 4)
Size: 1-10 cm wide network
Diet: Lithotroph (Iron)
Reproduction: Sexual (Hermaphrodite, Waterborne Spores), Asexual (Budding, Subterranean Runners; Fragmentation)

Mudferra split from their ancestor and became semi-aquatic, filling out the iron cycle in the various wetland and beach habitats. They can also live in especially wet terrestrial environments, such as rainforests. They have developed sexual reproduction using waterborne spores, which emerge from their exposed stalks. Their waterborne spores have allowed them to spread globally to all landmasses with sufficient iron. Like their ancestor, they redox iron in the area, which allows higher iron fauna and flora to move in. Also similar to their ancestor, some form symbiotic relationships with rustmolds, providing nutrients in exchange for minerals. They thrive in wet substrate, but they are also known to break up coastal rocks to access the iron inside. Unlike their ancestor, which reproduces only by fragmentation, Mudferra can also bud using runners. When fragmented, all fragments containing a connection ball can regrow into new individuals. The connectors between the connector balls now have root-like fuzz which assists in water and iron collection.

There are many species of Mudferra. Being distantly derived from tundra-dwellers, they are highly resilient and easily able to withstand ice in polar habitats. They can be found in riparian, estuary, and beach biomes of all temperature types, as well as in the muddy temperate and tropical rainforests. Species are difficult to distinguish, as they vary little externally apart from size and location.

Alpha does not have genus regions, unfortunately.

Eusuckers (Ferrosanguisugus spp.)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Rasp-Mouthed Suckiron
Habitat: Global (Sagan 4)
Size: 1-10 cm long
Diet: Hemophage (Magneferrubiota, Carpozoa, Binucleozoa, Grabbyswarmers), Scavenger, Lithovore (Iron)
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Broadcast Spawning, Iron-Shelled Eggs), Asexual (Budding)

Eusuckers replaced their ancestor and spread globally, their diet of iron-based blood allowing them to reach any habitat which had water and iron-blooded fauna. They parasitize anything with iron-based blood, even the highly unusual Grabbyswarmers. To avoid Muller’s Ratchet, they have finally developed sexual reproduction in the form of spawning. They have a pair of gonads on each body segment, and they spawn in water. Their eggs have thin iron shells, which are penetrated and then replaced when sperm fertilizes them. Hatchlings will eat their eggshell to give themselves an iron boost until they can find a host. Those without hosts will also eat dead fauna and graze on iron found on the seafloor.

Eusuckers come in both fully-aquatic and semi-aquatic variants. Semi-aquatic species wait in wetlands and rainforest soil for some unfortunate creature with iron-based blood to pass by, at which point they latch on and start sucking like a Terran leech. Aquatic species may have a similar lifestyle in the benthic zone, but they can swim short distances to get to a new host even in the open ocean.

The exterior of Eusuckers is softer than that of other iron fauna, an adaptation which makes them more flexible and better able to avoid crushing, and they are able to breathe through their skin. As such, their “gills” now serve mainly for scenting rather than respiration. Like their ancestor, they can reproduce asexually through budding, the new budding offspring growing off the side of the body like little iron tentacles.

There are many, many species of Eusucker. Many are adapted for cold and even the crushing depths of the abyss. They vary little externally, however. The number of body segments varies from species to species.

ah, you named it after me. I wasn't expecting that.

In beta we actually decided many of these terms are redundant and only create confusion. Methods of feeding or killing prey, like liquivore, pyrovore, and filter-feeder, should not be included. Insectivore is taxon-specific, even on Earth it doesn't necessarily include non-insect arthropods. And there are waaaaaaaaaay too many variations of "herbivore" here.

I thought the ancestor had knees.

Saucebacks don't actually breathe through their nostrils, but yes, air enters through the pupil. This was also the case in the ancestor, which already had pinhole eyes.

I'll clarify that, as well as that it can't climb extremely steep inclines like a maniraptor (just higher than normal slopes).

Brighteyes (Ornitherium micoculum)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Hearthead
Habitat: Dixon-Darwin Boreal, Darwin Temperate Woodland, Vivus Boreal, Vivus Alpine, Darwin Alpine, North Dixon Alpine, South Dixon Alpine, Dixon-Darwin Rocky, Dixon Temperate Rainforest, Darwin Temperate Rainforest, Vivus Rocky, Vivus Temperate Rainforest, Darwin Chaparral, Verserus Alpine
Size: 80 cm long
Diet: Omnivore ([[Hikahoe]], [[Neuks]], [[Neoshrew]], [[Scrambled Shrew]], [[Chasing Twintail]], [[Swiftsnapper]], [[Barkback]], [[Proto-Uksoar]], [[Spineless Toadtuga]], [[River Hikahoe]], [[Shrubrattus]], [[Montemsnapper]], [[Nectarsnapper]], [[Phouka]], [[Regal Sphinx]], [[Vivusian Barkback]], [[Fat Lizatokage]], [[Dracisketter]], [[Exoskelesor]], [[Jongfoll]], [[Burrsnapper]], [[Snaialowe]], [[Kehaida]], [[Spotted Sauceback]], [[Buttpiper]], [[Dusty Spelunkhoe]], [[Soaring Phlyer]], [[Handlicker Dundi]], [[Cryobowls]], [[Glaalgaes]], [[Crystal Swordgrass]], [[Olshkra]], [[Osziza]], [[Dixon Olshkra]], [[Grovecrystal]], [[Pagoda Crystal]], [[Woodland Grovecrystal]], [[Crystal Brambley]], [[Crystalpine]], [[Capped Brystal]], [[Fruiting Grovecrystal]], [[Hydrabowl]], [[Hanging Olshkra]], [[Wave Gigarystal]], [[Sheltered Pagoda]], [[Belay Crystalroot]], [[Flattened Gigarystal]], [[Signpost Crystamboo]])
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Bird-Like Eggs)

The '''Brighteyes''' split from its ancestor. It has developed more complex feathers down its legs, which are specially designed to allow it to run up trees and mountainous inclines by spreading out and flapping beneath it. The feathers themselves are what flaps while it does this, as they are highly mobile and it certainly can't run and flap its legs at the same time. It cannot run straight up like a terran maniraptor, but it can run up much steeper slopes than other saucebacks. This has allowed it to develop somewhat arboreal habits, where it carries food up trees or leaps down from them to catch prey. In environments without trees, it will do the same with rocks and cliffs. Its new hunting method mainly consists of finding a high perch, such as a tree or rock, and leaping off of it after the potential meal. It will glide a great distance, maintaining high speed with little energy, and if it does not land on top of its prey it will start to “run” in midair to parachute into a landing, allowing it to still be at a sprinting pace to close the distance. It will also glide, and enter a sprint from a glide, to escape predators. Though less common, if it has no good place to glide from it can also glide a short distance from a leap. As a smaller creature, it generally tends to hunt smaller prey than its ancestor did. It also consumes crystal and glass flora, making short work of their chitinous exteriors with its strong jaws.

The Brighteyes is named for the shiny appearance of its so-called “eyestrils”. As there was no way to develop a lens without closing off its scenting capability, it took a completely different approach to improving its eyesight. The back of each eyestril is reflective and directs the light towards a light-sensitive patch in the front, and direct stretching and squashing of the entire eyestril allows it to focus as though it were a lens. The eyestrils are held in a spherical shape by cartilaginous internal support, helping them return to shape after being stretched and squashed so much. This particular eye anatomy is not usually great for image-forming, but the redundancy makes its eyesight just as good as any creature with just two camera eyes. As its eyestrils are prone to dust, debris, and the occasional small fauna getting caught inside them, they are automatically cleaned by a clear, salty tear-like substance. It removes tears from its eyes by shaking its head like a Terran dog, creating a centrifugal force that forces them out of the pupils. It is able to see in color, unlike its ancestor, which gives it a notable edge over other Saucebacks which don’t know light, let alone color, even exists. The primary colors it can see include red, green, blue, and six additional colors in the ultraviolet spectrum which are invisible to our eyes. This in turn means its eyesight also detects over 700 distinct mixed colors, including a great number of colors which are invented by its brain similar to magenta in the Terran human. As is the case in its ancestor, air enters through the eyestrils' "pupils". The stretching and squashing of the eyestril has also taken over as the primary method of pushing out old air.

With eyesight this robust, the Brighteyes has done the unthinkable--it has begun to lose its echolocation ability. It is not completely incapable of using echolocation--rather, it cannot use it effectively anymore without some assistance from its eyesight. In low light conditions, especially around dawn and dusk, it actually still uses echolocation to supplement its eyesight. With little need for it otherwise, however, it may only be a matter of time before it loses its echolocation completely.

Like its ancestor, the Brighteyes is not a pack hunter but does nest with others in its social group. Occasionally, in desperate times, several individuals may group together to take down larger prey. Using its eyes for sight allows it to avoid giving away its nest location to the [[Opportunity Shrew]] where their ranges overlap. It incubates its eggs and larvae using the feathers on its legs to keep them warm. Its larvae are helpless and worm-like, lacking legs or feathers, and have to be fed regurgitated food early in their lives.

Notably, the Brighteyes has driven the [[Proto-Uksoar]] to extinction in their overlapping range. They competed for some of the same prey, the Brighteyes also fed on the Proto-Uksoar, and warm-blooded organisms tend to outcompete cold-blooded ones in similar niches. Though their niche was far from identical, the Proto-Uksoar could not handle the pressure and predation, which contributed to its range shrinking down. The Proto-Uksoar is now only present in the tropical woodlands and rainforests. Though the Brighteyes also competes with other local saucebacks for prey, it has not outcompeted them due to the other saucebacks also being warm-blooded and the Brighteyes being an omnivore.

I've edited the name.

The flattened shape is meant as an adaptation to allow it to grow faster. It wouldn't really work as an organism if it wasn't flattened.

I've edited the bit about the ear.

Crystal Rupeegrass (Crystalloherba mollis)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Creeping Crystal
Habitat: Dixon-Darwin Boreal, Darwin Temperate Woodland, Vivus Boreal, Vuvus Alpine, Darwin Alpine, North Dixon Alpine, South Dixon Alpine, Dixon-Darwin Rocky, Dixon Temperate Rainforest, Darwin Temperate Rainforest, Vivus Rocky, Vivus Temperate Rainforest, Darwin Chaparral, Verserus Alpine
Size: 35 cm tall (individual), variable colony width
Diet: Photosynthesis, Detritivore
Reproduction: Sexual (Subterranean Waterborne Spores), Asexual (Budding)

The Crystal Swordgrass split from its ancestor. To avoid Muller’s Ratchet, it re-developed spores. Its spores lack cellulosebane and are spread underground from its roots through rain and snowmelt, much like the Crystal Peridot of another time and place. It forms colonial grass-like clusters. As a defense against predation, it is a fast grower, sacrificing some of its hardy crystal nature for outgrowing predation and competition. Its crystal leaves are not as soft as a terran mushroom, but they are still more bendy rather than stiff. This causes it to call back to the Crystal Rootgrass, to which it is only distantly related. Its root structure is entirely underground to protect it from herbivores, and it spreads far and wide to consume detritus and bud new individuals. Its long-distance budding capabilities allow it to quickly take advantage of clearings in the less open parts of its habitat.

The Crystal Swordgrass has developed a flattened rupee-like shape to its crystal leaves. This increases their surface area for photosynthesis in proportion to their volume and contributes to its ability to grow quickly. Though it faces competition for its niche from other flora, many of its competitors are purple and therefore use different colors for photosynthesis, so it easily coexists with them. The leaves consistently grow so that their flat surfaces face the rising and setting sun. Individual crystals do not last long, so as the sun’s position shifts with the seasons they too consistently shift their growth.

Being a mixotroph, the Crystal Swordgrass is able to thrive for extended periods of time without sunlight. This allows it to survive under snow and grow leaves the moment there is light available. Each leaf technically represents a single individual, with the mycelium connecting the leaves technically being a colony which shares nutrients. It is the dominant flora in many of the alpine habitats, and it can break up rock and contributes to soil formation.

--

Is this too much of a jump? They seemed like plausible developments for a crystal being preyed on over a short time period, but the visual difference is pretty distinct.

Minizap (Miniscooty tonitrua)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Shockscooter
Habitat: Ramul Temperate Beach, Ramul Temperate Woodland
Size: 1.6 cm tall
Diet: Coprovore, Detritivore
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Spawning)

The Minizap split from its ancestor and moved inland, becoming fully terrestrial. It became very small due to island dwarfism. In order to retain good eyesight at its smaller size, its eye is dramatically enlarged and the pupil has split in two. It has developed a pair of tympanic ears on its cheeks, which are supported by an internal ring of vibration-sensitive cellulose and allow it to detect sound. Like its ancestor, it communicates using electrical arcs between its spikes, but now in addition to the visual it also communicates using the crackle and pop sounds they make. It has highly developed legs, allowing it to move swiftly despite its tiny size to evade dangers such as predators or even mere stomping feet.

Like its ancestor, the Minizap eats dung. In the relatively moist temperate woodland environment, dung is more readily available, which in combination with its smaller size means there is more food to go around for its kind. It will consume the dung of any fauna in its environment, and if dung is not available it will instead consume detritus. Because of how much more food there is in proportion to its size, it is highly social and fights are rare except over mates. The air can sometimes be filled with the chorus of Minizaps crackling and popping.

Like its ancestor, the Minizap reproduces by spawning. It does not need to return to the sea to do this, as pools of water created by rain are sufficient. Indeed, unlike its ancestor it does not need to return to the water at all; as long as it is moist, it can use its throat sac as a sort of lung. Its body actively moisturizes the inside to support this. It breathes through its mouth, as it lacks nostrils. It still needs to stay moist and drink plenty of water, but this is hardly an issue as its native habitat is far wetter than what its ancestor originally evolved in. Over the winter, it buries itself under leaf litter to hibernate, much like a Terran frog. Due to its small size, it can breed much faster than its ancestor did, and as such does not die after mating. Its active, non-hibernation period is the same one in which it breeds.

Ah, yeah I imagine that one would probably need to use its tongue. Alternatively, it could remove the foi from its tusks using its feet, kinda like how some animals step on their prey to help them tear off chunks.

QUOTE (Nergali @ Jul 26 2020, 08:49 AM)

I always figured that the long tongue must have been retained in order to remove prey off their tusks. Otherwise they might have to resort to scrapping them on rocks or flora to remove them, which might damage the tusks.

Sauceback "tusks" are actually mobile jaws, so that's not actually an issue in most species. The inaccurate and misleading skeleton Hydro made with the misinterpreted immobile tusks and toothless mouth has been decanonized for being, well, really really inaccurate and misleading.

I imagined the seeds as very tiny, I'll edit to clarify.

Bangsticks (Artillaflora badabang)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Boomsticks
Habitat: Hydro Tropical Beach, BigL Tropical Beach, Chum Tropical Beach, Jlindy Tropical Beach, King Tropical Beach, Oz Temperate Beach, Clarke Temperate Beach, Dass Temperate Beach, Elerd Temperate Beach, Fermi Temperate Beach, Wind Temperate Beach, Ramul Temperate Beach, Soma Temperate Beach, Maineiac Temperate Beach, Dixon Dunes, Fermi Desert, Dixon-Darwin Desert, Maineiac Desert, Darwin Plains, Drake Plains, Darwin Savanna, Dixon Savanna; Seeds and Spores: Atmosphere (Troposphere)
Size: 2 meters tall
Diet: Photosynthesis
Reproduction: Sexual (Hermaphrodite, Airborne Spores, Projectile Seeds)

Despite rising sea levels and sinking islands, a population of Boomsticks just narrowly avoided extinction and managed to continue their evolution. Bangsticks replaced their ancestor and developed sexual reproduction. They are hermaphrodites and have distinct male and female stems. The male stems fire spores into the air, and they eventually land in and fertilize a female stem which soon fires its seeds. Its seeds are contained in a larger casing which explodes in midair, sending seed “shrapnel” flying in all directions. The firing of the seed makes a “boom” sound while the seed casing exploding creates more of a “bang”, so when a Bangstick fires its seeds one might hear “boom boom boom boom, bang bang bang bang”. Its seeds are borderline microscopic and easily picked up by wind, and thus it has spread far and wide and contributes to aeroplankton in the lower atmosphere.

Derived from a desert species and relying on wind distribution, the Bangsticks are not suited to survive in especially moist habitats with a lot of tree cover. As a result, they are most commonly found in beach, desert, and steppe environments. Their seeds can and do land and grow in other habitats, as is to be expected from aeroplankton with no control over where the wind takes them, but those rarely reach adulthood due to overwatering or competition with larger flora. In cases where they might land in a montane environment, they might be able to successfully grow to full size, but they are unable to reproduce if the environment around them prevents them from heating up their combustion chambers.

Like other seed-shooting cryoflora, the Bangsticks make use of combustion of hydrogen and oxygen produced by its endosymbiotic cryoutines to fire seeds and spores into the air. When it comes time to fire its seeds or spores, flesh covering a chitin lens dies to expose it, causing light to be focused hard enough to create a spark. The explosion of the seed-filled “bullet” is unrelated. The fleshy bottom of the bullet is tightly bound, and when launched into the air it pops into a different shape shortly afterwards, creating a powerful but more biological explosive force which shatters the rest of the bullet and distributes the seeds.

In order to thrive in warm sunny environments, the Bangsticks have made the rather unprecedented adaptation to lose all of the lens-like structures of most of the cells of its chitinous exterior. This was an easy mutation, only a matter of the lens shape-encoding genes malfunctioning, and it’s baffling that such a thing never evolved beforehand. Instead, its exterior is structured very similar to crystal flora with more facets, as almost every single lens is replaced with a flat hexagonal face. The only lens left intact is the one responsible for focusing light for combustion in each stem.

Loafpick (Laceratiosmilus probus)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Ringtail Loafshell
Habitat: Drake Boreal, Drake Rocky, Drake Polar Scrub, Drake Taiga, Drake Alpine
Size: 60 cm long
Diet: Carnivore (Xenobees, Xenowasps, Vermees, Minikruggs, Silkruggs, Sapworms)
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Ovoviviparous)

The Loafpick split from its ancestor. It has shifted its focus entirely to small fauna as food, and as such it has lost its venom and no longer hunts in packs. It engages in more advanced parental care, feeding its larvae regurgitated food rather than dropping them off near carcasses. It has gained additional armor on its back as a defense against predators. Larvae can roll into defensive balls, but adults can only assume a partial defensive curl due to their legs being in the way. It uses its mobile fangs to pick apart nests so it can feed using its long sticky tongue. It will climb flora to do this, allowing it to consume arboreal creatures such as Xenobees. It will also pick at the soil to dig up burrowing creatures such as Vermees, and it can snatch other small fauna it finds crawling around with its long tongue to supplement its diet. It will especially do this in the more open parts of its range, particularly the alpine and polar scrub. It climbs using its feet and mobile fangs together, similar to some Terran birds.

The Loafpick is more intelligent than its ancestor. This is a consequence of its semi-arboreal habits and the need for problem-solving ability to access food. It has developed primitive tool use, being able to grip sticks and bones between its fangs to poke at nests it would not be able to reach otherwise. The part of its brain responsible for processing echos is greatly enlarged, as are its ears. This allows it to detect not only the external shapes of objects but also part of the interior, allowing it to determine if a nest is occupied and detect burrowing fauna as deep as 30 cm underground. Its brain is located beneath its largest shell, the “sauce”.

Despite no longer hunting in packs, the Loafpick remains a social creature. As a result of the increased complexity of its echolocation, its ability to create and distinguish complex calls has also increased. Though it has nothing quite resembling a true language, it can mimic the sounds that reflect off of specific objects, allowing for “discussion” of creatures and objects found in its environment. This ability is similar to that of Terran cetaceans, and it can use these sounds to warn its social group of specific predators being nearby. Different social groups have different dialects, where the three-dimensional shape “described” may be stylized or simplified in a variety of ways rather than being an exact realistic match to the object it was originally based on. Loafpick social groups are matriarchal, though rather than using inefficient alphas there is simply a small selection of females which are the leaders and get first pick of the males. Though higher up the social hierarchy is rather strict, lower-ranking members generally care less about hierarchy amongst themselves, though they still respect those above them. Within each rank, the females are generally considered above the males in the same rank, but not above males in higher ranks. The exact rank structure varies regionally and over time, though usually a given Loafpick can climb or drop in rank depending on its behavior and contribution to the group.

The Loafpick is ovoviviparous, like its ancestor. The eggshells have lost any actual protective features, being more like simple membranes, and as such it is actually incapable of laying unhatched eggs that can survive even if induced to lay artificially. Their small brown legless babies lack the ability to echolocate effectively and must be fed by their parents. Babies are raised communally by similar-ranked Loafpicks in the same social group as one another. When mating occurs between ranks, the rank of newly born offspring is inherited from their mother.

Cloudbubble Cryoutine (Hydroutine nimbus)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Cryoutines
Habitat: Atmosphere (Troposphere), Atmosphere (Stratosphere)
Size: 5 micrometers long
Diet: Facultative Heterotroph ([[Cloudbubble]] sugars), Obligate Autotroph (Water -> Hydrogen and Oxygen)
Reproduction: Asexual Seeds, Binary Fission

The '''Cloudbubble Cryoutine''' is an unusual cryoutine typically found in the atmosphere. Rather than forming symbiosis with glass flora, it is primarily found in clouds and [[Cloudbubble]]s. It produces energy by breaking down water into hydrogen and oxygen and it shares some of that with its host, like its ancestor, but the main benefit it gives to the Cloudbubble is hydrogen. The Cloudbubble uses the hydrogen to fly, giving the Cloudbubble Cryoutine some sugar produced during photosynthesis in exchange. In its free-living state, the Cloudbubble Cryoutine moves through the air with its greatly elongated flagella.

When not inside its symbiote, the Cloudbubble Cryoutine is primarily found inside clouds, which are a vast source of water. It can survive being turned into rain or snow; when this happens, or when its cloud dissipates, it enters a dormant seed-like phase until the wind picks it up and it enters a cloud again. Its dormant phase is aeroplanktonic and returns to normal once it enters a cloud. It has also regained the ability to reproduce through binary fission, and will do so every 10-20 minutes. It no longer produces seeds at all, only shifting between the dormant seed-like phase and a normal cell as needed to survive.