Cloudbubble (Bubblephyta nimbus)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Marbubble
Habitat: Atmosphere (Troposphere), Atmosphere (Stratosphere)
Size: 2 cm wide
Diet: Photosynthesis, Planktivore
Reproduction: Sexual (Spores), Asexual (Binary Fission)

The '''Cloudbubble''' replaced its ancestor. With a rise in flora and fauna that use the atmosphere for distribution, it takes advantage of this new food source with sticky elongated root-like tendrils which capture aeroplankton. It has also developed flagella-bearing tendrils, which are activated by atmospheric conditions and allow it to “swim” towards moisture. This allows it to also take advantage of a vast, untapped water source--clouds.

Cloudbubbles can be found free-floating, but massive populations of them can often be seen dotting the upper “surface” of clouds. They are not technically attached to the surface of the cloud, rather if they start to drift they “swim” back into it. They will also “swim” upwards to the surface of the cloud if they end up too deep inside and don’t have any light. The Cloudbubble’s food source of aeroplankton is robust enough that it can reproduce in the sky, ejecting spores directly into its cloud. These are collected and fertilized by other Cloudbubbles on the same cloud, then released again. They can also “bud” in a manner resembling cell division--essentially, macro-scale binary fission. It no longer needs to return to the ground to reproduce, though it is capable of doing so.

The Cloudbubble floats using hydrogen. This is produced by an unusual symbiote--the [[Cloudbubble Cryoutine]]. As it no longer needs to produce their own floating gasses, it is able to spend more energy on reproduction and durability. Free-living Cloudbubble Cryoutines are found inside clouds, so fertilized Cloudbubble spores only begin to develop when they enter a cloud and meet a symbiote.

With its better food and water sources and use of symbiosis, the Cloudbubble has a lot of energy left over for other features. It is much more durable than its ancestor; though it can be popped by stepping on it, it can easily be rolled between two fingers without causing any damage except perhaps to its tendrils. This makes it more resilient to the powerful winds of the upper atmosphere, and it allows it to survive its cloud raining. It and its spores contribute greatly to aeroplankton, and they may serve as a vital base to a new sky ecosystem.

No hate on Bonosaber, this meme idea randomly came to me last night while I was thinking about the differences between the two attempts at smart ape-level shrews.

Memes and humorous edits related to Sagan 4 go here to keep them isolated from serious fanart.

I still think we should be extending the week 1 extra gen because of the limbo.

Wouldn't it make more sense to wait for the end of the week for this? Right now Week 26 only mildly differs from Week 25, we aren't many gens in.

I was thinking perhaps those and the diorama page once it's canonized, since it is a diorama. Since it's not meant to be representative of the ecosystem, though, it wouldn't go on the overview for South Jujubee Temperate Ocean.

^ The conversation which inspired the above depiction was regarding use of seashrog nests to cross bodies of water (specifically related to short-range transport where a creature basks on a nest and gets carried across a small body of water; quoth Nergali, "Jump cut to a Flumpus somehow basking on it"). Already this gen there is a species of mine that spread with assistance from shrog nests, and tamjack and marine tamow nests have been used for similar in the past.

Seafaring shrews are unlikely to die out any time soon, so some kind of hard limit on how that can be used should be set. I think the best way to go about it for plausibility is to allow it to be done over flyway distances (landmasses that are very close together) as long as it's explained (example: Hockel), but that for fauna to spread greater distances by way of seafaring shrew nest they need to take on a behavior or niche directly related to the nest (see Cleaner Bovermid, False Cleaner Bovermid, Stowaway Harmbless, and the newer Kakonat).

I got a little carried away / inspired by something Nergali said and already made a small-scale diorama featuring Seashrogs.

I saw neuks as a good opportunity to create non-"arthropod" meso- and meiofauna, since they were fairly active creatures that could easily be put into the necessary size range and into a myriad of niches. I thought it would be more fun to work with ukfauna anatomy than to make kruggs that inevitably just converge with earth arthropods.

There's evidence of some with 80-some babies. This doesn't get into hundreds plural that find a nipple, just 100-some. I figure it's a probable increase from what stem mammals did with the fact that these ideally have more refined milk-making ability than those stem mammals--the stem mammals probably sweat milk, which I think is a lot less effective than having a ton of nipples.

Yes.

That would make sense. But what happens if something goes further, say the already-colonial superorganism forms colonies with other superorganisms and then they make organs?

Chromanke (Trisimius plandigitus)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Chromofeef
Habitat: Drake Boreal, Slarti Polar Riparian, Slarti Polar River
Size: 35 cm long
Diet: Carnivore (Minikruggs, Larvaback, Aphluks, Krugg, Tufted Thermoworm, Crystank Crystalworm, Tonboswarmer, Seaplane Tonboswarmer, Elahpekomlap Bubblehorn, juvenile Bipedal Uktank, juvenile Rooteater Gilltail)
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Frog-Like Eggs in Foam Nests)

The Chromanke replaced its ancestor. It has become arboreal, losing its tail fin and webbed feet in favor of broad, sticky toe pads and a sticky prehensile tail. Having six eyes, it had no need to have extremely mobile eyes, so their mobility is reduced significantly. However, its eyes still have some mobility, allowing it to focus in any direction without moving its head; they just cannot move anywhere near as much as the ancestor’s, as it was not needed. As an adult, it lives exclusively in flora. Like some Terran tree frogs, it lays its eggs in foamy nests that keep them moist until they hatch, at which point the babies fall into the river below. The babies feed on river and riparian species until they have developed their limbs enough to take to the trees.

The Chromanke does not use its hind legs for climbing, only for perching. This is because their evolutionary history and atavistic return left them significantly weaker than the forelegs. This also causes it to anatomically call back to the extinct roamers, an unrelated lineage which had reduced hind legs and used only their forelegs and tail for locomotion.

Like its ancestor, the Chromanke is a carnivore which eats small fauna with its long sticky tongue. It can change color to blend in with its surroundings, but as most of the large flora in its habitat are green this usually means staying emerald green. It will turn white if it falls into snow or brown if it falls onto soil. It can also change color to communicate; for example, it will turn black to indicate anger or stress. It is generally solitary and offers no parental care.

Forgot to post this here. I drew TheBigL's spotted sauceback with labels to serve as a more useful quick overview of the external anatomy of saucebacks.

Yes, it does need to eat constantly. I assume its birthrate is possible because stem mammals had a similar birthrate before they traded it for a bigger brain.

Chasing Twintail (Dicaudasorex celer)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Scrambled Shrew
Habitat: Dixon-Darwin Boreal, Darwin Temperate Woodland, Vivus Boreal, Vivus Temperate Rainforest, Darwin Temperate Rainforest, Dixon Temperate Rainforest
Size: 15 cm long
Diet: Carnivore (Xenobees, Xenowasps, Dartirs, Minikruggs, Silkruggs, Mikuks, Feluks, Neuks)
Reproduction: Sexual (male and female, live birth, pouch and milk)

The Chasing Twintail is a small, predatory Shrew which split from its ancestor. Its immediate distinguishing feature is its twin tails: a consequence of its ancestor’s genetic instability, its spine splits at its shoulders, resulting in a double spine down its back and two tails. The twin tails are useful for balance as it chases speedy prey around its woodland home, so they were selected for. This duplication was able to occur non-fatally as a result of its ancestor already being adapted to survive similar mutations which would normally cause health problems. It still retains the genetic instability, being prone to cancer and often mutating to have duplicate tissues and organs.

The Chasing Twintail also has another, less visible duplicated feature: it has a frankly rather excessive number of nipples, at well over 100 (the exact number varying between individuals). As Shrews are similar to Terran marsupials, they actually produce hundreds of offspring only a few of which survive based on the number of nipples; with the increase in how many nipples it has, however, many more of the Chasing Twintail’s offspring will find a nipple to attach to. This has resulted in it attaining the highest birth rate of any Shrew, a feature which allows it to maintain a thriving population at its small size in a world filled with bigger predators. To save energy for reproduction, it has a much smaller brain than its ancestor.

Like a Terran shrew, the Chasing Twintail has a fairly high metabolism and must eat constantly to survive. It does not starve in a day like its Terran counterpart, being large enough to not burn through all its energy so quickly, but missing a day would make it unlikely to find enough food later due to weakness from starvation. Instead of sleeping, ity hibernates overnight to conserve energy. As sharing food would put it at a disadvantage, it is strictly solitary and mothers will raise their offspring on their own.

Like its ancestor, the Chasing Twintail lives in burrows. Unlike its ancestor, it breeds 10 times a year and has over 100 joeys at a time. Its offspring are born helpless and live off of milk in their mother’s pouch for the first two weeks of their lives. With a less varied diet and the addition of an extra tail the Chasing Twintail has lost some of its sexual display features such as the tufts on its wrists and ankles, but it has elongated its ear tufts.

Feluks (Ukfeliovenator spp)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Mikuks
Habitat: Global (Sagan 4)
Size: 1-10 mm
Diet: Carnivore (Mikuks, Aphluks, Vermees; smaller species of Minikruggs, Mistswarmers, Silkruggs, Cloudswarmers; other very tiny fauna; larger species may eat smaller ones), Scavenger
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Eggs in Water)

Feluks split from their ancestor and became ambush predators, using their upper pair of limbs to snatch prey and pierce them with their tooth. Despite their spider-like face, they are not venomous; instead, they cut their catch to pieces with the serrated edge of their tooth and stuff the chunks into their enlarged mouth to process. They notably appear to have three teeth now--but in reality, they are all a single tooth. During embryonic development, they attack part of their tooth with their own digestive enzymes to make three cuts. This is certainly not the most efficient way to free their mouth, but it works.

Like their ancestor, the Feluks can and do use their tail as a leg. However, they do this in a different way--they stand on the back of the tail hand and use it as a foot. They use this and their lower pair of limbs together to quickly pounce on prey. They retain parental care and have been known to stare down fauna much larger than themselves and pounce on them to frighten them away if they wander too close to their eggs; though they’re unable to outright kill fauna significantly larger than themselves, those small enough to be an intentional threat to their eggs will still be left with a nasty cut if the Feluk bites them.

There are many species of Feluk. Some specialize in consuming specific kinds of fauna, while others are generalists. Some larger species of Feluk will eat smaller ones. Species in colder climates commonly reside in leaf litter, where they are insulated from wind and snow, and many hibernate over winter. A handful of oceanic species exist, residing inside the floating nests of creatures such as [[Marine Tamow]]s and [[Seashrog]]s and laying their eggs in water captured by the nest material during storms; no species which can reproduce in saltwater exist, as the adults are strictly terrestrial. They do poorly on ice, and as such no species reside in ice habitats. Desert species are common, despite their ties to water, though they are generally only active at dawn or dusk. Their coloration generally matches the local soil or leaf litter colors.

I've edited. I originally intended to give this prominent eyelids like a horse, but I couldn't make them look good so I left them off.

So I'm working on preliminary descriptions for next gen and while working on an evolution of the Chainswarmers, I ran into an unusual issue--I have no idea what terms to use to refer to some of its body parts.

Most real-life zoons like siphonophores are fairly simple, having a single zooid type dedicated to each function and only a few of those per colony. But I'm being a little more experimental and developing more complicated "tissues" and "organs" made of hundreds, even thousands of zooids of multiple types working together. The most complex thing in the specific submission I am working on is its gonads, which have two zooid types, but I will be increasing its complexity as I evolve it further.

Is there a term for "tissues" and "organs" that are made of zooids instead of cells? The placeholder term I'm currently using is "superorgan", but it feels wrong.

(note: I know there is a very large prey list / ecosystem page mismatch, it eats things being spread by another submission)

Longjack (Pofulong zhangti)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Burrowing Tamjack
Habitat: Hydro Tropical Rainforest, Hydro Tropical Beach, Hydro Tropical Coast, Oz Temperate Coast, Barlowe Temperate Beach, Barlowe Temperate Rainforest
Size: 3 meters long (excluding tail)
Diet: Herbivore ([[Qupe Tree]], [[Carnosprawl]], [[Rainforest Carnofern]], [[Mainland Fuzzpalm]], [[Cocobarrage]], [[Obsidibend]], [[Obsidian Shrub]], [[Pioneer Raftballs]], [[Chainswarmer]] colonies, [[Darwinian Diaminet]], [[Symbioraft Diaminet]])
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Live Birth)

The '''Longjack''' split from its ancestor. This larger herbivore is named for its long body and for its appearance akin to an eastern dragon (or “long”). Its long body gives it a long gut to digest flora. It feeds from trees, either rearing up to browse or cutting them down with its saw-like tail, though it may also eat from small shrubs. It may also strike branches off of tall flora to feed to its young while weaning them. It has lost the scales on its back in favor of a long mane which makes it look bigger, and its underside is covered in pebbly scales. To support its large size, its claws have become hoof-like. Despite its large size and the change to its feet, it is a surprisingly good swimmer and can often be found out in the shallows grazing on aquatic flora. This has allowed it to spread into Barlowe as well.

The Longjack has lost its pouch, with only a small flap of skin between its legs remaining of it. With their long gestation periods, its ancestors were clearly placental. It itself gestates for 6 months and gives birth to 1-2 babies per breeding. Its offspring are precocial and able to walk and even swim on their own at birth. The pouch is simply no longer needed. Instead, females have their teats out in the open and newborns stand under them to nurse.

The Longjack is a generally solitary herbivore. Males often leave soon after mating and the female raises her offspring alone. Its sharp tail axe allows a lone individual to fight off predators on its own, as a single well-aimed strike can disembowel or decapitate attackers. Convergent with the related [[Seashrog]], its tail saw has a bone core so that it stays strong and deadly even in water.

Lacking the large fermenting chambers of more advanced herbivores, the Longjack is not the most efficient eater, but with limited competition for large herbivore niches this is hardly an issue. Still, the Longjack will often eat fruit before it eats tough leaves. The spread of various flora by Seashrog activity has granted it quite a few options to choose from. It is also semi-aquatic and may be found swimming in the shallows to feed on aquatic flora. Its hooves are powerful enough to break right through the shells of aquatic crystal flora, allowing it to access the soft easy-to-digest insides.

meant leg tufts (not legs), and corrected

Leafy Plyentwort (Frondosomancerxia primus)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Stunted River Plyent
Habitat: Adults and Juveniles: Always Tropical River, Bardic Tropical River, Biocat Tropical River, Blood Tropical River, Gec Tropical River, Glicker Tropical River, Ichthy Tropical River, Jeluki Tropical River, Kenotai Tropical River, Pipcard Tropical River, Terra Tropical River, Wright Tropical River, Bone Temperate River, Blocks Temperate River, Huggs Temperate River, Irinya Temperate River, Always Tropical Riparian, Bardic Tropical Riparian, BioCat Tropical Riparian, Blood Tropical Riparian, Gec Tropical Riparian, Glicker Tropical Riparian, Ichthy Tropical Riparian, Jeluki Tropical Riparian, Kenotai Tropical Riparian, Pipcard Tropical Riparian, Terra Tropical Riparian, Wright Tropical Riparian, Blocks Temperate Riparian, Bone Temperate Riparian, Huggs Temperate Riparian, Irinya Temperate Riparian, Yokto Temperate River, Yokto Temperate Riparian, Maineiac Temperate River, Maineiac Temperate Riparian, Always Salt Swamp, Bardic Salt Swamp, BioCat Salt Swamp, Blood Salt Swamp, Gec Salt Swamp, Glicker Salt Swamp, Ichthy Salt Swamp, Jeluki Salt Swamp, Kenotai Salt Swamp, Pipcard Salt Swamp, Terra Salt Swamp, Wright Salt Swamp, Slarti Salt Swamp, Blocks Salt Marsh, Bone Salt Marsh, Huggs Salt Marsh, Irinya Salt Marsh, Yokto Salt Marsh, Maineiac Salt Marsh; Seed-Eggs and Spores: Atmosphere (Troposphere); Spores Only: Atmosphere (Stratosphere)
Size: 50 cm tall
Diet: Photosynthesis, Detritivore, Filter-Feeder, Facultative Carnivore (Dartirs, Xenowasps, Gushitos)
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Spores, Seed-Eggs)

Leafy Plyentwort replaced its ancestor. It has re-developed the ability to eat with its mouth, allowing it to consume small fauna, and it can now also absorb very tiny microbes with its leg tufts. Each of its long wooden feet is springy, using the flexible nature of wood, allowing it to bound efficiently instead of just slowly ambling about. It has developed a system of cellulose fibers in its leaves which has allowed them to take on more complex leafy shapes, though they are still able to fold up and retract in the face of danger. The leaves have remarkable regenerative capability, allowing it to recover when grazed on by an herbivore.

The Leafy Plyentwort spends most of its time in rivers or in the submerged parts of the wetlands, stretching its leaves high above the water’s surface. When it comes time to release its spores, a male emerges from the river and puffs them into the air. Its spores are hardy, as they need to last long enough to find their way to a female. Spores can reach high into the troposphere, even to the stratosphere, contributing to aeroplankton. However, those that reach the stratosphere often die. They eventually land in a female’s waiting mouth, fertilizing her. Offspring contained in cellulose envelopes somewhere between an egg and a seed develop with a comparatively massive tuft on top, and she then puffs these into the air. They, too, contribute to aeroplankton, but do not reach the stratosphere. Its efficient aerial distribution has allowed it to spread to many rivers and wetland biomes which are not connected to one another.

The offspring of the Leafy Plyentwort are highly unusual--they have regained the ancestral eye! A hole in the seed-egg’s casing allows them to look out below, and when they see a river they hatch--causing them to drop to the ground, steering with wing-like flaps on their feet. They have decent aim, usually landing very close to the water if not directly in it. Their small size prevents them from being injured by the fall. Early in life they float at the surface of the water, but as they grow large enough to break through surface tension they move to shallow parts of the river and grip the mud with their long feet. They often group together with other Leafy Plyentworts of similar age so that they do not cast shade on one another.

Periodically, such as when there is too much competition, the Leafy Plyentwort will get up and migrate along the riparian biome. It does not reproduce during this time, so it uses its mouth to eat. Its saliva mimics the scent of carpozoan blood, attracting flying blood-eaters such as Xenowasps and Gushitos as well as scavengers such as Dartirs. They basically fly right into its mouth, and it proceeds to eat them. The blood scent mimic is produced using modified chlorophyll which uses iron, making it chemically identical to hemoglobin; eating binucleids and iron fauna therefore allows it to make even more. This gives it a significant increase in the amount of energy it has to use during migration, allowing it to amble faster as well as achieve a fairly quick bounding locomotion as needed. It has directional movement despite being blind as to increase the effectiveness of its springy feet; it moves in the direction of a single “front” leg, making it a tripod with one leg in front and two in the back.

Like its ancestor, the Leafy Plyentwort generally lives around the edges of rivers and kicks up debris to consume with its leg tufts. Thanks to the presence of an electrical nervous system, it can retract its leaves very quickly when disturbed. It has some tolerance to salinity, allowing it to live in brackish marshes and swamps.

It's petrolignin, as in lignin. Petrolignum is a genus of aquatic crystal flora in Beta.

The general thought is that the septum makes the breathing more out the side than backwards. When flying at full speed, air currents should make it take more energy to inhale with how the butt nostril is positioned in most plents.

All the pearly parts are petrolignin, yes. As stated in the description, all exposed wood is replaced. I conceptualized it as being like a basic material replacement / alteration mutation for all exposed wood surface (which is probably distinguished from the wood surface that muscles attach to in the genes coding for what materials go where).

Genus groups are assumed to speciate readily, and when new species evolve in this case they may switch diets with little to no transition.

This is not a beach species, it lives exclusively out at sea.