that is spam

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Turning from a snail-like thing into flying fish like thing seems like too much change in one gen.

A transitional form might be needed this gen instead, and that this iteration should be saved for the next gen or two.

pretty sure that's a typo

my bro's got a spore carnivore reptomammal mouth

I very much enjoy this wave of "(almost) just normal trees", cold

I do enjoy how this morphologically conserved baghopper is actually the "odd one out" of its clade

eh

it ain't no Peter Gryphlyer

I'm a fan of these crystals!

A nice blend of mossy and crunchy qualities!

QUOTE (Nergali @ Jul 10 2022, 11:32 AM)

Looks fine to me, from what I see so far. Perhaps, under mucus application, a possibility is that it also coats itself in a specialized mucus that deters external parasites?

Sorry for not forwarding back to you sooner. I just added in your suggested changes.

QUOTE (OviraptorFan @ Aug 18 2022, 08:51 PM)

QUOTE (TheBigDeepCheatsy @ Aug 18 2022, 09:27 PM) I feel like this is different enough from its ancestor to warrant a new genus. Yeah, I have to agree here, could potentially have the genus name reference bearhogs due to vaugely looking them at a casual glance

Arctohyus, perhaps? It's derived from ancient Greek terms for "bear" and "pig", and constructed similar to Latin Ursiporcus, the epithet for the Bearhog Plent.

QUOTE (Coolsteph @ Aug 18 2022, 06:44 PM)

QUOTE it will prove to be a persistent obstacle to dorite's upcoming grass-like orbion. Would it help if I created some kind of disease, parasite, or pest to weaken the grass-like orbion and allow for potential coexistence, or would that be too much metagaming at this point? I do recall a comparable, real-life ecological example of seaweed in rock pools with mollusk predators where one fast-growing species would quickly outcompete the others in predator-free environment. Only when predators are around can the full diversity be maintained.

It's probably too metagamey, unfortunately.

Having been around during the original planning phase of the Arkcrafting Hookphlyer, I would like to say that, admittedly, I was becoming a bit weary seeing the list of biota introduced explode from just a few relict flora specialized for riparian and tundra niches to things either with thriving populations or descendants - things that certainly do not need to be inserted in a newer ecosystem to survive. Additionally, I kinda regret not saying anything about that back then as I was too caught up in the excitement of seeing all that diversity becoming preserved in modern times; maybe I could have prevented the ensuing conflict had I have spoken up.

As for specific saves, I disagree with including the Icicleback. Not only does it carry the risk of overruning Maineiac's ecologies, but it also somewhat sullies the significance of the Beach Cheekhorn - what would be its only surviving descendant - and the shrews that would later come to settle into the lands.

It was determined that the Ittiz fee are too broken for their own good, so I feel it's better simply to leave them behind. This in turn also goes for the Foi-Devourer Sauceback, which already has two successful descendant lines, and that extant basal saucebacks aren't really a thing we're in dire shortage of.

And while I still want a few of those relict flora to make the trip, notably the Numflora and a couple of lightberries, there are a few that don't quite sit right with me:

- The Tundra Gemshrub seems difficult to justify bringing over also, as it might be at odds with the pioneeroots and its own cousin flora.
- The slingberries would come to have decently healthy numbers over on Barlowe, making their spread here redundant.
- The thawgrasses count as vandriswoop flora, so it would be better off to let MNIDJM save them.
- At first the Needlevine appears to be a worthwhile pick for spreading, as it is a relatively unique variety of purple flora with no immediately close relatives. But due to it already possessing a sprawling rhizomous growth pattern, it will prove to be a persistent obstacle to dorite's upcoming grass-like orbion. Still, it may not become that pressing a roadblock due to its perplexing phenomenon of asexual-only propagation, and that a more heavily lignaceous rhizomal network requires more energy and nutrients to maintain than the presumably less demanding orbion.

All in all, I still appreciate that your Arkcrafting Hookphlyer could give a select few ill-fated biota a second lease at further diversity. It's just that we want to ensure it doesn't become too broken and potentially compromise any emerging ecosystems.

I've always found the abyssovermes to be a rather underrated clade of marine invertebrate like fauna, so I love that they're getting some new attention right now! This is a rather fine addition to the biosphere's growing roster of freaky deep-sea diversity!

As for reviewing:

QUOTE

If the gametes do not meet the gametes of another individual, perhaps due to not many individual Umbrajets in the area reproducing, they can still germinate and become a genetic clone of their parent. By having such a variable reproductive strategy, the Umbrajets are able to increase genetic diversity while also being able to fall back on asexual reproduction when potential mates are scarce.

It appears that asexual reproduction is not listed in its infobox, despite it being mentioned here.

Alrighty,
now that I've made the fix, how does it look to you guys now?

Alrighty,
I'll fix it up to be more contemporary

so...

Since this is a retroactive sub, is it okay to make a reference to specifically the generation that comes after the time it is subbed in? I'm referring to this line:

QUOTE

As of Generation 149, 35 species of Oozocorn are described to exist, but for sake of brevity, only three will be showcased for the illustration.

Thank you!

Colors by Nergali

Oozocorns (Myxophoroceros spp.)

Creator: Sad-Dingus
Ancestor: [[Smaraslim Bubblehorn]]
Habitat: Darwin, Drake
Diet: Detritophage, Planktivore, Carnivore (fauna between 1 and 10 cm in size, depending on the species)
Respiration: Passive (diffusion through skin)
Support: Exoskeleton (shell), Endoskeleton (hydrostatic)
Thermoregulation: Ectothermic
Size: 9-18 cm long
Reproduction: Sexual, eggs in ootheca

Background:
The Smaraslim Bubblehorn is a very ancient bubblehorn indeed, in fact moreso than the [[Fraboohorn]], a distantly related bubblehorn which evolved six generations after. While its close contender separated over a hundred million years apart hunkered down in the frigid tundras of Darwin, the basal quasipetriform instead found itself within the warm, humid refugia of the Ferret cave system, locked away from the affairs of the surface world by impenetrable blockades of ice. As of the late Masonian period however, the continuous glaciers of snowball sagan have since receded drastically, once more opening the smaraslims’ sheltered home to the affairs of the outside world. Inevitably, some of those smaraslims would venture out into the sun as their [[Acicubin Bubblehorn]] ancestors once have almost one-hundred-and-thirteen million years in the past. As these pioneering bubblehorns spread throughout Darwin and Drake, they would diversify and speciate, eventually to the point in which they split off into their own unique taxon, the Oozocorns.


Mucus Application and Feeding:
While other progeny of the smaraslim would continue to become increasingly bizarre and divergent by future generations, the Oozocorns seem rather ancestrally conserved in comparison. Basal to all other crown-group quasipetriform bubblehorns, the Oozocorns retain the ability to secrete adhesive mucus, which is produced by glands within the mouth. By inserting their horns within, members of this genus can bathe the impressively long sensory organs in this mucus, which is primarily used in feeding.

Most species of Oozocorn simply scan the surrounding environment with their mucus-laden horns, picking up any organic detritus or minute prey they happen to come into contact with, then insert their quarry back into the mouth; however there is one type of dietary item not shared with their ancestral stock - larger prey. This same mucus can also be used to subdue meatier, more substantial fare in a variety of means: larger species simply restrain their prey with the combination of their muscular horns and the mucus gumming up the respiratory ducts of their catches, while smaller species can employ a variety of numbing agents in their mucus (to which they possess immunity), sending the catch into paralytic shock before going in to devour. Because Oozocorns lack teeth or analogous organs, prey is engulfed and digested whole. Should a catch be sizable and nutritious enough, combined with the relatively slow activity of a typical Oozocorn species, it may keep the bubblehorn full for upwards to a day.

A couple of species approach the capture of meaty prey in a modified form of their ancestral feeding method: by resting upon a tall enough vertical surface and casting down its horns, boluses of mucus descend from them and ensnare any airborne fauna unfortunate enough to get in the way.

Besides feeding, the Oozocorns’ mucus is utilized for a number of other functions. Inherited from both the smaraslim and the acicubin, these bubblehorns use their mucus to scale vertical surfaces - a feat done more reliably by smaller, less massive species, though not too rare a sight from a few larger species. A decent quantity of mucus is also present on the bubblehorns’ soft tissues, acting as a means of water retention by providing their cuticle with a waxy sheen. Like the slime trails of snails which many bubblehorns are frequently compared to, Oozocorns leave behind prints of slimy film wherever they tread. Additionally, the mucus can be used as a deterrent for ectoparasites and can shield against some potentially damaging debris.

Likewise, the Oozocorns’ horns retain their function as chemoreceptive organs as inherited by all branches of bubblehorn, with the greatest density of such sensory cells located on the swollen tips of their horns’ branches. Because their horns function both as sensory and feeding organs, these are used to collect both olfactory and gustatory information, even simultaneously at some instances.


Diversity and Reproduction:
Originating from a single point of exodus somewhere in the Ichthy watershed, the Oozocorns have since spread throughout Darwin and Drake, and have diversified accordingly. Species inhabiting the semi-arid western coastlines of Darwin, many of them considered to be basal to the Oozocorn tree, produce more profuse mucus coats, or bury themselves in the sand with their horns for the brighter half of the day to better retain their precious water. Richness is notably greater in the humid eastern side of Darwin-Drake however, as the greater access to resources can support more active Oozocorns at a time. Species in colder climates possess similar adaptations to their temperate cousins, and diversity there is likewise limited; many species in Darwin-Drake’s montane and polar climes typically possess antifreeze compounds or exhibit brumating behaviors.

Many species of Oozocorn can be identified by the shape, color, and texture of their shells. Smaller species are somewhat shy, and tend to hide under whatever cover is immediately available, be it leaf litter or soil material; as such, their body and shell colors are typically cryptic. A few larger species, while still preferring not to be conspicuous, are slightly less skittish than their smaller cousins, and have shells that typically mimic local loose rocks.

Part of the reason for the sheer diversity of the Oozocorns is their great clutch yield, which usually contains twenty-five to sixty eggs each. With such a great quantity of offspring produced, it becomes easier for beneficial mutations to perpetuate within descending populations, accumulating enough to ensure a comparatively frequent rate of speciation. To ensure the offspring Oozocorns get to eventually pass down their mutations at all however is a different story, one that necessitates a tweak to the bubblehorns’ breeding behaviors.

Instead of a specific fertilized female Oozocorn simply depositing a slimy clutch of eggs on her mate, Oozocorn eggs are bundled within an ootheca. This ootheca is composed of the same structural compounds as the bubblehorns’ mucus, albeit now tanned into a more durable and cohesive material. Because this innovation occurred within the base of the Oozocorn tree, and thus present in all descendant species, the ootheca first developed as a means to protect the eggs from the dry conditions of the Ichthy Temperate Riparian. Consequently, the insulating properties of the ootheca proved useful in a variety of climates: in the frigid mountain slopes and polar lands, the eggs are kept consistently warm; while in humid forests, the eggs are protected from oversaturation of water, effectively the opposite problem from the ancestral anti-desiccation function.

Although the male of an Oozocorn species does indeed carry the ootheca for incubation, neither parent will devote any more devotion when the eggs finally hatch; the male simply pauses its ambling onward to drop off his fresh young, and nothing more after that. With limited parental investment and large clutch yields, Oozocorns are firmly r-strategists - betting their chances on profuse offspring in the hopes that a handful survive to adulthood. Newly-hatched Oozocorns start with sizes of around six to nine millimeters in length, and thin, unmineralized shells. As they grow and develop throughout life, they must ingest healthy quantities of minerals so that their shells can properly develop. This also has an added consequence to the genus’s diversity, as the local soil compositions directly affect the variability of shell color and texture, which can sometimes add difficulty in discerning one species from another.


Selected Species:
Thirty-five species of Oozocorn are currently described to exist, but for sake of brevity, only three will be showcased for the illustration.

To the bottom-left is M. alluvius, an Oozocorn found within the Ichthy watershed and is considered to be near the base of the genus. This bubblehorn is most active with the onset of spring floods, and between the hours of dusk to dawn. Primarily a detritophage, it typically sweeps up whatever the river washes down, but it may also snag small fauna like the [[Clickworm]] from time to time.

On the upper-left is M. erythrostemma, a smaller Oozocorn found within the Boreal and Temperate Rainforest climatic zones of Darwin. In this illustration, it exudes a vibrant threat display, advertising its candycane-like red-and-white-striped horns to potential predators such as flunejaws. This aposematic showing easily communicates the distinctive mucus it possesses, laden with a harmless, yet very unpalatable chemical.

Over on the top-right is M. aranea, another Oozocorn found in the arid and semi-arid climates of Darwin, and assumes a more predatory role. By evening, it rises from its patch in the sand, ascends into a position on an [[Arid Ferine]], and casts down a net of mucus. With its dusky-mauve coloration further obscured by the dark of night, unwary prey like the [[Yellowdundi]] and [[Woolly Xenobee]] find themselves restrained by a numbing mucus, and fail to struggle their way out of being the bubblehorn’s meal.

Yea, the deciduous colors are exactly for the manufacture of the last sugars for the year, which I imagine is the case for certain earth plants.

fixed

I completely missed the memo that the infectoids are still alive! Glad to know unicellular mancerxians are still extant outside beta!

Branching Qupe Tree in the habitat list? It's not particularly adapted for arboreal life.

Besides that, this little guy is pretty funny. Too bad it not only is incapable of appreciating its own squeaky toy cries, but even if it can hear it'd still find the effort extremely taxing.

For as smitten as we are with small, squeaky critters, let's be thankful there's no mention of smuggling small vertebrate-like saganites for the extraterrestrial pet trade (and that's to say the nauceans have not yet dealt with such operations). A good pet this guy ain't!

Holy Chimlopzock this is gruesome; sure wouldn't wanna be reincarnated as a gilltail now that these are a thing.

Now all we need are more proper multi-host parasites cause this biosphere sure could use a lot of em!

(Swap with Nergali)



(all pics colored by Nergali)

Crysfortress Shell (Acarigemmus viridipurpura)
Creator: Sad-dingus
Ancestor: [[Crystank Shell]]
Habitat: [[Drake Boreal]] (south of Slarti Polar River), [[Drake Temperate Woodland]], [[Drake Rocky]]
Size: 6.25 cm wide
Support: Cell Wall (Chitin)
Diet: Photosynthesis, Hematophage (crystank walker split)
Respiration: Passive (stomata), Symbiotic Gas Exchange with [[Crysfortress Walker]]
Thermoregulation: Ectothermic
Reproduction: Sexual; gamete spores in host gamete packets and zygote spores inserted into host eggs

Background:
In the sheltered riparian zones of the Slarti watershed, the crystank complex had eked out a living. Many tens of millions of years have passed worth of climatic shifts, most crucially that the pleasant temperate climes of the Cheatsian Period have long since passed and in its place is are brisk, brutal winters and pitiful, fleeting summers - climatic patterns that persist throughout the Slarti watershed to this day. Throughout these times, the crystank complex and a handful of other otherwise-maladapted denizens of the watershed maintained populations just genetically diverse enough to persist without succumbing to inbreeding; but as the biosphere enters the Bonian Period, a combination of competitive pressures and the climate of the biome itself have driven the aged crystank complex closer to extinction than before.
Nonetheless, hope is not entirely lost for the old populations of Slarti. While much of the ancestral stock is indeed doomed, their respective lineages still have a window of carrying their evolutionary history beyond this proverbial deathtrap, either by way of exodus or developing adaptations beneficial in the watershed’s current conditions; in the case of the Crysfortress Walker and Shell, both a southward emigration and the appearance of adaptations to withstand the polar climates of north-central Drake have occurred.

General Adaptations:
Outwardly, the Crysfortress Shell hadn’t changed much from its ancestry, save for a more dome-like shape, shorter marginal crystallines, and overall smaller size; instead, much of the changes between it and the Crystank Shell have taken place inside:
In such high latitudes (and relative altitudes), reprieves of warmth during the summer are rather brief, and considering that winter days are dominated by frigid darkness with dim glows of sunlight interspersed, the ancestral evergreen of the Crystank Shell isn’t enough to withstand what the seasons bring. With the Crysfortress Shell however, it has become a more deciduous crystal flora, changing colors and internal functions as the seasons pass. With spring and summer, it is flush with bold green quite similar to its ancestral stock; but with the coming of autumn and the first telltale signs of winter, it takes on a yellow-gold hue and then to a bold red later into the fall, during which it stocks up on its overwinter supply of precious sugars. These pigment colors change in response to which wavelengths of light the crystal is exposed to during the days leading to winter. Once it has sufficiently stocked up on sugars (usually late into autumn), the crystal starts producing chemicals signaling its photosynthetic cells to cease all such reactions, resulting in the greater organism turning a gloomy gray-mauve - an eerie sight should one shove away the dense snow concealing it. Some of the stockpile sugars produced during the short autumn would be refined into antifreeze chemicals, further ensuring neither it or its intertwined walker host perish in the winter’s dark embrace. Only by the first thaw of spring does the crystal begin to regain its green pigment, and thereby its photosynthetic functions.
Notably, populations to the far south such as those found in Drake Temperate Woodland experience longer periods of photosynthetic function and somewhat shorter winters, and consequently, produce antifreeze compounds with much less frequency.
The dome-like silhouette of the Crysfortress Shell is also beneficial for when its native climes turn cold. As its shape has relatively little surface area, less heat would be dissipated out of the crystal, which does help with withstanding winter. The serrated array of crystallines rimming the crystal’s base provide both it and the walker host with defense. Should a predator of either the crystal or the walker encounter the complex (e.g. the [[Glowspike]]), the sharpness of the rim crystallines cut into soft flesh, making for an effective deterrent in any season.
Nonetheless, the Crysfortress Shell does retain much of its ancestral biology: it possesses a network of many specialized rhizoids, some tapping into the Crysfortress Walker’s digestive tract where its blood can carry and distribute the sugars its crystal host has produced, while others are integrated within the walker’s circulatory network - ferrying blood into the crystal’s own networks in which the nutrients the walker obtained are taken in by the crystal’s tissues. It is also worth noting that both the Crysfortress Shell and Walker readily exchange gases amongst each other via this intertwined network, with the walker supplying its shell with extra CO2, and the shell giving the walker some oxygen in return.
Other rhizoids still have intertwined with the walker’s nervous system; the crystal detects visual information via an array of photoreceptive chitinous lenses, and the walker processes and acts upon this sensory input, as it possesses very little sensory functions beyond a rudimentary chemoreceptive sense - integral for the crysfortress complex to move a more food-abundant or photosynthesis-friendly location or to escape predation; the shell can also secrete hormones to influence its walker host into certain actions and behaviors, most notably with reproductive functions.

Reproduction:
Breeding behaviors typically start to occur somewhat late in the spring - right when the Crysfortress Walker’s fare options are at their most abundant and the climate is already fairly warm. At some point after a fresh molt, the Crysfortress Shell secretes hormones into the host’s portion of the nervous complex, prompting it to actively seek a mate. Upon encountering another crysfortress complex, both the shell and walker are inspected for fitness via the input of that potential partner complex’s appearance and hormones. Should that partner be deemed of sufficiently fit genetics, the inspecting complex will deposit a packet containing both the walker’s and the shell’s sperm, which she will readily accept. With spermatocytes conjugated with their respective components’ gametes, these will develop into both the walker’s eggs and the shell’s zoospores.
The Crysfortress Shell’s gametophores are located on the end neighboring its host’s gonads, minimizing distance between reproductive vectors. This is significant as, unlike previous crystal-walker complexes, Crysfortress Shell spores bury themselves into host eggs, ensuring a greater form of host-symbiont integration. Zygote shell spores are of zoospore form, possessing robust flagella with which to crawl along their host’s surfaces. Keenly guided by particular chemical signatures, these zoospores make their march right into the oviduct, all within a critical period in which the eggs have not completely developed their outer shells; this is important as this is the only time when the zoospores can insert themselves into the eggs containing the host walker’s own zygotes.
Once the host’s eggs have been expelled, the spores begin to develop into new crystals themselves, fueling their growth by leeching off negligible shares of energy from the embryonic walker. Although seemingly separate at this state, as both embryos develop they will become increasingly interdependent with each other, with the nascent walker developing a seam of exposed tissue along its dorsal axis - right where the shell will intertwine its own immature tissues. Both the developing walker and shell will attain the same sex. Upon hatching, both shell and walker have become a single composite unit, complete with the full integration of circulatory and nervous tissues.
Aside from carrying the developing eggs with her rearmost legs, the mother walker invests no parental care otherwise, making both her and her shell r-strategists - producing numerous, usually independent offspring per breeding. The offspring crysfortress complexes will then part their own ways into a world teeming with beasts seeking to eat them, and conditions which will turn hostile in a matter of months. Of a single clutch of a hundred crysfortress complex eggs, few will survive to adulthood.

Relationships with Other Crystank Biota:
With the ancestral crystank complex, the walker and the crystal aren’t the only interacting organisms; also closely associated are the epiphytic [[Crystank Flasprout]] and the sporophagous [[Crystank Crystalworm]]. For one cause or another however, both lineages are absent with the crysfortress complex, whether due to changes in the complex’s biology or merely due to population drift.
The flasprout symbionts have diverged from life within the Crysfortress Shell some point before the ancestral population moved southward, thus these organisms are not present in this offshoot shell-walker complex, and the walker no longer manufactures the chemicals responsible for inducing its former symbionts to flash and reproduce en-masse.
The crystalworms likewise cannot feed on the spores of the Crysfortress Shell, as they now develop within the eggs of the Crysfortress Walker; thus the complex split is left ignored by the crystalworms.


Supplementary Images:





Autumnal colorations

I mean, the supplements are readable.