Given that these don't germinate from a seed while on the plant, I think it could happen. The outer coating that just dissolves could be reinforced by inert biomolecules to become some sort of shell, perhaps as defense from predators. Then they may evolve some sort of yolk sac or endosperm-like component to supply extra nutrients to the young. I think I remember one species actually doing the former, but I can't remember (I don't think anything has done the latter, though).

@Coolsteph I should note that, given some recent developments, stalks on the gametophytes in the middle (the medium length ones, not the taller ones on top) don't need to be present (and could, depending on the situation, be somewhat detrimental by being present). Nothing actually gets dispersed into the air by these structures, they only produce gametes that fertilize the other gametophytes on the same plant. I might actually make a revised descendant in this lineage that makes them really short and stubby like the lower gametophores.

I get that these don't make eggs or seeds, but I think that the label of "viviparous" is a bit unhelpful here. The baby plant doesn't develop inside of the mother plant, it's attached to the outside before falling off.

In more of a philosophical way, I'm also a little unsure of where the "live" part implied in "live birth" stops, anyway. The embryonic cells in an egg or seed are certainly alive, even if 'unborn'. If a purpleflora larva evolves to come in a protective shell that requires pressure to break out of, would that be an 'egg' or 'seed' yet? What about if it gains some sort of nutrient sac to derive nutrients from in there, too? Surely that's a seed or an egg. But if so, what would that in-between stage be?



EDIT: Huh, apparently Merriam-Webster has this very occurrence (for mangroves and similar such plants) recorded as a second definition for "Viviparous". That settles the first bit of my argument. Still, though, if these were to gradually get even more seedlike, when would we draw the line? Would the transitional form just include "(enclosed young)" behind Viviparous?

Name: Lacyskin Orbleaf
Creator: Cube67
Ancestor: Orbleaf
Habitat: Talon-Orpington Undersea Meadow, Talon Reef, Southwest Orpington Reef, Anning Reef, East Orpington Subtropical Undersea Meadow, East Dixon Subtropical Undersea Meadow, Dixon-Fermi Subtropical Sea, West Darwin Subtropical Undersea Forest, Darwin Subtropical Undersea Meadow, Mid Darwin Subtropical Undersea Forest, West Darwin Tropical Undersea Meadow, West Darwin Tropical Coast, Darwin-Flisch Reef, North Darwin Tropical Undersea Meadow, Darwin-Rhino Reef, East Darwin Subtropical Coast, Hydro-Krakow Tropical Coast, West Hydro Subtropical Undersea Forest, West Hydro Subtropical Coast, Hydro-Flisch Reef, East Hydro Subtropical Undersea Meadow, West Glicker Subtropical Coast, West Glicker Tropical Coast, Squidy Reef, North Squidy Tropical Undersea Meadow, South Squidy Tropical Undersea Meadow, East Glicker Subtropical Undersea Forest, East Glicker Subtropical Undersea Meadow, Snow-Leopard Subtropical Undersea Forest, West Barlowe Subtropical Undersea Forest, East Barlowe Subtropical Coast, West Ovi Subtropical Undersea Forest, West Ovi Tropical Coast, West Dixon Subtropical Undersea Forest, Nergali-Beans Tropical Undersea Forest; Juveniles only: Vailnoff-Flisch-Rhino Tropical Ocean, North Vailnoff Subtropical Ocean, South Vailnoff Subtropical Ocean, Flisch Subtropical Ocean, Rhino Subtropical Ocean, LadyM Tropical Ocean, North LadyM Subtropical Ocean, South LadyM Subtropical Ocean
Size: 6.4 cm tall
Support: Subcutaneous skeleton (cartilage), gelatinous mesoglea
Diet: Planktivore (<100 micrometers), photosynthesis
Respiration: Passive diffusion
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm
Reproduction: Sexual (spores), asexual (fragmentation as a juvenile)

Orbleaves, being fairly small, had little problem with detaching from their substrate. However, when many of the larger aquatic flora died due to a mass extinction event, bigger orbleaves became more competitive. However, they ran into the problem of having fairly flimsy bodies which could be easily detached from their substrate, with predation by desperate herbivores only compounding the problem. The lacyskin orbleaf has evolved a key feature that amends both of these issues to some degree.

The lacyskin orbleaf is named for its newly-evolved support structure, which is somewhat reminiscent of lace. This “skeleton” of sorts is derived from the thin layer of tissue on its outside, and lies just between it and the jelly-like substance that fills its interior. Much like the jelly itself, this skeleton is made from extracellular matrix proteins, with the difference here being that the skeleton is much sturdier, being comparable to hyaline cartilage. This makes lacyskin orbleaves difficult to eat for predators too small to eat them whole (or too large to simply graze cells from its surface). The skeleton also extends into its holdfast baits, making it more difficult to detach from the substrate. In the larvae, the skeleton is only present as a small plate of connective tissue in the middle of its lower surface, but as the larva grows and becomes sessile the skeleton extends into more of the body, completing its growth when the lacyskin orbleaf reaches its full size.

Having evolved just after the supercontinent of Hybarder split into several smaller landmasses, the lacyskin orbleaf was able to spread through the straits between those continents, attaining a cosmopolitan distribution and reaching the western coasts of Wright. However, as it is unable to cross through the continent of Wright to reach the other side, the populations on either side of the continent were isolated enough to become genetically distinct. This makes the lacyskin orbleaf a ring species, or a species in which only some of its members are capable of breeding with each other.

Species' adult range in red. Larvae float in all adjacent tropical and subtropical oceans.

Skeletal anatomy.

Something else I noticed, and thought I should take note of: the mandible morphology here, although cool, is pretty wildly different than the ancestor’s. I had sort of a plan going that would get them to wasp-like mandibles in a generation (specifically for a species that would just be called the Zykem and basically be a “falcon” to the zykemet’s “falconet”), since the zykemet only has one row of mandibular toothlike projections. Here, I see a rapid change to a much more complex arrangement, and I don’t know what the transition to this shape would even look like, and I just think it seems like a rapid jump.

Side question: which set of leaves did this organism lose? The upper ones and the lower ones in vylicads aren’t actually entirely homologous, they’re derived from different structures. I only see one of these leaf sets on this species.

From what I can tell about the description of the notchpalm and the vylicad, i believe those organs at the base of the stalk are intended to be the male gametophyte bulbs. They are, in a way, the counterpart to the female bulbs, which are the brown things on the long stems.

^ (ignore this part)


EDIT: the Notchtower of all things actually clarifies what the lower structures are. The notchtower, having the same basic structure as the vylicad, mentions that its female gamete bulbs (the lower ones) are small and hairlike. For the roles that each of these structures plays, see the original notchpalm and the diagram I made for the Vylicad (which is just a (poorly) visualized version of the same process).

^ (also ignore this one)

SECOND EDIT: Wait, I may be wrong, since there’s also the zygote bulbs to take into account. The topmost long-stemmed bulbs on the vylicad are the zygote bulbs, whereas the ones on the side are the female bulbs. That would make the “lung-looking” ones the male bulbs after all, but suffice to say I’m still slightly confused about the matter.

Does the “sweet”, but awful taste of the plant and the collection of water for passing spardis foreshadow the evolution of nectar? If so, I think you could have cut to the chase and made them do that instead, but as of now it’s an okay method of pollination.

Don’t the “lung-shaped” structures have a name? It’s been so long that I forget what it was, but it’s probably some type of sporophore (ugh, guess I’ll have to learn these guys all over again)

Don’t worry about the plant seeming “too overpowered”, by the way; when making the Drylicad I may or may not have unintentionally set it up to be the progenitor of the planet’s most angiosperm-like plants with the whole pollination aspect. Combine that with it being the last of its lineage and I get the feeling that this will be a highly competitive lineage regardless (but perhaps I’m biased).

Hey, it’s “sex orb 2.0”, I was wondering when somebody would make an evo of these

The only thing I’d wonder about is the transition from only using the anal fingers for colony connections to using the gills as well, perhaps these evolved from a species that could do both.

After reading most of the entry, I have to say it’s a very creative idea. An herbivore with predatory adaptations so that it can feed on a flora being guarded by a fauna. I’ll have to read up on the crownworms a little more for some context, though.

Of all the things I think need change here, it'd be the name. I know it's the whole point, but it just seems a little too similar to "vinegaroon", especially for something that doesn't resemble one. Maybe this can be a quataeroon? Just a little nitpick.

I like the creative use of the main image, even if it's a bit odd and doesn't follow the usual format. It looks like it might've gotten turned sideways or something, though.

Like with the other spardi you recently posted, there doesn't seem to be enough teeth. (For the record, spardi teeth aren't enamelous either, that's why they're usually brown and dull or matte instead of white and shiny).

Off the bat, there's a couple things I find strange here.

I find the wing slotting to be a bit sketchy. It's likely already been discussed, but each of the little wing projections probably needs some kind of leading edge, and the whole thing needs to be stiff enough to not just flap around.

Also... don't spardis have more teeth than that, like in the spardophrey, which has multiple homodontous rows of teeth visible?

Finally, and this one's more minor since it's more of an art thing, but what happened with the eyes? The way it's drawn makes it look like the eyes would cross the middle of the skull, and the pupil is hard to make out (unless it's the entirety of that black oval area, in which case it has very big pupils).

EDIT: I mostly mentioned the eyeball size thing because the head seems relatively thin. The zykemet does have proportionally large eyes as well, and animals like tarsiers do exist. That said, it also sort of looks like it can't see in front of it, which might be an issue for flying (but then again this is a pure scavenger and not a hunter).

Nope.

As this is a locrint, I'm kind of glad it doesn't do anything different with its reproduction and pre-adult life cycle... the group has a couple retcons/tweaks that may be made concerning its pupal physiology.

Slow down a bit, there was a bit of an issue the last time someone posted a whole bunch of stuff in a day.

Added the detail that this replaced the twilight gill in its range.

I like how this thing is literally almost completely unrelated to the violetpalms

Name: Palmcap-Tailed Wortopede (Tetraplatyskelos arboradixmimus)
Creator: Cube67
Ancestor: Wortopedes
Habitat: Mid Barlowe Temperate Woodland, Barlowe Chaparral, Botanist Bayou, Pawulonic Marsh
Size: 6.5 cm long
Support: Exoskeleton (chitin)
Diet: Omnivore (Talllstrand crystals (reproductive organs), Tabletufts, juvenile Purple spheres, Myserchen, juvenile Flopleaves, Fur mycostrum, juvenile Fur knightworm, Balloon mycostrum, Balloon knightworm, juvenile Scale knightworms, juvenile Prongleg scaleworms), photosynthesis
Respiration: Passive (tracheae)
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm
Reproduction: Sexual (Sequential hermaphrodite), Asexual (self-pollination)

Among the biota that arrived on Barlowe around the time of the End-Binucleozoan Atmospheric Disturbance were the wortopedes. Although this group is highly adaptable, their primitive mouth and cold-bloodedness mean that they greatly benefit from staying warm and getting additional energy via photosynthesis—both of which can be done by sunbathing.

The palmcap-tailed wortopede is so named for the resemblance of its rear end to the palmcap: an extinct species of photosynthetic plant parasites that latched onto the tops of large violetflora. Despite being phylogenetically, temporally, and spatially distant, these two species both evolved a similarly shaped structure for capturing light. While this does make for an excellent example of convergent evolution, groups such as the paneltopedes show that this shape is far from the only shape that a wortopede can evolve to capture more light; the tail’s resemblance to a palmcap in particular is merely an eerie coincidence.

Another trait that this species shares with its paneltopede cousins is the evolution of its front legs into mouthparts. While not as efficient as the paneltopede’s mandibles are for munching leaves, the palmcap-tailed wortopede’s mouthparts are still better than having no mouthparts at all, and do a fine job of bringing flora and fauna alike closer to its mouth. These mouthparts’ lack of serrations mean that palmcap-tailed wortopedes break up larger pieces of food by piercing and tearing them, rather than chewing.

Palmcap-tailed wortopedes retain a similar reproductive cycle to their ancestors. The female adults, being the quicker of the two life stages, seek out the male larvae and secrete their eggs into the male’s spiracles, leaving it up to the male to fertilize the implanted eggs and secrete them in a trail of mucus. However, palmcap-tailed wortopedes have accelerated limb development compared to their ancestors. Larvae hatch with the same number of segments as the adults. They also hatch with segmented thorns/legs that are positioned near the sides, instead of having unsegmented thorns near the midline of the body. This unique larval condition helps save energy during metamorphosis, as they no longer need to grow new segments or migrate their limbs as they age. That said, larvae still hatch quite small, and are unable to use their legs until the briefly hermaphroditic period of their development, which occurs when they are about 2 centimeters long.

In all stages of their life cycle, palmcap-tailed wortopedes spend most of their time perched in the highest places they can find, giving them better access to light and making it hard for ground-dwelling predators to reach them. They must still occasionally come down to find new food, though. Palmcap-tailed wortopedes are otherwise behaviorally and anatomically similar to their photosynthetic, myriapod-like ancestors.

Newly hatched male larval form. Note the higher resemblance to the adults than in other wortopedes.

"Predatory" is misspelled in the name.

Side question: should this replace anything? I'd think it might, since the gills are pretty inefficient at their lifestyle already (somewhat weird filter feeding method, passive breathing, soft exterior), have competition, and are facing the current low-oxygen event. (I finished most of this description a while ago, I forget which gills this overlaps the range of).

Supplementary image showing a rhombill from above.

Name: Rhombill (latin name pending)
Creator: Cube67
Ancestor: Twilight Gill
Habitat: LadyM Twilight Zone, South LadyM Temperate, South LadyM Subtropical Ocean, Rhino Subtropical Ocean, East Glicker Subtropical Undersea Meadow, Glicker Temperate Undersea Meadow, Glicker Temperate Undersea Meadow, Glicker Temperate Coast, West Glicker Subtropical Coast, East Darwin Temperate Coast, East Darwin Subtropical Coast, Dixon-Fermi Temperate Coast
Size: 30 cm (non-W mating types), 24 cm (W+ mating types)
Support: Soft-Bodied (Hydrostatic Skeleton)
Diet: Planktivore (<2 mm)
Respiration: Passive (External Gills)
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm
Reproduction: Sexual budding (ingested gametes, 121 mating types)


Following the recent extinction event, the amount of phytoplankton in the waters of Sagan IV drastically decreased, to the point where many species of macroscopic floating flora went extinct. While many smaller filter-feeders were safe, their populations were still affected, especially in the case of less efficient filter-feeders. Enter the gills, a group of planktivores which have remained relatively unchanged for 70 million years, despite the fact that their feeding method lacks a filter-feeding mechanism or any way to actively suck in water in large quantities. This combined with their slow movement and lack of streamlining has made it tougher for the average gill to survive. Thus, the rhombill has undergone some important adaptations to become more competitively viable.

Locomotion

The rhombill is more streamlined than its ancestors, with the front arm being truncated to reduce drag in the water. The thin membranes connecting their arms have gotten thicker, being more permanently supported by muscle rather than temporarily extensible hydrostats. These membranes are relatively seamless with the arms, with the lateral arms themselves being wider and stronger as well. This allows the rhombill to use a more efficient manta-like method of swimming all the time, as opposed to traveling mainly with the previously paddle-like lateral arms. The increased speed and swimming efficiency of the rhombill allows it to more easily seek out plankton-rich areas, as well as aiding in escape from predators.

Feeding

While being faster to search for food is important, being able to eat that food is even moreso. The rhombill’s ancestors were unable to manually draw food into their feeding bristles, with the bristles’ small size making it unlikely for much plankton to simply float in anyhow. The rhombill has evolved to overcome both of these issues. The feeding bristles themselves are a little wider and fewer in number, with the entrance pores being fairly large and mostly clustered at the tip of each bristle. While this does help the rhombill feed, this trait alone cannot account for the nutrient-poor conditions common when the rhombill evolved. This is what led to the development of the rhombill’s more advanced feeding system: biogenic pipettes.

Between the back of each bristle and the front of its corresponding esophagus, a muscular pharynx has evolved, closed off by simple valves on each end. When the rhombill is in a spot with abundant food, it opens the bristle-pharynx valves and draws in the plankton-rich water by expanding the pharynges. When the pharynges are full, it closes the bristle-pharynx valves, opens the pharynx-esophagus valves, and squeezes the pharynges to push the water further down the esophagi, where peristalsis then takes over. While this system may seem somewhat complex, all of the musculature involved was derived from the muscles already being used for peristalsis, with the pharynx and valves themselves being derived from “bloated” and “pinched” sections of esophagus respectively.

Reproduction and Genetics

Given the decreased number of gills in general thanks to the recent extinction event, the incompatible result of a rhombill accidentally mating with a rhombill of the same mating type became even more costly. This resulted in the evolution of a new mating protein encoded by the secondary mating type gene: protein W. This results in eleven varieties of gamete protein gene 1 (A, B, C, D, AB, AC, AD, BC, BD, CD, none), and eleven varieties of gamete protein gene 2 (W, X, Y, Z, WX, WY, WZ, XY, XZ, YZ, none). When multiplied together, this setup yields 121 different mating types. Peculiarly, the gene encoding for the new W protein also encodes for a mild form of neoteny; rhombills that grew from gametes bearing the W protein are able to reproduce earlier in life and have a smaller adult size. These traits make this subgroup of rhombills less likely to die before reaching sexual maturity, in addition to reducing their competition with other rhombills.

Offspring almost always bud from the underside of the posterior arm, where they are well-protected and cause minimal drag. Babies may also occasionally bud from the gills, where they are able to receive ample oxygen for more rapid development. Reproductive budding from the lateral arms, anterior arm, or back is generally selected against due to the risk of the developing offspring being targeted by predators or torn off prematurely. Rhombills are able to instinctually “count” the number of developing offspring attached to their body via a hormonal system. Rhombills that have recently lost a growing larva enter a state of mourning, wherein they have a decreased drive to eat and reproduce. This aids in natural selection for rhombills that are better able to protect and care for their offspring.

This organism replaces the twilight gill in its range.

Would this graze on stellafrutex?

EDIT: wait no, wrong continent. oops.

Was this edited since the crown comment was posted? Many organisms use "crown" in some language as part of their common and scientific names. I don't see that much of an issue with "kruna".