Sagan 4 Forum [Menu]

Pambion (Slenderpropagum parapambu)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Repeating Treebion
Habitat: Maineiac Temperate Riparian, Maineiac Montane Riparian, Maineiac Mudflat, Maineiac Marsh, Maineiac Palus, Maineiac Temperate Mangal
Size: 30 meters tall
Support: Cell Wall (Cellulose), Woody Trunk
Diet: Photosynthesis
Respiration: ?
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm
Reproduction: Sexual (Spores), Asexual (Budding)

The pambion split from its ancestor. It is shorter, narrower, and can grow considerably faster (reaching full size in only around a decade), at the cost of durability. It has notably gained the ability to bud from its roots, forming clonal colonies. It lives mostly in wetlands and floodplains, and unless it has a colony to support it, it is commonly tilted due to the soft, unstable substrate. It generally colonizes a bare patch of wetland before slower-growing trees but does not compete with them very well for space, making it very rare or absent in old growth.

The pambion has gained sexual reproduction. It produces both small, unprotected and large, shelled spores, and the small spores enter the large ones to fertilize them. This increases its genetic diversity and therefore makes it more healthy and successful as a species.

Name: Umbrajet (Gnathobelos nyctophilus)
Creator: OviraptorFan
Ancestor: Xxeljet (Fartmobus lexx)
Habitat: Rhodix Trench Zone, LadyM Ocean Abyss Zone, Rhodix Midnight Sea Mounts, LadyM Ocean Midnight Zone
Size: 40 centimeters long
Support: ?
Diet: Carnivore (Slither Longtail, young Reaplarian, Deep Glowswarmer, young Abyssaluki, Blubdub, Purioister, Mucurorm, young Mortuprey, Shoalrorm, Deep Ribbon Gilltail, young Mortusyte, young Muckamor, Glowgill, Meiouks, Krillpedes, Miniswarmers, Belumbias, Miniwhorls, Eusuckers, Shimmering Marephasmatises, Dragon Marephasmoids, Scuttlers, Squidwhals, Common Gilltails)
Respiration: ?
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm
Reproduction: Sexual Reproduction (Spores, Parthenogenesis)

When Xxeljets would begin to move away from the Rhodix Vents, they began to change and evolve to take advantage of whatever prey they came across. Over time, they would move away from filter feeding and become obligate hunters, splitting off from the Xxeljets that stayed around the vents and becoming a unique taxon of their own right. Known as the Umbrajet, living in the deep depths has allowed them to quickly balloon in size, making them by far the largest Xxeljets to have yet evolved. This greater size allows the Umbrajet to tackle larger game, which is important in the deep depths since any creature they come across is something worth attacking in case it can be eaten.

The main changes in terms of its anatomy reflect their change in diet, as the membranes that line the four mandibles of the Umbrajet have been reduced in size since they no longer capture plankton. Instead, the mandibles are thicker and have larger serrated ends that interlock, allowing it to grab and restrain prey, while the long proboscis still utilizes its simple jaw with serrated edges to rip off chunks of meat to then be swallowed. The two mouths can still both be used for feeding, as once the meal is small enough between the mandibles the Umbrajet can swallow it whole, but it can only do that when it's been ripped apart enough.

Of course, the Umbrajet actually needs to catch something before it can begin feeding, which is why its eyes have grown to gigantic proportions. This is because the species uses their enormous eyes to gather as much visual information as they can in the dark depths, looking for any signs of bioluminescent lights or the vague silhouette of something moving for it to then lock onto. If it does indeed detect something, the Umbrajet will spring into action, using its methane producing chamber at the back end of their body as a jet to rapidly swim towards their target. The paired flippers seen in other Xxeljets help this species make sharp turns while jetting around, so it can pursue a fleeing victim, while the dorsal spines help with stability so the Umbrajet does not flip over while turning. These adaptations, alongside its darker coloration to better blend into the dark abyss, are also useful for helping the Umbrajet with avoiding predators as it's not the largest thing swimming around in the dark depths.

The Umbrajet has made a few significant changes from their ancestors in terms of reproduction. When an individual has eaten enough and has plenty of energy to spare, they will release pheromones into the water. If another Umbrajet that has also been well fed tastes these pheromones, it will proceed to release gametes into the water column, which float around for a while until they hit the gametes of other individuals and fuse together, becoming a true spore that will then grow and develop into a new Umbrajet. As they too also release pheromones into the water, it quickly results in a chain reaction where any Umbrajets in the area that have been well fed and pick up the pheromones will then broadcast spawn in a short period of time, which in turn greatly increases the chances of the gametes germinating. If an individual does not detect the pheromones of another Umbrajet for a long period of time, it will rely on parthenogenesis instead, self-fertilizing their own gametes and producing identical clones of themselves. By having such a variable reproductive strategy, the Umbrajets are able to increase genetic diversity while also being able to fall back on cloning when potential mates are scarce.

Alright! Here is my end of a swap with @Changeling! Hope you like this species dude! Any of you guys got any comments on the species as a whole btw?

This post has been edited by OviraptorFan: Sep 9 2022, 10:50 PM

Papisjorn (Vinumcrustus acerbus)
Creator: Coolsteph
Ancestor: Saltjorn
Habitat: Fermi Marsh, Fermi Temperate Mangal
Size: 80 cm Tall
Diet: Photosynthesis
Respiration: Unknown
Thermoregulation: Ectothermy (Flora)
Support: Exoskeleton (Chitin)
Reproduction: Asexual (Fruiting Structures, Seeds)

Unlike their ancestors, Papisjorns live in the marsh, where water is in abundance. They have less need to reduce water loss by transpiration, and large fauna are not so desperate to crack it open for water. Consequently, it can afford to make its shell less opaque, and structurally weaker. Photosynthesis is concentrated in lenses in its shell, but all of its tissues, exempting the shell and roots, can perform photosynthesis. Like Chitjorns in general, Papisjorns are resilient to various poor conditions. They resist drought, heat, and high salinity, and can grow on infertile soil, although their maximum sizes are smaller in less favorable conditions.

Shell

Adult Papisjorns are deeply cleft, like an exaggeration of the cleft in the rind of a pumpkin, forming a somewhat clover leaf-like shape from above. In younger specimens, the clefts are subtler, like a pumpkin. In the stembuds, there are no visible clefts.

The shell is a strong but lightweight chitinous network, mineralized with calcium crystals, and has similar material properties to the pincers of lobsters. The "turrets" contain slightly more calcium to reinforce them, as they are more accessible to herbivores.The opaqueness of the shell varies with the seasons: it gradually becomes slightly more opaque in the heat of summer.

The shell has a faint pattern of fissures, forming diamond-like shapes. Occasionally, it has deep fissures or scars at the base. Tiny pores, less than 1 mm in diameter, dot the upper sides of the segments, within the tiny fissures. Excess water, sodium, or alcohol may leave through these pores; fauna with a keen sense of smell may detect Papisjorns from afar by detecting odor cues from these pores.

Jornwine

Beneath the shell, Papisjorns have soft, slightly mucilaginous, spongy greenish tissue, like a cooked button mushroom covered in okra mucilage. It loosely resembles the fungus-flesh common to crystalflora, if a different color. A few Papisjorn metabolites are also similar to those characteristic of crystalflora. However, despite their polygonal shells and common greenish shell colors, the Chitjorn lineage actually has no relation to crystalflora, with no closer ancestor than the ancestor of all life on Sagan 4, and so Papisjorns' similarity is nothing more than a particularly odd case of convergent evolution, like Earth's kelp (a kind of brown algae, not in the plant kingdom) looking similar to certain land plants (descended from green algae).

Between the shell and the softer interior tissue is a light green liquid, or "jornwine", with the consistency of blood. It has a bitter, fermented flavor, and contains 0.8% to 1.6% alcohol. The alcohol is generated by the softer interior portion of the Papisjorn fermenting a portion of the sugars it gains from photosynthesis, and it works as an effective distasteful element or poison for most herbivores. The taste of jornwine is reminiscent of wine, but salty. If a fauna tries to crack open a Papisjorn to eat its insides, it is difficult to avoid getting a mouthful of the distasteful jornwine. Within hours, the flora increases production of coagulating substances in the jornwine, increasing the rate at which the jornwine gradually seal over cracks or injuries in the flora and forms a sort of scab. The scab resembles the hardened tree resin gemstone copal, but with the color of nephrite. The surrounding shell eventually grows over the resulting scab. Small organisms, such as smaller Minikruggs, can be caught in the jornwine, dying within it or leaving behind legs or feet in their rush to escape. Over months to years, depending on the scope of the injuries, the scab material and any trapped organisms within is eventually broken down and reabsorbed using enzymes, until the injury is fully healed.

Fragments of hardened jornwine are a weak intoxicant if finely mashed and moistened, and can keep stable for up to two and a half years if kept in a dry, cool environment.

Fruit

Papisjorns make segmented, somewhat starfruit-like fruiting structures, which are greatly modified lenses with attached outgrowths of photosynthetic tissue. The fruits of the papisjorn taste remarkably like starfruit, with similar calcium oxalate overdose risks in large quantities. The fruit resists decomposition and remains edible for most fruit-eating organisms for 7-8 days at room temperature. Like many fruits, they can ferment if overripe to accumulate alcoholic compounds. Papisjorns' fruits have an odd, mushroom-like texture.

Within the fruits are dark blue “stembuds”, clonal structures similar to Gumjorn stembuds, but far smaller, with virtually no air pockets. The stembuds’ shells of calcified chitin make them hard like pebbles. It is often annoying for large organisms to eat these fruits, due to the hard shell and rock-like stembud-seeds. Unlike their relatives’ stembuds, Papisjorn stembuds are dense and do not float. While resistant to brackish conditions, being dunked in the full salinity of the ocean for more than an hour and a half at a time kills them, and so they cannot travel across seas like a coconut. Nonetheless, the species has managed to spread widely across a fairly wide range, especially with no competition in its niche.

Vonnegut Quillmow (Arctohyus buhrabararamimus)

Creator: Hydromancerx
Ancestor: Quillmow
Habitat: Vonnegut Archipelago Temperate Beaches, Vonnegut Archipelago Subpolar Beaches, Vonnegut Temperate Woodland Archipelago, Vonnegut Bush Archipelago, Vonnegut Prairie Archipelago
Size: 2 Meters Long
Support: Unknown
Diet: Omnivore (Mainland Fuzzpalm roots and berries, Fuzzpile roots and berries, Floating Island Greatgrass roots, Driftwood Gumjorn roots, Raft-Building Cone Puffgrass cones, Cocobarrage roots, Obsidibend roots, Qupe Tree roots and fruit, Carnosprawl roots and fruit, Baebula roots, Supershrooms, Sapshrooms, Minikruggs, Silkruggs, Gamergate Gundis, Vermees, Teacup Sauceback larvae, Xenobee honey and larva, Xenowasps larva and honey, Hang-Gliding Pinyuk eggs, Shingo, Stegomizer juveniles, Driftwood Dasher juveniles), Scavenger
Respiration Active (Lungs)
Thermoregulation: Endotherm (Fur)
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Pouch and Milk)

The Vonnegut Quillmow split from its ancestor the Quillmow. Its quills only grow on its butt and are much thinner. It has grown much larger and has taken the niche of Earth grizzly bears. It is an opportunistic omnivore. It is not a picky eater and will try just about anything once. Like its ancestor it has a pig-like snout that can help it find food even underground. It will use its powerful claws to dig up food or break open rotten logs. Even xenobee hives are not off limits from them. Its feet are technically still webbed, much like a polar bear's however they do not swim as much as their ancestor. Their tail is no longer a paddle shape but quill shaped to supplements its butt quill defenses.

The Vonnegut Quillmow no longer create their own shelters but instead will evict fauna from theirs or even sleep in hollowed-out logs.They face their quilled butts at the entrance of the burrow so any predators, such as the Sparkleshrog, will think twice before coming after them when they are sleeping.

The Vonnegut Quillmow are even more solitary than their ancestors and only meet to mate. They no longer fight with their tusks but show off their butt quills like a peacock showing off their plumage. The larger more numerous the male's quills, the more attractive they are to females. Males will fight over territory and sometimes even control their own island. They mostly show mock charges and roar. Sometimes males will use their tusks and claws if the other male won't leave their territory.

After mating, the male will stick around and guard the female, preventing other males from trying to mate with her, though this is not always successful. The male will leave about a week after the joeys are born. The joeys are born fetal and helpless after just two weeks, but take as long as 4 months to develop sufficiently to leave the pouch. Their mother may leave them in a burrow nest, returning to feed them a few times a day. The juveniles become independent at one year of age and are fully grown at two.

This post has been edited by Hydromancerx: Aug 25 2022, 06:39 PM

Squaphaneer (Eoproborana ramul)
Creator: Solpimr
Ancestor: Treeneer
Habitat: Ramul Subtropical Coast, Ramul Subtropical Beach, Ramul Subtropical Woodland, Ramul Subtropical Mangal, Ramul Subtropical Beach Archipelago, Ramul Subtropical Woodland Archipelago
Size: 11 cm long
Diet: Adult, Nectivore (Lurtress, Lurpincer, Sum-Humgrove), Frugivore (Qupe Tree, Fuzzweed), Herbivore (Redmosses, Orangemosses, Chainswarmers, Basilliphyta, Globby Boneflora (photosynthetic tops), Bonebuoy (photosynthetic tops)): Juvenile, Herbivore (Redmosses, Orangemosses, Chainswarmers, Basilliphyta, Globby Boneflora (young), Bonebuoy (young)), Nectivore (Sum-Humgrove)
Respiration: Juvenile, Active (Gills), passive (transcutaneous): Adult, Active (Lung), passive (transcutaneous)
Thermoregulation: Unknown
Support: Internal (cellulose and lignin rich pseudo-cartilage (limbs and gills))
Reproduction: Sexual, Spawning, Two Genders

Squaphaneers have replaced their ancestor where their ranges overlap. They are capable standing straight up like their distant ancestor the nectascooter but often walk horizontally when on the ground. The trunk is semi-prehensile and able to wrap around things such as aerial roots. They are able to use it as a third limb, both to reach across gaps and to push off of obstacles. They are capable leapers and use quick movements of their single eye to get multiple view points on a target before jumping. This, combined with acute visuospatial memory and processing enables them to generate parallax and form a three dimensional estimation of their world.

The squaphaneer has developed a septum which splits its gill pouch into two separate sections. The anterior section is still used for respiration while the posterior section is now more analogous to the inner ear of tetrapods. Sound waves from the air cause the translucent window at the rear to vibrate. These vibrations then travel through the fluid inside the chamber to an array of pressure-sensitive nerves. With the exception of the window the walls of the chamber are insulated by a layer of fat tissue which absorbs external sound and reduces signal noise. This has given them a significant edge over their ancestor in finding humflora as it means they no longer have to be in direct contact with the hum to hear its song. As a result they have replaced their ancestor in the Ramul islands.

The largest differences between adults and juveniles are internal. In juveniles the anterior gill pouch is still filled with water as it was in their ancestor. In adults however it is filled with very humid air. In the adults the gills are modified into a structure similar to the branchiostegal lung of some terrestrial crabs which both increases the amount of time they can spend out of the water and reduces their weight. While this does mean they are able to drown they are able to hold their breath for long periods of time and are capable of transcutaneous respiration. Externally juveniles largely resemble the adults though with shorter trunks and webbing between their toes.

The limbs and the auditory chamber are stiffened with a kind of pseudo-cartilage composed of a cellulose and lignin rich extracellular matrix. This pseudo-cartilage is also present in the gill filaments, enabling them to retain their shape out of the water.

Adults are euryhaline and can survive on fresh or salt water but spawning must take place in the mangal as the juveniles can only survive in saltwater. Juveniles are strong swimmers and readily disperse between the islands. Adults tend to remain on land or well above the water line in the mangal but are likewise capable swimmers. As juveniles they spend most of their time in the water but they are able to leave for short periods of time and hold their breath above water by holding water in their gill pouch.

Like their ancestor they are capable of delivering an electrical shock through the spikes on their backs. Unlike their ancestor however the have clusters of electrosensitive pits on either side of their head near the base of the trunk which let them detect when another squaphaneer has discharged its electrical defense. This helps to give an early warning should a predator be nearby and out of sight. This electrical sense is not as effective in the air as it is in the water it but it is somewhat effective if the air is particularly humid, such as after a rainstorm.

Lurtrees (Arborhizolyra sp.)
Creator: Solpimr
Ancestor: Lurtress
Habitat: Ramul, Steiner
Size: 6-15 meters tall
Diet: Photosynthesis
Respiration: Unknown
Thermoregulation: Ectothermic
Support: Unknown
Reproduction: Hermaphrodite, Nectar, Wind Spread Seeds

Lurtrees are a genus of subtropical and tropical trees descended from the lurtress population of Ramul. The Ramul-Steiner ecoregion is a maze of islands and mangals of various sizes which provides ample opportunity for speciation. There are many different species of lurtree, a species or subspecies may arise on a single island and either remain there or spread to the larger archipelago. As theses islands initially lacked large flora, the proto-lurtree populations that managed to establish themselves on them were able to grow larger and larger, competing with each other for space, light, and wind.

Lurtrees sprout numerous small stems from their aerial roots, each of which grows its own quartet of leaves. This has substantially increased their photosynthetic surface area as well as providing redundancy in case one set of leaves is damaged or destroyed. The first stem to develop, which the roots themselves grow from, produces the largest leaves and harp structure.

They still attract pollinators through sound produced by their distinctive harps. These harps vary in size and shape depending on the species and many produce multiple sounds at once from different parts of the harp. This results in more complex songs which are unique to each species. All adult members of the same species will start singing within a few days of each other each year and continue singing until their harps wear out, generally within one to two weeks. Closely related species will often have overlapping singing periods and as a result hybridization within the genus is fairly common. Species living in the subtropics will typically sing during the early spring and into the summer while the singing seasons of tropical species are more varied. After pollination they will produce small wind-blown seeds.

Their aerial root system is less dense than that of the lurtress and their roots no longer exclusively branch at regular, predetermined intervals. Instead roots branch as a result of a number of factors including certain mechanical stresses on the root, which may indicate a potential collapse in the near future. Many species will grow a single central root with support roots branching off and descending to the ground. These support roots may then produce supporting roots of their own, further propping up the tree and helping it to crowd out competitors.

In some species found on densely forested islands the support roots may even wrap around the roots of other lurtrees and never reach the ground at all. These climbing lurtrees can help tie multiple trees together, creating a maze of roots that both provides shelter for small fauna and can help increase the stability of the forest as a whole and prevent the fall of any one tree. Lurtrees are also less prone to collapse than similarly size trees in general thanks to their prolific buttressing.

As the lurtrees have spread out across the Ramul-Steiner ecoregion they have brought with them their pollinator the squaphaneer which has spread to Russ Subtropical Coast, Sparks Tropical Coast, Steiner Subtropical Beach Archipelago, Sparks Tropical Beach, Steiner Tropical Beach Archipelago, Steiner Subtropical Mangal, Steiner Tropical Mangal, Steiner Subtropical Rainforest Archipelago, Steiner Tropical Rainforest, and Steiner Tropical Rainforest Archipelago. They have also secondarily spread the qupe tree and fuzzweed to the Steiner Subtropical Beach Archipelago and Steiner Subtropical Rainforest Archipelago, as those are spread through the waste of the squaphaneer.

Name: Spotted Drakeflune (Leptosaurocyon maculosa)
Creator: OviraptorFan
Ancestor: Finback Flunejaw (Currensiosuchus leptoferox)
Habitat: Drake Temperate Woodland, Drake Bush, Drake Lowboreal, Drake Prairie, Drake Rocky
Size: 87 centimeters long
Support: Endoskeleton (Bone)
Diet: Carnivore (Uklunk, Scarlet Phlyer, Golden Phlyer, Azure Phlyer, Okagouti, Courier Phlyer, Tree Pinyuk, Cobalt Lillyworm, Taserflame, Switchfang, Inzcrek, Creab Walker, Ikasaru, Festive Uktank, Green Uktank, Loafpick, young Lipped Sauceback, Marmokerd, Plowskunik, Desert Gossalizard, Lahnworm, young Pinyuk, Plains Uktank, Indigo Wutuu, young Strider Fuzzcoat, Scalescooter, Dwarf Pinyuk, Ukrith, Feral Tuskent, Steppe Lizalope, young Lumbering Pasakerd, young Running Secretmaw, Blowtongue, Rosybeak Phyler, Fuzzcoat, Wutuu, Lizalagarto, Turquoise-Helmed Lizalope, Teacup Saucebacks), Scavenger
Respiration: Active (Lungs)
Thermoregulation: Mesotherm
Reproduction: Sexual, Two Genders, Hard-Shelled Eggs

As Drake moved further and further north and the land cooled, the forests to the south were shrinking more and more, giving way to open scrub and grassland. While some species like the lizalopes and signaltails have greatly benefited from this gradual change, others would instead suffer and decline. For the populations of finback flunejaws that were present on Drake, the changing climate and increased pressure from competition that have better dealt with these changes meant they had to adapt or die. This would result in the evolution of the Spotted Drakeflune, which has replaced their ancestor on Drake.

As so many large carnivores were present out in the open plains, the Spotted Drakeflunes avoided competition with them by shrinking down in size and feeding on overall smaller game. To better blend in to more open habitats, the Spotted Drakeflune has a more yellowish hide to better blend in with the brown and golden soil and has purple spots to break up its outline. For the most part, the Spotted Drakeflune hunts small game such as crystank walkers, small nodents, and uktanks, ambushing them from cover and snapping them up. The head has grown slightly larger, with larger jaw muscles that power a strong bite. The serrations along its jaw help with applying large forces, crushing bone and armor to kill the prey quickly. While such small game are enough to satisfy the snapper, they will also go after prey such as lizalopes and young lipped saucebacks in areas where the species coexist.

To hunt such fleet-footed prey, the Spotted Drakeflune relies on various cursorial adaptations inherited from their ancestors. The long legs of the snapper can cover a lot of ground in a single galloping stride, while its large nostrils and lungs can quickly pump air in and out so it can keep up a pursuit. The dark purple pattern on its face still helps the Spotted Drakeflune with keeping the sun out of th snapper's eyes, so they can remain focused on a target. A moderately long tail helps with maintaining balance and the claws on the Spotted Drakeflune’s feet help grip the ground when making sharp turns. These all culminate in the Spotted Drakeflune being able to keep up a pursuit for about an hour, often chasing its prey into exhaustion. If the prey is too exhausted to keep going or trips and falls down, the Spotted Drakeflune will rush in to deliver a killing bite. The teeth of this snapper have small serrations along their edges, helping to slice off chunks of flesh to then be swallowed whole. Swallowing the meat whole means the Spotted Drakeflune can eat in bulk relatively quickly, being able to eat as much as a quarter of their body weight in one sitting if they can. They usually don’t get the chance, however, as the smell of a fresh kill will quickly attract larger carnivores such as signaltails and other flunejaws who in turn can bully a Spotted Drakeflune off the carcass.

When it comes to hunting phlyers, a Spotted Drakeflune will try to get as close as possible before rushing in. Large muscles that allow the Spotted Drakeflune to gallop at a decent pace also help power large jumps, which means the Spotted Drakeflune can leap into the air to either snap up a phlyer taking off or to smack it out of the sky and back to the ground where it can then finish it off quickly. Though it will usually hunt down prey like phlyers, lizalopes, or small nodents, the Spotted Drakeflune will feed on carrion when the opportunity arises. The species does need to feed fairly regularly, as it has shifted towards a mesothermic metabolism to better power its active lifestyle.

In terms of reproduction, the Spotted Drakeflune is pretty similar to its ancestor. Females will dig out a shallow pit in the dirt before laying about 5-10 hard shelled eggs. From there, the mother will bury the eggs and remain in the area, keeping watch for any potential nest raiders. After about a month incubating, the young will hatch and dig their way out. While they can catch their own prey from the get-go, the baby Spotted Drakeflunes will still stick around their mother for protection and will share any kills made by her. For about 9 months, the young will remain under the mother’s protection, even assisting her in hunts for the last 2 or 3 months. By assisting her in hunting prey like lizalopes, the youngsters will learn the skills needed to tackle such fast moving prey, increasing their chances of success when they are finally driven away by their mother and start lives of their own.

Alright! Here is my end of a swap with @Rhinobot! Hope you like it dude! What do all of you guys think about this species of Flunejaw? Any comments or suggestions?

This post has been edited by OviraptorFan: Aug 20 2022, 07:21 PM

Name: Dracalope (Vladidorcas sanguidens)
Creator: OviraptorFan
Ancestor: Steppe Lizalope (Alloarietes currenstilios)
Habitat: Drake Steppe, Drake Rocky, Drake Prairie, Drake Lowboreal
Size: 1 meter long
Support: Exoskeleton (Chitin), Endoskeleton (Chitin)
Diet: Herbivore (Suncatcher Plyent, Fuzzweed, Thorny Hedgelog, Botryrophis, Eastward Luroot, Greater Lahn, Forest Quone, Arid Ferine, Pagoda Crystal, Purple Poison Shrub, Snow Puff, Toxplage, Xidhorchia, Windbulb, Glountain fruit, Crystalfir fruit, Emeraldfir fruit, Purple Orbibom, Pioneeroots, Sunstalks, Supershrooms, Sapshrooms, Glaalgaes),
Respiration: ?
Thermoregulation: Endotherm (Setae)
Reproduction: Sexual, Sequential Hermaphrodites, Lays Brood of Eggs in mounds

As the cooling climate of Drake opened up much of the continent, many groups of herbivores would subsequently decline and either became restricted to the southern areas of the landmass or disappeared entirely. For the lizalopes, however, the spread of scrub and prairies would play into their favor and allowed them to diversify. For one group of lizalopes, they grew in size and split off into a distinct taxon known as the Dracalope.

In many respects, the Dracalope behaves like an oversized version of a Steppe Lizalope, grazing on a wide range of low-growing flora while keeping an eye out for potential predators. The larger size of the Dracalope does mean they are not as fast as their ancestor or cousins, though their long legs still allows them to flee at a good pace for long distances. Being bigger, however, also meant they could defend themselves from certain threats, especially since Dracalopes have a stronger herd structure than their ancestors and cousins. While other lizalopes only traveled together for the general protection of being less likely to be targeted and had no strong social bonds, Dracalopes actively look out for and protect one another. If they are attacked by smaller predators, these herbivores will gather together and face their threats, being able to use their larger heads to ram small carnivores or using their powerful limbs to deliver a nasty kick. These social bonds only go so far, however, as the rest of the herd will flee if a member of the group is caught by larger predators as it would be a fight they couldn’t win.

With the herd being more tightly-knit and overall larger than their ancestors, new behaviors and adaptations arose among this species. For example, these herds consist of females and their young that are then led by a single mature male, whereas other lizalope species consist of a random number of hermaphrodites that acted as either sex within their groups. When the breeding season comes around, which is in early spring and is marked by longer daylight hours and more abundant floral growth, the male Dracalope will begin to court the females within the herd.

Since the front pair of limbs are used to either dig up nutritious roots or to dig out nests, the fangs of the Dracalope are no longer used for these tasks and in females are no longer visible when the mouth is closed. In the males, however, these fangs are massive and clearly visible. These fangs are quite thin, however, and are too delicate for combat and slightly limit their foraging abilities, due to the fact that they are entirely used for display. The fangs of male Dracalopes end in bright colors that catch that attention of a female as he bobs his head up and down. If the female is receptive and is impressed, she will respond in turn by also bobbing her head, with the pair doing this behavior in unison until they eventually copulate. As the females go into season at different times in early spring, the male must regularly check upon every single one in the group to see if they are ready to mate. The dominant male must also keep watch for any males that arrive on the scene that try to take a female for themselves, as a male Dracalope might try to woo one of the females into leaving the dominant male’s herd and joining them to start a herd of their own. If they get caught in the act by the dominant male, the intruder will either run off or directly challenge the male for breeding rights of the herd, with the two utilizing display and occasional shoving to determine who is on top.

Interestingly, the Dracalope is the only species of lizardworm to be a sequential hermaphrodite, specifically being protogynous. This takes the form of a female changing her sex if she determines that she would be a far better choice than the current male leading the herd. When they complete the change, they will directly challenge the dominant male in a similar fashion to that of an intruding male challenging him for breeding rights of the herd. The loser of the resulting match will then be forced out of the herd and have to survive on their own. Since being alone is quite dangerous for a Dracalope out on the open plains, male Dracalopes forced out of their herds will join other males in small bachelor herds. These bachelor herds are somewhat like those of their ancestors, where the males do not form any strong social bonds with other males in the group and are willing to abandon them if they see an opportunity to either take over a normal herd or to escort a female out of those herds and start a group of their own.

As they still are quite active fauna and are constantly on the move, Dracalopes do not have strong social bonds with their offspring. Instead, they will act much like their ancestor where they will dig a mound to then lay their eggs into, before adding vegetation that will keep the eggs warm through decomposition. Once that step is done, they will abandon the eggs to develop on their own. Like other lizalopes, young Dracalopes will eat their way out of their egg casing when they are ready to hatch and will dig themselves out of the mound in about 10 minutes. After exiting the mound, these youngsters (which are all female due to their sequential hermaphroditism) are immediately able to fend for themselves. As their much smaller size leaves them vulnerable to predators, young Dracalopes will travel together until they join an adult herd. Once they do join an adult herd, their chances of survival become good, as adult Dracalopes will treat them as just part of the herd and will defend them from smaller predators in a similar fashion to how the adults protect one another.

Alright! Here is another species of Lizalope! I hope the way I gave them sequential hermaphroditism makes sense, as I imagine it would be the best way to give the species sexual dimorphism when their ancestors were just hermaphrodites. Do give any comments on the species!

This post has been edited by OviraptorFan: Sep 9 2022, 10:32 PM

Crystal Entourage Swordgrasses (Crystallogladius spp.) (crystal-sword)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Crystal Swordgrass
Habitat: Wallace, Koseman
Size: 20-100 cm tall crystals, variable colony width
Support: Cell Wall and Flexible Shell (Chitin)
Diet: Photosynthesis, Detritivore
Respiration: ?
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm
Reproduction: Sexual (Airborne Spores), Asexual (Budding)

The crystal entourage swordgrasses split from their ancestor and diversified, becoming a common sight all across Wallace, Koseman, and surrounding islands. They are effective analogues to grass, more so than the “puffgrasses”, but with a catch: they are decomposers which depend on organic content in the soil to grow quickly, due to their chitinous cell walls necessitating greater nitrogen intake than the cellulose-based purple flora. True to their name, some species are somewhat stiff and sharp and can cut the lips of predators, but most are relatively soft for crystal flora, their ancestors having sacrificed protection from predators for faster growth.

The crystal entourage swordgrasses, like their ancestor, have two types of crystal: the leaves which appear above ground aligned with the position of the sun and capture sunlight, and the much smaller, mostly hollow spore capsules. Unlike their ancestor, however, the crystal entourage swordgrasses produce said capsules above-ground on skinny, fast-growing, often branching mycelial stems which are only a single cell thick. This allows them to make use of wind and fauna to transport their spores instead. In biomes without much wind, such as the woodlands, they depend somewhat on spores getting caught in the fur, feathers, trichomes, or cotton of fauna which walk over them. When eaten by grazers, some spores will survive the trip through the digestive tract and be safely transported somewhere far away. They still depend on water to bring spores together. Leaf crystals only emerge from the soil in the presence of sunlight, but spore crystals can emerge in the dark, covering the dark forest floor in tiny crystals which seem to float, their skinny reddish stems nearly invisible in the dim light. No species is truly leafless, and even the rare sight of one in a cave will grow some should a ray of light reach it.

Some crystal entourage swordgrasses retain the scattered growth of their ancestor, however others may grow close clusters of leaves. The mycelium is able to “know” where leaves are already present to choose where to grow a new one depending on what’s most favorable for the environmental conditions. Wherever there are leaves, there are also spore capsules, which to the untrained eye can be mistaken for a separate species accompanying the swordgrass but are in fact a part of the same organism. Some species, particularly in regions with cold winters, only produce spore capsules seasonally.

Crystal entourage swordgrasses can be found anywhere where there is organic material in the soil. They typically only start to appear in the third stage of ecological succession where soil has already begun to form, though they are contributors to soil formation themselves as they encroach on more barren regions. They are often among the first organisms to reclaim bare soil following a wildfire, as being decomposers they are better able to survive the stripped environment than true grasses and can feed off of the burned flora and wildlife. In deserts, they may rarely pop up on a carcass but will generally only be found near oases, as they are not especially arid-adapted.

Crystal entourage swordgrasses have a relationship with the Wallace puffgrasses. The swordgrasses grow first, covering the ground before the soil can support anything else and feeding off of organic content in the substrate. However, eventually, the faster-growing purple flora arrive, and Wallace puffgrasses in particular can seemingly rapidly replace the swordgrasses entirely. However, this is only what seems to be happening at the surface, and on closer examination the swordgrasses’ spore capsules are still visible among the puffgrasses’ leaves. In reality, the swordgrasses’ mycelial network remains intact underground, and many puffgrasses have formed a symbiotic relationship with the swordgrasses, exchanging some of their sugars for nitrogenous compounds that they can use to help grow. This benefits both: accepting sugars provided by the puffgrasses has a greater net energy profit to the swordgrasses than growing crystal leaves, which also leaves them with excess ammonium waste, which the puffgrasses are able to use to grow and thus make more sugar in a positive feedback loop. This symbiosis also allows the two genera to compete well with their “shared enemy”, the comparatively light-choking black flora, by growing more quickly than them. Interestingly, the ancestors of swordgrasses were once the hypercompetitive cellulosebanes which wiped out entire branches of purple flora, making this alliance a significant turn for the lineage.

Wallace Puffgrasses (Porphuratypha spp.)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestors: Puffgrass, Tropical Puffgrass, Beach Puffgrass
Habitat: Wallace, Koseman
Size: 25 centimeters-2 meters tall
Support: Cell Wall (Cellulose)
Diet: Photosynthesis
Respiration: Passive (Stomata)
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm
Reproduction: Sexual (Puffy Spores)

The Wallace puffgrasses integrate their ancestors, the puffgrass, the tropical puffgrass, and the beach puffgrass, and further diversify into additional species both larger and smaller. They are small, numerous herbs which fill the role of ground cover in some parts of Wallace and Koseman, and they generally populate bare soil after the arrival of crystal entourage swordgrasses, but before the arrival of larger flora. Their leaves and stalk grow from a point very low to the ground, which makes it more likely that they will have some of their stem left over from which they can heal. Contrary to their name, they are not particularly grasslike, as they do not bud.

There are many species of Wallace puffgrass. The tallest species thrive in large numbers in open biomes such as the plains and shrublands, and they are still able to reach as tall as a meter in open frigid biomes such as the alpine tundra. Some of the smallest species live in harsher environments such as among rock that has yet to be completely turned to soil, newly cooled lava flows, or in the polar barrens where there is only a very short period in which they can grow; these are annual, only germinating in brief favorable conditions and dying soon after producing their spores. Some species are able to tolerate salty conditions, such as beaches and mangals, by concentrating salt and other excess in certain leaves and shedding them. Similar has actually been present in all puffgrasses to remove other excess minerals, and some species use this to remove metals. The only environment with soil that they find no success in is in the shade of the old growth dark forests, but even here, fertilized spores may lay dormant waiting for a tree to die and expose the forest floor to sunlight.

Wallace puffgrasses seasonally produce spores at the tops of their puffy stalks, which vary in number between species (extra stalks having evolved several times independently). Ordinarily, gametes meeting in midair is not very effective. However, the spores of puffgrasses, and puffplants as a whole, are puffy, which allows them to collide more easily and be blown into the air again if they fail. Some species thrive in clearings and young growth forests with little wind; these often have smaller spores and may meet in water instead. Some species have stiff leaves which can retain water very well, while some others have more flexible leaves that can resist strong wings. Some species produce spores once a year, but some, especially those with many predators, will do so many times a year instead, maximizing reproductive success.

Wallace puffgrasses have a relationship with the crystal entourage swordgrasses. The swordgrasses grow first, covering the ground before the soil can support anything else and feeding off of organic content in the substrate. However, eventually, the faster-growing purple flora arrive, and Wallace puffgrasses in particular can seemingly rapidly replace the swordgrasses entirely. However, this is only what seems to be happening at the surface, and on closer examination the swordgrasses’ spore capsules are still visible among the puffgrasses’ leaves. In reality, the swordgrasses’ mycelial network remains underground, and many puffgrasses have formed a symbiotic relationship with the swordgrasses, exchanging some of their sugars for nitrogenous compounds that they can use to help grow. This benefits both: accepting sugars provided by the puffgrasses has a greater net energy profit to the swordgrasses than growing crystal leaves, which also leaves them with excess ammonium waste, which the puffgrasses are able to use to grow and thus make more sugar in a positive feedback loop. This symbiosis also allows the two genera to compete well with their “shared enemy”, the comparatively light-choking black flora, by growing more quickly than them.

Southern Scrambler (Geminatisorex meridianus) (southern twin-shrew)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Pink Scrambler
Habitat: West Wallace Veldt, Raptor Plains, Raptor Veldt, Raptor Chaparral, Raptor Highvelt, Raptor Volcanic, Wallace Chaparral, Wallace Bush, Wallace Volcanic, Central Wallace Veldt, Wallace Plains, South Darwin Highvelt, South Darwin Rocky, South Darwin Plains, South Darwin Chaparral, Central Darwin Rocky, Verserus Rocky, Verserus Highvelt
Size: 25 cm long
Support: Endoskeleton (Bone)
Diet: Omnivore (Pioneeroots, Marbleflora, Supershrooms, Sapshrooms, Sapworms, Dartirs, Vermees, Minikruggs, Teacup Sauceback larvae, Neuks, Mikuks, Aphluks, Xenobees, Xenowasps, Wallace Puffgrasses, Crystal Entourage Swordgrasses, Gamergate Gundis, Chitjorns, Tamed Berry Arbourshrooms, Quaxaca, Trailblazer, Quassagule, Fuzzyfan, Snow Windbulb, Undergroundi, Dardiwundi, Crystamble crystals, Grovecrystal crystals, Signpost Crystamboo crystals, Arid Puffgrass, Inda, Piomike, Sapprong, Prongoli, Quillfence, Raptorgrak, Sunstalks, Bludblug, Scrubland Quhft fruit, Bangsticks seeds, Coniflor capsules, Cragmyr berries, Robust Arid Ferine berries, Bristlepile berries, Cliff Bristler berries, Fuzzpile berries, Sandy Orbibom berries), Generalist Ovivore (shelled eggs on the ground or shallowly buried), Scavenger, steals stored food from shrog nests
Respiration: Active (Lungs)
Thermoregulation: Endotherm (Fur)
Reproduction: Sexual (male and female, live birth, pouch and milk)

The southern scrambler replaces its ancestor where their ranges overlap. It lives in much of the southern part of the Wallace supercontinent, though its range stops above the subpolar line. Similar to its ancestor, it is a generalist as well as a potential food source for medium-sized predators. It varies in color across its range, either matching soil color or having broad vertical stripes like depicted here to blend in with dry puffgrasses.

Much like its ancestor, the southern scrambler is capable of remarkable regeneration. Notably, its skin tears easily and its tail is more prone to breaking off, which allows it to escape even if it’s been grabbed. It stops bleeding very quickly and can, with time, fully regrow any lost body parts. Regeneration is not limited to skin and appendages; it can regrow eyes, internal organs, and even parts of its brain. Much like its ancestor, it is capable of acquiring duplicate body parts if one only partially detaches, and it will sometimes have accessory organs, including functional accessory lungs.

The southern scrambler is capable of infesting shrog nests and making them uninhabitable by eating all the food stores and breeding too quickly to be controlled. Though generally solitary, it may work as a mob to attack the nest’s owner when threatened, fully claiming it as their own. This behavior has resulted in one shrog, the twineshrog, becoming extinct within its range, as it’s far too dependent on its nests and uses far too much energy with its survival strategies to recover consistently after an infestation.

The southern scrambler is generally solitary. Like its ancestor, it has marsupial-like reproduction. It breeds 6 times a year and gives birth to 5-12 joeys at a time. Newborns are helpless and spend the first few weeks of their lives in a pouch.

Through consumption of seeds and berries, the southern scrambler has spread the following:

- Bangsticks to Raptor Plains, Central Wallace Veldt, and Wallace Plains
- Coniflor to Central Wallace Veldt
- Robust Arid Ferine to Raptor Plains, Central Wallace Veldt, and Wallace Plains (and likewise the Treedundi also spread, expanding its range to include South Darwin Highvelt, Wallace Plains, Verserus Highvelt, West Wallace Veldt, Central Wallace Veldt, Raptor Plains, Raptor Veldt, and Raptor Highvelt)
- Bristlepile to Raptor Plains, Central Wallace Veldt, Wallace Plains, Wallace Chaparral, Wallace Bush, and Wallace Volcanic
- Fuzzpile to Wallace Chaparral and Wallace Bush
- Cliff Bristler to Wallace Chaparral, Wallace Bush, and Wallace Volcanic
- Scrubland Quhft to Raptor Plains, Wallace Chaparral, Wallace Bush, Wallace Volcanic, Central Wallace Veldt, and Wallace Plains

Mouse Gryphler (Gryphomus gryphomus) (gryphon-mouse gryphon-mouse)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Gryphler
Habitat: Wallace Plains, Central Wallace Veldt, Central Darwin Rocky, South Darwin Highvelt, South Darwin Rocky, South Darwin Plains, South Darwin Chaparral, Wallace Volcanic, Wallace Bush, Wallace Chaparral, Verserus Rocky, West Wallace Veldt, Verserus Highvelt, Raptor Plains, Raptor Veldt, Raptor Highvelt, Raptor Volcanic, Raptor Chaparral, Raptor Badlands, Wallace Desert, Darwin Temperate Desert
Size: 10 cm long
Support: Endoskeleton (Stiffened Unjointed Wood)
Diet: Herbivore (Scrubland Quhft fruit, Bangsticks seeds, Coniflor capsules, Cragmyr berries, Robust Arid Ferine berries, Crystal Entourage Swordgrass spore crystals, Yuccagave seeds, Snow Windbulb seeds, Quone nuts, Shaggy Volleypom megaspores, Quilbil berries, Crystamble crystals, Inda bulbs, Sandy Orbibom seeds, Desert Carnofern berries, Coastal Goth Tree seeds), Photosynthesis
Respiration: Active (Lungs)
Thermoregulation: Endotherm (Trichomes)
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Live Birth)

The mouse gryphler split from its ancestor. As its name suggests, it is very small--roughly the size of a mouse. Similar to its ancestor, it eats seeds, but it will also use its beak to crack open small crystals. It varies somewhat in color across its range to blend in with different soil colors, and in the deserts it is able to use its wings as radiators to remove excess heat. A row of soft trichomes guard its ears and streamline its head. Unlike its ancestor, the mouse gryphler prefers to come out in the mornings and evenings when it has fewer predators and can catch at least some sunlight.

The mouse gryphler’s toes are no longer solid wood and instead have muscles attaching on the inside. This allows it to deform them to bend the toes, working like a flexible exoskeleton. The ends of the toes are tipped in stiffer wood which can be used to scratch. However, it still digs using its beak. Like its ancestor, its skeleton contains stiffer wood than that of most other plents; however it is still able to deform its unjointed bones to the same degree as other plents with unjointed skeletons. This is because at its small size, and that of its ancestor, even a core of stiffened wood bends when pulled by muscles. However, this feature also allows gryphlers as a group to have skinnier bones than other plents without them bending under their own weight.

The mouse gryphler’s internal excretion sac reabsorbs some of the water from its liquid waste, making it more concentrated and almost paste-like. This allows it to more easily thrive in dry environments. Like other plents, it has a blind gut and must regurgitate all waste. It has ceased excreting liquid waste from its skin at all and has instead repurposed the excretion glands to produce oil, which protects and strengthens its trichomes. Like its ancestor, it can dig shallow burrows using its beak to store seeds and crystals to feed on out of season.

Like its ancestor, the mouse gryphler mates mouth-to-mouth by “tongue-kissing” and gestates young in a womb which hangs at the base of the neck. It nests hidden among flora and gives live birth to 4 or 5 offspring at a time, which are small but already capable of walking and even short bursts of flight and will follow their mother. It breeds several times a year, lacking a mating season.

Wallyhawk (Wallytherium ungualis) (wally-beast with claw-wings)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Woodsalcon
Habitat: Wallace Plains, Central Wallace Veldt, Central Darwin Rocky, South Darwin Highvelt, South Darwin Rocky, South Darwin Plains, South Darwin Chaparral, Wallace Volcanic, Wallace Bush, Wallace Chaparral, Verserus Rocky, West Wallace Veldt, Verserus Highvelt, Raptor Plains, Raptor Veldt, Raptor Highvelt, Raptor Volcanic, Raptor Chaparral, Raptor Badlands, Wallace Desert, Darwin Temperate Desert
Size: 80 cm long
Support: Endoskeleton (Chitin)
Diet: Carnivore (Teacup Saucebacks, Southern Scrambler, Pink Scrambler, Mouse Gryphler, Interbiat, Neoshrew, Rosybeak Phlyer, Cragagon, Barkback, High Grassland Ukback, Stygmogg, Sitting Dundi, Nightsnapper, Binsnoo, Scrub Barkback, Scrambled Shrew, Phouka, Gryphler, Eggslurping Sorite, Velocitoon, Dusty Spelunkhoe, Handlicker Dundi, Gulperskunik, Sabulyn, Dundigger, juvenile Varant, juvenile Xatagolin, juvenile Xatazelle, juvenile Grassland Lizatokage, juvenile Opportunity Shrew, juvenile Argusraptors, juvenile Tigmow, juvenile Ouranocorn, juvenile Ramchin, juvenile Oviaudiator, juvenile Hearthead, juvenile Mothhead, juvenile Argeiphlock, juvenile Ascendophrey, juvenile Vultoph, juvenile Snoofloo, juvenile Striped Phlock, juvenile Plehexapod, juvenile Giant Hornface, juvenile Scrubland Hornface, juvenile Gruesloo, juvenile Boschian Paardavogel, juvenile Ophan Scimitar, juvenile Desert Tilecorn, juvenile Stride Sauceback, juvenile Saucebow, juvenile Skewer Shrog, juvenile Twigfisher Shrog, juvenile Guangu, juvenile Dinotuga, juvenile Pickaxe Tamow, juvenile Tigmadar, juvenile Disasterxata, juvenile Stink Shrew)
Respiration: Active (Unidirectional Macrolung)
Thermoregulation: Endotherm (Feathers)
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Hard-Shelled Eggs)

The wallyhawk is descended from woodalcons which were isolated along Irinya as the forests they called home shrank. Unsuited to surviving in such a narrow environment, the Irinya population became extinct, but not before producing a descendant which lived on and re-adapted for a more open environment. Like its close relatives, it is a flying eagle- or hawk-like predator which sees any small creature on the ground and not in flight as potential food. Like its ancestor, it hunts by swooping down and snatching prey with its jaws, which can bypass shorter spikes.

The wallyhawk has a few features which make it slightly different from other ophreys at the time of evolution. Most species have roughly symmetrical jaws which fit together awkwardly and can’t fully close the mouth. The wallyhawk’s jaws, however, are asymmetrical, allowing it to close its mouth tightly and reduce water loss. This also allows it to bite down harder on its prey, increasing the chances of a successful kill. It also has flatter, more foot-like hooves, granting it more stability on the ground. The formerly vestigial nail on its wing toe has become a hooked claw, allowing it to climb up and stand in trees and shrubs. Some of its eyes now point more forwards, aiding in binocular vision.


Image caption: Wing

The wallyhawk’s climbing method looks strange to an observer. Rather than the wing claws pulling it up the tree, it pushes down, the claw on its wing toe hooking into the bark as it appears to “walk” with its legs hugging the tree. On steep slopes it will use its jaws to aid in this, somewhat like a parrot, but if the trunk or branch is more diagonal, it won’t need to. Because the wing feathers obscure the claw from the side, it appears as though it is stepping on nothing and inexplicably sliding up the tree, like a glitchy video game character on bad collision geometry.

Being able to climb in this manner, as opposed to using a form of wing-assisted incline-running like other jewel-eyed saucebacks, allows the wallyhawk to scale a tree noiselessly and while expending less energy, as well as allowing it to climb vertical surfaces. It can also stop wherever it pleases and even perch, which it could not do with feather-flapping. It will step up to stand with its hooves before taking off from a branch.

The wallyhawk is solitary and territorial for most of the year, except during its annual breeding season. Its breeding season corresponds with the late spring or early summer in the southern hemisphere. It no longer nests on the ground, instead constructing a nest high in a tree or large shrub far away from most predators as its new ability allows, and in the sparsest parts of its range breeding pairs may fight over nesting sites. This behavior is quite far removed from the communal nesting of its ancestor. Its offspring are still decently developed at birth, though still flightless, but they rarely leave the nest until they can fly. Fledgelings generally remain in or near their tree being fed fresh meat by their parents. Once they can hunt on their own, the juveniles leave the tree, but they generally remain more arboreal than the adults while they are still learning how to use thermals.

The wallyhawk’s adaptations made it better suited for the niche of “eagle” than its relatives. As a result, it has outcompeted the following where their ranges overlap: Faxon, Sausophrey, and Sansaws.

Agate Krugg (Sericumpes corpusplana) (Silk-foot flat body)
Creator: Coolsteph
Ancestor: Silkruggs
Habitat: Huggs Montane River, Huggs Montane Riparian
Size: 11 cm Long
Support: Exoskeleton (Chitin)
Diet: Omnivore (Marbleflora, Snotflora, Chainswarmers, Pioneeroots) Scavenger
Respiration: Unknown
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Snail-Like Eggs)

Like Kruggs in general, Agate Kruggs have six legs (although two are almost vestigial), leathery exoskeletons, and lay snail-like eggs in soil (damp soil, in this case). For the Agate Krugg in particular, its exoskeleton is only leathery on its limbs and underside: the top side is calcified, somewhat like a Terran crab's, if not to the same extent. Its crunchy texture makes it a somewhat less appealing food to some of its predators, but it mainly relies on camouflage, hiding, incompatible activity times, and high reproductive rates to survive.

Unlike its ancestor, it is aquatic, and can hold its breath for about 32 minutes. Agate Kruggs spend much of their time at the edges of rocky streams, hidden amid or under pebbles, purple flora, and occasionally scraps of bark or other plant matter. Its flattened, small, sturdy body is well-suited to hiding under heavy pebbles or bark pieces in purpleflora-dominated streams. Its last three body segments are highly compressed. Agate Kruggs have a blotchy, painting-like pattern of purple bands and light-purple blotches. A ridge lies in the middle of its face, culminating in a slight beaky overhang over its mouth. Like its ancestor, its jaws fit closely together.

It is well-camouflaged to hide among swathes of freshwater marbleflora. Its vision is also good enough to allow it to distinguish different kind of flora by color, identifying the purple flora under which they can best hide. Agate Kruggs do not roam far from secure, pebbly areas. They create silken pads from their forelegs to help attach themselves to pebbles in relatively fast-flowing streams. Adult Agate Kruggs, but especially larvae, use silk to bind together pebbles to stabilize particularly good hiding spots by the barely-submerged edges of streams, particularly when predator density is highest. Due to their size, adults have more trouble hiding within burrows between pebbles or underneath pebbles, and so tend to situate themselves underneath larger purple flora, larger rocks, or occasionally in small divots in damp, flora-coated ground beside rocks. Occasionally, Agate Kruggs carried away in floods end up in new areas and snap at resident Agate Kruggs as they try to take over pre-existing burrows to ensure they can have shelter quickly. Otherwise, they are not territorial.

Agate Kruggs live at remarkably high latitudes for a small ectotherm. The adults cannot survive the harsh winters of the higher limits of their ranges, but eggs typically survive, hidden in the soil and under scraps of bark and floral matter. Its third pair of legs is small and not used for walking. Instead, they are used as mating claspers. During the breeding season, silk glands in the hind legs secrete a spongy silk that connects two Agate Kruggs together, allowing them to complete mating, even when the water runs fast.

Most of Agate Kruggs' diet consists of soft organic matter, and it avoids high-cellulose material or large, tough bones. It is nonetheless equipped to scrape away at gristle, small or weak bones, and exoskeletons, and in fact is so fond of small bones and exoskeletons that placing a small bone or exoskeleton underneath a cluster of pebbles and coming back five hours later and lifting the pebbles almost always yields at least five Agate Kruggs. Small bones and exoskeletons fairly reliably tempt them to leave the safety of their pebble nests within streams.

Agate Kruggs have several predators, including the Toadtuga, Spineless Toadtuga, and Thorny Toadtuga. Mottlekraggs sometimes catch and devour Agate Krugg larvae if they are uprooted by strong currents. Agate Kruggs are more common where River Saltgrasses are sparser, for the hunting strategy of one of its predators, the Mottlekragg, relies on hooking onto River Saltgrass. This is despite the fact adults tend to situate themselves more beside large flora: adults are better at evading predators, have thicker shells, and a stronger bite, and so Mottlekraggs rarely try to eat adult Agate Kruggs.

Chainswarmers tend to be more nutritious and tastier than what Agate Kruggs usually eat, so they slurp up small colonies like spaghetti, particularly when the colonies are beached on the sides of the stream and slowly slithering back into the water. As Agate Kruggs are fairly common (if local and well-hidden) small herbivores active in every season but winter, they create a small but notable influence on the density of Chainswarmers in their habitats. As a consequence, Agate Kruggs make their habitats a little more dominated by purple flora than they otherwise would be, helping their camouflage.

Agate Kruggs are almost ubiquitous in their habitats provided their habitat needs of stream flow, pebbles, dense purpleflora growth (e.g., Pioneeroots, Marbleflora) and rocks or large stream-side purpleflora are met. They are hard to see due to their small size, camouflage, tendency to hide and activity times.

Ferries (Frondibaca spp.) (frond-berry)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Robust Arid Ferine
Habitat: Wallace, Koseman
Size: 1-8 meters tall, 2-15 cm long berries, 5-10 cm long leaves, 2-5 mm long seeds
Support: ?
Diet: Photosynthesis
Respiration: Passive (Stomata)
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm
Reproduction: Sexual (Flowers, Berries, Seeds)

Ferries split from their ancestor and diversified into a genus of bushes, shrubs, and small trees found all over Wallace and the surrounding islands, as well as in Koseman. Sun-loving flora, they are common in shrublands and savannas and make up many of the trees in the intermediate stages of ecological succession in the woodland biomes. They provide fleshy edible berries for fauna to eat, which in turn allow them to readily spread to new biomes through feces. They are flowering flora which depend on pollination from fauna such as xenobees, for which they provide nectar.

Ferries have a number of differences from their ancestor. The trunk is generally narrower, allowing faster growth. Their branches are lignified and form a broader, flatter shape, and only the leaves shed over winter. Ferry leaves are a little broader and less needle-like, allowing them to catch more light. Leaves sprout from a central woody stem in a frond-like shape which might be either bilateral or glide-symmetrical. The branches still periodically shed, mostly older ones dropping as the newer ones cut them off from light. This is why ferries still retain the distinct bark texture and "lip" of other carnofern-derivatives.

Ferry flowers have three petals, which are often forked. The petals vary in color between species and even inside a single species, with common colors including coral pink, bright blue, white, and lime green. For each of the three petals there are three clusters of stamens, which produce the puffy spores, and in the center there is a cluster of ovaries each with their own pistil. Once pollinated, the petals fall off and the ovaries grow into a cluster of berries.

Ferry berries are fleshy and juicy and may be either sweet, tart, or both. They are purple until they ripen, at which point they will take on a color visibly distinct from the leaves, usually orange, yellow, or green. Occasionally, they might appear to stay purple, but in fact take on a color using light in the ultraviolet spectrum, making them only conspicuous to jewel-eyed saucebacks and other creatures with such good color vision. A few species have bright pink berries which are poisonous to non-plents, as plents are the least likely to destroy the seeds by chewing them. Theoretically, jewel-eyed saucebacks are better seed-distributors than plents because they also do not chew seeds and their through guts can hold seeds for much longer (thus increasing the chances that seeds will be dispersed far away), but at the time of evolution there were considerably more berry-eating plents than saucebacks, which is why plent specialization still evolved. Tall rainforest and riverside species produce the biggest fruits, as they have plenty of water to do so, though they are notably not especially common in rainforests even without the shade of obsiditrees due to the low organic content of the soil.

There are many species of ferry, and the genus speciates readily. Often, many species will exist in the same biome, producing different fruits favored by different fauna. They come in bush, shrub, and tree form and require fertile soil to grow. Ferry bushes are common in shrublands and will populate an expanding or recovering forest before small trees arrive. Shrubs, too, populate the shrublands and young growth forests, and they are commonly found in wetlands and along intermittent rivers as well. The tallest ferry trees, though quite small as far as trees go, survive in young forests as long as they have not yet been taken over by shade trees. Ferry bushes and shrubs are also found scattered in the open plains. The season in which they bloom and produce fruit varies to avoid competition with one another, with only the late fall and winter for deciduous species being off-limits, though spring, early fall, and the wet season are the most common fruiting seasons.

Tropical ferry species are “everpurple” and always have some leaves, though they still shed them regularly, and in colder regions leaves must be shed annually. Leaves turn a pale orangish-pink color before shedding. Some species are able to survive high in the mountains with tougher, more bristle-like leaves, but they are not especially suited to year-round icy conditions. That said, however, very small ferry bush species have nonetheless managed to colonize the subpolar tundra, laying leafless and dormant most of the year and taking advantage of snowmelt during the brief summer growing season. They are absent from deserts, apart from the aforementioned tundra.

Ferries usually sprout in the wet season or spring thaw regardless of when their fruiting season is. Small species reach maturity within their first year while the largest ones may take 3 or 4. They usually only live for about 10-15 years, but some larger species can live even longer in proper conditions.