Sagan 4 Forum [Menu]

Name: Jadelappe (Polychlorodon glaucopharynx)
Creator: Cube67
Ancestor: Kugard
Habitat: Glicker Tropical Rainforest, Glicker Monsoon Forest, Glicker Savanna, Glicker Subtropical Woodland
Size: 96 cm long (excluding trunks)
Support: Endoskeleton (bone)
Diet: Herbivore (Stellafrutex, Hippodendrus trees (leaves and propagules), Purple spheres, Ghost mycostrums, Blooming purplestem, Frootbunch, Overnight mycostrum, Purplebract, Ruboreal, Rubyshroom, Snow’s rubyshroom, Crystal peridot, Emerald crystals, Silvatrop) (QUESTION NOTE: Any other things I could add here? Any crystal flora I could remove?)
Respiration: Active (Lungs)
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm
Reproduction: Sexual (two sexes, live birth)

With the stiltroks abruptly going extinct due to the recent nitrogen crash, large herbivores have ceased to exist on the continent of Glicker. With no competition for food, the new largest herbivores—kugards—have inherited a whole continent all for themselves. As plant life itself recovered from the extinction, Glicker’s forest became completely crawling with kugards, creating an environment rife with competition. In this situation, larger body sizes were favored, as bigger kugards could reach higher foliage and avoid competition with smaller kugards. In short notice, this effect led to some kugards quadrupling in length within a few million years, resulting in species such as the jadelappe.

Locomotion
Jadelappes, being much heavier than their ancestors, find that hoisting their organ-filled abdomen in the air whilst walking on three legs is somewhat inefficient at their size. As a result, jadelappes have become facultatively bipedal; when sitting still, reaching for food, or walking at a leisurely pace, jadelappes walk on their hind legs while their abdomen is dragged across the ground. To this end, they have evolved long, specialized heels on their hindlegs, preventing the feet from slipping backwards. The heels consist of a protrusion of the tarsal bone and a large pad of fat that cushions the bone’s underside. Additionally, the lateral anal digits on the abdomen have also evolved to support weight, minimizing contact between the abdomen’s underside and the ground. These digits no longer have bright coloration for sexual selection.

Feeding
Jadelappes have longer and more flexible lips than their ancestors, acting as a dual set of trunks. Like in the praesugard, these trunks help in grabbing, pulling, and rasping foliage. Teeth are present along the trunks’ whole lengths, even though only the trunks’ bases contain cartilage. Like their ancestors, jadelappes still use their lateral mandibles to pull foliage towards their mouth, although in this species they can also be used to sever the bases of tough bunches of leaves or stalks while the trunks pull on them.

Jadelappes are equipped to handle tougher and less nutritious foliage than their kin. They regularly feed on Hippodendrus leaves, which contain indigestible silica that wears down teeth and aggravates most organisms’ digestive systems. Jadelappes have thick-walled digestive tracts and a host of specialized gut flora (including Binucleuslignivorus spp. and Neobinucleusdetritivorus spp.) to help break down plant matter quickly.

Courtship and Life Cycle
Like their ancestors, Jadelappes are sexually dimorphic. The teeth and mandibles of male jadelappes are an iridescent bright green. This brilliant color and luster is produced by structural coloration instead of pigmentation, much like the feathers of a Terran hummingbird. Jadelappes have an additional display feature in the form of a large jade-colored dewlap on their neck, for which they are named. Female jadelappes, by contrast, have a small lavender dewlap and brown teeth. Females are on average 10 centimeters shorter than males.

During the last month of each dry season, jadelappes enter a rutting period. During the rut, male jadelappes become increasingly active, and females become more receptive to mating. Males will gather in open fields and forest clearings into groups called leks, where they compete for mates. As with their ancestors, the display behavior of male jadelappes consists of a bizarre face-dance. This dance is characterized by the slow, elliptical movement of the lateral mandibles and trunks, with the mouth held wide open. Throughout the rutting period, females visit leks, only mating with the males that have the biggest dewlaps, brightest coloration, and best face-dance. The males not only display towards females to win them over, but also display towards other males as a way of asserting dominance without fighting. Males that feel outmatched by more vibrant males move to a different location, either to the opposite side of the lek or to a different lek altogether. Intrasexual combat is uncommon, but does occur, usually between especially brightly-colored males that seem evenly matched. These fights are generally very brief; jadelappes’ sharp teeth and mandibles can leave gaping wounds, making prolonged fights very costly or even lethal for both participants.

Like the males, female jadelappes are able to mate twice per year. Gravid females have noticeably swollen abdomens, and normally give birth to litters of 4 to 6 offspring at a time. Baby jadelappes essentially resemble miniature adults, with the ancestral stage of juvenile development (in which the organs are located in the neck) now occurring only in the womb. Baby jadelappes also have proportionally shorter mandibles, which are each covered with a gelatinous ‘cap’ during development to prevent them from puncturing the mother’s womb. Female jadelappes care for their offspring for about 8 months. During this time, they stay within visible range of their offspring, feeding them and keeping them out of danger. Females are not receptive to mating while raising young.

Miscellaneous
Jadelappes can live for up to 22 years. Their skin is slightly drier than their ancestors’, reducing their need for water. They also have an increased lung volume and stronger abdominal muscles in comparison to their ancestors, permitting them to take in more oxygen with each breath. Mothering jadelappes that can’t see their offspring create a loud sighing or wheezing sound by rapidly blowing air from their lower nostrils, helping the young find their way back to their mother.

Head of a female jadelappe in profile view.

This post has been edited by Cube67: Feb 26 2023, 08:49 PM

This should probably be included in the gallery (not as a supplementary, in the dedicated gallery section). It shows sketches of the sitting and running positions as a drawing reference.

It was this image that gave me the "I grok kugards" moment



Approval Checklist:
Art:
Art Present?:Y
Art clear?:Y
Gen number?: Y
All limbs shown? Y:
Reasonably Comparable to Ancestor?: Y
Realistic additions?:

Name:
Binomial Taxonomic Name?:Y
Creator?:Y

Ancestor:
Listed?:
What changes?:

• External?:Dewlap
• Internal?:Larger lungs
• Behavioral/Mental? Facultatively bipedal, vocalization, face dancing

Are Changes Realistic?: Y
New Genus Needed?: Needed and present

Habitat:
Type?: 2
Flavor?:3
Connected to Ancestor?:Y
Contiguous?:Y
Wildcard?:N

Size:
Same as Ancestor?:N
Within range?:Y
Exception?:Disaster gigantism / Low competition

Support:
Same as Ancestor?: Y
Does it Fit Lifestyle?: Y
Does It Fit Size?:Y
Reasonable changes (if any)?
Other?:

Diet:
Same as Ancestor?:Y
Transition Rule?:N/A
Reasonable changes (if any)?:

Respiration:
Same as Ancestor? Y:
Does It Fit Habitat?:Y
Does it Fit Size?:Y
Reasonable changes (if any)?:
Other?:

Thermoregulation:
Same as Ancestor?:Y
Does It Fit Habitat?:Y
Reasonable changes (if any)?:
Other?:

Reproduction:
Same as Ancestor?:Y
Does It Fit Habitat?:Y
Reasonable changes (if any)?:
Other?:

Description:
Length?:Y
Capitalized correctly?:Y
Replace/Split from ancestor?: Probably split but we don't know
Other?:

Opinion:Pending
Split or replaced or replaced within range? We need to know

This post has been edited by Jarlaxle: May 23 2023, 07:17 PM

QUOTE

In short notice, this effect led to some kugards quadrupling in length within a few million years, resulting in species such as the jadelappe.

It's intended to be a split. Although slightly cryptic, I'll make the case that this sentence already directly implies this.