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Gallopett (Terralimus pulmo)
Creator: Future Tyrannosaurus
Ancestor: Flopett
Habitat: Ovi Tropical Rainforest, Ovi Monsoon Forest, Ovi Tropical Watershed
Size: 25 cm long
Support: Endoskeleton (Bone)
Diet: Omnivore (Adults: Spardiflies, Pentamowers, Clawed Grapplebuns, Asterplent, Fern Asterplent, Wright Caonach, Gravestone Asterplent, Wortopedes, Plentmowers, Scorpioworts) (Young: Wright Nautstars, Sand Locrint Larva, Towelian Compassfoi, Lurkroufos, Flutterwyrms)
Respiration: Self-Pumping Gills, Lungs
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm
Reproduction: Sexual (Male And Female, Live Birth)

Split from its ancestors, the gallopett became adapted to life on land more, like the Stinzerstar. However, it has developed different terrestrial adaptations. It secretes mucus that protects it while on dry land, but must go back in water to re-secrete every few hours. In humid climates, however, it can last about a day until it needs to get back into the water. The much-reduced raptorial leg has been reduced even more. The two lateral arms have become leg-like and are able to be used for moving on land. In water, they still function as the ancestor’s lateral arms. The anal leg, which was covered by the tail membranes with their ancestor, has adapted more for walking, with the cloaca moving to a different location farther up the leg. It increased the size of the back fin, used for sexual display. The longer the fin, the more females a male will attract.

The Gallopett increased in size due to less competition from the extinction event. It crawls on land by moving the lateral limbs then catching up with the anal leg. It has not changed in physical appearance at all besides the legs. It still has four gills, four lungs, four noses. With the moving of the cloaca, the Gallopett created a new way of reproduction: the male goes on top of a female Gallopett, and they perform a cloacal kiss by bending the anal arm. The male mounts near the female’s anal arm to make the reproduction process faster. The parent Gallopett will stay by their babies for few months and bring them food until the baby is good enough to hunt on its own. The young will stay in water for several weeks and become an adult. Once an adult, they can go on land for long periods of time. Due to greater humidity at night, it can be active on land far longer in nighttime hours.

This post has been edited by Future Tyrannosaurus: Apr 29 2023, 06:17 PM

Broad Issues:
It seems to stand on two remarkably long, upright, leg-like fins. In real life, there are intermediate stages between the development of fleshy fins and finlike legs. The easiest compromise, which doesn't require substantial re-draws, is that it's only this upright-looking while wading through shallow water. On land, it would scrabble and crawl about.

Image:

Please trim the image to put the organism in the center and remove excessive white space. I recommend trimming it to the upper half of the image (in shadow), and then trimming the edges to the left of the “B” in B21 and to the right of the tail. Main images are almost always not diagrammatic, lacking arrows and text (other than Generation text). When they are diagrammatic, more than one thing is pointed out. In this case, it is best to erase the arrow and text drawing attention to the location of its cloaca.

Template:
When different life stages have different habitats, put it into “Adults: [Habitat, habitat, habitat]; Young: [Habitat]”. Most organisms do not have separate habitats by life stage or migration paths, so the conventions haven’t been written down in the formatting requirements yet. The diet should be formatted in the same way, using a semicolon to separate the stages.
“Diet-“ : needs a colon, like the others.
The names of organisms listed in the diet must be capitalized, like “Spardiflies, Pentamowers”.
Respiration, thermoregulation, and reproduction methods must also be capitalized. Remember to capitalize statements in the parentheses (e.g., reproduction methods).

Description:

“Gallopet” is misspelled in the first paragraph. The capitalization also isn’t consistent. Since you capitalized “Stinzerstar”, I’m guessing you intended to capitalize “Gallopett”.
It’s odd, and overly poetic (for lack of a better word). to call the Stinzerstar its “cousin”. “Relative” would be better.
“To stay on land longer” It’s recommended to not describe organisms as if artificially constructed for a particular purpose, like airplanes. It’s better to say, “It now secretes mucus that protects it while on dry land, which helps it stay on land longer[…]”.
“In humid climate”: In humid climates.
“And altered for”: I recommend: “and more suitable for land, being able to bend and so allow walking.”
“Altered for” and “to better incorporate it” is also artificial directionality, so rephrasing is advisable.
Given the small number (four), it’s more standard to use “four”, not “4”. It sticks out otherwise.
“Mounts nearby”: Did you mean “mounts near”?
“On-land”: “on land”.
“Nearby water sources”: Near water sources.
“New-born”: Newborn.
“They are now able”: “They become able”.
“For the whole time”: What whole time? Did you mean, “Due to greater humidity at night, it can be active on land far longer in nighttime hours.”

Other:
t's necessary to put the Generation number in the the thread title.. You'll need to use full edit for your post to do this, but it's fast and easy.

Optional:
With everything else addressed, the submission would be functional. However, improving the background contrast to eliminate the traces of writing on the back of the page is a quick and simple way to improve the art quality. Erasing the stray lines around the legs would also be ideal. Both flaws, however, are pretty subtle and don't interfere with the interpretation of the organism's physiology, so these are optional.

QUOTE (Coolsteph @ Feb 25 2023, 05:45 PM)

Broad Issues: It seems to stand on two remarkably long, upright, leg-like fins. In real life, there are intermediate stages between the development of fleshy fins and finlike legs. The easiest compromise, which doesn't require substantial re-draws, is that it's only this upright-looking while wading through shallow water. On land, it would scrabble and crawl about. Image: Please trim the image to put the organism in the center and remove excessive white space. I recommend trimming it to the upper half of the image (in shadow), and then trimming the edges to the left of the “B” in B21 and to the right of the tail.  Main images are almost always not diagrammatic, lacking arrows and text (other than Generation text). When they are diagrammatic, more than one thing is pointed out. In this case, it is best to erase the arrow and text drawing attention to the location of its cloaca. Template: When different life stages have different habitats, put it into “Adults: [Habitat, habitat, habitat]; Young: [Habitat]”. Most organisms do not have separate habitats by life stage or migration paths, so the conventions haven’t been written down in the formatting requirements yet. The diet should be formatted in the same way, using a semicolon to separate the stages. “Diet-“ : needs a colon, like the others. The names of organisms listed in the diet must be capitalized, like “Spardiflies, Pentamowers”. Respiration, thermoregulation, and reproduction methods must also be capitalized. Remember to capitalize statements in the parentheses (e.g., reproduction methods). Description: “Gallopet” is misspelled in the first paragraph. The capitalization also isn’t consistent. Since you capitalized “Stinzerstar”, I’m guessing you intended to capitalize “Gallopett”. It’s odd, and overly poetic (for lack of a better word). to call the Stinzerstar its “cousin”. “Relative” would be better. “To stay on land longer” It’s recommended to not describe organisms as if artificially constructed for a particular purpose, like airplanes. It’s better to say, “It now secretes mucus that protects it while on dry land, which helps it stay on land longer[…]”. “In humid climate”: In humid climates. “And altered for”: I recommend: “and more suitable for land, being able to bend and so allow walking.” “Altered for” and “to better incorporate it” is also artificial directionality, so rephrasing is advisable. Given the small number (four), it’s more standard to use “four”, not “4”. It sticks out otherwise. “Mounts nearby”: Did you mean “mounts near”? “On-land”: “on land”. “Nearby water sources”: Near water sources. “New-born”: Newborn. “They are now able”: “They become able”. “For the whole time”: What whole time? Did you mean, “Due to greater humidity at night, it can be active on land far longer in nighttime hours.” Other: t's necessary to put the Generation number in the the thread title.. You'll need to use full edit for your post to do this, but it's fast and easy. Optional: With everything else addressed, the submission would be functional. However, improving the background contrast to eliminate the traces of writing on the back of the page is a quick and simple way to improve the art quality. Erasing the stray lines around the legs would also be ideal. Both flaws, however, are pretty subtle and don't interfere with the interpretation of the organism's physiology, so these are optional.

Alright, I'll try editing these. But I think I should try redrawing it on land. So would that make this species more of a transitional species then?

If your goal is to trace the evolution of tetrapods from lobe-finned fish, then yes, this species could be a "transitional species" to a tetrapod-esque goal. If course, just because tetrapods are more glamorous than "fishapods" that can't move very well on land doesn't mean a species can't be worthwhile on its own, so it really depends on your goals.

I recommend making the positioning of its leg-fins clearer in the redraw. As it is, it's unclear if the fins are laterally placed (spread directly outward to the side) or more diagonal relative to the middle axis of the body.

@Coolsteph I edited all the things you addressed, how is it now?

QUOTE (Coolsteph @ Feb 25 2023, 09:53 PM)

If your goal is to trace the evolution of tetrapods from lobe-finned fish, then yes, this species could be a "transitional species" to a tetrapod-esque goal. If course, just because tetrapods are more glamorous than "fishapods" that can't move very well on land doesn't mean a species can't be worthwhile on its own, so it really depends on your goals. I recommend making the positioning of its leg-fins clearer in the redraw. As it is, it's unclear if the fins are laterally placed (spread directly outward to the side) or more diagonal relative to the middle axis of the body.

So like this? Also I am aiming for a rise of tetrapod like fauna with the Gallopett.

Updated it majorly, following dorite's points she made on the inaccuracies of the gallopett.

@Coolsteph how is it now?

Image:
The gills look like ear-like structures which are black-tipped. The mandibles seem to descend directly from the eyes. The tip of the tail is drawn in a way that’s hard to read, due to the thickness of the lines, although I figure most people would use context to presume it’s like a seal flipper.

Template: There are capitalization errors in the diet, respiration, and reproduction sections. This is most important in the diet section.

Description:

“Moving spots”: “moving to a different location farther up the leg” is clearer.

Its ancestor had a small fin or lump on its back. Unless that smear of colored pencil down its back is a vestige of its fin, it’s worth mentioning the fin is gone.

Unlike the Stinzerstar, it has developed different adaptations for land.” By definition, it has different adaptations, it is “unlike the Stinzerstar”. “However, it has developed different terrestrial adaptations” is better.

I wonder why they give birth on land at all if their young must quickly escape to the sea. In the case of sea turtles, they bury the eggs, which likely gives them a measure of protection, at least against aquatic predators or microbes in the water. If the adults can enter the water, why not give birth there? If they have particular predators which home in on birthing fluids if they give birth in the water and snap up their babies almost immediately after birth, this might explain things.

I’m surprised the Flopett even has a “superficially placenta-like womb”. Placentas may have evolved hundreds of times, but it seems more common for it to repeatedly evolve in reptiles, not fish (the closest equivalent here). I wonder how the placenta would come to cover the baby on land. The placenta is the interface between the developing fetal tissue and the mother’s blood supply. An amniotic sac membrane, like an en caul birth, might be more practical.

What's the level of parental investment in this species? Since it gives live birth (with a placenta, no less) it seems it has a lot of prenatal investment in its young. This would limit the total number of young it can make per pregnancy, and therefore the relative utility of abandoning the newborns to fend for themselves. Admittedly, this is no longer an issue since you omitted that part in the description, but it's still useful to know parental investments to figure out what the young eat.

The separate diet for the young suggests the young hunt on their own, at least after reaching a certain size or level of development. Its ancestor, the Flopett, fed its babies. Do the adults give them food directly? If so, for how long? Do they tear apart large prey for them? At what point (of size or development) do the young feed on their own?

I realized that the lower size of Snoodceels are 24% of the adult Gallopett size. This isn't too implausible: after all, a quick check suggests a Thomson's gazelle is about 40% of the size (not counting the tail) of a leopard. However, Snoodceels are slippery, vicious, maneuverable, spiky, and even venomous, and if the Gallopett's mandibles are like its ancestor's, they're pretty weak. Given the natural capabilities of a Flopett, an adult Flopett would probably find it hard to hunt Snoodceels, and the young may find it impossible. The young therefore couldn't eat Snoodceels unless the parent or parents give one to them.

I'm also not sure if it could even catch Spardiflies. They can't flick their tongues like chameleons or shoot them down like archerfish. They're small enough that they could probably survive on dew, drinking from puddles, or meat (which has water in it), so they probably wouldn't fly close to the surface or shallow water to drink.

QUOTE (Coolsteph @ Mar 12 2023, 10:01 AM)

What's the level of parental investment in this species? Since it gives live birth (with a placenta, no less) it seems it has a lot of prenatal investment in its young. This would limit the total number of young it can make per pregnancy, and therefore the relative utility of abandoning the newborns to fend for themselves. Admittedly, this is no longer an issue since you omitted that part in the description, but it's still useful to know parental investments to figure out what the young eat. The separate diet for the young suggests the young hunt on their own, at least after reaching a certain size or level of development. Its ancestor, the Flopett, fed its babies. Do the adults give them food directly? If so, for how long? Do they tear apart large prey for them? At what point (of size or development) do the young feed on their own? I realized that the lower size of Snoodceels are 24% of the adult Gallopett size. This isn't too implausible: after all, a quick check suggests a Thomson's gazelle is about 40% of the size (not counting the tail) of a leopard. However, Snoodceels are slippery, vicious, maneuverable, spiky, and even venomous, and if the Gallopett's mandibles are like its ancestor's, they're pretty weak. Given the natural capabilities of a Flopett, an adult Flopett would probably find it hard to hunt Snoodceels, and the young may find it impossible. The young therefore couldn't eat Snoodceels unless the parent or parents give one to them.

I originally was going to abandon the parental care part but it sounds like it is needed eith this situtation...I think I was originally planning for the juveniles to be able to eat the snoodceels (which are 5-10cm) and the juveniles are hunting the 5 cm ones.

Removing snood ceels from the diet and gonna edit the stuff coolsteph pointed out soon

Coolsteph, I think it should be nearly complete now. If not, please tell me what to fix