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River Scrambler (Geminatisorex allojuvenilis)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Scrambled Shrew
Habitat: Blood Tropical River, Blood Tropical Riparian, Bardic Tropical River, Bardic Tropical Riparian, Kenotai Tropical River, Kenotai Tropical Riparian, Pipcard Tropical River, Pipcard Tropical Riparian, Wright Tropical River, Wright Tropical Riparian, Terra Tropical River, Terra Tropical Riparian, Dixon-Darwin Boreal (Dixon side only)
Size: 20 cm long
Diet: Carnivore (Miniswarmers, Larvaback, River Foi, Thorny Toadtuga tadpoles, Spineless Toadtuga tadpoles, Honey Toadtuga tadpoles, Axebeak Gilltail juveniles, Shardscale juveniles, Wright Pumpgill juveniles, Eusuckers, Minikruggs, Silkruggs), Ovivore (Ramchin, Mountain Flunejaw, Montemsnapper)
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Live Birth, Pouch and Milk)

The River Scrambler split from its ancestor. This small shrew has moved to riparian habitats, where it hunts small swimming fauna. This is an unusual accomplishment for something with marsupial-like reproduction. One would expect it to have taken a route similar to the Terran water opossum, or to Sagan 4’s own Seashrog, where the pouch can close. However, the River Scrambler has taken a different, more novel route.

The skin of the River Scrambler’s fetal joeys is highly vascularized and permeable, comparable to the skin covering the gills of the Terran axolotl. They are able to take in oxygen from the surrounding water while their mother swims. The pouch still envelops them and keeps them warm, though they are also more resilient when being chilled by exposure and do not need to be kept at a constant temperature; in fact, they can recover even if their core temperature drops to near freezing, though a drop that significant would also delay their growth considerably. The mother must still leave the water periodically, as the joeys can still drown if they are submerged for too long, due to skin-breathing being less efficient than lungs. The joeys develop webbed toes and a powerful swim stroke before they are old enough to leave the pouch, so they are able to surface for air on their own and swim to their mother to nurse. They retain their bright red highly vascularized skin even after they leave the pouch and their fur starts to grow in, allowing them to nurse underwater for longer without suffocating. The switch to less permeable skin is associated with weaning, as the ability to absorb oxygen from the water is no longer needed. Unweaned joeys must stay moist, as their skin loses moisture very quickly, but they still need to breathe air regularly, especially as they get older and their metabolism increases.

Weird babies aside, the River Scrambler lives mainly in the tropical rivers of Dixon. It can also disperse, traveling between them through the Dixon side of the Dixon-Darwin Boreal, mostly eating Minikruggs and similar creatures during the trek. It will also consume eggs if it stumbles upon a nest. It swims with a combination of paddling and an up-down undulation of its body. It has marsupial-like reproduction, giving live birth to fetal larvae which suckle from teats contained in a pouch. It breeds 6 times a year and has 5-12 joeys at a time. It is generally solitary and sleeps in burrows, typically within riparian biomes. It has lost most of its sexual display structures, as they created too much drag while swimming, and it now has a fully furred, slightly flattened tail. It retains its ancestor’s high mutation rate, though it has evolved a defense against the fatal “scrambling” mutation that occasionally afflicted its ancestor--that is, to avoid wasting resources, any embryo that undergoes a dramatic shift in tissue placement is reabsorbed.

This post has been edited by Disgustedorite: Feb 9 2021, 10:19 PM

Obsidoak (Negrapetalum umbraiactus)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Broad-Trunk Obsiditree
Habitat: Dixon-Darwin Boreal, Vivus Boreal, Darwin Temperate Woodland, Darwin Chapparal, Dixon-Darwin Rocky, Vivus Rocky, Huggs Temperate Riparian, Bone Temperate Riparian, Irinya Temperate Riparian
Size: 50 meters tall
Diet: Photosynthesis
Reproduction: Sexual (Airborne Cylindrical Spores)

The Obsidoak split from its ancestor and became considerably larger due to lack of competition. This massive tree, found most often in woodlands and riparian biomes but also scattered around more open or mixed biomes, has also gained many small spore chambers instead of just a few large ones, now scattered throughout its branches. This makes it very reproductively successful. Its sap is somewhat bitter, though it is not poisonous.

The Obsidoak’s branching now extends to its trunk as well, increasing its surface area for photosynthesis and creating a huge microclimate for fauna to climb and nest in. This also vastly increases the amount of shade it casts, which helps eliminate competing flora. Though the leaves on top can get very hot in the sun, the vascular system of the Obsidoak is designed to carry hot sap into shaded parts of the tree to cool off, preventing it from overheating in the summer. The Obsidoak can take over 150 years to reach full size, but it can live for a few thousand.

This post has been edited by Disgustedorite: Mar 2 2021, 01:14 PM

Gargantuan Obsiditree (Negrapetalum giganticus)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Broad-Trunk Obsiditree
Habitat: Darwin Tropical Rainforest, North Darwin Tropical Woodland, Darwin Temperate Rainforest, Darwin Temperate Woodland, Vivus Temperate Rainforest, Javen Tropical Woodland, Javen Tropical Rainforest, Javen Temperate Rainforest, Dixon Tropical Rainforest, Dixon Tropical Woodland, Bardic Tropical Riparian, Kenotai Tropical Riparian, Pipcard Tropical Riparian, Wright Tropical Riparian, Terra Tropical Riparian, Ichthy Tropical Riparian, Always Tropical Riparian, Glicker Tropical Riparian, Gec Tropical Riparian, Biocat Tropical Riparian, Huggs Temperate Riparian; Spores Only: Atmosphere (Troposphere)
Size: 100 meters tall
Diet: Photosynthesis
Reproduction: Sexual (Airborne Cylindrical Spores)

The Gargantuan Obsiditree split from its ancestor and achieved a truly massive size. Like its cousin, the Obsidoak, it now has multiple clusters of spore pods; however, instead of scattered throughout, these are associated with specific major branches. It is so tall that its spores have become aeroplankton, allowing it to be present in disconnected habitats all over the supercontinent.

The Gargantuan Obsiditree is more common in its rainforest and riparian habitats than in the slightly drier woodlands. Though its black pigmentation would normally make it vulnerable to overheating, it is able to mitigate this with evaporation--convergent with Obsiditall, the Gargantuan Obsiditree, too, has gained the ability to sweat. Similar to mammalian sweating, the evaporation of its “sweat” takes excess heat with it. Its leaves are shed regularly, especially in the temperate parts of its range, covering the forest floor in leaf litter. It can take centuries to reach full size and can live for thousands of years.

Vesuvianite Tree (Vesuviana polycrystalla)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Towering Grovecrystal
Habitat: Drake Boreal, Drake Rocky, Drake Chaparral, Yokto Temperate Riparian, Drake Temperate Woodland, Ramul Temperate Woodland; Spores Only: Atmosphere (Troposphere)
Size: 56 meters tall
Diet: Photosynthesis, Detritivore
Reproduction: Sexual (Airborne Spores), Asexual (Budding)

The Vesuvianite Tree split from its ancestor and grew very large, due to it having already been the largest flora in its environment and there not being anything in the way of it getting larger. It has regained airborne spores, allowing it to reproduce sexually. The spores do not produce cellulase. It has gained greater branching capability, which has caused it to look more like a tree and cast shade on competing flora. A microclimate has formed among its branches, where arboreal and semi-arboreal fauna may climb and nest. Its spores are released from dedicated spore crystals, as in its more deadly distant ancestors. Its reddish roots are now underground to protect them from potential predators, leaving just the yellowish chitinous trunk above ground. Its spores are airborne enough that they become aeroplankton, and as such it is also present on Ramul Island, though spores that travel much further usually die. It is still able to bud asexually and form clonal colonies, but it does this less often, as these offspring are often too close and will compete with their parents for sunlight.

The Vesuvianite Tree is slower-growing than its ancestor. It can take as long as 100 years to reach full size, though it can live for well over a thousand. To help it support its chitinous structures, it has regained its long-lost detritivory so it may obtain more nitrogen, using its roots to feed on organic matter underground and on the remains of other flora in its environment. This helps young trees especially, so that they may grow even in the dark shadows of other flora.

This post has been edited by Disgustedorite: Mar 6 2021, 12:00 PM

Repeating Treebion (Gigapropagum repititum)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Bristlebranch Treebion
Habitat: Maineiac Boreal, Maineiac Temperate Woodland, Maineiac Chaparral, Maineiac Rocky, Maineiac Temperate Riparian, Maineiac Volcanic
Size: 60 meters tall
Diet: Photosynthesis
Reproduction: Asexual (Hardy Spores)

The Repeating Treebion split from its ancestor and got much larger, becoming a true tree. As its name suggests, it repeats itself as it grows, increasing its height and surface area for photosynthesis considerably. It has several hook-branches in a ring radiating around its trunk every few meters. The bristle leaves have taken on a branching shape to increase their surface area for photosynthesis as well. It also has a woody trunk, supporting its height.

Unlike other new trees appearing around this same time, the Repeating Treebion is not suited to supporting arboreal creatures. Its spores are very hardy, helping to ensure its reproductive success. It can take decades to reach its full height, but it can live for hundreds of years.

This post has been edited by Disgustedorite: Feb 15 2021, 07:53 PM

Four-Prongion (Gigapropagum tetrabrachium)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Bristlebranch Treebion
Habitat: Maineiac Boreal, Maineiac Temperate Woodland, Maineiac Chaparral, Maineiac Rocky, Maineiac Temperate Riparian, Maineiac Volcanic
Size: 30 meters tall
Diet: Photosynthesis
Reproduction: Sexual and Asexual (Hardy Spores)

The Four-Prongion split from its ancestor. Unlike its cousin, the Repeating Treebion which used repetition of the trunk to increase its height, the Four-Prongion has opted to make its hook-branches dramatically longer. The branches now also have branches of their own, bearing many bristly leaves. The Four-Prongion has also developed sexual reproduction, where its spores will fertilize one another on contact, allowing it to have far more genetic diversity. It can still produce asexual clonal spores.

The Four-Prongion can take as long as 80 years to reach full size, and it can live for centuries. It can also recover and regrow broken branches. Its branching branches are suited to supporting small arboreal fauna, though they would snap right off if megafauna attempted to climb. The trunk and the four main branches are supported by wood, assisting in its durability.

This post has been edited by Disgustedorite: Feb 15 2021, 11:19 PM

Tree Pinyuk (Pennayakus arborealus)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Dwarf Pinyuk
Habitat: Drake Boreal, Drake Rocky, Drake Chaparral, Yokto Temperate Riparian, Drake Temperate Woodland
Size: 70 cm long
Diet: Herbivore (Luroot leaves, Eastward Luroot Leaves, Supershrooms, Sapshrooms, Sunstalks, Forest Quone, Glaalgaes, Cryobowls, Pioneeroots, Fuzzweed, Lurspire leaves, Lurcreeper leaves, Towering Grovecrystal crystals, Vesuvianite Tree crystals)
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Hard-Shelled Eggs)

The Tree Pinyuk split from its ancestor and proceeded to learn how to climb trees. It does not have any particular new climbing adaptations, it simply balances on branches using its hooves. This is similar to the behavior of some Terran goats. One adaptation it does have, however, is that a row of feathers along its sides can be splayed out to slow its fall. It isn’t quite a true glider, but it can drop from heights as great as 10 meters without injury. These long feathers also serve for sexual display. It also now has a nearly full coat of feathers, instead of only being feathered in some areas. It no longer has blue legs because they were actually extremely, extremely bad for camouflage, making its ancestor look like a floating purple orb which prompts a double take rather than actually doing any good to keep it hidden.

Despite its name, however, the Tree Pinyuk does not actually live entirely in trees. It is simply called that because of how much more conspicuous it is to see it somehow at the top of a tree despite having no adaptations for grasping or climbing. In reality, though it can climb trees to feed, it mostly uses them for nesting and escaping predators. It spends much more of its time foraging for food on the ground. It has greatly reduced its chin-spike so that it doesn’t interfere with feeding. Though the chin spike is no longer sexually dimorphic, the feathers are. The flank feathers are present in both sexes but are orange in males, and males also have an orange crest.

The Tree Pinyuk nests in vesuvianite trees, high up and away from predators. It may live in fairly large groups of up to 40 members which all share the same tree. It is polygamous, and males will fight one another for the right to mate, though this is far more ritualistic than in its ancestor so that they do not fatally wound one another and fail to reproduce at all. Its calls sound disturbingly like the screams of a Terran human male in distress. Its nests are round and constructed of sticks and feathers, and it lays 30-50 eggs at a time. Vulnerable to predation, most of its offspring are eaten before they can reach full size.

Notably, the Tree Pinyuk does not technically hear with its eyes like its ancestor did. Rather, the bony crest making up the “pinna” has a round hole on the inside, which causes the skin of the “pinna” to function as a far more effective tympanic membrane. This gives it the best hearing of any eucaudopodosaur (or "dweller") thus far. Like its ancestor, it has 2 toes on most feet but 3 on its tail-foot.

This post has been edited by Disgustedorite: Feb 15 2021, 10:46 PM

Parasitic Floats (Volaparasitiphyta spp.)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Cloudbubble
Habitat: Global (Sagan 4)
Size: 1-2 cm wide bubbles, 10-20 cm long colonies
Diet: Photosynthesis, Parasite (Vascular Flora)
Reproduction: Sexual (Hermaphrodite, Spores), Asexual (Fragmentation of Colony)

The Parasitic Floats split from their ancestor. Their feeding tendrils have been modified to be used to stick to other flora, from which they will then leach nutrients. They are colonial, forming long, sometimes branching colonies created by incomplete division, which float with help from Cryoutine endosymbiotes which produce hydrogen. They can be found anywhere where some kind of vascular flora is present except underwater, including in the sky where they are commonly seen as parasites of the Cloudgrass. Some species are able to produce chitinase, which allows them to feed off of crystal and glass flora as well. Their parasitic capability has completely replaced their ancestor’s aeroplanktivory.

Parasitic Floats retain small flagellated tendrils, which they can still use to “swim” towards moisture. However, instead of embedding themselves in clouds, when they reach an area wet enough to support tall flora they start rotating around until one end bumps into a plant. The sticky tendrils latch on and digest through the victim plant’s exterior, granting them access to the nutrients inside. While attached they can be likened to a tiny vine that hangs upwards instead of down, their flotation ability serving to keep them exposed to light. Sometimes, both ends will latch onto a plant; this is especially common in environments with a high density of flora available, or where the flora have many branches that are close together.

Like their ancestor, Parasitic Floats have two modes of reproduction, sexual and asexual. Sexual spores are dispersed by wind and are collected and fertilized by other colonies. Spores must germinate in a cloud, fog, or attached to a plant. Rather than depending on their environment for symbiotes, fertilized spores come “pre-packaged” with a sample of the mother’s symbiotes. They can also reproduce with macroscopic binary fission, with a single bubble elongating and then splitting. However, their binary fission is defective--they don’t fully detach, instead remaining connected by digestive tendrils. They can break apart from one another fairly easily, however, making their asexual reproduction instead more of a fragmentation.

There are many species of Parasitic Float. Those found in mature woodland and rainforest biomes tend to favor areas that are exposed to direct sunlight (therefore likely above the canopy) so that the wind will catch their spores; other species are either neutral or prefer shade, as being in the shade makes them less conspicuous to potential predators. Most species specialize in a particular kingdom of flora, but some are generalists instead. Some species will specifically feed on pairs of physiologically similar flora, such as crystal and glass flora, or purple and black. No species feed on plyents. They are generally absent from glaciers, tundras, and dunes/hot deserts, due to a combination of harsh conditions and lack of flora available; they ''are'', however, present in alpine tundras, as though harsh they nonetheless support enough flora to sustain a population.

This post has been edited by Disgustedorite: Feb 16 2021, 09:19 PM

Mangrovecrystal (Rabidoradix potentenimis)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Towering Grovecrystal
Habitat: Yokto Salt Marsh, Always Salt Swamp, Glicker Salt Swamp, Gec Salt Swamp, Biocat Salt Swamp, Huggs Salt Marsh, Glocks Salt Marsh, Bone Salt Marsh, Irinya Salt Marsh, Blood Salt Swamp, Bardic Salt Swamp, Kenotai Salt Swamp, Pipcard Salt Swamp, Wright Salt Swamp, Ichthy Salt Swamp, Jeluki Salt Swamp, Soma Temperate Coast, King Tropical Coast, Chum Tropical Coast, Elerd Temperate Coast, Wind Temperate Coast, Dass Temperate Coast, Jlindy Tropical Coast, BigL Tropical Coast, Clarke Temperate Coast, Fermi Temperate Coast, Fly Tropical Shallows, Hydro Tropical Coast, Oz Temperate Coast, Maineiac Temperate Coast, North LadyM Temperate Ocean, North Jujubee Temperate Ocean, LadyM Tropical Ocean, Jujubee Tropical Ocean, South Jujubee Temperate Ocean, South ladyM Temperate Ocean
Size: 20 meter tall individuals, variable colony size
Diet: Photosynthesis
Reproduction: Asexual (Very Fast Budding)

The Mangrovecrystal split from its ancestor. Like its close cousin, the Vesuvianite Tree, it has grown very tall and gained some additional branching. However, it is distinct in its own way--it has moved to the estuaries and shallows and, using its ability to rapidly bud from its roots, started forming massive mangrove-like clonal colonies. These colonies can sometimes break apart, with sections of them floating out to sea and dispersing to other landmasses globally, carrying small fauna which live among their branching roots with them. This makes them an extremely powerful disperser of small fauna, particularly genus groups. They can also settle down again in the shallows to form small islands as sediment gathers around them and the colony continues to grow. It cannot live submerged and depends on its ability to float to not drown when colonies break apart.

The Mangrovecrystal floats using internal air-storing tissue, which is also responsible for bringing oxygen to its submerged roots. Keeping them partially afloat even when anchored keeps the superficially grass-like aerial roots exposed to air, so that they may take in atmospheric nitrogen. It removes excess salt by storing it in some of its crystal leaves; more specifically, the soft core of a given crystal is what is filled with salt, while the outer shell continues to perform photosynthesis until its interior is completely filled. When this occurs, the crystal is shed.

The Mangrovecrystal forms a microhabitat among its roots potentially capable of supporting large-ish fauna. Its roots, as well as the leaves atop each individual, are edible and capable of supporting nests. Colonies are functionally immortal, only dying when completely eaten, struck with disease, or injured to the point of sinking, as they keep budding new individuals constantly. Notably, they struggle to survive on islands created by Raft-Building Cone Puffgrass, as the “sediment” surrounding these islands are not what they adapted for.

Treehook Tamow (Hamotherium furvus)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Pickaxe Tamow
Habitat: Dixon-Darwin Boreal, Vivus Boreal, Darwin Temperate Woodland, Darwin Chapparal, Dixon-Darwin Rocky, Vivus Rocky, Darwin Temperate Rainforest, Javen Temperate Rainforest, Vivus Temperate Rainforest
Size: 50 cm long (excluding tail)
Diet: Herbivore (Obsidoak leaves, Gargantuan Obsiditree leaves, Broad-Trunk Obsiditree leaves, Parasitic Floats, Sapshrooms)
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Live Birth, Pouch and Milk)

The Treehook Tamow split from its ancestor and moved further inland, making its home in mixed, woodland, and rainforest habitats where the new giant obsidian trees are present. Its digging claws became more hooked, allowing it to become arboreal. It is smaller and it has lost its back spikes so that it may fit between branches more easily. Its dark, faintly striped coloration helps it blend in with the branches of the black trees as well as the dark leaf litter below. It has taken on a more stable semi-plantigrade stance. Similar to its ancestor, it is social and lives in big groups, or colonies, which work together to construct nests.

To the Treehook Tamow, the giant trees with their many branches are both food and habitat. It consumes their leaves as well as the parasitic flora growing on them, and it will construct complex communal treehouses from sticks, leaves, and mud deep in the branches. The mud is obtained by climbing down from the trees after rain, gathering a mouthful of it, and climbing back up. The mud is mainly used to plug up gaps in the walls; the Treehook Tamow is capable of building without it, but it can serve as some protection from water damage in the rainier parts of its range. The treehouses have multiple floors and can have entrances leading off to different branches. The exact appearance of the treehouse can vary somewhat, but the most common appearance consists of sticks woven into a roughly spherical shape as much as 10 meters across and connected to other such spheres by either branches or more woven sticks. This nest structure is based partially on instincts inherited from the Treehook Tamow’s ancestor, the Pickaxe Tamow, and its more distant ancestor, the Marine Tamow, but elaborated on by learned behavior.

A given colony of Treehook Tamows will consist of several families of parents and joeys, but the breeding female of one of the families will be the leader of the entire colony. The reason for a female leader is connected to construction of the communal treehouse. As safe nests are required for raising joeys, female Treehook Tamows are naturally anxious about any potential for catastrophic nest failure (that is, the nest falling apart and dumping its inhabitants out of the tree), so therefore a female leader will be quicker to notice dangerous mistakes than a male leader would be. Leadership is inherited by firstborn female joeys, but leadership can also change if a leader is too aggressive or lets too many catastrophic mistakes get through, causing the rest of the colony to “revolt” (that is, run her out of the colony). Despite female leaders being the default, male leaders still also occur fairly often. The Treehook Tamow is monogamous and does not fight over mating rights.

The Treehook Tamow, like most Shrews, has marsupial-like reproduction. It gives birth to fetus-like offspring no bigger than a grain of rice which must nurse in a pouch on their mother’s underbelly. As they grow larger, the offspring will eventually leave the pouch and start riding on their mother’s back until their tail hooks are developed enough for them to hang from branches. The insides of nests may have sticks embedded in the walls meant specifically for joeys to practice using their tails without any risk of falling out of the tree, an innovation made possible by the relatively high intelligence it inherited from its ancestor. Though the Treehook Tamow technically gives birth to as many as three dozen tiny offspring at a time, it only has 6 nipples, so only up to 6 offspring will survive to adulthood.

In the more open parts of its range, the Treehook Tamow will walk on the ground to new trees. It is more vulnerable to predation during this time, as it is when it walks on the forest floor as well.

This post has been edited by Disgustedorite: Feb 17 2021, 01:41 PM

Maineiac Rivershrog (Lutrasorex maineiacensis)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Seashrog
Habitat: Maineiac Temperate River, Maineiac Temperate Riparian, Maineiac Boreal (only for wood)
Size: 1 meter long
Diet: Carnivore (Scorpodile, Riparian Scorpodile, Maineiac Shocker, Srugeing, Dwarf Maineiac Gilltail, Red-Eye Seaswimmer, Miniswarmers, Grabbyswarmers, Flashfin Gilltail, Scraperbeak Gilltail, Pruning Gilltail)
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Live Birth)

The Maineiac Rivershrog split from its ancestor, moving into the Maineiac river biome and becoming a carnivore. Its tail saw has been altered to only form a stiff solid piece at the end, with osteoderms along the length of the tail taking over its purpose while granting more flexibility. It will still use the stiff saw at the end to lop branches off of logs. It has a competitive advantage over the local piscivore, the Tipsnapper, but their niches were easily partitioned due to the Maineiac Rivershrog’s violet pelt blending in with flora best while the Tipsnapper blended best with mud and soil. It competes somewhat with the River Lyngbakr as well and can sometimes even be preyed on by it, but it avoids encounters by preferring shallower side-streams over the main, open river. Retaining its ancestor’s intelligence, this shrog uses wooden spears to catch piscine fauna, which it has learned to attract with bait.

Some of the species listed as prey to the Maineiac Rivershrog are not its primary diet, mainly being consumed when larger prey is not available. Though young individuals will eat tiny gilltails, adults use these mainly as bait for larger prey. The Maineiac Rivershrog is more social than its ancestor, allowing it to take down large prey such as the scorpodiles as a group despite its smaller size.

Though its social intelligence level would normally only allow for mob hunting, the Maineiac Rivershrog has managed to circumvent this due to intelligence in other areas. In particular, the use of its name-barking has been modified: the Maineiac Rivershrog has given names to four cardinal directions (based on upriver, downriver, and which side of the river) and to nests. When combined with their own names, a social group can discuss amongst themselves where they will be positioned when tackling prey, on the level of detail of “Fred, upriver-side Henry’s nest”. It still lacks a hierarchy instinct, so these discussions can go on for hours if there is any disagreement. As the sounds for these are names rather than instinctive calls, they vary regionally and have to be learned by foreigners, but with how simple this “language” is--only 5 words apart from names of individuals--this hardly limits mixing between groups. Instinctive calls remain largely the same, apart from being somewhat higher-pitched than its ancestor.

No longer limited in resources, the nest of the Maineiac Rivershrog is more complex than that of its ancestor. To protect the nest from flooding, as it is typically built near the river, it is set up on stilts. This would appear to be rather difficult to build, but nest-making is usually a collaborative effort, and many logs are used for support during construction that are removed later to be repurposed elsewhere. The nest can have multiple chambers, each resembling the ancestral seashrog nests. The main, central chamber has an entrance at the bottom as well as on the top, while others usually only have entry from the top. Nests are constructed in a semi-communal effort by related rivershrogs in the same social group. Lacking fuzzpalm berries to use as glue, pieces of wood are instead tied together using roots and baebula branches. The nest itself is typically constructed of repeating treebion and four-prongion wood found in the surrounding boreal and floodplain forest, cut into planks and beams using the tail saw and bent into the needed shape before it dries. In order to cut through thick-trunked flora, the Maineiac Rivershrog partly wraps its tail around it and moves in a circle, cutting from the outside until it’s weak enough to be pushed over. The heartwood in the center is usually too stiff and dead to bend, so this is the part that is most often used for beams. Similar to its ancestor, the Maineiac Rivershrog stores food and tools inside its nest.



The Maineiac Rivershrog’s reproduction is similar to its ancestor’s. Like many spiny animals on Earth, it mates belly-to-belly. Being in a more dangerous environment with potential predators around, it no longer squeaks loudly while mating. It is placental and gestates for three months and gives birth to live young, which are naked and helpless and live in a pouch. It develops more quickly than its ancestor due to its smaller size, reaching maturity at about 4½ years of age. Though it can live up to 40 years like its ancestor, living in an inherently more dangerous environment has reduced its average life expectancy to only around 15. It has gained a mating season, mating in the fall and giving birth in the spring. Like its ancestor, the Maineiac Rivershrog is also known to engage in homosexual behavior, though in this case it tends to be more bisexual rather than strictly gay. It is polygynous and tends to pick any individual to mate with who’s attractive enough; the horn-like crest on the nose serves as a major health indicator. Mating rivalry exists, with conflict over the best mates being settled by non-fatal ritual combat--a clashing and raking of horns.

Through its nests, the Maineiac Rivershrog has spread the Cleaner Bovermid and False Cleaner Bovermid to Maineiac Temperate Riparian. The role of cleanup is filled by a new species descended from the Shailnitor, the Maineiac Shailnitor. Though the Maineiac Rivershrog finds the Maineiac Shailnitor to be cute, the narrow habitat range which they inhabit can cause the shailnitors to become overpopulated, so the rivershrog has been known to actually kill the surplus to use as bait.

Though a collection of nests belonging to a specific social group of Maineiac Rivershrogs may be referred to as a "village", it's important to note that the individual nests are not particularly close together. A group of only fifteen shrogs may have a "village" spanning as much as 2 kilometers of river, their nests being so widely spaced to avoid conflicts caused by competition for building materials and their still-low social intelligence. It isn't hyper-social like the Terran human, which also builds villages, and therefore doesn't benefit from a high population density.

This post has been edited by Disgustedorite: Feb 24 2021, 11:15 AM

Maineiac Shailnitor (Brachyukus maineiacensis)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Shailnitor
Habitat: Maineiac Temperate River, Maineiac Temperate Riparian
Size: 25 cm long
Diet: Scavenger (Maineiac Rivershrog food stores), Coprovore (Maineiac Rivershrog, Cleaner Bovermid, False Cleaner Bovermid), Detritivore
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Eggs in Water)

The Maineiac Shailnitor split from its ancestor. It co-evolved with the Maineiac Rivershrog, as such gaining the ability to survive and reproduce in a freshwater environment. It retains an inherently cute appearance with a face like that of a baby Maineiac Rivershrog. It lives primarily inside Maineiac Rivershrog nests, where it consumes dung and spoiled meat. It is notably more active and social than its ancestor, to fit the stationary, close-together nests which the rivershrogs construct, commonly leaving its home nest to socialize with others of its kind outside of mating season. It lives exclusively in Maineiac Rivershrog nests, being completely dependent on them for survival.

The Maineiac Shailnitor has a mating season in the spring. A male and a female will enter water and mate side to side facing opposite directions. The eggs are laid in pools created by spring floods, hidden in flora which prevents them from being swept away by currents. The aquatic hatchlings survive on detritus early in their lives, but gain their terrestrial adaptations quickly and soon make their way towards a Maineiac Rivershrog “village”. A Maineiac Rivershrog may allow as many as 10 Maineiac Shailnitors to live inside its nest, but there is often still a surplus of shailnitors each year; it is not uncommon for juveniles to be killed and used as bait when they become overpopulated, keeping their numbers in check.

Similar to its ancestor, the Maineiac Shailnitor has active respiration through a lung in its shell, which differs from that of non-shailnitor uktanks in that it is filled with air instead of water. It has desiccation-resistant chitinous skin, and ears derived from its shell.

Long-Tailed Flunejaw (Spinomaxilla longicauda)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Needlespike Flunejaw
Habitat: Dixon-Darwin Boreal, Darwin Alpine, South Dixon Alpine, North Dixon Alpine, Verserus Alpine
Size: 2.5 meters long (excluding tail); 1.5-2 meter long tail
Diet: Carnivore (Climber Crystalkrugg, Bloodback, Common Fraboo, Minikruggs, Grovecrystal Krugg, Soaring Phlyer nestlings)
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Hard-Shelled Eggs)

The Long-Tailed Flunejaw replaced its ancestor and outcompeted the Mountain Flunejaw. As its name suggests, it has a very long tail. This is used to assist it in keeping its balance on rough terrain, and is among the key factors in its replacement of its ancestors. The length of the tail varies somewhat among individuals, usually being longer in subspecies found in rougher, harder-to-climb terrain. Like its ancestor, it is capable of generating some of its own body heat; however, it is significantly better at doing so, being able to maintain enough body heat that it doesn’t need to bask at all. It is not yet an endotherm, however, but a mesotherm; it depends on the environment to raise its body temperature above its maintained minimum. It has lost its spikes, as they did not help it gain heat at all and were actually the main part of its body losing heat at any given time, contrary to the erroneous descriptions of its ancestors and relatives. It is found across the entire range of elevation of its ancestor and ancestor’s ancestor.

Similar to its ancestor, the Long-Tailed Flunejaw hunts by stalking its prey and pouncing. Its long tail can be swung to change trajectory in midair if needed, such as if it misses its pounce and is headed straight for a cliff. Its blind spot is greatly extended due to an important change it has made; its eyes are arranged in a triangle, as having eyes further back would restrict its jaw muscles and having eyes along its snout would make its upper jaw incredibly fragile and prone to shattering. The extension to its blind spot this has created is mitigated by the fact that, like its ancestor, it can turn its head to look around for predators. Like its ancestor, it will kill and eat injured soaring phlyer nestlings.

The Long-Tailed Flunejaw has lost its colorful neck scales, as the dim environment created by the prominence of black shade trees made them too difficult to see. Instead, its body scales are iridescent black: cryptic in the dark, but shimmeringly beautiful when they catch light. The iridescence is present in both males and females, but it’s less prominent in the latter. Similar to its ancestor, it has poor senses of taste and hearing. It is not completely deaf, despite lacking external ears; it can sense vibrations using its jaws, similar to many “earless” tetrapods on Earth.

Being a poor digger due to its hooves, the Long-Tailed Flunejaw sleeps in dens within natural caves or abandoned burrows created by other fauna within its range. It kills more kruggs than it will eat at a time and stashes them around its territory to consume later, especially for over the winter in the southern parts of its range. Stashed kruggs may still technically be alive, just with crushed or removed heads, preserving them while preventing their escape.

Like its ancestor, the Long-Tailed Flunejaw is most active at night. However, in the dark, oddly warm shadows of the Obsidoaks, night and day can sometimes be indistinguishable; as a result, it’s possible to find Long-Tailed Flunejaws out and about even in the middle of a sunny day.

This post has been edited by Disgustedorite: Feb 26 2021, 07:40 PM

Argusraptor Complex (Argusraptor complicatus)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Brighteyes
Habitat: Dixon-Darwin Boreal, Dixon-Darwin Rocky, Dixon-Darwin High Grassland, Dixon Savanna, Dixon Tropical Scrub, Dixon Tropical Woodland, Javen Tropical Woodland, Javen Tropical Scrub, Darwin Savanna, North Darwin Tropical Scrub, North Darwin Tropical Woodland
Size: 1.2-1.6 meters long
Diet: Omnivore/Carnivore (Ouranocorn, Hikahoe, Gnarbolonk, Ramchin, Neoshrew, Swiftsnapper, Barkback, Shrubrattus, Oviaudiator, Thorny Toadtuga, Spineless Toadtuga, River Hikahoe, Spinemander, Montemsnapper, juvenile Westward Haglox, Short-Necked Shrew, Scrambled Shrew, Phouka, Regal Sphinx, Gryphler, Brighteyes, Dusty Spelunkhoe, Rosybeak Phyler, Cragagon, Dualtrunk, Sitting Dundi, Nightsnapper, Binsnoo, Scrub Brakback, Robynsnapper, Xatazelle, Pickaxe Tamow, Desert Tilecorn, Gracilxata, Xatagolin, Tasermane, Briarback, Hedgimal, Snoronk, Varant, Dundigger, Grassland Lizatokage, Shroom Herder, Mothhead, Rainforest Buttpiper, Grabnub, Xatadeega, Dixon Hookphlyer, Umbral Sphinx, Vermisnapper, Exoskelesor, Fluneinzee, Bristlepile fruit, Sapsrooms, Supershrooms, Berry Arbourshroom, Tamed Berry Arbourshrooms, Crystal Brambley, Boreal Tubeplage fruit, Crystal Swordgrass, Gecoba Tree fruit, Bloodsap Melontree fruit, Signpost Crystamboo, Pagoda Crystal, Scrubland Tubeflage fruit, Crystamble, Fuzzpile berries, Mainland Fuzzpalm berries, Tropical Gecoba Tree fruit, Woodland Grovecrystal, Pixy Plyent, Crown-Of-Thorns Plyent, Tropical Crystamboo, Caprystal, Rifamboo, Fruiting Grovecrystal, Minikruggs, Leafplate, Snowplower, Robust Rainforest Ukjaw, Plehexapod, Striped Phlock, Drakogg, Giant Hornface, Snoofloo, Scrubland Hornface, Phanadon, Proto-Uksoar)
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Bird-Like Eggs)

The Argusraptor Complex is a pair of closely-related predatory saucebacks, the Lesser Argusraptor (A. c. amicus) and the Terrible Argusraptor (A. c. dirus), which are locked in a constant cycle of separation and hybridization, causing them to be so deeply intertwined that despite disparate niches they are nonetheless a single species. This occurred as a result of the massive competitive advantage they have over other saucebacks in their range, which placed taking already-filled predatory niches on the path of least resistance and in turn caused them to radiate and push other species out of their niches significantly faster than they could speciate from one another. They have completely lost their echolocation ability, no longer needing it at all.

These Argusraptors have very high genetic flexibility, but the two main subspecies remain more or less consistent during stable conditions. The Lesser Argusraptor is smaller and more omnivorous, while the Terrible Argusraptor is larger and primarily eats meat. The two regularly trade genes related to pack hunting, resulting in spurts of wolf-like Lesser Argusraptors and, more significantly, pack-hunting Terrible Argusraptors capable of filling the role of a significantly larger superpredator. This constant trade of genes and shifts in niche and behavior makes the Argusraptor Complex too complex and adaptable for many fauna to compete against. This has resulted in their conquest of predatory niches affecting not just saucebacks, but many of the other carnivores in their environment as well, including ones significantly larger than them.

These Argusraptors are able to eat a myriad of creatures both large and small. The chitinous jaws make short work of wooden armor found on many plents and almost completely bypass defensive spikes. They will even eat plyents. They also readily eat fruit and crystal flora, which are easy to digest. They are still capable of running up steep slopes, though instead of just flapping feathers they make use of the entire outer toe. They only walk on the inner toe, effectively reverting them back to a more primitive state for saucebacks. They can also still glide, though this ability is diminished in larger individuals. Like Terran wolves, they vary in coloration across their range to blend in with a myriad of environments. (Pictured are just two of many variations, an obsidian forest morph of the Terrible Argusraptor and a rocky shrub morph of the Lesser Argusraptor.)

The teeth of these Argusraptors are unusual among those of saucebacks in that all of the teeth in the oral ring can extend out of the mouth and be pulled back in. This creates a grabbing motion which eases the process of devouring meat and grappling with large prey. The position of their eyestrils do not line up with the positions of their teeth, with the section of skin which forms them instead lifting away from the teeth and moving into different positions during embryonic development.

These Argusraptors lay hard-shelled eggs. Their lack of echolocation means that predators cannot locate their nests by sound. The babies hatch legless and featherless and are fed regurgitated food by their parents. In pack-hunting groups, the entire pack will help raise the young of the lead breeding pair.

The Argusraptor Complex has caused the complete local extinction of Gnarblunter, Harnessback, Desert Ukjaw, Shikaaree, Stride Sauceback, and Terrorbeak through outcompetition. As mentioned before, they were able to outcompete especially large predators by hunting in packs. However, they have failed to outcompete the Shepherd Harnessback, as it is able to defend herds against argusraptor attack. A number of oddly-colored organisms which they do not particularly compete with have also been eaten to extinction within their range due to them not being prepared for the appearance of a sauceback that hunts by sight and can see such a wide range of colors: Leafplate, Snowplower, Robust Rainforest Ukjaw, Plehexapod, Striped Phlock (it was not particularly dazzled by its conspicuous colors), Drakogg, Giant Hornface, Snoofloo, Scrubland Hornface, and Phanadon. It has also eaten the Proto-Uksoar to extinction locally as a result of the species being maladapted. All of these sudden extinctions--an inevitability of the Dixon-Darwin interchange, even if not by sauceback tusk--have created a significant ecological vacuum.

Electini (Electinius ssp.)

Creator: Hydromancerx
Ancestor: Octhermas
Habitat: Global (Sagan 4)
Size: 1 μm to 10 μm Wide
Diet: Lithotrophs (Manganese)
Reproduction Binary Fission

The the genus group Electini split from its ancestor genus group Octhermas. While it still lives in the same habitats as its ancestor such as deep sea vents and hot springs it has developed to consume a different food source. Like Earth's Shewanella oneidensis, it consumes Manganese.Specifically it reduces metal ions in the manganese. It is capable of surviving and proliferating in both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Unlike its ancestor they are more diamond in shape. Their thick cell walls protect them from the heat. When growing they make a biofilm around anything they grow on. Some species even creating grid-like mats. They reproduce through binary fission.

Electini are considered a DMRM (Dissimilatory Metal-Reducing Microorganisms). DMRMs are microorganisms that can perform anaerobic respiration utilizing a metal as terminal electron acceptor rather than molecular oxygen (O2), which is the terminal electron acceptor reduced to water (H2O) in aerobic respiration. The most common metals used for this end are iron [Fe(III)] and manganese [Mn(IV)], which are reduced to Fe(II) and Mn(II) respectively, and most microorganisms that reduce Fe(III) can reduce Mn(IV) as well. But in Electini they specialize in Manganese. In simple term they "eat and breathe" electricity from heavy metals.

This post has been edited by Hydromancerx: Mar 8 2021, 10:09 PM