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Mikuks (Formirana spp)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Neuks
Habitat: Global (Sagan 4)
Size: 1-10 mm long
Diet: Scavenger, Detritivore
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Eggs in Water)

With fauna in their ant-like size range lacking, Mikuks split from their ancestor and claimed the wide-open small-scale scavenging and detritivore niches. They are so small that they hatch incredibly fast, allowing them to reproduce in practically any standing water at all. This has allowed them to thrive in regions with less water than their ancestors could. With their dietary habits including detritivory, they have easily spread to islands and continents all over Sagan 4 by way of rafting on the very dead flora they consume.

The Mikuks’ tooth is serrated and used to cut through carcasses and detritus so that the food may be more easily stuffed in their small mouth which has moved to the base of the tooth. They can rest on their tail for stability, though usually prefer to walk or hop on two legs, and the hand at the end of the tail makes an effective grasper as needed. Unlike their ancestors, they hatch with mostly adult proportions, though they still offer parental care and will assist their offspring if they get trapped by surface tension and other threats of the small world. Their upper claws are relatively small in many species, mainly being used for climbing and pulling food towards their faces, though some species may make use of longer claws for self-defense

With their small size and fast reproductive rate, Mikuks speciate readily and it would be impossible to describe their thousands of species individually. In general, temperate and polar species will hibernate underground or under leaf litter over winter to avoid freezing to death. Desert species, too, often spend much of their time underground; some are nocturnal or crepuscular to avoid the heat of day, while others spend their whole lives in burrows and only appear during rainstorms. A handful of incredibly specialized species can live on ice, such as snowy peaks, depending heavily on antifreeze proteins to not die. Coloration of a given species usually corresponds to the color of the local soil or leaf litter.

Camouflage Foi (Exotedebikwali camo)

Creator: MNIDJM
Ancestor: River Foi
Habitat: Wright Salt Swamp, Pipcard Salt Swamp, Terra Salt Swamp, Kenotai Salt Swamp, BigL Tropical Coast
Size: 10 mm long
Diet: Planktovore, Detritivore
Reproduction: Fragmentation

The camouflage foi diverged from their freshwater ancestors about 20,000 years after their ancestors first re-emerged from the subterranean waterways, adapting first to the brackish water of Wright, and then eventually the greater tropical coasts beyond. They are functionally the same as their distant marine ancestors, living simple lives on the ocean floor vacuuming up food that they pass over. They have become accustomed to the salinity, and function within a range between 2.1 to 3.7 %. Ion channels along the cell membranes of these creatures constantly maintain equilibrium, but this appears to require an enormous energy expenditure, which results in rather sluggish behavior compared to their freshwater and subterranean relatives. They prefer environments with slower currents and tidal forces, slithering along the seabed at a top speed of 0.25 kph.

They are mostly transparent, which provides some protection, but due to its lack of otherwise natural defenses and limited mobility it appears the best manageable. In low light conditions they are nearly imperceptible to organisms with a typical color vision range, and only limited detection appears when these organisms are moving. Their eyes have seen partial functionality return, allowing them to detect changing light levels above them. This allows them to seek out shaded or otherwise dim light areas, though their vision does not appear complex enough to distinguish between dim light area and dark bodies organisms. They have been shown to seek out the darkest objects in their field of vision, occasionally leading them directly into potential predators that are resting on the seabed.

Pilokepderi (Tubernullus runrundus)

Creator: MNIDJM
Ancestor: Pilonomroot
Habitat: Maineiac Chaparral, Maineiac Polar Scrub, Maineiac Rocky, Maineiac Volcanic, Maineiac High Grassland
Size: 75 cm Wide
Diet: Photosynthesis, Insectivore (Poison Pedesorm, Sprinting Pedesorm, Armored Pedesorm, Harvester Pedesorm, Miner Pedesorm, Sapworms, Dartirs)
Reproduction: Sexual: Flowers and Airborne Seeds

The Pilokepderi arose from the inland proliferation of their ancestors. Growing alongside their relatives such as the Pilunoroot, they use their insectivorous capacity to give them an edge in nutrient acquisition. They live functionality the same as their ancestors, allowing their seeds to be varied on the wind. They have developed frond-like protrusions along their basal root-trunks that aids them in trapping prey organisms as they wander by. These fronds secrete a modified phloem sap that contain various carbohydrates, proteins and waste products that when mixed appear to generate a thick, viscous fluid that is capable of entangling prey creature. The prey that are captured, typically a member of one of the ground based pedesorm species, slowly die of starvation, and their nutrients provide for the flora. Study of the organisms shows the fronds appear to be derived from the same basal peddle like fronds that grow on the flowering bodies, which act doubly as to increase surface area to allow for improved photosynthesing capacity. This functionality however appear to be purely secondary, yet it remains undetermined wether the fronds developed for their role in capturing prey or if the increased photosynthetic capabilites evolved first.

Swarmerkings (Colonimanxerxia spp)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Microswarmers
Habitat: Global (Sagan 4)
Size: 100-500 micrometers long
Diet: Photosynthesis, Nitrogen-Fixing
Reproduction: Sexual (male and female, spawning)

Swarmerkings are various microswarmers which have altered their tentacles into holdfasts, allowing them to cling to rocks, flora, and one another. They have developed a flattened leaf-like shape and can orient themselves towards the sun. Their name comes from their tendency to stick together by their holdfasts, which can cause them to resemble Terran ratkings or perhaps the Gillkings of another time and place.

Swarmerkings are unique among swarmers in that they are nitrogen fixers. Some of their chloroplasts are modified to skip the oxygen-generating step of photosynthesis, and they use the hydrogen they have obtained in combination with atmospheric nitrogen (N2) to form ammonium (NH4+). This allows them to thrive in habitats with less usable nitrogen, as they can produce their own to form the compounds they need to survive. They are significantly more effective nitrogen fixers than the chemotrophic Nitrocycle microbes, so they have actually begun to outcompete some of the nitrogen-fixing Nitrocycles in sunlit habitats. The only thing preventing them from completely outcompeting nitrogen-fixing Nitrocycles in sunlit regions is the fact that said Nitrocycles form symbiotic relationships with flora, which the Swarmerkings have no access to. Anywhere where such flora don’t exist, however, Swarmerkings can completely dominate the nitrogen fixer niche, with actual nitrogen-fixing Nitrocycles only being present because of their faster rate of reproduction.

There are many, many species of Swarmerking. They can live in any habitat which has moisture, including on ice and in soil. Species which reside in dry and icy habitats are able to go dormant as needed to wait out poor conditions, being able to withstand both desiccation and freezing.

Whip Swarmers (Flagellamancerxia spp)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Microswarmers
Habitat: Global (Sagan 4)
Size: 50-100 micrometers long (excluding flagella)
Diet: Photosynthesis
Reproduction: Sexual (male and female, spawning)

Whip Swarmers are various highly motile microswarmers which use their greatly elongated tentacles as flagella. This allows them to utilize motility to move towards light, should a shadow fall on them or if they drift into deep water. This also allows them to swim away from predators. Notably, they actually swim backwards--their tentacle-flagella pull them, rather than push!

There are many, many species of Whip Swarmer. They can live anywhere where there is water, with a notable preference for slower currents. Polar species may hibernate over the dark winters. They are not as resistant to ice and desiccation as their cousins, the Swarmerkings, but this does not stop them from having a few species that thrive in desert oases and icy rivers. They can also hibernate in the water table, which allows them to be easily transported between different river ecosystems. They are quite similar to their ancestor, being purely phototrophs.

Southern Bubblgea (Aeropod australis)

Creator: MNIDJM
Ancestor: Bubble Droopgea
Habitat: South Jujubee Polar Ocean (Sunlight Zone), South LadyM Polar Ocean (Sunlight Zone), Nemo Polar Shallows, Krakow Polar Shallows, Colddigger Polar Coast, Fermi Polar Coast
Size: 10 cm Wide, 30 cm Long
Diet: Photosynthesis
Reproduction: Asexual Budding

The southern bubblgea replaced their ancestors as the last remaining populations of bubble droopgea adapted to the polar south of Sagan 4. They are hardy and slow growing, taking 5 years to reach maturity. They live their younger stage anchored to the seabed, absorbing nutrients and building up stores. Once they reach sufficient size, they detach from the seabed in early spring and begin free-floating. While they are able to continue absorbing nutrients through their root stalks, they are terribly inefficient at this, and can only sustain themselves for another few months. They spend the summer months generating internalized buds within their leaf-like protrusions on the bubble. Once the winter approaches and sunlight decreases to negligible levels, the adult bubblgea dies, sinking to the seabed. If they have drifted to a sufficient location, the internal buds will rupture from their corpses and use its nutrients to feed the next generation.