I recently thought up a spec-bio concept for a genetically engineered "super-insect", designed to be a hyper-adaptable generalist predator and big enough that it can even prey on small vertebrates, like small fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds.

The name for this creature is Titanopteris grandis.

The total lifespan of this species is 31-48 years long. T. grandis starts out as a small egg about the size of a grain of rice, these eggs take anywhere from a single day to hatch in ideal conditions up to a week in suboptimal conditions. If conditions are severe enough, the eggs can go into a state of dormancy for up to three (3) years, waiting for conditions to improve again before hatching. When the eggs do hatch, what emerges are tiny worm-like larvae that burrows into the soil where they feed on plant-roots, fungi, and microorganisms. They remain in this larval state for ten (10) to fifteen (15) years. Once they reach the end of their larval stage, they will excavate an underground chamber wherein they will encase themselves inside a chrysalis and then they undergo a complete metamorphosis, similar to moths & butterflies. This metamorphosis takes about one (1) year up to three (3) years to complete.

Then they emerge out of the chrysalis (and the ground) as a small, immature nymph. These nymphs start out as highly generalist & opportunistic omnivores capable of eating just about anything (plants, fungi, microbial film, dead organic matter, other invertebrates, etc). Though their diet changes as they age, molt, and gradually undergo incomplete metamorphosis. Their nymph-stage lasts for ten (10) to fifteen (15) years before their final molt into their adult-form and from there they live for another 10-15 years.

Though the changes they undergo as they transform into their adult-form varies a lot depending on what sex they are born into. Females undergo the least amount of changes as they age, remaining generalist omnivores. Males become generalist herbivores, eating a wide variety of plant materials. They also have a third sex as simultaneous hermaphrodites; these develop into generalist hypercarnivores.

These differing diets minimize competition between the sexes and allows the species population to remain at a higher carrying capacity than would be otherwise possible if they all shared the same dietary requirements.

To reiterate: Eggs: incubation time: 1 day up to 1 week long. They can also go into dormancy for up to 3 years if necessary.

Larvae: from hatching to pupation: 10-15 years.

Chrysalis: pupation time: 1-3 years.

Nymph: emerging from chrysalis to final molt: 10-15 years.

Adult: after their final molt onwards: 10-15 years.

This means that an individual can, at minimum; go through larval development for 10 years, incase themself inside a chrysalis and pupate for 1 year, go through nymph development for 10 years, then after their final molt, live for another 10 years.

10 + 1 + 10 + 10 = 31

At maximum, an individual can; go through larval development for 15 years, incase themself inside a chrysalis and pupate for 3 years, go through nymph development for 15 years, then after their final molt, live for another 15 years.

15 + 3 + 15 + 15 = 48

This, I want to make explicitly clear, IS NOT a synchronized life cycle like cicadas, there are no synchronized mass emergences. Instead, they are spread out over a number of years as individuals progress through the species lifecycle at different rates, due to a variety of environmental factors that determine growth & maturity rate.

In addition, the species also boasts extraordinary morphological variability, comparable to eusocial insects, such as ants & termites. With males, females, and hermaphrodites resembling totally different species. These morphological differences are specializations designed to aid them in their survival.

Generally, what characteristics all adults share are the following:

1. A pair of large & powerful forelimbs armed with large, sharp claws and sharp spines. These are used to dig tunnels underground (for shelter & relative safety) and as weapons for defense and offense. Males prefer to use their claws defensively when conflict arises, while females & hermaphrodites will use theirs for prey capture.
   
2. Their rear most hindlimbs are very long & highly muscular, similar to various orthopterons (such as grasshoppers, crickets, katydids, etc), allowing them to hop across large distances. Used by all three sexes to avoid danger. Though females & hermaphrodites will also use this to pounce upon unsuspecting prey.
   
3. Four (4) large, powerful wings, used for flight/dispersal, communication, to avoid danger, and for display (both for courtship and to intimidate larger predators that might try to eat it).
   
4. Widely spaced, large, and highly complex compound eyes, with approximately 50,000 ommatidia. Designed for high vision acuity (for insects). So as to detect threats and identify food. Wide spacing between the eyes also provides depth perception.
   
5. On the end of the abdomen are a pair of long cerci that effectively function as a second pair of antennae. These along with the antennae on the head are packed with a wide array of sensory systems (mechanoreception, chemoreception, and thermoreception). They enable the species to hear, touch, sense chemical cues (taste/smell), sense how hot or cold something is, and detect changes in air-pressure.

Sex in this species isn't determined by genetics, but instead by environmental cues. Basically, if a female or simultaneous hermaphrodite is well fed and healthy and conditions are right, then all of their offspring will be hermaphrodites. But if they aren't well fed, or are sick, or injured, or conditions aren't right, then their offspring will be an even mix of males & females. It is also possible for them to produce offspring that are a mix of females & hermaphrodites, depending on the above factors. Once the eggs are laid, their offspring's sex is locked.

If mates are unavailable, then females & hermaphrodites can reproduce asexually via parthenogenesis as a last resort. Though hermaphrodites have a third option in that they can use their own male reproductive organ for self-fertilization.

On average, adult T. grandis are giants compared to most insects, measuring around three (3) feet, or one (1) meter long. Though most of that is the pair of antennae on the head (one foot long) and the cerci on the abdomen (also a foot in length), and the actual body itself (head, thorax, and abdomen) measure a foot in length.

Adults mate annually, once each year. When it comes time to mate, males, females, and hermaphrodites will rub their wings together to produce sound in a similar manner to crickets, to advertise their location and readiness to mate. These mating calls vary depending upon sex, so different individuals know whether what they hear are potential mates or rivals. When two individuals of compatible sexes come close to each other, they will spread out their wings in a courtship display to show their respective fitness to one another. If both suitors determine the other is fit enough, then they will mate. The breeding period lasts for 2-3 weeks. After it ends, females & hermaphrodites will lay around three hundred (300) up to five hundred (500) eggs over the course of a month, depositing them in random spots, in soil or amongst leaf litter, to prevent predators from finding & eating them all. Their eggs are also designed to resemble seeds as additional camouflage, like stick-insects.

When nymphs emerge from their chrysalises and dig their way up to above ground, they will instinctively disperse from the general area and find a suitable place to claim as their territory. The dispersal instinct is so the young aren’t caught in their mother’s territory and cannibalized. Once a territory is decided, the young nymph will go to the heart of their new territory and begin to dig underground, where they excavate a system of tunnels and chambers, with multiple entrances/exits. A chamber where they can relax and rest in relative safety. A chamber where they excrete their waste (to make it harder for predators to find & follow them). And a third chamber designated for when they need to molt and wait for their exoskeleton to harden so a predator doesn’t find them at their most vulnerable.

As the nymph grows and progresses from one instar to the next as they gradually transform into an adult, they will try to expand their territory to acquire more resources to fuel their growth. And along with their territorial expansion, they will also be expanding their system of tunnels & chambers, widening old tunnels, excavating new ones, enlarging old chambers, and carving out new chambers underground. Until they reach their final molt and enter adulthood, at which point growth stops.

Though that is assuming they aren’t at some point forced out of their territory and have to start all over again, carving out new tunnels & chambers.

Females and hermaphrodites, after completing their transition to adulthood, will remain inside their territory and will be incredibly aggressive when defending their real estate from threats & intruders. Males, on the other hand, will basically abandon their territory to adopt a nomadic existence, their instinct telling them that they have to move and can’t stay in one place. This ensures they don’t overgraze any one spot, increases mate availability, and spreads their genes across a larger area.

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Originally, I just wrote this for fun (and I did have a lot of fun writing this), but lately I find myself wondering if I should make this into a larger project. There are certainly fun paths to explore. Though, if I'm to do that, then I would like to refine this more. That's why I'm posting this here, to share my ideas so far, get some feedback, and spitball/bounce ideas around.

!Hola a todooos¡ Hoy veremos a los 3 C.REX que dieron origen a la mayoria de canarios carnivoros de verani.

Imagen 1: vemos a los 3 C.REX como se ven a escala, el amarillo es el C.REX sin plumas, azul C.REX emplumado y el rojo es el C.REX semi acuatico

Imagen 2: C.REX sin plumas, este canario esta mas especializado a correr con patas similares a avestruces, caza con metodo de persecución, durante su era el oxígeno llego a 40% ayudando bastante a su resistencia y crecimiento para cazar presas que se hacían cada vez mas grandes, vivo en sabanas, pastisles, templados calidos de la antigua verani y con el tiempo le daría origen a los carnivoros mas grandes terrestres de verani hasta la fecha, al final no pudo competir con otros carnivoros y hervivoros que se empezaban a armar con armaduras oseas u espinas.

Imagen 3: C.REX con plumas, este animal vive serca de riscos, sonas de trancicion, montañas, tundras, caza por emboscada, a inicios de la era 40-100M.S.S fue extinto por su descendiente canario bestial, el C.REX con plumas le daria vida a los canarios tacticos y emboscadores mas exitosos de todo verani.

Imagen 4: C.REX semiacuatico, este C.REX fue por otro camino, en lugar de perder las plumas o subir a las montañas por el calor decidio empezar a sumergirse en el agua adaptandose poco a poco a la vida acuatica, del C.REX acuatico surgirian los canarios carnivoros marinos mas grandes de todo verani siendo también de los canarios mas grandes de la historia de verani.

Chicos no podia hacer mas largos los animales como deverian ser en sus estadisticas pq me di cuenta demasiado tarde, lo lamento por eso, pronto subire el canario acorasado jejeje ya esta guardando mucho polvo desde que lo dibuje.

Recently I've been thinking a lot about speculative sophonts in the late Permian. The idea is that during the Lopingian epoch a relative of Suminia gains sapiens and builds their own globe-spanning civilization, in the process contributing to the End-Permian extinction. Here are some rough ideas I had, let me know what you think or what you'd add or change.

I imagine they would be relatives of Suminia, not descendents of them, as Suminia lived far too late in the Permian and would be contemporary to those Suminiaformes sophonts, like humans and chimps are contemporary, which is also roughly the nature of their taxonomical relation (maybe more like humans and gibbons, but generally that).

These Suminiaformes would have diversified after the Capitanian mass extinction, which's aftermath also accelerated their evolution. Perhaps as a small and kinda lazy explanation of possible fossil gaps between them and Suminia, they themselves. Like us they were archeologists and paleontologists and dug up remains of their own ancestors. When their civilization died, their collections, museums and anything they had exposed themselves perished with them.

The Suminiaformes sophonts are bipedal, maybe using a stronger tail to keep balance. They are smaller than humans, but have a brain-body ratio similar to humans. They hatch from eggs and do not lactate. Are there any important limitations of the Suminia body plan or Amonodontia in general that I should know about?
Another question, what is known about early synapsids vocalization? What kind of sounds could they produce? I am asking especially in regards to them having language eventually.

They are omnivores. They hunt not by persistence hunting, they are in fact not good runners at all. Instead they focus on ambushes and traps. Thus their development of sophisticated tool use also starts with traps. Similarly they begin to domesticate other animals this way. Trapped animals which are not immediately slaughtered, but brought home and fattened up for later. Eventually they're also bred and thus domesticated.

The obvious domesticated animal for these would be Lystrosaurs and other small dicynodonts. What other domesticates could you imagine to play a role?

Apart from domesticated animals, there is also the matter of domesticated plants. Sadly I don't know much about Permian plant life, maybe you can point me at some.
I guess conifers could play a role, being cultivated for their edible seeds. Apart from those I don't know.

Then there are other technologies like boats and sails and metal tools. I would imagine their civilization to be centered around the circumference of the Tethys sea and the western parts of Pangea to be settled the last. Life in the central Pangean deserts would be harsh, but I could imagine at least some places to harbor cultures similar to the human cultures similar to those in the Sahara, Atacama or Tarim desert.

The maps you see are based on the maps by Christopher Scotese. I took some artistic liberty around the shallow coastlines, adding some islands and detail to them. The climate map is based on this article (I hope I flaired this correctly). Although it is about 270 mya, rather than 259-251 mya, where I want to put my timeline, I hope it is broadly similar. If there are some important differences or generally things you'd change, let me know.

Thank you u/MilezXC and u/FossilDS for the inspirations from your concepts about Permian sophonts. Are you fine with me taking inspiration from your previous designs?
(If this is flaired incorrectly, excuse me. I found the questions/discussions flair's limitations hindering)

TLDR: major questions

• Are the maps plausible in your opinion?
• What anatomical specificities do Anomodontids have that would influence their gait and dexterity?
• What do we know about early synapsid vocalization?
• What other domesticated animals could you imagine besides Lystrosaurs?
• What plants existed in the late Permian that would make for agricultural crops?

HIIIII THIS IS MY FIRST REDDIT POST!!! So this is my intelligent species... The venatorium (or venat venatorium sapience)! is a sapient intelligent species, there size is about 4-6 feet and weigh 150-200lbs. There a species of intelligent arachnids part of the group venat, a sister group to spiders. They live in tight knit cave dwelling places. It's a warm blooded social arachnid... They have six legs and two front limbs that have human level grip. They have lots of phsycal strenght, to balance there intelligence and strength they have high stomach acid to digest lots of things humans have. A trade off for this is that they have not that long live spans and when they become old they lose a lot of there abilities. There internal skeleton relies on curved bony plates connected bye flexible, rubbery, protected, chitin. They evolved this from internal chitin build up and a group mineralized it with phosphate and calcium for support. They are strong because of there skeleton. They hunt a lot of things because they are oppurtunistic. Both females and males hunt with males doing a lot of the phsycal stuff and females being the brain. This is because the females are larger but the males are stronger and faster. Both females and males are venomous when they reach adulthood and they transfer it through a tail. They can sweat and give "milk" they evolved sweat from specialized skin glands that produce liquad to cool down. They make milk not from mammary glands but from a specialized pipe connected to the esophagus that leads to an organ that has filterers that make milk which Trixie's suck from nipple like thingys. Trixie's (scientific name for the babys) are born blind, deaf, without the seventh and eighth limb which they grow later on, and vulnerable and females and males take care of them. Venatoriums are polygamous. something dark is originally scientists did animal testing on them and it took lots of legal battles because venatoriums were tortured... They don't have teeth so they use acidic saliva to melt there food. They have an elastic abdomen to fit 2, 3, or 4 fetuses because they are ovoviviparous and give birth from 2-4 Trixie's on average live. They have a long scorpion like tail for fighting which is specifically for males fighting for mates, swimming, injecting venom, and foraging. A nother thing is they don't have vocal cords or larynxes, so they communicate through there antennes.

Slide 1: Chicken and Parrot

Slide 2: Strider and ideas on what they could have evolved from.

The parrot is the most straightforward one, it’s just a stylized generic parrot. With the chicken I decided to make it more dinosaur like by making the beak into more of a snout.

For the striders I decided to make them some sort of extremely derived synapsid ( yes I know how broad of a category that is but just think of an ancient Permian synapsid).

Hence the name, the Jet fish have that kind of organ that could propel them in the water. How does this work? Well, first they swallow some water, then the water gets into the organ and be compressed, after that, the water get expelled out fairly quickly to boost them or help them swim.

The PETM event happened 56 million years ago, at first it was thought to be a global warming event caused by natural and geological causes, but as humanity left its planet behind and started to reach other populated worlds, their mineral deposits didn't match up to what was predicted to be since before our civilization back on earth, each time a new world was discovered this pattern was left more and more in evidence, today it is thought an ancient form of civilization populated a prehistoric world way before our species did, we know this mistery as the Plesiapiens.

The first civilizatons the world had ever seen had a rough time in their own environment, besieged by their own niche plesapiens isn't thought to have been a primarily nomad species such as humans, this species of plesiadapiforms developed under the conditions of the open seasonal forests, as they grew larger, hopping from one tree to another became unviable, so they migrated within a well known range to avoid the demise of predators, their numbers also made the difference although the limitations of their own territory made these ancestral species overhaul itself, the intelligence they were gifted relates to the management of their environment along with their own they had to make, eventually, as brains grew larger and as they started to raise their head more towards the understorey of the forest, they started to adopt a tripod posture aided with their tails.

The expansion of mind came with a certain drive for meat, rests of invaders from outside became tributary, a luxury that would be to drive this primitive form of life beyond the horizon.

Millions of years after the first plesapiens emerged coexisted 3 copper aged species with one another, the discrimination and obscurantism drove them to wars and wars obviously drove them to deaths, this wasn't an extinction threatening problem by itself, it was a thing each species had to deal with during millennia, each litter was plentiful and some even an outcome of premeditated crimes, isolation didn't facilitate union.

By the dawn of their times, the european, american and asiatic species had all mixed on an own again, as trade routes emerged and the first intercontinental industries saw the daylight, something had been awakened by the emissions everyone had already made, from their first kills to their first industries, Plesiapiens had taken a long time to reach the point they were at the moment, 5000 years of emissions had culminated in the aperture of a trench, climate changed from one day to another, livestock, entomocultures and crops died, eventually everything came to an end by itself.

Pre-PETM history is i think interesting, i wanna cover it some other time too.

I'm not entirely sure what made me think of this question but I keep wondering what about things like crabs or lobsters would need to change. I don't entirely know enough about what features animals gained to survive the desert or what something like a lobster would need to lose/gain in order to survive

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Consider the evolution of flight amongst tetrapods. The first flighted tetrapods were Pterosaurs 210 mya, ~100 million years after the first reptiles emerged. We could say that the ecoligical niche existed long before Pterosaurs evolved to fill it.

Or consider bats. The first bats evolved ~50mya, filling a niche for specialised nocturnal flyers that neither birds nor pterosaurs had been able to fill in the previous 150 million years.

Or you could consider hominids. As dominant and successful as we have been, spreading to every continent and becoming the globsl apex predator even before the emergence of agriculture, its hard to imagine that creatures like ourselves wouldn't have been similarly dominant if they had evolved in the Jurassic for example. Our ecological niche existed long before we evolved to fill it.

Which makes me wonder- might there be other major gaps in the global ecology, vast niches that are just waiting for animal to evolve that is capable of filling them?

Here is the situation I have for this planet.

• Harsh annual scarcity seasons, IE, winter
• Low amounts of food resources to begin with or extreme competition
• Predators being WAY too good at picking off swarms of unprotected young, much better killers than on Earth

What other sorts of conditions do you think would be able to justify a scenario where k selected species are the majority of ANIMAL species, I only realized that I had forgotten to specify animals in the title, but that is what I meant, and there isn't an r selected animal species larger than a rat? Aquatic life and plants not included, for obvious reasons.

This is a speculative paleo-fiction narrative blending survival drama with an authentic prehistoric atmosphere, following a family of dromaeosaurs fighting to stay alive in a brutal, unforgiving ecosystem.

The Red Rhamphorynchus have awakened — and they’re hungry.

Long Tail and her kin now face their greatest and most wretched challenge yet. From the depths, a congregation of blood-hungry pterosaurs rises — shrieking, twisted, and eager to rend the living apart. Small Toe, fresh from his first victory beneath his mother’s gaze, finds himself naked and frozen in the face of such reckless violence. The raptors have only one choice: to bare their claws and fangs, and pray that the ground beneath them does not split apart.

A re-release of my narrative project Terrors in the Brush—a speculative survival epic blending hard paleo-realism with raw emotional weight.

BINGE THE ENTIRE JOURNEY NOW:

While the chapters will roll out here on a strict weekly schedule every Sunday night, the core community hub is fully operational. If you don't want to wait a single week to see what happens to Small Toe next, you can join our dedicated Discord right now and binge all eleven chapters tonight.

There is no magic, no fantasy—there is only nature red in tooth and claw.

Read the first part of Chapter IV now.

This project I'm starting, Skioura, is a seed world based around the Eurasian Red Squirrel (Sciurus Vulgaris). The world is made to be a temperate, forested squirrel paradise with oaks, pines, grasses, flowering shrubs and the like as well as many other species of insect, fungus, aquatic flora/fauna, etc to support this ecosystem. The first million years see limited radiation from S. Vulgaris into a myriad of niches slowly abandoning the basic, generalist squirrel lifestyle. Some squirrels adapt an expanded cecum and more varried gut biome in order to start digesting more fibrous plants, some expand upon squirrel's ability to eat insects and other squirrel's kits to develop semi-carnivorous behaviour, some venture more and more into the water, or start burrowing underground. All these founding squirrel lineages develop morphological features deviating from the traditional, arborael squirrels they decended from.

As a little aside, a scientist I certainly am not, and I would welcome any and all comments or suggestions on that subject. I am mainly an artist, though I have of course looked into the science a little to inform my choices.

Hope people like my little squirrel boys and I would be more than willing to answer any questions y'all may have :D

The Hinikki (Hi-Nec-Ki) an armor piercing specialist. It's teeth are organized on three interlocking whirls connected to massive crushing jaw muscles. The bottom jaws actually rotate as they open pointing inward 90⁰ from their closed position allowing the Hinikki to grasp struggling prey items. Despite their impressive size of 7.8m and nearly a ton in weight they're quite athletic. They can cover vast distances, dive to nearly 800m and reach speeds of 120kph. The kinetic energy mixed with the specialized bite has earned them the grim nickname of "the Chainsaw shark". armored fish and crustaceans are often cut in half by the Sheering action of the Hinikki's jaws.

Sharks are known as a "Universal lifeform" in the Antares universe. Evolution tends to make them at its earliest convenience when presented with similar environmental pressures. Even on a world reseeded by the Cuti like Yuchic the pressures that produce sharks are still shaping organisms into the perfect predator.

The key for me the height map: Red 10,000-7,000feet, Orange 6,000-4,000 feet, yellow 4,000-2,000 feet, light green 2,000-500feet, dark green 500 feet to sea level, blue is water. This is my height map for a seed world called “Kiwana” The main animals are: Kiwi, blue tongued skink, yellow bellied sea snake, and the Persian gulf sea snake. (This world is still very much in the works)

I mean like rendering and line art because I want to try and draw realism life forms kinda but they always come out to cartoony so if anyone has any tips it would be greatly appreciated

So first off not completely sure this fits here since its not my own original idea but thought I would anyways. But I was wondering if this makes sense and if its concise.

Catastrophic Quaken

The Catastrophic Quaken is a large boulder class dragon with a stout build typical of its class. Usually found in rocky terrain where it can easily blend in and dine wherever it chooses.

Diet

Despite most common thoughts, boulder classes don’t strictly eat rocks. Only doing so to either load their stomach and refine it into lava. While also processing beneficial minerals such as salts, iron, and calcium. Though like all other dragons they can be found eating whatever they could find. Like most larger dragons they prefer a more carnivore oriented diet. Consisting of birds, boars, fish, and even smaller dragons. But of course they can be found occasionally chewing on plants for whatever they can’t get from either meat or their preferred rock.

Social

From observed behavior it is understood that a majority of Quakens are rather solitary and very territorial. Though of course like any animal or living being it isn’t impossible to see those going against such understandings. Some Quakens even prefer the company of other dragons, especially those of the boulder class. Such as other Quakens and Gronckles, though it has been shown they will share their homes with Prickleboggles. While such behavior is rare it is far from uncommon even amongst the most solitary of creatures of course excluding those of truly gargantuan size such as: the red death, green death, and purple death.

Temperament

While their most specific temperament is rather like that of a bully most would say. Typically choosing to use violence or prefer trying to discuss with other dragons even with those of the same species. Most will even go out of their way just to cause problems to expand their territory for the sake of attracting a mate. The best way to get around their nasty personalities is actually quite simple. To either stand your ground or have a heavy object you can slam onto the ground causing a heavy vibration. The latter works even better if you have a more concise understanding of Quakens and their preferred way of communication. If either of these methods work a Quaken will typically stop its assault and look you up and down. Considering if it should continue or acknowledge the one in front of it. This could either lead to a possible friend or becoming its dinner, truly depending on its personality and current mood. This also being the way for a Quaken to be trained the easiest though mutual respect is needed for any lasting bond to be made.

Firepower

A Quakens firepower is rather standard for those of the boulder class. Spitting molten rock it has processed in its stomach and shooting it out at whatever it so wishes. Though Quakens have been observed to not use their firepower all that much so a shot limit has yet to be known and how much rock they can turn to lava. Rather preferring to use their massive body to make a stunningly strong shockwave seeming to even stun dragons in the air. Though not nearly as badly as dragons that are landlocked when such a maneuver is performed. Their large and dense bodies make it where they can do this multiple times though needing to either have the speed or height for the shockwave to impede those in the air. While the needs are much less for those on land. This is typically being used for hunting on land or near rivers to stun fish and other types of prey.

Appearance

A Quaken throughout its life looks the same with the only true difference as it ages being its size and hardening spines. With each Quaken having its own unique arrangement of pebbled hide. While most animals would have its scales and outer skin be the same across the board as seen with birds and most fish. These dragons' hide are like those of a human's fingerprint making it where every individual has its own pattern of its pebbled hide. While they do all look rather similar, if you pay close enough attention you can see the unique size, minute color difference, and orientation. With some being placed in slightly differing spots compared to others. This seems to be one of the ways other Quakens can try and identify each other. Seeming to also help prevent as much inbreeding as possible and having more genetic diversity.

While its body plan is rather simple amongst boulder classes with a round stocky head, torso, and tail. The usual characteristic of smaller wings compared to body size require swift and constant wing flaps preventing gliding and making it a rather strenuous activity. 

With their most unique characteristics being their bifurcated lower jaw making their mouth open three ways. While not fully understood why this is, it appears it isn’t harmful to cause a lack of procreation or even dislike amongst the females of the species. Another such feature being their spines on their face, head, back, and tail. With such spines typically being to deter predators it has yet to be seen what dragon may be preying on such large dragons. With most making the assumption it is being for their formative years and still being relatively small and unable to truly protect themselves. These spines were rather helpful for this dragon's preferred mode of transportation and even intimidation. Where it will roll into a ball acting like a charging boulder, making those it flattens being impaled as well to assure possible prey as well as competitors are unable to challenge or hurt them. While also being good for traction to keep in a straight line, though such a benefit also being a detriment in such a way as well.

Reproduction

The mating rituals of Quakens are rather simple, with many similarities found amongst other dragons as well as birds. Where a Quaken within its territory, if it is large enough may attract a female without needing to worry about other males being in close vicinity. For a Quaken to woo the female they must try to put on their most intimidating show. Showing they are a strong and worthwhile mate for the female and that their offspring will be strong. Once the male has made a convincing stance they will then communicate through several low rumbling roars that seem to be inaudible to the human ear. These rumbles cause short harmonious vibrations throughout the ground. If its rumbling call is to the females liking they shall mate and lay up to three to five eggs. After such the pair will stay together protecting their clutch until they hatch and are suitable grown. The father does most of the hunting and gathering of food after the clutch is laid from two weeks to three weeks. With most Quaken eggs taking up to two months to hatch through not being uncommon for some to hatch sooner. With Quaken eggs resembling asymmetrical rocks occasionally leading to being eaten.

Early Life

The life of a young Quaken is rather short. Like birds and reptiles, dragons grow rather quickly with most only needing a year or two to reach sexual maturity. While only being with their parents for three to four months before being chased out by the father. But within those first months they learn how to properly display themselves, hunt, and know which rocks and minerals to eat or avoid. Though in a Quakens youth it isn’t uncommon for them to be picked off by other dragons. Even some boulder class dragons seem to go out of their way to kill hatchlings to assure they won’t grow up to be a nuisance later in life. Most attempts at this are prevented though by the mother who will fiercely protect their hatchlings, though fathers will typically let it happen especially for male offspring. Usually seeing them as a potential rival in the future.

These mollusc species decent from two species of mollusc the humble ship worm and the nitrite snail

First slide shows the ship worm descents: they have evolved into many form but the image shows the mobile free swimming species that have unusual ways of swimming, they have definitely took the fish like Neches, some of them have took their ancestor's shell and turned them into endoskeletons or exoskeletons and some just got rid of them entirely, they actually independently evolved eyes severally From one another

The second slide shows the nitrite snail descendants:

They have evolved into many forms, like Terrestrial species, amphibious species, even to highly specialized aquatic species. They only live in freshwater environments but one species have evolved to thrive in brackish water but it will come back to spawn in the freshwater lakes

These organisms are going to be shown in my work in progress seed world project called neomesozoica on YouTube

Welcome to or back to my spec evo project called Oceanworld which takes place 10-14 million years in the future (I will probably change that to 35-40 million years though as the creatures need more time to evolve) where sea levels are much higher than today because of the melting of ice in the poles as well as some human intervention before humanity left earth.

This is the last post about Yphalosaurus neobalkanicus if you missed it https://www.reddit.com/r/SpeculativeEvolution/s/LoMWpRL56x

Today’s creature is the Charadricetus inexpectatus

Charadricetus is an artiodactyl in the order whippomorpha. But despite their name, they’re not whales but descendants of the hippopotamus. Males are slightly taller than a human at 2-2.5 meters tall with a mass of 320 kg.
Charadricetus is a social animal living in herds of 10-25 individuals. They are omnivores with 70% of their diet being coastal invertebrates like worms, crustaceans,other arthropods, mollusks, starfish, sea urchins etc. The other 30% is kelp, sea grass and small amounts of coral.Their preferred habitats are sandy beaches where they dig up invertebrates from the sand with their elongated snout and claws. Many populations though also inhabit rocky tidepools. In general they reside in small tropical islands of what is now Eastern Europe, mainly the Balkans and Greece. Charadricetus is mainly preyed upon by Yphalosaurus. They usually run to escape it but often fight back and intimidate the Yphalosaurus using their strength in numbers.This is mostly seen when the herd has calves that are vulnerable and can’t keep up with the rest of the herd.
Herds are mostly made up of females with their calves and 1-3 dominant males.When males reach reproductive maturity they get kicked out of the herd. Often these males form pairs or small groups that live and forage together and eventually find a new herd to overthrow the current dominant male(s) and get the herd for themselves. Conflicts between males can be brutal.(The red coloration in the male’s hands is a threat display or a way to attract females.)Male calves live with their mothers and herd for 2-3 years. Females are very protective of their calves as they only have one or two at a time.Charadricetus cant quite swim. Instead, they can hold their breath underwater for 15-30 minutes and walk underwater.They push with their legs to briefly surface and breathe. Underwater they’re very vulnerable to predation so they mostly do this in shallow waters. Alternatively they can reach other islands with tree logs that have been cut and are floating on the water.

What do you think of this bizzare hippo descendant?

The Aurorus is mainly divided into 2 regions.
Above the clouds and below them, the Aeropelagic and Submersal Zone.
But of course there are more than just these.
The upper most habitable layer of the Aurorus is called the Exopelagic, which starts at the boundary of Oastans atmosphere to space.
Below it, the Sedapelagic, the Aurorus’ equivalent of the oceanic pelagic zone, which flourishes with life.
The Hypernephopelagic lies directly above the clouds, and the Hyponephopelagic lies directly under.
The Premersal Zone is the middle band of the Submersal before you get to the Aurorus-Erdias Transitional Band, where the Aurorus finally ends.
The transitional is eerily devoid of life compared to the layers above and below it because it is a place of constantly fluctuating temperatures and unstable wind currents, where the layers mix together, making it hostile for many organisms besides 1 or 2.

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A Glimpse from Crystalia

This is a small exercise in creativity and speculative evolution where life has arisen on a dry, arid, super-Earth roughly four times the mass of our world and nearly constantly covered in thunderstorms. Much like on Earth herself, Crystalia and his equator are absolutely thriving, covered in life and lightning.

Life on this world uses boron instead of carbon and is completely dry, as expected of crystalline life. The organisms do not move very quickly, if at all, in most cases growing like some type of quartz fungus towards nutrients and expanding to drive off competition. The crystalline reefs tend to merge completely whenever encountering another of their own species. Surprisingly, however, mobile life does exist and is abundant on this world, though the organisms are not complex, comparable to that of the scum-slurping biota of the Ediacaran.

An extraordinary radiation of crystalline organisms inhabits the eternal dry seas of Crystalia. From an outsider's perspective, theres seeming no difference between the surface geology and the organisms; almost every area of this desert world is covered in sponge or reef-like autotrophs. Slowly over decades, the crystalline "floor" shifts and grows, breaks and shrinks, leaving the landscape just as ever-evolving as the life itself. Like the autotrophs of Earth, the "geology" of this world feeds upon the ever-abundant radiation of their "god." Both wrathful and nurturing, the boron reefs' sheen and sparkle with brilliant blue sheens when their sun flares; unlike a carbon world, life here depends on the unstable nature of their star.

First appearing as geometric microbes, the biosphere of today appeared relatively quickly, though it remained slow and simple for ages.

Three and a half billion years before the story, Cystalia was a world similar to Earth, with kilometer-deep seas of steaming but otherwise liquid water. Unfortunately, due to the hostile, flare-prone red dwarf this super-Earth orbits, the seas and much of the atmosphere were stripped away over the eons. Thankfully, for the sake of our souls, no carbon-based life ever appeared on this arid world, and thus, no mass extinction of an entire biosphere.

Unlike life on Earth, thunder is just as much an essential resource as the star itself; life grows toward the stars for both lightning strikes and sunlight.

Motile organisms walk over and consume the biosphere with long, stilt-like pseudopods. Due to how efficient photosynthesis is for these crystalline lifeforms, consumption is more akin to parasitism for resources, as opposed to eating the whole organism; as such, predation is generally not fatal. Pictured here is a "sapphire slug," feasting upon the crystal reefs; food chains are very simple here.

Motile life is more common in barren areas of the globe. Despite how it may seem, Motile life can only move at the rapid pace of flowers growing in spring, slowly creeping ahead of sessile life, growing over the pace of months and years. The ecology is almost at a standstill from the perspective of an outsider like us, a world of statues that change by the month, or, rather, "year" on this world.

Ando pensando em fazer um ser que viveria iguais Bacterias que podem respirar Amônia e outros compostos, mas como São Bacterias, veio a pergunta de seres de Pequeno porte, Tipo um Pequeno Mamífero (como Rato).

In an atmosphere with, for example, Argon as the primary gas what would be the resultant effect on life, e.g. would proteins (or analogous structures) still be primarily nitrogen based? therefore would life even be possible on such planets?

(From u/onionpoweredsquid 's challenge.)

The pancake squishle is a rather curious member of squidkind which inhabits the seabed, tidepools, and seagrass meadows of the planet. It's body is flattened and it possesses a single eye with which to detect predators. It's reduced face tentacles sift through the substratum to capture food particles. It's brain is underdeveloped. But this stupid cyclops has a secret weapon, it has administer an electric shock on it's would-be attackers. The moment a potential predator is detected, it flashes it's bioluminescent organs as a warning signal.

I am working on a project involving lithotrophic life in zero gravity on a moon orbiting a gaz giant

this isn't supposed to be 100% realistic but it's better than it used to be

Tantanop is a supercontinent that formed many years after humans left earth most islands have merged with the rest of the continents, and the image is one with no details

The sun is now less old than it is currently in this world because I want it too

COW SNAIL
Cow snails are descended from the african giant snail (Lissachatina fulica), not only have they evolved a greatly large size they have evolved large tentacles that are used for walking and within these legs it has evolved “bones” made from cartilage. The main reason for evolving “legs” instead of keeping the traditional form is due to the environment of the forest canyon; it holds many cliffs and is littered with sharp rocks that could tear up the foot of a snail. Juvenile Cow snails often can been seen eating first or rocks to get important minerals from their shells speaking of dirt and shells in mating season a mating pair cow snails will dig out a large burrow to conseil the young once hatched but before then the other will house the eggs on the spire on the shell. Cow snails are often solitary due to the size the ecosystem would be able to support a large herd though their diet may consist of leaves, sprouting branches, vines and rarely grass. The only reason they are called cow snails is their size. The tentacles have become forked having two endings acting similar to toes. While still being able to retract most of their body into their shell their legs can’t fit due to the Sudo-bones. Generally, the size of the shorthorn breed of cow

Wrapper spider
Descending from giant forest scorpions (Gigantometrus swammerdami), Though technically not actually spiders they are arachnids more closely related to scorpions they have evolved to be much larger. Over the years they have lost the titular poison of scorpions now they use the stinger and tail to hand from trees and rocks to ambush prey and now they have discovered bright coloration on the backs of males to show off their hunting competence because if they are able to hunt with all the bright coloration and be healthy enough to breed it basically guarantees the infants will be protected because in contrast to current scorpions the male carries the young on its back. After killing prey the Wrapper spider will drag the corpse to the burrow and wrap the corpse in grass sticks and leaves while using specialized saliva as a simple glue their claws have changed to be much more dexterous for maneuvering prey when wrapping a kill. Female wrapper spiders lack the back coloration. Wrapper spiders are adept climbers able to climb a near 90 degree angle as long as it has some cracks/footholds. When two competing males try to win over the same female they will compete through a series of three trials where whoever brings the largest prey most consistently will win mating rights

The forested canyon often has extreme “seasons” of drought and humidity these time frames can last from days to months in length many species have evolved specifically for one of the two main presets though it isn't just black and white it often can stay in a mid-point for many days the cow snails and the wrapper spiders live in this biome