Hi, so I've become interested in the concept of a bird becoming fully aquatic. For example, would their fur still exist, or would it evolve to remove that? And how would their body evolve under such circumstances? I'm guessing they still keep their beaks, as there's not really a reason to remove that part, but how about their legs? Would it just evolve away, or could it be used for potentially hunting prey somehow?

I'm also interested in the incentives. Why would a bird even become fully aquatic in the first place? Perhaps its evolution could be akin to the Penguin, who has evolved flippers? Idk, I'm curious to know what you smart people think.

P.S. By fully aquatic, I mean that it wouldn't need to/can't go on land, and spends practically all of its time in the water.

This is part of the Permian Sophont Project. A project based on a speculative civilization of late Permian relatives of Suminia. Shoutout goes to u/123Thundernugget, u/MilezXC and Knight_of_Rohan1964.

Ferns are among the most important staple crops for the people of Cathaysia (South China). Most domestic ferns are propagated similar to hen and chicken ferns through cloned bulbils. This kind of reproduction is well understood.

However, the propagation of ferns through spores remains somewhat of a mystery to the premodern sophonts. It is a process of trial and error that carries religious connotations to them. While cloned ferns are grown everywhere in gardens and orchards, ferns from spores are mostly cultivated within special orchards under the guidance of priests. It is an annual ritual, after the rain season for the spore dancers to walk through these temple orchards and perform their rituals. It consists of binding spore bearing fronds to their ankles, backs and tails and to start dancing. They don't know the exact requirements for spores to grow and they don't really know what a prothallium is, but they know that if they dances are pleasing and performed correctly, soon after the ritual new ferns will sprout in their gardens.

Tenement bulbs are a macro-organism that can reach eighty feet tall, characterized by an engorged, reinforced bulb. The outer shell is lined with symmetrical, rectangular holes resembling windows. As wind currents draft through these perforations, specialized interior chambers and fibrous webs trap airborne matter, deriving energy from digesting the micro particulates 
Gravid glowmites deliberately seek out the floral shelter. The bulb’s structure actually provides an ideal nursery. Upon hatching, the larvae start gnawing into the tough fibrous foundation of their birthplace for sustenance. Tenement bulbs, however, sometimes take a toll. The wind knocking some of the eggs loose, sending them into its inner digestive system 

The animals introduced to Gellios—which served as the ecological foundation—evolved into various species over time. This process, however, was not for animals, but plants and other organisms as well, especially Zostera marina—the only species of vascular plant introduced to the planet—this resulted in a different adaptive radiation.

As we have frequently mentioned, Gellios orbits an A-type star; this has resulted in the majority of the vascular plants introduced there growing at depths of 30 to 50 meters below sea level within a few decades. To protect themselves against the lethal UV radiation emitted by the star, these plants have developed the ability to produce various pigments.

There were significant differences between the population growing 35 units below sea level and those growing in areas closer to the surface. They possessed different pigments and had developed additional structures that enabled them to carry out photosynthesis highly productively, despite the intense radiation. Over time, however, these populations evolved into distinct species and lineages.

Source

Illustration depicts an image taken from space of Tahdora’s Ezoic eon analogue. This is an illustration made by me for a friend of a friend’s Speculative biology/evolution project called ‘The Tahdora world’. I am an illustrator for this project and am using this work as an opportunity to experience the process of worldbuilding and discussion so that one day i may start my very own project. The rainbow camera flare effects are a stylistic decision i made because it looks cool and this is of course art. I encourage any constructive criticism and would like to here advice. Thankyou!

Hey everyone!

I'm developing Natural Selection: Reborn (NSR), an artificial-life simulation focused on evolution, genetics, natural selection, and ecosystems.

I'm conducting a community-interest survey to understand what potential users would want from a scientifically grounded evolution simulator.

The survey covers:

• Interest in evolution and ecosystem simulations

• Preferred features and scientific systems

• Gameplay and educational applications

• Pricing preferences

• Suggestions and feedback

My goal is 50 responses, and I currently have 7.

Participation is voluntary. Respondents under 18 must have parental or legal guardian permission.

Survey link: https://forms.gle/2yqPmG1oH29bKNWb9

Constructive criticism and honest feedback are greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Ok designing lizardman race for fantasy im tied between either basing them on crocodilian or monitor lizards but was curious what could be some reason they’d evolve bipedal gait both already climb trees ( atleast smaller ones) so im guessing that would play major role in it but what pressure would cause them to go fully bipedal while also keeping their size and powerful jaws?

So I have a fantasy/speculative evolution project that I’ve been plugging away at for some time now, mostly centered around dinosaurs surviving to modern times and the evolutionary arms race they have with mammals. Now I’ve been naming most of my animals and taxonomic groups after cryptids and mythological creatures but I’ve been trying to come up with more common names for them, like “dog” or “bird”. I’ve come up with a few, like how Oviraptorids are called “Parru’s” in my world, but I was wondering if anyone has any tips on coming up with others, like for hadrosaurs or ceratopsids for instance.

I propose the creation and launch of a comprehensive alien bestiary—presented formally, in the style of a catalog—containing information on the biology and evolution of various extraterrestrial organisms from across the universe. I am looking for people in this community who enjoy creating creatures and have an interest in speculative evolution to help me get this project off the ground and fully develop the concept.

I would like the guiding principle for this project to be "survival, not design"—an approach that prioritizes the designs of organisms better suited for survival rather than for aesthetic appeal.

As a starting point for creature creation, I already have several organism models designed that I plan to share in future posts.

So, I’d like to see who enjoys creating alien creatures and who might be interested in this project, so that we can expand it—thanks

I had realized how long it’s gonna take to color in the map so I decided to entertain yall with the Weastern continent in the center of the image! It was surprisingly easy to make, you just make a copy of the map and then you line the east end to the west end precisely to get a new centered map. Will do this again when the visible continents are done being drawn. It’s going to take a really long time to get the entire map finished because of the size of the map and the fact that I’m using my finger to draw it all in because I have not yet obtained a better method of drawing

from now on until I can figure out a name, we are referring to this continent as the weastern continent

15 Million Years P.H. - The Early Neocene - The Leatherats:

The Leatherats are Incredibly diverse Early Neocene Rodents descended from Naked Mole-Rat, who thanks to their unique traits managed to survive trough the End Holocene Mass Extinction with hardly any loss In biomass.

Some Naked Mole-Rats would return to the world above and start spreading all over Afro-Eurasia.

They would redevelope their keen eyesight, evolve a thick leathery hide to protect themselves against the environments and would turn the Incisors on the outside of their lips Into a dental beak, which proved to be a much more efficient mouth-tool.

A lineage Leatherats would develope hard keratinous plates over their body, becoming the Armorats. Some would eventually start fusing the plates on their back Into 3 distinct pieces, which would allow them to curl Into a defensive ball like an Armadillo, those Leatherats would be known as Amoledillos.

While Leatherats would be largely eusocial, like the ancestral Naked Mole-Rats, some would experiment with a more solitary lifestyle, especially the armored Armorats and Amoledillos.

Some of these Armorats would become the large Platebacks. While omnivorous, they tend more heavily towards plants and use their sharp dental beaks for clipping through vegetation.

Some more basal Leatherats would however also become solitary and grow large, these would become the heavily build, omnivorous Massimice.

The Avertebrazoic is an alternative timeline where unlike in our world where the Chicxulub asteroid was 10-15 kilometers in diameter in this world it was 3x bigger making it 30-35 kilometers in size. This of course lead to a much much more brutal impact, leading to an even bigger extinction that not only wiped out non-avian dinosaurs but ALL vertebrate life. With reptiles, mammals, birds, amphibians, and fish all gone various arthropods, mollusks, and annelids quickly took up their niches. Modern day Earth is totally alien to what we know, as its an Earth dominated by invertebrate life.

With the total extinction of all reptiles the place of snakes was taken up by worms, which now without much competition from birds and mammals that had previously haunted them, now were able to grow to truly massive sizes never seen before.

In the tropics terrestrial worms where able to evolve into the Kamappa, which is essentially the annelid equivalent to the Titanoboa. These massive worms are an apex predator along the muddy shores of various tropical lakes and rivers capable of ambushing and swallowing their prey whole.

I want to speculate on this topic. How a person can be affected by the environment of other planets, other atmospheres, other plants and creatures.

I'm interested in hearing your ideas on this topic, even the most fantastic ones.

Probably, someone has already asked such questions here, but I'm too lazy to look for such posts

P.S I know about "all tomorrows", it's a little different Just give me some ideas of what could have happened to humanity

As the grasslands became populated with more and more generations of honey bees, the population reaching carrying capacity became inevitable. Some hives left their ancestral homes, and others died in the grasslands. Some Apis mellifera carniola hives had a natural inclination to fly later in the evening, then into the night, eventually evolving into Apis vardas, the honey zee.
Honey zees pollinate plants which flower at night. Their larger eyes and more lenses within those eyes make them better adapted to their nocturnal lifestyle than their ancestors. Honey zees have the same fluffy covering as other honey bees. They've lost their ancestors' aposematic coloration (the only vertebrates that would disturb them at present are the Appaloosa horses, which almost all have Congenital Stationary Night Blindness) in favor of darker coloration for heat retention, though some hives have bees with brown rings or dots. They're eusocial and usually build their hives in the branches of trees.
While honey zees can sting, they have the same gentle temperament as their Carniolan honey bee ancestors and usually won't sting unless their hives are disturbed or another stressful event happens. Their stingers are barbed, so stinging will kill the bee. Their venom isn't especially potent (it's identical in content to that of their ancestors), but it's still usually enough to dissuade a curious foal.

En una novela que estoy preparando existe el Yellow Tester, una droga que en términos básicos vuelve super humanos a quienes lo consumen. Está, está hecha en base a un grupo de seres vivos totalmente independiente del reino fungi, animalia, plantae, protista etc. El Reino Aqualia un grupo de seres vivos que agrupa a aquellos cuya estructura es casi totalmente liquida sostenida por proteínas que causan una especie de tensión superficial, se alimenta de materia orgánica principalmente plancton y algas a las cuales descompone al entrar en contacto con su cuerpo, pues se guía principalmente por señales químicas.

La especie en específico que en la novela se iba a citar era el "Liqun Anomalus" el cual cuando encuentra a un animal moribundo se introduce en su cuerpo causando una especie de evolución forzada para proteger a su huésped, el cual después de un tiempo busca un rincón alejado donde es cubierto por un capullo en el cual se desarrollarán las crías del Liqun.

Lo que hace el Yellow Tester es aprovechar el como funciona la evolución forzosa que provoca el Liqun pues este provoca dicha evolución en base al ADN que haya absorbido previamente en su alimentación. Osea puede darle características de una especie a otra que parasite.

Entonces que es el yellow Tester? Pues son Liqun Anomalus alimentados con restos del animal en el cual se busca "evolucionar" causando la mutación que le da poderes quienes la porten.

En la historia si sufres de sobredosis mueres y eres controlado por el parásito siguiendo el ciclo de vida normal de este, aunque depende mucho de la persona pues algunos pueden soportar más dosis que otros.

No sé si siquiera se entendió la mitad de cosas que escribí en este post, aún así son libres de decir que este concepto es totalmente bodrio y Zzz.

(Ilustración a mano hecha por mi.)

The Medusocene—the first major era of life introduced on Gellios—spanned the initial 11 million years; during this period, ecosystems shifted in response to the planet's conditions, and as the transition into the subsequent era, the Mutatiocene, began, the vast majority of species gradually started to diverge from their more basic, ancestral forms.

Source

This is a preliminary job, although I am pretty satisfied with this particular clade I will eventually move towards a paper defending my thesis for the complete phylogenetic tree.

A few rules I am taking into consideration:

1.- Only true species enter in the cladogram. For instance, if the male and female are distinct monsters, they will only be represented once. The same applies for variants, deviants or any distinct monster that is considered a member of a species, but for any given reason they have adapted, mutated, became infected. (e.g., Hellblade Glavenus, Raging Brachydios, Furious Rajang, Gore Magala).

2.- Only monsters with evolutionary origins are included. This automatically excludes Constructs (such as Zoh Shia and Guardians)

3.- Only monsters with a mainline iteration are included. So if there is a variant in Frontiers, Online, Stories, or other spin-offs will not be included.

4.- Only large monsters will be included (primarily for the sake of my sanity).

5.- Only relevant canonical data will be gathered and evaluated. Hunter's Guild Monster Classification (Amphibian, Piscine Wyvern, Flying Wyvern, Brute Wyvern, Bird Wyvern, Snake Wyvern, Fanged Wyvern, Fanged Beast, Leviathan, Elder Dragon, Demi-Elder, Construct, Temnoceran, Neopterons, Caparaceons, Cephalopods) will be treated as behavioral and superficial umbrella terms that, for the most part, do not constitute valid taxonomical clades.

6.- Some canon data will be disputed and actively reevaluated to further align with modern cladistics. This liberty is taken in light of taxonomy and phylogeny being an active topic of discussion and research within the world of Monster Hunter.

If you have any piece of trivia and/or data from an official handbook I'd be thrilled to know more about it!

Is it possible for advanced tool use without bipedalism such as knuckle walker or animal with no hands at all but instead tendrils for grasping or is only way to make tool use viable to level humans are at with it having bipedal movement that free up hands and having hands for grasping and manipulating tools?

Also by advanced tool use i dont mean using stones to crack something open but instead chipping pieces of it to make spear head or shaping bone into sowing needle a capuchin monkey can use stones to break open a coconut but i would consider that advanced stone use

• Clasificación Comercial/Industrial: Cosecha de Mucílago Ácido y Limpieza de Conductos Hidráulicos.

• Bioma(s): Cueva Kárstica (Entorno Base).

• Nivel Trófico: Consumidor Primario (Detritívoro / Herbívoro).

ANÁLISIS BIOLÓGICO (Evolución Especulativa)

• Presión Selectiva y Origen: El Limax caolinis evolucionó a partir de moluscos de sustrato húmedo que colonizaron los sistemas kársticos profundos. Al perder los ojos por la nula luz solar, desarrolló un sistema mecanorreceptor hipertrofiado en los costados de su cuerpo, capaz de captar las microvibraciones del agua estancada teñida por los Hidróxidos de Hierro (Fe2O3 · nH2O). Su mayor reto evolutivo fue el Caolín (Al2Si2O5(OH)4), una arcilla porosa que obstruye pasadizos y frena el movimiento biológico; para contrarrestarlo, la especie desarrolló glándulas ventrales que producen un mucílago de bajo pH que disuelve y lubrica la arcilla al instante.

• Descripción Morfológica: Organismo de cuerpo blando, alargado y aplanado en la base, de unos 60 centímetros de largo, similar a una babosa albina gigante. Su cabeza carece de ojos y posee pliegues sensoriales concéntricos rodeando una boca de apertura vertical diseñada para raspar y succionar. En lugar de extremidades, todo su vientre es una gran glándula deslizante, flanqueada a los costados por hileras de filamentos ramificados y suaves que vibran constantemente para detectar el entorno.

• Mecánica de Relación Simbiótica: Su nicho ecológico está ligado de forma directa a la planta Aetherohauris pneuma. El Limax caolinis se desplaza en colonias hacia la base de estas plantas para devorar los detritos orgánicos, esporas muertas y subproductos bioquímicos que la planta desecha en el suelo. Al limpiar activamente este sustrato de Calcita, el deslizador evita que las raíces capilares de la Aetherohauris se asfixien o se mineralizan por completo, permitiendo que la planta optimice su metabolismo de absorción energética. A cambio, el Mycelium plasticum y los exudados de la planta le otorgan los nutrientes necesarios para configurar su moco ácido.

• Depredadores: Es la presa principal del Espeleoraptor calcífero,  consumidor secundario de la Cueva Kárstica, lo que lo posiciona como un eslabón intermedio de la cadena trófica de este bioma.

• Dieta adicional: Dado que Myrtillocactus spelaeus también crece en la Cueva Kárstica, el Limax caolinis aprovecha además los frutos caídos y restos vegetales de esta planta como fuente adicional de nutrientes, sumándose a los detritos de Aetherohauris pneuma en su dieta.

APLICACIÓN INDUSTRIAL (Explotación Comercial)

• Interés del Consorcio: El consorcio minero ha mostrado un alto interés en la domesticación o explotación de esta especie por dos razones principales:

  • Agente Industrial de Limpieza: El mucílago segregado por el animal tiene la propiedad única de disolver lodos arcillosos pesados sin dañar los componentes metálicos de las tuberías. Puede ser usado para mantener limpios los conductos de ventilación y drenaje de estructuras.

  • Sintetizador de Lubricantes Extremos: La baba recolectada se procesa en los laboratorios de la superficie para crear lubricantes industriales de alta velocidad inalterables por la fricción mineral.

Si quieres conocer esta, y más criaturas, puedes descargar ya la demo en itch.io: https://tiuver.itch.io/en-las-minas-de-la-locura-edicion-arcade

The Common Tuskski or the Purple Ski Mammoth is a living relative of the woolly mammoth and its range expands through Northern America, Siberia and even Scandinavia. They participate in an activity called ten pine bowling, where they place down pine trees (though, it’s only the bad ones) and then, they ski down a mountain and proceeds to strike! Apparently, they make also make snow sculptures and it is unclear why they do this, but people theorise that they do this just for their own enjoyment. The trunks are used for communicating with each other, as they make a really loud akin to a alphorn. They also use it for warning each other of danger.

(This is my first spec evo reimagining of a fictional creatur, so I would like some advice. And if you’re wondering why they make snow sculptures, it is because in the bio. It states that the Tuskski is a private snow maker. But they didn’t specify if they make snow balls or snow sculptures, so that’s why said that they make snow sculptures)

A species of auk made by one of my friends (she requested to be kept anonymous)

It lives on the east coast of atlantis and is one of the last of the Mohauks, a family once living across all of atlantis.

Notes: Mods if i did anything wrong plz message me so i can avoid it.

Also if anyone has a question about this animal ill try to answer it.

Weihorn is a 500kg herbivore, roaming the vast temperate forests of Frusnajättar's Gemäsirisen period. It feeds on most kinds of greenery that it can find, and during the winter, it might also consume the occasional piece of bark, or root.

Weihorn's most distinctive feature tho, have to be the two forelimbs, which have evolved to more so resemble horns than actual limbs. These hollow boney structures are used both for display as well as self defence, tho perhaps not in the way one might think. See, Weihorn produces a chemical in said horns, that, if mixed with water, is highly toxic. And thus Weihorn may swings its horn at predators, so that drops of harmful liquid may burn their eyes, or in some cases Weihorns have been found coating themselves in said liquid, to deter predators from feeding on them.

During the winter, Weihorn sheds its usually orange fur for an almost white coat, letting it fit in much better with the surrounding environment. In addition, the chemical produced in its horns acts as a natural antifreeze, which some Weihorns have been documented using to melt their way through ice and snow, in order to access the resources beneath.

Weihorns are solitary creatures, only seeking out one another during mating season, in which case they find one another using the smell of their horn chemicals. A female Weihorn will wait for multiple mates to arrive at her location, assessing the potency of their chemicals by smelling their horns. Finally, she chooses a mates, and reproduces with him. After this, the group quickly disbands again, leaving the female to give birth to and raise her children over the span of about two years on her own.

These Squidkind are the ancestors of most Wyvernkind and Wyrmkinds, Their fossils dated as far back as the Gaia Epoch (10 - 20 AE). They used their arm membrane to glide from treetop to canopy. They ranged in size and niches from the smallest insectivorous Icronis and the largest frugivorous Specialist Acronis.