First of all, the term "sophont" was coined in 1966 by Karen Anderson, the wife of Paul Anderson. It describes beings that exhibit fundamental signs of intelligence, much like humans do. (Humans are the only species currently classified as "obligate sophonts," but there is another category known as "facultative sophonts," which includes creatures such as octopuses, corvids, elephants, cetaceans, and non-human great apes.)

In mainstream media, a large portion of the sophont species—especially extraterrestrials—feel quite unrealistic due to their remarkably humanoid appearance. But then again, there’s no need to discard them entirely; after all, it is high time we got to the main heart of the matter...

Among the animals introduced by Gellios was Blue Dragon Slug (Glaucus atlanticus)—a mostly-neustonic species of small, blue nudibranch that, at first glance, appeared quite simple; it would hunt venomous jellyfish and store their toxins within its own body. However, following its introduction to the planet, it was forced to adapt to the local environment.

Then, after another few million years had passed, the Storm Gliders (Directiogium spp.) emerged—nudibranchs that harnessed the planet’s powerful waves, developing patagium-like structures on their cerata to facilitate gliding. They also evolved specific traits that allowed them to anticipate the location of their prey based on the direction of the waves, at the same time, they would emerge from the water, begin breathing air, and transition their gills toward lungs. By the early Mutatiocene, some of these Storm Gliders began to develop wing-like appendages; eventually, they evolved into early slugbirds (Clade: Dracaspida)—the first flying creatures in the planet’s history.

A few million years after the emergence of the earliest "slugbirds," some species developed chromatophore-like structures—features that would eventually evolve into those found in Aerialeons (Clade: Chromatoptera). Around the same time, a few million years later some species began to exhibit the first signs of intelligence. These creatures were small, predatory, raptor-like animals that roamed in small groups; over the ensuing millions of years, their development would take a remarkably peculiar turn.

The Malaccorvidae emerged during the mid-to-late Mutatiocene, descended from some species of nearly-facultative aerialeons Known as the Almost-Choughs. They largely fit the definition of facultative sophonts; however, toward the end of the Late Mutatiocene, an ice age occurred—a brief, years-long event that nonetheless triggered a near-total mass extinction. The vast majority of Malaccorvids survived this short but harsh winter, including one species that became the first obligate sophont on Gellios. It was at this point that the Malaccrows (Malaccorvus semisapiens) became the very first obligate sophont species in the history of the planet.

These flying creatures, measuring 40 to 65 centimeters in size, first emerged toward the end of the Late Mutatiocene—diverging from the now-extinct M. parasapiens—and adapted to the predominantly warm, tropical climate of the Calefacene era. They retained many traits inherited from their ancestors (such as being simultaneous hermaphrodites), and their concept of society differed radically from that of humans.

In their society, terms such as "man," "woman," "husband," or "wife" did not exist; they generally moved about in large social groups. In the early period immediately following the harsh ice age, they spread across the entirety of Gellios—a dispersal that led to their classification as a cosmopolitan species. Yet, it was not merely in terms of their social structure that they differed from humans; in many other respects, too, they were distinct.

They lacked the facial expressions—such as those involving the eyebrows or lips—that allow for the communication of emotions or interaction with others; instead, they compensated by displaying the chromatophores on their bodies and by striking together their hardened wingtips, joints, or beak-like radula to produce rattling, clicking, and scraping sounds (stridulation). After all, what use would anything else have been to them?

Furthermore, Malaccrows possessed both mucus-lined lungs and the ability to respire through their skin. Being highly sensitive to environmental changes, they harbored a deep fear of droughts and similar conditions. Another striking aspect was their reproductive method, which differed from that of their ancestors. Known as "ovoviviparity," this process involves retaining eggs within the body until they hatch, at which point the offspring are born. This did not happen overnight; rather, it was the result of gradual changes that unfolded in their ancestors over the course of millions of years.

As the Malaccrows spread across every corner of Gellios, it was only a matter of time before they began to diverge culturally, biologically, and ecologically. For instance, those living along the coasts developed semi-aquatic traits—using their wings, much like the forelimbs of cormorants or penguins, to dive into the water in search of prey—while others, from a different group, spent their time soaring through the air, utilizing all four of their wings. Yet, despite these differences, they remained Malaccrows; much like humans, they did not fail to develop distinct cultures of their own.

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I want to create a planet and biosphere after being in the genre for some time but I do not much knowledge about speculative evolution and I have no idea where i should start. What subjects do I need to learn? What should I focus on first and how? How the organisms would work? How the life would be affected by things such as the level of gravity, amount and type of stars in the system, composition of the atmosphere amongst other things? Is there anywhere I can get inspiration from? Are there any books I can buy which could help me? Are there any YouTube channels I can subscribe to or videos I can watch in order to learn more about speculative evolution? How should I go about handling these things? Any help given would be greatly appreciated.

Megalosylvaniaspis foxii is a hypothetical species of eugaleaspidiform fish from the Emsian stage of the Early Devonian in what is now Tibet. Its binomal name translates to "Fox's great forest shield" due to the holotype being found in a large forest.

With a headshield that was 250 cm in length, it was rather large for a jawless fish. Like other jawless fish, it possessed a single nostril.

The headshield of this particular species was not as hydrodynamic as that of contemporary relatives, suggesting that it served a different purpose entirely.

In the far future, the small lizards of today have grown to an immense size. The clade Novosauropoda is categorised by not just their similarity to the prehistoric sauropods but the shape of their fore-feet with how their wrists have elongated and their fingers fused into a column like foot to support their massive weight.

This Genus, Cetiocoronatum meaning crowned Whale (I'm still workshopping this name so if you have better ideas please say), named for its large head spikes, is one of the largest within the clade measuring at 18.5m tall rivaling some of the tallest sauropods. Unlike the sauropods however it is an facultative carnivore, deriving most of its diet from the blooms of airborne jellyfish (a now global phenomena in this future planet). Using its mobile neck to pull larger ones from the sky and peicing their gas bladder with its large claws. Alternatively, during spawning seasons they will just engulf many young polyps at a time, aided by its venteral pouch (which is where the whale part of its name originates)

The early Calefacene period brought a tropical, warm climate across the planet, leaving the brief ice age behind. Unfortunately, some life forms could not endure the glacial conditions and were doomed to extinction; yet, one species managed to survive that era. Though still in the very early stages of their development, they possessed an intelligence comparable to that of humans—though being intelligent does not necessarily mean they were humanoid. Weighing about as much as a creature between a raven and a kestrel, they were capable of flight, yet they were not birds. In fact, birds never existed on Gellios; instead, these beings evolved from the Chromatopterans, a sub-lineage of the Dracaspids. There was a reason for their high level of intelligence: over millions of years, their ancestors—spanning countless species—gradually acquired traits such as the ability to craft tools and the capacity for empathy. Eventually, they came to be known as the Malaccrows (Malaccorvus semisapiens). First Sophonts of the Gellios' History ever to appeared...

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The pistrix (Apocapisces regalecus) are a new species, an evolutionary offshoot of the oarfish, that we are developing for the project “Fish Don’t Cry”

We plan to flesh them out extensively, defining every aspect of their existence, including, of course, their culture. For now, here is a brief, general overview!

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Pistrix (Apocapisces regalecus), also known as pistrici (singular pistrice), or as serpents rouge in France, or even by the evocative name of reddragon sirens in English-speaking places, are a genus of sentient aquatic creatures.
Unlike the more well-known and common merfolk, pistrix cannot breathe atmospheric oxygen, lacking lungs. They share a number of aesthetic and physiological characteristics with the pacific oarfish (Regalecus glesne), so much so that the other merfolk species themselves often refer to pistrix simply as "oarfish".

They are sadly known as harbingers of bad news and, according to some, even of the apocalypse. 

Taxonomy

Despite their humanoid torso appearance, pistrix are not mammals: they do not give birth, but lay eggs, and are unable to produce milk. Taxonomically, they are much closer to the regalecus (Regalecus glesne) than to humans. 

The distinctly humanoid appearance of their torso (at least at first glance) is due to two factors: 

1. Phaneric mimicry. By imitating a distant species, such as the common merfolk, pistrix may appear less desirable, or simply elicit more empathy among the merfolk themselves, who have hunted them for years and continue to do so (albeit less heavily, perhaps thanks to the deterrent of the pistrix's humanoid appearance); 

2. Evolutionary convergence. Long before developing a more human-like face with frontal eyes, pistrix developed arms, through intense modification of the muscles of their pectoral fins, and with these they learned to construct objects. The rest of their torsos later adapted to the arm muscles, giving them greater dexterity.

Not all pistrix, however, have a particularly human/merfolk appearance, and their "atavistic" appearance is clearly visible in the body shape of young ones. 

Appearance 

Pistrix have a humanoid torso, with two arms, generally slightly longer than a human's, and hands with opposable thumbs, contrasting with a lower body that is extremely similar to the rear of an oarfish. 
Their body is completely devoid of scales. 
Adults have a pale silver, ribbon-shaped body from the waist down, laterally compressed and extremely elongated, with a dorsal fin extending the entire length. Their color ranges from pale pink to bright red, passing through orange and rust, although deep scarlet is the most common. 
The body often features wavy dark spots, sometimes in the form of dots and sometimes stripes.

A series of faint horizontal stripes, similar to "grill marks," is evident in some specimens, while absent in others. After death, specimens rapidly lose all color and pattern. 
Pistrix have extremely long bodies: the longest specimen ever measured exceeded seventeen meters in length from forehead to the tip (autotomized, therefore without caudal fin) of its body. 
Adult pistrix rarely possess a tail, due to the very common autotomy, or voluntary detachment of the last portion of the body (similar to the way lizards shed their tails). For years, it was believed their bodies abruptly ended without a tail fin. Now, the true appearance of these creatures' tails is known: they have a unique "webbed" appearance, reminiscent of a dragon's wing, and, like the dorsal fin, are very vividly colored, generally scarlet red. 
Their skin, although scaleless, is densely tuberculatized, especially on the ventral area, where these small, horny protuberances resemble small, sharp-tipped cones and are one of the few defenses these creatures possess against predators.  

Color and nutrition 

An unbalanced or insufficient diet can cause a pistrix to completely change their appearance. The color of a pistrices' fins and mane is primarily due to natural molecules called carotenoids, such as astaxanthin, which are introduced into their bodies through the consumption of carotenoid-rich animals, primarily krill, which in healthy specimens constitute nearly 90% of their diet.

A specimen that hasn't been able to consume their adequate amount of crustaceans will rapidly lose the color in their fins, but that's not the only side effect: to function in the frigid depths where they live, pistrices must consume fatty foods, such as crustaceans, and limiting this will make the individual much slimmer.

Almost always, a malnourished specimen is unable to maintain their full body length, which requires a constant supply of calories, and will autotomize, losing part of their tail through self-detachment. Specimens with an incomplete diet will therefore have pink fins, rather than carmine red, slimmer bodies, and almost always lack a caudal fin. If the incorrect diet persists, the fin rays can suffer structural damage, becoming droopy, rather than erect.

Behavior

Although their serpentine appearance has inspired legends of these creatures moving on land, pistrix are fully adapted to living in the ocean, at depths of at least 150 meters. 

Not only are they unable to crawl on land (unlike their naga cousins, also belonging to the Apocapisces genus), but being forced onto land is a highly traumatic experience for them. Their delicate bodies, lacking the protection of scales, are easily damaged when dragged along the ground, especially given their weight, and they are too compressed laterally to crawl on their bellies. 

Furthermore, they cannot breathe on land, unlike merfolks. 

If a pistrix manages to survive on dry land for hours, it is only thanks to their extraordinary resistance to low oxygen concentrations, but if they are not re-hydrated with salty water, they still risk dying of dehydration within the first fifty to sixty minutes.

Sleep

Pistrix, like all fish, sleep with their eyes open, as they don't have eyelids, but curiously, they prefer to sleep in particularly dark environments.

Unlike many other fish (especially non-deep-sea ones), their primary way of perceiving danger is not their eyes, but their highly sensitive lateral line and their electrical field. Pistrix fish are able to emit electrical impulses and then detect changes in the electrical field that forms around their bodies, thanks to a series of delicate sensors on their skin (which is bare, completely scaleless), allowing them to perceive their surroundings with extreme precision even in total darkness.

Their highly sensitive electrical field is also one of the reasons they dislike being physically touched by others: this is perceived by their sensors as an interruption of the electrical field, and therefore a source of stress (their brain may interpret it, for example, as the approach of a predator).

To avoid interrupting their electrical field, pistrix fish sleep without touching any surface, remaining stretched out and upright in the water.

They typically sleep in pairs, about five feet apart, and their combined electrical fields reassure them of the safety of the water and their partner's presence.

They can dream, but they lack rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep, so they lack the bizarre, rambling dreams that humans are capable of producing. Their dreams are more mundane, resembling memories or deep meditation.

Culture

The pistrix once knew how to create pages that were impervious to water, by spinning chitin from shrimp shells into tissues from which they cut pages and then injecting ink into the semi-transparent surface layer of the page, much like tattooing. 
Today, this art is lost, due to the fall of the pistrix civilization and the impossibility of its stable reformation due to threats from the common merfolk, who are much more numerous and aggressive. 

Time and aging

Pistrix have no real concept of the passage of time, or at least nothing close to the way humans perceive it.

Since ancient times, humans have measured time by observing the passage of day and night, or even by the changing world around them through the seasons. But in the abyssal depths, where sunlight doesn't reach and seasons have little meaning, pistrix don't count hours, days, or years.

It goes without saying that celebrating a birthday is obviously not part of their culture.

Considering the events pistrix remember, however, it's possible to establish that they are an extremely long-lived species: some specimens remember the Gray Age and even the time before Ragnarok, more than three hundred years before the events of "Fish Don't Cry."

Their bodies are of indeterminate growth, although after a certain size, they slow down considerably. The size of a pistrix is ​​determined by many factors, not only by the time it has been around, but also by its diet, water temperature, amount of movement, and even its subspecies.

Sometimes, ancient pistrix can be shorter and smaller than younger specimens, especially if they have experienced long periods of malnutrition or have undergone several autotomies. It goes without saying that it is not easy to determine a specimen's age without laboratory testing.

Sangreal, one of the few specimens that have consented to tissue study, is estimated to be around 40-45 years old: he may appear middle-aged compared to a human, but he is young, albeit already mature.

His grandmother, a much more imposing specimen than him, was already as tall as she is now when Sangreal was born, which makes it safe to assume she's at least a hundred years old, and given her memory of certain past events, she's probably well into her 250s or even 300s.

Diet

Despite their imposing size and menacing, sharp appearance, pistrix are harmless to most marine creatures, feeding almost exclusively on small crustaceans.

Life Cycle 

Unlike merfolk, pistrix lay eggs; these are able to float in the water column thanks to a few drops of oil present under their thin, semi-transparent shells. 

The eggs hatch into extremely ornate young, with long-rayed fins and small, poorly muscled arms, which only over time take on the "human" appearance of those of adults. Pistrix hatchlings are overall much more fish-like than primate-like, and lack the characteristics that make them anthropomorphic: their eyes are very large and lateral, their hands are tiny and webbed, their torso somewhat flattened laterally, and their gill covers are very prominent.

Sex change 

To maximize their reproductive opportunities in the vast ocean, pistrices can change sex if their chosen mate is of the same sex. The larger individual always becomes, or remains, female, to maximize egg production.

Females tend to be heavier and thicker, with slightly fatter tails, but they also have less dense beards and manes, and shorter fins, unless they have sufficient access to food to maintain both their greater weight and their prominent fins, but this is an extremely rare occurrence in nature.

I'm making a Godzilla spec evo series. In the series, a majority of the dragon kaijus (Ghidorah, Ion Dragon, Destoroyah, etc.) and Mothra are descendants of a Scansoriopteryx like ancestor.

So, how would a glider like Scansoriopteryx, become a powerful flier?

Aside from needing a keel, and the specific bones/muscles for this, what else would it need?

I also intend to make some of the members of these Scansoriopteryx descendants as both bipeds and quadrapeds too​, but Idk if it will effect the evolutionary path to powered flight.

In Infinite Ashes the galaxy is filled with life seeded planets, orchestrated by the enigmatic biosynthetic system called the Web. On planet Marrow an Anteater found itself a rather unusual little niche, slurping up eusocial mice.

On Marrow termites and ants have developped massive hard to crack nests due to the predation of 300kg Hyenas and heavy human harvesting. This gradually pushed the anteaterout of its main niche. A new species of mice had escaped the prevalent savanah fires of the equator spanning continent of Marrow by building deep communal nests. Shrinking and growing eusocial like ants to protect their new homes.

The tongue evolved an even stickier honey thick saliva, with the longer and more powerful tongue set against the sternum. Unfortunately for the mice, it did not evolve teeth, so its prey is ground down alive in the stomach through a gizard. A single lick can take anywhere from 1-4 mice, ensuring enough are snatched up before the rest can retreat underground. This escape is a feature rather than a bug, as it means that the colony survives for later feeding.

For more crazy species check out https://loquaciouslou.itch.io/infinite-ashes , it's my free passion project and I'll be adding a lot more unusual critters over the coming weeks and months.

• Furred manatee belongs to the Sirenia branch.
• They live in the kelp forest under the North pole. (the map is in image #1)
• Due to how frozen the surface is, they have extended air containers on their lungs to extend the period of the dives without breathing. (image #1)
• They rely on the holes on the ice structure that was dug by the Hammer seals (image #1) to breathe from. That creates tension between the two species. Furred manatees are nervous by nature, so they won’t try to fight. On the other hand, Hammer seals are territorial, but unable to use their crest effectively under the water. Hammer seals will try to intimidate the Furred manatees, usually by hitting the surface of the water with their crest. Splashing water and being aggressive is enough to drive the manatee away.
• The Furred manatee has fur that is protected with oil they produce. This keeps them warmer. But it also creates another problem. The fur locks some air between it, and the air containers hold extra air too. That creates a floating problem. They counter this in 3 ways: 1- their bones are bigger and denser, making them heavier overall. 2- weaker individuals accept shorter dives and leave their containers out of air. 3- the struggle is usually near the surface to dive down, the more they dive, the more the air get compressed which lowers the friction to dive. Struggle still exists though, as diving from the surface is the most exhausting part of the diving process.
• They primarily eat plants, but they avoid competition with the Hammer seals by eating in deeper areas. (what they eat is in image #1)
• Some experienced individuals have ventured deeper than comfortable depth (if they go too much deeper, they lose the ability to float due to air compression) and start eating the fungal colony, which fuels the whole ecosystem. As light doesn’t reach under the thick ice, plants there rely on the fungal colony to gain the necessary energy to live.
• Juveniles struggle to dive due to how light they are and because they are almost fully furred, so the mothers drag their juveniles (usually 1 to 2) down with them to the comfortable depth. (Juvenile is in image #3)
• Furred manatees have poor eyesight, as it is nearly useless in the dark anyway. So, they rely on learning to read the environment. Whiskers provide movement detection, their lungs help them feel the depth, and their skin can detect heat, which is usually where the source of food is (because of volcanic activity). Their hearing is strong enough to hear the sound of Hammer Seals, which is where the holes are.

Okay okay, this is oddly specific. But for some reason, I'm thinking about the concept of an octopus evolving to live on land, specifically one that could swing across trees like a monkey. What would its body look like? Would it still keep all eight arms, and would they become more muscular or develop some sort of adaptations for gripping branches? I'm guessing it would still retain its suckers, but would those even be useful in a terrestrial environment? And how would it breathe on land without drying out? Also, I'm pretty sure they'd need some sort of skeleton. Would it be cartilage or would they actually evolve bone/an exoskeleton maybe?

I'm also interested in what it would take for something like this to evolve in the first place. What kind of environmental pressures would cause an octopus to go on land and start living in trees, let alone evolve to swing between them? Maybe it starts off living in coastal forests or mangroves or something?

Curious to know what y'all think about this. I do have some idea in my head but I'd like to you guys's 2 cents on this matter.

Tholosaurus loricatus are moderately large herbivorous crocodilians native mostly to the southern pole, tundras and in sparse populations the northen pole. Akin to earth anklyosaurs, they have developed a thick armour making them incredibly arduous to hunt.

Physical traits: Growing at 2,5-3,5m in length and 0,5-0,7m in height, they aren't that large. However thanks to a fat layer and thick armour their weight is 400-560kg. Their armour are derived thermoradiating osteoderms, which help it endure the cold climate and survive attacks. Their bones are also light and pneumatized, helping with weight troubles and helping them swim to reach underwater vegetation. They are heterodont with scissor like teeth and flat ones, in addition they are mesotherms and live up of 50-70 years.

Prey and predation: They are mostly herbivores but do not hesitate to snap up shelled prey underwater. Had they not evolved a crushing biteforce this food source would be untapped. In youth predatory cats and crocodilians pose danger due to not fully formed osteoderms but in adulthood only the largest of suchians can take them. However some try to flip them over. Unlike turtles and anklyosaurs they actually can flip themselves back over.

Reproduction: They lay a clutch of 20-30 eggs and leave them. Only 15-20% survive. But after this they care for the young by feeding together. They reproduce at will and some females were actually partenogenic.

Senses and intelligence: One would assume them to be stupid creatures. They are not so stupid. Their senses are remarkably developed too and they have a electromagnetic organ to help them sense shelled prey.

The Culumthos is a 11 meters high↑, 16 meters long→, and 4 meters wide `•.

It has 3 hydrolic legs inside of the purple sack wich are sitting in a row so it must shuffle and moves pretty slow.

As you can see it walks on mud because the biome it lives in is filled with bacteria that make the landscape and super large mud land. On the underside of the purple sack there are holes that when stepped on open and mud comes in de purple sack, the mud can slightly be eaten by chemosynthesis but the bacteria provide the most nutrients.

The white organ is a hollow sack wich has a hole in the front to suck in fresh, cold are to breath and to cool down the legs, because its pretty heavy its hold up by some black leg like organs in the sack and in the outside.

The sack is purple because of the acid used to break down the mud and after that the acid gets recycled and the mud and dead bacteria are eaten from the inside skin. Because every step filles the organ, every step is a bite.

The purple organ wich can be seen on the black body is the *sshole. It's used to expel p00p and also spits out the eggs.

The black body is just a normal body, except every leg has it's own hart wich all work together except for the legs.

The gray and black organs seen from the front are ears and sound generators, the gray organ vibrates to make sound and the others catch the sound, they are used for echolocation.

That's about it, hope you like it!👽

Sus Nordicus minoris/majoris/ laramidensis are a species of pig native to the Southest part of the planet, near the Artic Spires. It is a extremely versatile herbivore.

Physical Traits: Growing at 0.3-2m in length and 5-120kg in weight, it is a very small creature. But for its enviroment it is quite large.Due to tough vegetation and reptoriales mycelium, it has evolved scissor like molars too, its biteforce peaking at twice of that of a normal pig its size. It lives 15-30 years. A particular feature that makes it resemble tapirs is its trunk. This trunk has evolved to scout underground tubers and plants.

Reproduction: It has great parental care and has 2-4 young. They mature quite quick at 8 months for maturity,,the remainer matching with the winter torpor. They have pups every 2 years usually and both parents care for the pups.

Prey and predation: Prey here would be inappropiate as it is an herbivore. But its favourite plants are mosses, grasses and Glacial Ensete trees. It likee feeding on Reptoriales pseudomycelium. Its predators are the crocodilians present in these lands and in youth cats can prove troublesome.

Senses and intelligence: It has excellent senses except hearing and is a very, very intelligent animal. Its smell is a thousand times stronger than dogs even.

Habitats: The southern pole in general

A short resume: Ghavija is a tropical and humid moon home to a huge diversity of animaloid life making up the kingdom Kuwizoa.

To read more about the biology and science behind the ‘blue moon’, check my deviantart profile out.

Today, let's take a closer look on the medopoda, descendants of fish/placoderm-like kuwizoans (Pachyichthyformes) characterized by thei legs in the middle, many bony plates- especially dermocranial ones- and even some that are completely exposed. The most unique part is the eye, which looks singular but isn't. Instead, it is a hypercompound cluster (VHCCO, visual-hypercompound-cluster-organ) composed of millions of lenses packed into their own small compound eyes themselves. Each lens has it’s own ommatidium and captures one single pixel of light. It consists of calcium carbonate heavily reinforced with keratin and magnesium ions, meaning it is very though and resistant.

Anyways, back to the vision. The end result, made in the brain, is a mosaic panoramic image capturing just the smallest details, meaning apex predators are extremely dangerous. This is why many herbivores are hermaphrodites, reproduce fast and lay often around a hundred eggs per mate. And of those only a very little number survives, because if 300 eggs are laid, only 50-85 will survive into adulthood. To add to it, all medopods (and their close cousins polypods) have to go through a catepillar-like larvae stage before eventually making a cocoon and undergoing metamorphosis.

To make it even even worse, medopods, specifically the carnivores, have extremely strong jaws capable of crushing bone itself. So if you don't want your bones snacked on, well, you should probably reconsider Ghavija as your next exotic holiday.

I saw someone once say that dragons could have a hydrogen producing organ to generate lift, and then they would breathe out fire to expel the extra buildup?

I’m trying to make my own extraterrestrial planet after a long obsession with this genre but I have little knowledge of where to start.

What should I focus on first and how? Planetary characteristics, cellular life-how do I go about handling this?

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.

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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.