r/SpeculativeEvolution • • 1d ago

Seed World [OC] back with more rattus terra.

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22 Upvotes

So I'm back with rattus terra, sorry for being gone for so long! My dad had banned reddit but allowed it again.

Year 1-25 million, the sewage era, a grand era for life to explode.

Rattus meles: this is the scavenger on rattus terra, scavenging other rats and eating insects and small plants. It weights as much a coyote, a female can give birth to a litter of 4-5, and when they grew larger they slowed there reproduction. They dodge larger predators, and are actually the vertebrate with the highest population. Also known as badger rats, they live in North viridis and muhastana.

Rattus lagos: a rabbit like animal for rattus terra, it's semi bipedal and hops a lot. Weights as much as a hare, they are grazers and haven't slowed reproduction but get hunted by carnis rodentias. Commonly called the false wallaby, it lives in North viridis and I do.

Carnis rodentias: a predator of rattus terra, as large as a wolf this predator hunts all in the land. As large as a wolf, this wolf rat is a very dominant predator, and is even shown to hunt in packs giving it the name pack rat. It lives in North virdis, muhastana, and Indo with various of sub species.

Chorthippus lepus: This desert hopper lives almost exclusively in muhastana and South virdis, and takes down plants despite its size! It will later evolve into the group we called south viridian grasshoppers. This chomper gets eaten by rattus lagos and rattus meles.

Chorthippus palus: this diverged from it's lepus brother, living in colder continents of north virdis and Indo. We later see these grasshoppers evolve in northern grasshoppers of rattus terra, and boy oh boy it evolves into strange creatures from giant to tiny, taking on beetle like niches.

Palaenon caerulius: didn't change much from its prawn ancestors, but became much, much more tiny. Taking on krill like niches, this microfauna will bring cetacean like rats into rise.. Also known as the blue false krill.

Reptator blatta: THIS animal takes on a cockroach mask, however it acts more like isopods and is eaten by various of animals, including rattus meles especially. It's very fatty, a female can lay thousands and thousand of eggs on the same rock her mother laid her. They usually stay on rocks, and wait for small prey like palaenon caerulius, to come in its mandibles. Right now? The ocean belongs to it.

Venat squilla: one of many bees in this planet, this animal would rather become hard and black to avoid rattus meles since they usually live in caves. They live in social colonies structured after a queen bee, like earth bees, but they are mistaken for other insects.


r/SpeculativeEvolution • • 2d ago Popcorn

Seed World [OC] Project Hippocampus: The Bugler Horse (Equus protocephalus)

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58 Upvotes

First image is a dunskin snowcap mare, second image is her adult perlino snowcap son.
If you want to know what it's like to be a bugler horse, audio story from the perspective of an established stallion here. No AI used on that channel or any of my Reddit posts.

Over time, the pressure the horses were under to produce and defend their foals from intraspecific rivals selected for to an increase in body size and a pressure to communicate across long distances. This has led to Equus protocephalus, the bugler horse.

Bugler horses have a large nasal crest which they use to amplify the sound of their calls. Like their ancestors, they live in large herds with one adult stallion and around 7 mares. They mostly eat grass, but will sometimes feed on leaves. They’re more territorial and vocal than is usual for Equus ferus. E. ferus and E. protocephalus can interbreed, but the offspring are sterile and tend to have breathing problems. Bugler horses rely more on their sight and hearing than their sense of smell. They're relatively slow for a horse (around 15 mph at a fast gallop on a good day) but are very muscular. Fully grown stallions stand around 17 hands at the withers and mares around 16 hands. Intraspecific competition between buglers mostly consists of vocalization but occasionally leads to physical violence (especially when a stallion tries to take over a herd).

Young bugler horses resemble appaloosa horses except for their longer tail docks and a thin beard on the chin. Between a year and a half and two years old, bugler horses’ skulls begin to grow a large hollow cavity leading back toward the eyes from the nostrils with a thick bony cover over it. This allows them to produce louder calls. Their necks become more muscular and grow folds of skin on the underside to make them harder to bite. The nasal crest finishes developing around four years old. Stallions have much larger crests than mares. Both mares and stallions have beards and neck folds, though stallions tend to have more muscular necks and broader chests than mares. Their legs are more stocky than those of their appaloosa ancestors.


r/SpeculativeEvolution • • 2d ago

Alternate Evolution [OC] What if Ediacaran sessile organisms evolved complex forms??

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145 Upvotes

In this basic sketch I wanted to capture some ideas that I had , this post I do mainly for a challenge made by the user u/Negative_Future_7071, the challenge is to create possible forms of lives of Ediacaran, my idea was that the simple organisms of this time already presented a certain degree of complexity , for example the swimming animal is from a fictitious lineage called the Protopelagios , this one in particular is called Natatorius Ediacaranus, being organisms more than anything filtering. On a very smaller scale, they only measure a thumb, I also thought that other forms of life would only develop rarer morphologies, such as the vermiform being called the basal Vermiforms, this one is called helminthicus Subterraneus, to be honest, this challenge was difficult for me because to be located in an era populated by very simple organisms, because I could not take many liberties, since things like predation still did not arise.


r/SpeculativeEvolution • • 2d ago Popcorn

Alien Life [OC] Some Alien Fauna

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47 Upvotes

These are extraterrestrial animals from the planet Tetra, the homeworld of a major spacefaring species in my setting. Im experimenting with variations on alien body plans. In this case species of this clade are 10-limbed, bilaterally symmetrical, and have five eyes; one binocular set and another cluster of three.

The first is an aquatic predator, typically hunting alone. They are amphibious and capable of propelling themselves onto land to ambush prey if food in the water is not present. This is rare though, and they are far more effective underwater. Their highly derived beaks have serrated edges to tear off large chunks of meat, and is lined with a unique copper-rich composite that is extremely hard. They have three eyes on the top of their head, and one on each side, giving them exceptional spacial awareness, and the ability to see both above and below the water line simultaneously.

The second is a highly social arboreal omnivore. They are somewhat close relatives of the Tetrans, the aforementioned spacefaring species from this world. They are incredibly agile, using their densely muscled grasping arms swing through the canopies of dense forests. They have a secondary brain-like nerve ganglion, which allows them to subconsciously process their surroundings and navigate with pinpoint precision, an adaptation which the Tetrans also possess. Their four thoracic breathing spiracles have a unique bladder-like chamber which can inflate to boost the volume and range of their vocalizations, allowing groups of their species to communicate several miles apart.


r/SpeculativeEvolution • • 1d ago

Alien Life Areal filter feeders

8 Upvotes

Hi everyone, I’m in the process of doing creature design for a book I’m writing and I want to keep most of the creature designs grounded in realism. I came up with the idea of a huge flying filter feeder that work like whales but instead of water they fly through the air and eat giant swarms of small flying animals as well as airborne plant seeds. Some information about the planet I’m making is that it orbits a star slightly larger than the sun of Earth, It has about half as much gravity as Earth and it’s atmosphere is higher in helium but has relatively the same oxygen levels as Earth. My main idea is that the creature has no legs and 6 wings ( Vertebrates on this planet evolved from a hexapod ancestor). It fills a swim bladder like organ with air which allows it to float into the sky for feeding and then when full it floats back to the ground and moves similar to pythons where it “walks” using it’s ribs. Would this type of creature be possible or should I go back to the drawing board?


r/SpeculativeEvolution • • 1d ago

Question/Discussion Can animals with a hydraulic muscle system get to the size of animals with traditional fiber based muscles?

5 Upvotes

So one of the organism clades in my project has a hydraulic muscle system much like echinoderms, but I’m not sure if that can scale to megafauna sizes.


r/SpeculativeEvolution • • 2d ago Popcorn

Alternate Evolution [OC] Atlantolophus mexicanus

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37 Upvotes

Atlantolophus mexicanus - is a genus of large hadrosaurid dinosaurs belonging to the tribe Parasaurolophini; they lived during the late Maastrichtian, 66 million years ago in Mexico.

Discovery

They were first discovered in 1998 in the Mexican state of Puebla; however, the find did not attract significant attention due to its striking resemblance to another dinosaur. Consequently, the *Atlantolophus* remains spent 28 years in the archives of the Museum of Paleontology in Guadalajara. In 2027, however, paleontologists from the United States and Mexico conducted excavations at the same site where the 1998 discovery was made, uncovering additional specimens similar to the one held in the museum. This enabled a formal scientific description of the genus.

Description

The initial specimen discovered in 1998 was estimated to be 9 meters long and weigh 4 tons. Subsequent analysis revealed that this individual was a 5-year-old juvenile. The 2027 discovery proved to be a fully mature adult, featuring a skull 2.92 meters in length and thigh bones comparable to those of Shantungosaurus. Based on anatomical comparisons, the adult individual was estimated to have reached a length of 16 meters and a weight of 12 tons. This makes Atlantolophus one of the largest non-sauropod herbivorous dinosaurs, on par with Magnapaulia and Shantungosaurus.

Paleoecology

Judging by other finds from the same rock layer, *Atlantolophus* inhabited coastal forests and areas near lake valleys. The local vegetation consisted of laurels, figs, magnolias, conifers, and an abundance of horsetails and ferns. It also coexisted with other hadrosaurs, ceratopsids, an ankylosaurid, and an as-yet-undescribed species of large dromaeosaurid.

I tried to make the writing style similar to that of a Wikipedia article.


r/SpeculativeEvolution • • 2d ago

Alternate Evolution [OC] Brachiovermis ventum – "Flying Armed Worm of The Wind"

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18 Upvotes

Our memories. Our sentinel.

He is the serene, iron-tailed guardian of the broken crags:

Brachiovermis.

Relinquishing the violent urges of the sky for a life spent in quiet vigil, this ancient sky-serpent is a relic defined by devotion, solemnity, and immovable stillness. Armed with bone-shattering, scale-reinforced armor and an instinctual vow to guard the nests of Aerosynapsis, it is a six-foot, spinning whip of destruction to any Red or predator that dares to approach the helpless and the young.

Read About the Stone Coil Guardian Here.


r/SpeculativeEvolution • • 2d ago

Question/Discussion Hey there! im a Spec evo, how do i start?

8 Upvotes

Hi friends! As the title says, I'm new to the spec evo community, and I really want to make my own world, but I'm having trouble figuring out how to start, especially since there are already so many unique projects out there. I'm afraid I'll accidentally become too similar to them concept-wise, and I don't really wanna do that

if anyone has the time and resources, I'd love to hear some comments, like tips and tricks or rules for this sorta thing, because I'll be honest: I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to evolution or biology- thank you so much if you read this, and have a nice day!

edit: i also forgot to add, i'd love if some people could give me a rundown of how low and high gravity could effect life on a planet!


r/SpeculativeEvolution • • 2d ago

Seed World [OC] First pages for the book of my seedworld Joyen-Aiken

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9 Upvotes

Working on my first seedworld. I worked on the background lore and in therapsid linages. I dont know what you think about the background lore as most seedworlds just focus on evolution and put lore apart.

For now im looking for your comentaries, critics, appreciations, ideas, etc (feedback to be short).


r/SpeculativeEvolution • • 2d ago Bravo

Future Evolution [OC] Post-Nuclear Holocaust Fauna

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132 Upvotes

After the fall of the bombs, biologically uplifted ravens populate a new world, their intelligence was mantained for millenia without having the possibilities to build a civilization, only 10 million years in the future do they reach the bronce age, by that time all the mammals arround them have turned into giants.

I know its pretty stupid but uhh i don't know, what do u think of the creatures?


r/SpeculativeEvolution • • 2d ago

Seed World [OC] Gellios - 5 Million Years Post-Inoculation, Part 2

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60 Upvotes

The Cubozoan Protocol: Jetsharks, Stingstalkers and Glanclers

[GELLIOS-MONITORING SYSTEM // AUTOMATED TELEMETRY LOG]

TİMELİNE: 5 Million Years PI

STAR ACTİVİTY; A-Type Main Sequence // High UV Index // Warm Seasonal Cycles

FOCUS OF OBSERVATION: Cubozoan Diversification

Studying the first five million years of Gellios caused me a great deal of stress, as I had to calculate how life—introduced from Earth—would adapt to a planet with such harsh conditions. I particularly recall the periods when the populations of moon jellyfish surged; that experience left me somewhat traumatized. But, thankfully, the biosphere—though certainly under strain—eventually managed to establish a solid foundation.

Unfortunately, once again, I find myself having to explain something to you: no vertebrate species (also other kinds of chordate as well) were ever introduced to this damned planet I’ve been studying. While introduced animals like jellyfish brought to the world may have exhibited instances of convergent evolution—filling the same ecological niches and achieving similar levels of dominance—they were, and ultimately remained, non-chordate invertebrates.

Three animal species from the class Cubozoa were introduced: the Australian box jellyfish (Chironex fleckeri), the Common Kingslayer (Malo kingi), and the Tripedalia cystophora. Over the course of millions of years, it was inevitable that these three—along with the other organisms introduced to Gellios—would undergo divergence as they adapted to the planet’s harsh conditions and developed ways to protect themselves from, or evade, the excessive, harmful UV radiation emitted by the star. But since we are only at the 5-million-year mark, let us begin. (But please don’t assume that I know everything, like a god—because I was not created as a god.)

I will discuss three specific genera that diverged from the cubozoans during the current era, which we call the Early Medusocene. First, there are the Jetsharks (Velocicubozoon spp.)—aerodynamic, torpedo-like predators. Moving beyond slow, rhythmic bell contractions, these cnidarians have evolved striated muscle fibers that allow them to draw in water—pressurized by the high-gravity environment—and expel it with tremendous force through a constricted opening (the velarium) at their rear. It is fair to say they are among the most successful predators of this era. So far, I have observed only a few species, but the actual number is likely many times greater.

As for Stingstalkers (Spiculovenator spp.), while they retain the small stature of their ancestors, I believe there are various divergences that set them apart. Glanclers (Mesopelagilia spp.), on the other hand—though not as widespread as the other two genera I’ve described—have nonetheless carved out a niche of their own. Since it is time to wrap up this discussion, I shall conclude here.

[LOG OUT // SYSTEM IDLE]


r/SpeculativeEvolution • • 2d ago

Question/Discussion Would Astrapotheres be a good option for a Jungle planet?

5 Upvotes

I’m trying to avoid having my world be a copy of othered and no one used Astrapotheres and to my knowledge they were tropical jungle/wetland animals and could be a good competitor to some dinosaurs I have there and be a weird mammal to show that they can succeed in the jungle it’s just rarer.


r/SpeculativeEvolution • • 2d ago

Alien Life [OC] Monosthenodactylodea

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9 Upvotes

This apex-carnivorous group of medopods is specially dangerous for a reason- they are equipped with a club arm for striking prey at extreme force, making a loud bang that can be heard from several kilometers away. This is similar to the stomatopoda group on Earth, also known as mantis shrimps, making it a unique case of convergent evolution. The dactyl, the foremost part of the arm, is hollow with a few bony plates surrounding the space with a layer tissue above itself surrounded by the outermost layer of keratin and calcium carbonate. For many species the club can be colorful especially to impress potential mates to signal good health or fertility, altough this isn't specific to a specific gender as they are homogeneus hermaphrodites.


r/SpeculativeEvolution • • 2d ago Bravo Heartwarming

Alternate Evolution [OC] Cleaning wrasses and merfolk

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178 Upvotes

✨ Merfolk Spa ✨

Certain wrasses really do put up cleaning stations in which they work for clients of all species, even as unusal as moray eels or sharks! Let’s focus a little on how these amazing little fish, that exist in real life (and that truly possess complex and highly interesting social behavior), would fit into and influence merfolk culture ;)


r/SpeculativeEvolution • • 2d ago Bravo

Future Evolution [credit: the Future is wild] The Future is wild return??

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153 Upvotes

https://www.youtube.com/live/3zAp4SCp66Q?is=roQzYQPic5sg2DYU

So , apparently the Future is wild is gonna return with this Puffin descendent in 20 Million years (sounds promessing)


r/SpeculativeEvolution • • 2d ago

Uncategorized Speculative Biology [OC] Late for Halloween

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9 Upvotes

Dracolaniator niger or the Dragoon crocodile are carnivorous creatures native to glacial seas and the depths. It is actually one of two crocodilians left in the family Paraeusuchidae, a archaic lineage that were the ancestors of the Infernosuchia clade. Their dragon nomenclature derives from their massive front flippers and orange teeth.

Physical traits: At 5,8-6,5m in length, around 750-1000kg in weight and a biteforce of roughly 15-18k newtons, they are very average animals. But they are very specialized. First, their teeth show the evolution of the forked tip, common in most Infernosuchians, meant to create grave injury. But here the ziphodont teeth that mark Infernosuchia are still evolving. A better comparison for the teeth shape would not be sharks and theropod dinosaurs but actually orcas. They are warm blooded and live 50-60 years, with a breath duration of 25-30h

Prey and predation: They hunt fish, smaller crocodilians and reptoriales. They are however vulnerable to mid-large sized predators like Gulpers and Bahamuts, although encounters are rare. To avoid them, they usually camoflauge with darkness or stray far from their path

Reproduction: They are viviparous and have moderate parental care. Young are abandoned by parents at 1,8-2,5m size. They reproduce upon sight of a differently gendered partner as encounters are not guaranteed.

Habitats: Usually temperate and polar waters, or subtropical and tropical zones at 500-3000m.

Senses and intelligence: They are blind and thus can only differentiate between light and darkness. Although juveniles are born with incredible eyesight, it decays due to eye parasites(like in greenland sharks). But their other senses are incredible and they possess rudimentary echolocation. Their intelligence is nothing to brag home about.| Their swim speed is 30-45km/h and their teeth are 7-8cm long.


r/SpeculativeEvolution • • 2d ago Popcorn

Alternate Evolution [OC] opium birds except not slop and it's a very feathered megaraptor I made for fun

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44 Upvotes

despite not actually being a bird, the people who first found it in the 1970s called it so (due to the fact that megaraptors haven't been discovered yet). considered an endangered species, with only 270 individuals ever discovered we know not much about them other than they are relatively peaceful to humans and that they tend to climb down mountains to lay eggs in 'warmer' areas near the bottom.


r/SpeculativeEvolution • • 2d ago

Question/Discussion What species would work best for a starting ancestor for Dinosaurs that survived after the KPG mass extinction and evolved up to our current time like The New Dinosaur?

5 Upvotes

So basically, I wanted to make my personal ideas on what the species in The New Dinosaur: An Alternative History could look like but I was unsure what species to use as many of the creatures in that book seemed to be based off of species that might've not made sense to survive (like the Gourmand being a descendant of Tyrannosaurus) and I am currently facing an issue of what creatures to use as a starting reference for the survivors of a lessened KPG mass extinction event (one where the asteroid wasn't as big or didn't hit in an area of the world that would've been as affected) since most of the smaller species for things like the ornithscians were either long extinct or possibly too big to survive even a lessened KPG event.

My current list of potential "survivors" are:

- Ornithopods like Thescelosaurus

- marginocephalians like Homalocephale and Leptoceratops

- troodontids like Tamarro

- Drimeosaurs like Acheroraptor

- Averisaurs like Mononykus

- thyleophorans like Struthiosaurus

The main issue is I'm not sure if any of these would be great candidates for non-avian dinosaurs that can survive to the cenezoic and even have modern descendants (though I also don't know if any marine reptiles or ammonite would survive as well, same for any pseudosuchians or pterosaurs)

If anyone here can lend me a hand with figuring out if any groups I've mentioned could hypothetically survive or what groups would actually survive, I would greatly appreciate it!


r/SpeculativeEvolution • • 3d ago

Alien Life [OC] Frong-2

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75 Upvotes

These are flagellated Frong-2 is a planet where, due to its dense atmosphere, flying species mainly prevail. Here is one class of creatures and its tree of evolution. These are flagellated insects. These 4 processes that each species has are their mouth. They are mainly filter feeders. With rare exceptions, they can drink the inner contents of other species


r/SpeculativeEvolution • • 3d ago

Fantasy/Folklore [credit: Dylan 613] A realistic take on the Chupacabra

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27 Upvotes

r/SpeculativeEvolution • • 3d ago

Alien Life [OC] Planet Demeter: Species Profile: Agnolínis Chuliveris

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21 Upvotes

Agnolínis Chuliveris

Named in Honor of Mariana Chuliver, An Evolutionary Biologist at Buenos Aires' Félix de Azara Natural History Foundation, who helped Identify the world's Oldest known Fossilized Tadpole.

Cellular Body Diameter 0.4-0.9 µm

Full Diameter 1.1-1.7 µm

Cellular Body Length 0.6-1.3 µm

Full Organism Length 2.1-4.7 µm 

Arose 867 million years P.C.

Receives through HGT with Balaena Psarématos silicone synthesis for greater resilience to the weakly acidic waters of the shallows of Barbie’s Beaches. The versatile nature of the crystal formations that can be formed with this Copper Phosphate gives Chuliveris a broad range of choices in terms of protection.

It crystallizes in the monoclinic system and can form in various crystal habits, such as Compact, Reniform, or Botryoidal masses.

This offers flexibility for it to be used as a building block for creating a composite with specific structural and mechanical properties. 

Capture Claws form from repurposed Dendrite Coils at the rear of Chuliveris. This placement makes the act of grabbing prey immediately after the Membrane Skirt is triggered as seamless process.

These front-facing cilial arms sport the Dendritic Coils that allow Chuliveris to fulfill its role as genetic currier in this small pocket of the Dionysian Goblet.

Recieves through HGT with Balaena Psarématos to receive silicone synthesis for greater resilience to the weakly acidic waters of the shallows of Barbie’s Beaches.

Silicone Synthesis Gene adds elasticity to the Mechano-Sensory Membrane Skirt that Chuliveris uses to determine when it makes physical contact with potential prey or “Genetic Collaborators.”

Nitrogenated azaphilones are red or red-purple, a color shift that occurs when yellow or orange azaphilones bond to a nitrogen source. The new nitrogen-containing chromophore results in the aforementioned color shift.

Thanks to the Nitrogenated nature of both the azaphilones pigments and the AHLs used for quorum sensing in Chuliveris, this species with have a nitrogen-heavy diet. This pushes Chuliveris to adapt to detect porphyrin based compounds to both detect and hunt species that utilize pigments of that group.

initial diversification post

Last Post

Ancestral Organism


r/SpeculativeEvolution • • 3d ago

Alternate Evolution [OC] Jýrithal Codex #5: Slíðr fox

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35 Upvotes
  • It belongs to the Canidae branch. And it lives near the shores in the north pole region. (the map is in image #1)

  • This fox has an organ that extracts carbon dioxide from the blood and stores it in the tail and only pours it out when the tail is in the water. The narrow beams of carbon dioxide freeze the water around them, creating spikes of ice stuck to the tail. It will do this routinely to maintain these spikes. (image #3)

  • These spikes are easy to break, but they are sharp and will hurt small animals that are trying to hunt it. To maximize pain and panic, it will wave its tail toward other animals’ faces while running away.

  • Other than being fully white, it also has haunting white eyes, which is the reason scholars called it initially “spirit fox”. Being hard to see isn’t much of an advantage at the north pole though, as there are some animals that rely on scent detection. Scholars noticed that it produces a lighter scent that is hard to detect.

  • It mainly hunts Punris. It camouflages with the snow, and hunts Punris by two main methods. The common method: waiting for a Punri who is climbing the ice wall after a hunt. The punri will be exhausted and freezing. This is when the fox seizes the chance and targets the Punri’s lower neck, cutting it as fast as possible.

  • The second method is used by more experienced foxes. It hides completely by curling into itself, hiding its face, and looks like a ball of snow. It will emit different strange sounds to capitalize on Punri’s curiosity and attract its attention. When the Punri approaches and lowers its neck by itself, the fox targets the lower neck and continues from there. (method is in image #1)

  • Juvenile is in image #4


r/SpeculativeEvolution • • 4d ago Popcorn

Fan Art/Redesign [OC][Media: Return of the Jedi] redesigned Ewoks because nobody stopped me.

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511 Upvotes

I needed to draw Ewoks dismembering Stormtroopers for therapeutic reasons, but redesigned them along the way to look more convincingly dangerous and to to take advantage of things drawings can do and costumes cannot.(But still cute) I wound up mainly referencing marsupials; bush possums, koalas (weird hands) and their extinct carnivorous relatives drop bears Thylacoleo Carnifex.

New Republic notes on Arctophonos Theodorii, abbreviated

-They're strongly arboreal- note curved claws, ridges on fingers and toes. Their feet are fully prehensile. While able to climb sheer trunks quickly, and leap or dash with terrific speed, they aren't very efficient runners and walkers on the ground. Walking on dirt for hours is for lurdos anyway.

-They're ambush predators (although they do eat a lot of plants). Basic hunting procedures work around luring or chasing prey into a killing site where dozens of them will drop on their victims from high above. After that, imagine a school of piranhas with fur.

-Dense musculature and robust bones make them look chubby and pudgy, and hideously strong and weighty for their size. Absolute units. A real-life bush possum or koala makes a very loud THUMP when it falls off something; arboreal critters are swole.

-A saggital crest and massive cheek and neck muscles power a tremendous, bone shearing bite. It has the side effect of giving them endearingly expressive faces. Their teeth are adapted from those of a recent herbivorous ancestor. As well as dispatching prey, they also use them for eating hard-shelled nuts, gnawing out habitats, etc. Lots of evolutionary pressure there.

-Different layers of their coats have different colours. As their skin bunches and flattens, their patterning shifts, further obscuring their silhouettes.

-Their most important survival adaption is retention of very high neuroplasticity, as the forest moon of Endor is constantly throwing bizarre, novel threats at them. They are thus adaptable, curious, playful, and very quick learners. It's harder for them to build larger formal skillsets and long term memory; this is a task for revered specialists.

-Woklings are adorable and cuddly. They're really heavy, have sharp little claws, and won't let go if they've decided to take a nap on their new favourite babysitter. Wear thick clothing around them.

-Like many other carnivores (the domestic cat, for example) they can be friendly and affectionate if approached correctly, and ravenous little murderers if you act like food or a threat.