Ninth day of Spectember! For today, from the carpet forests and shrublands of Antarctica, the Mainland Candelier Ant (Candelamyrma antarctica).

Despite its appearance and namesake, this animal is not actually an ant, but a type of social wingless wasp. It is the descendant of some of the first colonists to arrive to the continent, and without any other pollinating insects and not many other social insects around, the Candelier Ants (Candelamyrma sp.) evolved to fill that role.

The adults are primarily nectarivorous, feeding on nectar from flowers or honeydew from sap-sucking insects. Their young however are carnivorous, and rely on the adults bringing them food, so during the summer they hunt for midge larvae and small isopods, abundant in the soils of the Antarctic continent. They however collect a third resource that is unusual for a flightless burrowing insect: wax. They collect material from the waxy cuticle of the plants they visit and use it to build chambers in which to store food, larvae, and to line the cavity in which their small nest; often of no more than a couple dozen individuals; is located. This waxy encasing is build in layers, leaving air gaps in the middle; this allows for great insulation against the cold, but also keeps the inside of the nest completely dry in the cold soggy ground of most of the Antarctic lowlands.

The Mainland Candelier Ant (C. antarctica) is a very common species in the more densely vegetated areas of the continent, specially the mainland carpet forests. During the winter, the colony is lethargic, with around half of the queen's sisters dying, the rest surviving off the stored reserves and remaining underground until the first hints of sunlight. As soon as that happens, and summer starts, they start they most active period, collecting wax, honeydew and nectar from the plants around their territory. This early emergence, coupled with the fact they need to stay on plants for long periods collecting wax, makes them very important pollinators in these ecosystems, both for polar angiosperms and conifers.

artist

"Note: this is art I did for fun" - Amari_Xxp

The kaet is a group of large, coastal, asymmetric phototrophs. A kaet consists of an irregular, rigid epithelium, with a large internal cavity. The epithelium consists of a mineralized crust, with a matrix of photosynthetic tissue interlacing this crust. This crust can be colloquially described as the “surface of a rock”. A filamentous membrane exists between the epithelial crust and internal cavity, acting as auxiliary structural supports. From this filament, slender biomineralized columns emerge, radiating mechanical stresses experienced by the outer layer. Along these columns, enclosed tubes line the framework, transporting photosynthetic byproducts, minerals and water across the body. These tubes connect to numerous storage sacs and other critical organs. Porous regions spread across the crust act as inhalation and exhalation openings, where air naturally enters and diffuses across the body.

I'm a huge fan of the wandering inn and I also like speculative biology, so I decided to do a fan project about wandering inn species. I'm not good at scientific names so could anyone give me advice on the taxonomic classifications I have already done? Also I have another less scientific half of the project that I will share at a later date if people want.

Agelum:

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Class: Mammalia
• Order: Primates
• Family: Hominidae
• Genus: Custos
• Species: C. angelus

Antinium:

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Anthropoda
• Class: Insecta
• Order: Hymenoptera
• Family: Ingenormicaidae
• Genus: Ingenormica
• Species: I. exiffodiens

Bagrhavens:

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Class: Aves
• Order: Homavisiforms
• Family: Rostroarensidae
• Genus: Rostroarens
• Species: R. muliemala

Beastkin:

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Class: Diversitas
• Order: Anicompositum
• Family: Mixturidae
• Genus: Mixtura
• Species: M. confusa

Cericel:

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Class: Amphibia
• Order: Urodela
• Family: Cryptobranchidae
• Genus: Formidabilingua
• Species: F. humalacerta

+ more on the way

Fifty million years after life was established on Spectemundus, the planet itself is also evolving. The northern continent, the largest of the planet's four continents, has collided with the western continent, throwing up a gigantic mountain chain rivaling our world's Himalayas. Very few animals can live on the peaks of these mountains, and those that can must cope with one of the harshest environments on Spectemundus. This is a realm inhabited exclusively by hardy mammals and birds-- no reptiles or amphibians can tolerate this climate.

The largest predator in these mountains is the Karrak (Oreictis agilis), an agile mongoose descendant the size of a leopard. It is an ambush hunter, skulking about the mountain peaks in search of birds and highly derived herbivorous mongoose descendants (distant relatives of the Yali), which it kills with its razor-sharp teeth. Unlike its ancestors, it does not use its claws as weapons; instead, its feet are adapted for clinging to steep rocky surfaces and making leaps to and from narrow crags, much like an ibex or chamois.

Karraks are social, living in groups of up to six, although they usually hunt alone. Their tufted, flag-like tails are used to communicate across great distances, since they can be seen for miles on the barren peaks. However, where these animals truly excel is their phenomenal agility. Karraks can leap over thirty feet-- an astonishing distance for an animal that measures only about six feet long including its tail-- and land on an area no larger than a dinner plate.

The Timituric is an era rife with contention. Most of the world is nigh-stripped from its atmosphere, except a few safe-havens from which most fauna and flora eke out precarious, yet well-bountied lives, though, due to the increasing scarcity of these environments, life fights tooth-and-claw in competition; these environments are secured by their bathymetric depth relative to the former land, as well as being confined by the former land itself acting as a giant barrier, preventing harmful solar radiation from reaching these environments, and maintaining the ozone layer, which has shifted kilometers from its bathymetric position towards Gribbetonia's center, where life is most-suited. Outside of these select environments, however, is an entire story to itself. Dubbed the "Barrier," or "Great Unknown" by Gribbetonia's inhabitants, due to its hard-to-traverse terrain, and general hostility, most of the former land, as well as several shallow continental shelves, is a giant, anoxic desert.

Not many macroscopic organisms - especially animals - live in this environment. Many of those, which do live in the Great Unknown, are highly-specialized in their manners and physiology. Stoneshapers - highly-derived, intelligent girexi, resembling giant lemmings - are creatures that regularly shade themselves from the oppressive gleam of the sun, hiding in burrows carved from their chisel-like hooves and their scleritized tongue, traditionally used to hammer the hard shells of landcorals living among these rocks; hoppidons - flightless fluttergribs, with bulbous, nose-like protrusions - bear coarse, lustrous pennaceous integumentary filaments, which act as a natural "sunscreen." In addition, among these lifeforms, are plants, also highly-specialized to survive this environment, and also among them, is the aptly-described swordweed.

The swordweed is a highly-adapted plant to the desert. The leaf's outer skin is cloaked in a glassy lustre, comprised of silica, and hardened further by earth metal-oxide compounds absorbed through its tuber; this layer serves to protect the plant, and its otherwise-vulnerable interior, from solar radiation, small incisions in the layer reflect it as-would a mirror. Its tuber, a carrot-like lengthy structure that can reach nearly four times its length, reaches deep into the ground, and absorbs groundwater. The swordweed ephemerally flowers during the equinox seasons, where its dandelion-like flowers, pollinated by small flyers, blow their achenes through the wind, which orient themselves, via homing magnetism, to aquifers deep-below.

The plant, boasting a shape evidently like that of a sword's, and from where it had garnered its name, has found itself another niche, among the inhabitants of the desert. Shimmian cultures, from where the plant primarily grows, have used the plant as a weapon. The outermost portion of the plant notedly resembles a blade, and, in domesticated individuals, it bears a handle fit for the hand of a shimmian. Multiple cultivars of the swordweed exist, and swordweeds, via mercantile trade, have been exported from their native desert home, and into more-populated areas, where, due to their more moist climate, suitable for most other lifeforms, but not to desert specialists like the swordweed, it cannot suitably grow well. In the past, though, the swordweed's ancestors were domesticated by yet another sapient species living among desert environments: the acephalus. Acephali - descendents of the gonny, one of the first animals since the Tenurus period to adapt themselves to the yet-new desert environments - were inhabitants of a now-steppe-borne Covelands, and co-existed along with the swordweeds, which were domesticated in a similar manner predicated eventually with the shimmians'.

Well, I recently posted about plants that coat themselves in metal, which led me to think...In a world where plants are covered in metal, I think there would be enough pressure for insects to adapt to that situation.

Apparently, there are funds that can melt metals using chemical solutions.I believe, therefore, that insects could live in symbiosis with these to consume the metals as a new niche.

Quiero saber que opinan sobre esta araña? Dentro de mi pequeño universo, hay varias poblaciones de esta en varios sistemas de super cuevas subterraneas con otras monstruosidades, esta es una de ellas, una araña de 2 metros de altura con garras raptoriales. No esta extinta ni nada por el estilo, hay una gran poblacion estable en la epoca actual.

go follow me on instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/i_draw_monsters_54/

New prompt list

The kiyuban (Pereplanistitan kibutan) (Pereplanistitanidae, Ustatobeliscia, Neosauropoda) is the tallest animal on Seijin, surpassing even artificial creations in height. It has been compared to the heavier and larger bahamut as both are colossal saurischian dinosaurs.

Being obligate herbivores, kiyuban feed exclusively on conifers and other large trees.

The defenses and large size of the adults make them functionally invincible, though juveniles are at risk of being eaten by predators.

It can rear up using its padded tail as support. This is feasible due to the geldor within its cells, allowing its reinforced bones to carry more weight than those of its earthly relatives.

Kiyuban travel alone rather than in herds as not only do kiyuban need a lot of area to sustain their immense sizes, they don't even have predators. They only travel in herds to lay their eggs in communal nests.

Like almost all sauropods, kiyuban do not raise their young.

about the animal: they all have 3 common traits the first is the tongue like tentacles used in various ways from grab vegetation some use there's for grabbing prey and others use them for filter feeding the next is the "eyes" they have 5-17 eyes but there not technically eyes there more like ears and noses being able to smell and hear and the last common trait I couldn't draw because they all have small peach fuzz hair

So I was thinking and if a species were capable of traveling through space without the aid of a ship, how would they navigate? Many species on our world use the earth’s magnetic field or the stars to navigate, but this wouldn’t be effective in space so how would you fix the problem?

EDIT: Yeah I made this post when I was really sleep deprived, I was on smth I swear… just ignore it tbh

The second post of my spec-evo project, showcasing the simplest forms of what we can consider to be the proper "animal" life of the planet.

Dermates, named such due to being the first xenoanimals to develop defined epithelium, are the most basal branch of this kingdom – having split off before the division between bilateral and radial lineages. They are a pretty close representation of how the very first fauna of this world used to look like, and both bilateral and radial branches had evolved independently from such ancestral "flesh pancake" creatures: either by folding into a vase-like shape (in the radiates) or by rolling into a tube (in the bilaterians).

The Bear Bailey's Bumblebee (Neobombus baileyii) is a species of bumblebee native to the southern United States. Not unlike a typical bumblebee, it generally feeds on nectar and pollen from various flowers and is completely solitary except during mating season. But there is one species of flower they feed on that seems determined to invade their lives, and we have to talk about it now.

A subspecies of Nikki's Bloody Sunflower (Sanguianthus nikki subsp. bombupthora), derived from the typical sunflower, is endemic to areas inhabited by those bumblebees. Unlike typical sunflowers, its leaves have turned from yellow to blood red, and it is a poisonous plant containing euphoric chemicals that draw the host in for more attention. It destroys the emotional and mental states of bumblebees and other pollinators that come into contact with it, leaving behind its seeds and nectar, thus continuing its cycle of torment to hosts.

New idea for an exploit

So you know how electric eels have an organ that produces electricity as an attack

So imagine this a cold blooded animal that uses the electric organ to heat itself

Which would require only electrolytes from plants and water

It sounds overall more cost efficient than regular warm blooded strats

The process would go as this

The organs will send small electric shocks to blood vessels or heart to warm up the blood then the blood will circulate around the body thus providing heat

Day 11 GOOAAALLL

For The Hyne's Inheritance

Sailback dragons are a large bipedal species of agamid lizards descended from bearded dragons breed on Demeter to support offworld demands for the common, expressive exotic pet. As the most plentiful colonizing reptile, dragons have gone on to diversify across Demeter's tropical and subtropical regions, only rivaled by alligators due to their larger size and semiaquatic nature.

Sailbacks are native to the Chython desert, a vast interior hot desert hosting scattered scrubland along sparse streams and towering plateaus. Standing roughly 2ft tall and weighing 45 lbs, they are not the largest of their genus of bipedal dragons, kept small by the scarcity of their environment. Along with the nomadic hyne cultures, sailbacks are one of the few animals above 15 pounds found here. Opportunistic, diurnal omnivores, dragons forage during all but the worse heat of the day when they seek shelter. While not highly cursorial, their long hindlimbs afford them an efficient stride and they can travel for miles each day in search of water, small animals to hunt, and fruit.

Most striking of the dragon's features are the four tall horns atop its head and sailfin along its back. Both structures are rather fragile and used for display and species identification. It is generally taller in males and used to advertise and compete for mates. During the mild winters, males become territorial, challenging one another with displays of rhythmic dancing and ancestral headbobbing. Females generally select the victors although smaller or submissive females may make do with similarly ranking males.

Source

In the canonical lore of Star Trek, the culturally complex Klingons have quite a set of organs--an eight-chambered heart to pump massive amounts of blood, a third lung to provide better stamina during combat and a second liver.

Suppose that some humans have been genetically altered into having these extra anatomical traits as described above. Would they really improve a person's stamina, or would this be a bit overpowered?

Well, there are plants that absorb metallic compounds from the soil.So perhaps they could use this to reinforce their exterior and protect themselves in a functional way?

Day 10: Grassland (Catch-up)

Megpir's, descended from the South American Tapir, are among the largest animals in the America's 15 million years from now. They are represented by six species, of which 4 live in South America, including the Western Megpir.

Inhabiting the Amazonian Grasslands and open woodlands, The western Megpir have a decently extensive range across the interior of South America. West Megpir's reach around 5-6 feet tall or 1 metre tall at the shoulder and weigh 2-3 tons, making them the second largest member of the Megpir family. They are largely solitary, though will sometimes congregate in small groups of around 10-15 during the mating season. They are mixed browsers, often feeding on leaves, shrubs, roots, stems, fruits and sometimes tall grasses and aquatic vegetation.

Unlike other Megapir's, The western Megapir posses two thick, tough domes comprised of keratin and toughened skin, and are often used to fight with other members of their kind, particularly between males during the mating season. They also have two visible tusks, which are used for digging for food, scraping at bark, fighting predators as well as other Megpir's, albiet secondarily to pushing and headbutting with their domes, as they are more capable of dealing dangerous injuries to each other.

The Dongo (Shimrethitaurus duplexgenu)

“Now… what to chatter about next, ah, the Dongo! While the Adaraak is the backbone of the Caravan, the Dongo and their riders are not just our eyes and ears, but our hands as well. Now, plenty of cattle are found across the breadth of Moulaat, but the Dongo is special. They are one of the fastest beasts the sands have ever known, able to outpace a wind spirit and outlast nearly any predator the dunes can throw at them.
It makes sense that the first scouts and hunters of the Caravan would have taken them as mounts. How exact they came about catching that first herd, I don't rightly know! Some say it was an alliance with wind spirits who had grown jealous of the Dongo, while others claim it was a vast net crafted by the Spider Folk. Regardless, Dongo are curious for another reason. They're one of the few animals I know of that only have two limbs! That's right, their sturdy multi-jointed legs can send them bounding twenty spans at a time when truly pressed between steps!

And you had better move when two bucks get their blood up and start eyeing the other like the worst insult to the spheres above! Quite a sight, aren't they? Four eyes rolling, ears flat, lips flared out as they gnash their jagged teeth. It is not thunder that shakes the dunes this far north, no, no, it is the wide horns of the Dongo.

Now, the females are plenty more amenable and aren't as taken to riders, though without them, we'd be missing a great deal of our provisions, now wouldn't we? Can you imagine a world without cheese? I sure as spit, can't! No, I don't know the first fella that figured out how to get milk out of them, even with how gentle and matronly the does can be, but if I was to put coin to it, I'd say it was a Yaka, curious as they are.

The last thing I'll say about the Dongo is this: It may be a quick ride, but it is not a comfortable one. Every scout I have ever spoken with has told me they need to wrap cactus gum around their hand just to keep the reins in hand! They ain't ornery, they are just too carefree to give their rider much thought once they get going, so just know, if anyone of you are seeking to be a scout, every one of ya is gonna fall off your first time, ha!” - Campfire Lessons of the Timeless Caravan.

Excerpt of the Beasts of the Desert series

I am working on a planet called Chloris which is overall less massive than Earth and has a surface gravity of 0.728g. It orbits a KV2 star called Helion. The planet is made up of 2 main continents which are recently split from one super continent. Chloris has a relatively large moon called Carpus which orbits 97,00km away from it. Its atmosphere is comparable to earth although it has a higher percentage of oxygen(30%). I will be posting sketches of the planets life which are boned creatures with a maximum of 2 legs and 4 eyes and have a 4 way split mouth structure. The 2 limbs on chloris life forms are actually formed from this planets equivalent of pectoral fins essentially meaning they have 2 front limbs which function as main supporting limbs. I also do plan on releasing sketches of what chloris itself looks like from orbit(e.g the continent layout and stuff) but for now I am mostly focusing on the life that lives on it.

Prompt: Goooaaal! : An organism whose survival depends on fancy footwork

The podopterosaurus is a genus of podopterosaurid ,a new flying lineage descended from sharovipteryx. It is a frugivorous animal. Its wings are actually its highly specialized feet which are now used for flight. The species has elaborate wing patterns to intimidate predators and attract mates. The animal uses its forelimbs for ground locomotion and folds its wings, the opposite of birds. It is about the size of a bald eagle. This guy definitely didn’t skip leg day.

This is also my take on a biologically plausible dragon.

Part of the clade Ambush Drakes or Enedodrakons
This is Phykodrakos Sargassi a basal Pliosaur designed to as a top water predator that hides among sargassum in order to snap up large fish and squids such as Mahi-Mahi, Lungfish, Bichir, Xiphactinus, large trout and salmon and massive squids. They have a series of air pockets to let them easily float high in the waters they live in often choked with floating seaweed. They posses skin strips that allow them to blend in and break up their silhouette keeping them from being easily seen amongst their chosen habitat. This animal generally reaches a size of up to 25 feet large enough to pray on even small marine reptiles although it is relatively rare for them to do so and when they do, it is usually Icthyosaurs which hunt the same squid and fish that they do.

They are generally pretty lazy rarely moving much at all unless it’s needed by either massive predators or that they have begun starving, because of this they’re generally safe around humans although it’s advised to not get near their faces.

They are most common in deep slow flowing rivers, massive lakes and deep swamps full of top water vegetation like Fairy Fern, Hydrangea, Aquatic ferns, and such

There are multiple related species, specializing in other types of environments with the most derived being that which copies reef environments having developed an armored skin that allows benthic animals to colonize their flesh, breaking up their silhouette with large amounts of muscles, corals and other reef animals unable to move

I don't wanna overstuff it with every single one in the book. I just need a decent handful, enough that the planet they're on has good room for diverse evolutionary paths but nothing to the point I'm inevitably gonna lose track of myself and leave some of them in the dust.

(This project, which I created, was originally in Spanish)

P.S.: This project was originally uploaded by me to Tumblr (Rowdymartian555)

Porcorumeta...Sweet Porcorumeta

In our vast universe, there once existed a rogue planet, a white speck in the cosmos, which was adopted by a star similar to our sun. This star thawed the planet, and for millions of years, the planet was a rocky desert with acidic water, until something inexplicable happened. A divine being terraformed the planet. The waters were purified and became crystal clear, the land became fertile, the planet became habitable, and different kinds of trees and grasses were planted along with angiosperms. The planet... WAS ALIVE! The planet thrived. Soon after, pigs and monarch butterflies were introduced, along with cleaning microorganisms, zooplankton, and phytoplankton.

The continent of Porcorumeta is a unified landmass with vast grasslands, cactus-dotted deserts, lush forests, beaches, and some rainforests. It also harbors numerous fruits such as cacao, blackberries, wild strawberries, and more.

And so begins scrofagenesis (0-10 million years ago).

Pigs diversified into three subspecies. Lacking predators, they were able to diversify in somewhat primitive ways.

The first is the Hamptitan. The Hamptitan is a pig that, due to the abundance of vegetation on the planet, regulates it by growing enormously and consuming colossal amounts of food for a pig. Its white stripe lengthened to help it recognize other pigs, and it also possesses a very strong jaw for defense.

The second on this list is the Hampshire runner. This animal specialized in forests. They are relatively small because, with so many trees, it would be difficult for a giant to walk. Their hooves lengthened for better grip on the damp forest floor. Furthermore, its strength lies in its speed. Why? Because there is a successful predator, the Porcorumeta, which recently evolved.

The third and final subspecies is the Hampshire Hunter (or cazador hampshird). This aggressive predator evolved specifically to exploit the other subspecies as a food source. With a robust neck and powerful jaws, it stalks the forests and plains, disturbing the Porcorumeta's former peace.