Evolution attempts:
Deep sea migration 4
Forest migration 4
River delta migration 4
Claws on tentacles for digging 3
Land tremor sense 5
Memory improv 2
Nomadic behaviour 2
Tentacle musculature 4
Swing in trees with tentacles 5
Toxic brine excretion 3
The Tremora have developed several different adaptations over the past generation, and have moved to many new areas. They have migrated to the River delta, the Forest, and the Deep sea.
The River delta is a flat land with a massive abundance of Exomesos, Ectomesas, and small grasses and shrubs. The water runs around several small islands in the river, and the shoal/packs have claimed their own territory among the islands, and guard their land fiercely. The only other population in the Delta are the Molediggers, and the Quadfins.
The Forest is a coniferous, dense forest. No Exomesos or Ectomesas are present here, and surviving is very difficult. There is little water, and the pine needles tend to slide under the scales and pierce the body, allowing for faster drying out. The only tree is is the Ironwood, it is a very tall, around ten meters, and very wide, with a diameter of fifteen meters, coniferous tree with gray bark that is extremely resistant to blunt trauma. It has been observed, however, that a small insect like species, henceforth called Pecum, is able to get inside of the massive trees. It does so by using a special tool attached to their body which heats them up, so much that they do not live afterwards, but it softens the wood somewhat. They then saw into the tree with little teeth on their feet, and die. They live in colonies, so usually one Pecum will die to give its colony a home. The wood will reharden, but usually the Pecums will remove the bark so it doesn't do so.
Last of the migrations was to the Deep sea. However, very little light reaches here, rendering the Solets next to useless as well as the Tremora photosynthesis, and with a lack of hunting habits, the population is rapidly decaying. A small Vincul population is here, strange because the Deep sea is where the Vincul invaded from. If their population is small, then something must have overwhelmed them, and that something may still be here...
Among the adaptations, the Tremora have developed a form of lateral line for land, but instead of detecting electric impulses, it detects tremors. It isn't very accurate currently, nor powerful at detecting tremors. It can detect tremors up to 400 meters away if they are strong, and tremors up to forty meters below the surface if the Tremora is close to the source. Unlike lateral lines, they have not developed any way of communicating with the tremor detectors yet.
Else among the evolutions is increased tentacle musculature. Tremora can crawl on land up to fifteen kilometers per hour now, and their tentacles are strong enough to pin down creatures, or rip branches from trees. A group of Tremora's could, with effort, uproot a Exomeso, though the Exomeso would likely lose a lot of roots in the process, and one pack alone is not sufficient to uproot. The Ectomesas are too big to be uprooted. With this musculature the Tremoras have developed the ability to swing through the branches of the Exomesos and the Ectomesas, making the Curator caste's job even easier. It also gives them the ability to sneak up on any creature in the trees, though the only creature that we could do so would be the Falconeye, and we have no interest in them, as we lack interspecial social skills, or hunting habits.
No new creatures have appeared recently, but something strange is happening. The world seems to be getting warmer with every passing year, and a mountain in the distance seems to occasionally rumble.
GENERATION 13:
(Amphonium) tremora
A large, clear, tentacled, finned and trilaterally symmetric scaled blob. Their skin is extremely tough and they have 4 pairs of fins. They absorb food through the skin, and is dissolved in the inner body fluids. It is around 15 centimeters in height, 20 centimeters long and 10 centimeters wide. They have a number of tentacles from 20 to thirty, and each tentacle absorbs light in photosynthesis, but are also laced with a powerful toxin which paralyzes most things that come in contact with it. Each tentacle is close to 15 centimeters long. The fins are streamlined and encounter almost 0 water resistance. It has 3 sets of lungs, and a number of special tentacles used for dragging itself around on land. It has another set of special tentacles for leaf piercing.
SOCIAL: Has a shoaling social structure. There are 7 adult Tremoras in a single shoal, but up to as many as 50 or so budlets in a shoal. Each shoal is very emotionally bonded and will protect each other to the death if possible, and death of an Tremora leaves the others very depressed for weeks. They will take a territory area together and live in it until they die, as the hunt together and live together. A dead Tremora will not be replaced and all shoals eventually collapse, leaving room for other shoals to rise. A shoal which spends more time on land than in the water is referred to as a pack, but functions the same.
SENSES: Can detect electric impulses in the water of most degrees, but faint ones are usually still missed. Their eyes can tell most shapes, but small shapes or creatures are generally ignored. Because of their trisymmetry, they can see almost everywhere except for directly behind them. Can also project electric impulses at a range of around 500 meters. Their lateral line is useless on land, but they can still see fine, and they have a special sense for sensing any vibrations in the ground.
REPRODUCTION: Projectile embryotic injection. Around a hundred sex cells are delivered any time a fired tentacle pierces a target. These cells invade the tissues and deliver their DNA. After a gestation period of around a week, the embryos reach around five centimeters in all dimensions and cause the host to burst. Only 20-40 will survive to adulthood, however.
MOVEMENT: Is currently the fastest known creature in the environment. Its streamlined fins allow it to propel itself extremely quickly, estimated 25-50 km/h. On land, they are decently fast, moving at around 15km/h. They are somewhat slower compared to the other land creatures.
EATING: Its tentacles can create sugars from light with photosynthesis. The toxins which the tentacles carry can potentially kill other creatures, usually does not though, exceptions are those who are weak or young. Paralyzed but living creatures fall down to the blob's main body where endocytosis via the stomach sac then takes place. They can also consume water by absorbing water through their specialised tentacles from an Exomeso leaf in particular (but could be reapplied) and can store enough water for up to 4 days with pure water, or 2 days with saltwater.
PREDATION: The Tremoras are largely unpredated.
COMPETITION: They are competed by the Falconeye, but only on land. In the water, they are uncompeted.
SYMBIOSIS: They have reverse parasitised the Vincul, while not fully symbiotized, symbiosis between the species is made easier because of this.
INTELLIGENCE: Powerful intelligence. Has great problem solving skills and logic, and an excellent memory. Also possesses the ability to emit electrical signals through its lateral lines at a frequency that is only interpretable by other Crawlers (as of right now). This gives them a coordinating factor. They cannot communicate this way on land.
TOXINS: Neurotoxin(85%)- Vincul (100%) Falconeye (100%) Moledigger (100%)
CASTES: Solet caste- A stationary, photosynthetic caste which produces food for the Tremoras to consume.
POPULATIONS:
Shallow waters- Vincul(13%), Tremora (67%), Solet (13%), Crinis (negligible/nonexistant), Quadfin (negligible/nonexistent)
Beach- Tremora (5%) Moledigger (61%) Falconeye (7%)
Delta- Moledigger (24%) Tremora (13%)
Forest- Tremora (10%) Pecum (14%)
Deepsea- Unknown
ENVIRONMENT: A shallow sub-tropical sea. Semi-stable reefs exist here, with a very rare frond interspersed between the reef ridges. Much of the reef is dark, overshadowed by the growing populations above. The ground is rarely found with a Vincul nest lying upon it, with their burrow nearby. The environment is at around
93% of its biomass capacity.
A sandy beach. The beach extends for kilometers before fading to the horizon. After about one hundred meters the beach gives way to a cliff, and above that very thick forests grow. Occasionally, a loud screech can be heard, or the squeal of a small creature. Small passes exist from the beach up to the cliffs. Environment is around 73% biomass capacity.
The river delta. The massive delta is composed of hundreds of small islands, a small number of which are controlled by the shoal/packs. Small critters roam among the islands, and hulking, though peaceful, creatures swim among the waters. The islands are coated in trees and small grasses. The region is currently at 37% of it's biomass capacity.
The forest. The very dry area is home to no living animals but the insect species Pecum, and the only flora around is the Ironwood trees, as well as the occasional patch of grass. The Pecums live within the Ironwoods, and seem unaggressive. The region is currently at 24% of it's biomass capacity.
The deep sea. The area is very, very dark, and food is hard to come by. Very little light reaches this section of the sea, and the only way for the Tremoras to communicate down here is with electric impulses. The layout of the region is unknown due to the lack of light. A rare vincul nest can be found. The biomass capacity is uncertain.
Current environment: Shallow sub-tropical sea, Beach, river delta, forest(!), deep sea (?)(!)
Nearby environments: Cliffside, inner forest, deep sea floor, plains
(Added markers to the Current Environment list. (!) means there is some form of immediate problem, and (?) means that something is unknown, or something peculiar is happening. A (&) denotes that something very bad will happen in the next generation. <<<<<<<<)
(Sorry about the long update again, I included every suggestions unless it had 0 votes as a way to make up for it. we still had quite a number, though.)
(Lastly, I recently migrated to Microsoft word. Apparently, at size ten and single spaced, everything so far takes up 32 pages and 18,424 words.
)
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Topic: Competition II - New Life (Read 24470 times)