Cynthia loves the gifts, besides the kiss. She isn't really in for a relationship right now, what with all the important science to be done!
[Lemoon Fruit-Eating Species]:
Citrabbit:
On our journey, we came into contact with a species which was feasting on a Lemoon. This was quite interesting, so we decided to study it further. The species itself, at a first glance, looks like little more than a common earth hare, except with greenish yellow colouring. They can leap high enough to grab the Lemoons, and then nibble around at the outside. They can then eat the flesh and seeds without being harmed, as they do not apply enough direct force to cause the Lemoon's self-defence mechanism. They then defecate the seeds, promoting the growth of new Lemoon trees. The creature themselves seems to be quite docile, and can even be approached and petted. However, we have only seen females of the species, and we do not know about the males. The females seem to have a cow-like breast, an udder on their underbelly, but not like normal rabbits, it is permanently visible. This has proven to be useful, however, as occasionally, when frightened, they will spray offenders with hot breast milk. One of the more shy ones did this to a member of the crew, and it was quite funny! There is still a lot to learn about the species, but it seems quite interesting for now.
[Land-Based Quadruped]:
Azurechidna:
Another new species we discovered was a strange echidna-like creature, with blue colouring. It seemed to roll around when on long stretches of ground, but went on all fours when going short distances. This was quite interesting, and we studied it a bit more to find out about it's spines, and back. It appears that the spines are retractable, and sheath into the body when rolling, and the body is encased with a blue shell, possibly made out of the spines flattening themselves. This results in a hard blue ball, rolling around at quite high speeds. It feeds on small roots found in the ground, and the leaves of the Springhole Shrub. It seems docile, but if you hit it in the middle of rolling, it will flare out its spines, and attempt to attack you. So far, we have only found males, so we wonder what the females are like.
[Tiny Aquatic Species]:
Rockorn:
Along with our multiple mammalian discoveries, we discovered the first aquatic life forms! Although small, the minnow-sized Rockorns have proved to be quite important in the ecological system of this planet. They appear as small pebbles at first, floating along the water, and then they rest at the banks of rivers. This results in large clumps of them on the sides, which live together, in an odd way. They feed slowly off each other, licking the dirt and occasional nutrients that fall from trees. They do not need to eat much, due to their small size, and due to the high quantities of debris that fall in the water, they get plenty of food. But also, their excrements float down, and are brushed to the side, embedding themselves in the soil. This promotes the growth of shoreline plants, such as the Springhole Shrub among others (which we have not had a chance to study) and thus, provides food for more mammals. But also, because the plants grow above them, they produce more debris, which falls on to the fish, providing food. When mating, they swim apart from their clusters, in twos. They then float down the river, mating, and lay an egg cluster, which hatches soon. They then die, and the new cluster of eggs hatches into many baby Rockorns, which spread out, providing more starting points for clusters. They are an extremely vital part of the ecology, which is surprising, when minnows back on earth do not have this big an impact. It is quite intriguing. We have not identified whether the water is saltwater or fresh water, or whether this planet will have those kinds of water at all, and not some other, new chemical.
All in all, another very successful expedition! I was quite pleased with this one. I'm thinking of getting an artist's impression of one of the Citrabbits. They are quite interesting!
Author
Topic: Pioneers - Phase 3 ~ Cooking Up a Storm (Read 25209 times)