Turn 17EventStrength Dice: 56
Temparement Dice: 2
The continental shift have caused the local continent Samel to shift closer to the south pole. Now it may snow on the regions closer to the pole, and there is an overral cooling all across the continent.
You all get a small population decrease.
Team PancakeNaturegirl1999:
absent...Kilojoule Proton:
absent...Demonic Spoon:
absent...Platetree lineage have experienced no major changes this round...Status: NT
Description: A green plant shaped like a flat, rough circle supported by a long, fuzzy stem that is about 5 meters long on average. This stem ends with dozens of fragile branches that all terminate with a single large circular leaf shaped like a pan. A deep and extensive system of roots at the bottom of its stem dig into the soil and harvest it for water and minerals. It reproduces by producing and shedding a puffy coat of small, perfectly airborne seeds that cover its stem. The walls of its cells are very durable and sturdy. It has a cavity filled with oil inside its stem, which used to store water and nutrients for the mean times. A system of veins course through its every tissue, and transport water and other essentials. It lives like your regular tree, forming vast, dense growths.
Habitat: All over Samel, bit considerably lesser on the southern edges.
Team Pasta VēlōcisA_Curious_Cat: Burrowing tail from internal and external cartilage extensions: 4+1=5
King Zultan: Thicker and tougher skin: 5+1=
capped at 5Sexual Selection vote: Electroreceptor fix: 5+1=6
Burrowing BlishThe newfound predators have caused the blish to adopt new strategies to avoid them.
First is a set of cartilage extensions that while originally intended to form support for the gill slits, have also been purpised into a tail fin, with a thin stretching of skin, which allows it to swim much faster. It resembles the tail of a tadpole.
But swimming isn't the only thing that it can do, for it is also capable of digging and pulling the blish inside the soft sediment, where, if they were quick enough, won't be noticed by the prying eyes or clicks. They even use this to shake up soil to better filter it.
Blish has also evolved a really tough, but also very flexible cartilage infused skin that allows it to shrug of some nasty bites. This has also made it a bit more hydrodynamic and even helped it in the new colder conditions.
Lastly, while still sensitive, electroreceptors are much more managable and reliable now.
But alas, predation has taken quite a toll, and Blish are still vulnerable as their tactics are not perfect.
Status: VU
Description: An aquatic animal that is 50 centimeters long. It moves along the sea floor and above with a tadpole-like tail and digests any organic debris it can find through its mouth that leads to its complex, three sectioned digestive system, which leads to an anus. It has 10 black dots on its very front, 4 of them larger then the other 6. The smaller six form a hexagon that surrounds a square that is formed from the bigger 4, which surrounds a single jawless mouth. It uses these dots to smell the water around and act according to them, approaching or avoiding alike. These dots and everything this animal has as parts are connected to and commanded by a ganglion, which stands on the start of a spinal chord that runs from front to back of the animal that branches out to the rest of the body. It is close to a rod of cartilage that supports its body, and has an extension on its front that grants the animal a sense of airflow. Both of these are separately encased in a set of cartilage vertebrae, that form a backbone.The nerves also course the animals thick, durable and flexible skin, and along with specialised sensors there, they provide a sense of touch. Along with normal skin, two distinct darker stripes of electroreceptive skin that allows it the sense the presence of other beings. The ganglion is surrounded by 12 interlocking rings of cartilage. A fluid-filled internal cavity surrounds its digestive system and acts as a hydroskeleton, which is also surrounded by a net of zig-zag muscles that aid in its movement. A mane of thin and short crimson strands surround the head region, and functions as gills and ammonia disposal, along with a set of pairs of slits that function as additional gills, supported by arches of cartilage. A system of blood-filled veins course through its body, powered by a single muscle pump. It reproduces by external fertilisation of eggs performed by two distinct genders. The fertilised eggs hatch into tiny juneviles, which reach full size and sexual maturity not too long after. In sign of danger, it will either try to swim away or will drag itself under the soil with its tail.
Habitat: Benthic waters.
Team Lagus Blobflazeo25: A mammalian mouth: 4+2+1=
capped at 5The Canadian kitten:
Supports flazeo25Maxinum Mcdreich:
absent...Sexual Selection vote: Limb reconfiguration: 3+1= 4
Froggy LagurasThe jaws of Laguras have evolved into a very advanced form. They are now more elongated foward, and house rows of teeth that allows them to more efficently chew. This new shape have also allowed better and stronger muscle connections. Laguras can now eat the tough plates if they can reach them on occasion.
Laguras are also looking a bit different. Their backlegs are now much longer, digitgrade and are positioned much more straight , while their front legs are smaller with gubby paws with sharp claws. The back legs can easily hold the weight up but they are still quadrupeds. Lagus lack a balancing tail, so they continue their lives like before, if not a bit quicker due to increased speed.
Status: NT
Description: A mammal-like animal a meter in length. It walks along the forest floor and eats the plant matter there, but also eats corpses. It has a short tail resembling of a fish, which is vestigial, and it also has two pairs of legs to walk on land, which both terminate in sharp keratin claws that never stop growing. Back legs are much longer amd stronger pair of digitgrade legs, while the front legs are more like arms. Covering the body is smooth skin covered with jagged scales made of keratin, which it uses to feel touch and protect itself from danger and elements, respectively. And under that, there is a skeleton that keeps it rigid and provides pathways for its mucscles to work, also supporting cartilage that allows the bones to move smoothly. This is further augmented with a net of nerves just beneath the outer layer, which also controls its movement. This net of nerves converges into a lump in the head, which is a brain that houses a sex-crazed mind. It has a defined front side with a head, which has two giant, organised patches of heat sensitive proteins, kind of like heat eyes, that allows it to detect the amount of ambient and directional heat, and a strong, wide and long jaw with specialised keratin teeth that leads to a full digestive tract that also handles the ammonia disposal by sending it to an urethra that is integrated to the sex organs. 6 pairs of fleshy protrusions on its head function as sweat flaps. A set of veins and a heart transport nutrients and oxygen throught its body. Just above the eyes two long and flexible tendrils reside, and these end with fleshy orbs that produce heat, which equals to strong glow in their vision. These orbs also have cone and rod cells inside, which allows these orbs to function as primitive eyes capable of percieving shape, they can even change the amount of heat they produce to send messages to one another. It reproduces by the internal fertilisation by the peepee of Eral, and the 3 month pregnancy by Alur, who then gives birth and takes care of the juneviles.
Habitat: All over Samel, with numbers parallel to the Platetrees.
Team Friendly PancakeKashyyk: Better connections: 3+1=4
Sexual Selection vote: A new propulsion caste: 2+1=3
Straigthened HivecakeThe disasterous mistake was fixed, Hivecake collectives are now capable of reaching sizes they could before.
A new, but somehow pointless caste has appeared too. These hivecakes are almost entirely composed of a single giant, external water pump that continuously pumps water at the will of the collective. But the currents, which are a literal downward spiral, completely nullifies their efforts at steering. So their propulsion is in vain. The colonies are too heavy to steer with just pumping water anyways, and the sea is very uniform. They are just a waste of energy for now.
You are in a bit of a higher demand now.
Status: NT
Description: A complex of plants shaped like a flat circles with varying sizes. Long sturdy tendrils are used to form connections with others of its kind to transfer nutrients. Surrounding the edges of the pan is a coat of bonding proteins that allows it to stick to others of its kind. It's tissues are tough and supported by a framework of lignin to prevent injuries. It lives permanently stuck to the sea surface through the dozens of tiny oil-filled pimples across its body, which only some plants have. It can be found as mats numbering several tens of thousands plants, and never alone, as they die if they are separated. It features specialised subtypes. It has the ability to let others know if it is low on or has too much nutrients, or if its in pain by using the communal nervous system, which others will act accordingly by either giving or taking nutrients, or pulling their brethern away from danger and retaliating if possible. On every caste there are small tendrils specialised on chemoreception .The nutrient transfer is accomplished by a communal circulatory system that spans the entirety of a given hive, and it is powered by the beating of tens of thousands of internal water pumps. It reproduces by asexual budding from their pans edges to expand their colonies, and by incubating settlers, which are made by a process that makes them genetically distinct, when creating new colonies.
CastesSuncatcher: The green hivecakes with larger pans and the only ones that have oil pimples in their body, along with only having vestigial water pumps and their tendrils ony being connective ones. They compose the upper surface of a given colony. Their job is to photosynthesize and keep the colony afloat.
Waterraker: The pale white hivecakes with almost non-existant pans and non-existant pimples. Their water pumps are still external. Their job is to filter the water for any essentials and store nutrients in their cells. They do this by specialised filtering tentacles shaped like wide, long feathers.
Incubator: The specialised caste of hivecake that neither photosynthesizes or filters water. Instead, it produces genetically distinct settlers that grow into new colonies inside its oil filled womb, and eject them by turning inside out. It requires one or more drones to fuse into it everytime it makes a new settler. They have specialised tendrils that secrete a sticky nectar with drones in it.
Settler: The ones that produce new colonies by horizontally splitting into one suncatcher and a waterraker. They resemble both of their offspring, and are made.
Drones: This tiny, perfectly round caste specialises solely to be genetic carriers between Incubators. They are produced by Incubators and are placed inside the nectar until an animal eats the nectar, which then they hitch a ride find another Incubator and fuse into it, carrying the genetic material into the mix.
Strangler: A caste of highly modified waterrakers with a single purpose; catching live prey. Their tendrils are longer and have the ability to curl up very fast. They are also covered in a toxin that shuts down gills. They suffocate, then consume the prey, then send the nutrients to the rest of the complex.
Depthraker: A very derived waterraker that uses a single very long tendril to harvest the sea floor. Its water pumps are very powerful.
Steerer: A caste that uses its single enormous external water pump to push the colony to better places. They lack almost anything else.
: Open sea.
Team EraclitoLeonardo8: Swarm tactics: 3+1= 4
GOTOTOTOE: Overral size increase: 4+1= 5
Sexual Selection vote: Scales: 6+1= 7
Giant EelishThe Eelish are now working as teams, well, if they can pick up the pheromonal signals in time. They now use swarm tactis to kill enemies and defend the other individuals.They circle around the prey and then suddenly close the distance up. While this does work, it usually fails, as Blish usually sense them long before that and dig in, and Larlarin simply jeting away as they also can "see" them before they can even smell them. The crowded populations of Lagus are the only ones that persistently fall to this trick, and even then, most usually just take refuge in the very shallow waters. It doesn't really matters anyways.
For that Eelish are much larger and can't really rely on these morsels are a stable source of food, they require more, and the calory gain from the all the chase and teamwork is usually not worth it. This makes them much more resistant to outside attacks, and also makes them much better at digesting plant matter, since their guts are now larger and longer as well. So they now prefer a more plant based diet, but will hunt if needed or desired.
The Eelish do have a matter in hand at the moment though. They now have scales, but these scales are a bit too tigth knit. Infact, they are constantly grinding at one another everytime the animal moves, making the simple act of swimming much harder than it needs to be, but still, Eelish are powerful swimmers, but are now slower. These scales protect from their predators as well, but with the preferred tactic of their predators this isn't that effective.
Status: VU
Description:An serpentine, aquatic, mucus and scale covered animal that is 3 meters long. It swims inside the colonies of hivecakes with slithering motions of its muscular body and tail fin and chews pieces from the said plants through a giant, vertically opening jaw lined with flesh that leads to its large gullet that it uses to store food, and then its three segmented, efficent digestive tract with a stomach and intestines, which leads to an anus. It moves in large troupes numbering up to a hundred and can hold complex communication with pheromonal signals. It can use these signals to commence attacks and defenses against rey and threats. Its anus is also connected to a chain of gas bladders it uses to control it buoyancy and give its body its shape. It has 4 nostrils that allows it to read pheromonal signals or smell its environment. These dots and everything this animal has as parts are connected to and commanded by a chord of nerves that runs from front to back of the animal that branches out to the rest of the body. This cord of nerves is connected to a well developed brain. Two stripes of thin and short crimson strands course through the animals sides, and function as gills. Derived from these, a system of bloodfilled chambers and muscular valves pump blood through the animals body through thousands of thin veins. A set of glands that produce an antipoison to protect the gills. It is adaptable to many marine environments. It reproduces by external fertilisation of eggs performed by two distinct genders. The fertilised eggs hatch into tiny, neotenic, single segmented juneviles, which reach full size, shape and sexual maturity not too long after.
Habitat: The hivecake collectives and the sea floor, and everywhere inbetween.
Team AkınMagmacube_tr:
1) A better circulatry system: 2+1=3
2) A better nervous system: 5+1=
capped at 5 3) Stubs to fins: 2+1=3
Sexual Selection vote: Simple echolocation: 1 (gosh darnit)
Cracked LarlarinThe primitive one way circulatory system of Larlarin have been refined into a more adcanced, two way one. This, while allowing a bit of a larger size, had no large effect.
But the improvements on it's brains did. Larlarin no longer suffer from metabolism dysfunction thanks to their now rearranged task priorities. Ganglions no longer make desicions themselves and only make them happen, with the now much larger main brain calling the shots.
Larlarin now can form social bonds and can communicate with other fellow Larlarin by using their bodies, with their fins and mandibles. They can also coordinate assault on prey. They usually target gills, eyes, tails or whatever might be out in the open and vulnerable, and preferably essential for survival. After mutilating their prey, they wait for it to succumb. If it does not, then the assault continues.
Larlarin also no longer crawl on the ground, instead they simply wade along the waters above with their three pairs of large, thin, semi transparent fins that are moved in a synchronised wave-like fashion. While beatiful, this is not fast, nor it is that effectual, so it is unremarkable beyond the obvious swimming addition.
But the sexual selection have really screwed them over this time. The male drones gained the ability to create strong sounds with their once-useless mandibles and use these sounds to sense the vague direction of the nearest female. Their mandibles have been reshaped to make this possible. But after a cascade of unlucky genetic mishaps, this had manifested on the female Larlarin as wll, but not as a n useful tool, but as a self harming habit. They can't use their now mangled mandibles the same way the males can. But they instinctively try to everytime they try to locate something and the result is alot of mandible shards and alot of pain. And worse, they can't even echolocate.
They are generally faring well, if it was not for their broken mandibles.
Status: VU
Description: A semi-oval, predatory animal 35 centimeters in length. It glides through the waters by using its three pairs of semi-transparent, large and thin fins and stalks any prey that it can get its broken mandibles in, which are broken due to their shape and bad habit. These mandibles lead to its digestive tract that is adapted to digest meat, and ends just below the mandibles with an anus, forming an 'U'. On the empty space in this 'U', there is a swim bladder connected to the intestines. It has a long and thin, constantly wavering hump on its back that has seven internal chambers that it uses as gills, which also functions as the ammonia disposal. A eigth chamber is also present, but it is instead a strong water jet. It has a nervous system that controls its bodily functions, which converge into a chain of three ganglion, with a large brain on the front, which calls the shots and does the thinking. Six small protrusions line its mouth, and are used to smell around. It has a closed circulatory system that distributes the essentials inside its body. A skin layer surrounds the animal, giving it the sense of touch. It posesses two sets of eyes, one foward-looking and the other is on the sides. It reproduces by imternal fertilisation of females by other females sending exploding, minuscule, echolocative male drones inside their wombs, and sibling squishing followed by the birth of 2 or 3 smaller Larlarin. It hunts with persistance tactics, by injuring the target and letting it succumb.
Habitat: Wherever it can find prey. All over The Crater Sea
EnvironmentOn the southern hemisphere of the planet Aqautico, on a continent named Samel, a giant warm saltwater crater lake called The Crater Sea resides.
Surrounding the sea, a verdant forest of Platetrees cover the flat ground far as eye can see. Its surface is covered with a layer of fluffy seeds that look and act like snow. It is silent for the most part, but a bit flashy and filled with high pitched wheezing and guttural sounds due to the communication and the hopping walking style of the animal inhabitants, The Laguras that eat the seed snow and plant matter.
Through the east side, four rivers called The Harbringers follow curved, close-by paths to The Crater Sea, coming from a tall mountain range called The Snowtipped Wall. The mountain range is also very close to an active volcano. Along with the four rivers, there is a dry river bed, a remnant of a time when there were five of The Harbringers.
A smaller and much younger freshwater crater lake is also nearby, residing by the north of The Crater Sea. It is connected to the it by a small stream that used to carry toxic, heavy metals from the lake it comes from.
All these are on the continent Samel, which is surrounded by an ocean called The Big Blue. The southern parts of Samel are close to the south pole, so they experience cold spells often, limiting the forests from fully taking a roothold there.
Multicelluar life is abundant and complex. Vast collectives of "eusocial" plants can be seen along the deep sea. Large but separate algal growths exist along the shallow shores as well, and used to be more widespread than they used to be.
It is also very clearly present on the flat land surrounding The Crater Sea, as the Platetree forest.
Author
Topic: Competitive Evolution (Turn 18) (11/15) (Read 36743 times)