TURN 8
EventsStrength: 1 (Really?) (No Event)
Timeframe: N/A
Temperament: N/A
Besides from the arsenic-rich aquifer, and therefore the river finally exhausting, absolutely nothing happened.
ActionsFiveBalesOfHay
1)Muscles for Fanned Flatworm: 3
2)Fix teeth of Spiralteeth Flatworm: 2+1=3
3)Herbivory adaptations for Spiralteeth Flatworm: 2
Crystalizedmire
1)Segmented body for Stiltwalker Harpoonworm: 1
2)Jointed, crusteceanoid legs for Stiltwalker Harpoonworm: 5+1=Capped at 5
3)Muscle control for Grazing Harpoonworm quills: 3+1=4
SS)Simple eyes for Grazing Harpoonworm: 2+1=3
TricMagic
1)Control for the intesity of the light: 3+1+(-1)=3
2)Dorsal fin: 1+1=2
3)Endoskeleton: 4
SS)Supporting Vote 1: 3
BlackPaladin99
1)Sexual reproduction: 5 (SS vote unlocked!)
2)Circulatory system: 2
3)Enhanced eyesight: 3+1=4
Aeranthos
1)Speciate from Mouthbleeder Quillworm and fix stomach lining: 5+1= Capped at 5
2)A heart: 1+1=2
3)Reproduction via hemaphroditic sperm transfer: 3 (SS vote unlocked!)
The BiomesThe Mountain Lake | Freshwater Lake | (11 species in total)
Summary: A small, flat animal that resembles a squished tadpole with a horizantal fin. It has a main body that is 10 centimeters in length. It has three small composite eyes above its mouth. It actively seeks smaller animals and tries shallow them whole, which often happen to be juveniles.
Nervous System: Small brain located under its eyes.
Senses: Limited sight through three primitive, composite eyes on its head.
Locomotion: Muscle-based propulsion through a single horizontal tail fin.
Digestive System: It has a very wide, circular mouth with sharp ring of keratin teeth, that leads to a simple internal canal.
Respiratory System: It has a pair of openings inside its mouth that lead to gill chambers.
Cardiovascular System: It has no cardiovascular system.
Reproductive System: It has no reproductive system. It reproduces through division. Many indidivuals do not survive their first split, as the tissues are no longer mostly self-sustaining
Habitat: The lake floor.
Summary: A small, flat animal reminiscent of a lancelet. It has a main body that is 15 centimeters in length along with a wide, flatter extension the back that acts as a tail fin. It has three large composite eyes above its round, toothy mouth. It actively seeks smaller animals and tries to shallow them whole, which often happen to be juveniles.
Nervous System: Small brain located under its eyes.
Senses: Full-color, triocular sight through three large composite eyes on its head.
Locomotion: Muscle-based propulsion through its single horizontal tail fin.
Digestive System: It has a very wide, circular mouth with sharp ring of keratin teeth, that leads to a simple internal canal.
Respiratory System: It has a pair of openings inside its mouth that lead to gill chambers.
Cardiovascular System: It has an open circulatory system powered by two internal spiracles at either side of its body.
Reproductive System: It reproduces sexually, with female, male, and le sexes. Tiny and underdeveloped haploid males are spawned by les and carried as ready-to-hatch eggs under its body. When it is time to reproduce, the le lays its eggs, which immidiately hatch and fertilise the females, which lay eggs that hatch into les and females in a 1/5 ratio, respectively.
Habitat: The water collumn, and occasionally lake floor.
Summary: An animal about 60 centimeters long covered in white skin, with a long, roundish body with two dark depressions on its front that are above a calcified straw, with a ring of pinkish frills surrounding its base. It has three pairs of large, flat protrusion on its sides that act as fins and sails to pick up currents. It is dotted with many microscopic, benign cysts of bioluminescent symbiotic bacteria that gives it a slightly glittery apparance. It perodically flashes and releases a film of glowing matter onto the lake bed that stimulates bacteria growth. It coordinates the fertiliser releases with others through the flashing. It actively targets prey, stabbing them with its probocis. It is having difficulties expelling the ammonia that its body produces, causing tissue damage in older individuals.
Nervous System: It has a nervous system commaded by a simple ganglion.
Senses: It has a binocular pair of cup eyes on its body, which allows it to see shapes and distance.
Locomotion: Swimming like manta rays with 6 propeller fins and current surfing. It possesses muscles and an endoskeleton connected to the proboscis with a central cage for organs and places for the fin muscles to attach. A small dorsal ridge on its back helps with steering to some degree.
Digestive System: It has a long, calcified proboscis with an internal lining of muscles to chew, which leads to a digestive tract with a simple stomach and intestine.
Respiratory System: There are frills around the base of its proboscis that act as gills surfaces.
Cardiovascular System:It has closed circulatory system with a three chambered heart, the first two pump blood in and out of the third, larger and flat chamber that's right underneath the gills.
Reproductive System: It reproduces sexually. Larger males fertilise the small number of eggs that females lay inside of them by linking their proboscii together. The young emerge as miniature adults.
Habitat: The water collumn.
...
Summary: A small, slightly pear-shaped, flatworm-like animal 25 centimeters in length, mostly made of unspecialised cells expect for three small composite eyes above its tentacled mouth that are surrounded by three transparent domes individually. It is pale yellow in coloration and has stripes of darker yellow. It stays on the shallow waters, seeking clusters of algea. It is mind-numbingly slow.
Nervous System: Small brain located under its eyes.
Senses: Limited sight through three primitive, enclosed, composite eyes on its head.
Locomotion: Cellular movements.
Digestive System: It has a wide, circular mouth surrounded by numerous prehensile tendrils that rake in algea. The mouth leads to a relatively long, clustered internal canal.
Respiratory System: It has a pair of openings inside its mouth that lead to gill chambers.
Cardiovascular System: It has a series of internal tubes that connect to the gills with a membrane.
Reproductive System: It periodically clusters into large groups and releases clouds of unisexual gametes that combine with those of others.
Habitat: The lake floor, found only in shallow, coastal waters.
Summary: A segmented, cylindrical animal with many long, hydraulic insectoid legs. It is covered in leathery skin and puffed up by long quills. It has no determinable maximum length, always growing new segments and legs which eventually become too many for its circulatory system to support, leading to weak blood flow and ammonia build up. It has a set of hairs around its circular mouth that allows it to detect the presence of food from further away and small holes in its sides that open and close rythmically. It has mildy regenerative abilities, making it capable of regrowing its tissues. Bases of its quills have tiny chambers with harpoons that fire and inject mildly necrotic venom when disturbed.
Nervous System: It's has a network mechanoreceptive cells that are concentrated around its whiskers and quills, controlled by a centralised decision-making ganglion.
Senses: Primitive mechanoreception through whiskers around the mouth. It can hear, touch and sense pressure by picking up the vibrations and friction on its quills. It has a series of small dark spots on its back that allows it to detect light and dark.
Locomotion: Walking across the lakebed with a dozens of long, spider-like hydraulic legs.
Digestive System: It has a two-ended digestive canal of indeterminate length in which it absorbs nutrients through.
Respiratory System: It has a series of tiny respiratory spiracles on the sides of each of its segments that lead to wider internal cavities that absord oxygen from the water.
Cardiovascular System: It has a closed circulatory system with a two chambered heart. It eventually becomes unable to support the length of the body.
Reproductive System: A few of the quills that surround it can be used to fertilise others of its species. After fertilisation, the mother lays a few hundred eggs that hatch into highly neotenic larvae that resemble the ancestral worm. All individuals are hemaphrodites.
Habitat: The lake floor, near the coasts.
...
Summary: A 30 centimeter long, leathery tendril covered by a fur of long quills which stay down when not in use. It has a set of hairs around its mouth that allows it to detect the presence of food from further away and small holes in its sides that open and close rythmically. It has mildy regenerative abilities, making it capable of regrowing its tissues. When disturbed by predators, the quills puff up, and activate the tiny chambers at their bases with harpoons that fire and inject mildly necrotic venom.
Nervous System: It's has a network mechanoreceptive cells that are concentrated around its whiskers and quills, controlled by a centralised decision-making ganglion.
Senses: Primitive mechanoreception through whiskers around the mouth. It can hear, touch and sense pressure by picking up the vibrations and friction on its quills. It has 8 small, primitive eyes on its back that allows it to percieve shapes and shadows.
Locomotion: Inching across the lakebed on a thousand stiff hairs through muscle power.
Digestive System: It has a wide, spade-shaped mouth lined with flat calcium teeth, which leads to a digestive canal that digests and absorbs nutrients.
Respiratory System: It has a series of tiny respiratory spiracles on its sides that lead to wider internal cavities that absord oxygen from the water.
Cardiovascular System: It has a closed circulatory system with a two chambered heart.
Reproductive System: A few of the quills that surround it can be used to fertilise others of its species. After fertilisation, the mother lays a few hundred eggs that hatch into highly neotenic larvae that resemble the ancestral worm. All individuals are hemaphrodites.
Habitat: The lake floor, around the sandy coastal areas where lake meadows are.
Summary: A small, noticably pear-shaped, flatworm-like animal 15 centimeters in length, mostly made of unspecialised cells expect for three small composite eyes above its tentacled mouth that are surrounded by three transparent domes individually. It is pale yellow in coloration and has stripes of darker yellow. It stays on the shallow waters, seeking seaweed to weakly gnaw at without muscles.
Nervous System: Small brain located under its eyes.
Senses: Limited sight through three primitive, enclosed, composite eyes on its head.
Locomotion: Cellular movements.
Digestive System: It has a wide, circular mouth filled with large, round calcium teeth, surrounded by numerous prehensile tendrils that rake in algea. The mouth leads to a long, clustered internal canal.
Respiratory System: It has a pair of openings inside its mouth that lead to gill chambers.
Cardiovascular System: It has a series of internal tubes that connect to the gills with a membrane.
Reproductive System: It periodically clusters into large groups and releases clouds of unisexual gametes that combine with those of others.
Habitat: The lake floor, found only in shallow, coastal waters.
...
Summary: An 8 centimeter long leathery worm covered and puffed up by short, hooked quills. It has a set of long hairs around its circular mouth that allows it to detect the presence of food from further away and small holes in its sides that open and close rythmically. It has mildy regenerative abilities, making it capable of regrowing its tissues. This ability comes in handy, as the foreguts inner lining is always being digested, seeping blood.
Nervous System: It's has a network mechanoreceptive cells that are concentrated around its whiskers and quills, controlled by a centralised decision-making ganglion.
Senses: Primitive mechanoreception through long whiskers around the mouth. It can hear, touch and sense pressure by picking up the vibrations and friction on its quills. It has a series of small dark spots on its back that allows it to detect light and dark.
Locomotion: Crawling and climbing on the lake floor with many small hooked quills through muscle power.
Digestive System: It has a two-ended digestive canal in which it absorbs nutrients through. Food is mechanically and chemically processed inside of an acidic foregut before being digested.
Respiratory System: It has a series of tiny respiratory spiracles on its sides that lead to wider internal cavities that absord oxygen from the water.
Cardiovascular System: It has an open circulatory system that runs on the bodily muscle undulations.
Reproductive System: It has no reproductive system. It reproduces through division.
Habitat: The lake floor.
Summary: A 10 centimeter long leathery worm covered and puffed up by short, hooked quills, with a pronounced, raised front. It has a set of long hairs around its circular mouth that allows it to detect the presence of food from further away and small holes in its sides that open and close rythmically. It has mildy regenerative abilities, making it capable of regrowing its tissues.
Nervous System: It's has a network mechanoreceptive cells that are concentrated around its whiskers and quills, controlled by a centralised decision-making ganglion.
Senses: Primitive mechanoreception through long whiskers around the mouth. It can hear, touch and sense pressure by picking up the vibrations and friction on its quills. It has a series of small dark spots on its back that allows it to detect light and dark.
Locomotion: Crawling and climbing on the lake floor with many small hooked quills through muscle power.
Digestive System: It has a two-ended digestive canal in which it absorbs nutrients through. Food is mechanically and chemically processed inside of a large, tough, acidic foregut before being digested.
Respiratory System: It has a series of tiny respiratory spiracles on its sides that lead to wider internal cavities that absord oxygen from the water.
Cardiovascular System: It has an open circulatory system operated by a muscle valve within the center of the body.
Reproductive System: It reproduces sexually. When two individuals meet, they exchange sperm packets that they then use to fertilise themselves with. All individuals are hemaphrodites.
Habitat: The lake floor.
Summary: A small, leathery worm covered and puffed up by short, hooked quills. It has a set of long hairs around its circular mouth that allows it to detect the presence of food from further away and small holes in its sides that open and close rythmically. It has regenerative abilities, making it capable of regrowing its tissue groups and survive up to quarter of its mass gone. It lives significantly longer as a result.
Nervous System: It's has a network mechanoreceptive cells that are concentrated around its whiskers and quills, controlled by a centralised decision-making ganglion.
Senses: Primitive mechanoreception through long whiskers around the mouth. It can hear, touch and sense pressure by picking up the vibrations and friction on its quills. It has a series of small dark spots on its back that allows it to detect light and dark.
Locomotion: Crawling and climbing on the lake floor with many small hooked quills through muscle power.
Digestive System: It has a two-ended digestive canal in which it absorbs nutrients through. Food is mashed inside of a foregut before being digested.
Respiratory System: It has a series of tiny respiratory spiracles on its sides that lead to wider internal cavities that absord oxygen from the water.
Cardiovascular System: It has no cardiovascular system.
Reproductive System: It has no reproductive system. It reproduces through division.
Habitat: The lake floor.
Summary: A small, leathery worm covered and puffed up by short, hooked quills. It has a set of hairs around its circular mouth that allows it to detect the presence of food from further away and small holes in its sides that open and close rythmically. It has mildy regenerative abilities, making it capable of regrowing its tissues. This species has a strong aversion to light and only comes out at night, using its ten equally sized sunspots to determine time.
Nervous System: It's has a network mechanoreceptive cells that are concentrated around its whiskers and quills, controlled by a centralised decision-making ganglion.
Senses: Primitive mechanoreception through whiskers around the mouth. It can hear, touch and sense pressure by picking up the vibrations and friction on its quills. It has 10, large dark spots on its back that allows it to detect light and dark, and detect moving shadows.
Locomotion: Crawling and climbing on the lake floor with many small hooked quills through muscle power.
Digestive System: It has a two-ended digestive canal in which it absorbs nutrients through. Food is mashed inside of a foregut before being digested.
Respiratory System: It has a series of tiny respiratory spiracles on its sides that lead to wider internal cavities that absord oxygen from the water.
Cardiovascular System: It has no cardiovascular system.
Reproductive System: It periodically lays eggs, and fertilises those that it encounters. It will eat any fertilised eggs it stumbles upon. All individuals are hemaphrodites.
Habitat: The lake floor.
...
Cladogram
The reason Evergrowing Quillpede is mostly unaffected is because by the time the segment number becomes an issue, it has already reproduced numerous times. As a result, it doesn't actually affects fitness that much. Older individuals die from it.
Most of you are small enough to reasonable disperse the ammonia buildup. But for Evergrowing Quillpede and Signal Starwing, the limit at which a dedicated transformation filtering system is required, has been reached.
As soon as Signal Starwing resolves its final limitation, it will explode in population and ascend to apex predator status.
Should've specified, Paladin. No takebacks!
Also, if you really do not want the SS vote for some reason, you can always evolve a specifically developed, but asexual way to reproduce. You can bud off clones, for example.
Species that breach 200 maximum population count will undergo automatic sympatric speciation. This can stack of the resulting species also exceed 200 population.