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| Asprea; Introduction to my world | |
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| Topic Started: Feb 16 2009, 01:54 AM (5,580 Views) | |
| BaliTiger23 | Feb 16 2009, 01:54 AM Post #1 |
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Do Not Touch Anything For It May Explode And Kill You
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So Asprea is some 200 million years into the future, with the continents once again rejoining to create a single massive supercontinent (Called Pangea Ultima by scientists). There has been at least two mass extinctions from now until then, though I haven't truly thought out the reasons behind these yet. Either way, almost all life now is unrecognizable from the earth as we know it. The animals have no obvious ancestors as the extinctions (whatever they were) left nothing but the smallest of the small alive. One of the extinctions nearly cleaned out the oceans for a couple million years and while sanitary drinking water is once again available there are still a few locations that are horribly irradiated. Also, the oxygen is very, very high and nearly all animals have so called blue blood. Rather than their blood containing hemoglobin (which is what makes blood red) it instead contains hemocyanin, which is most commonly found in molluscs and anthropods in the present time. This is because hemocyanin doesn't bind properly with oxygen and so offers only 1/4 of the oxygen hemoglobin does. However, due to the extremely high oxygen levels, animals have evolved with the hemocyanin protein instead because that high of an oxygen concentration would otherwise make life other than molluscs and anthropods impossible. Because of the two great extinctions and the long period of time from now until then, the evolutionary ancestors of the animals alive in Asprea some 200 million years into the future are unknown. That and the sentient race alive in Asprea has no idea homo sapien sapiens ever existed, as all existence of them has been wiped out or obliterated into something unrecognizable. After all, it has been over 200 million years and they aren't exactly interested in paleontology as they are still a fairly new and primitive race. New animals have evolved to fill the niches, and the variety and new evolutionary paths are astounding. That's the very basics, and more will be revealed once I get home to my scanner, but enjoy this small peek so far :) Edited by BaliTiger23, Feb 16 2009, 01:55 AM.
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| Viergacht | Apr 13 2009, 08:14 PM Post #106 |
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faceless fiend
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Try using a collared lizard. They already get upright when they're running so it would leave the forelimbs free. As for using echolocation maybe at some point the earth heats up so badly it's too hot in the desert even for lizards during the day (not being able to control their temp means they can't cool off well, either) which might force it into becoming mostly nocturnal, which might lead to the echolocation. Snakes, and I beleive many lizards, already detect vibrations in their jawbones, that could be the start of molding the whole skull into a sonar scoop. Just some thoughts. |
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| BaliTiger23 | Apr 16 2009, 02:41 AM Post #107 |
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Do Not Touch Anything For It May Explode And Kill You
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Viergacht, you are brilliant! I shall definitely have to seriously consider using this idea; I never even thought of modern day reptiles using vibrations that could eventually evolve into echolocation! Thank you so much! Don't know how well that'll work with some of it's relatives, but it's a freaking start! 8D |
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| ATEK Azul | Apr 16 2009, 01:00 PM Post #108 |
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Transhuman
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awsome sounding i would love to see your explaination of how the jaw specialized enough for echolocation. |
| I am dyslexic, please ignore the typo's! | |
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| BaliTiger23 | Apr 16 2009, 02:17 PM Post #109 |
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Do Not Touch Anything For It May Explode And Kill You
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Me too ^^; I'll think of something, don't worry about that ;) Gah, I need to pay more attention to my own projects D8 This is so close to on the verge of dying out, it's scary ;-; I'll try to have some information up before this weekend! |
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| ATEK Azul | Apr 16 2009, 02:23 PM Post #110 |
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Transhuman
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great i'm glad too hear it! i look forward too more info on the relatives and species of those flying lizards. they seem like a wonderful lineage of animals. |
| I am dyslexic, please ignore the typo's! | |
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| BaliTiger23 | May 1 2009, 12:31 PM Post #111 |
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Do Not Touch Anything For It May Explode And Kill You
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I have an idea for a tumbleweed dwelling animal, and as far fetched as that sounds, I am determined to make it work. So my idea is that either a small bird, reptile or mammal lives within the tumbleweed. I'm leaning towards bird or reptile though. They'd use the tumbleweeds thorny brambles as a means of protection, and somehow tie the tumbleweed down when it came time to raise their young. They'd probably be insectivores, perhaps weaving certain plants into their brambly home to attract bugs, and then eating those. There could only be two animals in the tumbleweed at a time, or else it would be too heavy to blow with the wind. Now for the problem. How the heck do the reptiles/birds not be victim to the vertigo and constant rolling around that the tumbleweed naturally does? I'm honestly working on this guys; I'm just busy with commissions and life in general, so art may be slow, but I figured I may as well share some ideas! So what do you think? Is it honestly feasible, or have I just red Stephen King's The Langoliers one too many times? |
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| Viergacht | May 1 2009, 02:25 PM Post #112 |
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faceless fiend
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Well, vertigo is technically the dizzy feeling when you're not moving. I don't think it would be at all strange to simply evolve a high tolerance for motion. I'd be more inclined to go with a bird than a reptile, at least a lizard, mainly because when lizards are flipped over they go into a sort of catatonic state because they don't have a diaphargm and the pressure on their lungs makes them pass out. A bird would also be able to weave the tumbleweed into a nest, lizards aren't really that skilled at building. Either way I think it's a terrific idea
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| BaliTiger23 | May 1 2009, 03:08 PM Post #113 |
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Do Not Touch Anything For It May Explode And Kill You
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I don't have a lot of avians in Asprea, so I think I'll make it a bird. I was leaning more towards a feather reptile, but I have a few of those already, so I think this one's just going to be a good ol' fashioned bird. Plus, beaks are pretty darned dexterous; I'm thinking of those basket weaver birds. But I'm trying to figure out how the babies would be able to handle tumbling. The parents would most likely have to wait until the tumbleweed got tangled in something before building their nest... I know eggs don't do so well with lots of motion. Kills the baby birds does it now? But that doesn't sound like a very good way to go about things... waiting for the tumbleweed to get tangled could take a long time :/ Hmmmm... |
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| lamna | May 1 2009, 03:14 PM Post #114 |
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Well bird eggs are more robust than reptiles. Bird eggs need to be turned, but if you turn a reptile egg, the air bubble moves and the embryo dies. Not that rolling in tumble weed would be good fro them, but if a nest got loose it would not be instant death. Also, cool idea. |
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Living Fossils Fósseis Vibos: Reserva Natural 34 MYH, 4 tonne dinosaur. [flash=500,450] Video Magic! [/flash] | |
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| BaliTiger23 | May 1 2009, 03:22 PM Post #115 |
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Do Not Touch Anything For It May Explode And Kill You
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Maybe I was thinking of reptile eggs then. I wonder if there's a way to attach the nest so that it can remain upright no matter how the tumbleweed rolls? Nah, even if it was suspended by two 'anchors', they'd snap after so many spins. Fffffff, I will make this work! Perhaps the birds could fly out of the tumbleweed with a long piece of braided grass or something that they could anchor to something that could hold the tumbleweed still while the young matured. Thank god birds are relatively creative in their nest building and such, or this would be completely implausible. I'm also working on a leporidae evolution. They've evolved to be herd animals, with flashy displays by the male to impress females, but other than that, I'm still working on it. |
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| lamna | May 1 2009, 03:48 PM Post #116 |
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They would accidentally evolve sapience trying to build a gyroscopic nest. And I look forward the leporidaes. Any specific ideas? |
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Living Fossils Fósseis Vibos: Reserva Natural 34 MYH, 4 tonne dinosaur. [flash=500,450] Video Magic! [/flash] | |
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| BaliTiger23 | May 1 2009, 04:00 PM Post #117 |
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Do Not Touch Anything For It May Explode And Kill You
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Gah, very true. I want them to be good at living in the tumbleweed, but I don't want them to be sapient. I guess the rope and lasso will have to do for now. It's rather simple yet effective, so I like it. I have an idea of them lengthening them out so as to better fit into small holes and cracks, though I may leave that body design for a carnivorous cousin. They'd probably be bigger, small kangaroo sized, say. Long large ears to keep cool in the heat, with ear tufts for communication between members, and a smaller version of a squirrels tail of bright colors that could be flashed to confuse chasing predators when escaping. They're still in the works, so any of that may be changed. We'll see. |
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| lamna | May 1 2009, 06:17 PM Post #118 |
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How would the ear tufts work? |
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Living Fossils Fósseis Vibos: Reserva Natural 34 MYH, 4 tonne dinosaur. [flash=500,450] Video Magic! [/flash] | |
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| BaliTiger23 | May 1 2009, 06:54 PM Post #119 |
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Do Not Touch Anything For It May Explode And Kill You
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They'd basically be like when a deer bounds away and flashes it's tail to alert other herd members where it is. Except these guys would flash their ears. Or something. It's a work in progress still :P |
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| lamna | May 2 2009, 10:00 AM Post #120 |
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Ah I think I know what you mean. Some big cats have ears a bit like that. But don't rabbits already have white bums to do exactly that? |
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Living Fossils Fósseis Vibos: Reserva Natural 34 MYH, 4 tonne dinosaur. [flash=500,450] Video Magic! [/flash] | |
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