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Speculative biology is simultaneously a science and form of art in which one speculates on the possibilities of life and evolution. What could the world look like if dinosaurs had never gone extinct? What could alien lifeforms look like? What kinds of plants and animals might exist in the far future? These questions and more are tackled by speculative biologists, and the Speculative Evolution welcomes all relevant ideas, inquiries, and world-building projects alike. With a member base comprising users from across the world, our community is the largest and longest-running place of gathering for speculative biologists on the web.

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The Morae River
Topic Started: Dec 25 2009, 11:10 PM (3,593 Views)
TheCoon
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Happy merry Jesusmas inhabitants of the Spec Forums!
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This is quite a strange project. I don't know if this is future evolution or alternative evolution, but I think it's alter. evo. because some species look similar to Dicynodonts and others like Gorgonopsids, so here it is:
http://www.themoraeriver.com/
Greetings young life form! Procyon Lotor at your service.

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Holben
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Rumbo a la Victoria

So are there pastures and meadows upriver?
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

"It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."
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Brynn_Metheney
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Pudding!
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more or less. I had imagined temperate grasslands
Check out my project here: The Morae River
And my other work here: BrynnArt.com
You can see some of my process here: Fish Hook Studio
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Holben
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Rumbo a la Victoria

Okay. And are the mountains along the continent or solely around the valley?
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

"It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."
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Brynn_Metheney
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Pudding!
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they run along the continent.
Check out my project here: The Morae River
And my other work here: BrynnArt.com
You can see some of my process here: Fish Hook Studio
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Ddraig Goch
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Ar hyd y nos

What sort of creature are you planning to create next? Another mammal, or a bird, etc?
Save the Blibbering Humdinger from extinction!
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Brynn_Metheney
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Pudding!
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I was going to experiment with the Hulompolus a bit more. Right now it has ears but its classified as ?Reptilia due to its reproduction. (not on the blog) However I might drop the ears all together since they really don't have too much use - they were more an aesthetic choice - I thought it might make the animal more peculiar...

Anyway I'm working on another member of the hulompolus' family. I'm also working on a larger predator for the plains.
Check out my project here: The Morae River
And my other work here: BrynnArt.com
You can see some of my process here: Fish Hook Studio
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TheCoon
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Happy merry Jesusmas inhabitants of the Spec Forums!
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Brynn_Metheney
Feb 20 2010, 12:19 PM
Right now it has ears but its classified as ?Reptilia due to its reproduction. (not on the blog) However I might drop the ears all together since they really don't have too much use - they were more an aesthetic choice - I thought it might make the animal more peculiar...
If the creature takes a niche similar to a rabbit for example, the creature might develop external ears. But it would need to be a characteristic formed after millions of years of evolution.
Greetings young life form! Procyon Lotor at your service.

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Ànraich
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L'évolution Spéculative est moi

Brynn_Metheney
Feb 16 2010, 08:04 PM
@ Lil'Cthulhu

Thank you! I'm glad you like the look of the work.

As for the origins and "reason" for the project, I'm not I want to settle on much as of now. There are lots of reason for these animals to exist but I'd rather leave it in the dark for now - whether it be GE or alt. evo.

This project was originally created to be a personal exploration in world building and writing - that's basically it.

As for moving forward on the project I am willing to change anything. Real science changes all the time and so should science fiction. Perhaps I can post sketches here to receive feedback?
You could take a page from writers (no pun intended) and simply give no explanation at all. That way people can believe whatever they want about the creatures origin; after all it's the creatures that matter, not where they came from.
We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar.

"The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming

Tree That Owns Itself
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Brynn_Metheney
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Pudding!
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Parasky
Feb 20 2010, 06:50 PM
Brynn_Metheney
Feb 16 2010, 08:04 PM
@ Lil'Cthulhu

Thank you! I'm glad you like the look of the work.

As for the origins and "reason" for the project, I'm not I want to settle on much as of now. There are lots of reason for these animals to exist but I'd rather leave it in the dark for now - whether it be GE or alt. evo.

This project was originally created to be a personal exploration in world building and writing - that's basically it.

As for moving forward on the project I am willing to change anything. Real science changes all the time and so should science fiction. Perhaps I can post sketches here to receive feedback?
You could take a page from writers (no pun intended) and simply give no explanation at all. That way people can believe whatever they want about the creatures origin; after all it's the creatures that matter, not where they came from.
This is kind of why I left most things in the dark. I don't think many people want to read 40 pages of fake history - especially if its very slow and complicated... hehe. However, a lot of my notes aren't posted and my notes do need to be thorough....which is why I'm excited to be a part of this forum. :D
Edited by Brynn_Metheney, Feb 20 2010, 08:51 PM.
Check out my project here: The Morae River
And my other work here: BrynnArt.com
You can see some of my process here: Fish Hook Studio
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Brynn_Metheney
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Pudding!
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Lil'Cthulhu
Feb 20 2010, 03:31 PM
Brynn_Metheney
Feb 20 2010, 12:19 PM
Right now it has ears but its classified as ?Reptilia due to its reproduction. (not on the blog) However I might drop the ears all together since they really don't have too much use - they were more an aesthetic choice - I thought it might make the animal more peculiar...
If the creature takes a niche similar to a rabbit for example, the creature might develop external ears. But it would need to be a characteristic formed after millions of years of evolution.
of course. Although I'm still tracing back to where these creatures might have originated from...
Edited by Brynn_Metheney, Feb 20 2010, 08:50 PM.
Check out my project here: The Morae River
And my other work here: BrynnArt.com
You can see some of my process here: Fish Hook Studio
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Margaret Pye
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Adult
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While earthly "reptiles" don't have external ears, there's no reason your extraterrestrial kinda-reptilian entities shouldn't.

And I don't know how many people agree with this, but it seems to me that pinnae are pretty simple structures that could plausibly evolve repeatedly and independently. All it takes is some kind of projecting flap - skin, scales, feathers... and maybe some dermal muscles to move it.

Also, about the bipedal mammals: If they're not "mammals" as we know it on Earth, maybe they have a different ancestral hip structure that makes balance bipedalism easier to evolve?

I know nothing about the hips of non-human mammals, but I do know that there are a lot of bipedal saltatorial rodents (mostly mouse-sized, admittedly, and the biggest one's the size of a bunny, but I'm sure they could theoretically get bigger). JohnFaa, would the huge bipedal rodents be more plausible if she made them hop like therian kangaroos rather than walking?

Or, while you're fixing the ghastly timeline: surely it's not completely impossible for a mammal to evolve adaptations for theropodal walking, given long enough? Difficult, maybe, but surely possible?

And I thought the Gigantus was rather cool (although it'd have to be incredibly well-camouflauged to be at all plausible... maybe it has some kind of bait that draws in prey? Secretes nectar, produces prey sex pheromones, something like that?) But, yep, it needs a totally alien bauplan to be possible, with a proper vasculature and lungs and probably an endoskeleton. And those four skinny little bent legs will never do for holding up a seven-ton body. It needs thick, straight, columnar legs. That or a lot more of them.
My speculative dinosaur project. With lots of fluff, parental care and mammalian-level intelligence, and the odd sophont.
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agatharights
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Prime Specimen
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Just discovered this. Am delighted :D
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Everything is Transformers and Dungeons & Dragons and nothing hurts.
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Pando
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Obey or I'll send you to the moon
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I'm confused about this. Is this an alternate evolution or alien project? because some of the creatures look alien (like the balandic cula, while some look Earth-ish (like the black mardik), so what type of project is this?
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agatharights
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The author(ess?) actually explained that she doesn't know
She only sees the environemtn, now how it came to be.

Being an incredible art nerd, I get where she's coming from.
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Everything is Transformers and Dungeons & Dragons and nothing hurts.
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Brynn_Metheney
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Pudding!
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Thanks you yellowdrakex, I'm glad you enjoy the work.

Pandorasaurus - The project is an exercise in world-building and creature design, nothing else. The location and origins of everything were never meant to be explained.
Check out my project here: The Morae River
And my other work here: BrynnArt.com
You can see some of my process here: Fish Hook Studio
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