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A Growing Collection; of creatures that dont' quite fit
Topic Started: Jan 19 2010, 11:23 AM (1,986 Views)
agatharights
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As of late, I've found myself forming this idea for a different sort of earth. Still has mammals, reptiles, avians, all those fun things...but things are just...different. I've been sketching mostly mammals so far, but they don't quite conform with creatures currently on earth, even though they seem like they'd fit in well.

So I'll be working on that here, working up a design where something changed around the time mammals just started to get going. I'll accept any suggestions and contributions as well, hint hint. :D

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A small bear-raccoon like creature with dexterous hands.

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A long-necked deer-like grazer, similar to a deer and giraffe.

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A heavy-set apex predator. Reminds me of a dire wolf.

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A clever, arboreal lemur-like species, and something between a rabbit and a squirrel.


More pending...
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Scrublord
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The raccoon-thing reminds me of the Barocyonids from the Neozoic. Only difference is that they're knuckle walker.
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ATEK Azul
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Many of your creatures here have heavy coats of fur suggesting they might be from a cold enviroment.

Your Bearcoon could be an omnivore but the meat portion of their deit might be scavenged?

Your Apex Predator lloks like a Canine but with a bulkier build perhaps making it simular to a form of Hyeana?

And as for the Squnny perhaps Rodents and Lagomorphs never split in this world?

The Lemure Hominids or Great Lemures could be an advanced form of lemure part of a diversity we don't have on our Madagascar?
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agatharights
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Ooh, now that you mention it, it does strike me as a hyena-type. Perhaps a heavier arctic hyena, similar to a wolf. I'm trying to figure out at exactly what point in history things would go "different" in this world.
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ATEK Azul
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I'm guessing both from the divergence and convergence that this splits in the Mesozoic or directly after it.

And it definantly seems like an Arctic Hyena if it is such a thing.
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Temporary
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yellowdrakex
Jan 19 2010, 04:56 PM
Ooh, now that you mention it, it does strike me as a hyena-type. Perhaps a heavier arctic hyena, similar to a wolf. I'm trying to figure out at exactly what point in history things would go "different" in this world.
Maybe no exact point? Maybe just different mutations happened at some points? The dice landing differently?
Edited by Temporary, Jan 19 2010, 05:29 PM.
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ATEK Azul
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Good point there might not be an exact point. Though the changes would atleast for mammals most likely start in the Mesozoic.

The dice rolling differently isn't a theme explored much here, which means if you go that route it will add a layer of originality for this world.

Also even with me putting the divergence point for Mammals in the Mesozoic other groups could be almost the same or have differences starting another point in time?
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agatharights
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Indeed. And I mean, I do want to keep some of the same animals, since part of this world design is going to be used for an RP campaign that I'm doing.

Where the characters wind up on an alternate earth but at first will be like "Well, looks like this just leads to africa. Look! Gazelle! :D ...wait...what...what is that...That's not a normal animal..."

So perhaps multiple divergance points. There's no specificlaly different thing that happened, but some animals just...went different ways.
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ATEK Azul
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Sounds like a good plan especially for an RPG world.

Is there any differences in other groups or have you only been thinking of polar Mammals?

Also with the differences your art suggests there might be shifts in power between groups, like for instance it appears Hyena's are more diverse and in different areas which could mean a small change in the diversity of other carnivora members like Canines(specifically Wolves) and Felines(like Lions).

Another shift might be created by your Bearcoon which either replaces certain Bears or Racoons.

And a major enviromental shift on your world that I can think of is Madagascars habitats now that it has great Ape and possibly Hominid equivelents which will suriously alter the habitats.
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agatharights
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I'm just used to drawing fluffy fur. FLUFFYYYYYyyyyy

Well, I'd like to see creature groups that aren't so common now come to the forefront. Like marsupials, or those big rhino-not-rhino things. I'll look up their name on wikipedia in a moment. things that still are clearly from earth, just not...this earth.
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ATEK Azul
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Sounds interesting and great. I look forward to more info and pics.
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agatharights
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Creature ideas currently-

Perhaps a surviving species of terror bird that made it further north into North America, an apex predator or large scavenger.

A creature similar to the marsupial lion, rather than having prominent canines instead having long, sharpened incisors.

Several small species of deer
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Margaret Pye
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Lots of interesting and offbeat kangaroos? I've always liked kangaroos. Or, if you prefer therians, really big saltorial rodents? Herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores that are actually kangaroo-shaped, not hypsiprymnodonts.

More varied bats, mega and micro? Diurnal megachiropterans with colour vision, lots of really big bats (the bigger ones might need to lose their teeth), and a general expansion into "bird" niches? Put a giant bat in an albatross niche and it'd never need to come to land at all - it could mate and give birth resting on the water and then take off again, so much more convenient than that nesting stuff. Or a swift-bat could spend its entire life in flight. Or take a teeny nectar-drinking megachiropteran, give it the ability to see colour, and then make it multicoloured and glittery! Astound your dimension-hoppers with mammalian hummingbirds!
Edited by Margaret Pye, Feb 3 2010, 02:39 AM.
My speculative dinosaur project. With lots of fluff, parental care and mammalian-level intelligence, and the odd sophont.
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ATEK Azul
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Those sound like interesting ideas. I would love to see Humming Bats.
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Kamidio
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As would I.
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