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Griffins...In a different light
Topic Started: Feb 11 2010, 10:45 PM (1,098 Views)
Venatosaurus
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So, with so many people proposing alternate Mesozoics, with, either a different set of creatures coming into dominion, or one particular set of animals going extinct...I decided to create my own spin on things.

I was thinking of Griffons...and I thought, what on Earth could have produced such beasts (in particular, the Keythongs, a wingless variety of Griffons) ? Pterosaurs are too commonly used, and birds are too unlikely...but I thought of the Hyperodapedon and Paradapedon genera, and I figured that they are viable candidates for producing such beasts.

So, in this scenario, Rhynchosauria, particularly Hyperodapedon and Paradapedon relatives, become the dominant terrestrial vertebrates, rather than Dinosauria, gaining the traits of endothermy, erect-gaited stances, integumentation, and significantly increased intelligence. They would truly reign supreme, ranging from diminutive lizard-like representatives, to elephantine behemoths.

So go on, discuss, and speculate...I may, from time to time, drop off some drawings, but I've got my hands full doing nothing :P



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Holben
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Rumbo a la Victoria

What kind of display structures?
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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Scrublord
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I once had an idea to make griffins plausible creatures, but with a twist: they WEREN'T tetrapods. They (along with other six-limbed mythological creatures like dragons and pegasi) belonged to a clade of "hexapeds" that evolved from lobe-finned fish who used their gill covers as an extra pair of limbs. The hexapeds were at their most diverse in the Carboniferous, producing several amphibian-like forms, but went into decline in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic due to competition with tetrapods. I might start a topic on this in the future.
My Projects:
The Neozoic Redux
Valhalla--Take Three!
The Big One



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In the end, the best advice I could give you would be to do your project in a way that feels natural to you, rather than trying to imitate some geek with a laptop in Colorado.
--Heteromorph
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Venatosaurus
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Interesting idea, using gill covers as an extra set of limbs...but my question is, why would they go extinct to tetrapod competetors, when they have the advantage of occupying several times more niches, as well as several times more body shapes ?!



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Margaret Pye
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Yep, that idea shows up a lot, and it's a fun one. Viergacht's FurAffinity account actually contains a "Descent of Centaurs!" page starting with such a lungfish (that was before he decided to introduce magic and blame hexapodal tetrapods on that.)

I tried that myself with griffins, before I decided I'd rather give them Draco wings.

Please do start the topic, it sounds like a lot of fun.
My speculative dinosaur project. With lots of fluff, parental care and mammalian-level intelligence, and the odd sophont.
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Holben
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It does! But they'd have to suffer from a lot of convergent evolution to get there.
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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Scrublord
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Maybe I can turn this into a project and get Viergacht to be my partner on it?
My Projects:
The Neozoic Redux
Valhalla--Take Three!
The Big One



Deviantart Account: http://elsqiubbonator.deviantart.com

In the end, the best advice I could give you would be to do your project in a way that feels natural to you, rather than trying to imitate some geek with a laptop in Colorado.
--Heteromorph
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Holben
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Rumbo a la Victoria

Have you seen Viergacht lately?
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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Carlos
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Adveho in me Lucifero
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Like I always say when someone isn't active for long: I think he died
Lemuria:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5724950/

Terra Alternativa:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/forum/460637/

My Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/Carliro

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Venatosaurus
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Yes Viergacht is alive, he been active on DA recently, it's just that he does not like this site anymore (like me ), so he chooses not to come anymore, but he did tell me he has a lot of material.



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Holben
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Rumbo a la Victoria

Can you provide some of the material?
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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Margaret Pye
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His DeviantArt account The Hominids of Terra Expopuli is made of awesome SQUEEEE Most of the really interesting stuff's in his Caranoctia folder, although Rotten Blood has some fascinating takes on vampires and werewolves if you're into that kind of thing. Or if you're not; I hate them and I liked it anyway.

And there's more, better stuff in his FurAffinity account. Yep, it's kind of a dodgy site. And yep, while he doesn't seem to be into furries that way himself, he'll draw titillating pictures for money. So there's a few hot scantily-clad vixens, literally, mixed in with the brilliant speculative/fantastic biology.

But there's nothing sexually explicit on his account (unless you count the illustrated guide to troll reproduction, or the time he decided it was hilarious to draw cute chibi slugs with anatomically accurate slug genitalia and label it HOT HERM YIFF ACTION - I agree, it was hilarious.) And there's nothing on his account that'll make you want brain bleach.
My speculative dinosaur project. With lots of fluff, parental care and mammalian-level intelligence, and the odd sophont.
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Holben
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I've used up cans and cans of that stuff to date.

I can't say it isn't hilarious. In fact, i'd like to congratulate him.

It looks good in there anyway.
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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Carlos
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Quote:
 
And there's more, better stuff in his FurAffinity account. Yep, it's kind of a dodgy site. And yep, while he doesn't seem to be into furries that way himself, he'll draw titillating pictures for money. So there's a few hot scantily-clad vixens, literally, mixed in with the brilliant speculative/fantastic biology.


I know, I'm in that site too. And frankly he doesn't draw much pr0n, so watching him to get something to paw off is useless.
Lemuria:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5724950/

Terra Alternativa:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/forum/460637/

My Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/Carliro

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Margaret Pye
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Well, yeah, but I'm assuming most people on this site find yiff quite fan-disservicy, so from their point of view that's a good thing. It's a good thing from my point of view, for that matter. I have no problem with other people enjoying yiff, but... nah, seriously not my thing.
My speculative dinosaur project. With lots of fluff, parental care and mammalian-level intelligence, and the odd sophont.
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