Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
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.

While unregistered users are able to browse the forum on a basic level, registering an account provides additional forum access not visible to guests as well as the ability to join in discussions and contribute yourself! Registration is free and instantaneous.

Join our community today!

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Postozoic
Topic Started: Apr 19 2010, 12:01 PM (6,717 Views)
Pando
Member Avatar
Obey or I'll send you to the moon
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
Since my old topic died and I had so much revision I just created a new topic.

In the Postozoic I will focus on 4 (rather than 3) time zones. They will be 25, 90, 120, and 200 million years future.

In 25 million years future the world is 1 degree hotter than 2010, and rain forests cover the equator but Africa-like savannas are dominant. In the sea dolphins hold their niche but seals filter feed and otters have taken the role of seals and the ambush predator niche north of the equator, where they can't compete with the better adapted crocodilians. An order of primates descended from the Hamadryas baboon start to compete with carnivora for the niche of apex predators.

In 90 million years the world is 1 degree colder than 2010, and there are no rain forests with Mediterranean climate replacing them. The savannas and grasslands are more spread, up until the taiga (boreal forests) that start around the height of Canada. Mammals are at their height. An order of neo-mesonychids descended from pigs have overthrown the carnivore baboons. Carnivora is extinct except in South America. Bats have become more dominant, keeping most birds as raptorial-like forms. During this period a mass extinction in between KT and P-Tr arrives, heating up the world and bringing an end to the reign of mammals and the extinction of monotremes.


In 120 million years the world is a hot place rules by reptiles. Amphibians have been in decline ever since the human extinction, and the 90 MYF extinction brought their end. All birds also go extinct in the extinction, except for an Asian group of quadruped birds, descended from junglefowl. Bats rule the skies, with the group that rules the skies losing another finger from the membrane, allowing them to walk better and grow bigger. All the continents are connected except for South America and Antarctica, which is the only place that mammals are still dominant. Monitor lizard descendants are the apex predators. Mice and antechinus descendants rule the insectivorous niche. In the trees a group of carnivorous primates rule predator niche and another group rule the fruigivorous and insectivorous niches, all descended from the 1 monkey that survived the extinction. A group of arboreal geckos rule the rodent niche. In Antarctica a group of swingers similar to monkeys have evolved, descended from bats. In the sea dolphin-like sharks rule the dolphin niche and giant filter feeding squid rule the filter feeding niches. A new class of reptile-like chordates descended from pangolins emerge from Lemuria when it crashes into India, including the neo-theropods descended from lizargolins, which had the chance to rise with the extinction of Emperor Birds.

In 200 million years all the continents have grown in a neo-Pangea. Birds and neo-reptile pangolins have taken control of the land, winning over mammals because of their better water conservation. In the trees the monkey bats has a cosmopolitan range in the coastline rain forests from when Antarctica collided with neo-Pangea. Antechinus now completely control the insectivore niche, and opossums from South America rule the rodent niche, and are the last marsupials. A few armadillos, neo-ground sloths (from South America) and ground Kinkajou (from Antarctica) roam in the southern rain forests of neo-Pangea. Flying lizards descended from the rodent geckos have taken pterosaur-like form and fill a niche similar to what bats have today.

Another change that I'm doing from the original Postozoic is that instead of doing all the time zones at a time, I'm going to go time zone biome by time zone biome.

The other change is in the survivor list. The only changes I'm doing is that hoatzin are extinct and sloths are extant, to fit my plans for the future.

And so, welcome to the Postozoic!
Edited by Pando, Apr 23 2010, 09:35 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Replies:
Holben
Member Avatar
Rumbo a la Victoria

Jeez- do they lose 'em seasonally?
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."
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Pando
Member Avatar
Obey or I'll send you to the moon
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
Probably, as they need it to be renewed annually. But with such big antlers they probably keep some stubs about 1 foot in length.

And I take it I'll do Lemuria (East Africa).
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Pando
Member Avatar
Obey or I'll send you to the moon
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
So, I've got 5 species for Lemuria so far (just so you know, Lemuria is halfway between the size of Zealandia and Australia):

Emperor Birds/Secretary Birds: The carnivorous group of Lemuria, they have managed to overthrow Carnivora in Lemuria. They look like the terror birds of South America and males have a colorful feather crest to impress females. The feathers can be pulled up and down and are only colorful during mating season so it's not always spotted by its prey. They go from 3 feet to 7 feet tall.

Lizargolin/Pangolins: A small group, they have gone from their termite diet to a diet of small animals and eggs. The have regrown teeth through atavism, with strong canines for breaking egg shells and smaller sharp teeth for ripping apart flesh. They have gone from their almost-quadrupedal theropod stance to a true theropod stance. They go from 6 inches to 2 feet long.

Megacamel/Dromedary Camel: Virtually unchanged from the Dromedary's of today, the only change is size. They have gone from 6 feet tall to 7-9 feet tall, although there is a dwarf species that grows to 4 feet tall.

Giant Savanna Hog/Giant Forest Hog: Very similar to its ancestor except that it has lost its tusks. It has also gone from 3.6 to 4.6 feet tall and is more adapted to running, to escape Emperor Birds.

Lemurian Civet/African Civet: A smaller version of its ancestor, it is 2 feet long. It is also an omnivorous generalist, but has gone to eat more plant matter. It is the last Lemurian carnivora member.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Ook
Member Avatar
not a Transhuman
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
i like this...but what is scavengers,small predators..in south america were top terror birds,but there were many sprassodonts..
Posted ImagePosted ImagePosted ImagePosted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Pando
Member Avatar
Obey or I'll send you to the moon
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
The scavengers are vultures like they are in Africa today. The small predators are the Lizargolins. There are no other predators besides a few birds because Lemuria is a small place, not as big as South America.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
lemming98
Adolescent
 *  *  *  *  *
I was looking at you vampire bat descendants and why would they replace their already specialized cutting teeth for claws? It seems a little unneeded.

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Pando
Member Avatar
Obey or I'll send you to the moon
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
That was in my old thread in the neo-Amazon rain forest. I haven't gone there yet. But thanks for telling me.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Pando
Member Avatar
Obey or I'll send you to the moon
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
7 more species for Lemuria

Pangomole/Pangolins: Digging insectivorous pangolins. Their armor has been fused together to become more streamlined.

Grass Tortoise/African Helmeted Turtle:
A turtle that has grown to look very similar to the giant tortoises of today. They have slight bony protrusions on their beaks to grind up grass before it goes to their gizzard-filled stomachs.

Wilderpala/Impala: Wilderbeest-like impala descendants, their horns are the same except that they're much thicker.

Rabbird/Swainsons Francolin: 2 foot tall fowl. Their body has straightened and their neck has lengthened, thus their bodies look like mini ostriches.

Blue Vulturhawk/Pale Chanting Goshhawk:
One of the scavengers of Lemuria, they exhibit sexual dimorphism. The females live alone, only staying with their young. They have wingspans of 5-6 feet. The males usually are alone and scavenge, but sometimes they'll group up in swarms, and then they are more dangerous than the biggest Emperor Bird. The males have wingspans of 2-4 feet.

Pengannet/Cape Gannet:
Orange and yellow flightless penguin-like gannets.

Heronnet/Cape Gannet: Yellow heron-like gannets. They can still fly, and have grown more terrestrial. They are 4 feet tall and usually feed on the seashores, but sometimes they'll go inland and hunt small animals like lizards and snakes.

You like?
--EDIT--
Just an update: the creatures in my website are now listed by herbivores then carnivores. Also, the rabbuffalo's picture has been darkened and changed to a JPG so that every time you right click "View Picture" it doesn't ask you to save it.

--EDIT--
1 new Lemuria creature:
Falconbat/Bats: Like vultures, they're scavengers. But these bats are bigger than their ancestors having a 5 foot wingspan, starting to show the future glory of the bats. They flock together in groups of 5-10 members, and also take small animals like Rabbirds. Since there are few trees and mountains in the savanna, instead their big finger has detached from the membrane and become stronger, and the feet have become more bird-like to walk on it, instead of it always grasping.

--EDIT--
I have updated the description of 120 and 200 million years future. Changes are in bold:


In 120 million years the world is a hot place rules by reptiles. Amphibians have been in decline ever since the human extinction, and the 90 MYF extinction brought their end. All birds also go extinct in the extinction, except for an Asian group of quadruped birds, descended from junglefowl. Bats rule the skies, with the group that rules the skies losing another finger from the membrane, allowing them to walk better and grow bigger. All the continents are connected except for South America and Antarctica, which is the only place that mammals are still dominant. Monitor lizard descendants are the apex predators. Mice and antechinus descendants rule the insectivorous niche. In the trees a group of carnivorous primates rule predator niche and another group rule the fruigivorous and insectivorous niches, all descended from the 1 monkey that survived the extinction. A group of arboreal geckos rule the rodent niche. In Antarctica a group of swingers similar to monkeys have evolved, descended from bats. In the sea dolphin-like sharks rule the dolphin niche and giant filter feeding squid rule the filter feeding niches. A new class of reptile-like chordates descended from pangolins emerge from Lemuria when it crashes into India, including the neo-theropods descended from lizargolins, which had the chance to rise with the extinction of Emperor Birds.

In 200 million years all the continents have grown in a neo-Pangea. Birds and neo-reptile pangolins have taken control of the land, winning over mammals because of their better water conservation. In the trees the monkey bats has a cosmopolitan range in the coastline rain forests from when Antarctica collided with neo-Pangea. Antechinus now completely control the insectivore niche, and opossums from South America rule the rodent niche, and are the last marsupials. A few armadillos, neo-ground sloths (from South America) and ground Kinkajou (from Antarctica) roam in the southern rain forests of neo-Pangea. Flying lizards descended from the rodent geckos have taken pterosaur-like form and fill a niche similar to what bats have today.
--EDIT--
I'm Finishing Lemuria!

Pack Bird/Secretary Bird: 4 foot tall Emperor Birds. They look exactly like Secretary Birds except for their shrunken wings. They are unique by the fact that they pack hunt.

Spikurtles/Geochelone Tortoises:
1-3 foot tall tortoises. They can no longer retract into their shells, which has thinned out. They have a crest of spikes. Their beak has become harder and broader, to grind plants before it goes to its stomach.

Bee Birds/Red-Billed Quelea: It's no surprise that the red-billed quelea has descendants, at 1.5 billion individuals as of 2010. These little brown birds have a better social system, becoming eusocial. The workers build nests that can grow up to 30 feet tall. They have a woodpecker-like beak for digging and also take care of the young. In the inside of the nests it has a lot of chambers to go in and out, with some branches where the workers sleep. The center of it is hollow, where they store their food, the queens, eggs, young, males, and the guards. The gatherers have a hornbill-like beak to gather as much food as they can in it. The guards can spit a foul-smelling acid out of their mouth. The queens are twice as big as the other birds and are flightless. The males are almost as big as the queen and are bright orange.

Antbird/Honeyguides: Small brown birds. They dig up anthills to eat. They have a slightly longer neck and smaller head to reach into the ant tunnels and the feet are webbed and have bigger claws to dig up the ant hills.

Cranecolin/Francolin: 3-5 foot tall herbivorous crane-like birds. They have a broader duck-like beak.

Rhinocamel/Dromedary: A 5 foot tall camel. Their body has lengthened, their neck and legs shortened, and head lengthened. They have also lost their hump.

Ververet Gorillas/Ververet Monkeys: 4-6 foot long gorilla-like ground monkeys. They are completely black except for their blue butts.

Sasquatch/Gelada: Gigantopithecus-like monkeys. They are 7 feet long.

Peccary Hog/Red River Hog: 3 foot tall peccary-like hogs.

Megaporcupine/Old World Porcupines: 3 foot tall horse-like porcupines. Their quills have shortened.

Kuducow/Greater Kudu: 4 foot tall cow-like Greater Kudu. Their horns haven't changed.

Zebralope/Plains Zebras: 3 foot tall antelope-like zebra. They have developed small horns, similar to bison. They live in herds of 5-20 members.

Assebra/Plains Zebra: Donkey-like zebras. Their legs have shortened, head has lengthened, neck has slightly lengthened, and the mane has stopped sticking up and became more like a lion mane.

**runs out of breath** LEMURIA IS FINISHED!

I'm sorry for the lack of pictures, but I should start making pictures again soon. And I will make pictures for Lemuria and maybe European grasslands animals even though I'm finished with them.

If you have any critique please feel free :)
Edited by Pando, Apr 26 2010, 10:20 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Pando
Member Avatar
Obey or I'll send you to the moon
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
Had to merge my posts not to quintuple post.

I will be doing the oceans of 200 MYF now. It's the only ocean I'll be doing so I decided to wrap it up before going back to 25 MYF. The ocean will be strange ;)

From the original thread:

Whalosquid/Squids A 200 foot long squid descendant. Its beak has become like baleen, and it uses its wider tentacles to form a cup shape to trap the plankton. It also eats any animals that may be caught in it or that it can catch (it has tentacles over 100 feet long) and also eats aquatic plants, algae, and plantslugs. They are members of the filter feeding squid, which take the role of baleen whales in 200 MYF.
Posted Image

Trapjellies/Box Jellyfish: A box jellyfish descendant. It has evolved some tentacles which are stiff and in the shape of a cage, an advanced swimming (probably expulsion) system and guiding system, and still has the tentacles that sting to kill its trapped prey and pull it to its mouth.
Posted Image

Dolphin Shark/Sharks:
A shark that replaces dolphins in 200 MYF. It is 20 feet long and the front row of teeth has become extendable to grab critters off the sea floor.
Posted Image

Pack Shark/Shark:
A 30 foot long shark that roams the oceans in 200 MYF. It still looks like a normal shark except for its electric gland, which is what it uses to communicate with its other pack members.
Posted Image

New ideas:
Plantslugs/Elysia Chlorotica: A sponge-looking reef building photosynthesizing sea slug descended from Elysia Chlorotica. They feed by a modified radula, which now is used to filter feed. It has also extended outside of its mouth, to be able to filter feed more.

Whaleray/Skates: A small order of filter feeding rays. Their wingspans reach from 10-50 feet. They fill a role similar to filter feeding sharks with whales today.

Also, I'm able to draw pictures now. Expect them by the end of the week, but then I won't be able to draw again for around another week.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Pando
Member Avatar
Obey or I'll send you to the moon
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
An update- Postozoic has its own website!
http://postozoic.yolasite.com/

Please, comment on Lemuria and/or the 200 MYF Ocean.

Also, I think that this should get its own subforum since its website is an affiliate.
Edited by Pando, Apr 27 2010, 01:38 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Pando
Member Avatar
Obey or I'll send you to the moon
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
Grr. Quadruple post. Still no comments.

I have pictures and more 200 MYF ocean critters!
Lemuria:
Cranecolin:
Posted Image

European Grasslands:
Grazer Duck:

Posted Image
Dinodeer:
Posted Image

200 MYF Oceans:
Plantslugs:
Posted Image
Whalerays:

Posted Image



New Species:

Horsefish/Guitarfish: 3-8 feet long herbivorous guitarfish descendants. They have become more streamlined to swim faster. Their diet is composed of plankton, algae, and plantslugs.
Posted Image

Trilobugs/Woodlice: Trilobite-looking descendants of woodlice.
Posted Image

Coral Star/Brittle Star: A reef building descendant of brittle stars, their arms have become long and wavy and point upwards while the "brittles" have also become long and wavy.
Posted Image

That's it.

Should I go ahead and make the subforum?
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Forbiddenparadise64
Member Avatar
Adult
 *  *  *  *  *  *
nice idea on descendants of woodlice. Do they have similar niches to trilobites, or are they just similar terrestrial organisms. How high are oxygen levels in 200 million AD. I heard the largest known trilobites are over 70 cm long and fragments suggest an individual of more tan 90 cm long! I wonder if trilobugs grow as big.
Prepare for the Future Walking with the future: Allozoic (pts 4-6)http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3252142/14/#new

Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Pando
Member Avatar
Obey or I'll send you to the moon
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
It's Pangea, so oxygen levels are lower on land. But on the ocean there is a lot more oxygen.

The trilobugs have a niche that some trilobites had. They're all herbivorous, while some trilobites were omnivorous.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Forbiddenparadise64
Member Avatar
Adult
 *  *  *  *  *  *
Nice birds in your project too. What are they like and how big are they exactly? I do think it is plausible for birds to be much bigger than the elephant bird in the right conditions. After all, the bird like dinosaur gigantoraptor may have weighed more than 2 tonnes, despite competition from larger herbivores. So if there was an age of birds in the future (not necessarily in this one), who knows. Of course, bipedal animals have a limit to their size, but if the theropods are anything to go by, that too was fairly high in its own right.
Prepare for the Future Walking with the future: Allozoic (pts 4-6)http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3252142/14/#new

Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Pando
Member Avatar
Obey or I'll send you to the moon
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
My birds in 200 MYF are mostly quadrupedal, descended from a flightless Junglefowl species (and the only surviving bird from the 90 MYF extinction) in 120 MYF. In the neo-Pangea they mostly control the land because of their better water conservation, but some neo-reptile pangolins descended from Lizargolins after Lemuria crashed into India are competing with the birds.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
ZetaBoards - Free Forum Hosting
ZetaBoards gives you all the tools to create a successful discussion community.
Learn More · Sign-up Now
Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · Evolutionary Continuum · Next Topic »
Add Reply