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The Future is Fantastic
Topic Started: May 7 2010, 05:03 PM (684 Views)
Flishster
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Not Flisch
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Cause' I'm too lazy to post a bunch of small updates, I'll post a few large updates.
The Future is Fantastic starts 5 MYA. So, here goes...

Sahara Desert, Africa
5 MYA
A small burrow sits next to a fruit vine. Something is digging a hole. Dust kicks up into the air and is blown away by the wind. Then, a head pops out. Somewhat like a fennec fox, but different. Smaller canines and smaller eyes. Then, they rest of the body scurries out, revealing hooves and a short tail. This is a Desert Fangalope. It nips at some fruit, and then heads off into the distance. The Fangalope arrives at a small lagoon. Some other Fangalopes lazily rest in the water while the calves chase after lizards and eat them. The Fangalope uses its Teeth to eat small quantities of meat and in males, Fight. Our Fangalope approaches a female. Suddenly, another male jumps infront. A rival male. The two square each other off, and then one lunges. They both grab each other’s neck and wrestle. After about 10 minutes, the rival male scurries off with blood dripping down his neck. The victor gets to mate with the female, but not today. Suddenly, a giant snake begins to silently sidewind over the dunes. A Sandwinder. The sandwinder is the last, and largest, viper to ever exist. It evolved from the desert sidewinder, and it’s size (about 15 feet in length) means it doesn’t need to be as potent. It begins to sidewind silently torwards a calf, and then strikes. A loud screech echoes across the endless desert as the sandwinder swallows its prey hole…
Andes, South America
A cool wind blows over the rocky fields of the future Andes… However, life does survive here. A bird soars overhead, not an eagle, not a hawk, not a falcon, not a caracara, not a condor, but a vulture. The Andes Voldor is the largest of all voldors. With a 7 foot wingspan, it searches for dead animals around common waterholes. But there’s no Water around here, is there? There is. Caused by a Volcano, lakes around here are common, and kill many creatures not adapted to the poisonous fumes in seconds. A creature that is adapted to this environment is the Volcano Frog. This frog ‘s ancestors were worshipped in the Andes, so survived extinction, unlike humans. They have a complex system of cleansing the oxygen they absorb, it goes through sacks under the skin, somewhat like sinuses, and is then released into the body by feathery gills. The Volcano frog is an active hunter, grabbing smaller creatures that approach it’s watery realm. It also will chase after fish, and its aerodynamic body shape is excellent for swimming. But there is one fault in living in this volcanic Relm. The eggs cannot clean their oxygen, and would die quickly in the lakes’ water. So, the frog make long journey down the mountains to the streams of the lowlands. Here, the eggs can survive much easier here. After growing legs and losing their gills, the young volcano frogs climb back up the mountains just like their parents did before.

questions and comments appriciated.
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Pando
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Obey or I'll send you to the moon
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7 foot wingspan is believable, after all rocks give hot air, allowing for bigger birds. But why is the Andes a rocky barren place? And why would an amphibian take the place when a lizard is better adapted for it? And how would the vulture find enough food to eat?

Also I notice that you don't give ancestors. The desert fangalope might be believable if I know it's ancestor, but not in 5 million years. And not with the competition of rodents and lagmorphs.

Suggestions:
Lower the wingspan of the vulture and change its ancestor to another bird of prey (New World vultures are almost extinct)
Change the frog to a lizard
Give an ancestor to the desert fangalope, maybe make it a hoofed rabbit.
Sidewinder is okay.
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Ook
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not a Transhuman
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that Frog is OK
ancestor of andean condor can be

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Vulture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey_Vulture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesser_Yellow-headed_Vulture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Yellow-headed_Vulture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Vulture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andean_Condor
andean condor is near threatened,and all other is least concern
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Flishster
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There is already frogs adapted to the Andean climate nowadays, so I decided to Make a frog. also, The Voldor is evolved from the King Vulture, which I'm pretty sure are doing fine nowadays. and the Fangalope evolved from duikers. I picked Duikers because they are already omnivorous. the only super big changes are the ears and fangs. the Andes is barren because South America is mostly covered in feral animals, and many of the Andean species are already endangered.
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Pando
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But life always evolves. It won't stay barren, the feral animals will keep it from becoming barren.
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Ook
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not a Transhuman
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new megafauna will evolve...imagine ,,south american antelopes from deers,bizons from cattle,lot of horses....,,
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Flishster
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but 5 millions years isn't much time for something like a pig or a cow to adapt to those climate conditions. however, horses are a different story.
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Pando
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Yes it is...
By the way, any omnivore will quickly adapt, especially pigs.
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Ook
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too long time?lol...this is average tome for cow become rhino sized animal,dwarf forest herbivore or pampas grazer...pigs are very succesfzull and adaptibile too
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Holben
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Rumbo a la Victoria

On giant birds, see teratorns. Bigger than 7m.
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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