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
No New World; crazy geography
Topic Started: Jul 1 2010, 10:49 PM (1,262 Views)
Canis Lupis
Member Avatar
Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.

This idea has been floating around in my head for a while. I haven't done any speculation on it, but I want to see what you all think of it:

What if North America and South America never existed? What if the only continents throughout history were Europe, Asia, Africa, Antarctica, and Australia? They Earth is the exact same size as our Earth, same gravity, same everything.

Save for biology and the absence of the Americas.

So how would the world be different without the Americas? Speculate both different creature evolution and, assuming humans still evolve, how human society deals with no Americas.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Replies:
KayKay
Adult
 *  *  *  *  *  *
How would invertebrates such as arthropods be affected by this difference in climate? What would the oxygen levels be like in a warmer wetter world? Would the higher air pressure and warmth allow for an increase in their size?
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
ATEK Azul
Member Avatar
Transhuman
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
Great a world of giant Arthropods and Synapsid annaloges evolved from a different ancestral tetrapod stalk.

And may I ask if the Carboniferous conditions ever end?
I am dyslexic, please ignore the typo's!
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Kamidio
Member Avatar
The Game Master of the SSU:NC
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
Canis Lupis
Jul 1 2010, 11:16 PM
No no. The tectonic plates are still there. It's just that no land pokes out. The plates that constitute North and South America, instead of being land plates, are oceanic plates. So the plates still exist. It's just that North and South America, in this world, have always been (and will always be) underwater.




Pando, I never actually thought of that. Interesting idea with a lot of implications.




BTW, I'm making this an open project, since my area of expertise is NOT alternative evolution. Not at all.
You could shift more of the continents mass to the mountains. So that way there are giant islands, but no middlle plains. Or you could give the extra mass to Eurasia. And because Australia and Anarctica are also part of the New World , you'd have to explain those away.
SSU:NC - Finding a new home.
Posted Image
Quotes
WAA
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Canis Lupis
Member Avatar
Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.

By New World, I mean in the classical sense. The New World as Columbus discovered it: North and South America. Just those.

I'm not sure how hot and humid would affect the oxygen level. Maybe slightly.

And I'm sure tetrapods would still be able to evolve somewhere. There were plenty of lobe-finned fish at that time.

So no dinos then? :(

But still: synapsids are even awesomer! :)

Sorry. When you're a mammal fanatic, you tend to love their ancestors a whole lot more.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Carlos
Member Avatar
Adveho in me Lucifero
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
Quote:
 
Sorry. When you're a mammal fanatic, you tend to love their ancestors a whole lot more.


No need to be ashamed. Dinosaurs are horribly overated, like wolves. Except that most of them are actually interesting, as opposed to our canine friends.

A funny idea would be to have the entire zone that in our world was the Americas as a vast zone of shallow seas where they would dry land in our world; eventually, the Rocky Mountains, the Andes Mountains and the Appalachian mountains would form island chains. If you want to get even more cool you could have the Pleistocene cooling drying up even larger portions of land, and then follow the develop of the fauna and flora that would colonise them
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

Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Kamidio
Member Avatar
The Game Master of the SSU:NC
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
That's kinda the same as my idea.
SSU:NC - Finding a new home.
Posted Image
Quotes
WAA
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Canis Lupis
Member Avatar
Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.

Actually John, that is a pretty cool idea.

Though I don't want it getting too big.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Kamidio
Member Avatar
The Game Master of the SSU:NC
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
And no one acknowledges the fact that my idea and John's idea are the same idea.
SSU:NC - Finding a new home.
Posted Image
Quotes
WAA
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Canis Lupis
Member Avatar
Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.

Didn't sound like it when I read yours Fakey.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Kamidio
Member Avatar
The Game Master of the SSU:NC
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
Mine and his were fundamentaly the same. I wanted to take away land from the low-land areas of the Americas and place it on the major mountain chains; The Rockies, The Appalachians, and The Andes. The mountains would be bigger than in our world.
SSU:NC - Finding a new home.
Posted Image
Quotes
WAA
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Canis Lupis
Member Avatar
Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.

Well, his model has less land than yours. His is more what I'm after.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Kamidio
Member Avatar
The Game Master of the SSU:NC
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
But think! Gaint mountain ranges that rise out of the ocean a such an angle that humans can't land there until technology is able to make people fly! A land that can called The Titanic Mountains!
SSU:NC - Finding a new home.
Posted Image
Quotes
WAA
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Holben
Member Avatar
Rumbo a la Victoria

But they would call them islands more than mountains- we don't call it the Hawaiian Mountains, do we?

Giant Scorpions? Please?
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
 
Carlos
Member Avatar
Adveho in me Lucifero
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
Apologies to Light Yagamotter.
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

Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Kamidio
Member Avatar
The Game Master of the SSU:NC
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
No apologies needed, great minds think alike.
SSU:NC - Finding a new home.
Posted Image
Quotes
WAA
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · Alternative Evolution · Next Topic »
Add Reply