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| Tardigradus; THE FINAL REMAKE. | |
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| Topic Started: Jul 24 2010, 03:55 PM (2,176 Views) | |
| Forbiddenparadise64 | Jul 24 2010, 03:55 PM Post #1 |
Adult
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Ok, so i screwed up a bit again with the tardigradus remake, so i am going to do a final project. The planet tardigadus's size and gravity is changed to 11500 km and 80% of Earths Gravity. Look on the original for all the environmental conditions (for those who don't want to look, it was 20C temperature, 25% oxygen content and 5% C02 content). The premise remains. A world populated by bacteria, algae, lichen and the only animal: A genetically boosted tardigrade species. It has supercharged reproduction, able to go hatch from the egg just 24 hours after being laid and being sexually mature by 10 days old. I will do it in the style of a generation by generation world builder like Sagan 4. I will do at least 6 time periods, including a prologue to set the scene. Scientists in the future populate Tardigradus, and using a time travel, decide to delve into tardigradus's future to study the populant's future evolution. I haven't decided all 6 time periods yet,but i have decided so far to do 35 million (to set the scene), 200 million and 320 million for the first 3 time periods. I promise to make this more realistic, yet more alien and strange than my previous incarnations, as if evolution is given different scenarios and different conditions, it will not follow an Earth like pattern probably. So expect this project to be MUCH better than previous incarnations of it. I imagine the lichen as the only land organisms to begin with, and as they already have a diverse array of forms (flat forms, leafy forms and bushy forms), I also imagine them evolving very quickly like the tardigrades and evolving in similar yet different ways to how our Earth plants evolved, with the fungus part of the lichen evolving into an armour slightly stronger, and much tougher than the chemical that makes up bark, So there will be diverse "flora" on tardigradus. Look up more on the previous versions for further details. I will say if any other details need to be changed, though so if anyone who isn't familiar with the previous ones sees this, go to my previous versions for further guidance. Expect a parralel, yet bizzare fauna to evolve into the distant future. See you next post! Edited by Forbiddenparadise64, Aug 16 2010, 11:51 AM.
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Prepare for the Future Walking with the future: Allozoic (pts 4-6)http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3252142/14/#new 
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| Ook | Aug 2 2010, 11:52 AM Post #31 |
not a Transhuman
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how many critters will be in one habittat? ther ecould be - top predator,minor predator,three or four omnivores/herbivores aslo how big will be land fauna? |
   
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| Forbiddenparadise64 | Aug 2 2010, 01:01 PM Post #32 |
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I think that number would be ok for the rivers. The forests are actually forest-swamps really, with most life being aquatic but a few are already taking early steps out of the water and onto land. In the ocean, there can be as many as you like really. I said that period 2 marine habitats would be like the 'cambrian on drugs', because of the amount of time given for them to evolve into new forms (easily enough based on Earth's cambrian), as well as the rich climate, high oxygen levels of 30% (higher oxygen levels are proven to increase biodiversity and probably size and numbers as well) compared to the cambrian's 12%, and lower gravity (80% of Earth's). So The oceans will be a very diverse place to live, with evolution being taken to great extremes. |
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Prepare for the Future Walking with the future: Allozoic (pts 4-6)http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3252142/14/#new
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| Forbiddenparadise64 | Aug 16 2010, 01:47 PM Post #33 |
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Adult
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Continuation of their adventure into this distant future for Tardigradus. 200 million years has rendered this world nearly unrecognisable. ' The team steps out of their capsule into a strange and unrecognisable tardigradus. Jim, the team scout is the first to step out of the capsule into the bizzare, swamp like environment below. The water is thick with algae and aquatic lichen and fungi. He feels hundreds of small creatures swimming through the plant filled waters. He calls out the rest of the team, biologist Lauren, survival expert Thomas, guard William, and the Team leader, Sam. Sam tells the team to wear their masks to stop them inhaling the vast amounts of CO2, being the last to put on hers. Lauren scoops up a large 2 litre sized sample and finds dozens of strange creatures. She sees that the most common is a 3-4cm long, worm like creature with spikes out of its sides and several jaws, obviously a larger descendant of the filter feeder. It feeds on algae and has a rusty orange colour to it. She named it Ionis vulgaris. Among them, smaller, water flea like creatures, with long antenna and Two large flippers swim around, probably descended from the small creatures of the algae reefs. Just managing to fit in the container, a larger creature thrashes around, about 12cm long. It has 4 jaws and a powerful beak. It appeared to be feeding on the harder semiaquatic lichen of the swamps. A smaller, carnivorous predator at 2-3cm long swam rapidly around the tank, brightly coloured yellow and black, feeding on the Ionis. Lauren named this a water wasp. Suddenly she was knocked over by a much bigger presence in the water. Sam turned around to investigate, it was a far bigger beast, over a metre long, and it wasn't alone. It was more of a jump than an actual push that knocked Lauren over though, and it was clearly after the specimins in the jar, particularly the large herbivore. With one quick snap, it ended the herbivore's life. The Sea wasp easily darted away unharmed from the predator. The named it the Tardipike, as it had a lifestyle similar to a pike, as a deadly swamp predator. It had dark green jointed armour with yellow stripes and 4 knife like jaws, possibly a descendant of neogradus. The tardipike darted away from the scene with surprising speed, faster than any of the team could run, especially in the thick water around them. Will said " That was a pretty close call", but Thomas calmly explained " IT was simply after our samples for food, it would'nt have approached us otherwise, it is completely unfamiliar with us". Will simply said "True" before wandering off through the swamps. Above them, were huge trees of lichen. They had thick trunks over a metre wide, and were unrecognisable from their ancestors. The trunk of this particular species was bright blue, while the leaves far above were green. The "trees" were well over 15 metres tall, some more than 18, they estimated. The leaves were all focussed around the top 1-2 of the tree, in a crown like fashion, and were wide to absorb more sunlight. They had vine like strands of fungus connecting them to other trees to help support each other as well. They came across smaller trees living below, about 10m tall. These had more pronounce links between them, and it even appeared they were connected by the "roots". These trees had red bark instead. Will decided to stab a tree in the bark. To his surprise, green liquid started to pour out of the whole and all over him. "Bloody hell!" Sam explained, "What's that coming out of it?" Lauren explained "Lichen are part fungus part algae. These trees have evolved for the fungus to become the bark and roots, with the algae forming the leaves and internal structure. It is still in a liquid form in the centre, and supplies the tree with all its nutrients". Smaller, grass and fern like lichen were all around them as well, up to 2m long in some species. Among the trees, they found various funguses and slime molds making a living. Suddenly, a strange noise came out of the water. A small creature, no bigger than a bee, climbed out of the water and onto the tree trunk. It had the typical tardigrade's 8 legs to it, and a stable and hardy design. It chirped with remarkable volume, like a cricket and communicated to others of its kind. "Good God!" Lauren said, "The first tardigrades to move onto land! Well I suppose the existance of plants already would greatly accelerate teh speed in which land animals would appear." Suddenly the creature moved as a larger, mouse sized biped walked out of the water, producing a croaking sound instead. It was an obvious descendant of the ditritus feeder, but with more developed feet with multiple digits. Scanning it quickly with a portable X ray scanner, they found it had a semi-exo-endoskeleton of cartilliage surrounded by carbon fibres making them very hard. As gravity on tardigradus is only 80% that of Earth, the lack of strength in cartilage and carbon fibres is less of a problem, as there is not as much weight to carry. Even so, the team calculated that they could not get much bigger than a guinea pig with this structure. It also came on land to feed on plants, but it couldn't climb like the smaller beast, so it simply fed on the grass like lichen. The team walked for over 30 miles before they finally got out of the vast swamp, where they ended up with a river. Small tardigrades resembling insect larvae lived in this river, clinging on to endure the currents, or free swimming instead. Many were small, at under 1cm, but a few were much larger. A strange, squid shaped carnivore, seemingly also descended from the filter feeder was here, and was well over 15cm long. Soon these creatures scattered in the presence of a shoal of larger, flippered creatures moving upstream. They appeared to be omnivorous and descendants of the omnivore, using 8 flippers as a form of locomotion. The largest creatures were about 75cm though, compared to their tiny ancestors. They jumped like salmon over the waterfalls and crags in the rocks in the fast flowiing river. The team found that the river lead them straight down to the sea, where things got even stranger. Sam put on her diving suit and said "Better get these on for a look down there". The team followed her down into the red algae reef successors. Many had formed coral like structures, holding thousands of different species of tardigrade of all shapes and sizes, from some even smaller than modern tardigrades to 50cm giants descended from previous inhabitants. When they approached one of the Algae shapes, which resembled a Twig shape that was about 2.3m tall, Thomas decided to touch it. It immediately changed from its dull colour to a bright one, and suddenly a swarm of small, 7mm creatures with sharp mandiblesand flippers came out and started to attack him. They were followed by much bigger ones of up to 3-4cm long, with much larger mandibles, that pierced even his diving suit. William sprayed the creatures with a chemical that killed many of them, especially the smaller ones. When they went in again with a better, armoured suit, they ripped open part of the structure and found their was a colony of these small red tardigrades, living in an eusocial lifestyle like ants and termites, even seeing an 11cm long queen right at the bottom. They went a bit further out and found a large plain of grass like structures, formed from plain old green algae. Some were over 1m tall, and they were being grazed by strange, trilobite like beasts. They had compact, armidillo like bodies, 3 pairs of long jaws, and came in various sizes and colours as species. The smallest creatures were no more than a few millimetres in length. However, they came across a relatively enormous feeder not far away, coloured a dull grey. This creature was more than a metre long and 33 cm tall. It vibrated its jaws, letting out a rumble to communicate to others in the area. They found strange, grey sessile organism, shaped like leaves and similar to Charnia of the Ediacaran fauna, up to 60cm tall. They had small mouths with feathery tentacles randomly floating and grabbing algae and plankton. It may have been unrecognisable to the untrained eye, but this was an obvious extremely diverged descendant of the tardigrade. In the sand, there were dozens of worm like species descended from the filter feeders, and smaller burrowers from the river carnivore and omnivore. They went out into deeper water and found much stranger fauna though. The team found many plankton like species as well as larger versions of shoalers, some the size of sardines or trout, greatly resembling cephalopods. Swarms of jellyfish like creatures also flourish in these waters, with some possessing tentacles more than 15m long. Some fed on algae, others on plankton, others still on active organism like the shoalers. A blue tear drop shaped animal, about 1m long approached the team. It was an omnivore with a 3 jaw mouth, two upper and one lower. The team named it Trignathus for its 3 jaws. It quickly swam away as a predatory descendant of neogradus approached, about 40cm long, and with an orange colour frame. It Soon started attacking the shoalers and some of the trignathus's eggs it had recently laid. Lauren named it Saditherium ("sadistic beast") for its aggressive behaviour. They were surprised to see that a group of far larger, 4 jawed beasts were moving towards the green algae fields behind them. These beasts were light blue with green backs, had bizzare, locust like like heads, with two pairs of red eyes and feathery antenna under the head and 8 flippers. The largest of these creatures were 2.5m long, and by far appeared to be the biggest creatures on tardigradus. They started feeding upon the grassy fields, disturbing a shoal of reef tardigrades and a small, oppurtunistic creature about the size of a banana. It also appeared to be a descendant of neogradus, but appeared more developed in design, with a small tail fluke and smaller fins, including a large back pair for display. It had 4 short, but powerful jaws and 4 eyes. The creature had a seeming sail on its back, but with a scan it was revealed it had a chord in its back of solid cartilige, surrounded again by nanofibre carbon. This creature was like a parallel to earliest of vertabrates! Lauren started to think of a name for the giants, but before she could, a huge male came out of nowhere. He was much bigger than the females, about as big as a walrus, and even appeared to resemble it, as it had large dagger shaped structures out of its lower jaws like tusks. It had rusty red skin unlike the females as well. Suddenly it was assaulted from behind. The culprits were several, large long jawed predators, unmistakably descendants of neogradus with four long jaws with teeth and a llarge, tadpole like tail. LIke other neogradus descendants, it had a notochord, though not as advanced as the paralel vertabrates, proper backbone. This beast was over 1.5m long and assaulted the beast, killing off two females. The team surfaced away from the chaos below, and settled peacefull back into the present. The studying time was done, and it was another two years before they had to go back into the time portal, which would than be set for 320 million AP.' Ok, so how was that. IT will take a long time to do this, because I will focus on this while my poll in Walking with the future is active. So expect more of this to be updated. |
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Prepare for the Future Walking with the future: Allozoic (pts 4-6)http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3252142/14/#new
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| Forbiddenparadise64 | Sep 30 2010, 11:45 AM Post #34 |
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Adult
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Ok, who wants to revive this project? They can take charge of it if they want, i dont mind, or we can work on it together. I'm sure someone who is a good artist and biologist would be good at designing the fauna for the new time periods. |
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Prepare for the Future Walking with the future: Allozoic (pts 4-6)http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3252142/14/#new
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| Forbiddenparadise64 | Oct 16 2010, 07:28 AM Post #35 |
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Adult
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Ok, I got some ideas for 320 million AD: A pack of robot droids are sent into the next time period. All of the team except Thomas, were killed in an expedition to the other T.O.E.T.A.P. project, slimeworld by catching a parasitic fungus and being trampled by theroslug stampede. The droids are sent into tardigradus's next time period instead, one much stranger than ever before. They come into a shallow sea, surrounded by lots of brightly coloured sessile tardigrades, in a way analogous to a coral reef. They managed to outcompete the red algae by using bacteria of various forms to get nutrients, just like corals as a source of food. They are filled with thousands of species of plankton like tardigrades, as well as various fish and squid like species, many of them parachordates now closely resembling fsih with face tentacles and 8 fins. The largest of these, up to 1m long is an algae feeder, eating the tiny things floating around it. The seagrass still remains, although the tardibites are very rare, now being outcompeted by tardarthrids. Many tardarthrids are like arthropods and relatives, and dominate teh ecosystems here as a base. Many are small, but some larger beasts, of 60cm feed on the plankton. Bigger still beasts, about 1.5m at most, attack the parachordates as food. This creature is eaten byt he biggest of them all, a dolphin sized superpredator similar in lifestyle to an ambush predator, feeding on the small fauna that roam the area, resembling a cross between an anomilacarid and a Eurypterid. As they move out into the open ocean, they meet much more wierd creatures. Massive jellyfish like tardigrades float by the surface and pack the oceans. Some have tentacles more than 70m long and are 5m in diameter! Small, sea locusts roam alongside the tardarthrids here, in this free habitat, and there are few parachordates. Suddenly a titanic superpredator crushes everything in its path. It has been named "Phobogradus" after fear, and it is a fieresome animal, with spiked manibles, a terrfiying, tadpole like body, a dorsal ridge of spikes and a tongue like a whip. It is a huge 12m long, and is capable of feeding on almost anything in its path. It uses suction methods to suck its prey in, and can move at surprising speed. It is a mother followed by its small young. Behind them, smaller relatives of phobogradus roam, and feed on different prey items, mainly sessile species of tardigrade resembling bivalves or barnicles. Further around, large sea locusts swim around with their fins, looking for food. The smaller species feed on algae like their ancestors, but have developed better means of doing so by stripping the algae with long mandibles. however, one much bigger species, about 6-8m in length, uses feathered prongs in its four mandibles, and a feathery tongue, with sticky residue to capture the plankton around, it. It is a strange filter feeding organism that has flourished in this time of prosperity. The team of droids turn round back to the reef, and climb onto the beach, ready to face a new challenge. The beach is full of hte corpses of dead marine fauna, and not much is able to clean it up, so the place stinks of carcasses. An arthropod like creature moves through the rotting mess, resembling a crab with mouthparts like a hyena, designed to crush its food. It is about a metre in radius, and lives in groups. It has red eyes, and a blue body, with no pincers. Further in, a plain of bushy lichen, behaving similarly to moss, grass or other small plants exists, stretching on for miles, being fed upon by various small crawlers, descended from the chirping creature, that have become like arthropods on land. Many are no more than a cm or two, but some grow much bigger. The distritus feeders adapted to life on land, by two methods. Most went into burrowing forms, to become like worms or caecalians, the largest up to 2m long. Another, much less common group adapted into ambush predators, feeding on any crawlers unlucky enough to fall in. Some of these creatures lure their prey in by angler fish like methods, others like trapdoor spiders, adn some produce pheromones that attract their prey. The largest of these are no bigger than a brown rat. As well as smaller crawlers, some much larger species, like beetles, woodlice or crabs in appearance also graze upon the fields of grassy-lichen. The largest species is like a coconut crab with a long neck and beetle like head, but as big as a domestic cat, named terragradus pushing the smaller critters out of the way. A smaller, more earwig like species is the antelope analogue in this invertabrate plain, about the size of a guinea pig. Suddenly, smaller young are ambushed by a species with deadly fangs and claws that bites into its prey, like a spider. It is about 2cm long, but is very powerful, powerful enough to even take down the earwig like species. A much larger apex predator crawls out of the undergrowth to hunt the terragradus. It is long, sharp clawed and has blade like jaws, up to 25cm long. It pounces on a baby of its food item and tears it to pieces with its fangs. The terragradus has not much bondage with a youngster other than its own, so it ignores the savagery beneath it. The team decide it is time to go before they can explore the forest ahead. They have collected many samples and return it to the lab. The scientists award the droids for their cooperation, and work on them to enhance a more efficient droid in the future. The next time period that is planned will be 400 million years, where things become even more bizzare. See you next post! |
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Prepare for the Future Walking with the future: Allozoic (pts 4-6)http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3252142/14/#new
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| chillypaz2010 | Nov 11 2010, 09:53 PM Post #36 |
Infant
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Can I add some creatures? I said this question because I read that it is like sagan 4. |
| Oh boy! Mark soup! | |
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| Forbiddenparadise64 | Nov 22 2010, 01:50 PM Post #37 |
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Adult
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Yes. Why, this project is quite old, you could take over it if you wanted, but I was planning for 400 million AD the parachordates to rise to dominance, with some becoming the 6 legged and 2 armed and 4 jawed analogues to amphibians and even early amniotes. Later, amniotic species take over from massive arthropod like creatures more than 5m long, and evolve into giants of elephantine proportions before becoming extinct in a mass extinction, than recovering over many millions of years and becoming massive creatures bigger than anything on Earth, accompanied by huge lichen-trees, and 850 million years AP, the evolution of a sapient species of an undecided design. So yeah, you can design species. 
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Prepare for the Future Walking with the future: Allozoic (pts 4-6)http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3252142/14/#new
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| chillypaz2010 | Dec 11 2010, 07:38 PM Post #38 |
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Infant
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THANK YOU!!!!! I've got some creatures in the next post! |
| Oh boy! Mark soup! | |
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