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Mundo Bizarro; The Bizarre World
Topic Started: Aug 15 2010, 06:38 PM (1,656 Views)
TheCoon
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Happy merry Jesusmas inhabitants of the Spec Forums!
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This project is product of a few ideas I had while brainstorming something for a client, along with the news about Pakasuchus, the mammal-toothed crocodile.

In this world, some sort of decease strikes the first mammals. This decease was simple but deadly. It poisoned the milk the baby mammals needed desperately during the first days of life, and so mammals didn't lasted very long. The final blow came during the Triassic-Jurassic extinction. This extinction occurs as normal, but the only difference is, that even if mammals managed to adapt against the decease, there were only a few left. With this small, reduced number of mammals, the class was unable to survive and mammals became extinct.

The rest of the animals continue their evolutionary history as normal, with only a few species changing a little to fill this mammalian niches. This include Pakasuchus, and in fact all the Notosuchian sub-order. When the Cretaceous-Terciary extinction occurs, and all the non-avian dinosaurs are wiped out, it is Notosuchians and not mammals the ones that take over the world.

More concepts and ideas coming soon. Stay tuned!
Greetings young life form! Procyon Lotor at your service.

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The Dodo
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They occured in mesozoic Laurasia, how early I don't know but they probably got in during the Early Jurassic.
Another possible mammal replacement in Laurasia are Sphenodontia, they were common back then.
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colddigger
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Joke's over! Love, Parasky
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Develop the booklung in the spiders.
Oh Fine.

Oh hi you! Why don't you go check out the finery that is SGP??

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Holben
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Scorpions have a book lung too.
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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TheCoon
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I replaced dinosaurs for sphenodontians in Laurasia. When I get my scanner back, I'll show some of the work I made. I already figured the diversification of the new "Suchomammalia" Class, and I also figured out the structure of the skeletons and the pseudo-fur they have.
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colddigger
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Then develop the booklung in the scorpions, they burrow as well (like mammals) so there ya go.
Oh Fine.

Oh hi you! Why don't you go check out the finery that is SGP??

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TheCoon
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Suchiomammals:


Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Suchiomammalia

Suchomammals (formally Suchiomammalia) are a class of vertebrates. They are air-breathing, egg-laying, warm-blooded animals whose females are characterized by the possetion of Milk-producing glands in the mouth (simmilar to Mammary Glands), bodies covered of fur and three-chambered hearts.
Suchiomammals are divided in two main sub-classes, based on how they are born: Exovosuchians (Oviparous Suchiomammals) and Endovosuchians (Ovoviviparous Suchiomammals). All Suchiomammals also possessed specialized teeth, that evolved first on their Notosuchid ancestors, and then became more complex as the class evolved. Their brain also developed far beyond their crocodilian cousins, with more complex forms and increased abilities, which allows them to also have more active and complex lifes as well.
Mundo Bizarro has aproximately between 5,500 and 6,000 species of Suchiomammals.
The Suchiomammals diverged from Reptiles aproximately in the Late Cretaceous Period. The abscence of mammals in Mundo Bizarro allowed them to diversify unitll they took mammal's niches.

Unique Features:
Suchiomammals are characterized for the ability to produce a nutrient substance similar to milk in order to feed their young. The substance is secreted by special glands at the cheeks, and might have been derivated from ancient behaviour of using vomited food to feed their young. Suchiomammals are also characterized for their unique fur. Microscopical analysis shows that, unlike mammals fur which is mostly soft and uniform, or bird's feathers that are diverged with smaller hair-like structures, Suchiomammalian fur is formed of smaller hairs joined by nodes, making it similar to Nylon in texture. Finnally, they have complex brains, and three-chambered heart, with the chambers arranged in a triangle-like fashion.

Classification:

*As more families are developed, this classification chart will be modified.

Subclass: Exovosuchia
------Order: Spurceta (Basal Suchiomammals)
---------------------Family: Archeosuchomammalidae (Madagascar Faaras)
------Order: Xenofeles (False Faaras)
------Order: Keraunoskopeia (Thunrakas)
------Order: Trigonodonta (Aklikes)
------Order: Exterreosuchia (Land Wherns)
------Order: Suchoprimata (Borgans)
------Order: Reditiosuchia (Lake Wherns)
Subclass: Endovosuchia
------Order: Hypogeosauria (Eden Snakes)
------Order: Leviathana (Dinfaks and other Sea Serpents)
------Order: Adlaborostelliata (Bombats)
------Order: Similosauria (False Borgans)
------Order: Pseudostruthiata (Thritans)
------Order: Xenoscrofa (Ecwinds)
------Order: Giganotovacca (Thromps)
------Order: Grammenesora (Kiridors)
------Order: Collativia (Faaras)


Evolutionary History:

PENDING

Anatomy & Physiology:
Skeletal Body:
Skull:
The skull of the Suchiomammals have many similarities with mammalian skulls, thought they still retain some characteristics unique to their archosaur ancestors. First, the Nasal Cavity in most Suchiomammals is facing front, with the only exceptions being Drinfaks (Order Leviathana) and Lake Wherns (Order Reditiosuchia). Suchiomammals also possess something similar to the Zygomatic Arch, thought they also have the higher openings of the Temporal Fenestrae that common Diapsids have.
Column:
The column support also varies from Suchiomammal to Suchiomammal Order. The Endovosuchians and Exovosuchians are also differenced because Exovosuchians have a Theropod Dinosaur-like Column, while Endovosuchians have it similar to both Mammals and ancient Aetosaurs. In any case, both of them have 8 Cervical Bones to move their necks. The onnly exception to this are the ancient members of the Order Spurceta (Ancient Suchiomammals). The Thoraic and Lumbar vertebrae also differ in both Subclasses of Suchiomammals. Regardless the Subclass, all Suchiomammals have long tails similar to reptiles.
Limbs:
Limbs in Suchiomammals are divided in 6 types:
-The Common Exovosuchian Limbs are similar to Theropod Dinosaur limbs. The only difference is that the front limbs in Exovosuchian Suchiomammals are sightly longer in comparison to the back limbs than theropods. The hands are similar to that of a Postosuchus of the triassic period.
-The Borogan Limbs are stranger. Borogans are equivalents of primates. As such, their limbs are designed to be more bird-like in the back and similar to the Common Exovosuchian Limb in the front. The hands, however, are also different in the fact that they look more Maniraptorid than the rest of the Exovosuchian Limbs.
-The Grazer Exovosuchian Limb are found in Alklikes, Thrunkas and Flase Faaras (Orders Trigonodonta, Keraunoskopeia and Xenofeles respectively), and are similar to that of Sauropods. It is most probable that convergent evolution is the root of this, since the evolutionary history of this animals are similar to that of Saurischian Dinosaurs.
-The Fin-Like Limbs were found in Dinfaks (Order Leviathana) first and then re-evolved in the Lake Wherns (Reditiosuchia). As the name suggests, the Fin-like limbs are similar to that of Icthyosaurs and Mosasaurs, and are used to swim.
-The Plane Limbs are probably the stangest limbs in the history of vertebrates. They are designed in a similar way to the wings of a Paper Plane, and are used by Bombats (Order Aldaborostelliata) to glide from tree to tree and catch insects in midair at high speeds.
-The Grazer Endovosuchian Limb are used by Ecwinds, Thromps, Kidorns and Faaras (Orders Xenoscrofa, Giganotovacca, Grammenesora and Collativia respectively). They are similar to ungulate mammal limbs, except in Faaras (Order Collativia) which are more primitive and used for burrowing instead of running.

MORE COMING SOON

Edited by TheCoon, Aug 19 2010, 08:20 PM.
Greetings young life form! Procyon Lotor at your service.

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Holben
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colddigger
Aug 17 2010, 04:37 PM
Then develop the booklung in the scorpions, they burrow as well (like mammals) so there ya go.
Book lungs have been around for 410 Ma, so i'm sure a little preliminary fiddling will solve it all.
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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TheCoon
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Booklunged scorpions and squamates will be replacing mammals. As the Suchiomammals enter Laurasian land for the first time, they will see a complex relationship between diversified scorpions (which will most likely become a new class or sub-class, I haven't decided yet), squamates and even some clawed hoatzin-like birds.
Greetings young life form! Procyon Lotor at your service.

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TheCoon
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Don't worry. My scanner will be ready for Monday or Tuesday. I thought school would make me busy, but It's been almost a week since I entered and I only had one Homework and no School Projects yet. That left me with a great amount of time to spare, and I have developed various concepts. For instance, I finnally figured out how to develop booklungs in scorpions enought to make them as big as a cat without any carboniferous-like conditions. They will even be filling niches that rats, racoons and civets would normaly have.

You can also notice that I edited the Suchiomammal post. I added all the Orders that are still alive today, and will modify the post as I manage to separate all the concepts I have in various Families. I also added the Skeletal anatomy of them. You can see how dino-like they are, but also how mammal-like they are, and how crurotarsi-like they still are XD.

Expect something big soon.
Greetings young life form! Procyon Lotor at your service.

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TheCoon
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Nepanids:

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Nepanida

Nepanids (formerly Nepanida) are a class of arthropods. They are air-breathing, ten-legged animals known for being the largest arthropods since the Carboniferous Period, and for having fur-like structures arround their bodies, which regulate their bodies in a similar way Endothermy does with animals. This trait also makes them the only arthropods capable of surviving climates as cold as a tundra. Finnally, their most meaningfull trait is their developed booklungs, now similar to a vertebrate's lungs, allow them to obtain more oxygen while respirating. This is the secret behind their great sizes.
They are divided in four Subclasses, based on the possition and form of the legs. Aecopoda (Ten-legged Nepanids), Cancerida (Pincered Nepanids), Miniscorpia (Spider like Nepanids) and Coluboscorpia (Snake-like Nepanids).
Mundo Bizarro has aproximately between 80,000 and 90,000 species of Nepanids, even though most of them are located at the tropics.
The Nepanids diverged from their ancestors, the Scorpions, aproximately in the mid-late Jurassic Period. The absence of mammals in Mundo Bizarro allowed scorpions to diversify in the North, where Notosaurids were absent, and filled the mammal's niches.

Unique Features:


COMING SOON

Classification:

COMING SOON

Evolutionary History:

COMING SOON

Anatomy and Physiology:


COMING SOON
Edited by TheCoon, Aug 19 2010, 08:20 PM.
Greetings young life form! Procyon Lotor at your service.

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Cephylus
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this project is going very nice and also bizarre, like its name :D
Coon's projects are always interesting
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Toad of Spades
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Here's something you should add to nepanids. One of the major limiting factors for arthropods on land besides respiration is the need to molt. With a soft exoskeleton after molting, they have no support and will collapse if too large.

Someone suggested this in a thread of mine about giant arthropod descendants. Instead of shedding the exoskeleton to grow, the exoskeleton grows with the animal. It grows with a layer of soft tissue on top adding to the exoskeleton underneath, similar to how velvet help deer antlers grow.
Sorry Link, I don't give credit. Come back when you're a little...MMMMMM...Richer.

Bread is an animal and humans are %90 aluminum.
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Holben
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Cuticles in the plates.

And thicker legs.

And more dense muscle fibres.

And better eyes (both sets).

And larger telsons, letting there be a bigger anus.

Also, better digestive juices and stronger chelicerae to make eating easier.

Larger gut.
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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TheCoon
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Toad of Spades
Aug 19 2010, 11:03 PM
Someone suggested this in a thread of mine about giant arthropod descendants. Instead of shedding the exoskeleton to grow, the exoskeleton grows with the animal. It grows with a layer of soft tissue on top adding to the exoskeleton underneath, similar to how velvet help deer antlers grow.
That's what I was going to de precisely. But I had to change the strucutre of the animal also (You know, internally). Various points Holben posted were already planned for the Nepanids. Thought some of them like the larger telsons also help. Thanks Holben.

(For the ones that are wondering were did the Nepanids got the extra pair of limbs, they are de-evolved pincers)
Greetings young life form! Procyon Lotor at your service.

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Holben
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Rumbo a la Victoria

TheCoon
Aug 20 2010, 01:59 PM
Toad of Spades
Aug 19 2010, 11:03 PM
Someone suggested this in a thread of mine about giant arthropod descendants. Instead of shedding the exoskeleton to grow, the exoskeleton grows with the animal. It grows with a layer of soft tissue on top adding to the exoskeleton underneath, similar to how velvet help deer antlers grow.
That's what I was going to de precisely. But I had to change the strucutre of the animal also (You know, internally). Various points Holben posted were already planned for the Nepanids. Thought some of them like the larger telsons also help. Thanks Holben.

(For the ones that are wondering were did the Nepanids got the extra pair of limbs, they are de-evolved pincers)
:)

The paedialps or the chelicerae de-evolved?


And we can increase the size of their mushroom bodies and create more neural links... form simple lensed eyes for the second set...
It's so exciting! We can have portia-level intelligence in scorpions.
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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