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
Strange New World; My first alternative evolution project
Topic Started: Mar 6 2011, 11:52 AM (631 Views)
Zorcuspine
Member Avatar
Enjoying our azure blue world

An idea I have had for a while but never posted. In this world The End-Devonian and End-Triassic extinctions never happened and P-TR and K-T extinctions are much less severe. For simplicities sake most Carboniferous, Permian and Triassic groups evolved.

These groups never evolved:
-Mammals (Although their close relatives the Cynodonts take many of the mammalian niches in this world)
-Lobsters and Crabs (Never had a chance to evolve since Sea Scorpions still flourish in this world)
-Dinosaurs and Birds (The bird niches are taken by Pterosaurs)

The continent layout and climate are the same as modern day. The land is ruled by Therapsids and Sphenosuchians while the sky is ruled by Pterosaurs. The oceans are dominated by Icthyosaurs and Mosasaurs as well as a group of seal like cynodonts. Fresh water is ruled by a group of Placoderms and otter like cynodonts as well as sea scorpions. This is truly a strange world...
Posted Image

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Ook
Member Avatar
not a Transhuman
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
looks weird,with mosasaurs cuz they evolved much later.Ichtiosaurs are more likely because they evolved much earlier,but berachps developing more uniqure groups would be better,there were many interesting semi-aquatic animals which never had chance to further develop,like some sphenodonts
Posted ImagePosted ImagePosted ImagePosted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Zorcuspine
Member Avatar
Enjoying our azure blue world

Okay the oceans are dominated (on the tetrapod side) by Icthyosaurs and Placodonts as well as seal like cynodonts and manatee like Anomodonts. Their are also whale sized filter feeding anomolocarids, huge eel like placodonts, kelp eating nautiloids and innumerable sharks, fish, cephalopods and sea scorpions.

On land Therapsids and Notosuchians battle it out for the top niches with theropod like Bolosaurids and Scutasaurs also playing major roles. In the sky their Other-Birds descended from crocodiles large dragon flys pterosaurs and Cyno-Bats all staking a claim for dominance. The geography of this timeline is the same as ours except the oxygen levels are at 25% instead of 21% for unknown reasons.

How is that?
Posted Image

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Cephylus
Member Avatar
Torando of Terror
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *
Well, I doubt there will be notosuchids, but there could be other numerous curotarsi lineages... And giant placodonts sounds cool! So keep going!
Spoiler: click to toggle
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Jasonguppy
Member Avatar
Cardinal
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
There wouldn't be anomalocarrids either, as they were cambrian things.
I do art sometimes.

"if you want green eat a salad"

Projects:
Amammalia: A strange place where mammals didn't make it and the land is, once again, dominated by archosaurs.

Oceanus: An endless sea dotted with islands, reefs, and black holes. Literally endless, literal black holes.

❤️❤️~I'm not a boy~❤️❤️
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Cephylus
Member Avatar
Torando of Terror
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *
Yes, Anomalocarids were primarily Cambrian creatures (technically they survived into the early Devonian period), although it would be interesting to speculate on how they evolved if they did't go extinct. Then again, in a world like this, filter-feeding placoderms, sarcopytergians, conodonts and xenacanthida sharks are possible...

A few ideas:
- Crocodile-like sarcopytergians, like Rick Raptor's Fill That Niche entry
- Giant Xenacanthida sharks akin to Megalodon
Spoiler: click to toggle
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Zorcuspine
Member Avatar
Enjoying our azure blue world

I am going to give a detailed time line now...

Precambrian to late Devonian
Same as HE

Late Devonian to Late Permian
In HE a mass extinction wipes out all the placoderms and most jawless fish and countless invertebrate species. On SE (Strange Earth) this event never happened and life continued to flourish in the oceans. On land things paralell HE with all the major amphibian, insect and Reptilian groups managing to evolve the exact same way as on HE (For simplicities sake)

End of Permian to Late Jurassic
The Siberian Traps creates a mass extinction on both HE and SE, however on SE the Traps was slightly smaller so more groups squeeze through it. Large Synapsids, Trilobites and many others go extinct. Archosaurs gain more traction in SE, as with HE but they have much more competition from Therapsids so they stay relatively low-key. The mass extinction that happens on HE at the end of the Triassic does not happen on SE so the Triassic fauna goes on through to the end of the Jurassic. Dinosaurs evolve here just like they did on HE and just when it seems they will take over this timeline too...


End of Jurrasic

On HE nothing major happens at the boundary between the Jurassic and Cretaceas but here it couldn't be more different. On SE a KT sized asteroid hits what is now South China causing a mass extinction. The dinosaurs, Most huge archosaurs, therapsids, most anguimorpha (Including the ancestors of monitor lizards) go extinct. In the skys pteradactlys large size is a bane and they go extinct but the smaller Rhamphorhynchoidea manage to squeeze through. In the oceans, Plesiosaurs and Pilosaurs die out but a few species of Icthyosaur squeeze through the extinction as well as a few eurypterids.

Early Cretaceous to Late Eocene
On land Cynodonts and Notosuchids battle it out for domination, with Notosuchids winning and Cynodonts of this period never getting larger than a Beagle. Pterosaurs re diversify in the air, and are joined by Cyno-bats in the Mid Cretaceous and Croc-Birds in the Late Eocene. In the seas Eurypterids, which had been reduced to small generalized forms due to competition since the Mid Permian began to re-diversify along with Icthyosaurs, Placoderms, Sharks, Ray-Finned fishes and Thalattosaurs.

Early Oligocene to present
The gradually cooling climate pushed most notosuchians and reptiles down south, except for a group of Notosuchians which evolved feathers (This group currently contains quadrupedal, bipedal and aerial forms.) Cynodonts explode in the north paralleling their mammalian counter parts in HE. Dicynodonts who had been confined to South America and Australia since the Triassic push north through the land bridge into north america. In the oceans Cyno-Cetaceans and Dicy-Dugongs and giant crocodile like amphibians thrive in the polar latitudes, while Icthyosaurs and Thalattosaurs are pushed into temperate and tropical oceans where they still thrive today on SE. Croc-Birds diversify below giant Pterosaurs while Cyno-bats decline due to a series of fungal infections and are pushed towared extinction. They manage to live on for a while in Australia but the ice ages and the spreading Australian deserts did the last of their kind in during the late Pilocene.
Edited by Zorcuspine, Apr 24 2011, 04:08 PM.
Posted Image

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
« Previous Topic · Alternative Evolution · Next Topic »
Add Reply