| 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! |
| The Species Factory; Empty your mind | |
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| Topic Started: Nov 6 2014, 06:54 PM (33,423 Views) | |
| El Dorito | Nov 16 2015, 10:54 PM Post #106 |
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chlorinated opthalmic trigonometric shape of conspiracy and dank memes
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Carnivorous trees. Normal plants evolved 'trees'. If there was a massive surge in the population of insects carnivorous plants might evolve into a form of tree too. |
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I REGRET NOTHING What if denizens of the United States call themselves 'Americans' so as to avoid being called USAliens? DeviantArt: EL-D0rito My Projects: Atlantis: The Next Union On hold until I regain interest. Argus: The Cyber-Planet Will be rewritten and redone almost completely | |
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| Beetleboy | Nov 17 2015, 10:40 AM Post #107 |
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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A whale-sized, plankton-eating filter-feeding icthyosaur . . . just had to get that off my chest. |
| ~ The Age of Forests ~ | |
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| Ànraich | Nov 20 2015, 03:41 AM Post #108 |
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L'évolution Spéculative est moi
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![]() Flying (gliding) anole descendants ftw! |
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We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar. "The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming Tree That Owns Itself
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| Zorcuspine | Nov 20 2015, 12:15 PM Post #109 |
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Enjoying our azure blue world
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Please tell me these concepts are going to become a full-blown project Parasky. I'd love to see it. |
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| Beetleboy | Nov 20 2015, 12:17 PM Post #110 |
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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I've always envisioned geckos as developing flight. |
| ~ The Age of Forests ~ | |
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| Ànraich | Nov 20 2015, 08:00 PM Post #111 |
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L'évolution Spéculative est moi
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I do have an idea for a project but I feel like I would just be stealing Sheather's Serina idea too much. |
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We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar. "The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming Tree That Owns Itself
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| Torvonychus | Nov 20 2015, 09:39 PM Post #112 |
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nani the fuck
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I have an idea for a project but i feel that it would be ripping of Dromaeosaurus' Settlers from the deep too much. |
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Dys, Darwin's Inferno: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5949354/1/ ![]() ![]() Spoiler: click to toggle
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| Ànraich | Nov 21 2015, 02:57 AM Post #113 |
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L'évolution Spéculative est moi
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Here is an improved picture of the false dragons, in case anybody wanted to see a slightly better version. |
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We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar. "The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming Tree That Owns Itself
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| Nyarlathotep | Nov 21 2015, 08:21 AM Post #114 |
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The Creeping Chaos
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Can we hear these ideas, to see if they really are ripoffs? I was worried my Ao-Oni would feel like a rip-off of Orpheus and/or Sheatheria, but I've kept it as seperately as possible in style. It is possible to do mind you, and I'd like to hear whats on offer.
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| Ànraich | Nov 21 2015, 08:51 AM Post #115 |
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L'évolution Spéculative est moi
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Well the idea is that a select number of species are put on an arid, yet habitable, planet and evolve over several million years into a diverse and thriving ecosystem. Same basic idea as Serina, to be honest, but with a different setting and more introduced species. |
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We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar. "The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming Tree That Owns Itself
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| Zorcuspine | Nov 21 2015, 01:15 PM Post #116 |
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Enjoying our azure blue world
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Eh, all terraformed projects are like that, Sheather didn't invent the concept. Just work on little things to set your project apart from Serina, a different writing style, a different way of presenting things, very different concepts, something like that. |
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| LittleLazyLass | Nov 21 2015, 02:57 PM Post #117 |
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Proud quilt in a bag
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I mean, if there's no similarity in terms of the creatures, does the similar scenario for a terraforming project really matter? |
totally not British, b-baka! You like me (Unlike)I don't even really like this song that much but the title is pretty relatable sometimes, I guess. Me What, you want me to tell you what these mean? Read First Words Maybe | |
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| Beetleboy | Nov 23 2015, 12:14 PM Post #118 |
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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I have an idea for an otter that became stranded on an island and became more terrestrial. |
| ~ The Age of Forests ~ | |
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| Blake Hannon | Nov 23 2015, 01:06 PM Post #119 |
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Newborn
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Was talking to a friend of mine recently about possible starfish evolution. In particular, the Sunflower Sea Star native to the north Pacific. Its very large and fast moving for a starfish, and can actual swim for short distances by "gliding" above the seabed. Its also more aggressive than most, and hunts a variety of prey as well as scavenging. One possibility in particular would be if the sunflower star got lighter armor so that it became a better swimmer. Instead of just gliding, it could then contract its arms like a jellyfish to provide vertical motion (maybe the arms would eventually get a connecting membrane, to better catch the water). It could use this to grab small fish, escape seabed predators like crabs and lobsters, and eventually find other niches as well. For instance, it already has grasping suckers, so maybe it could become a micropredator; swim up to a whale or large shark, attach to it, and then start sucking its blood or eating mouthfuls of skin and blubber. You could even get a full parasite from that, if they start landing on social cetaceans where they can spread from individual to individual without needing to land on the seabed in between. Another type of swimming sunflower star might just get much better at swimming. One thing I thought of is that the arms might combine into one big flap on each side, turning the starfish into a bilaterally symmetrical animal that swims by flapping its "wings" like a skate or ray. One or two of the limbs could not get absorbed into the wings, and instead specialize for sense and reproduction; maybe one shortened arm on the "head" gets better developed photoreceptors, and another, slightly longer one on the "tail" is the only arm that keeps its gonads. The neurology of the "head" arm might grow to take control of the whole creature and let the rest of the armbrains degenerate, so that eventually it becomes a real head with a real brain in it. It loses the suckers except around the mouth and tail, to latch onto food and mates respectively. Invertibrate skate/ray, maybe it can even jump or glide above the water like manta rays. Another idea, maybe a little more far out; could one of its stomach chambers evolve into a propulsion organ, similar to a cephalopod's siphon? Starfish eat by turning some of their stomach chambers inside out, so a larger and more muscular version of that could maybe do the same with water to act as a sort of burst-jet? Of course, even without jet propulsion, a small and light variety of swimming sunflower star could still become pretty mobile, like a box jelly. Moving away from sunflower stars in particular, there are some types of starfish that can reproduce by fission, and some can even regrow from a single arm if it has enough fat reserves and optimal conditions. Some will also shed arms to appease predators, and the arm will wriggle around after being cut off to get its attention. What if a starfish pushed this further, and developed more advanced "utility arms?" Say, predatory starfish has poisonous stingers on some of its armtips; prey or enemy comes near, and it launches its attack arm! Attack arm can maybe swim; would be simple enough to evolve finlike structures along the edges, and/or paddle-like suction cups. Attack arm is small relative to the starfish's main body and other arms, so shedding it is a nominal expenditure of resources. From there you could actually get something that appears to be a eusocial colony, but is actually just one starfish that constantly buds off arms. These arms have limited lifespans due to the lack of digestive systems (though some can even develop those, as mentioned earlier), but while they're alive they can gather food, dig burrows, guard against predators, etc. Since starfish gonads are in the arms, you can also have reproductive arms that set out to find another "colony" and mate with its main body. In fact, a mutation in the reproductive arms might allow them to reproduce on their own, either through fission or by impregnating each other. You just need their rudimentary digestive systems to feel the selective pressure once they start multiplying on their own, and they get real stomachs. An offshoot of the "eusocial" starfish, mutant reproductive arms have the potential to evolve into a whole new branch of the animal kingdom. Some could swim, some could crawl, some could even develop into colony creatures that look superficially like their starfish ancestors. How does all this sound? Is Starfish World plausible? |
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| Ànraich | Nov 23 2015, 05:19 PM Post #120 |
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L'évolution Spéculative est moi
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Starfish world is plausible and it's called Priapus Prime. |
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We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar. "The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming Tree That Owns Itself
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7:45 PM Jul 10