| 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! |
| Umbriel; A tiny world basks in the warm red glow of a dying sun. | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Topic Started: Nov 26 2014, 06:12 PM (8,965 Views) | |||||||||
| Picrodus | Nov 26 2014, 06:12 PM Post #1 | ||||||||
:Ominous Wind:
|
Three billion years in the future the sun has swelled up as a red giant to the orbit of Earth and nothing is left of the inner systems former glory. The once lush planet Earth now a burnt cinder orbiting only about 13 million miles from the sun. However there is still a shelter in the solar system where life has taken hold. However because of the red sun's massive and super heated form, this haven no longer exists in the inner system but the outer system. Towards the end of the age of humanity 3 billion years ago the humans set up ark ships that which were in fact glorified seed banks meant to seed the many future water worlds of the outer solar system in hopes that in the far future they would wake and colonize these worlds. These ships blasted off from Earth off towards many targets in the outer solar system where they would bury themselves in the primordial wasteland of the planet/moon that was their target and await the time when the shipboard sensors detected an atmosphere suitable for life to inhabit. Although feeble atmospheres did form on a few worlds of the outer solar system, only one ark stood the test of time and remained functioning throughout the eons. As can be expected from technology. Who expects 100% efficiency from machines especially ones that are now billions of years old. The ark that stood the test of time was one located on Umbriel, a moon of Uranus. Umbriel by this point had formed a feeble atmosphere with oxygen, and useful amounts of carbon dioxide due to large deposits in the ice and primordial outgassing, as well as a few other trace elements. Its loss of atmosphere was also almost negligible due to its orbit lying within the gargantuan magnetosphere of its parent. The Ark ships carried two components. One component, or the first stage, was to release seeds of trees, plants, and crops kept fresh by the ship when enough carbon dioxide was found to be present. After the plants were released they would work to create a sustained biosphere and with that a stable atmosphere and eventually produce enough oxygen for animals and humans to be released from the ark as stage two. Sadly, (or not depending on your view) there was never enough oxygen/atmospheric pressure for stage two to be initiated. Because of this life on Umbriel has not turned out the way the terrans expected. Here the plants took a very shocking turn in evolution. Now Umbriel is a world dominated by a new type of creature. Umbriel is a rather cold world with the climate being retained at about 50° fahrenheit at the most and -30° at the least. Because of this, of the plants released only the hardier mountain dwelling species survived. With the most successful being Conifers, it is no surprise that they gave rise to the new creatures. The Planimals. Umbriel rolls on its side through the universe due to it orbiting on the equatorial plain of a planet with a 97 degree axial tilt. Its poles alternating between 40 years of day and 40 years of night. The trees and plants, to escape either extreme, would follow the terminator by developing movement or risk death. The development of locomotion was the first step towards becoming Umbral animals. And many plants did die in the early stages of colonization. However this terminator was extremely forgiving, taking 40 years to switch from pole to pole. Plant seeding occured 500 million years ago when Umbriel was still warming. The current date is 3 billion years hence. The earliest divergent Conifers developed locomotion by dragging themselves along by their roots which remained underground. They were the first plants to do so though other groups later followed suit and broke the barrier into becoming more than plants, they were planimals. Similar locomotion can be seen in today's primitive monopedal fur trees. When the humans created these Arks they imagined that they would wake up to beautiful worlds prime for colonization ripe with crops to upstart civilization once again. Unfortunately a less than useful species took the dominant role...and on a world colder than they had expected.... Welcome to Umbriel the Conifer moon!
|
||||||||
 My Deviantart A work in progress. Other Liked Quote: "The "habitable zone" will expand along with the Sun. This will warm once-frozen planets and their moons, bringing a brief springtime after a 10-billion-year winter." | |||||||||
 |
 
|
||||||||
| Replies: | |
|---|---|
| Picrodus | Mar 28 2016, 11:06 PM Post #31 |
|
:Ominous Wind:
|
The Spiny Red Sentinel The Spiny Red Sentinel is a species of Statue Tree. Such organisms occur at both the east and west polar regions of Umbriel. Much like a penguin, the Spiny Red Sentinel is a slow mover on land and will slowly shuffle across the permafrost of the icecaps in groups so as to keep warm in the 42 year-long Umbral winter. Although in this case they do not shuffle across a singular continent but will actually circumnavigate the higher Eastern and Western latitudes of their frozen world in order to keep ahead of the night. They are, however, unable to spend as much time in water due to the fact that they must overland over large expanses of the east and west that must be covered before they come upon the end of a peninsula and take the chance to dive either into the sea of Umbralu or the Wunda sea. It is here where they can replenish their reserves by consuming smaller sea-going creatures. The rest of the time as they migrate across the icecap, they are garnering all of their energy through photosynthesis while slowly depleting what we would consider a fat reserve. It is for this very reason that the large and ornate headcone is situated at the base of the trunk. This is both to keep the large bulk of the headcone from shading the needles from much needed photosynthesis as well as providing maximum surface area for the photosynthetic needles to grow. Therefore maximizing photosynthetic energy intake and jointly with their fat reserves keeping them from starving as they migrate across the ice toward the bounty of the sea. Locomotion is achieved in the same fashion as most. However in this case the Spiny Red Sentinel utilizes only three of its five roots for subsurface locomotion while the other two are drug along behind in the snow. Awaiting their chance to be utilized as flippers upon the rare chance the Sentinel happens to come upon a polar sea. The reproductive cones of Statue Trees are rounded and are held aloft on the ventral side of the body so as to reduce surface area contact with the cold. This is done so they do not get frostbitten by the eternal rage of the howling katabatic winds, eternally blowing at their backs from the night side. As well as being shielded by the trunk of its parent, an infant cone is enveloped in the soft, fur like needles hanging from the very branch that the infant cone is itself held aloft. The headcone of the Spiny Red Sentinel is itself very ornate and strikingly reflective. But despite what some may think, this occurrence has no relation to sexual dimorphism in any way. It actually serves two seemingly similar but in actuality starkly different purposes. To the eye, the headcone gives off a luxurious sheen akin to a red tinted mirror. One purpose of this is to locate others after being scattered by a particularly harsh blizzard. This they do by using their headcone to reflect sunlight across the landscape in order to signal the others to regroup. The other purpose starts off the same in that it also uses the cones' great reflectivity, but in this case they use the bright reflected light of the polar sun to blind an enemy, or perhaps ward off a predator for fear of losing its sight. |
|
My Deviantart A work in progress. Other Liked Quote: "The "habitable zone" will expand along with the Sun. This will warm once-frozen planets and their moons, bringing a brief springtime after a 10-billion-year winter." | |
|
|
|
| Picrodus | Mar 30 2016, 11:58 PM Post #32 |
|
:Ominous Wind:
|
"Fleshing" Things Out: Umbral Conifer Reproduction Reproductive Cycle: Lacking the need to drop seeds for offspring to spread, the female cone itself has become the vessel of which a baby tree is born. Pollinated by courtship and intercourse with a tree carrying male cones, an elaborate dance is performed in which the male shakes about, releasing his gametes into the air from his smaller male cones which, should she be impressed, the female tree will come into the sphere of his reproductive influence where his genetic information is floating about. In such close proximity, there is nothing wrong with sensual stimulation through physical contact…As this goes on, the two trees moving about in ecstasy, lasting for tens of minutes, it is ensured that the female will be fertilized and all is well. Once fertilization is complete a female cone will be dropped from the mother, where inside the brain grows of a highly derived single complex ovule, brimming with the genetic code to construct, repurposed to build a nervous system rather than an entire organism. In this way it is ensured that the delicate neural structure is protected by the cone, which basically transforms in purpose from the vessel of birth to performing the function of a skull. The rest of the body grows outward from the severed stem, rich in growth hormones, from which it was once connected with its mother. During this stage, where the infant is immobile and has anchored itself into the ground through its roots to gain nutrients for further development, the mother (and father in certain species) must remain vigilant and watch over the helpless sessile offspring. Fending off predators and sheltering it from the elements. This goes on for about 3-7 months depending on species, after which point the infant has achieved the ability of movement, at which point it can join its parent and/or family group in daily activities. Sponging up information all the way. All trees remain female as they were at birth up until the point in which they reach sexual maturity. These Umbral animals are dioecious in a more animalistic sense, and as such will produce only male or female cones depending on the genes that determine the sex of the cones the individual will produce. Only upon maturation, will technical gender become apparent. Although their conifer ancestors of billions of years were traditionally dioecious such a structure has become obsolete as the eons slowly tick by, complexity continues to build… It is the physical separation of the sexes that will continue to propel such species further in cognitive development. Allowing for both more complex interaction found in difference, as well as recognition found in similarity. |
|
My Deviantart A work in progress. Other Liked Quote: "The "habitable zone" will expand along with the Sun. This will warm once-frozen planets and their moons, bringing a brief springtime after a 10-billion-year winter." | |
|
|
|
| Picrodus | Apr 14 2016, 12:13 AM Post #33 |
|
:Ominous Wind:
|
Babaconia The Babaconia is one of the first predators to ever grace the surface or Umbriel. Although primitive, it is rather innovative in the art of hunting other trees. Innovation comes in the form of its specialized “muscles”. Like all members of Umbral life, Babaconia uses a muscle-like structure derived from the stomata of its Terran Conifer ancestors billions of years removed, to enable self-locomotion. Obviously such a structure cannot be considered unique as it is common to all Umbral life, it is an even more derived version of this structure where Babaconia excels. Specialization comes in the form of two specialized branching limbs that sprout bilaterally to the left and right of the tree’s body. Although not apparently obvious, these limbs are in fact used as a device of predation in which the Babaconia will bludgeon its prey to the extent that it becomes immobile and the Babaconia can successfully consume the prey with its roots. This became possible with the realization of a loophole in the way the muscles function. Babaconia should not be considered an active predator, but a passive one. It is not one to enjoy the chase, but rather the search. Just as content to scavenge carrion as it is to fell fresh prey. The bludgeoning works by the process in which the Babaconia keeps the majority of its muscle covered by its needles which causes the needles to work overtime to photosynthesize without the help of the muscle which supplements the majority of photosynthetic intake in Umbral life. This in fact, causes the Babaconia to actually be slower than most of the prey it hunts. Moving rather lethargically during mobile portions of the day. So slow in fact, that many of the species will actually live their lives straddling the trailing terminator. While at first it may seem a disadvantage, in reality it has conditioned its muscle/stomatae to function on rather minimal levels of sunlight which causes its normally lethargic locomotion. But in times of hunger, the needles are brushed away…Its muscles go into overdrive…and the Babaconia attacks! Moving up to twice as fast as any other tree on the surface of the moon, the Babaconia will overtake its prey quickly and as long as it gauged its timing right, the Babaconia will have enough extra juice to overexcite the muscles in its twin clubs to the point that they lash out at the prey spasmodically at breakneck speed. Viscously bludgeoning its prey into oblivion. This does not harm the reproductive cones as they are already hold a higher tensile strength than anything the Babaconia is likely to assault including the flesh of other trees. In fact, the hunt is not the only activity Babaconia’s unique adaptation is used for. Because of its ability to hyper-exert itself for short periods of time, it can operate somewhat outside of the realm of the 99 hour solar spiral that dictates the movement of all lifeforms. With this unique adaptation comes the ability to operate somewhat deeper into the night side in order to retrieve frozen carrion. As long as its muscles are fully exposed and there is a tiny bit of sunlight peeking over the horizon that is. For should it run out of energy before it is able to return to the slow terminator and be forced back into slavery by the sun, you can bet that in 42 years that a lucky Fur Tree will happen upon the frozen copse of the apex predator in its first glimpse of sunlight for four decades. |
|
My Deviantart A work in progress. Other Liked Quote: "The "habitable zone" will expand along with the Sun. This will warm once-frozen planets and their moons, bringing a brief springtime after a 10-billion-year winter." | |
|
|
|
| Beetleboy | Apr 14 2016, 10:34 AM Post #34 |
neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
|
Awesome work! For some reason your plant-animals really freak me out in a way I can't put my finger on. |
| ~ The Age of Forests ~ | |
|
|
|
| Victorbrine | Apr 14 2016, 03:15 PM Post #35 |
Adult
|
If there was a docufiction on this, i'll do anything to buy it. This is awesome. Keep up the good work! 
|
|
“There's a tree," Starflight said, jumping to his feet. "In the forest." "No way," Glory said. "A tree in the forest?” "Ce corps qui s'appelait et qui s'appelle encore le saint empire romain n'était en aucune manière ni saint, ni romain, ni empire." -Voltaire "So if you wake up in the morning and it's a particularly beautiful day you'll know we made it." -Capa "One of those capsules hit a wing." Victor said. "Had to do an emergency landing." He pointed to a crumpled plane a couple dozen meters behind him and shrugged. "Not my most elegant landing." -me in Flisch's story "Spec Evo: Void Entry" (Act 3) "but by rule 34 of the multiverse, if it exists, there’s a world full of it." -Tet "I must ask you to leave now." -Everyone (not realy though) in Flisch's story "Spec Evo: Void Entry" Projects Status My Blog (SE Blog) Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyBzYPIsLp0uHoPtT6ZEyww | |
|
|
|
| Picrodus | Apr 16 2016, 01:57 AM Post #36 |
|
:Ominous Wind:
|
The WorldHouse Roof The worldhouse roof is the sole structure upon Umbriel apart from the ark left for Umbral life to view as a monument to humanity. Just as the ark was the vessel by which this artificial act of panspermia took place; the worldhouse roof has taken up the role as the sentinel to which Umbral life owes its continued existence. This structure known as the worldhouse roof is a membranous envelope that encapsulates the entirety of the moon within itself. This inception of Umbriel is made structurally sound by a single physical anchor between the roof and the surface bridged by the eons old ark. The rest of the membrane is held aloft by the pressure of the very atmosphere which it is meant to contain. For should it have never existed, any substantial atmosphere would dissipate into the vacuum of space within hours. Making the rise of life impossible. The builders of the ark structure spared no expense when it came to the protection and preservation of the delicate worldhouse. Many attempts were made to make self-preservation viable, but most failed. The one procedure that made it all possible became known as atmospheric bleeding. Praised for its simplicity, the breakthrough meant that future generations of humans that would supposedly live and work under the roof would be able to go about their daily lives without fear. Fear of the possibility stray debris would tear a hole into their worldhouse roof causing catastrophic failure and forced depressurization. It was believed at the time of construction, that on the frontier of space, not every colony would be able afford a crew to maintain the one thing keeping them from a horrific end. Much less those progenated by the arks, essentially starting from Earthly scratch. It is, after all, highly doubtful that primordial soup would be able to afford a maintenance crew. This was the sort of reliability the various ark projects needed. Although controversial, the project became accepted almost universally as humanity’s failsafe. Their targets, those tiny frozen worlds of the outer system that would become temperate oases in the wake of the aging sun. These colonies that were meant to sprout up, would need to be self-sufficient, because in a time period billions of years removed from contemporary times, the progeny of any surviving ark would be utterly alone… Atmospheric bleeding is the process by which the computer inside the ark samples the vacuum directly above the worldhouse roof through sensors all across the membrane surface. Should it find total vacuum, its protocols dictate that it must vent small amounts of atmosphere into the vacuum every so often in a process that simulates atmosphere above the roof. This simulation mimics a natural planetary atmosphere all the way down to the atmospheric drag that will cause meteorites and similar sized debris to burn up long before they reach the delicate roof. Due to the age of the solar system, large free-flying celestial objects such as comets and asteroids are much less common. Most having been assimilated into the larger, stable objects such as the sun or planets or exiting the solar system long ago. Therefore mitigating the possibility of a complete failure of this mimicry and spelling the doom for all Umbral life with no chance of recovery. |
|
My Deviantart A work in progress. Other Liked Quote: "The "habitable zone" will expand along with the Sun. This will warm once-frozen planets and their moons, bringing a brief springtime after a 10-billion-year winter." | |
|
|
|
| Picrodus | Apr 18 2016, 10:39 AM Post #37 |
|
:Ominous Wind:
|
Thanks. I'm trying to work on my art skills. I guess I have had an underlying tendency in this project to give the organisms and scenes a somewhat ominous look. Which was intended. The Babaconia was only one so far intended to look outright scary.
I'm glad you like the project. Though not in the works currently, I do plan to do stories set on this world told but a yet unknown sophont species. If I am thinking of the word docuficition correctly. |
|
My Deviantart A work in progress. Other Liked Quote: "The "habitable zone" will expand along with the Sun. This will warm once-frozen planets and their moons, bringing a brief springtime after a 10-billion-year winter." | |
|
|
|
| Dragonthunders | Apr 18 2016, 10:48 AM Post #38 |
The ethereal archosaur in blue
|
I must say that this is really amazing in many ways by the concept, creatures and how you've built this moon. Is very nice 
|
|
Projects "Active" projects The Future is Far Welcome to the next chapters of the evolution of life on earth, travel the across the earth on a journey that goes beyond the limits, a billion years of future history in the making. The SE giants project Wonder what is the big of the big on speculative evolution? no problem, here is the answer Coming one day Age of Mankind Humanity fate and its possible finals. The Long Cosmic Journey The history outside our world. The alternative paths The multiverse, the final frontier... Holocene park: Welcome to the biggest adventure of the last 215 million years, where the age of mammals comes to life again! Cambrian mars: An interesting experiment on an unprecedented scale, the life of a particular and important period in the history of our planet, the cambric life, has been transported to a terraformed and habitable mars in an alternative past. Two different paths, two different worlds, but same life and same weirdness. My deviantart | |
|
|
| Adman | Apr 18 2016, 02:52 PM Post #39 |
Totally not lamna
|
I agree with Dragonthunders, this is really a great and underrated project. Do you have any more stuff planned for it? |
|
Projects and concepts that I have stewing around Extended Pleistocene- An alternate future where man died out, and the megafauna would continue to thrive (may or may not include a bit about certain future sapients) Inverted World- An alternate timeline where an asteroid hit during the Barremian, causing an extinction event before the Maastrichtian. Dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and notosuchians make it to the present, along with a host of other animals. Badania- Alien planet that has life at a devonian stage of development, except it exists in the present day. Ido- Alien world where hoppers (derived flightless ballonts) and mouthpart-legged beasts are prevalent. Leto- Life on a moon orbiting a gas giant with an erratic orbit; experiences extremes of hot and cold. The Park- ??? Deeper Impact- a world where the K-Pg extinction wipes out crocodilians, mammals, and birds; squamates, choristoderes, and turtles inherit the earth. World of Equal Opportunity- alternate history where denisovans come across Beringia and interact with native fauna. Much of the Pleistocene fauna survives, and the modern humans that end up crossing into North America do not overhunt the existing animals. 10,000 years later, civilizations exist that are on par with European and Asian societies. The Ditch- Nothing is what if seems.. | |
|
|
|
| Picrodus | Apr 18 2016, 03:10 PM Post #40 |
|
:Ominous Wind:
|
Thank you. Indeed I do. I was planning to go into some desert life next. I already have a drawing in the works. I also want to revamp Umbriel's world map to make it easier to read and perhaps move some geological features around a bit. Also currently thinking about implementing some Volant life in the next few months. And then perhaps do a "Fleshing Things Out" for how they became Volant. Though not everything will particularly be in that order. |
|
My Deviantart A work in progress. Other Liked Quote: "The "habitable zone" will expand along with the Sun. This will warm once-frozen planets and their moons, bringing a brief springtime after a 10-billion-year winter." | |
|
|
|
| Picrodus | Apr 20 2016, 01:09 AM Post #41 |
|
:Ominous Wind:
|
The DesertGoer Since this picture is dark, there are two ways to look upon the Goer. Firstly, you can look upon it as a mouthless wretch. Or you may look upon it as a snaggle toothed monster. However you view it, it makes no difference as it is only aesthetics. Goers are a type of tree perfectly suited for the arid areas of Umbriel. These wretched beings are characterized by their sand-smoothened cones resembling a horrifying gaze. They lead a slow, herbivorous lifestyle upon which they subsist solely upon photosynthesis and stored water. Gathered from Lake Skynd, the only body of water for hundreds of miles. As well as the sole body to exist on their circumnavigation of the globe; a migration their species has done for eons. The Gobi Badlands, and the Plains of Albreich, a globe girdling duo of hellish wastes, are the only two lands they will ever cross. And as such, they will only see dark, dust-filled skies for the entirety of their 100-year lives. These places in which they inhabit are characterized by flat, dusty expanses that constantly saturate the air with dust and sand, due to a nasty combination of strong winds and low gravity. The headcone of the DesertGoer is proportionally large due to the fact that it uses it, along with its reproductive cones, to store water in order to keep it hydrated in the hellish wastes. Because of the backbreaking weight, the characteristic posture of the DesertGoer is a constant stoop, as if it were Atlas holding up the sky. This, combined with the general lack of sunlight, makes for slow going. In any other location, this could spell doom for this mishappen tree, what with its defenselessness from predation and inability to compete with those better suited to life in general. It is a good thing then, that not many are unfortunate enough to exist here. Thus you can see, although weathered, the horrifying stare of the DesertGoer tells the tale of its damned existence. Each individual etching of sand in its cone tells the story of what it has gone through, the intensity of the storms, the strength of the winds, even the droughts. The rigidity and color tell the story, of those times the benevolent energy if the elderly sun soldiered on through the darkness just for them. Someone does care, this they know. It is what they live for, the loving embrace of their father the Sun. |
|
My Deviantart A work in progress. Other Liked Quote: "The "habitable zone" will expand along with the Sun. This will warm once-frozen planets and their moons, bringing a brief springtime after a 10-billion-year winter." | |
|
|
|
| Rodlox | Apr 20 2016, 07:03 AM Post #42 |
|
Superhuman
|
I find the Goer and the Roof absolutely fascinating and enjoyable. (they both make sense in their enviroments - and the Roof could potentially be a common thread linking any number of projects you chose to do) bravo and kudos! |
|
.---------------------------------------------. Parts of the Cluster Worlds: "Marsupialless Australia" (what-if) & "Out on a Branch" (future evolution) & "The Earth under a still sun" (WIP) | |
|
|
|
| Victorbrine | Apr 20 2016, 07:37 AM Post #43 |
|
Adult
|
A docufiction is actually a documentary. However, this type of documentary (or mockumentary) explains things that don't exist but could or things of the future or mythical things in a scientific way. There can also be a "stroy" in it. Some docufiction/mockumentary are: Mermaids: The Body Found, The Future Is Wild, The Last Dragon: A Fantasy Made Real. To get an idea of those, here are some youtube links to those documentaries: https://youtu.be/dWE4g33dwdI (Mermaids: The Body Found) https://youtu.be/8FIDeOOL52Q (The Last Dragon: A Fantasy Made Real) https://youtu.be/w0kzMmcTS8I?list=PL019H6clyzKb-fTn4WM5ypMym0rbNKHcr (The Future is Wild) But still, there ca be a story set on Umbriel, like what they did with the mermaid one. |
|
“There's a tree," Starflight said, jumping to his feet. "In the forest." "No way," Glory said. "A tree in the forest?” "Ce corps qui s'appelait et qui s'appelle encore le saint empire romain n'était en aucune manière ni saint, ni romain, ni empire." -Voltaire "So if you wake up in the morning and it's a particularly beautiful day you'll know we made it." -Capa "One of those capsules hit a wing." Victor said. "Had to do an emergency landing." He pointed to a crumpled plane a couple dozen meters behind him and shrugged. "Not my most elegant landing." -me in Flisch's story "Spec Evo: Void Entry" (Act 3) "but by rule 34 of the multiverse, if it exists, there’s a world full of it." -Tet "I must ask you to leave now." -Everyone (not realy though) in Flisch's story "Spec Evo: Void Entry" Projects Status My Blog (SE Blog) Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyBzYPIsLp0uHoPtT6ZEyww | |
|
|
|
| Adman | Apr 20 2016, 09:16 AM Post #44 |
|
Totally not lamna
|
I really like the DesertGoer. Unrelated, but how fast do most of these trees move? I'd imagine trees like the mahrkorwood, troll, and spiny red sentinel would move at a pace noticable by people, but what about trees like the fur trees or babaconia? I was thinking they would move at speeds similar to that of echinoderms, but I could be wrong. |
|
Projects and concepts that I have stewing around Extended Pleistocene- An alternate future where man died out, and the megafauna would continue to thrive (may or may not include a bit about certain future sapients) Inverted World- An alternate timeline where an asteroid hit during the Barremian, causing an extinction event before the Maastrichtian. Dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and notosuchians make it to the present, along with a host of other animals. Badania- Alien planet that has life at a devonian stage of development, except it exists in the present day. Ido- Alien world where hoppers (derived flightless ballonts) and mouthpart-legged beasts are prevalent. Leto- Life on a moon orbiting a gas giant with an erratic orbit; experiences extremes of hot and cold. The Park- ??? Deeper Impact- a world where the K-Pg extinction wipes out crocodilians, mammals, and birds; squamates, choristoderes, and turtles inherit the earth. World of Equal Opportunity- alternate history where denisovans come across Beringia and interact with native fauna. Much of the Pleistocene fauna survives, and the modern humans that end up crossing into North America do not overhunt the existing animals. 10,000 years later, civilizations exist that are on par with European and Asian societies. The Ditch- Nothing is what if seems.. | |
|
|
|
| Picrodus | Apr 20 2016, 10:35 AM Post #45 |
|
:Ominous Wind:
|
Distance is an Illusion Worlds like Umbriel, they are tiny insignificant specks of rubble with distances seemingly so insignificant that the average lifeform would find it uneconomical to set up any sort of operation there. An extrasolar explorer would pass them up for the larger planets, especially the inhabited ones, without a second thought. It is some exploratory part of the primordial being that fears the full and thorough exploration of a world in its entirety. Especially in such quick manner; the feeling of missed potential comes to mind somehow. It breaks something in the spirit, knowing that it’s over (Not to mention the glory possibly passed up that so many intrepid explorers hope to achieve) giving these bodies inferior exploration value. Thus, worlds of this miniscule caliber tend to be avoided by those hailing from much larger worlds. The best way to describe such a feeling is Greater world claustrophobia. (With the term “greater world” meaning an inhabited planet with a much more average surface area. Earth can be named as a fitting example.) Us, the ancient Terrans, wiped from existence long ago, would weep for their species. Graced with such an insignificantly small world as Umbriel; A celestial body smaller than the United States. All there would be to discover for these beings would seem so insignificant compared to that which we were blessed to accomplish. For beings like ourselves, such a place could be completely explored, catalogued, and cartographed in mere centuries. We do not take into account however, the speed at which these beings move. The speeds at which most lifeforms on Umbriel locomote are much inferior to our own. Most travel so slowly that perhaps the distances that they perceive, in fact, may be equivalent to that which we perceive of our own haven; unimaginably vast swathes of land taking millennia to be fully explored. It is all in the eye of the beholder. To beings so slow, miles may seem like hundreds. I had this lying around and figure it was time to use it. Most species are laughably slow compared to Terran life. Though yes, the pace is noticeable for the faster ones. I did not have an exact speed chosen. But I feel that 1/7 of a mile per hour (.23 kph) would cover it for the faster groups. (That have been created so far.) Although the Babaconia can be twice as fast as this in its speed bursts. Because they are really in no hurry, it would really seem to us like a world in slow motion. I'd say the slowest move at a pace noticeable only if you look it with more than a fleeting glance. Oh I see. A documentary meant to look real even if it is not. Although in this case any footage would have to be sped up in fast forward. Thanks Rodlox. |
|
My Deviantart A work in progress. Other Liked Quote: "The "habitable zone" will expand along with the Sun. This will warm once-frozen planets and their moons, bringing a brief springtime after a 10-billion-year winter." | |
|
|
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
| Go to Next Page | |
| « Previous Topic · Evolutionary Continuum · Next Topic » |
11:57 AM Jul 13