| 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! |
| Your Project Ideas; A place to share your ideas for projects | |
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| Topic Started: Oct 14 2015, 09:27 AM (65,431 Views) | |
| Thylacine | Dec 7 2015, 06:39 PM Post #76 |
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- A project about a planet called Aspondylus about a terraformed water/tropical planet where the introduced species are all invertebrates. 30-50 million years later life is examined. Sea Scorpion Lobsters and Sea Slug Fish were some of my ideas. - When Phytosaurs Ruled The Earth - A Dino D-Day project set in the style of a Soldier's Handbook, all about common dinosaur types you will encounter on the battlefield. But based on this forums history with DDD I don't think I will make it, |
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| Beetleboy | Dec 9 2015, 12:22 PM Post #77 |
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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I like the sound of Aspondylus. |
| ~ The Age of Forests ~ | |
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| Troy Troodon | Dec 11 2015, 04:25 PM Post #78 |
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You know after a friendly argument in the Speculative Evolution forum in which we discussed how Synapsids are not reptiles... or rather, Sauropsids since it's kind of unhealthy to talk about the evolution and transition of certain organisms from another, that got me thinking a concept for an alternative evolution topic-- What if mammals did evolve from sauropsods (Or if you prefer if mammals, are sauropsids as birds are still classed as.) |
| I was benevolent and good, but misery made me a fiend! | |
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| Thylacine | Dec 11 2015, 06:17 PM Post #79 |
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A Evolutionary Continuum project about the Great Australian-Asian Interchange circa 75 MYH. I can't decide if it should be a branch of Austra-Panama, set in a humanless world or in our regular world. Koala Lemurs. |
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| Hybrid | Dec 11 2015, 07:38 PM Post #80 |
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Isn't that exactly what we talk about around here? Hence the name, Speculative Evolution ?
How would that change anything if mammals evolved from sauropsids? They would just be classified differently. It's sorta like how David Peters classifies mammals closer to archosaurs, for some reason. However, if they are sauropsids, they wouldn't truly be mammals. They would be their own thing, as their ancestry and evolution would be really different. This question is like asking "What if birds were amphibians?". This does reminds me of the haematotherm hypothesis though.
That's about as likely as monkey-sloths, which is not a lot. |
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If I sound rude while critiquing, I apologize in hindsight! "To those like the misguided; look at the story of Man, and come to your senses! It is not the destination, but the trip that matters. What you do today influences tomorrow, not the other way around. Love Today, and seize All Tomorrows!" - Nemo Ramjet ノ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)ヽ
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| Troy Troodon | Dec 11 2015, 07:44 PM Post #81 |
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Well mammals have warm-blood, fur, erect postures, a three boned ear structure, plus mamary glands, that's what defines them as mammals. So if they can't be mammals if their ancestors evolved from reptiles, then would they not develop the features that make them mammals? I'm sorry if I'm beating a dead horse btw. Edit: Actually I take verything back. I think I just found this new recent article that will change everything most of us thought we knew. http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/there-s-no-such-thing-reptiles-any-more-and-here-s-why Edited by Troy Troodon, Dec 11 2015, 08:00 PM.
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| I was benevolent and good, but misery made me a fiend! | |
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| Hybrid | Dec 11 2015, 08:15 PM Post #82 |
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A lot of those traits evolved in other lineages, or evolved before true mammals (with mammals refining them). Early mammals (and modern monotremes) didn't have erect limbs, and many lineages lost (or lost-ish) the ability to regulate their body temperature. If a mammal evolved scales, lost the ability to regulate their body temperature, and lost other typical mammal-traits, would they be reptiles? No, just reptile-like mammals. So this weird alternate sauropsids would be very mammal-like, but wouldn't be true mammals. It would be extreme convergent evolution. |
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If I sound rude while critiquing, I apologize in hindsight! "To those like the misguided; look at the story of Man, and come to your senses! It is not the destination, but the trip that matters. What you do today influences tomorrow, not the other way around. Love Today, and seize All Tomorrows!" - Nemo Ramjet ノ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)ヽ
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| Troy Troodon | Dec 11 2015, 08:20 PM Post #83 |
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Ok, I guess that makes sense. But one last question though. What defines a mammal, and how does it seperate them from "Sauropsids?" (Including birds, since according to the linked article, "reptile" is no longer valid.) Also, how about we call Synapsids "Mammal-Like 'Amniotes" instead? Edited by Troy Troodon, Dec 11 2015, 08:24 PM.
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| I was benevolent and good, but misery made me a fiend! | |
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| Hybrid | Dec 11 2015, 08:50 PM Post #84 |
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Wikipedia can answer that.
Why are you putting sauropsida in quotations? That's an actual clade, not some random term. Synapsids and sauropsids typically characterized by the number of fenestra on the skull. That and molecular evidence. |
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If I sound rude while critiquing, I apologize in hindsight! "To those like the misguided; look at the story of Man, and come to your senses! It is not the destination, but the trip that matters. What you do today influences tomorrow, not the other way around. Love Today, and seize All Tomorrows!" - Nemo Ramjet ノ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)ヽ
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| Troy Troodon | Dec 11 2015, 08:54 PM Post #85 |
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I was actually trying to that that in Italic, oops. |
| I was benevolent and good, but misery made me a fiend! | |
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| ÐK | Dec 11 2015, 09:05 PM Post #86 |
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Phylogenetically speaking, Mammalia is typically restricted to crown mammals, that is to say all living mammals (monotremes, marsupials and placentals), their most recent common ancestor, and all its descendants. They are all mammals by their ancestry, not by adhering to a set of physical traits. You can if you want, but I'll stick with stem-mammals. Sauropsida doesn't need to be in italics, only binomial names (genera and species) need to be italicised. |
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~Projects~ • Earth Without Earth; Like nothing on Earth...
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| revin | Dec 12 2015, 10:31 AM Post #87 |
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Leonardo da Vinci at his finest
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Indeed. The definition of mammal means that it is not a sauropsid. Sounds like my very first project where I turned dicynodonts and basal cynodonts into mammals.
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I tend to get dis– Hey, look, an elephant! Potentially an elephant Fire into Ice, a project about life on a rogue planet ejected from our own Solar System. Check it out! My spec evo YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/speculativeevolution With personal experience as a raven, I am a major proponent of conserving all corvid species at all costs. Save the endangered Mariana crow here. Please don't click.
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| GlarnBoudin | Dec 12 2015, 01:40 PM Post #88 |
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Disgusting Skin Fetishist
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I've updated my terraformed world project to include all smaller animals. |
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| Beetleboy | Dec 12 2015, 01:51 PM Post #89 |
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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Which project is this? |
| ~ The Age of Forests ~ | |
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| Thylacine | Dec 12 2015, 04:11 PM Post #90 |
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I could try to make a member of Eucalyptus evolve a more prominent, fleshy operculum over the flowers as they grow, creating a "fruit-like" food that Koalas could consume. With this extra energy they start moving more from tree to tree. Somehow the Eucalyptus makes it so the pollination and creation of seeds happens inside a longer lasting operculum below the flower, and as the flower falls off, the closed off operculum develops into a fully fledged "berry" that is a favorite food of these more active Koalas, they spread the seed more through their movement between trees and the ground. Ground predators make it harder for the Koala to move on the ground as Australia heads north, so they adapt longer limbs to swing through trees, or jump from branch to branch likes Lemurs. Couple of million years later you have a new type of "fruit" (not really a proper fruit) bearing tree and Marsupial Monkeys in a tropical rainforest Australia. But as soon as primates cross over of course, there is no way they can compete. Or you know, instead of going through the trouble of that, I could just make Possums my Marsupial Monkey candidate. But let's not get all Dixon with this. Edited by Thylacine, Dec 13 2015, 12:54 PM.
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