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| The Fire Forest; In a hostile environment, a rich ecosystem hangs from the branches of giant trees | |
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| Topic Started: Feb 11 2016, 10:00 PM (4,497 Views) | |
| HangingThief | Feb 11 2016, 10:00 PM Post #1 |
ghoulish
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 Table of Contents 9 million years in the future, life on earth hasn't changed all that much. The anthropocene age was not a severe mass extinction- humans wiped themselves out before they could eliminate many major groups of animals. But they did have a profound impact on the climate- by digging up fossilized swamp plants and algae and using them for energy, they unleashed millions of years of stored carbon back into the atmosphere. As the climate warmed, permafrost melted and bacteria began to digest the frozen plant matter, releasing even more greenhouse gases. They could do nothing as their seas rose and arable land desertified, politics preventing them from taking any steps toward population reduction. The eruption of the Yellowstone caldera midway through the 21st century was the last straw. After the humans, their pollution and their agricultural fields went away, forests and algal blooms went to town converting the human and volcano created co2 into oxygen and creating oxygen rich conditions not unlike the Carboniferous. The ice caps have melted entirely, and barely a dry spot is left- swamp became more common than forest. (EDIT: there's some things wrong with that section^, so just ignore it. For example, the Yellowstone caldera wouldn't actually erupt so soon and cause severe climate change, and it's a cliche anyway. I'll fix it eventually. The basic premise is that the earth is warmer, and this project takes place in coastal arctic regions of North America.) Much of the world became a paradise, especially for ectothermic animals. (However, mammals and birds certainly didn't go anywhere or give up their niches to gigantic insects, as sad as it is.) The coal swamps returned in this thick, humid atmosphere in any reasonably warm lowland area. Life flourished in most areas. But these areas are not what we are going to focus on. The far northern coastal regions is not hot and humid or cold and dry. It is best described as a mild, rather dry Mediterranean climate. In the summer, rain is rare and most moisture comes from sea fog. It should be a desert. But it's not- there are extremely dense forests consisting of the towering descendants of redwoods (Sequoia destruaradix) and bamboos (Tuberculobambusa gigas). The soil is dry and devoid of other plant life. (No thanks to the shade and acidic carpet of needles created by the redwoods.) How do these giant plants get enough water to survive? What is their secret? It's all thanks to their roots. In the redwoods, it's rather simple and has to do with the geography- the areas with redwood forests correlate with shallow water tables. Most trees start their life with a large taproot for getting moisture from the ground, but become shallow rooted in adulthood. The coast redwoods that the future redwoods evolved from were no exception. But the future redwoods evolved to keep it, and grow quite possibly the biggest taproot ever to pierce into the water table and suck out the water. But this brings to light a problem- how do the young trees become established? The establishment of young trees is an unusual case of what could be described as botanical parental care and sacrifice of offspring. Most plants adopt the strategy of spreading their seeds as far away as possible so that offspring aren't in competition with their parent. But a baby tree can't obtain water on its own in this climate- it needs help. So, the parent tree connects some roots with a nearby sapling (which grows in the winter) shares water with it. But this sapling isn't destined to become a giant tree- it's mother simply can't have another redwood grow right next to it. The young tree "understands" this and will sacrifice itself to a sibling- another sapling growing further from the mother. It will connect roots and give the water being pumped to it by their mother to the next sapling. As soon as it has connected to another sapling, it mostly stops growing itself apart from strengthening the roots used to pump water to and from its neighbors. It becomes nothing more than a water transportation unit. A chain of these water transporters continues, sometimes through dozens of young trees, until one that is a sufficient distance from the mother tree is reached. This all must happen before the winter is over- any unconnected saplings die in the summer drought. The final link grows very rapidly, as the mother tree pumps not only fluids but also sugar (as their is little sunlight below the canopy) and nitrogen to the young tree to fuel it. Because it receives everything it needs from its mother, it focuses on two things- growing a tall trunk and thick bark, and growing its taproot. Once the taproot hits the water table, however, the mother doesn't cut it off just yet- perhaps if it has many offspring it will cut off the weaker ones, but generally it keeps the supply flowing. Even though the tree is independent, it's not out of danger yet- indeed, it will not be completely out of danger for hundreds of years. It is important that it grows as tall as possible as fast as possible, and not just because it needs sunlight. We will get around to the reason why shortly. The fast growing bamboo grows in the redwood forest when a tree falls down and lets in sunlight. But in general, places with underground reservoirs are practically monocultures of redwoods (at least from a ground level view) and those without are dominated by bamboo. But in many places, due to redwood's previously described water sharing chains, redwoods can slowly encroach upon the bamboo. So how does the bamboo get its water? One clue is that some species of related, deciduous bamboos have colonized the inland deserts. They have become succulents. Not visible stem or leaf succulents like cacti, but rather root succulents- they have enormous underground tubers for storing water and sugar. One curious fact, though, is that the winters are not long or wet enough for a stand to accumulate enough water to last it through the summer. It should run dry after a bit of vigorous spring growth. Yet it doesn't. Tomorrow, I'll post why there are only bamboo and redwoods, why it is necessary for the young redwoods to receive support from their mother even after hitting the water table, and why the bamboo doesn't run out of water- (hint: it's in the title) I probably won't be getting around to animals for a while. Edited by HangingThief, Aug 22 2016, 09:23 PM.
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| Beetleboy | Feb 16 2016, 04:29 AM Post #16 |
neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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Barkworms, flypaper worms, fly-catcher worms, bark flypapers. |
| ~ The Age of Forests ~ | |
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| HangingThief | Feb 16 2016, 07:38 PM Post #17 |
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ghoulish
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Eh, I was thinking something a little more creative. Like "buttered pancake of death" only not that awful. |
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| Beetleboy | Feb 17 2016, 11:47 AM Post #18 |
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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Ah, I see. How about the Lovecraftian barkwork (or something Lovecraftian)? |
| ~ The Age of Forests ~ | |
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| HangingThief | Feb 17 2016, 12:35 PM Post #19 |
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ghoulish
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Yeah, that's a little better |
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| DroidSyber | Feb 17 2016, 01:14 PM Post #20 |
I'll cut ya swear on me mum
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Redbark Death Crawler |
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Non Enim Cadunt! No idea how to actually hold down a project. | |
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| HangingThief | Feb 17 2016, 08:07 PM Post #21 |
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ghoulish
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As silkwasps make their daily commute from their nests close to the ground to the highest reaches of the canopy, passing through every level of the forest, they encounter all kinds of danger. Their relatively large size and lethal venom protects them from many of the predators of the Fire Forest, but far from all of them. Making direct contact with any solid surface is inadvisable. Flatworms are just one of the camouflaged ambush predators that make their home on the bark. The larvae of Decorator Owlflies, Congerascalaphida spp., press their flattened bodies against the bark. Any insect, lizard, or even bird that gets too close to the 9 centimeter larva will be seized by its oversized hollow mandibles, pumped full of paralyzing digestive juices and sucked dry. They can take down prey 20 times their own size. In addition to the fringe of bristles that breaks up their outline, decorator owlfly larvae have velcro- like hairs they use to fasten bits of plant matter, including small living bromeliads, to their dorsal surface to add to the camouflage. They also sometimes attach the husks of small beetles and other hard shelled victims as bait, but rarely more than one at a time to avoid arousing suspicion. The winged adults are also predatory but not nearly as voracious. Another small, but dangerous, predator is the 6 centimeter Sharpshooter Rove Beetle, Jactavenator communis. Rove beetles are an ancient group of beetles more typically known for using their acute sense of smell used to track down carrion, mushrooms and other things where they might find maggots and other helpless, soft bodies insects to eat. Their greatly reduced wing cases, which gave many species an earwig- like appearance, grant them greater maneuverability on the ground and the ability to bend their flexible abdomen in any direction in order to dispense defensive secretions at predators. The sharpshooter has become a more formidable hunter, it's defensive secretions turned offensive. When one spots a silkwasp or similar flying within suitable distance, it takes careful aim and fires a stream of poisonous alkaloids at its target. It releases pheromones that put all the other sharpshooters in the vicinity on high alert, ready to follow up the first attack should the wasp come near them. Their prey has developed a degree of immunity to the poison and it takes more than one hit and several hours for the wasp to die. In the meantime, the beetles take to the wing and follow it by the pheromones mixed into the spray. When it finally collapses, they finish it off with a few more squirts and tear into the carcass with their sharp mandibles. Many of its relatives hunt smaller or land based prey using the same method. One predator doesn't rely on poison or other cowardly means of subduing these dangerous insects. It is a small, slender, raptor derivative known as the Likeka. (Producticruris raptorialis). This gangly, bizarre looking bird, believed to be a descendant of the northern crested caracara, has long, slender legs and outsized feet with huge, sharp talons. In addition to grasping and killing prey, its long toes and claws can lock securely around thin the vines and branches where it spends most of its time. It is entirely arboreal, and indeed due to its strange proportions it would have great difficulty walking upright on the ground. Even in the complex maze of vines and branches that are its home, it looks somewhat awkward as it climbs, pivots, and swings about, preferring not to fly. But when it needs to, it can move through the dense tangle quicker and more efficiently than any bird ever could on the wing. A characteristic pose for the likeka is hanging upside down from one foot, ready to lash out at passing prey with the other or let go and drop onto an unsuspecting victim beneath it. It stalks and grabs everything from butterflies to other birds. When it captures larger, more powerful animals, rather than attempt to overpower it like it would be forced to on the ground, it uses gravity to its advantage, clutching its victim with one foot, hanging from the other and ripping the prey to pieces with its beak.  A choice meal for the likeka is, of course, a silkwasp. A single sting could spell the end for the bird, but the likeka is skilled at disarming the insect by pinching the end of its abdomen. It must be quick and catch the wasp by surprise if it is to be successful. Silkwasps are usually joined by others ready to sting any creature that brings harm to one of their brethren, but they're too scared of the likeka and its impaling weapons. Another bird, while not dangerous, certainly makes a pest of itself to silkwasps returning to the nest with food. It is sometimes referred to as the Wasp- Robber. (Kleptoparvus velox) It is a small, fast, agile bird that plucks the ‘meatballs’ straight from the mouths of returning foragers, who are burdened with all of the water in their abdomens and cannot evade it. They can grasp the meatball tighter to prevent it from being wrested away by the bird, but usually the bird catches them by surprise. It is a somewhat dangerous habit, especially with queen wasps and their sharper, stronger mandibles, but the wasp- robber gets away with it almost every time. But there are other risks. Every once in awhile, instead of pulling a sweet, juicy ball of mashed up insects and honeydew from the jaws of a friendly wasp, its beak closes around nothing but a papery ball of silk and the long, trailing legs shoot forward and seize it... No, an irate silkwasp has not finally become fed up with the wasp- robber. Rather, it has fallen for the ruse of a creature that isn't a wasp at all. Gigantovespiformes imitator, the giant wasp mimic, is a large member of the fly family Empididae, the dance flies or dagger flies. All of its ancestors from the 21st century were small, slender predators that fed on mosquitoes and other tiny flying insects. Gigantivespiformes doesn't look much like its ancestors, due to its size and the fact that it is a nearly perfect mimic of the silkwasp. It's silkwasp mimicry originally evolved for protection, like most wasp mimics, but has since been fine- tuned due to the advantage it gave the fly for hunting wasp- robbers. The flies that capture birds are almost always males. They probably won’t eat the bird itself, rather they will wrap it in silk (which adult dance flies can produce) and give it to a female in exchange for mating, a practice found in most dance flies. A male who put time and effort into securing a gift will only choose a female who has a fat, egg laden abdomen. So, some female dance flies inflate their abdomens with air sacs so the males can't tell whether or not they are gravid. This is especially important for species where the females are mostly or entirely dependant on gifts from males for nourishment. This includes the giant wasp mimic, only both sexes have air sacs- the male’s skinny abdomens resemble the fat, water filled abdomen of a silkwasp forager when the sacs are inflated, complete with a narrow “waist.”’ Without getting a good look at the head it is very difficult to tell the wasps and imposters apart. They even mimic the distinctive low- pitched hum created by a silkwasp in flight, and the males spin small, colored silk balloons resembling the wasp’s meatballs. This not only tricks the wasp- robber into attempting to steal it, but also conceals the long proboscis that would give the fly away. The larvae of Gigantovespiformes imitator are aquatic and develop in the water filled chambers of silkwasp nests. The most common enemies of silkwasps are strepsipterans, unusual insects distantly related to beetles who’s larvae and larviform females feed buried between their abdominal segments of other insects. As many as 1 in 5 silkwasps are infested with strepsiptera, a truly shocking statistic for wasps who thought it unlikely. Edited by HangingThief, Feb 20 2016, 08:07 PM.
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| HangingThief | Feb 17 2016, 08:09 PM Post #22 |
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ghoulish
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Image didn't work http://m.imgur.com/Kl7Z7NO (I just noticed that the bird in the drawing is anisodactyl, but parrots are zygodactyl. It was originally supposed to be a raptor but I decided to make it a parrot and didn't change the drawing... Just ignore that) EDIT: false alarm. It's a raptor again. Edited by HangingThief, Feb 20 2016, 08:08 PM.
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| Beetleboy | Feb 18 2016, 10:05 AM Post #23 |
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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Wonderful. For some reason I really, really like this project . . . not sure why. Edit: well, I do know why. Because it is a great project. Edited by Beetleboy, Feb 18 2016, 10:05 AM.
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| ~ The Age of Forests ~ | |
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| LittleLazyLass | Feb 19 2016, 04:55 PM Post #24 |
Proud quilt in a bag
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Not sure how I feel about the Kea descendant. The idea of Kea's becoming established seems a bit shaky, and I don't see why you couldn't use any number of other birds as ancestors. It's extreme behaviour and proportions also seem unnecessary to me. Why'd it evolve such odd methods of life and hunting? |
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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| HangingThief | Feb 19 2016, 05:16 PM Post #25 |
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Because it never touches the ground in its life, and it lives in a dense tangle of vines. Think about how small birds hide in dense vegetation to avoid raptors that can't follow them in easily. But I definitely see where you're coming from, and it's an old concept and I didn't know whether or not I should include it. In fact, I would say that the main reason I included it is to have a "token bird/mammal" that's fairly creative and unusual, because I don't feel like I'm going to come up with many more good birds and mammals. Originally the ancestor was going to be a caracara, since I got the idea after watching a documentary and seeing the way caracaras grabbed things with their feet, but I changed it after finding out what the Carakiller was descended from. Would it work better if i changed the ancestor back to a caracara? |
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| LittleLazyLass | Feb 19 2016, 05:34 PM Post #26 |
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Proud quilt in a bag
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It would make more sense than a Kea, yes. I don't see any specific similarities to the Carakiller, so there's not really conflict there. |
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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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| HangingThief | Feb 19 2016, 08:19 PM Post #27 |
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ghoulish
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Back in the Holocene, the shield bugs or stink bugs (Pentatomidae), a typically herbivorous group of insects, were just beginning to enter the realm of predation with the subfamily Asopinae- the predatory stinkbugs. These insects had a broad, flattened proboscis that folded in three places, so that it could be tucked conveniently under the insect’s head when not in use but still have the tip facing forward, ready to be extended to pierce other insects, inject venom and digestive juices, and suck out their fluids, similar to assassin bugs and several other groups of insects. But they didn't have a very sophisticated hunting technique, and due to this they were limited to slow moving or unwary insects such as caterpillars and poisonous leaf beetles. They simply walked up to their intended victim, stabbed it and began to feed. But now, the predatory stinkbugs have diverged into a whole new family of successful and diverse predators, the Harpoon Bugs (Latiusinae). The harpoon bugs originated from some predatory stinkbugs that began using stealth to hunt faster, more difficult prey. Rather than extending their proboscis as soon as they detect prey and walking up to it, they crept until their target was within the range of the full length of their proboscis and folded it out rapidly to stab the victim and administer venom. Some of them developed barbed tips that prevented their prey from escaping after being stabbed. For these bugs, it was obviously advantageous to have a longer proboscis- but due to the way the proboscis is held at rest, it could only get so long before it became cumbersome and difficult to extend. Some developed long forelegs to prop themselves up, but others evolved a much more effective strategy. What defines the Harpoon Bugs is that they have a telescopic proboscis. A flexible, elastic membrane between the sections of the proboscis and muscles around their enlarged thoracic air sacs allows them to push air forcibly into the proboscis. It inflates to several times it's original length faster than the eye can see, let alone the insect can react. Harpoon Bug and proboscis detail The most primitive Harpoon Bugs are also the most aptly named, they simply spear their prey with the sharp tip. But this arrangement isn't ideal for capturing small, fast moving or flying prey- and that's what the more modern species specialize in. Some species, especially larger ones, developed an airbag- like sac that emerge behind the tip of the proboscis when the proboscis is inflated. It is covered with tiny hairs, so small prey items stick to it. This is the closest thing arthropods have evolved to the sticky tongue of a toad or chameleon. Because the tip of the proboscis is pushed upwards by the inflation of the sac and can't reach prey stuck to it, the stylets have become elongated and flexible. Prey capture sequence From these species arose the most successful hunters of them all. Rather than microscopic hairs, the sac near the end of their rostrum has a brush of long, stiff bristles that vary depending on species in number and thickness. Many have small inward facing hairs or barbs. When the sac inflates, the brush opens (think porcupine fish) and when it is deflated they shut. The harpoon bug can use the bristles to snatch passing insects right out of the air, and often does. For these species the bulk of their diet comes from flies and gnats. Prey capture sequence Representatives of every stage in the Harpoon Bug’s evolution are found throughout the fire forest. The more modern species are typically large insects, 3- 14 centimeters in length not including the proboscis, that are active during the day on foliage and flowers. The more primitive ‘spearing’ species tend to be smaller and are less common. Proboscis types, inflated
Edited by HangingThief, Feb 19 2016, 08:58 PM.
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| truteal | Feb 19 2016, 09:02 PM Post #28 |
forum bigfoot
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I agree, maybe you could make its ancestor another parrot species? Edited by truteal, Feb 19 2016, 09:02 PM.
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My sporadically updated Youtube page Do you get it? I hardly ever come here so I'm like something a cryptozoologist would study | |
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| LittleLazyLass | Feb 19 2016, 09:08 PM Post #29 |
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Proud quilt in a bag
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I like that the harpoon bugs aren't just the most derived form, that the more "primitive" ones are still around, living alongside them. People all too often like imaging evolution as linear, but more often than not this is the case, particularly with something like insects. Also, a note on the table of contents, some people use different settings for amounts of posts per page, so what page it's on might not be correct all the time. For example, post 17 is on page one for me, but for most people it's on page two. You can click the post number, and it will bring you to the single post by itself. From there you can get a link and put it in the table of contents like this, by using the "ULR" button in the posting UI, so the person can just get a link to the post instead of tracking it down. Similarly, you can put images directly into posts with the "Image" button and an imgur link, although it's recommended to put them in spoilers for the sake of people who's browsers don't auto re-size them (like mine). Edited by LittleLazyLass, Feb 19 2016, 09:13 PM.
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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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| Sheather | Feb 19 2016, 09:22 PM Post #30 |
 
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I really like the evolution you've done for the plants. What is the pine vine's ancestor? |
 The Gaiaverse | Eden | Terra Metropolis | Life of the Sylvan Islands | Other Spec Evo | Sheatheria | Serina | The Last Dinosaur A Wholesome and Good Thing | Sam | | |
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