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| Atlantis: The Next Union; The weird things of a distant Earth | |
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| Topic Started: Feb 24 2016, 06:47 AM (3,920 Views) | |
| El Dorito | Feb 24 2016, 06:47 AM Post #1 |
chlorinated opthalmic trigonometric shape of conspiracy and dank memes
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For the last 400 million years or so the land has been the domain of the tetrapods, those four legged beasts that range from frogs to dinosaurs, snakes to humans, birds to lizards; you name it, and there's a pretty high chance that it's a tetrapod. But suppose that in the future tetrapods suffered a major event, one that knocks out most of their diversity, something so apocalyptic that even these true survivors are unable to recover completely. Some 104 million years in the future, an enormous outpouring of lava, a flood basalt event, occures in South America, on the eastern edge of what is today the Amazon Basin. This event lasted only about 6 million years, but over that time it created the most extensive large igneous province on earth, even larger than the Siberian traps eruptions 350 million years earlier. This caused the great die off of all life forms, including insects and a bunch of really hardy animals. When it ended there were perhaps only 100 species of tetrapods in existence at all, most of them reptiles and amphibians that were better able to deal with the general lack of food. Fast forward 100 million years or so, and the world looks almost unrecognisable. The continents have all merged to some extent, and the Pacific Ocean is almost completely gone. Life is rich and varied again, but unlike in previous mass extinctions, the tetrapods did not fully recover, and now share the earth with a huge variety of other things. Large marine tetrapods akin to whales are a thing of the past, the only tetrapods that go in water now are things that are akin to otters and small crocodiles, and none are more than 5 metres long. In place of marine tetrapods, other things have taken over. Sharks and bony fish both survived, and have taken up part of the role, but in addition there are a bunch of more exotic organisms. Cephalopods also rose to the challenge, and became the Onychoctopodidae and Carcharoteuthidans, which are probably as close to the mythological kraken as is physically possible. Some crabs also became large benthic predators. But these things all exist today, or are similar to things today. They aren't exactly 'neo-vertebrates' either. But these predators aren't the only denizens of the Global Ocean, and some of their contemporaries are unexpected from a modern point of view. One such thing is the Gamaren. From a distance it looks very similar to a shark, but get closer and it turns out to be another thing entirely. In fact the Gamaren, and any of its 150 relatives, are not actually vertebrates at all, they are echinoderms, sea cucumbers to be exact. Like familiar sea cucumbers, gamarens have a relatively simple body, basically a living tube. They also lack a proper internal skeleton, with most of their muscles being anchored to their tough skin. But that's where the similarities end. Unlike any other echinoderms, gamaren have both a complex brain and eyes, and in fact they actually have more eyes than true vertebrates do, with up to 3 on each side of their head, although their visual receptors actually extend along their flank, meaning they can detect light from almost anywhere on their body, though only their real eyes can detect images and motion. In order to be effective hunters, gamaren have evolved a fluked caudal fin, but in contrast to every other marine creature, they actually have paired caudal fins. This might be expected to be a hinderance, but it actually appears to increase the manoeuvrability. One other important difference to other echinoderms is the preface of 'jaws'. While different to the jaws if vertebrates, the jaws of gamaren function in a similar way. The structure is connected to the front of a block of cartilage surrounding the brain, and open up and down. While perhaps not exactly a true jaw, as it's main function is to make the mouth and head more rigid to increase streamlining, the shape is very similar. Within the jaw structure are very sharp toothlike projections made of silica, essentially glass teeth. Despite having the power to dismember prey, more often the prey is simply swallowed whole.
MAP OF THE WORLD:
Edited by El Dorito, Mar 25 2016, 08:24 AM.
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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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| Dragonthunders | Mar 2 2016, 08:42 AM Post #31 |
The ethereal archosaur in blue
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I think you have misunderstood what we said, no one has said that everything will be the same, what we are trying to say is that at some point animal groups will remain here on the planet no matter how much time passes, with new variants that cover other niches,of course; the only thing that would slow down them or stop them is a mass extinctions.
It really depends, for example you can create a new group of "flying mammals" in 100 million years and say they are descendants of primates, and give us an idea of the difference between these mammals and the ancient primates with the linneaen classification, however, it does not give us an idea how they evolved or appeared, and here is how the cladistic is a bit more advanced, because it do not hierarchizes, but connecting the relationships between ancestors and descendants, something very important in future evolution for people who really want to understand how this world and creatures has arrived at a point.
And that is a problem? many people have creatures that are descendants of frogs, pigs, lizards and say that came from those animals and are still being part of a group is not a big thing, it not stopped the creations of unique creatures.
Why obsolete?
So, just kill them with a gamma ray burst, because:
This would never be possible with an eruption of basalt, they are lethal, but aren't deus ex machinas to remove kind of beings. |
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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 | |
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| Beetleboy | Mar 2 2016, 11:31 AM Post #32 |
neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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It seems to me like you're trying a little bit too hard to kill things off, El Dorito. What many people don't realise is how adaptable many animals can be. So, say mammals go extinct. How exactly would this happen? Would they be outcompeted - if so, what outcompetes them, and how the heck does it manage to do that. Is there an extinction event - if so, it would probably have to be more severe than the K-Pg event to wipe out mammals completely. The same goes for birds. It seems to me that you haven't thought this out very well, but simply want the project because you want to make psuedo-vertebrates or whatever. You're just trying too hard to kill things off, and strongly implying that it would be boring if mammals and birds were still around, is just stupid. There's so many fascinating directions that you could take both of these animals with. |
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| El Dorito | Mar 3 2016, 12:13 AM Post #33 |
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chlorinated opthalmic trigonometric shape of conspiracy and dank memes
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I'm not trying to get rid of everything 'too hard' I am just trying to eliminate the likeliness of tetrapods re-diversifying after the mass extinction. Otherwise this project would be pretty much the same as the many other projects that cover this area in time. If it doesn't look appealing, it won't attract viewers, which I think is what happened with 1 Million years AD. I will also say this now, the Gamaren won't be the only 'pseudo vertebrates' around, there's some other stuff on land too that I haven't got to yet but will in the next few weeks. Edited by El Dorito, Mar 3 2016, 12:15 AM.
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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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| Dragonthunders | Mar 3 2016, 09:00 AM Post #34 |
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The ethereal archosaur in blue
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Then kill them all, because no matter how few vertebrates remain on the planet, they will recover quickly only after a catastrophe, no matter how severe the extinction has been, just think in the permian. Even if only turtles survives, it will be enough to lead a successful lineage. (just an example) There are no methods to keep life stagnant unless if the environmental conditions are very hostile (as an unbreathable atmosphere or a volatile climate).
Like? I'm watching you exemplifies that about "doing the same", but what are they? where do I find them? I must say that there are groups of projects which birds and mammals that are "dominating" the ecosystem, but most are in the near future, most in a smaller range to 50 million years. Projects dealing with the far future are accounting, like 3 or 5, only 2 are actives now.
At least you know what "viewers" want to see? I am one of them, and in my opinion I want that this project had a concise and logical argument, not only kill the organisms and make "Neo-" versions of them because yes. I'm not trying to be picky, I'm just critical about how you are dealing with this topic. |
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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 | |
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| Beetleboy | Mar 3 2016, 11:17 AM Post #35 |
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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Is that a problem? Surely you would want to strive for more realistic rather than 'oh I'll just go kill all these off 'cos I can because it'll be cooler then'.
You do realise that you can make vertebrates unique and different without having to kill them off?
I have a few things to say to this: 1: it won't look appealing if it isn't realistic, and this is bordering on quite unrealistic now. 2: so what if it doesn't attract viewers? We do these projects because we enjoy them, not to get some people to come and praise us. Sure, it's nice if you get comments, but you seem to be missing the point of having a project. 3: the reason why 1 Million Years AD didn't have very much attention (relatively) was partly because there weren't many updates yet. And personally, what put me off, was your repeated mentions of 'why is nobody commenting in?', which made it seem a bit like you was attention-wanting. Sorry if any of this comes across as rude, I assure you, I don't mean to be. I am simply speaking my mind. 
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| El Dorito | Mar 4 2016, 06:43 AM Post #36 |
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chlorinated opthalmic trigonometric shape of conspiracy and dank memes
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Ok, il say this now, most things alive now are going to still exist at the time this takes place, however most of them are going to look relatively strange compared to what we are used to. This is what I was trying to say before but didn't word it right. Part 2 of Olympus island was supposed to be done the other day, but life got in the way a bit so I couldn't do much on it. Basically it is going to be populated mostly by birds and insects, but not by terrestrial mammals or reptiles. There are some larger things, similar in niche to pinnipeds, that technically are squamates, but have evolved to the point where they are more of their own thing now, more on this later. |
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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 | Mar 4 2016, 10:30 AM Post #37 |
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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Ah, I see now. Well, in that case, my apologies for the confusion and any hostility that my comments may have seemed to hold.
You know, this sounds really cool. Now I've got past the earlier doubts and confusion about this project, I'm actually quite excited to see where you will take this. By the way, why not rename the topic title (it is possible) to something more suitable now it is a project? Like 100 Million Years AD or something, to go with your previous project. |
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| El Dorito | Mar 4 2016, 07:52 PM Post #38 |
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Possibly might change the title, but maybe to something a little bit more unique, maybe Atlantis: World of the Future, or something like that. Edited by El Dorito, Mar 5 2016, 05:51 AM.
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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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| El Dorito | Mar 6 2016, 04:59 AM Post #39 |
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Olympus Island part 2: Biology Being so far from any other significant landmass, it is perhaps not surprising that 90% of life on Olympus Island is endemic and found only there and on a few nearby islands. Because of the extreme difficulty and unlikeliness in plant seeds making it over the coastal southern mountains, and the fact that the great central desert has very little in the way of plants anyway, only very few plants at all have managed to make the journey. Most of these are derived from plants that have floating seeds, similar to coconuts, but one if the more dominant plant varieties on the island is actually a form of grass. Animals are common, but all of them are quite small, an adaption to living in a limited space. The only larger animals are those that are able to swim. Plants As described above, the isolation means that plant life started off very limited, probably only a few species. One of these species was a kind of grass, Olympus bamboo, which is externally similar to bamboo, hence the name, but unrelated. This grass is the most common plant on the island, and forms dense forests. The other species were plants with floating seeds, similar to coconuts today. Unlike the grass, these plants are as yet unable to move inland, as their seeds seem to require either water or one of the many salts dissolved within it in order to begin developing. Like many plants found in Hawaii today, the similar volcanic settings of Olympus island mean that many of these plants are fire resistant, and in some cases it takes direct contact with lava itself to burn. This is also down to the somewhat lower oxygen levels of the time however, as the lack of vegetation in general around the planet leads to a relatively low 17% oxygen content in the atmosphere. Pictures: coming soon, working on it now. Animals Because of the restrictive environment presented by a densely forested and relatively small island, the animals are correspondingly small bodied. Most of the animal biomass is composed of insects and other invertebrates, which are major players in the recycling of plant matter into soil. Vertebrates are quite rare, mostly being small things like birds, and there are no land mammals, reptiles or anphibians at all. Many birds secondarily evolved flightless news, but because of the restrictive environment presented by the dense forests, these birds are also on the small side, only slightly bigger than a chicken. Some larger birds are able to migrate to the mainland, but most are stranded on the island. Aside from these small and 'dainty' creatures, there is relatively little else. The only other animal fauna are those that live in the ocean. These include several species of sharks, gamaren, and other predators, and a vast array of prey species. The seas also support two species of 'plesioseals'. Named after their close resemblance in shape to plesiosaurs, and their amphibious seal-like lifestyle, plesioseals are found worldwide, mostly in colder water. Though technically squamates, the plesioseals have little in common with the reptilian creatures of the Holocene, belonging instead to the derived group, the Kaijusauria*. The main mode of swimming is a vertical undulation reminiscent of mammals, and parts of the back and neck are covered in hair-like fibres. The two species found around around Olympus island are physically quite different. The first and more common species is a fish eating opportunistic predator that is strongly migratory and only breeds on Olympus island. The other is an apex predator the side and weight of a walrus, and in some ways a last gasp of the former marine tetrapod dynasty. Pictures: • http://el-d0rito.deviantart.com/art/Walrusaur-595279006?ga_submit_new=10%253A1457392236 •http://el-d0rito.deviantart.com/art/Olympus-plesioseal-595278394 • (birds in the making still) *(more information can be found on 1 Million Years AD, my previous project that this current project succeeds). Edited by El Dorito, Mar 8 2016, 04:07 AM.
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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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| El Dorito | Mar 8 2016, 04:08 AM Post #40 |
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chlorinated opthalmic trigonometric shape of conspiracy and dank memes
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There are now pictures to some of the things of Olympus island, I will be adding the rest over the next day or two. |
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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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| El Dorito | Mar 12 2016, 02:19 AM Post #41 |
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Here is a map, it will also be on the front entry of the project. If anyone knows how to put images in a spoiler page please comment, it would help.
Edited by El Dorito, Mar 12 2016, 02:21 AM.
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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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| El Dorito | Mar 13 2016, 08:05 AM Post #42 |
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Pacific Basin: Hell on Earth The Pacific ocean today covers roughly 1/3 of the total surface area of the planet, and is by itself bigger than all the land area on Earth put together. The Pacific ocean as we know it was first formed some time in the early Cretaceous - before that time it was known as the Panthalassic ocean. Since the breakup of Pangaea in the early Jurassic, the former global ocean has been shrinking. At first it was relatively slow, but as time went on it was noticeable. In the last 20 million years however, several factors have arisen that will likely effect the fate of the ocean in the future. The most important of these is the subduction of the northern half of the mid-pacific ridge beneath North America. This event likely means the ocean is doomed to close in the formation of the next supercontinent. But in its waning days, the ocean transforms into something else, something more terrifying... As the continents converged around it, the last area of pacific ocean (an area about the size of Europe) that hasn't subducted beneath what is today Alaska becomes trapped deep inland. But because of the arid and very isolated environment around it, the ocean all but dried up. The resulting landscape is probably like nothing ever seen before on Earth. It is dry land over 4 km below sea level, the atmosphere is so dense and hot, over 70 C in places, that survival at the bottom of the basin is only possible for hours to mere minutes, and because it was once the bottom of an ocean, the desert is not made so much of sand and dust, but of lethally toxic amounts of salt. It is in fact probably the only place on Earth that makes Mars seem like the better option if you had a choice between the two. Because of the settings, this area is also a unique setting of subduction happening on land. The actual trench however, is indeed filled by water. Whether this body of water would be called a small ocean or a large salty lake is not easy to determine, but it is the biggest inland body of water that exists at this time, almost twice the size of the Caspian sea of today. Very little life exists anywhere in this water though. Even the most hardcore extermophiles struggle here, as the water not only has an extremely high salt content, but the water itself is corrosive to living tissue. This is because of the nearby volcanic arc to the north, and the subduction of mostly dehydrated evaporite deposits resulting in highly alkaline magma compositions. As these rocks are weathered and the high amounts of Na+ and K+ ions dissolve into the water, they react with the carbonate formed from CO2 in the atmosphere, forming sodium and potassium carbonates. Some of the Na+ and K+ ions also react with hydroxide ions in the water to form alkali metal hydroxides, essentially turning the water into a solution of what is basically drain cleaner. Not all of the water in the basin is as dangerous as this. There is actually a major river flowing north from the distant Proximus mountains to the south, although in the dry parts of the year it is reduced to a small stream. Because of the general lack of things that are, well, alive, there wont be a biology section for this area. The only living things are some full on hardcore microbes, and sometimes insects and birds that fly over it. Leave a comment on your opinion if you want to. Edited by El Dorito, Mar 13 2016, 07:19 PM.
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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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| CaledonianWarrior96 | Mar 13 2016, 09:07 AM Post #43 |
An Awesome Reptile
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What did you use to create your map? I'm trying to create some maps for Future Planet but don't know how to make a digital map. Also it would help to add more to the section in the bottom left corner so people know what sections of land are what kind of terrain as not everyone will know, such as 'yellow - desert, brown - mountains' |
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Come check out and subscribe to my projects on the following subforums; Future Planet (V.2): the Future Evolution of Life on Earth (Evolutionary Continuum) The Meuse Legacy: An Alternative Outcome of the Mosasaur (Alternative Evolution) Terra Cascus: The Last Refuge of the Dinosaurs (Alternative Evolution) - Official Project - Foundation The Beryoni Galaxy: The Biologically Rich and Politically Complex State of our Galaxy (Habitational Zone) - Beryoni Critique Thread (formerly: Aliens of Beryoni) The Ecology of Skull Island: An Open Project for the Home of King Kong (Alternative Universe) The Ecology of Wakanda: An Open Project for the Home of Marvel's Black Panther (Alternative Universe) (Click bold titles to go to page. To subscribe click on a project, scroll to the bottom of the page and click "track topic" on the bottom right corner) And now, for something completely different
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| El Dorito | Mar 13 2016, 05:21 PM Post #44 |
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chlorinated opthalmic trigonometric shape of conspiracy and dank memes
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I already did that, there's an updated map on Deviantart and at the bottom of the main description. I used Microsoft Paint to create it. Edited by El Dorito, Mar 13 2016, 05:22 PM.
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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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| CaledonianWarrior96 | Mar 13 2016, 05:37 PM Post #45 |
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An Awesome Reptile
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I didn't see that before, but it does help a lot. I think it would be helpful to show the direction of subduction of the plates. (Not trying to pick out every flaw, just advising on ways to improve the map )Also if you're having trouble naming 7 and 8 (I think it's those two), I have some suggestions if you want to know them Edited by CaledonianWarrior96, Mar 13 2016, 05:39 PM.
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Come check out and subscribe to my projects on the following subforums; Future Planet (V.2): the Future Evolution of Life on Earth (Evolutionary Continuum) The Meuse Legacy: An Alternative Outcome of the Mosasaur (Alternative Evolution) Terra Cascus: The Last Refuge of the Dinosaurs (Alternative Evolution) - Official Project - Foundation The Beryoni Galaxy: The Biologically Rich and Politically Complex State of our Galaxy (Habitational Zone) - Beryoni Critique Thread (formerly: Aliens of Beryoni) The Ecology of Skull Island: An Open Project for the Home of King Kong (Alternative Universe) The Ecology of Wakanda: An Open Project for the Home of Marvel's Black Panther (Alternative Universe) (Click bold titles to go to page. To subscribe click on a project, scroll to the bottom of the page and click "track topic" on the bottom right corner) And now, for something completely different
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