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| Fallow Earth | |
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| Topic Started: Aug 1 2016, 06:00 AM (1,234 Views) | |
| Jonagold2000 | Aug 1 2016, 06:00 AM Post #1 |
Zygote
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Welcome to Fallow Earth, a project in which mankind's actions lead to a minor extinction event, causing the death of most endangered animals. But that was not all fate had in store for life on Earth. an asteroid, 7km wide, was heading for the sun when its course was altered by Jupiter's gravitational influence. The asteroid hit Earth somewhere in South Africa, it caused a cloud of debris and dust to block out the sun for several decades and as a result 50% of life on Earth went extinct, it was the end of the Holocene. Any humans living on Earth were either killed or fled to extraplanetary colonies. After this catastrophy humans decided to aid the recovery of Earth's biosphere, making sure that the situation didn't get any worse. They, due to reasons still unclear, revived several extinct lineages to take part in this new biosphere. After a few thousand years humans left the solar system entirely, presumably to let nature take it's course after the biosphere had stabilised. With humans gone the current glacial cycle recommenced after about 50,000 years and the ice ages continued untill about 8 myh, after which Earth's average temperature slowly crept up untill about 15 myh, when the average temperature is about 3 degrees celcius higher than today. Around this time humans rediscovered Earth and set up colonies. This is the time period the project takes place in, called the Anachrocene. Earth has changed within the 15,000,000 years humans have been absent. The polar caps have retreated, leaving large parts of Antarctica and Greenland unfrozen. East Africa has broken off from the rest of the continent and the Mediterranian has closed. South America is no longer connected to North America. Map: Spoiler: click to toggle Credit to Dragonthunders.The lineages that have been revived: Spoiler: click to toggle
Edited by Jonagold2000, Aug 11 2016, 11:05 AM.
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| Jonagold2000 | Sep 21 2016, 04:11 PM Post #16 |
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Zygote
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Sorry for the long time between updates, in between this update and the last I went on holiday, got sick for a week and school started up again so I had little time to so spec. It's spring in the forest and organisms all over have one thing on their mind: reproduction. The flowers are blooming, displaying their bright colors and sending their sweet aroma around the Woods. Various lizards crests are showing their vibrant crests and birds are singing in the hope for a female's attention. One bird is on his way to collect shiny objects to court his lady, he jutters about the jungle in search of colorfull rocks, flowers etc. As he flies next to the river something catches his attention, a red rock lies on the banks. He swoops down in order to collect the hopefull adition to his nest. As he picks up the pebble he notices an animal has been hissing at him from a small distance. Suddenly a dark shape awkwardly charges. In a panic the bird drops his rock, jumps in the air and flies to the jungle. From a twig he peeks at his attacker, whom is currently taking seat atop a small pile of sand hidden away amongst the trees. It is a small, fluffy creature with absurdly large feet and a dark stripe running along its neck. It was a canoot, a semi-aquatic coelophysoid.  The Kanoo Coelophysoids, Canoots Parvoversidae, commonly called canoots, are a group of small, superficially grebe-like coelophysoids that are found in Southern Mexico, the Caribbean and the Amazon. They generally prefer warm and wet enviroments Canoots are specialized small to medium fish eaters. They catch their prey via a short, underwater chase at the end of which they snap of the prey in their jaws. Some Canoots might been observed hunting together, with one or several individuals chasing the fish in the direction of the others, but evidence is lacking at the moment. One of the most striking things about canoots is their very large feet used for propulsion, in some species the feet have striking markings. Canoots also have a pelican-like throat pouch used for storing prey for later consumption. Canoots can range in size from a few decimeters to 1.5 meters. Canoots generally live in either solitary or in large colonies, depending on the amount of local predators and foodsources. Colonies tend to be around areas rich in food and can consist of as many as 500 individuals at a time, individuals with a higher status nest closer to the center of these colonies and there are even ''outcasts'', individuals that nest outside of the colony. Canoots may seem cute but interspecific combat is common within colonies, due to their arms and sharp claws these conflicts can result in fatal injuries. Squabbling canoots push against eachother with their chests, occasionally dealing a blow with their arms or nipping the opponent. Canoots can have elaborate mating displays and some species have elaborate crests to match. Juveniles follow around their parents for protection but are not fed, similar to crocodilians canoot juveniles have to hunt for their own food. The juveniles generally mature within a couple months of hatching. Depicted above is a greater striped canoot, Paroversus albatus (=small, dancing and striped), a medium-sized canoot that is found in the rainforests of Soutern Mexico. They feed on the large diversity of fish found within the jungle freshwater. It's also one of the few species in North America to have whiskers, used as an aid to sense fish in the muddy waters they live in. Most Amazonian species have whiskers for this reason. Their species name came from the way they look like they're dancing while in the water. |
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12:00 PM Jul 13