| 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! |
| The Founder Effect | |
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| Topic Started: Sep 19 2016, 12:06 AM (678 Views) | |
| Fireplume | Sep 19 2016, 12:06 AM Post #1 |
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Southern Speckled Spearrunner
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 Life is a stubborn item, as a great author once wrote, it always will find a way. Even when two million years ago started the evolution of the "dangerous, destructive human", life found a way. Even when nearly 75.9% of all land area was devoted city space, farmland, and more, life found a way. It always will find a way. Humans are inspirational to evolution it seems. We have domesticated dozens of species across the world, across an immense span of time. The future too holds the idea that many more species may join this group, whether by our choice or theirs. All of this being said however, a great deal of species are unable to adapt to anthropogenic pressures and instead of adapting, they die out. Unfortunately this project explores a world where this has been taken to the extreme and will explore the speculative future of animal and plant life (though I must admit with plants, it is far more random) that survived the environmental apocalypse that society seemingly is headed towards. For the purposes of this project, roughly 75% of life on the planet has been driven into extinction, with a strong marine bias. We will be looking at the “Founding Species”, their adaptations to a “Red Industrialized Earth”, and what became of them an even 1,000,000 years after humans left the planet for new horizons (I never enjoy projects that kill off humans [Even though my original “NeoTerra” had them dying off]; I like to think we realize our mistakes and leave Terra to heal, perhaps to Mars or simply a space station. Dunno, don’t exceptionally care, just know that humans will not be featured except as a force for evolution.) Anxiety for posting it here is awesome; but I read the Guide to Future Evolution Projects and I believe that I've not hit any tropes with this project. Table of Contents
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| Fireplume | Sep 19 2016, 12:07 AM Post #2 |
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Southern Speckled Spearrunner
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SO without further adieu... here's to the first update! The Oreochromis Tilapia  Class: Ray-finned Fishes (Actinopterygii) Order: Perciformes Family: Cichlidae Tribe: Tilapiini Genus: Oreochromis Location: Worldwide The first founding species we will explore is actually not a single species, but an entire genus. Oreochromis is a genus of more than 30 species in the Cichlid family native to Africa. As a general rule they are all extremely adaptable and can live in a variety of environments. For this reason, they have managed to spread to many waterways (including coastal waters) throughout the world; they are especially prevalent in tropical locations. There are numerous species present in the modern world that are agriculturally important, as in humans use them or their products for direct consumption. When agriculture features an aquatic species, this is often called aquaculture and a variety of members of genus Oreochromis are aquaculturally essential. Though individually they are not exceptionally palatable, many hybrid strains exist that seem to get past this, and through the process of domestication and genetic modification there are "breeds" that are rather common on a dinner table throughout the world. Other human uses for Oreochromis include foliage clearance; they are rampant herbivores capable of stripping unwanted (and wanted) vegetation from rivers, lakes, and coastlines. Unfortunately, their nondiscriminatory diet often includes native invertebrates and larger items; where they have been introduced (whether on purpose or accidentally) they have absolutely wrecked native ecosystems. Overall Oreochromis Tilapia are biological Swiss army knives; they can live almost anywhere (with a high tolerance for pollution) and feed on anything. For these reasons not only are they well capable of out-competing native fish but also recovering from their own mass die-offs due to algal blooms and such. There is no doubt that they would be able to survive a highly industrialized world. |
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| Beetleboy | Sep 19 2016, 11:19 AM Post #3 |
neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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Good work so far! Your illustrations are beautiful. I look forward to seeing what becomes of this project. |
| ~ The Age of Forests ~ | |
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| Fireplume | Sep 20 2016, 01:49 PM Post #4 |
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Southern Speckled Spearrunner
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Time for Update #2! The Coywolf  Class: Mammalia Order: Carnivora Suborder: Caniformia Family: Canidae Genus: Canis Species: Pending Location: Eastern North America Call it the Coywolf, call it the Eastern Coyote. Call it an abomination, call it a biological marvel. Whatever it may be, the rise of a Canis hybrid in eastern North America is one that is just absolutely fascinating. Known to carry genes of the Coyote (Canis latrans) and the Gray Wolf (Canis lupus), it is possible that they also carry genes of Eastern Wolf (Canis lycaon) and Domestic Dog (Canis lupus familiaris/Canis familiaris). This hodge podge mix has created the ultimate generalist, capable of exploiting damn near any food source save for the largest game (in their case, that would be moose). It's quite possible that even with human expansion that these animals will be a functional part of an urban ecosystem, as in many places they seem to already be pushing the boundaries. Interestingly enough, these animals seem to be completely adapting to living among humans, even relying on raccoons, birds, opossums, and other urban fauna for a prey source over pets (even feral animals). Due to this, they are fairly tolerable over other predators in an urban environment. Time only will tell what this unique creature will become. |
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| Corecin | Sep 20 2016, 02:04 PM Post #5 |
Prime Specimen
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You have wonderful art, I can't wait to see the next entry. |
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| Fireplume | Sep 20 2016, 06:53 PM Post #6 |
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Southern Speckled Spearrunner
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Thank you; I realize now that this project is extremely odd in that the first step needn't have environmental sort of pics, but I definitely should for the latter two. I've got some ideas and now, just gotta put them on paper ahahaha. |
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| Xenophile | Sep 20 2016, 07:56 PM Post #7 |
Formerly known as alienboy.
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Great stuff! Nice illustrations, and good sense of realism as well. I also appreciate how you haven't killed humanity off. It gets a little tiring, especially when most future evolution projects are Dixonian scenarios where nuclear fallout or severe climate change have eradicated the entire human race. Will you be adding any descriptions of future biomes, or are you sticking to species descriptions only? |
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| Fireplume | Sep 20 2016, 08:02 PM Post #8 |
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Southern Speckled Spearrunner
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*Mostly* species descriptions, but where's the fun in solely them? Ahahaha, working on environments for the "Red Industrial Earth" and "1,000,000 Years After Humans" |
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| Dr Nitwhite | Sep 20 2016, 08:10 PM Post #9 |
Luddite
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I do agree, but humanity makes things (such as the environment, future technology) tougher to predict. I think that getting rid of them is a good way to start a beginner project. Although project after project with the same scenarios can be a bit tiring after a while. And Fireplume, love what you've done here so far! The artwork is quite good, and the descriptions info-packed (perhaps a bit short though). Regardless, excellent work! |
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Speculative Evolution Projects- Other Relevant Work- Final SE Lifelist standings BREAKING NEWS We interrupt your regular programming to bring you this cutting edge report. ATTENDANCE DROPS DRASTICALLY ON SE SERVER This past Monday on Discord, famous server Speculative Evolution took a hit in the attendance office when it's offline member list suddenly reappeared. Mods scrambled to rectify the situation, but unfortunately there was little anyone could do. Server member Ivan was asked what he thought of the situation. "So long as Flisch, lord of machines and scion of Urborg lives, all will be well". SE, (in)famous for it's eccentric userbase, has recently been spiraling downward, and now we have hard conformation of the decline. Moderator "High Lord" Icthyander states "There is nothing to be concerned about, Discord is merely changing its UI again", but members are beginning to suspect the honesty of their staff. Stay tuned, we'll be back with more at 11. | |
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| Fireplume | Sep 20 2016, 08:18 PM Post #10 |
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Southern Speckled Spearrunner
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Thank you for the feedback! For these first two I understand the descriptions are a tad short, but probably for others and definitely for the speculative animals the descriptions will be far beefier, hahaha. |
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| Fireplume | Sep 26 2016, 12:50 PM Post #11 |
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Southern Speckled Spearrunner
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Two species, one origin... Our next two species both come from India and nearby areas, but they survive in two very different locations... The Indian Muntjac  Class: Mammalia Order: Cetartiodactyla Family: Cervidae Genus: Muntiacus Species: muntjak Location: India Overall, deer fare well during the extinction. While the family still certainly loses a great deal of its diversity, the Muntjacs hold on in several places. For the Indian Muntjac, this is in their native India despite intense competition for resources. Unlike many other species in this region, they are well capable of hiding out in small places and essentially riding out the extinction. Overall, these back alleys and crop-field windbreaks are soon turned into ecosystems of their own and this is where evolution hides, waiting for its chance to once again fill the world with strange creatures. While muntjacs mostly stay as they are in their current forms, some strange strange forms emerge in a land without large herbivores once humans leave the planet... what are these, you ask? Just wait... The Axis Deer  Class: Mammalia Order: Cetartiodactyla Family: Cervidae Genus: Axis Species: axis Location: South America Though originally from India and neighbouring countries, the Axis Deer quickly disappears from the region as agricultural and urban centers spread. Unlike the resourceful muntjacs, the species isn't as adept to live in small areas. The same story can be told for their introduced populations in North America, Australia, Africa, and several Pacific Islands. Despite this near disappearance, they hold on in South America, where in 2016 they occupy several countries and by the time humans leave the planet, they're thriving in all open spaces. How did they get to essentially the entire world, you ask? Well... Axis Deer are arguably the world's most popular game animal after the Whitetail Deer, Red Deer, and Fallow Deer. This means they have a significant level of importance to humans and the general theme of this project as you may know is that the animals that survive are the ones that are important to humans. Compared to other species present in this project, Axis overall barely change in the next million years and indeed, from fossil forms it is clear that their body plan is a successful one. Especially unique is their ability to handle predators perhaps better than similarly sized Cervids, barking loudly when a threat is spotted and taking off into thick brush. Interestingly enough too is their high adaptability to a variety of environments, though fall short if there is too much human interference. |
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| Fireplume | Sep 29 2016, 07:04 PM Post #12 |
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Southern Speckled Spearrunner
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Behold the HALOS Floating high above the USA state of California, the HALO R-Class "ShastaCal-1" Model rotates ever so slightly to keep an even amount of snow on its ever replenishing ski slopes. It's estimated that around 3.2 million people visited it yearly. Unlike "natural" ski resorts of the past, ShastaCal could be visited all year long thanks to atmospheric preservation fields preventing its snow melting. The Concept for the High-Atitude, Low-Orbit Ship In the 2500's, it was clear that Earth was running out of space for humanity to continue. More than 99.9% of arable land was used by then and it still wasn't enough. Even with extremely genetically modified crops to produce the most for the least amount of resources, it still wasn't enough. Together the Joint Nations [think a highly advanced version of the contemporary United Nations] needed a plan to save Earth's population... Longer story short, an (so-called) eccentric scientist by the name of Dr. Cathryn Drummond came up with the idea of massive floating plates on which one could have actual farmland where there was not... the sky. Initially, these were to float high above Earth but the general cost of upkeep and shipping was deemed uneconomical. So, their orbits were lowered... but that proved disastrous when a 1 km (roughly 3100 foot) wide HALOS slammed into Nebraska, thankfully not killing anyone but certainly tearing up precious farmland. Through trial and error (though nothing nearly as bad as the Nebraska incident), the HALOS was deemed a success. Once the base model was established, several more classes were developed and three main kinds could be found on Earth. The HALO design also fared well on the Lunar Extension and Mars colonies, proving that perhaps humans had things in more control than they ever could imagine. For off-planet HALOS an "atmospheric preservation field" was developed; essentially giant energy field generators allow for ships to pass through but keeping a set atmosphere inside the field. Upon realizing they could toy with the atmosphere heavily, scientists further developed Dr. Drummond's idea into something she'd never imagine... HALOS A-Class "Homestead" The basic sort, maxing out at 40 km (24 miles) wide, circular with a generally flat surface for agricultural purposes. Either livestock or crops can be raised in exponential numbers on these ships and it's widely accepted that without these immense technological behemoths the population of Earth may very well have completely collapsed into oblivion. The most famous of these is the JNS (Joint Nations Ship) California, its calm and agreeable climate able to produce most sorts of crops. Initially it [obviously] was stationed above its namesake US State but when humanity left the planet it was re-stationed to the Lunar Extension colony. HALOS E-Class "Ark" Coming soon after the discovery of just how controllable the HALOS were, the E-Class are literal floating ecosystems. They are also the largest sort of HALOS, some of them reaching a whopping 100 km (roughly 62 mi) wide. While unfortunately for a great chunk of Earth's wildlife help came too little, too late, these ships still provided the backbone for the preservation of many of society's most beloved creatures. For example, the JNS Limpopo is home to herds of giraffes, elephants, Cape buffalo, zebras, many antelopes, along with lions, leopards, and other predators. As the story is told, most were taken off-world when humans left but there is one very specific exception... The UK's E-Class HALOS Moorland and Galloway were actually left behind; using complex formulas they were both gently landed in their homeland, essentially re-planting the UK with its native flora and fauna. HALOS R-Class "Tahoe" Third and final comes the R-Class, standing for recreation. These ships are the smallest sort for good reason; there just simply didn't ever need to be as many so resources were not expended on them. As with all HALOS they were constructed with complicated formulas entered into a complex 3D printer, but the R Class takes this a step further by also having their terrain printed as well, allowing for things such as lakes, mountains, and even river canyons to being constructed. No one particular R-Class HALOS stands out above the rest but it should be noted that many were constructed based on actual formations throughout the world, many of which were rendered dangerous to climb, swim in, or other such activities for a variety of reasons. They were among the first ships in general to leave Earth when humanity left; a common joke in fact is that "Half-Dome (named after a formation in California's former Yosemite National Park) led us to infinity and beyond!" Whatever their use, the HALOS have had a major impact not only on humanity but on the natural world too, and indeed, some of the species we'll discover in this project only survive thanks to these immense machines. Dunno how they float, something something anti-gravity that will probably come to mind later on... till next time! |
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| Fireplume | Oct 13 2016, 11:14 AM Post #13 |
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Southern Speckled Spearrunner
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The Monarch Class: Mammalia Order: Cetartiodactyla Family: Cervidae Genus: Cervus Species: elaphus Location: Worldwide[/url] The Red Deer or Red Stag has an incredibly long history with humans. For centuries and even millenia they have been an essential part of survival throughout their natural Old World range (Africa, Europe, and Asia in this case). This relationship is so developed that the species was often brought with Europeans during their voyages to new lands, as a sort of nostalgic talisman existing in an unknown world. Due to this, they are now found on every continent except Antarctica, existing as free range herds in South America, New Zealand, Africa, and Eurasia. Unfortunately for many native herbivores Red Deer are very very good at doing what they do and because of this they're actually on the "Top 100 Worst Invasives" list. As perhaps the ultimate sign of regality (save for the Lion, of course), the Red Stag certainly was one of the animals present on the UK's Ark HALOs, and when they were successfully landed the species once again called The Highlands home. Humanity likes to "pick" certain species to be by our side. This doesn't change much during the Space Age and while Red Stag were brought to the Moon and Mars colonies, the species still exists on Earth simply due to its massive range. In many areas the species has not only taken the role of apex herbivore but even diversified into new forms. While throughout the world many deer species are likely to survive with/after us, perhaps no other is as directly thriving due to our influence. It is no doubt that they will continue on even into the Red Earth sequence. |
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