| 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! |
| Obscure Taxa; For interesting or obscure organisms you'd like to share. | |
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| Topic Started: Dec 14 2016, 09:46 PM (48,947 Views) | |
| Carlos | Apr 9 2017, 03:51 PM Post #241 |
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Adveho in me Lucifero
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Clevosaurs were sphenodontians that had "tooth-lips", basically a faux-beak formed from their external teeth:![]() |
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Lemuria: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5724950/ Terra Alternativa: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/forum/460637/ My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Carliro ![]() | |
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| Rodlox | Apr 9 2017, 03:53 PM Post #242 |
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Superhuman
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that spider ticked off the Ghost Who Walks.
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.---------------------------------------------. Parts of the Cluster Worlds: "Marsupialless Australia" (what-if) & "Out on a Branch" (future evolution) & "The Earth under a still sun" (WIP) | |
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| IIGSY | Apr 9 2017, 05:02 PM Post #243 |
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A huntsman spider that wastes time on the internet because it has nothing better to do
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I'm amusing that you are referring to johnfaa |
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Projects Punga: A terraformed world with no vertebrates Last one crawling: The last arthropod ARTH-6810: A world without vertebrates (It's ded, but you can still read I guess) Potential ideas- Swamp world: A world covered in lakes, with the largest being caspian sized. Nematozoic: After a mass extinction of ultimate proportions, a single species of nematode is the only surviving animal. Tri-devonian: A devonian like ecosystem with holocene species on three different continents. Quotes Phylogeny of the arthropods and some related groups In honor of the greatest clade of all time More pictures Other cool things All African countries can fit into Brazil
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| Tartarus | Apr 9 2017, 06:41 PM Post #244 |
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Prime Specimen
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He's referring to the Phantom: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phantom |
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| Carlos | Apr 9 2017, 07:06 PM Post #245 |
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Adveho in me Lucifero
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Here's also the little well known Malagasy sheldgoose (Centrornis majori), a larger, potentially flightless shelduck from Maladagascar |
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Lemuria: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5724950/ Terra Alternativa: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/forum/460637/ My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Carliro ![]() | |
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| DINOCARID | Apr 14 2017, 08:35 PM Post #246 |
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Adolescent
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Behold the sclerotized comb-bearers, Scleroctenophora, the only comb jellies in the history of our chemo-reactive mudball to have had hard body parts:![]() Pictured are, left to right, the Chengjiang scleroctenophores Gemmactena actinala, Batofasciculus ramificans, and Thaumactena ensis. They were radially symmetrical, unlike any modern comb jelly, and had eight sclerotin ribs arching from oral structure to apical organ (conical structure containing what was probably a large statocyst). These ribs supported sheets of tissue situated between twin comb-rows, bringing the total number of rows to sixteen. It is hypothesized that they could crudely "flap" their eight vanes if they required speed, but I personally think this sounds improbable and inefficient. The ribs terminated as support struts for flaps surrounding the mouth, each tipped with a sharp spine. They probably used these to trap planktonic animals that couldn't move fast enough to escape, though it is very entertaining to imagine them using suction to gulp bigger critters... Their hunting abilities were limited by the tentacleless state that was once almost universally considered a beroid autapomorphy, but given their primitive nature, it seems that tentacles might just be an invention of less basal sea jellos. |
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Check out my deviantart here Projects The Fieldguide to Somnial Organisms The Tetrarch (coming soon) | |
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| Beetleboy | Apr 15 2017, 01:34 AM Post #247 |
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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Aw man I may just have to use them in the Reefworld. Thanks DINOCARID! |
| ~ The Age of Forests ~ | |
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| Datura | Apr 15 2017, 05:49 AM Post #248 |
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Adult
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Vastanavis, the only known fossil parrot from Eocene India! And that's basically it. |
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| Vorsa | Apr 15 2017, 06:57 AM Post #249 |
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Mysterious tundra-dwelling humanoid
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Spoiler: click to toggle Black Stilt Himantopus novaezelandiae The black stilt or kakī (Maori) is the world's rarest wading bird, at less than 100 individuals restricted to Mackenzie Basin on New Zealand's South Island. Although genetically and behaviourally distinct from pied stilts (Himantopus himantopus), they are able to successfully hybridise with them. In fact, hybridisation and dilution of the gene pool is one reason black stilts are threatened with extinction. Hybrid (black × pied) stilt Black stilts are more compact, shorter legged and with a thicker bill than the more common pied stilt, which is entirely white below. Juvenile black stilts in their first winter plumage have a black back, smudgy grey hind neck and variable dark markings on the flank. This plumage darkens in their second summer moult, and by mid-summer they are predominantly black. ![]() These stilts are being threatened by hybridisation, hydroelectric dams, feral cats, mustelids, invasive weeds and destruction of habitat. Despite 20 years of intensive protection, the black stilt remains the rarest species of wading bird and one of the most endangered birds in the world. The population may have numbered 500–1000 birds in the 1940s but began to rapidly decline in the 1950s. Intense, focused conservation began in 1981, when numbers had declined to just 23 adult birds and by 1984, there were 32 adults in the wild, rising to 52 by 1992 (with another 32 in captivity). The current wild population is estimated at 77 wild adult birds (as of February 2015), along with a captive population kept for breeding purposes. Annual release in the wild of these captive-bred birds, combined with predator control, have helped boost numbers and in January 2017, 19 juvenile birds were released by the Department of Conservation onto the Tasman River Spoiler: click to toggle
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My Deviantart: http://desorages.deviantart.com/ Birbs "you are about to try that on a species that clawed its way to the top of a 4 billion year deep corpse pile of evolution. one that has committed the genocide you are contemplating several times already. they are the pinnacle of intelligence-based survival techniques and outnumber you 7 billion to 1" - humans vs machine | |
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| Hybrid | Apr 15 2017, 03:13 PM Post #250 |
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May Specula Grant you Bountiful Spec!
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This is a bit old, but:
I know this is meant to be humorous, but it's not unrealistic. The transition for mola wasn't direct, but a progression of shifting the locomotion from the caudal fin to the anal and dorsal fins. Tetradontiformes as a group seem to mainly utilize their anal and dorsal fins as their main method of swimming. I don't know if there's an official explanation, but it seems clearly to have evolved for higher maneuverability in the reef, searching for prey in cracks and crevices (a pattern also seen in knifefish). Case 1: this pufferfish Case 2: this triggerfish For mola it seems they've pushed this form of locomotion, ditching their tail as it didn't serve them at all for their lifestyle. They represent probably the most derived members of their group, at least in terms of this feature. It's not some implausible jump that doesn't seem to make sense, but just using what they have. - Also this thread is both interesting and annoying at the same time. I feel like half the species shown here I already heard of before, it's like showing the hagfish with the only warning saying "You guys probably have heard of this but...". Like for me, I've already heard of a trap-door spider before, for while now actually. The obvious counterpoint is that not all of us know what [species/lineage] is, some people may not look too deep until they start a spec project they might find some species and want to show it to everybody. It's extremely frustrating at times, but that's just how the world works and there's no real solution (it's not like it revolves around me). It almost feels like the thread should be called "Obscure, Weird, or Interesting Taxa", but that might open up to people just presenting really well known species. Whatever, it doesn't really matter. Being here, I guess I shall show an obscure species that I don't think was shown before. ![]() This is the Indian dancing frog (Micrixalus), a little frog which may seem normal aside from its behaviour of waving its feet to attract females. What I find interesting is not the adults, but the tadpoles. ![]() They are in fact fossorial. They mainly feed on sand, using their long spiraling intestines to absorb what nutrients they can get from it. Additionally, they're one of the few tadpoles which have ribs, giving them additional support to aid them digging through grit. For a long time we didn't know what dancing frog tadpoles looked like, only recently we found them. They live near another weird frog, in the Western Ghats, which you've probably already seen before. Not just their tadpoles are strange, but so are the adults and their striking transformation. Spoiler: click to toggle |
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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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| Rodlox | Apr 15 2017, 03:35 PM Post #251 |
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Superhuman
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fossorial tadpoles? i am intrigued & wish to hear more. (also i'd like to hear about the tadpoles of the Purple Frogs). please? |
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.---------------------------------------------. Parts of the Cluster Worlds: "Marsupialless Australia" (what-if) & "Out on a Branch" (future evolution) & "The Earth under a still sun" (WIP) | |
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| trex841 | Apr 15 2017, 03:51 PM Post #252 |
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Entity
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That's pretty cool, actually. One of those things that doesn't really occur to you, but then makes perfect sense when pointed out. |
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F.I.N.D.R Field Incident Logs A comprehensive list of all organisms, artifacts, and alternative worlds encountered by the foundation team. At the present time, concepts within are inconsistent and ever shifting. (And this is just the spec related stuff) | |
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| Scrublord | Apr 15 2017, 05:57 PM Post #253 |
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Father Pellegrini
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I tend to interpret "obscure" as "something your average man in the street wouldn't know about". Most people don't know what a trapdoor spider is, or a mola, or a stilt. We here on the SE Forum are hopefully more knowledgeable than most, but that doesn't change the fact that these species are still "obscure" to a mainstream demographic. |
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My Projects: The Neozoic Redux Valhalla--Take Three! The Big One Deviantart Account: http://elsqiubbonator.deviantart.com In the end, the best advice I could give you would be to do your project in a way that feels natural to you, rather than trying to imitate some geek with a laptop in Colorado. --Heteromorph | |
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| Vorsa | Apr 16 2017, 07:24 AM Post #254 |
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Mysterious tundra-dwelling humanoid
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I mainly focus on rare species, especially ones like the black stilt that are threatened with extinction but are so far from the public scope that very few actually know about them or their plights. |
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My Deviantart: http://desorages.deviantart.com/ Birbs "you are about to try that on a species that clawed its way to the top of a 4 billion year deep corpse pile of evolution. one that has committed the genocide you are contemplating several times already. they are the pinnacle of intelligence-based survival techniques and outnumber you 7 billion to 1" - humans vs machine | |
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| Carlos | Apr 16 2017, 07:34 AM Post #255 |
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Adveho in me Lucifero
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Extant and extinct coaelacanths also do that. To say nothing of seahorse, which lost their tail entirely in favour of dorsal-fin based locomotion |
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Lemuria: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5724950/ Terra Alternativa: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/forum/460637/ My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Carliro ![]() | |
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7:22 PM Jul 10