The Tower Forests

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The Tower Forests; The forests of 500 million years in the future
Topic Started: Dec 16 2016, 08:05 PM (3,335 Views)
Salpfish	Dec 16 2016, 08:05 PM Post #1
Zygote Posts: 13 Group: Members Member #2,033 Joined: Dec 15, 2016 Gender: Male Area of expertise: Future Evolution Nationality: Canadian Also known as: salpa aspera Gender: male	After a great extinction event 300 million years in the future, all forests are completely wiped out, with any exposed plants being fried by a gamma ray burst. These bursts have passed many times through our solar system, but they never really did any damage until now, when one passed right through Earth. All terrestrial animals were killed. This meant that the only chordates to survive would be bats, living in sealed caves and only getting out into the open many million years later. Meanwhile, as there were no chordates, a descendant of brittlestars crawled onto land and took over around half of the niches by 500 million years in the future. The rest of the niches were taken by mostly insects and mollusks. Now, at 500 million years in the future, life is more diverse than ever. Fungi are common, and a new type of lichen has emerged: a symbiosis of fungi and plants instead of with fungi and algae. These new lichens have now grown into towering trees, often 150m tall. All algae-fungus lichens died in the gamma ray burst, as they grow only on places exposed to the sun. http://salpfish1.deviantart.com/art/Tower-Forests-637460849 Among the lichen tree's canopy lives a descendant of the ant lasius claviger, which now looks more like a centipede than anything alive today. It is called orthoformica isomera, and spins many giant sheet webs between the lichen trees. The lichen trees started taking advantage of these webs, using them to support their branches. Now, the canopies of these forests are completely supported by their webs. Sometimes, there can be up to 7 layers of canopy. The top one is always thin, as there are few trees to support them. The one underneath is the main canopy, which has the support to bear lots of weight, while accessing large amounts of light from the sun. Underneath is a moss canopy, a thick layer which is not penetrable by light and is covered with mossy plants and broadleaved plant-lichens. Anything beneath this is considered a fungus canopy, as only fungi can grow there. These contain extremely rich soil as a product of the decomposition above. http://salpfish1.deviantart.com/art/Orthoformica-isomera-638623121 There is a diverse ecosystem in these canopies, full of echinoderms, mollusks, insects, and chordates. There are even some motile plants, a result of the fierce competition between individuals for light. Some near-sapient echinoderms have also emerged from these canopies, capable of making basic tools like snares and pointed sticks. http://salpfish1.deviantart.com/art/Stitchsnake-648037211 Motile plant: http://salpfish1.deviantart.com/art/Squidseed-645491607 Bat descendant: http://salpfish1.deviantart.com/art/Dactylopoda-638814619



Yiqi15	Dec 16 2016, 08:17 PM Post #2
Prime Specimen Posts: 1,443 Group: Members Member #1,998 Joined: Oct 10, 2016 Gender: Male Nationality: Ontarian Gender: Male	Wow Salp: this is literally your first post and you've already got a cool concept down, illustrations written, and my attention gotten!
	Current/Completed Projects - After the Holocene: Your run-of-the-mill future evolution project. - A History of the Odessa Rhinoceros: What happens when you ship 28 southern white rhinoceri to Texas and try and farm them? Quite a lot, actually. Future Projects - XenoSphere: The greatest zoo in the galaxy. - The Curious Case of the Woolly Giraffe: A case study of an eocene relic. - Untittled Asylum Studios-Based Project: The truth behind all the CGI schlock - Riggslandia V.II: A World 150 million years in the making Potential Projects - Klowns: The biology and culture of a creepy-yet-fascinating being My Zoochat and Fadom Accounts - Zoochat - Fandom


DroidSyber	Dec 16 2016, 08:19 PM Post #3
I'll cut ya swear on me mum Posts: 649 Group: Members Member #1,853 Joined: Jan 12, 2016 Gender: Male Nationality: Oh Oh Canadah Favorite Quote: "Resting and Digesting" Also known as: NinjaSquirrel Gender: Ace	Looking good! However, how long were the bats stuck in the caves? I feel like you are implying 500 million years, at which point the bats would probably have starved
	Non Enim Cadunt! No idea how to actually hold down a project.


TerrificTyler	Dec 16 2016, 08:22 PM Post #4
Snazz God Posts: 499 Group: Members Member #1,939 Joined: Jun 26, 2016 Gender: Male Area of expertise: Future Evolution Nationality: Afrothere Favorite Quote: Why should I be frightened of dying? There's no reason for it – you've got to go sometime. - Gerry O'Driscoll Also known as: Tyler	Nice. I love far future evolution. Though, as a bit of advice on the images, it could be easier to just copy the image url, and use the image tool As an example, with the Tower Forest Code: `[IMG]http://pre04.deviantart.net/dadc/th/pre/i/2016/274/1/9/tower_forests_by_salpfish1-dajizxt.jpg[/IMG]` Which gets you this image
	The Time Bubble- A universe-sized terrarium My Deviantart Wkhuh duh rqob wzr jhqghuv


CaledonianWarrior96	Dec 16 2016, 08:36 PM Post #5
An Awesome Reptile Posts: 2,383 Group: Members Member #1,642 Joined: Feb 22, 2015 Gender: Male Area of expertise: Future Evolution Nationality: Scottish (Not british) Favorite Quote: "Life's too short to take it seriously" - Me Also known as: SlothWarrior	Like the concept but I would suggest giving Settlers of the Deep a read through (it's in the pinned threads section at the top of the forum, can't miss it). That'll give you a better idea of what can survive a gamme ray hitting the Earth and help you out a little
	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


Dr Nitwhite	Dec 16 2016, 08:37 PM Post #6
Luddite Posts: 1,606 Group: Members Member #1,919 Joined: May 9, 2016 Gender: Male Nationality: American Favorite Quote: "Hey, no ticks, no warblers." -me Also known as: The unburnt, unlucky in love, "oi you", and etcetera.	Your art skills are quite impressive! I look forward to more, perhaps a more fleshed out backstory and descriptions? Keep it up!
	Speculative Evolution Projects- The Great Song (5 myh, North America is filled with giant coots, life in the clouds, and the songs of human descendants. One curious society has devoted itself to the study of this world) The Curious World of Laniakea (An endless world of islands, shallow seas, mangrove swamps, and reefs) Hidden Spring (A partner project between myself and Beetleboy- exploring a future where a twist of cosmic fate changes the planet forever) Other Relevant Work- Monthly Big Day (Share your bird sightings for the month! Final SE Lifelist standings 1. Sayornis (82) 2. Dr Nitwhite (79) ↑ 3. Steampunk FireFinch (44) ↓ 4. The Dodo (26) 5. W.C.K.D (23) 6. Sphenodon (21) 7. Sheather (19) 8. Beetleboy (19) 9. Thylacine (16) 10. Monster (15) 11. HangingTheif (15) 12. Aptornis (13) 13. Stealth Rock (10) 14. KomradeWatcher (9) 15. lamna (7) 16. Flisch (5) 17. Olympianmaster (4) ↑ 18. Archipithecus (2) ↓ 19. Datura (1) ↓ 20. Giant Blue Anteater (1) ↓ 21. Kachimushi (1) 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.


Zorcuspine	Dec 16 2016, 08:46 PM Post #7
Enjoying our azure blue world Posts: 3,693 Group: Global Mods Member #327 Joined: Jun 12, 2010 Gender: Male Nationality: USA Favorite Quote: "You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty." Mahatma Gandhi	This certainly looks promising. However, there are two ideas here that I'm a bit skeptical about. First, there is a huge number of problems that prevent echinoderms from developing a terrestrial lifestyle. Even in the event of a gamma ray burst, I'd imagine that other organisms would be able conquer the land far before echinoderms could develop the necessary adaptations to a terrestrial existence. I think your Stichsnake would work much better as a gastropod, or some sort of worm. The other thing I find implausible is the horizontal jaws on the dactylopod. What conceivable use could there be for jaws derived from ears, and how and why did they replace the bat's original set of jaws? It just seems to be different for the sake of being different, rather than any sort of realistic adaptation. Also while I have no objections to this, I'd be interested in hearing how plants managed to survive the mass extinction while lichen did not.



HangingThief	Dec 16 2016, 08:51 PM Post #8
ghoulish Posts: 1,238 Group: Members Member #1,870 Joined: Feb 10, 2016 Gender: Male Nationality: Yank Also known as: A noxious pest of livestock and stored grain products. Gender: Chitinous	Not sure about the plausibility of some of this, but the environment and creatures are fascinating and creative and I love your art style. I feel terrible because of the amount of effort you've clearly put into this, but here's a few bits of criticism: Echinoderm's tube feet function via hydraulic inflation, which doesn't really work on land. Additionally, there may be other problems with echinoderms conquering land, such as the way they process and eliminate waste. The ant Lasius claviger (not a species I would expect to see mentioned outside a myrmecology forum, lol) is a social parasite, which essentially makes it an evolutionary dead end. You could just change it to the extremely similar Lasius flavus. (I'm guessing that your logic behind using that species is its subterranean nature, but they don't really nest very deep in the ground, are dependent on moisture and surface vegation, and probably wouldn't survive a gamma ray burst better than any other insect. I would just populate this world with cave- dwelling arthropods.)
	Hey.


Salpfish	Dec 16 2016, 09:24 PM Post #9
Zygote Posts: 13 Group: Members Member #2,033 Joined: Dec 15, 2016 Gender: Male Area of expertise: Future Evolution Nationality: Canadian Also known as: salpa aspera Gender: male	NinjaSquirrel Dec 16 2016, 08:19 PM Looking good! However, how long were the bats stuck in the caves? I feel like you are implying 500 million years, at which point the bats would probably have starved Not 500 million years, more like 60 million. The caves were sealed off about 5 million years before the extinction.



Salpfish	Dec 16 2016, 09:34 PM Post #10
Zygote Posts: 13 Group: Members Member #2,033 Joined: Dec 15, 2016 Gender: Male Area of expertise: Future Evolution Nationality: Canadian Also known as: salpa aspera Gender: male	Zorcuspine Dec 16 2016, 08:46 PM This certainly looks promising. However, there are two ideas here that I'm a bit skeptical about. First, there is a huge number of problems that prevent echinoderms from developing a terrestrial lifestyle. Even in the event of a gamma ray burst, I'd imagine that other organisms would be able conquer the land far before echinoderms could develop the necessary adaptations to a terrestrial existence. I think your Stichsnake would work much better as a gastropod, or some sort of worm. The other thing I find implausible is the horizontal jaws on the dactylopod. What conceivable use could there be for jaws derived from ears, and how and why did they replace the bat's original set of jaws? It just seems to be different for the sake of being different, rather than any sort of realistic adaptation. Also while I have no objections to this, I'd be interested in hearing how plants managed to survive the mass extinction while lichen did not. The evolution of echinoderms from aquatic to terrestrial is explained here: http://salpfish1.deviantart.com/art/Bristly-Narak-622663128 Yes, it's probably pretty implausible for echinoderms to become terrestrial, but I thought it would make interesting designs. The ears becoming jaws on the dactylopod happened when the ears were used as a net to catch flying insects, and gradually became more jaw-like. It's not really realistic, just more for the concept. The plants survived because they create underground tubers sometimes and often have deeply buried seeds, while lichens always grow on exposed surfaces and would be exposed to the gamma rays.



Salpfish	Dec 16 2016, 09:45 PM Post #11
Zygote Posts: 13 Group: Members Member #2,033 Joined: Dec 15, 2016 Gender: Male Area of expertise: Future Evolution Nationality: Canadian Also known as: salpa aspera Gender: male	HangingThief Dec 16 2016, 08:51 PM Not sure about the plausibility of some of this, but the environment and creatures are fascinating and creative and I love your art style. I feel terrible because of the amount of effort you've clearly put into this, but here's a few bits of criticism: Echinoderm's tube feet function via hydraulic inflation, which doesn't really work on land. Additionally, there may be other problems with echinoderms conquering land, such as the way they process and eliminate waste. The ant Lasius claviger (not a species I would expect to see mentioned outside a myrmecology forum, lol) is a social parasite, which essentially makes it an evolutionary dead end. You could just change it to the extremely similar Lasius flavus. (I'm guessing that your logic behind using that species is its subterranean nature, but they don't really nest very deep in the ground, are dependent on moisture and surface vegation, and probably wouldn't survive a gamma ray burst better than any other insect. I would just populate this world with cave- dwelling arthropods.) Thank you! The tube feet would be moved using an internal hydraulic system, so water wouldn't come out. The waste elimination is a problem I hadn't considered, maybe they could develop a more complex excretory system. Okay, it doesn't really matter what ant species I use. I said on DeviantArt that it was a lasius species, so it could be flavus too. They changed a lot by the time of the extinction, though, and made large mounds and subterranean colonies. http://salpfish1.deviantart.com/art/Silk-Ant-602656730



LittleLazyLass	Dec 16 2016, 09:49 PM Post #12
Proud quilt in a bag Posts: 8,639 Group: Global Mods Member #1,463 Joined: Jun 18, 2014 Area of expertise: Alternate Universes Nationality: Sorry, but why do you want to know aboot my nationality, eh? Uh... sorry, that was rude of me. Sorry. Favorite Quote: "you know you're a nerd when you search Wookieepedia for porn" Also known as: You can call me Little; full list of old names found through profile. Gender: Trans Questioning (see link in sig; feminine pronouns)	I have mixed feelings on this project, but I do like it and feel it holds potential. First, the bats. On one hand, my knee-jerk reaction is that bats can't survive purely in caves, and that they rely on food from the outside world. On the other hand, I recognize they've had 300 million years to evolve around this, and that the lineage the bats here are descended from probably could survive purely in caves. I applaud you on them being extremely derived, I love that you haven't held back. These things feel completely alien. On the hand, Zorc does have a point on some of the features. I do think you could find ways to explain these, however. Clearly the ancestors before the extinction must have been extremely derived, being able to live without any energy coming down from the surface. Their arms must have nearly completely atrophied, but not their hands, and the back legs lost any function in fast or active movement, in order for the fingers to become individual limbs. The teeth must have been long since lost, and the mouth very atrophied, meaning it fed on something very soft and simple. Perhaps its mouth lost much function as a feeding organ after the extinction, needing extreme adaptations as a breathing organ in order to keep the organism alive; this would mean the nose might have been lost, and the nasal passages as well, leaving a simplified skull. This simplified skull anatomy allowed the now very simple bat to evolve a digestive track connected to its ear passages, which also means the inner ear probably has little functionality in sound detection anymore. The lack of much any competition allowed such adaptations to flurish, when they clearly couldn't survive in a normal ecosystem. I understand you probably have a very different backstory in mind already, but I feel some of the ideas I threw out above could help in making their evolution a little more believable. HangingThief has a point on the ants, they should probably be some sort of cave bug. I do again applaud you on them being derived, though. Overall, I love the aesthetic of the project. The simply appearance of the mushroom forests is itself inherently very interesting. As a note, posting multiple times in a row is considered bad conduct, it's instead recommended that you edit posts if nobody has posted since your last post. For a project update double posting is fine, but for simple replies to questions, not as much. Also, posting information on deviantart but not here is frowned upon. Anything posted over there should generally be posted here as well.
	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 Forum user Uncanny Gemstar drew what is supposed to be a me. Thanks! Spoiler: click to toggle As they walk in, they're greeted by a small, poorly kept pathway leading to a poorly constructed Japanese-style gate. Behind this, a small field made up of corn, rice, wheat, potatoes, among other plants is contrasted by large piles of books, as well as a few rather out of place looking laptops. Off in the corner, a small woman, with long, striped, and strikingly colorful socks, no shoes, unremarkable denim shorts, a large, fancy black coat, arm warmers, glasses, a tuque, and somewhat unkempt, mid-length blue-and-pink-streaked red hair, is rummaging through a trash bin, located behind a sign saying "employees only". She continues this for a while (walking behind a wall to change her outfit now and then), until one of her visitors coughs. Startled, she looks up, apologizes, and grabs a handful of textbooks and novels before daintily running off to join them. What, you want me to tell you what these mean? Predenterra The (Lost) Lost World The Standing World Read First Clarifications on my sex and gender Sorry if I come off as rude, I don't put much thought into word choice sometimes. I'm also super prone to editing my posts, sometimes multiple times, in the minutes following posting. For the love of god, take my posts from my earlier days on the forum with a grain of salt. I was not particularly knowledgeable or mature back then. Some of them are so cringe-worthy I can't even bring myself to look at them. Words Maybe Great Words Words To Spec By It would have to be something extremely alien, pushing the limits of our imagination. But those are always my favorite kinds of life. ~~The Words of The Xenologist Words To Live By Ignorance is never insulting if you're willing to learn, we're all ignorant about most things. ~~The Words of Lamna Words I Live By Yeah, and even if you don't agree with creationists on that concept, that doesn't mean they can't be decent people. I have friends who are creationist (possibly even young earth) that I get along with fine in general life. I don't think they're right of course, but that doesn't make them intellectual degenerates. ~~The Words of forbidden3 Member Quotes jman123 Ass-breathing fish-lizards? Sounds like a punk rock band Sheather "Holy fucking shit a toilet paper roll! Our favorite thing!" Urufumarukai Tyrannosaurus aquastronka Kamineigh Myo, if you don't stop reading the YouTube comments... Lamna Are you saying what I think you're saying? Sheather bathes in cum? Cephylus And last night I dreamed I was blowing up a Kindergarten with a grenade launcher for no particular reason... revin Oh, and of course more people get killed by selfies than by sharks. Of course. Parasky SHEEEEAAAAATTTTTTHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!! whachamacalit2 The smell of rotting flesh really kills my appetite, surprising, but the visual appearance of corpses makes me hungry. Is that weird? Ebervalius I mean, let us say I'm a genderfluid blurflux demi-romantic woman who is sexually attracted to men, but only if they are Melanesian and have a voice like that of Nicholas Cage. Okay, so what? trex841 When I first saw that picture, I thought you were dissecting a condom. Mr Mysterio All hail Robo-Stalin. Peashyjah Seems like everything in this project is now dead. Stealth Rock Seagulls are pretty much trees, right? Watcher We all must finish chapters of our lives to go on to the next. Sometime this means leaving behind versions of ourselves that don't want to die. 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But if you eat them, you completely remove them from existence! They can't move on or... or be reincarnated! Huh. I never really gave it much thought. Besides, what do you mean by reincarnation anyway? You know, being reborn as someone or something else. Which means different body, different memories, different experiences, yes? So isn't being reborn as "something else" the same as being "removed from existence"? I... I... eating souls isn't right! That depends on your definition of "right". All living things survive by eating other living things. So what? You're a god. You should be above all that! Gods are above living things, which doesn't necessarily mean we care about them. Some Dude on BBC Two You are being shagged... by a flightless parrot. Stuff http://imgur.com/gallery/Tshu9


Salpfish	Jan 3 2017, 07:11 PM Post #13
Zygote Posts: 13 Group: Members Member #2,033 Joined: Dec 15, 2016 Gender: Male Area of expertise: Future Evolution Nationality: Canadian Also known as: salpa aspera Gender: male	http://pre13.deviantart.net/0740/th/pre/f/2017/003/a/d/the_emergents_of_the_tower_forest_by_salpfish1-dau0o3p.jpg Above a tower forest is quite a different world from anything that exists today. The skies are dominated by giant insects, using their modified respiratory systems to grow to Carboniferous proportions. Although they look like dragonflies, they are actually descended from yellow dung flies. These are some of the few animals which spend their entire lives above the upper canopy, requiring large amounts of space which aren't provided by the layers beneath. Everything else stays in the humid spaces beneath, where there is much more food. The animals which live above are mostly herbivorous, with the giant insects keeping them under control. The insects lay their eggs on kite plants, a species which is motile as a seed (known as a squidseed). One of these plants is visible in the background, using the wind to lift it higher than any other plants. Because of their height, the eggs of insects which lay their eggs on them are not accessible to most predators. On the surface, one of the last plants that does not have a close symbiosis with fungi covers the forest. These are, however, in a symbiosis with the lichen trees, the organisms that provide the main supports for this ecosystem. The trees provide water for the grassy plants which, in turn, use their extensive tubers to transport nutrients to the trees. Like most plants 500 million years in the future, the forest-covering species is descended from marram grass, a species which lives on sand dunes today. Also visible is a hole in the canopy, which is caused by the pileup of decomposing vegetation to the point where the ant webs can't support it. These holes let larger animals move between the layers of the canopy, including descendants of bats, brittlestars, and flies. Edited by Salpfish, Jan 3 2017, 07:21 PM.



HangingThief	Jan 3 2017, 07:20 PM Post #14
ghoulish Posts: 1,238 Group: Members Member #1,870 Joined: Feb 10, 2016 Gender: Male Nationality: Yank Also known as: A noxious pest of livestock and stored grain products. Gender: Chitinous	What do the larvae of the dung-onflies feed on?
	Hey.


Salpfish	Jan 3 2017, 07:22 PM Post #15
Zygote Posts: 13 Group: Members Member #2,033 Joined: Dec 15, 2016 Gender: Male Area of expertise: Future Evolution Nationality: Canadian Also known as: salpa aspera Gender: male	HangingThief Jan 3 2017, 07:20 PM What do the larvae of the dung-onflies feed on? The kite plants.



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