Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
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!

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
A Jurassic World; Dinosaurs shall inherit our world
Topic Started: Feb 9 2017, 02:13 PM (4,045 Views)
RoyalPsycho Feb 9 2017, 02:13 PM Post #1
Adolescent
* * * * *
A Jurassic World Is Made:
It all began with Ingen and a wild dream of a park that featured prehistoric animals. In 1993 that dream was realised thanks to fantastic new discoveries in the fields of genetic engineering and clever innovations made specifically for the project the genius scientific teams were undertaking. Within a matter of years not only had the company successfully reconstructed a close approximation of the genome of numerous dinosaur species – filling in the gene sequence gaps with compatible material from other, modern species – but had also managed to create and hatch living specimens.

The attempt to display the park on Isla Nublar before experts in order to alleviate safety concerns ended disastrously. In 1993 the park was closed after numerus deaths. In 1994 an attempt to extract reconstructed dinosaurs from the production facility on the nearby island if Isla Sorna ended in a similar disaster thanks to sabotage and short-sightedness. The rampage of a Tyrannosaurus Rex in San Diego practically ended Ingen.

In 1998, following the death of company founder John Hammond, Ingen and all its assets and patents were bought by Indian businessman Simon Masrani, the CEO of the Masrani Global Corporation who had been interested in acquiring the company since 1997. An idealist and believer in Hammond’s original dream, Masrani invested massively in the development of a new park on Isla Nublar. Dubbed Jurassic World, the park was an unprecedented success.

Opening in 2005, Jurassic World saw continuous success with new attractions opening up on a regular basis, new species successfully recreated and new technological developments being made, all of which enriched the park, the Masrani Corporation and Ingen. It was in 2015 that a brave new step was taken by all three institutions to push the boundaries of the technology they had pioneered. Worried about a stagnation in park attendance and a mild decline in profits, Ingen and Masrani commissioned the creation of an original, hybrid species that would be unlike anything seen in natural evolution. The undertaking was massive but nowhere near impossible and soon the new Indominus Rex, a terrifying, artificial hyperpredator with no precedent in the fossil record, was announced.

Despite being set to debut in the Christmas Season, the announcement of a never before seen hybrid drew unseasonably large crowds to Isla Nublar. Though people were scared by the viciousness of the creature and some concerns were raised, thrill-seekers more than compensated for the worried visitors and the Indominus exhibit was a rousing success for the company. Reinforcement of the enclosure was necessary after a near breakout but the situation was, thankfully, handled by security and the park was spared a catastrophic disaster.

Now free from the restrictions of having to provide accurate – in so far as public expectations allowed them to be – depictions of dinosaurs, Ingen began producing new and spectacular species.

The first great expansion of Ingen’s hybrid program was when a successful military contract was made for engineered attack beasts. Though there were objections from Masrani himself as well as other influential figures in the company the contract’s opportunities eventually won the majority around. The first derivatives of the Indominus Rex were developed. Training techniques pioneered by Owen Grady on the park facility at Isla Nublar were developed further to help keep the animals under control. The attack dinosaurs were a success in the field though there were still concerns about how much control the handlers had over the animals. The next generation of animals were developed with more domestic temperaments that still preserved their capacity for violence and intelligence when released into the field.

With this success the proverbial floodgates had been opened. Proposals were made for all kinds of new hybrids. Plans were made for new model species that could be displayed in parks in colder climates. Soon Dinosaurs of the Ice Age themed parks were opened both offshore and on the mainland of other countries and furry dinosaurs were exhibited to the public to great acclaim. After seeing massive success in these new facilities the original park was pressed to introduce new tropical animals. As new parks appeared, many of them being given new themes, competition emerged between the different facilities. As the 2010s moved into the 2020s and further on, an ‘arms race’ emerged within Masrani’s genetics institutions.

In 2027 the next great phase in genetic leisure products began. Despite protests from various groups Ingen began to release engineered dinosaur pets. Miniaturized versions of the company’s authentic species as well as their artificial ones and even brand new designs were released to the public in the US. They were even more successful abroad in Europe, Australasia and Japan. This was followed by a period where the rich would also buy specially designed specimens for private zoos and menageries.

For years these fantastic new creatures were sold to the public and governments to great success. Few companies were able to match Ingen and Masrani but some new pets and products were made to match their expertise. It was this that would doom humanity.

In 2034 an epidemic bloomed in South Asia. It spread quickly, crossing borders into the developed world and drawing international attention. Proposals were just being drafted when it became clear just how far and fast the disease was spreading. Entire populations were infected with no-one being spared, people began to die in droves and as the disease spread, it infected people faster. Speculations emerged that the disease was artificial and one laboratory studying infected victims did manage to reach a reasonable conclusion that it was though no-one could tell where it came from or how to counter it.

By 2035 the majority of humanity was dead, by 2037 they were all gone and so was the disease. It was surprising how quickly the entire species was rendered extinct. Untended, the artefacts of civilization rotted away and collapsed and the wild environments humanity had cut back returned, swamping cities and monuments. Animals kept in captivity escaped into the wild and bred and amongst the natural creatures that had been held in cages were the engineered creatures, now forced to find their place in the new ecosystem.

In the post-human world there was chaos as the ecosystem tried to reach a balanced equilibrium. Indigenous wildlife battled with transplanted wildlife and artificially created wildlife for niches. After 1000 years the new ecosphere has been somewhat stable for centuries and man’s creations have risen to dominance.

This is a new age of dinosaurs. A real Jurassic World.




Here's something that came to me after marathoning the franchise and rereading the TV Tropes page for Jurassic World. It got me thinking. What would happen if the Indominus Rex situation hadn't happened as it did in the movie? What if they did shrink it down and sell it to the military? If they can make bizarre hybrid dinosaurs, then what are the limits of what they can and will design?

This is an exploration of that and what they might do if humanity was then taken out of the picture.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Replies:
RoyalPsycho Feb 14 2017, 05:29 PM Post #16
Adolescent
* * * * *
Uncanny Gemstar
Feb 14 2017, 02:40 PM
Super cool. By any chance is the Regnadracos based on, inspired by, or made by Jurassic World France to look like the Tigrex from Capcom's monster hunter series?
Well I've never played or even looked at Monster Hunter so it wasn't my intention but that design isn't far off from what I had in mind. Just make it a little less bulky and replaced the T-Rex head with a more Allosaur-like one and you're quite close.
Edited by RoyalPsycho, Feb 14 2017, 05:29 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
GlarnBoudin Feb 14 2017, 07:41 PM Post #17
Member Avatar
Disgusting Skin Fetishist
* * * * * * *
Question: Did Ingen make any retrosaurs? (Tail-dragging theropods, Crystal Palace Iguanodon and Megalosaurus, etc.)

Also, did Jurassic Park France have any mammalian creatures like unicorns or bonnacons, or did they have dinosaur versions of them? Honestly, either one would be awesome.
Edited by GlarnBoudin, Feb 26 2017, 01:55 PM.
Quotes
Spoiler: click to toggle


Co-creator/corporate minion for the Pop Culture Monster Apocalypse!

My Projects
Spoiler: click to toggle

Coming Soon
Spoiler: click to toggle


My dA page.
My Fanfiction.net page.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
RoyalPsycho Feb 14 2017, 08:52 PM Post #18
Adolescent
* * * * *
GlarnBoudin
Feb 14 2017, 07:41 PM
Question: Did any retrosaurs make any retrosaurs? (Tail-dragging theropods, Crystal Palace Iguanodon and Megalosaurus, etc.)

Also, did Jurassic Park France have any mammalian creatures like unicorns or bonnacons, or did they have dinosaur versions of them? Honestly, either one would be awesome.
There were a lot of auxiliary facilities attached to the Jurassic World franchise spread around the world. They were tasked with developing new technologies and new species for experimental exhibits that were planned for future parks and preparing them.

A Jurassic World USA, Jurassic World UK and Jurassic World South Korea were already being planned (and there was a proposed Jurassic World South Africa before internal unrest in the country scrapped that project shortly after it got underway) and a few future exhibits were already in production when the Red Rot pandemic hit.

Whilst I don't want to overfill this world I will say that there are still a lot of things separating the various parks and their populations (especially in certain parts of the world) and its still soon enough for an exceptionally diverse global ecosystem to exist before a natural equilibrium exerts itself. This means there are still plenty of opportunities to add new things.

Jurassic Park France focused on dinosaurian exhibits mostly. That doesn't rule out more overtly mammalian creations though. I'll have to think about it.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
RoyalPsycho Feb 16 2017, 04:11 PM Post #19
Adolescent
* * * * *
Serperaptor (snake hunters):
These creatures are one of the smaller but iconic creatures of Jurassic World India. Built upon a combination of snakes and theropods, the Serperaptors are remarkable creatures. These creatures, like snakes are limbless, have elongated, flexible bodies and move about in an undulating fashion. However, if one were to look at them, they would tell that these serpentine creatures are very different beasts.

Serperaptors come in a variety of sizes, ranging from thirty centimetres to as long as five metres. Their bodies are essentially a serpents at a first glance with no difference from the regular squamates. It is the head that shows the first real derivations from a baseline snake. The head has a noticeably theropodal shape with a strong, avian skull, serrated teeth and strong jaws designed to pull at flesh rather than swallow carcasses whole. Unlike snakes, the Serperaptors are unable to unhinge their jaws, forcing them to either hunt small, manageable prey or cut apart carcasses with their teeth before they swallow the chunks of flesh.

These limitations force most species to move much more than snakes in an effort to find prey. Most are ambush predators that prefer environments where there are plenty of potential hiding places to strike from. This has led to most Serperaptor species living in either forests where the leaf litters can offer cover or large grasslands where tall grass can keep them hidden from view.

Some species were developed to be aquatic as well. These animals are adapted to primarily hunt fish and usually have thinner, more elongated heads to allow them to swim more easily and grab their prey when they lash out to grab them. These Serperaptors are equipped with needle-like teeth that allows them to more efficiently snap up fish and pull their flesh apart.

Some of the terrestrial species are have been designed with feathery structures and other decorative features. These feathers are usually placed around the neck and are swept back, pressed along the body to prevent any interference with the animal’s locomotion. Others will be equipped with collapsible skin flaps that they can extend outwards to create colourful displays when threatened or competing for food or mates. By far the most distinctive is the Serperaptor known as Cuotl, a three metre long species with collapsible flaps of patagia on either side of their body named for the winged serpent god of Aztec mythology. This structure is flexible and can be extended outwards to create wings. In the case of younger Cuotl, these wings can be used to glide from branch to branch. In adulthood they grow too big to climb trees and glide on their delicate patagia and so they use them solely as display structures instead.

Despite having a diverse array of species at the end of the age of humans, the Serperaptors have been in steep decline with only a few species remaining in substantial numbers and range. By the 31st Century there are only five species in the entire group still left alive, covering a total range extending from Southern India and Southern China to Papua New Guinea. They are still in decline due to competition from regular snakes, lizards, small mammals, birds and other more efficiently evolved or adaptable dinosaur hybrids.

The five major species can be categorised in three loose groups largely based upon their lifestyles:
Serpeavium (snake wings)-These are the winged species equipped with extendable skin flaps and only have two species remaining, including the Cuotl.
Tranatoinlaboria (swimming slitherers)-These are the aquatic group and only have a single, small species remaining.
Serperaptoria (snake hunters)-These are the primary group and only have two species, both of which are feathered but cannot fly.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
RoyalPsycho Feb 19 2017, 06:40 PM Post #20
Adolescent
* * * * *
Ungulasauria (hooved lizards):
One of the most successful groups produced for Jurassic World Canada were the animals meant to to evoke some of the most successful mammalian herbivores in the world. The Ungulasaurs were developed to fill the small and medium herbivore niches, being specially adapted for the wide spaces that had been allocated for the park’s numerous grazing species.

Ungulasaurs are a diverse group that all share several key features that assist in their lifestyle they were designed to fill. The most noteworthy feature they possess are the hooves placed on their forelimbs. These hooves are similar to those owned by perissodactyls with a single primary toe bearing most of the weight. This single toe is less like a horse’s however and more similar to a rhinoceros’ with the hoof appearing less pronounced within the animal’s wrist. The secondary and tertiary toes do still exist but are largely vestigial and serve no discernible purpose. These additional toes exist to further evoke the hoofed mammal image and were intentionally added.

The rear legs will often retain a more traditional dinosaurian toe structure with three toes supporting the animal and a vestigial fourth toe that serves no purpose. In a few cases, however, they have had the central toe of their hindlegs widened and the auxiliary toes shrunken so that they mimic their forelegs. These species are usually small though as four hooves do not provide as much support for larger animals. Despite their hooves, no Ungulasaurs are able to gallop due to their pelvic configuration. They instead run by alternating their limbs separately as they run rather than moving their limbs simultaneously to propel themselves.

All Ungulasaurs are also entirely quadrupedal and their stance has been adapted to accommodate this. The shoulders and hips are much more evenly space, giving Ungulasaurs a much more mammalian appearance, similar to ungulate mammals. Their forelimbs are therefore much longer than those seen in other ornithopods. They still have rather long tails that often exist to help secure muscles around the hips. They also assist in maintaining the ‘dinosaur’ image that the park is still trying to uphold. The Ungulasaurs were a diverse group with species designed to graze grass, chomp on coniferous twigs and needles or browse on deciduous leaves. Most species also have elongated faces, often to allow them to remain observant of their surroundings whilst grazing but usually to help maintain their pseudo-ungulate image.

Many were also given horns of various shapes, much like regular mammalian ungulates. Others have bony crests, many of which are attached to the nasal passages and resonate, allowing them to make unique calls. Others use their horns to aid in mating battles and a couple of the largest animals will deter predators with their formidable displays.

Ungulasaurs came in a variety of sizes, inspired by mammalian counterparts in the natural world. The most common species are around two metres tall and a little over three metres long. The smallest has been recorded to be thirty centimetres tall and eighty centimetres long (though presumably this was a variant of microsaur made for public sale rather than a proper exhibit) and the largest was a high browsing species that reached four metres in height and nearly eleven metres in length.

Ungulasaurs are a solely American group due to being an exhibit unique to Canada. They often have feathery structures on parts of their body but they rarely provide insulation. Ungulasaurs were initially kept in heated enclosures prior to the Red Rot pandemic but have since been forced to adapt. Those species that have more coverage are more likely to range in the northern portion of the continents but even they are forced to migrate to warmer climates during the winter.

They are commonly herd animals though the larger species live in smaller groups than the more common grazers and can be found all over North and Central America. In the last few centuries some Ungulasaurs have even been found in South America. A new frontier has been opened for this group and they may yet take the continent by storm, should the indigenous grazers not have anything to say about it.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Yiqi15 Feb 19 2017, 07:39 PM Post #21
Member Avatar
Prime Specimen
* * * * * * *
This is really fascinating, with all the strange hybrids right out of Dougal Dixon's The New Dinosaurs.
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
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
GlarnBoudin Feb 20 2017, 06:00 PM Post #22
Member Avatar
Disgusting Skin Fetishist
* * * * * * *
Indeed. I like the setup for potential competition between lineages.
Quotes
Spoiler: click to toggle


Co-creator/corporate minion for the Pop Culture Monster Apocalypse!

My Projects
Spoiler: click to toggle

Coming Soon
Spoiler: click to toggle


My dA page.
My Fanfiction.net page.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Dakka! Feb 20 2017, 06:17 PM Post #23
Member Avatar
Prime Specimen
* * * * * * *
I haz to know 'bout Aussie dino.
"I was a Psychiatrist in Florida! For 3 weeks! Have you ever been to Florida?"




Some project ideas
The Future is Right
Ediacaran Explosion
Great Old Ones
Skinkworld


Unrelated:The Final Spec:What Could Have Been, And Still Can
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
GlarnBoudin Feb 20 2017, 11:35 PM Post #24
Member Avatar
Disgusting Skin Fetishist
* * * * * * *
Same here.
Quotes
Spoiler: click to toggle


Co-creator/corporate minion for the Pop Culture Monster Apocalypse!

My Projects
Spoiler: click to toggle

Coming Soon
Spoiler: click to toggle


My dA page.
My Fanfiction.net page.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
RoyalPsycho Feb 23 2017, 02:16 PM Post #25
Adolescent
* * * * *
Since some of you are so interested in Australia, here's a little taster.

Transcript of phone conversation made at Jurassic World Australia-25th August 2028:
Uh, hello. I’ve called to say that the visitors of the, uh, Megacarcinus exhibit have been making more complaints about it scaring kids and, uh, some of the adults. I don’t know what they were expecting to see when they paid for their tickets but it seems like most people still aren’t ready to see a three metre tall bug wander around in front of them even if it’s a herbivore. I just wanted to suggest that we, I don’t know, put up some more warnings signs before we let people in. Uh, thanks.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
GlarnBoudin Feb 23 2017, 07:14 PM Post #26
Member Avatar
Disgusting Skin Fetishist
* * * * * * *
A giant enemy crab? Niiice. I take it that most of the Australian giant bugs are based on Carboniferous insects?
Edited by GlarnBoudin, Feb 23 2017, 07:15 PM.
Quotes
Spoiler: click to toggle


Co-creator/corporate minion for the Pop Culture Monster Apocalypse!

My Projects
Spoiler: click to toggle

Coming Soon
Spoiler: click to toggle


My dA page.
My Fanfiction.net page.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
RoyalPsycho Feb 23 2017, 07:18 PM Post #27
Adolescent
* * * * *
GlarnBoudin
Feb 23 2017, 07:14 PM
A giant enemy crab? Niiice. I take it that most of the Australian giant bugs are based on Carboniferous insects?
Some of them are. Most of the designers thought that the Ordovician and Silurian would be better sources of inspiration though. They suit Death World more.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
GlarnBoudin Feb 23 2017, 11:57 PM Post #28
Member Avatar
Disgusting Skin Fetishist
* * * * * * *
Fair point. Lemme guess - there's giant spider-scorpions there?

Ooh, a Crystal Palace Megalosaurus would fit well in Death World. I mean, it's the unholy cross between a bear and a crocodile! What's not to love?

Also, I wonder if the JP3 Spinosaurus has any descendants...
Quotes
Spoiler: click to toggle


Co-creator/corporate minion for the Pop Culture Monster Apocalypse!

My Projects
Spoiler: click to toggle

Coming Soon
Spoiler: click to toggle


My dA page.
My Fanfiction.net page.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
RoyalPsycho Feb 24 2017, 04:35 AM Post #29
Adolescent
* * * * *
Quote:
 
Fair point. Lemme guess - there's giant spider-scorpions there?


Spider-scorpions are a good thought. I was mostly planning for variations giant land-scorpions, millipedes and land-crabs.

Quote:
 
Ooh, a Crystal Palace Megalosaurus would fit well in Death World. I mean, it's the unholy cross between a bear and a crocodile! What's not to love?


That's certainly a thought.

Quote:
 
Also, I wonder if the JP3 Spinosaurus has any descendants...


I won't say that they don't.

Now for something completely different.

Emperor Waterwing – Ornithopterygia Imperialis (imperial bird flipper):
The majestic Emperor Waterwing was one of the most fantastic and beautiful creatures ever to be produced by Jurassic World Japan and one of the many prides of the Mega Reef. Though it appeared very strange, the Emperor Waterwing was designed to live in the same niche as the massive baleen whales and could match them in size and majesty.

Despite being fully adapted for a pelagic life, the Emperor Waterwing is actually based on a rhamphorhynchid pterosaur genome. Based around an observation of a penguin’s swimming style, the Emperor Waterwing took the idea of flapping through the water to a massive scale. At their largest, fully grown adults can be up to ten metres in length and have a ‘wingspan’ of twenty two metres from wing-tip to wing-tip. Before the Red Rot pandemic the Emperor Waterwings took up one of the largest segregated sections of the Mega Reef and needed krill imported into their portions of the facility in order to effectively feed them.

At first glance the Emperor Waterwing looks like a strange manta ray and has a similar method of locomotion. With its massive, thick wings, the Waterwing flies through the water with powerful strokes of its forearms. The flaps of skin that enabled regular pterosaurs to fly have been widened and made thicker and stronger to serve as massive paddles to propel the creature. Since the paddle, like a pterosaur’s wings, is attached to the ankles of the animal’s hindlegs, the hindlimbs are rather vestigial now and have lost any locomotion in the digits. They are instead smaller flippers now that serve as auxiliary rudders. The Waterwing’s tail which is reduced but does have a fluke on the end, serves primarily as a rudder to help guide the animal.

The Emperor Waterwing has a wide, flat head with a massive beak that is filled with fine, bristle-like teeth. These teeth serve as baleen sieves that help filter krill from the massive amounts of sea water a Waterwing will swallow as it feeds. Once the Waterwing has taken a gulp, it will then regurgitate the water, draining its gullet but leaving the krill behind, sieved out by the baleen plates.

The Waterwing possesses a blowhole on the top of its head at the base of the school that is connected to the sinuses. As the Waterwing primarily uses hearing to communicate and guide itself the nasal passages serve solely as an exhaust for excess water that the Waterwing inhales as it travels and an air passageway. Like whales, the Waterwing uses the blowhole to eject water when it surfaces and also eases in inhaling air when it needs to breathe. The Waterwing has enough lung capacity to hold its breath for over an hour before needing to return to the surface.

Waterwing are fully viviparous and give birth to live young but pregnancies can take an average of two years to be completed. Males are normally larger than females and live alone, only ever approaching others to mate. During the mating season Waterwings will let out songs to attract mates with both genders sending out different songs. A male’s colouration on his wings will also change to produce more vivid colours. These displays are only visible on the top of the wings but can impress potential mates when shown to them Females will normally form small pods of up to five unrelated individuals. Young will be raised until they’re self-sufficient in which case they are then gently expelled to either live alone if they are male or seek out a new pod if they are female.

The Waterwing has proven to be a success in the Pacific and Indian Oceans but the cold currents of the Arctic and Antarctic Seas are too inhospitable for them. Though there are sighting of some small pods and individuals as far as South Africa, no Waterwings have yet made it to the Atlantic yet but they are increasing in number and need to expand their feeding grounds and migration routes soon enough.
Edited by RoyalPsycho, Feb 24 2017, 04:36 AM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
GlarnBoudin Feb 24 2017, 07:14 PM Post #30
Member Avatar
Disgusting Skin Fetishist
* * * * * * *
Excellent work so far! Definitely looking forward to more stuff from Jurassic World Japan!
Quotes
Spoiler: click to toggle


Co-creator/corporate minion for the Pop Culture Monster Apocalypse!

My Projects
Spoiler: click to toggle

Coming Soon
Spoiler: click to toggle


My dA page.
My Fanfiction.net page.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
ZetaBoards - Free Forum Hosting
Create your own social network with a free forum.
Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · Evolutionary Continuum · Next Topic »
Add Reply