Hananas59

Mar 4 2017, 05:01 AM

I think my reaction to this is, despite having no content whatsoever up until this point, is that it's a passion project and therefore could become something good. I have seen many projects canceled or aborted, by countless people on this forum and even on DeviantArt both from me and other because no one did what they really felt in their heart. I hope this project breaks this trope and it looks like it will

Good luck and loads of fun with the project, you have a new supporter at hands

Quaternary Period

 

Holocene
0.0117 – 0 ma
Meaning: 'entirely recent'

Humans have been a highly succesful species, spreading across the globe, creating their own habitats and even crafting new organisms – they were, in short, completely unlike any other animal to ever exist on Earth. They were unique and bizarre, bipedal and mostly hairless, clever yet so very gifted at destroying the world around it. Their pursuit of ever more imaginative ways of self destruction would be their downfall, as a war that would last decades sprung into action. The world was at war again, but this would be the battle to end all battles – for since the first and second world war, humanity had been improving their weaponry. Each opposing force were more powerful than ever before, and had tools of destruction at their fingertips. Humans were intelligent, it is true, but evidently not clever enough to stop dropping the bombs which destroyed entire cities, causing chaos and besides great loss of human life, ecological collapse in many areas. But it was not this that would begin the gradual demise of humanity – it was the next move that was made by the warring people of Earth.

Several strains of genetically-engineered viruses were released, and they spread like wildfire. They were fast mutating, spreading from country to country as people migrated in an attempt to get away from the fighting, the bombs, and the pandemic, but they only succeeded in quickening its spread.

The Yellowstone Eruption occurred towards the end of the Holocene, causing a minor extinction event, mostly localised in North America. An area of around 800 kilometers (500 miles) experienced a covering of more than 10 centimetres (4 inches) of ash. Agriculture in the area pretty much ground to a halt, and many biodiverse areas such as the Pacific Northwest were badly effected by the fallout. Sulfur dioxide and other gases were vomited up into the atmosphere by the eruption, forming a covering that absorbs and reflects sunlight, temporarily cooling the climate. Severe frosts and altered rainfal patterns had a severe effect on agriculture.

The Holocene came to an abrupt end with the extinction of humans, their own actions combined with the Yellowstone Eruption was too much for them, and pushed them over the edge – joining the evolutionary graveyard along with the species that they themselves wiped out.

The Holocene Extinction Event saw the death of several notable animals, species that were hunted to extinction or lost their habitat. However, despite losing many charismatic megafaunal species, no major groups died out, and overall, the extinction event was a fairly mild one compared to ones in the past. However, the Americas did experience a loss of diversity, due to the Yellowstone Eruption.

Exinogene Period

 

Polycene Epoch
0-12.6 million years from now
Meaning: 'very new'

Geographically speaking, the Polycene is a time of huge changes, and corresponding climatic ones.

After recovering from the Yellowstone-induced cold period, the world now began to heat up again, due to the reopening of the Isthmus of Panama. South America breaks away from the North, which allows the currents to mix together in the now-widening gap between the continents. Warmer waters spread as a result, and the wet currents cease to reach Europe, in the opposite of the previous event that occurred during the formation of the North-South American land bridge. Less precipitation occurs in Europe during the Polycene, which helps to make it a drier, warmer place. A deglaciation of th Arctic ice cap occurs, which means not only rising sea levels, but also even more global warming, as the reflective ice is now replaced with dark sea water, absorbing the sun's energy, further warming the water, and so the cycle goes on.

During the Polycene, Antarctica's movement was small, but portions of it emerged above the ice cap, forming cold tundra. Only later will they it be colonised properly and the biodiversity of the rising continent will increase. For now, the warmer climate in the upper regions of Antarctica offer new life for the flora, and we will see a diversification of tussocks, which will go on throughout the Exinogene, despite being quelled by the arrival of other plants from South America.

A major change that will be a place of zoological interest in the millions of years to come is Kisiwa. As the Rift Valley flooded, it seperated a huge chunk of East Africa, and it is now a large island, filled with an incredible diversity of organisms. It has some more arid regions, whereas other areas are tropical rainforest, creating a variety of contrasting habitats. Kisiwa acts as a sort of ark, a stronghold for fauna from the Holocene that are now absent in mainland Africa.

Less notable than the changes mentioned above, but still of interest, are locations such as California Island, and the Mediterranean Saltpan. Both have interesting and unique ecosystems, although the saltpan is practically uninhabited apart from specialized invertebrates and giant flamingoes.

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Thermacene
12.6 – 32.1 million years from now
Meaning: 'new warm'

During the early Thermacene, the Mediterranean Salt Flat began to be lifted as it was subjected to the forces of 2 continents mushing together, folding the land up into a mountain range. This process begins during the Thermacene, but it would take many millions of years, beyond the scope of this project, for them to rise to their full height. This mountain range is known as the Aljibal Mountains (the name coming from Arabic), but it is not until the Imeracene that they will actually deserve the title of mountain.

As Antarctica rises further up out of the south pole, its northerly sections become a rich new habitat for those that can adapt to this new envioroment. Temperate tussock plains make up the bulk of the habitat here, inhabited mostly by birds and some mammals that have rafted here from South America, as by the mid Thermacene, the two continents are very close to each other, allowing a brief interchange of rafting organisms.

Australia has been moving north, colliding with south-east Asia, sandwiching Indonesia between them, completing the Africa-Europe-Australia composite continent, which is referred to from the Thermacene onwards as Afropia. An event known as the Australian-Asian Interchange occurs, allowing organisms such as marsupials and monotremes to spread and compete in a new land. However, it should be noted that the post-Holocene mammals of Australia are not so marsupial-dominated, there are also a variety of large and succesful camel and dingo descendants.
Although the Australian-Asian Interchange allows for a greater amount of diversity for both continents, it also means that many organisms are out-competed, causing several major groups to die out.

By the time Australia had began it move north, New Zealand had already been torn apart by the tectonic activity there, as it straddles both the Australian and the Pacific Plate at once. South Island was split down the middle, so by this point, only half of New Zealand was carried northwards by the Australian Plate, as its other portion was left behind, a lonely island in the sea.

By the late Thermacene, the climate has only got warmer, helped by Antarctica sliding away from the pole, greatly decreasing the ice cap.

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Imeracene
32.1 – 53 million years from now
Meaning: 'new day'

The climate is warmer than ever, and the ice caps have disappeared entirely. Tropical habitats are flourishing, including new biomes that are developing. Diversity has exploded – all of the incredibly numerous life found in a single area of rainforest is now spread over a very wide area.

The warmer climate is having an affect on the landmasses and the lifeforms on them. For example, the British Isles has been effected greatly by the rising sea level, and has been transformed into a flooded, split-up archipelago. Evolution here has run wild in the warming, insular envioroment.

North America has been quietly drifting west for the last few million years, and during the Imeracene, Alaska and Russia finally meet, closing the Bering Sea. Due to the warmer climate, both of these northerly locations are quite hospitable, and so are rather more biodiverse than they were during the Holocene, allowing for an exchange of organisms.

Antarctica has continued moving northwards, and is by this point a rich habitat, and home to a variety of strange organisms, both evolved from Holocenic Antarctic natives, and species rafted over from South America, and by the Imeracene, even south Africa as it drifts closer to it.

The Aljibal Mountain Range, where Africa and Europe collided, is still forming, but is by this point well-sized, and has an effect on the surrounding area. A warm, dry airmass that moves over the northern tip of Africa, gathers more moisture from the now-widened Red Sea, then as it moves on, it is blocked by the mountains. This leads to moist, tropical rainforest on the south side, as the damp air gathers, but an arid region known as the Sivatag Desert on the northern side.

A mountain range is also in the early stages of formation where Australia collided with Asia, and it is already quite sizeable. These mountains – known as the Gunung Mountains – are not yet large enough to affect airmasses. Further south-east is the Eyre Bay, a large inland sea, not unlike Hudson Bay. It is a flooded portion of South Australia, caused by the rising sea levels. This makes for a biodiverse, sheltered region with a fascinating ecosystem that shall be investigated in greater detail at a later point in the project.

Similar to the Eyre Bay is the Amazononas Bay. The sea level has rose to such an extent that it rises into the Amazon Basin, flooding the river with salt water, and creating a seawater-filled bay deep inland. This unusual habitat is sometimes known as the inland sea, and is home to a diverse range of bizarre organisms.