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| Ecology of the Exinogene; A guide to the geography, ecology, and biology of the future | |
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| Topic Started: Mar 3 2017, 12:08 PM (3,411 Views) | |
| Beetleboy | Mar 3 2017, 12:08 PM Post #1 |
neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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Ecology of the Exinogene Period This is not to act as a field guide to future species, but rather focuses on the bigger picture. The amount of research I have put into this project is more than I've ever done before, to create something that I hope will be detailed and realistic. What I want from this project is something that embraces every aspect of the world, with as much effort put into the geography and climate as there is put into the animals. I don't want to write about species, unless it is a really unique and notable one. Instead, in this I am going to discuss the evolution of groups as a whole. Ecology will play a major role in this, as I want to follow the evolution of not just species, but the evolution of a group, of an ecosystem, of Earth itself. I think this is to be key to understanding and creating plausible organisms, to see it not as a creature on its own, but something that is dependant and interlinked with everything around, the ecosystem, the Earth, the climate, and the geography. The Exinogene is a 53 million year long time period that goes from the end of the Holocene, to the Imeracene. Through this time period, I am going to look at how the continents move and the climate changes, and how this has effects on the organisms. I will follow the evolution of ecosystems and groups, looking at how they interlink and compete with each other. To create an in-depth and believable future world, this is not just going to be about large animals, as you often see. We will look at the evolution of flora, fungi, and invertebrates from mites to cephalopods. All of these are interlinked and create a complex world that hopefully will increase in depth and diversity as time goes on. This project is the culmination of years of thought about future evolution, and experimenting with largely unsuccesful projects. It is a project that fulfils all of my interests, from geography to ecology, zoology to evolution. I hope that you enjoy it. *** Our journey through time and evolution begins in the Holocene, with the Yellostone eruption and the extinction of Homo sapiens. From there, we move on through the Polycene, as the world slowly begins to warm up from geographical and climatic events, then on into the Thermacene, in which we see the evolution of many new and revolutionary groups. Finally, we shall end our journey in the Imeracene, a world where the ice caps are non-existant, and Earth is experiencing a hothouse climate. The Exinogene Period is a time characterised by its warm climate, and slow build up to the formation of a new Pangaea, beyond the scope of this project. Many radical evolutionary changes appear during this period, in both flora and fauna. Both the land and sea are changing fast, in a flurry of new adaptations. The Exinogene is an interesting period to look at due to its high amount of diversity - its hot climate and lack of any major extinction events allowed for a large biomass to appear. There were other contributing factors too, such as Antarctica drifting away from the pole, allowing for its previously inhospitable land to be colonised by a wide range of species. This biodiverse, changing, dynamic world is the one that we shall look at. We will look first at the geography and geological time scale, before moving onto the ecology and the organisms themselves. Welcome to the Exinogene. *** Author's final note: There is a lot more stuff to come. I didn't want to make the introduction too lengthy, because things such as geographical details deserve their own individual posts. Ecology of the Exinogene is to be a long-term project, and will gradually increase in detail and depth. Constructive criticism, comments, questions, and feedback are welcome. Also, the majority of updates featuring organisms should include, at some point, drawings and possibly diagrams. I kind of need a map(s) as well, if anybody is willing eventually, but that can wait for now. Catalogue of Major Revisions & Changes Here every time there are major changes or something is revised in the project, it will be catalogued here along with the date of the change. Contents - Ordered By Subject Contents - Ordered By Epoch |
| ~ The Age of Forests ~ | |
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| IIGSY | Mar 4 2017, 01:08 PM Post #16 |
A huntsman spider that wastes time on the internet because it has nothing better to do
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Wait, why is everything in quotes? But, anyways, nice timeline. I love interchanges. |
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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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| CaledonianWarrior96 | Mar 4 2017, 01:20 PM Post #17 |
An Awesome Reptile
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More organised layout I'd imagine |
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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
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| Beetleboy | Mar 4 2017, 01:24 PM Post #18 |
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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An attempt to keep things orderly. Each quote represents a time period, hence the first being labelled the Quaternary, as it discusses the Holocene, and the second the Exinogene.
Interchanges are good fun, mixes things up a little. |
| ~ The Age of Forests ~ | |
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| Corecin | Mar 4 2017, 02:18 PM Post #19 |
Prime Specimen
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Good job! I can see that you put a lot of thought (and work) into this and it makes the whole project seem a lot more plausible as a whole. I can't wait to see what ecosystems are focused on first. I also really do like the very organized format. |
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| IIGSY | Mar 4 2017, 02:44 PM Post #20 |
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A huntsman spider that wastes time on the internet because it has nothing better to do
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 This nematode approves |
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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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| Dapper Man | Mar 4 2017, 03:17 PM Post #21 |
* I am fed up with dis wuurld *
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Nice update, Beetle! |
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Speculative Evolution: Manitou; The Needle in the Haystack. | |
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| Tartarus | Mar 4 2017, 06:51 PM Post #22 |
Prime Specimen
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Unique in what way exactly? If by being a project that examines numerous future periods of time from near future to further ahead, that's been done many times before. Or did you mean more in that the way it examines future periods will be different than other multi-period projects (i.e. how you said there would be more focus on groups rather than species)? In any case, its so far sounding quite intriguing. Out of what you've previewed so far, I am particularly looking forward to the giant flamingoes of the Polycene and the Amazononas Bay of the Imeracene. |
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| IIGSY | Mar 4 2017, 11:38 PM Post #23 |
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A huntsman spider that wastes time on the internet because it has nothing better to do
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Salt plains are cool |
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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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| Beetleboy | Mar 5 2017, 03:20 AM Post #24 |
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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Unique as in this project will have a greater emphasis on ecology and the evolution of groups. Its difficult to explain at the moment, but one there's a good amount of updates here then you'll understand.  Also, thanks for the support everybody. 
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| Beetleboy | Mar 6 2017, 07:20 AM Post #25 |
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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Apologies for the double post. First of all, I'm thinking of making a second table of contents, dedicated to organisms and ecosystems, but instead of ordered by subject, ordered by epochs. This would allow people to better keep track of the progress of this world through geological time. Do people think this would be a useful edition? I think it would help especially as the project gains more content. Secondly, the first proper update should come either tonight or within the next few days. It will feature Antarctica during the Polycene, the first epoch after the Holocene. |
| ~ The Age of Forests ~ | |
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| Beetleboy | Mar 6 2017, 02:33 PM Post #26 |
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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Antarctica On The Move Development of Antarctic life during the Polycene During the Polycene, shortly after the Holocene was brought to its abrupt end, Antarctica began to move northwards. The warming climate, helped by the reopening of the Isthmus of Panama, had already began a deglaciation of the Arctic ice cap – now, with Antarctica moving out of the sea ice, it began to melt. Thanks to the warming climate and the northwards movement, during the Polycene Antarctica became more habitable than previously. However, until the Thermacene, it was still quite distant from the closest continents, and therefore there has not yet been a major exchange of organisms, as there will be at later points in time. For now, the warming Antarctica is a haven for evolution to run wild, a handful of animals such as penguins, seabirds, and pinnipeds left with a continent to claim their own. Many animals that had previously been tied to the ocean now moved further inland. The temperate climate of the majority of Antarctica triggered a diversification of native plants. Other flora, mostly from South America, would arrive here during the Thermacene, trees and other plants taking hold – but for now, Antarctica belongs to the tussocks. This is the primary habitat here, plains of tussocks, some of which can grow to several metres in height. While they were previously self-pollinating, due to an increase in diseases, cross-pollination became more efficient for them, and so their pollen is now moved from flower to flower by dipterans and mites, and during the Late Polycene, mosquitos. The tussock plains cover much of Antarctica by the Late Polycene, creating a habitat that is home to a variety of other organisms, such as bryophytes, lichens, fungi, and the slowly diversifying Caryophyllaceae and a few other kinds of flowering plants – not to mention the animal life. Some of the most common invertebrates in Antarctica are springtails, mites, nematodes, spiders, and dipterans. The large amount of invertebrate life is an alluring prospect for an animal, and several creatures have become insectivores. Several migratory passerines breed here, spending the summer feeding on the numerous insects, before travelling northwards when the winter comes. Some species, however, such as various kinds of pipits, live here year round. Perhaps the most interesting animals on Polycenic Antarctica are the descendants of seabirds. It is not hard to see why they abandoned the ocean for the inland tussock plains – they offer shelter, food, and safe places to make nests under tussocks, safe from the prying eyes of predators. Gulls were amongst the first birds to make the change – being highly adaptable, it didn't take long for some species to severe their ties with the ocean. This is an event that can be seen throughout the world as gulls diversify, but nowhere has it yet resulted in a form such as that seen on Antarctica. These creatures, known as filtermews, took advantage of the swarms of flying insects, and become aerial filter feeders. Early filtermews would fly through a swarm, mouth wide open, rictal bristles helping to trap the insects, like a net. However, more advanced forms also developed baleen-like papillae lining their tongue and the roof of their mouth, aided by sticky saliva – this helps to trap the flies and other insects inside the mouth while it is still moving, until it closes its mouth and uses its tongue to rasp off the trapped prey. This method of foraging is efficient, especially during the summer when there are huge amounts of insects. However, during the winter months, when flying insect activity is low, the filtermew birds are forced to broaden their diet and spend more time actively pecking around in search of food. They do particularly well at the end of the Polycene and on into future times, due to the arrival of mosquitos, good fodder for these birds. Some dimunitive, largely nocturnal, terrestrial birds found on Polycenic Antarctica are the tetrels, flightless descendants of Procellariiformes, specifically Procellaria. These small birds create burrows beneath the tussock plains, safe (mostly) from predators – sometimes, in colonial species, the tunnel systems can be quite extensive. Their burrowing adaptations are a defence against the avian predators, the voraxavids and the skyjaegers (see below). They can make their nests deep down under the earth, forming their tunnels using their clawed feet, compact body, and a flattened plate over the beak, used for pushing through soil. Tetrels are mostly nocturnal, emerging at night and using sensitive rictal bristles to forage for terrestrial invertebrates to eat. The skyjaegers are descendants of skuas, which have taken advantage of the new aerial prey presenting itself, from passerines to filtermews. They become faster and better fliers, able to ambush their prey in the air – however, instead of attacking with the feet like many birds of prey do, the skyjaegers using their sharp, serrated beak to stab into their avian prey. Many species of skyjaegers have highly keratinised faces, probably an adaptation for the rigours of hitting the prey face-first at high speed. Their long beaks are capable of killing prey instantly, then they can be passed down to the claws, to be carried to a safe place to eat. While the skyjaegers became aerial predators, some seabirds became largely terrestrial predators. These were the voraxavids. They are descendants of giant petrels, which became more dependant on scavenging, but eventually broadened their diet to include more live prey, a change spurred by the large amount of new prey items emerging in Antarctica. They have well-developed wings, which are used in balance and for clubbing opponents in comabt, and they are still able to fly. Their main prey are tetrels, which they mostly hunt at night. Their well-developed eyesight and sense of smell allows them to pinpoint the location of their prey, before chasing it down, as tetrels are normally not very fast. They will also take their prey while it is inside its burrow, by putting its head down the tunnel and grasping the tetrel. To help keep hold of its prey and drag it out, voraxavids have sharp, backward-pointing papillae lining their tongue and roof of their mouth, which act like teeth, digging into the flesh and keeping hold of the prey no matter how hard it struggles. For now, there are no large terrestrial animals on Antarctica. The largest is a species of turkey-sized voraxavid that scavenges along the coastline, hunting in packs, and feeding upon seabirds and seal pups. However, as time goes on, we will see species begin to grow in size, and an armsrace in evolution occur between prey and predator. There is little competition on Antarctica during the Polycene. However, during the Thermacene, new creatures will evolve, and more will arrive on the continent from elsewhere. Author's Note
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| ~ The Age of Forests ~ | |
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| Dapper Man | Mar 6 2017, 02:47 PM Post #27 |
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* I am fed up with dis wuurld *
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Nice update, Beetle! Loving Antarctica's life. |
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Speculative Evolution: Manitou; The Needle in the Haystack. | |
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| Beetleboy | Mar 6 2017, 02:48 PM Post #28 |
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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Thanks Dapper, there's a lot more to come on Antarctica.
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| ~ The Age of Forests ~ | |
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| Hananas59 | Mar 6 2017, 03:05 PM Post #29 |
Traveller of the imagination
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I like this update, it finally provides some valuable insight in some of the projects many amazing animals to come Part of me really loves the filtermews, I am already imagening them filtering with their elaborate balleen-networks. The voraxids also seem interesting asI see them.strolling along the ocean, find their food. As of now antartica seems to be only at the start of its development and there's no wondering in what awesome stuff you might make for its future 
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| Treading the line between imagination and reality | |
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| Uncanny Gemstar | Mar 6 2017, 03:09 PM Post #30 |
Godfather of SE
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Yeah, this is super cool and unique beetle. I'm very excited to see more of the world that you're creating. |
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