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| Paradisa; Paradise off Earth | |
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| Topic Started: May 29 2017, 02:39 PM (2,270 Views) | |
| DroidSyber | May 29 2017, 02:39 PM Post #1 |
I'll cut ya swear on me mum
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What is Paradisia? Paradisia was a massive terrestrial construct on Srris-1225Fb, otherwise known as HRS-144, a lifeless barren moon orbiting a gas giant. Other than Paradisia, the moon is boring and unimpressive, covered in dry, powdery dust, a thin atmosphere, and large craters scattered across the surface. The only impressive feature is, in fact, Paradisia, which certainly makes up for its natural dullness. One particularly large crater holds a massive entrance complex to the even more gargantuan dome that is the habitable area of the structure. Hundreds of landing platforms, air locks, and umbilicals extend in and out of the huge cliffside entryway, ranging from tiny to the size of small freighters. The interior is also astounding to look at, a vast artificial cavern filled with old residences, many of which appear to be temporary. It may be that Paradisia was some kind of “Hotol” or resort referenced in history servers. It would certainly explain the finery of the facility, which is garish even by the standards of the ancient humans. Continuing further into the facility, you reach a massive wall. The wall curves away from you slightly as it reaches the ceiling and is supported by a massive carbon superstructure. The size of this dome is even more impressive from orbit, where the structure is some massive it disrupts the shape of the planets horizon. The interior of the dome can be accessed through air locks, as well as by remote control of tiny drones that appear specifically designed for surveillance of the habitable interior. Inside the wall of the dome we see another one of the secrets to keeping the massive superstructure from collapsing; the inside, in a layer about one hundred or so meters, is hallow and filled with highly pressurized hydrogen gas, crisscrossed with pipes and support structures. The gas serves multiple purposes, both as fuel for the fusion generators, and as a cushion to support the heavier outer dome. The inner dome is much thinner, and more of a giant television screen then as a defensive or weight-bearing structure. This giant TV is the “sky” of the interior of the dome, with a 22-hour (24 Human hour) day-night cycle, and a way to insert features like water and carbon dioxide into the domes atmosphere. Weather forms naturally because of the immense size of the environment, and is not simulated. The interior of the dome appears to simulate what humans would consider a tropical paradise; vast crystal-blue seas, warm and rich with multitudes of colourful sea life, white sand beaches stretch along the coastline, ridged in tropical jungle and mangrove. The place on its own would be a wonder to explore, but the life, which based on current evidence, is actually believed to be descended from species that walked the human’s homeworld, makes it a biological holy grail. Thousands of professional and amateur biologists have studied the biosphere, and thousands of species have been described, ranging from massive grazers to tiny microbes, and there is so much more left. Now, I will lead you along throughout this rich biosphere, full of vibrant and unique ecosystems and adaptions. This is Paradisia. Biomes of Paradisia: •Terrestrial: Rainforests: The “poster boy” of Paradisa, jungles cover almost half of the total surface area inside the dome, including the ocean. The rainforests are filled with massive trees, stretching hundreds of meters into the air, supporting tens of thousands of species of plants and animals. The upper and lower canopies are prefect habitats for areal and arboreal life, with most of the inhabitants never stepping foot on, or even seeing, the ground. The surrounding ground is a gloomy underworld, where the death of the trees serve as a source of life for a cornucopia of decomposing animals and fungi, and odd plants and animals specially adapted for living in the perpetual twilight. Swamps: Warm, wet, and often smelly, the swamps and marshland of Paradisia are home to many weird lifeforms. The wet conditions make an amphibious lifestyle a recommended approach, and the waters and marsh plants support a varied ecosystem. Many specialized roles and adaptions have occurred for the unique half-world of the swamp, in both the brackish waters and in the trees and marsh plants above. Microscopic decomposers and larvaing insects greatly appreciate the still breeding grounds, and benefit fully from it. While this is a nuisance for some, for others, it’s a valuable food source. Floodplains: There are some areas where even the substantial water present in Paradisia isn’t enough to support the massive forests or swampy terrain found in other portions of the land, enter, the floodplains. Vast, covered in vibrant plains of grass and other underbrush, the floodplains follow a cycle of wet and wetter. The rains come and food the rivers, covering the grassy fields in water and nutrients, allowing the grasses here to grow strong and tall, reaching into the sky and forming a somewhat lower, but no less dense, canopy over the earthy ground. True trees exist few and far between, meaning long legs are essential for speeding through the oceans of grass. The fields are criss-crossed with rivers and streams, fast-flowing and for some, impassable barriers. In the rivers lurk hunters and food, depending on how big, or how smart, you are. •Marine: Open Ocean: The shallow sea off the coast of Paradisa’s sandy shores is teeming with rich plant and animal life. Tiny micro-organisms, plankton and algae, serve as a basis for a food chain filled with a variety of life, from tiny herbivores to giant filter feeders and apex predators. The water of the ocean, though warm compared to on different worlds, is cooler by a large degree then the land and air of the surface, promoting adaptions beneficial to cold climates, such as blubber. Water allows for the support of much larger animals then the land, coupled with lots and lots of nutrients, allow the animals here to reach much larger sizes the possible on the dry surface, both including vertebrates and invertebrates. Coral Reefs: An aquatic rainforest, coral reefs serve as a vibrant and beautiful home for literally tens of thousands of species, of plants, algae, fish, corals, arthropods, and other weirder life, tailored and adapted for the beautiful glory of the reefs. Formed over centuries, the reefs are chaotic mishmashes of ancient skeletons and living polyps of filter-feeding corals, supported by the endless layers of an endless cage, formed of calcium and carbon formed long-dead molluscs and corals. Nooks and crannies form in the organic bedrock, some stretching on for hundreds of metres and attached to hidden caves, and interconnected by the tiniest of cracks. The colours of the coral, vibrant and unhealthily colourful, which would be considered idiocy for camouflage in most conventional environments, are cloaks of invisibility amongst the underwater flowers of the reefs. Shorelines and Sandbanks: Sandy, warm, an underwater desert, the sandy sea floor of sandbanks and seaweed gardens are, by ocean standards, lifeless and dead. Flat and open, the sand provides little in the way of hiding, triggering unique adaptions for defense and hiding. The flat serve as grasslands to the oceans, and, like grasslands, are food to mammalian and avian grazers but, unlike grasslands, are also home to more fishy and cartilaginous grazers. The sands eventually end in beaches, the unfortunate final destination of many an unfortunate ocean dweller. White sands serve as nurseries for the hard-shelled egg-layers, homes for burrowing invertebrates, and all around beautiful transitions from the worlds of land and sea. Mangroves: A mixing pot of salty and fresh water, mangroves are a cross between sandbanks and swamps; waterlogged forests forming artificial rivers and waterways, a home for many smaller marine life. It also serves a kind of aquatic beach, serving as a launching platform for freshwater creatures to enter the larger, saltier sea, and for saltwater-dwellers to enter freshwater. Above the water are the canopies of the mangroves, tangled roots and branches forming highways near and away from the water, paths for arboreal mammals and reptiles, nests for seabirds, and resting spots for crustaceans. The tangles also form a woody reef, not unlike the coral reefs further out at sea. Nooks and passages form for smaller fish, crustaceans, and other marina, serving as secrets paths and hiding holes to avoid the combined dangers of the land, the seas, and the rivers. •Freshwater: Rivers and Streams: Fast-Flowing, often shallow and murky, rivers and streams have no real comparability in the surface world. Safely out of the path of the truly large predators of the oceans and lakes, rivers serve as perfect spawning grounds. That is, except for their fast currents, murkiness, and the land predators who are all too happy to nab a fishy would-be mother or father. Rivers and streams can also serve as watery transportation routes for both land and aquatic species, letting them pass from one area to another with much greater ease then through the tangles of the jungle floors and branches. A source of water for many thirsty creatures, rivers are, as is every other environment known, in this world or others, extorted for food by stealthy hunters. Rivers are two sides of the same coin; Impassable barriers and excellent highways, sources of life and death, safe and full of danger. Pools and Ponds: Still bodies of water like pools and ponds are some of the most abundant and vibrant freshwater communities. Ranging from tiny pools to kilometre-lakes, these water bodies are crucial to many life. They are perfect breeding grounds for insects, along with swamps, and therefore a good hunting ground for the insectivores that feed on the arthropods, tiny, but voracious predators. These then facilitate larger hunters coming to feed on these smaller predatory prey. Water plants attract herbivores as well, and water, always a precious resource, also attracts even some arboreal life. Many pools have long since disconnected from each other, or never connected at all, leading to unique, tiny ecosystems scattered across the jungles and plains. Lake Gwarick: A massive lake, capable of holding entire mountain ranges, Lake Gwarick is really more a freshwater ocean then a lake. The Lake is deep, dark, and cold, far inland from the sea, towards the edge of the dome. The lake is made up of a sandy or rocky bottom, with kilometres of open, fresh, clear water above it. The lake is particularly special because of how the food chain has formed, with traditionally ocean roles now being filled by freshwater species. Giant, peaceful filter feeders drift through the watery gash in the land, hunted by voracious predators. Without the need for special adaptions to live in salt water, traditionally amphibious or relegated groups of life can now prosper in the deep blue waters of the northern lake. Table of Contents: Main Updates: Primates on the Plain I: Mapinguari and Anteater Simian Snapshot of Life I: In the Jungle Canopy Evolution Mini-Updates: Mapinguari and kin; Leg Ontogeny Edited by DroidSyber, Jun 19 2017, 03:57 PM.
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Non Enim Cadunt! No idea how to actually hold down a project. | |
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| DroidSyber | Jun 2 2017, 10:13 PM Post #16 |
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I'll cut ya swear on me mum
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Yes, you're correct. However, as an ecosystem, there's not much special about freshwater tide pools. I might do it, but they also don't fit in well with the theme. Tide pools aren't really what you think of when it comes to tropical paradise. Also, lets just say that no neotenic fish amphibians 
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Non Enim Cadunt! No idea how to actually hold down a project. | |
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| Talenkauen | Jun 2 2017, 11:02 PM Post #17 |
Perpetually paranoid iguanodont
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Too late. I already called dibs on neotenic piscine salamanders. |
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PLEASE NOTE: If I come off as harsh or demanding whilst talking to you, please tell me. I apologize in advance..... UPCOMING PROJECTS: Projects here
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| IIGSY | Jun 2 2017, 11:18 PM Post #18 |
A huntsman spider that wastes time on the internet because it has nothing better to do
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So there's still gonna be "sea" going amphibians? Is it for littorialis? Edited by IIGSY, Jun 2 2017, 11:19 PM.
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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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| Talenkauen | Jun 2 2017, 11:26 PM Post #19 |
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Perpetually paranoid iguanodont
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Of coarse. I don't plan on doing multiple salamander-based worlds at the same time. That'd just be monotonous. |
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PLEASE NOTE: If I come off as harsh or demanding whilst talking to you, please tell me. I apologize in advance..... UPCOMING PROJECTS: Projects here
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| DroidSyber | Jun 3 2017, 07:25 AM Post #20 |
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I'll cut ya swear on me mum
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I'll just leave this here: "traditionally amphibious or relegated groups of life can now prosper in the deep blue waters of the northern lake". |
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Non Enim Cadunt! No idea how to actually hold down a project. | |
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| DroidSyber | Jun 3 2017, 12:09 PM Post #21 |
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I'll cut ya swear on me mum
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Primates on the Plain I: Mapinguari, Anteater Simians, and more. Primates, in the time of the humans, had less than 5 distinctive bodyplans. There were the long-tail tree dwellers, with their long, spindly, almost insect-like limbs, expressive faces, and long or even sometimes prehensile tail, the short-tailed or the no-tailed tree dwellers, the gibbons and the orang-tangs and the chimpanzees, agilely leaping through the treetops, or climbing the sides of trees or town sides, without caring for the difference. Finally, there were the ground-dwellers, Baboons, Gorillas and the assortment, lumbering over the grassy plains or weaving between the mossy trunks of jungle trees. And, of course, the bipedal body plan, but that is not the subject of what we are addressing. But on Paradisia, new niches and less competition has allowed primates to diversify in all manner of roles and niches. From the salty mangroves, the dark ground floor, the open plains, and the treetops, primates hold positions all along the food chain, from peaceful grazers to vicious predators and stealthy scavengers. To begin, we will be addressing some of the primates present in what could be thought of as one of the oddest environments to find a monkey; the flat, grassy, and swampy floodplains, where trees, the stereotypical homes of primates, are few and far between, and flat ground covered in tall grass, filled with ambush predators, is a necessary path to take for movement across the wet savannah. To start off we will be covering one of the largest primates, nay, one of the largest land mammals of all time; the Mapinguari (Megasimis bidontus). Weighing close to five tonnes as an average and reaching 5 metres off the ground at the shoulder, mapinguari look less like the ground sloths that were associated with their namesake and more like a giant Chalicotheres, with powerful, columnar legs elevating the head high off the ground. The feet are round and straight, like furry pillars. The coat is a pale beige, with a white underbelly. They have four toes on their feet, each ending in a thick hoof to help bear their weight. They have a head that somewhat resembles a cross between a baboon and a horse, the snout is long, ending in an upturned nose, with small ears and almond-shaped eyes. The eyes are positioned to provide a limited degree of binocular vision, unlike most herbivores, which have their eyes positioned on the sides of their heads. The teeth are composed of a battery of chewing molars, small canines that have become much more leaf-shaped for shearing plant matter, and leaf-shaped incisors for a similar purpose. These two sets of teeth earn them their species name, bidontus (two teeth). They also have a very small tail which is now vestigial. Mapinguari are peaceful herbivores, usually browsers, who use their long legs to traverse the vast plains in search of trees and shrubs. The primates tend to live in small troops consisting of a dominant male with a few females and their young, as well as occasionally younger males who do not have mating privileges. The dominant male tends to mate in the beginning of the dry season, where it will mate for as many females as possible. This is also usually when rival males will come and try to take the troop, which the dominant male will have to fend off. Conflicts, for the most part, tend to only consist of the two males yelling at each other and occasionally charging and playing a game of chicken to get the other to back down, but in some conflicts, it can escalate to a , in all honesty, relatively tame fight. Because of their size, mapinguaris can only fully raise one arm off the ground at once, and cannot raise in beyond 40°. Because of this, most “battles” tend to be little more than mapinguari batting at each other’s ankles and forearms, attempting to knock the other off balance. After mating is complete, females will gestate for 6 months (nine human months) after which they will give birth to one or two small babies. These babies look much more like traditional primates, with shorter faces, skinnier arms with opposable hands on the ends, and a longer, although not prehensile tail at the end. For the first year or so of their lives, they live on their mother, sisters, father, aunts, stepmothers, and other members of the troop, clinging to the short fur on the back and belly. After that timespan, they begin walking on the ground for the most part. This is when their limbs begin to develop to be better adapted for life on the ground, and they begin to start foraging on their own. They will then continue to mature for the next 5-6 years until they are an adult. Males, after reaching adulthood, usually leave troop immediately, while females tend to stay for another few years until leaving to find another herd. They then live for up to another half-century. They are highly intelligent, with complex social bonds.  Next, we will be talking about one of the oddest looking primates, a strange mix from all across the animal kingdom, the Anteater Simians (Formivenandi bicolourus). Only two or three feet long, they are a chimera of different biological parts; the snout of an anteater with a long tongue, bearlike claws on their feet for burrowing and digging through anthills, and a long, prehensile tail. The legs are stout to keep them close to the ground. They have a black and white colouration, primarily white with a black back and shoulders and black eyespots. The fur is long and shaggy along the main body, but thins out towards the back of the body. The tongue is a vibrant red colour. This is not only for hunting and eating ants and other insects, their primary food source, but also for display. When a male Anteater Simian is trying to court a female, they use their tongues in elaborate displays to attract the attention of the female. Male Anteater Simians hold command over a swath of territory called a “fiefdom”. These fiefdoms usually have a couple dozen females and lesser males, which feed in the territory but have strict rules in place they must follow. Lesser males are not allowed to mate with females until after the Dominant male has mated with the females he chooses, getting the scraps. As well, both males and females have a specific territory inside the fiefdom which they are confined to, and are not allowed to leave of feed in other fiefdoms outside of the mating season, although the dominant male can go where it pleases and feed where it pleases. Anteater Simians live up to their name; the majority of their diet is composed of ants, termites, and other eusocial insects, but they will also feed on other insects and arachnids, crustaceans, small fruits, and sometimes even eggs and small vertebrates. They are very creative in their methods for reaching their prey, including burrowing into nests, climbing trees, and sometimes even laying out bait to lure them out of their nests if the soil is particularly hard and dry, then licking them up with their long tongue. The tongue is not sticky, but rather covered in numerous grooves and muscular ridges, which the primate contracts to capture and crush the ants or termites. Anteater Simians live equally in both the floodplains and in the rainforests, surprisingly being quite capable climbers despite their clawed paws, and using their prehensile tail as a fifth limb to stabilize them and sometimes even to hang off branches to reach termite nests and even beehives. After a female and male mate, the female will gestate for around 6 human months, after which they will give birth to twins usually, which they then raise for the next two years until they reach adulthood. They are surprisingly long-lived, capable of reaching 70 years of age, but they are usually killed before then from the numerous predators that hunt them. Edited by DroidSyber, Jun 9 2017, 09:47 AM.
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Non Enim Cadunt! No idea how to actually hold down a project. | |
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| Beetleboy | Jun 3 2017, 12:24 PM Post #22 |
neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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That art is amazing! Really like the style. |
| ~ The Age of Forests ~ | |
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| IIGSY | Jun 3 2017, 02:00 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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Nice primates. I like how you deviated from the basic "monkey look". |
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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 | Jun 3 2017, 05:12 PM Post #24 |
* I am fed up with dis wuurld *
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Oooh, nice art work , dude! |
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Speculative Evolution: Manitou; The Needle in the Haystack. | |
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| IIGSY | Jun 4 2017, 07:36 PM Post #25 |
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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 have a question. Would it really be possible for the forelimbs to change from hands to elephantine feat through ontogeny? |
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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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| DroidSyber | Jun 5 2017, 11:53 AM Post #26 |
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I'll cut ya swear on me mum
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I'm writing a mini-update about that right now. May be overkill to write an entire update with what are for a minor feature of a single group of mammals, but I don't care. |
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Non Enim Cadunt! No idea how to actually hold down a project. | |
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| DroidSyber | Jun 5 2017, 06:35 PM Post #27 |
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I'll cut ya swear on me mum
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Apologies for double posting, but... Evolution Mini-Update I: Mapinguari and kin; Leg Ontogeny Mapinguari are a member of the column-legs, a group of terrestrial primates descended from capuchins most noted by their unique ontogeny and adult limbs. Starting off in their infancy, column-legs have traditional-looking limbs and hands, with thinner forearms with notable joints and flexible, grasping hands with opposable thumbs. In fact, the only real clue these will grow up to be among some of the largest and strangest-looking primates of all time comes only from their lack of a little finger, which has shrunk and become vestigial, even in their more primitive infancy. As the Mapinguari and other column-legs develop to adulthood, this finger further shrinks, until it almost disappears, being only a millimeter or so long. Column-legs lost their little finger roughly 20 million years ago, from what was believed to be just a chance mutation rather than from natural selection. Even so, the mutation does little to harm the animals as a whole, only stunting the growth of an, in all honesty, rather useless digit. The development of a column-leg’s arm from a grasping collection of digits into the pillar-like supporting limb throughout its life is in fact, relatively simple. After about the age of one to two, the foot and hand begins to change. It starts off by a thick wedge of muscle and fat begins to develop at the palm of the hand and back of the foot, supported by a few thin plates of cartilage. This serves as a support to the arm or leg, and will continue to grow until the wrist is elevated at a 60° angle off the ground. The fingers also slow down in growing in length, instead becoming much thicker and bulkier; by the time a Mapinguari has finished growing, the finger bones have only elongated about 2 centimetres, but can triple in thickness The last bone also develops a flatter end to serve as a platform to distribute weight. The fingers as well have a thick web form between their fingers, reaching up to the last knuckle, which further serves as a cushion to support their weight. Because of this structure, Column-legs technically walk on their toes. As they use their legs to walk around, the muscles further develop, widening and increasing the size of the leg as a whole, as well as the foot. They also develop thick calluses to protect the bottom of their feet from sharp objects on the ground; this leathery layer can be several centimetres in thickness. The evolutionary history of column-legs began around 25-20 million years ago, from a common ancestor descended from capuchin monkeys, a species of New-World monkey present in Paradisia. They early column-leg lived a primarily arboreal life, in isolated colonies across the vast ocean of grasses. Males tended to be more solitary, wandering across the plains, and therefor needed to be better adapted for life on the ground. Their mother however, was arboreal, and therefore could not tend well to a primarily ground-based infant, so individuals that went through a period of ontogeny when they matured as males, at least originally, benefited the best. This continued until the majority of the gene pool held the ontogeny gene, which eventually migrated to females. Now better adapted in their adult years to life on the plains then in the trees, females joined the males in leaving their arboreal lifestyles and moving onto the ground. The young became more dependent on the mothers as a result, grasping to her for transportation now. This behavior and ontogeny continued, spreading to the varied forms of column-legs who now inhabit most habitats across Paradisia, from the floodplains, their place of origin, to the jungles and even the mangroves and sea. Author’s Note: This was just an idea I had for an alternate to just answering a question, and (at least personally) better than putting the evolutionary description in the write-up; rather, I will make a mini-update such as this one for any evolution-based questions and such, clarifying the question. I think this helps me know better what to address, and I personally like the idea of the main updates being about the physiology and behavior, while evolution has a separate section. This question was asked by IIGS, in case that wasn’t clear. If anyone has any similar concerns with the evolution of one of the species, I’ll address it in one of these. Edited by DroidSyber, Jun 9 2017, 09:47 AM.
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Non Enim Cadunt! No idea how to actually hold down a project. | |
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| IIGSY | Jun 5 2017, 09:22 PM Post #28 |
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A huntsman spider that wastes time on the internet because it has nothing better to do
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Wow. That's a new (and cool) way of answering questions. |
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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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| DroidSyber | Jun 9 2017, 02:43 PM Post #29 |
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I'll cut ya swear on me mum
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A Snapshot of Life I: The Jungle Canopy The rainforest. A tangle of vines and branches stretching up into the sky, borne on trees like organic mountains. A veritable orgy of ecological life, adapted for the unique conditions that form height above that ground, and down in the dark below. The grasping limbs of the trees branches, bearing leaves starving for light, encompass all space they can, grabbing almost all the precious rays they can with gluttonous fervour. The lower levels, starved from light, are gloomy and mysterious, full of suspense and silence. Until that silence is broken, the choruses begin. Hoots, screeches, croaks, caws, screams, murmurs, rustling, calls echo throughout the leaves, their sources hidden. This is the world of the upper canopy, umbrellas of the canopies creating pillars of shade, split at the cracks by beams of golden sunlight. Home to a mass density of animal and plant life, each facing unique challenges, with unique solutions to solve them. Mammal, bird, and reptile are as much home as insect or arachnid, Ambushes and chases range in all three directions, the roads of nature stretch up and down, to and fro. The rainforests of Paradisia are its brand, and a fascinating world to explore.  Primates, particularly monkeys, appear to be to humans the defining feature of jungles. It should come as no surprise they have remained in the ancient role, relatively unchanged compared to many of the far stranger and more diverged primates present in Paradisia. Blue-Faced Hooters (Caerurlavultus garrulus) are one of these species, a metre-long arboreal primate descended from capuchin monkeys. They have long arms, legs, fingers, and toes, a flexible, but not prehensile, tail, a thin body covered in dark brown and white fur, with a yellow mane around the face. The face itself is bald and a bright blue colour, the inspiration behind the name “Blue-faced”. This serves for display and for identifying members of the species out of the green. The eyes are dark brown, round, and highly intelligent. They have small, flat noses, a fairly flat, almost human-like face, and small ears at the side of their head. The fur is short and coarse with long hairs on the end of the tail and on the legs. Their dentary structure consists of a small molars with cone-shaped protrudences in the centre, a pair of long, sharp canines and sharp, non-serrated incisors. These are for their varied, omnivorous diet, consisting of fruit, insects and grubs, nuts, seeds, and small animal prey such as lizards, eggs, and young birds. They are very intelligent, utilizing tools to get food such as sticks and rocks. In fact, they will have “favourite” tools which they will carry around with them, which are often shaped and tended for to better serve their intended purpose. A group of Blue-Faced Hooters will often be seen carrying dozens of rocks and sticks from entirely different areas of the forest, having carried the tools around for years. In families, these are even passed down through generations, with some rocks being used for an excess of thirty to fifty years before being replaced. Numerous strategies form with these tools, including breaking through tree bark with sharp rocks, knocking small prey items off branches and onto the forest floor below, cracking open nuts, and even using the rocks as projectile weapons for both offense and defense. Blue-Faced Hooters have highly distinctive calls, series of low hoots which can be heard several kilometres away. These calls have unique dialects and accents, and most Hooters have individual names. Hooter social structure is very disjointed, with large groups of unrelated families traveling together merely for protection. Within family however, bonds are very close. Mating tends to be monogamous, and partners stay together for life. Homosexual pairings also occur, who will abduct young Hooters from other parents and raise them, and will sometimes even abduct other species. Mating takes place at any time throughout the year, after which a 2-month gestation period passes, after which a mother will give birth to 1-3 young Hooters. These stay with their parents until they find a partner, after which they leave. Hooters can live for up to twenty years, but are often eaten by the numerous predators that hunt the canopy.  Jungles are warm and wet, a perfect home for many ectotherms. Lizards and snakes scamper around the tree branches and bask in the sun’s rays, while frogs and other lissamphibians crawls along in the leafy twilight below. But the canopy is home to some reptiles not traditionally, or ever really, thought of as arboreal: turtles. Slow, ungainly, with poorly designed limbs for climbing, and an inflexible, heavy shell, turtles appear to be some of the most poorly adapted for life in the tree branches. But, not letting that discourage them, descendants of slider turtles have taken to the trees, adapted for their new, strange environment. Treeapins (Carentitesta) are a grouping of arboreal turtles that are utterly alien in their appearance and behavior compared to their ancestors. Their shell is thin and flexible, composed of ten jointed plates of bone that provide them with a better degree of movement and agility. It provides next to no protection, and in incredibly light, in most cases very vestigial. To make up for the lack of armoured protection, treeapins have evolved numerous, much lighter methods of defense. They are small, varying in size between less than 5 centimetres in length to around 40 centimetres. The skin is covered in large, flat scales along the neck, limbs, and back, with smaller scales on the tail and on small patches along the side, underbelly, and limbs. Many have camouflaged colouration, with mixes of browns and greens. The tail is often covered in small, sharp spines made of elongated scales the serve as deterrents for attack from behind. The limbs have thinned and elongated, with the hands and feet more adapted for grasping, and a false thumb on the forelimbs. The head tends to be boxy and stout, with large eyes on either side. The mouth is beaked with sharp edges. Their fingers end in short, curved claws for grasping into the bark. Treeapins have a varied diet, depending on the species, eating leaves, fruits, seeds and nuts, insects and grubs, even small mammals, reptiles, eggs and baby birds with some of the larger species. There is even the Midas Treeapin (Flavucephelus nidius) which is an almost entirely nectivorous species, climbing through the forest in search of flowers, earning its name from the golden dust of pollen that covers it’s face and anything it touches. Treeapins are still ectothermic, and sunbathe during the morning. This is when they are most vulnerable, and make easy prey for any opportunistic predator. Although Treeapins prefer to hide, using camouflage to avoid notice, when confronted directly, most Treeapins lash out, hissing and snapping, attempting to bite at the predator, and spinning to confront them the tail spines. But on particular species has a very special, and odd, trick of their sleeves, quite literally. Da Vinci Turtles (Pterachelone pygmaeus) look, for the most part, relatively unassuming. They are about 15-20 centimetres in length, with a dull grey and brown colouration. They are primarily insectivores, mostly eating beetle larvae. But they hide a secret. Hidden under their forelimbs and underbelly is a thin fold of skin and muscle, which can extend to form a gliding sail that they can use to glide up to 100 metres through the air. Treeapins are oviparous, laying clutches of around ten to twenty eggs either in tree hallows or in the soil on the ground at the base of trees. Some, particularly the ones that lay eggs in trees, exhibit a small degree of parental care, defending the eggs from smaller egg thieves. After the eggs hatch, the hatchlings are on their own to fend for themselves. Treeapins can live between 50 to almost 100 years in age. Edited by DroidSyber, Jun 19 2017, 03:54 PM.
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Non Enim Cadunt! No idea how to actually hold down a project. | |
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| DroidSyber | Jun 17 2017, 11:09 AM Post #30 |
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I'll cut ya swear on me mum
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Sorry for the long time since the last updates. I'm suffering from writer's block, I have a bunch of ideas, but am struggling to get them down on paper. If anyone has any suggestions, that would be helpful, I find I tend to work best when the goal is from someone else. |
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Non Enim Cadunt! No idea how to actually hold down a project. | |
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11:57 AM Jul 13