| Hello, we here at Speculative Evolution have noticed a recent increase in the number of guests visiting our community. While being a guest does allow you to browse the forum at a basic level, it does not give you access to everything. There are many things that guests cannot see, and therefore we urge you to join our us so that you may contribute to our community and the projects we are undertaking. If you would like to register, please click the link below. If you are already a member, please ignore this message and log in. Thank you for your cooperation. Join our community! |
| Evolutionary Continuum exercise; finally, a post on this forum | |
|---|---|
| Topic Started: Dec 7 2008, 07:28 PM (2,186 Views) | |
| Canis Lupis | Dec 7 2008, 07:28 PM Post #1 |
I'm watching you.
|
Don't know if this belongs on this particular forum, but I'm putting it here anyway. Here is a weekly exercise that I do to keep my Dixonia Evolutionary Technique (I just call it DET) sharp: 1. pick any random biome (can be marine or terrestrial). 2. pick any combination of the following: amphibian, bird, fish, invertebrate, reptile, and mammal (you may use each category more than once, but I recommend you choose at least two different categories). 3. pick one order from each of the categories you chose (one for each). 4. pick one species of animal from each order (one for each). 5. pick a timezone (5, 10, 15, or 20 (I usually go with 20, but that's up to you). 6. now evolve your four different animal species to suit the biome. Notes: 1. for invertebrate, assume that there are no restrictions for how large they can get (may not be accurate, but it sharpens your DET). 2. your species don't have to already be from the biome (it's better if they are not, but do as you wish). 3. your species don't have to be from the same general location (it's better if they are not, but do as you wish). Have fun sharpening your DET! |
 |
 
|
| ATEK Azul | Jul 11 2009, 04:00 PM Post #2 |
Transhuman
|
This sounds interesting and very helpful though it is a shame no 1 has payed attention to this maybe this could be a weekly group project for designing biomes with each person making 2 animals each week for the agreed biome? That may not be what this was intended for but it could bring some life into this while also doing something simular to what you were meaning. |
|
|
|
| Empyreon | Aug 14 2009, 09:09 PM Post #3 |
|
I followed you up until step number five. What do you mean by time zone? 5, 10, 15, 20 of what? Million years? If so, what do those numbers signify? Is there a standard rate of evolution from the original specimen based on those time scales? |
|
|
|
| Canis Lupis | Sep 7 2009, 01:36 PM Post #4 |
|
I'm watching you.
|
Well, 5, 10, 15, 0r 20 is just millions of years from now. Basically, it siginfies a time period. Have you seen TFIW? 5 million years is just 5 million years from now. So basically, you can select, 5, 10, 15, or 20 million years hence. But I'm thinking of you just being able to choose any time period and evolve your four animals to it. ATEK: it could be a group thing, but it would have to be stretched out longer. Oh, and there are size restrictions on inverts (by that, I mean that arthropods are restricted on their size. Unless I say otherwise, oxygen level is as it is today). Anyway, since people have actually started posting, I'll post this week's DET excercise, which everyone may contribute to: Biome: tundra Location: Greenland Time period: 35MYF Base Species:
Have fun! And remember: this isn't the most plausible thing in the world. I know that and I'm not trying to act like it is. It's just meant to get your mind thinking about different things. Just assume that these four organisms survive. BTW, these four organisms are by no means the only organisms that live in this environment (fish, squid, plankton, lichen, any small creature you'd expect to find in the tundra exists). But they are the only organisms you are allowed to evolve. Enjoy! |
|
|
|
| colddigger | Sep 7 2009, 03:28 PM Post #5 |
Joke's over! Love, Parasky
|
okay, i want a lobster that is 4 stories tall from ground to eye, it consumes flamingos that are about half a foot tall which are served to it by it's gorilla servants who also decorate it with the skins of sacrificed komodo dragons and prisoners of war. the gorillas hail their lobsters as sort of gods for each tribe, their wars often incorporate the lobsters duking it out while the gorillas cheer them on. it's totally awesome and stuff. the gorillas main cattle would be the komodo dragon who they feed junk(meaning whatever lil critters) they catch from the ocean, their main poultry would be the mini flamingos who reproduce faster than chickens. |
|
|
| Canis Lupis | Sep 7 2009, 03:37 PM Post #6 |
|
I'm watching you.
|
When I said not the most plausible thing in the world, I meant that the excercise was. Not the result. But that's an okay idea... ...unless it's sarcasm. |
|
|
|
| colddigger | Sep 7 2009, 03:40 PM Post #7 |
|
Joke's over! Love, Parasky
|
no, it's not sarcasm. but you gave me some room to mess around and i took it. |
|
|
|
| Canis Lupis | Sep 7 2009, 03:43 PM Post #8 |
|
I'm watching you.
|
Ah. Just looked like sarcasm. Like they say, you give 'em an inch, they take it a mile. |
|
|
|
| JohnFaa | Sep 7 2009, 03:53 PM Post #9 |
Adveho in mihi Lucifer
|
I think I'll go with a flightless flamingo that serves as steeds for pygmy sentient gorillas that are eaten by warm blooded, furry komodo dragons and that all those three species eat artic freshwater lobsters at different stages of their lives (flamingoes eat larvae, the others eat the adults) |
|
|
|
| Temporary | Sep 7 2009, 03:53 PM Post #10 |
|
Ice Flamingoes: White Feathers cover their body, they have traded out their long legs in favor of short stouter ones to conserve body heat. They wander around picking out the smaller animals that live in the snow and ice, raking them out with shovel like beaks. Snow Cray: Lobster descendeds that live under the snow, primarily herbavorous. They lost their eyes in exchange for a 'touch-at-a-distnace', using vibrations to know what is around them in the snow, and what it is. Snowrilla: (okay, I admit, I'm getting lazy on the names) Bipedal, thicker woolier fur on a fatter body. Smarter, however, unlike us, their heads opened out on the top forming a larger chamber instead of shrinking the jaw. Tool use has developed to using spears and nets for hunting and fishing, and even use of snow to create igloo-like nests (obviously not as well as modern inuit dwellings). Incapable of complex language do to present form of jaw, presently preventing much further social development. Greenland Dragon: Much larger, highly venomous ambush predator. It's size helps the cold blooded creature keep warm in the cold climates, especially when covered in snow. It sleeps under the snow looking out, usually appearing to be a large rock, when prey approaches it attacks, clawing it or biting it, leaving it's bacteria in the prey. The bacteria then quickly starts digesting the blood releasing a toxic gas that the Dragon can track for miles, finding it's poisoned prey and begins eating it. Edited by Temporary, Sep 7 2009, 03:54 PM.
|
|
|
|
| ATEK Azul | Sep 7 2009, 08:28 PM Post #11 |
|
Transhuman
|
Here are mine. Blubber Drake: This animal lives in areas of geothermal hot Springs Where they are semi aquatic predators with an insulation of fat, webbed feet and has developed a venom that breaks down muscle which releases heat allowing both paralisation and a confortable home for this predators bacteria which act faster and better at higher temperatures. This animal is actually the top predators in the Springs with outside predators at a disadvantage thanks to the terrain and temperature differences depending on how close to the vents they are. Steamingos: These are flocking animals which live in and around the geothermal hot Springs filling the niche of Blubber Drake prey and as the main filter feeder at the hot Springs. These animals get their names both from the enviroment and by the deffense methods they use where they spray large amounts of urine into the water which quickly evaporates in the heated water creating a fog that lasts long enough for members of the flock to get away from their predators. They are also pink like their ancestors but they have stocky short legs with long webbed feet. Crusted Swimmers: These are the prey of the Steamingos and eat microbial grouths in the water of the Springs and have taken on a small swimming form simular to the Silverswimmers from Tfiw though these look more like planktonic Lobsters with paddles and a hydrodynamic body. These near microscopic animals have deveoped into singular form tiny creatures so that they can reproduce fast enough that the Steamingos don't wipe them out as they had almost been when the flamingos started targeting their larvae. Gore-ella: These are solitary scavengers which live by following the Steamingo flocks hoping to scare a young Blubber Drake from their kill while staying away from the older individuals. They scare Blubber Drakes by sneaking up on them and smashing their fists into the spines of the kills owner and then backing away yelling and pounding their chests, if the predator stays they pee on their face with a mixture of urine and foul smelling chemicals both blinding their eyes and noses. While the predator is destracted they quickly pee all over the carcas which becomes foul smelling and distasteful enough to drive away predators. These animals look like apes but are brown and yellow to blend in to the water and mud. they are also large and very stocky but still able to stand upright long enough to pee on their targets. |
|
|
|
| colddigger | Sep 7 2009, 10:42 PM Post #12 |
|
Joke's over! Love, Parasky
|
so i take it that since we work with time periods then land shifts and climate change are taken into account or something? okay, i got one for you guys... Biome: Shrubland Location: Midwest USA Time Period: 100 MYF Species: Goose Barnacle Kiwi bird nine band armadillo American Crow |
|
|
|
| The Dodo | Sep 8 2009, 01:54 AM Post #13 |
Prime Specimen
|
Alright I will have a go. Inland Barnacle: These barnacles stay dormant most of their life underground as eggs. When it rains it the eggs hatch and the larva emerge into a temporary pool of water and come into adulthood very quickly. They find a place to settle down and begin their short filter feeding life before quickly mating, lays it's eggs and dies. Shrub digger bird: Descent from the kiwi it spends the day in burrows and only comes out during the night. They have a light brown colour and at night they come out to search for ants, beetles and other invertebrate in the soil using it's beak like the modern kiwi. Like the modern kiwi it's around the size of a chicken, unlike the modern kiwi it lays a clutch of 4-6 smaller eggs as they are more unlikely to survive here. Tiger armadillo: The top predator of the shrub land it is about the size of a lynx. It has a brown, speckled coat and has sacraficed some of it's armor for speed and usually comes out at dusk to hunt. It has sharp teeth and strong front claws to dispatch it's prey which are mammals, birds, reptiles and has been observed even eating inland barnacles. It spends the hot days in burrows. Vulture crow: This is a large crow with a wing spand of 2 metres which has taken the place of vultures. It's beak is more hooked to tear through carrion and has a bold head to help prevent bacteria infections, it is still a black colour. It mainly eats carrion which it locates using sight, but it has also been observed killing and eating small vertebrates and stealing the eggs of birds even using rocks to break them open like the Egyptian Vulture. |
|
|
|
| JohnFaa | Sep 8 2009, 02:05 AM Post #14 |
|
Adveho in mihi Lucifer
|
I don't know if coldigger meant the Barnacle Goose, which is a bird, or the actual barnacles. Whatever, both have potential |
|
|
|
| colddigger | Sep 8 2009, 05:11 PM Post #15 |
|
Joke's over! Love, Parasky
|
i meant the crustacean |
|
|
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
| Go to Next Page | |
| « Previous Topic · Spec Guides · Next Topic » |
9:39 PM May 22
