Era 11: Mass Extinction Event #1
A huge comet approached the planet Delta Panzerus, glowing red as it entered the upper atmosphere. The night sky was lit up as bright as day. Respirytes headed for their burrows. Scensurytes clung to their treetrops. A slumbering Dreadnaught rushed back into the water, where shoals of Slitherys and Grabenbewohners were dashing around in a panic. Blind Deathrexes and Orange Hunters carried on as normal, oblivious…
Yet the comet soon began to recede back into the night sky. The glow gradually faded, leaving only a slight shower of superheated water and glowing molten rock drifting down through the atmosphere. The comet continued on its way, back into deep space, minus a proportion of its mass. It was just another near miss…
A golden age continued for a while. Plants and animals were getting bigger, colonising more areas of land, and becoming ever more numerous in the sea. But it was not to last. Disaster did eventually come, in the shape of dozens of super-volcanoes, erupting year after year, followed by the rupture of continental plates and endless earthquakes, tsunamis and minor eurptions. Aside from the mass devestation, the upper atmosphere was continually filled with ash. The sun disappeared from view for centuries. The world was covered with a ghostly shroud, a permanently overcast sky of greys and whites.
Plankton and plants survived, but in far fewer numbers. The populations of plankton-eaters and herbivores began to crash. With the lack of sunlight, the world became much colder. Only a few temperate regions remained around the equator. With most of the land covered in thick ice, sea levels began to drop. Previously warm, shallow seas became cold deserts. Soon every species was facing a level of hardship it had never dealt with before. There was a brief bonanza for scavengers, then even the supply of corpses began to dry up…
For some, simplicity and small appetites were the key to survival. Other, hungrier species managed to survive thanks to their unique abilities.
By the time the sun shone through the clouds again and the climate began to recover, around 85% of the world’s biomass and 50% of the species had been lost. Many promising lines of evolution had sadly been made extinct…
Meanwhile, the entire deep-ocean ecosystem and its few lucky species were basically unaffected.
New Evolutions:
Winners:
There were few real successes during this era. Survival was a success in itself.
Yuckius Yuckius had a level of chemical defences that no predator could contend with, in addition to having the most efficient plankton-feeding method of any creature. Before disaster struck, this species was doing quite well. Although the species survived, the population was slow to recover, as all that complex biochemistry had slowed down its reproduction rates.
Deathrex was the only predator left in warm water by the end of this era – mainly because there was not enough prey there to sustain the Orange Hunters.
Thanks to its swimming ability,
Prime Finner II was able to cover enough distance to find the few sea plants left to eat. Something the Surferdids and other crawlers could not do.
The ancient
Doubler was hardly a deep-thinker, but was still smarter than most at this time. It survived thanks to its general adaptability.
The even more ancient
Slithery was able to survive comfortably, and its numbers quickly recovered, especially in the colder seas.
Tough Zeeboo and
Fanel not only survived, but quickly began to spread again once the sunlight returned.
Big Fanel was the only large plant to survive, and also happened to be the most genetically complex lifeform the planet had ever seen.
Terranoalgae is notable for being able to survive further in drier conditions than any other plant, in addition to surviving the cold. Large areas of land were covered in Terranoalgae carpets by the end of this era.
Endangered Species:
Scensuryte - despite the almost total loss of its primary habitant (large plants) it was able to eek out a meagre living, making use of abandoned burrows of other creatures. But only a handful have survived.
And only a handful of
Socivalions survived. They were social, parental, and the most intelligent creatures in the ocean. Yet they were also complex creatures with large appetites, which could rarely be satisfied in hard times.
Similarly,
Orange Hunter could only survive in the cold waters. Even as the climate began to recover, there simply wasn’t enough prey in other areas of the ocean. It only survived thanks to its effectiveness as a hunter (which still wasn’t perfect).
Populations of
Flying Form were also greatly reduced. This species remained in danger of extinction, as it struggled to meet its high energy demands.
The
Yucky Finner could no longer feed on Yuckys (as they became even more yucky and poisonous). The species only just managed to survive by feeding on various Urchins, a food source which it had almost to itself, even if it was available in even less quantity than the other plants.
Similarly,
Tentalux survived thanks to its very laid-back style of hunting – effectively ‘fishing’ using its luminous lure appendage. But due to the much lower concentrations of prey, even this method wasn’t so rewarding.
Extinctions:
There are too many extinctions to mention! (feel free to ask about details - but its easier just to look at the stats to see what’s still alive)
The most notable loss is the
Dreadnought. This large creature needed larger concentrations of plants to survive – something that it sadly couldn’t find at the height of the crisis, either on land or in the sea. It also faced attack from the now-also-extinct Giant ScuttleSamurai (the most fearsome predator yet seen). The greatly promising Dreadnought sadly went extinct, taking its highly-evolved legs with it. Its equally large predecessors (the Goliaths) also died out…
Dibbler MkIII was the one species that went extinct before the disaster. As it grew in size and complexity (and nutritional value), it began competing with the Scuterytes. Although superior in several respects, it suffered from its lack of any form of protection. It was bullied away from corpses by the gangs of Scuterytes, while also being an easy meal for predators. However its predecessor the Dibbler MkII still survived, thanks to being somewhat smaller, simpler, less noticeable and less nutritious.
Planet Map:
Probe A:
The typical warm shallows scene is much less crowded now.
Probe B:
Probe C:
Probe D:
Probe E:
Probe F:
Lifeforms have been detected venturing higher up than ever before. But only Terranoaglae can survive here for long.
Probe G:
The deep ocean mineral-based ecosystem seems largely unaffected
Bonuses:
Plant award: Terranoalgae.
Niklas gets +1 gene bonus.
Animal award: Doubler.
Shadowbound gets +1 gene bonus.
Innovation award: Dreadnought.
North King gets +1 gene bonus.
Survival award: Dibbler-Ice.
Splime gets +1 gene bonus.
Story award: Lord Iggy gets +1 gene bonus this time.
Some Genes Appearing in this Era:
'Tentacle’ – a general purpose appendage. Most useful in water, as it doesn’t have a great weight-bearing ability. Can be used to grab and hold on to various things, as well as providing a slight means of propulsion on its own.
’Climbing' – only really useful on land. The ability of a creature to haul its weight up a vertical surface – either a tree or a cliff-face.
Species Stats: (please check before evolving etc)
*Stats post link*
Mass extinction is unlikely to occur again for a while!
Problems:
@Lord_Iggy, I decided against complex muscles requiring a separate gene. This can be taken into account by various movement genes and by overall metabolism etc.
@All, I guess some people aren’t going to be happy with this update. I didn’t see much point in these events if I gave people warning and lots of time to prepare... And it wouldn’t be as much fun (for me at least) if nothing ever happened to shake things up a bit.
Anyways, no species is supposed to last for ever in this game, all that matters is whether or not it had a period of success. At some point I am going to make a ‘hall of fame’ on the first page, but only extinct lines of evolution will feature on it.
Also, not sure if the map and these new style graphics will ever appear again. It was a fun experiment but it did take more work (though suprisingly not that much more).
Thanks!
Though I haven't seen a cross-continental update yet. Maybe if I can get to an internet cafe in France this July... 
