Update 3 - The Xerophagian Epoch
This era is named after the
Xerophage, a successful creature that was initially known only from enigmatic fossils of its hardened mandibles. First assumed to be a ferocious predator, it was later discovered to be a major control of plant species in the tropics.
The climate continued to cool during this time, ironically fuelled by the success of a few cold-adapted species and the creation of carbon-sinks in polar regions, until large parts of the planet entered into a cool-temperate climate. Tropical regions meanwhile saw continued diversification, but with increasing numbers of species competing for shrinking biomes, the stakes for survival were raised. Despite all this, biodiversity continued to increase, and some of the animals alive at this time were significantly larger than anything seen before.
Falgatron was perhaps the most important genus to appear during this era. It was a descendent of the primitive plant-like forms that had appeared in the previous epoch, but with the revolutionary ability to tolerate some degree of fresh water - allowing it to colonise river estuaries, and brackish lagoons and lakes. Lacking buoyancy, it may actually have been better-suited to surviving in areas with strong currents. And as the climate cooled, several species of Falgatron also gained a tolerance for colder water temperatures. These factors combined to allow Falgatron to monopolise a large chunk of the planet’s coastal biomes. These areas were often too cold for scavengers or herbivores, and microbes had not yet evolved to efficiently break down dead Falgatron growths. Thus they tended to form carbon sinks, trapping vast quantities of carbon in sediment over millions of years. It is perhaps fortunate for other life-forms that tidal zones and inland rivers remained out of reach for Falgatron, or the cooling effect would doubtless have been more severe.
Coolster, a descendent of the free-swimming Dissolver, is the only animal genus known to have invaded the cooler saltwater biomes during this era, where it was able to monopolise blooms of plankton and thrived in unmatched numbers. Here, the only danger to newly-budded Coolsters would have been from their own relatives (possibly their own parents). Coolsters were also known in the tropical waters, but there they faced a lot more competition.
Indeed, the Dissolver clade saw an explosive diversification during this era. The aforementioned
Xerophage was very successful, though limited to tropical waters, it was able to effectively feed on masses of plant growths using its revolutionary biting mouthparts. It is likely that Xerophage was at least party omnivorous, as it would have been able to opportunistically attack other animals.
Harpazo was the least-numerous branch of Dissolver clade, but arguably the most interesting. It was one of the first life-forms to evolve a true circulation system, and a means of actively absorbing oxygen through a series of tiny tubes. This allowed it to grow up to twice as large as its cousins, and perhaps to swallow them whole, while maintaining active swimming for longer periods. But Harpazo is best known for its harpoon-like hunting appendage - it is not clear exactly how this evolved, though it may have initially been just a hard spiky point near the creature’s mouth. The Harpazo’s primitive eyesight would have greatly limited the use of this ‘harpoon’, but against slow-moving prey, this would not have been too much of a problem.
Whether Harpazo can be classed as the planet’s first ‘apex predator’ is debatable, as it’s soft body would have been vulnerable to the barbs of the Flailzord and in particular, its descendent the
Tentaflail. The latter is an example of convergent evolution, evolving primitive eyes mounted at the end of some of its tentacles, and a mouth and stomach where food could be more efficiently digested, once it had been torn apart. Tentaflails were slow-moving creatures, but would have been well able to dispatch any soft-bodied creature that ventured near. They rapidly outcompeted the inefficient Flailzords wherever the two overlapped - in turn depriving other species of food that used to be spilled by the Flailzords.
Zorgvorg was an interesting cousin of the Tentaflail and Flailzord. It was from the branch that had evolved symbiosis with photosynthesising microbes, rather than carnivory. Fossils suggest this species tended to stay together in a group, perhaps to coordinate mass-release of their spores, but as these creatures were effectively blind it is not clear how they coordinated their movements. They were also capable of swimming for short periods, though they were negatively buoyant, this may have evolved as an escape reflex when attacked by other animals. Although inefficient, these creatures were versatile enough to survive amidst their more aggressive brethren.
Between all these developments and the increasing decline of the traditional seafloor algae mats, some of the more primitive life-forms on the sea floor were now under threat of extinction. The pressures on the Dribbler seem to have given rise to the
Slugster, which was able to literally scrape a living by eating meagre scraps of food caught on the side of rocky surfaces by means of a unique tongue-like organ lined with small teeth. It remained vulnerable to attack however, as the scarcity of its fossils attests.
Rounding out the animal evolutions of this era are the remarkable
Driftster and
Lamellester, both branches of the Bigster clade. Drifters were more primitive, but had the interesting development of sail-like growths that could be raised or lowered to sail with the prevailing wind when floating at the ocean surface, allowing an essentially-free ride across vast tracts of ocean. Fossils show that Drifsters continued to support colonies of Clingers on their undersides, providing protection against attack.
Lamellester meanwhile was the biggest single animal known to be alive up to this point, with a diameter over a metre wide in some cases. Like the Harpazo, it had evolved a primitive gill system and means of circulation, allowing it to support a larger body mass. This sheer size combined with the poison in its tissues made it effectively immune to attack, although it could only grow to this size in waters with enough plankton to feed upon. It is believed both Lamellester and Driftster also had primitive scent-detection organs, which may have helped to detect when plankton blooms were close; Lamellester had no real means of moving against the surface currents, but may have risen or sunk in the water to try to stay close to these blooms.
Finally,
Vesicatron is notable as a floating sea plant genus that evolved late in this epoch. Its fossils are difficult to interpret, but it seems to have evolved long, inert fibrous growths which surrounded its main structure. Though blocking a portion of light, these fibers could have provided insulation from attack, and also seem to have functioned to bind many individual Vesicatorns together into large floating rafts, supported by larger buoyancy bladders. In fact, pieces of Vesicatron rafts seem to have been buoyant enough that they were sometimes swept far inland by wind and tides, though this was inevitably fatal for them - leaving behind fossils in sediments otherwise devoid of complex life.
By the end of this era, several permanent ice caps had appeared in southern mountain regions, where a large landmass remained - its more-temperate fringes being home to masses of Falgatron. An increase in volcanic activity near the north pole seems to have stabilised the climate against further cooling, though it showed no sign of warming. The tropical climate zones remained crowded and hotly contested.
Species List + Stats
Notes:
To reduce confusion with previous evolutions,
Crawlzorgvorg was renamed to
Zorgvorg, and
Biggester to
Lamellester.
If you are struggling for a name for an evolution, feel free to just write ‘[insert name]’
Aside from the climate issue, a major limiting factor at this point is
reproduction. Most animals reproduce by breaking in half or slowly budding small copies of themselves. This is quite awkward, especially as a creature gets more complex. There would be advantages to evolving some kind of ‘eggs’ which could be left in a safe place to develop on their own, or even ‘live birth’.
The appearance of sharp pointy bits, harpoons and jaws is also a spur for the evolution of any kind of amour protection, and/or of senses and movement.
About ‘
bonuses’ that allow more evolution points - I’ve been thinking about this, but I’m not sure it’s necessary for the game. Also, thinking back on NESLife 3, it was sometimes a bit arbitrary who got a bonus and who didn’t. If you have any opinions on the matter, please do let me know. One idea is for players to vote anonymously for who gets a bonus, though I’m not exactly sure how I would set that up.
My evolution:
Treester - Daftpanzer
Evolved from: Biggerster (Era 4)
Genes Added: 1x Anchor, 1x Colonial Reproduction
Description: with the relative protection offered by their poisonous skin, one branch of Biggersters evolved a sessile lifestyle, growing tendrils that anchored themselves in a favourable location on the seafloor. They also evolved a more organised method of reproduction, rather than the semi-random budding seen in many animals of the time - a single new clone would sequentially grow from the top and center of the previous one, eventually forming a tree-like structure of connected individuals, with some sharing of nutrients between them. These ‘trees’ were able to trap and digest large amounts of plankton.
