Update 6 - The Tallubestian Epoch
This epoch is named after the
Tallubester, one of several armoured filter-feeders that came to prominence at this time. This epoch also covers an especially long section of time in the planet’s history - traditionally classified as beginning with a burst of diversification and extinction, but then being followed by a seemingly a long period of stability and sameness - either due to unusually stable conditions on the planet, or perhaps an artefact of having an incomplete fossil record that hides a set of more complex changes.
In any case, it seems that rather cold conditions remained near the poles, with occasional winter caps of sea-ice, meaning adaptations for cold water were still relevant for large parts of the ocean. Meanwhile, several large mountainous land-masses had formed near the equator; being composed of a mix of relatively-dry raised areas, or deep valleys prone to flash-flooding, this landmass provided difficult for existing species to colonise.
Early in this epoch, the Zords were established as being the most diverse family by quite a margin, with the emergence of the Admetuzorg, Flestuary, Zoupa, Snitchyurt and Bathyzord genera. Such radiation suggests the basic Zord body plan was well able to adapt and exploit new niches, as they now simultaneously pushed further inland and deeper into the ocean depths than any other type of animal.
Admentuzorg was a branch of the Gallahorg line that seemed to have evolved some complex biochemistry that gave it both a poisonous defence and the ability to process and digest poisons in its prey - making it an effective predator of the Biggerster line, as well as members of its own genus - although it was still vulnerable to attacks by other animals such as Lancers. There is some evidence that this biochemistry was the result of mutualism with microbes found living near hot volcanic vents where the Gallahorgs were occasionally able to venture, and perhaps some species of Ademtuzorgs were specialised in that niche.
As a whole though, the genus was evidently widespread across the planet, able to survive a wide range of temperatures. Yet these creatures do not seem to have been especially numerous; it is theorised that, as one of the most complex organisms alive at the time, with perhaps the highest metabolic costs of survival, they had effectively become trapped in the most nutrient-dense areas of the ocean, unable to survive anywhere else.
Flestuary was another offshoot of the Zord family. It seems to have evolved towards omnivory, exploiting sea plants as a food source, slowly tearing them apart with its barbed tentacles. On its own, this is likely to have been an inefficient mode of feeding. But crucially, the species was also able to survive in semi-fresh water, being able to move into the vast estuaries and brackish lakes and lagoons that often fringed the coastlines of the land. Here it faced no competition from other herbivores over the vast numbers of Tronic plant-life that was now growing here - indeed the only other animal in these brackish waters was the humble
Snifahol, often to be found crawling through mud and slime at the water’s bottom, which would be a meagre meal but useful source of protein nonetheless. Tronic growths were often regularly infested with
Kafkasus, and it is thought that Flestuary may have been able to digest the fruiting bodies as an additional source of protein.
Thus, even with a sub-optimal way of feeding on plants, Flestuary was able to breed in large numbers, and may at times have been the most numerous of all the Zords in terms of population. It is theorised that it had an important role in breaking up the formerly-stagnant growths of Tronic plants in brackish waters, freeing up nutrients for other species and encouraging further plant evolution.
It’s also likely Flesturary was able to migrate in and out of the coastal areas, and may have clashed with its Flentatail cousins over prey and scavenging in coastal waters. Outside of the brackish waters however, they were more bulky and less streamlined than the Flentatails, which are likely to have won these contests most of the time.
Meanwhile, fossils of
Zoupa are notable because they have been found beyond what would have been the tidal flats and beaches of the era. It seems this species was able to push further onto dry land than any other animal thus far, although these may have been accidental wanderings that ultimately proved fatal. It’s main source of food is thought to have been plants, animals and general scavenging found along the shoreline, and it is not thought to have been able to tolerate fresh water as input, but would have been well able to survive on land between high tides. It is also theorised these animals had evolved a way to pre-digest their food using tentacles lined with digestive enzymes - which may have been helpful for dealing with fibrous plant matter, though it could also have played a role in softening up some of the more heavily-armoured prey such as Clingers that may have washed up from the sea. Also, conversely, as shall be covered later, it is thought that certain species of Zoupa may have simultaneously colonised unique new habitats far out in the open ocean.
Meanwhile,
Snitchyurt was the latest incarnation of the semi-sessile branch of Zords, but notable for their colonial method of growth, forming networks of related individuals, and also for their hyphae-like tendrils - these allowed greater absorption of nutrients from the surroundings, as well as sharing between individuals in a colony. Like their barbs and vibration-sensing organs, It seems these ‘hyphae’ had been adapted from the ancestral filter-feeding cilia of the Zord lineage. Fossil evidence suggests that large colonies of Snitchyurt were able to grow not only in prey-dense areas of seabed, but also to attach themselves inverted to rafts of floating plant growths - where their main food source consisted of the larvae and young of soft-bodied species that bumbled into their barbed tentacles. These animals were not completely sessile, as individuals would be able to break off and crawl away to establish new colonies.
Rounding off the Zord evolutions of this epoch is the
Bathyzord, emerging from a relatively primitive branch of the family that had specialised as scavengers and filter-feeders on the sea floor. Fossils of these creatures were initially difficult to interpret; besides having an odd number of tentacles - breaking with the 14-limb rule of their cousins - it seems that, as these creatures evolved to tolerate deeper and deeper depths, one or more tentacles evolved into balloon-like floatation devices, allowing them to cruise just above the sea floor, at a depth below which most other animals were able to tolerate. Now free from predation and competition, they were able to monopolise the carcasses and scraps of food that fell to these depths. Although inefficient feeders, they could afford to take their time digesting a meal before slowly drifting on through the dark depths - eventually spreading across most of the ocean.
It is notable that Bathyzords would have encountered hot volcanic vents on a regular basis, which were home to thriving colonies of microbes and a potential food source, but it is thought they had no way to exploit these hazardous environments.
The success of Zords also proved an opportunity, however, for an opportunistic, parasitical evolution of Moldus called the
Flentablight. First identified from careful microscopic study of Flestuary fossils, this parasite was originally thought to be related to the Kafkasus. However, further study showed it was actually a direct descendant of the Modlus, likely carried into coastal biomes by the Flestuaries themselves.
Flentablight was a parasitic organism attacking all soft-bodied animals, but seems to have been particularly prevalent in the Zord family. The immune system of a healthy animal would have a good chance of destroying any parasitic spores it came into contact with - but a sick, starving or injured animal was far more prone to infection. The unfortunate victim would eventually be eaten alive, it’s nutrients harvested for fruiting bodies that would ultimately burst out from its corpse, if it had not been ingested by scavengers before then. Of the Zords, only the Bathyzord seems to have been immune, as the parasite was unable to tolerate the higher pressures where it lived.
Still, the effect of the Flentablight on the ecosystem was not completely negative. It is thought that it acted as a control against any individual species or group becoming overpopulated, as specialised variations of Flentablight would emerge, and spread rapidly through an under-nourished population that was over-taxing its food sources. There are even hints that Flentablight may have been responsible for some
horizontal gene transfer events. The overall effect would actually have been to increase the diversity of species in any given biome.
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Cavalier was one of the few non-Zord genera to appear in this epoch. Evolving from the Clingers, which lived their adult lives as passengers on other animals or clinging to rocks, the Cavalier was notable for having a stronger exoskeleton, and also for its coordinated mass-release of free-swimming larvae, which would tend to ensure that at least some would survive the gauntlet of predators and filter-feeders. Various species of Cavalier were to be found clinging to rocks, Tallubsters, or plants, but the most numerous were those that specialised in continuing their mutualism with the
Thoraxenia, now providing a stronger scale-mail defence for their host and largely replacing the older Clingers in this role. Indeed, once fully grown a small individual Cavalier was essentially invulnerable, aside from having its feathery appendages nipped at, as there was no predator at this time able to break apart its toughened exoskeleton, which also provided some protection against drying out at low tide; in tidal areas with sufficient plankton and nutrients, unbroken beds of specialist Cavaliers were now able to colonise tidal rocks, gradually evicting various species of Zord from these niches.
Continuing this trend,
Tallubester was an evolution of the now-ancient Tubester family. Whether it evolved at this time or earlier is not entirely clear, but fossils have only been definitively dated from this point. It was quite simply a larger, more heavily-armoured filter-feeder; in addition to a structural ‘skeleton’ of mineral crystals, Tallubester added a thick ‘exoskeleton’ that was not a continual shell, but a number of different spirals and tubes that connected together, producing an invulnerable fortress for the filter-feeding tissues within. However, it was slow-growing, and required more mineral-rich waters for its exoskeleton, meaning it did not completely replace its ancestors. The hulks of dead Tallubsters provided very valuable anchorage for sea plants and other sessile animals, or valuable shelter for Zords and Swimsters.
Changes in land and ocean configuration during this era created a number of gyres - circular ocean currents - that seem to have made life easier for partly air-floating plants like the
Aerotron, reducing the risk of mass-beaching before they had completed their life-cycle. Nonetheless, evidence suggests that Aerotron growths on the open ocean were often tangled up with Vesicatron and even semi-parasitic Kleptotron growths, forming larger floating rafts than had been seen before, with parts above and below the waterline, and with enough mass to resist being casually broken apart or stranded. These masses may now have survived in the ocean for months or even years at a time, some the size of large icebergs, forming unique habitats for animals.
Zoupa is one such animal that seems to have been able to colonise these rafts, living for extended periods above the waterline and opportunistically feeding on plant growths or small animals it could ‘fish’ from below. Clinger,
Cavalier and colonies of
Snitchyurt in particular were also to be found clinging to these rafts.
However, it was an impermanent existence. If the rafts did not end up beaching - creating a sudden bonanza for local beach scavengers - ultimately they would have decayed to Kafkasus infestation or been broken apart by swarms of Falgophage and their chomping jaws, especially if they drifted into colder waters where the component plant species would begin to die.
Perhaps born from these stranding events,
Barbotron was a relative of the air-floating plants that was adapted for a more settled existence. Able to root itself in sediment near the shore, or in shallow lagoons, it was also covered in tougher fibrous growths that provided excellent protection against harassment from plant-eating animals of the time - indeed, these fibres were also resistant to decay from microbes and were readily fossilised, becoming something of a carbon sink and perhaps helping to keep the climate stable during this time. Barbotron became the signature ‘seaweed’ of this epoch and seems to have grown in dense carpets wherever conditions were right, providing hiding places for larvae and small animals.
Meanwhile,
Igatrone was a development of Tronic pioneer plants that had earlier pushed onto dry land. While having no extra adaptations for storing water, it was able to tolerate dryer soil by means of its more sophisticated root system. Indeed, with the largely wet climate of the time, only a few areas of the land were now too dry to support Igatrone growths. It’s main hazards were flash-flooding in low-lying valleys, that were frequently buried in thick layers of sediment, or extremes of heat and cold found in some inland and upland areas. Igatrone also re-evolved primitive buoyancy sacs that had been lost by its earlier ancestors, allowing it to raise its fronds slightly higher over rival plants in the vicinity and to give its spores a better exposure to the wind.
Conditions at the poles were largely unchanged during this time and were still dominated by just a few species of Tronic plants growing around polar land masses, with vast shoals of
Falgophage and
Chillster circling around them. The Falgophage in particular continued to breed very successfully with its eggs laid directly into the cover of sea plants - and indeed could claim the highest population of any single animal genus, if only because of the greater competition in other niches and biomes.
The ever-increasing competition in warmer waters, and the spread of poison-resistant predators, and a lack of suitable allies continued to take its toll on the graceful Bigster family. This epoch saw the extinction of the
Biggerster and
Lamellester, with none of the survivors having stable populations.
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*Species List + Stats*
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Notes:
I think I was too harsh on the idea of rafts of semi-floating plants before, and I’ve backtracked on that. Just to be clear though, it’s always going to be an impermanent existence, just like icebergs, they will eventually meet their fate, unless perhaps some day there is a way to anchor to the sea floor.
So there’s been an idea that you can flood a tide pool with digestive juices and then slurp it all up as food. However, in this moderator’s opinion, it’s not very practical as it A: requires a huge investment in digestive fluids / biochemistry to be able to turn many times your body mass of water into one big sufficiently-acidic stomach, and B: even if that is possible, the animals would probably dissolve or poison themselves as much as their food (assuming it’s not a big animal and a tiny tide pool we’re talking about).
As far as I’m aware, animals that have an external mode of digestion are applying their digestive juices to a small area, often smothered by special parts of their own body, or the digestion happens along the surface of specialised appendages. I’m interpreting this as the way that external digestion is happening in this world as well.
Also on the Zord's feeding abilities - IMO, it’s not quite the frantic carnage that some are imagining. I’m imagining more snail-like or starfish levels of energy here (though the Flentatail and Flestuary being a bit more lively as they actually have gills and a circulation system). Remember we are starting from basics and not too advanced yet. But with more investments in barbs / claws / tentacles / metaboilsm, it could get there eventually.
Looking again at the species stats, I also want to stress that improved eyesight would be useful for predators, especially for the Harpazo, which is currently trying to land a harpoon strike with the most basic level of eyesight possible for an animal in this game, which I’d consider to be just barely seeing patterns of light and shadow. Still, given that most prey animals are also blind/semi-blind and slow, I consider this works well enough for now
@terrance, I couldn’t allow you to have parasitic invasive ‘hyphae’ without making that a separate evolution point, as it will need to overcome or resist the immune system of other life forms. It’s a neat idea though. In my mind, the hyphae that Snitchyurt have now are passive / mutualistic.
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My next evolution is something like an armoured filter-feeding worm, with spikey bits.
Enigmata - NPC
Evolved from: Clinger (Era 6)
Genes added (+1 bonus): 1x Spikes, 1x Crawling, 1x Filter Feeding
Genes removes: 1x External Digestion
Description: completely separately to the Cavalier, another branch of Clinger evolved actively mobile larvae as a means to reach new hosts, and this quickly became the basis of a new lifestyle. Enigmata is a segmented creature, born from mutations in the budding process - each segment containing a more-or-less identical set of ‘legs’ and feathery filter-feeding apparatus, able to trap and digest food particles more or less independently; as a whole, the internal structure remains very simple, and if split into parts, each part would most likely be able to survive. A further development was the emergence of large ‘horns’ on every few segments of the creature, likely as a further means of defence and making it tricky for a larger predator to simply swallow an Enigmata whole. The exact arrangement of segments and appendages is highly variable between subspecies and even between related individuals. Still, this genus has not fully abandoned its ancestral sessile traits, and some species may attach themselves to rocks or other animals during part of their life-cycle.
