Update 6: Impudensae Era
The slow march through time saw continued changes to the world of Tau Porcus. The wide spread of Tidal Slimers allowed new mutations to become more pronounced between distant members. Some Tidal Slimers slowly began developing early root-like structures that provided a slight advantage on most areas that the Tidal Slimer could be found. The roots were generally not developed enough to break into hard clay or widen cracks in rocks, but provided a strong benefit in the ever increasing land covered in the slowly increasing soil layers. This put pressure on the Tidal Slimer. The response was to increase reproduction. Those organisms that spread out quickly and in greater numbers outpaced the
Tidal Slimer and it slowly died off as a result. In order to get more offspring out, they lost their tendency to develop clonal colonies, more energy was needed to spread outward. The mass reproducers however, continued to lose ground to the root-bearing organisms. Eventually, the mass reproducers had to respond further, and did so with offspring that killed off competition. The
Acidiaspora as they were called had finally developed a method of gaining ground against the root-bearing descendants of the Tidal Slimer.
In regions with greater seasonal variance, the
Hardy Slimer formed from the root-bearing descendants of the Tidal Slimer. As situations became unfavorable for photosynthesis, the organism went dormant, spending less energy while waiting for better times; usually the following spring. This allowed it to survive in regions that the Acidiaspora could not.
The remaining root-bearing descendants of the Tidal Slimer took a different path. They started forming a thin silica shell over the majority of the plant. This protected the
Greenhouse Slimer from the acidic spores of Acidiaspora, and allowed it to live among them. However, the slow growth of the organism combined with the fact that the shells would eventually get covered in dirt or used as a surface for Acidiaspora to grow on meant that eventually very few Greenhouse Slimers could be found.
We have to move closer to water to find any other life. The Acidiaspora had invaded into this region, but its greater complexity meant that it couldn’t keep up with the
Coastal Slimer’s growth rate when washed away by strong currents and tides. However the real winner is the
Slimer Leafius Secondus. A very efficient photosynthesizer, the Slimer Leafius had already been washed ashore regularly, but only once the ability to retain water had developed did it manage to remain on shore. Over time it found success with its own rudimentary roots that gave it a better chance in areas that the Coastal Slimer and Acidiaspora would often wash away.
The
Mudworm, a descendant of the
Tidal Skavoun, took advantage of the abundance of plants and began eating them. The Slimer Leafius Secondus was the primary source of food for the Mudworm, but it generally avoided the Acidiaspora found among the Coastal Slimers.
The
Artropodia Sirris, an evolution of the Artropodia Marnessia, also took advantage of the variety of plants growing near shore. With the only threat of predation coming from Swarmer Defensus and Swarmer Antropodivore, both of which had to be infected by Hydrator to make it onshore.
The
Artropodia Excomia with its burgeoning social behavior pushed the
Artropodia Marnessia more onshore. While not as bountiful as the slimer fields shallows region, the increasing numbers of creatures onshore meant that the Artorpodia Marnessia didn’t go hungry.
The
Artropodia Sufessia was similarly forced to live on the shore, unable to compete against the Artropodia Excomia and too easy a prey for the Swarmer Antropodivore. Though feeding on similar things, it managed to do slightly better than the Artropodia Marnessia.
The
Hydrator Necrophage developed an interesting life cycle. With increasing danger in the water, it became difficult to remain in the shallows long enough to spawn. A lucky new spawn would attach to a crawling creature. The crawlers would often find an easier life out of the water thanks to fewer predators and the Hydrator Necrophage’s moisture glands. While on shore, the crawler would live out its life and the Hydrator Necrophage would draw its sustenance from its host. Eventually the host would die and then the Hydrator Necrophage, detecting the beginning of decomposition, would begin eating its former host while preparing for spawn. The last act of the Hydrator Necrophage was to rupture, spilling spawn into the waters that it had always remained near.
Hydrators often emulated a similar pattern, but without being able to consume their host, they often lacked the energy to reproduce. With remaining in the sea put them at too great a risk of predation, they went extinct.
The Anthozor Fields region remained mostly unchanged with the
Anthozor continuing to do well, and thus providing a safe ecosystem for many of the less dominant creatures to live.
In the slimer fields region, little changed about the plant growth on the sea floor with only a slight reduction in levels of light making it past the surface. However, floating above saw changes as the
Viridor exploded in numbers pushing the
Haptor out of existence and severely reducing the numbers of
Peregrinor. The
Navigor was reduced to sailing the open ocean and shallow regions that had strong enough currents to keep the Viridor from growing thick enough to make it difficult for the Navigor to sail around.
The
Swarmer Antropodivore made quick work of the
Artropodia Clanessia. Its pack hunting and poison resistance nearly negated all defenses that the Artropodia Clanessia had. The Artropodia Excomia was able to best resist the threat of the Swarmer Antropodivore since it was capable of group defense.
Swarmer Defensus was forced out of the slimer fields region and more into the less populated shallows, where food was harder to find.
The
Tailus Herbivori enjoyed access to the abundance of plants and was often capable of avoiding the Viridor’s tentacles. The main threat came from the Vampira Impudens.
The
Vampira Impudens has become one of the top predators in the shallows. One of the best swimmers, capable of crawling along the surface, and visually identifying prey and threats, the Vampira Impudens was difficult to catch and had a good response to most creatures defenses.
The
Vampira Natator and the
Vampira Lapsus both disappeared thanks to an inability to compete against the Vampira Impudens. However, the
Vampira Latrunculus spent most of its time in the open ocean and was able to avoid directly competing against the Vampira Impudens.
The
Vampira Stomachus was unable to compete with the other surface predators and went extinct.
The
Gemitan Herbat evolved from the Tailus and took a similar path as the Tailus Bentus. It focused on plants instead of plankton. The only reason it managed to survive the era was due to the fact that it practically latched onto a plant and slowly ate it. Without senses, it often ended up as food for a Viridor, but when it managed to avoid the tentacles, the Gemitan Herbat was well protected from predators while remaining attached to a Viridor.
The
Tailus Stingus took the Tailus back in the direction of its Floater ancestors by losing its swimming ability. However, instead of becoming an easy meal to the array of predators, it added a layer of stinging cells that made consumption difficult if not outright deadly. Only the Vampira Latrunculus and Vampira Impudens had the digestive ability to handle the Tailus Stingus.
The
Tailus, ancestor for numerous currently living sea creatures, finally went extinct. Between being out-competed in finding food and easily hunted by a number of well developed predators, it was unable to maintain a large enough population to continue to replenish its numbers.
The deep sea remained mostly unchanged. The oddly-named, tentacle-less
Tentacled Miner developed a taste for eating its neighbors, but unless it happened to get spawned near one, or undersea quakes and landslides caused it to fall near a neighbor, it had no way to reach them to eat. As such, it remained mostly a mineral consumer.
Thriving Creatures:
Armored Sponger,
Senatros,
Orophulas,
Cipher all continued to thrive during this era.
Surviving Creatures:
Slimer Secondus,
Slimer Stabilius,
Tailus Bentus,
Clawer Pheremoni,
Oratros,
Jetting Manipulator,
Tidal Skavoun,
Coastal Slimer,
Indagator,
Tailus Smellus,
Introvaas,
The Eater,
Kato Endurus,
Altum Comedentis,
Altum Carnem all continue to surivive.
Poisoned Eater and
Tailus Jagus had a decline in numbers due to increased competition, but continued to survive.
Endangered/Extinct Mentions:
The
Passenger was too easily consumed by the various predators and was eaten out of existence.
The
Tendrilled Passenger suffered a similar fate as the Passenger.
The
Barbed Eater and
Webed Eater had increasing difficulty in capturing prey that wouldn’t harm them. The lack of ability to really sense prey or predators caused both of these creatures to die out.
The
Sun Drifter became an increasingly easy source of food for both meat and plant eaters. Its numbers sharply declined during the era.
The
Tailus Absorbia was also quickly losing numbers as it was unable to properly avoid predators that could increasingly detect it.
The
Tendrilled Manipulator was on the verge of extinction for similar reasons as the Passenger and Tendrilled Passenger.
Bonuses:
All bonuses are non-stackable.
Anyone making an evolution gets a +1 bonus gene when starting from the following:
Hardy Slimer
Tailus Stingus
The following players get a +1 bonus on any evolution:
Plant Award: Julius Gandi
Animal Award: erez87
Notes:
Sorry this took so long. Life got in the way as I finished the pictures, and I was delayed.
To anyone who hasn't seen it, check out
NesLifeV by Daftpanzer. It is currently updating at a speed faster than I am going to be able to do. Don't worry though, TuxLife will continue to move on at its geologic pace.
Creature stats are updated, but may contain mistakes. Also, I have not gone through and made all descriptions understandable, I have mostly copy-pasted your descriptions. I will get to improving them with time.
