Remnants

15 Million Years P.H. - The Early Neocene - Womrats, Groundhounds, Possimians, Ground Possums and Moonmole:

While Australia belong to the Reptiles now, that doesnt mean It Is devoid of Mammals. Some of which I am going to showcase here.

Rodents would end up being one of the last native Autralian Mammal clades In the Early Neocene, with Mice eventually giving rise to the herbivorous, stocky build Womrats which feed on tough, low laying vegetation.

While native Bats would have largely died out, their ability to fly would allow them to recolonize Australia. As Carnivorous Pterotherian Bats would have arrived at Australia however, they would face competition from carnivorous Rewings known as Wedgebails, who already claimed the role of top aerial predators. This would cause the evolution of the Groundhounds, poorly flighted Hawkhounds that chase prey on the ground.

This essentially Is a switcheroo with the typical Bat and Bird roles, with carnivorous Pterotherian Bats usually being aerial predators and carnivorous Flagbirds living as ground-hunters.

Modern day Australia is very well known for Its diversity In Marsupials, while those alongside other Mammals would have heavily declined, there are a few survivors that managed to diversify.

Possimians are one of them, they are excellent climbers and feed on a wide variety of foods found In the canopy.

Other Possums would leave the canopy behind however, becoming the Ground Possums, which are small generalists found all over the continent.

Possums arent the last of Australian Marsupials however, as Marsupial Moles would have also survived. Similiar to the Naked Mole-Rats over In Afro-Eurasia, Marsupial Moles would have given rise to a clade that has come back to living above the ground, called Moonmoles. Other then the Mole-Rats Leatherats however, the Moonmoles would still be blind, relying on their sense of smell and touch to navigate trough their environment.

They are strictly nocturnal, hunting for small prey under the cover of darkness.

Little bioluminescent creatures, their skin so thin one can see the rosiness of blood under, and behind them a huge, monstrous creature, her skin pitch black as if she was part of the abyss itself... it's their mama!

Baby deepsea merfolks (Abyssugens hispida) are tiny and light up like fireflies of the deep, attracting predators... which tend to be smaller than their mothers, who are fully black, have a perfect control over their own photophores, and won't mind taking a bite out of the wannabe hunters. Mama's little lures!

This is a colored pencils illustration (on black paper) to illustrate that concept. Bonus illustration of an abyssugens fry, because they're cute (before becoming monstrous giant predators).

Chilly winds make the dry grass creak. Down in the southern edges of Argentina, snow is far less common even in the worst winters. Instead, the white patches that cover the ground are millions of kilometres of silk roads.

Navigating these grasslands is hard enough. The amount of ground litter hides predators that’ll poison your blood or wring your neck. It’s best to just fly above it all.

Just keep your wits. The glimmering beads aren’t treasure, and if you try to pick one up, you might just find yourself in their grasp instead.

Tarantula ants are considerably larger than most ants. As the name Giganotosutrix implies, at an average of 21 mm across the seven species, these girls are a big deal.

Tarantula ants develop absolutely enormous hives. Some getting close to kilometres across. Using special Nymph caste members, they will sew roadways across blades of grass, up trees, even building parachutes to catch the wind and hold up towering bridges.

These hives are also incredibly well designed. Starting at the core, queens will lay in suspended structures often protected by inches of silk walls, so safe in her bunker that her legs will atrophy and fall off. Eggs are then moved to dispensaries where they will either fast track their maturity to adulthood or first develop into nymphs. This process is dictated by the sunlight that larvae receive. Dispensaries near the edges of a hive will produce nymphs almost exclusively, while deeper in the hive they will only produce adults.

Nymphs will then be taken to outposts, carried in the jaws of their sisters in such a way that the two become one. The shape of these nymphs perfectly conforms to adult’s, in that nymphs become a form of armour that defends her weirder. This is because adult Tarantula ants of all species are covered in a vibrant carapace designed to attract predators. A nymph is an expensive tool, and if her weirder stands out, she risks becoming a target.

Nymphs can produce around 6 metres of silk in an hour, but need a lot of food to do so. In order to quickly recharge and charge their nymphs, adults construct elaborate outposts that hide food in their centre and house docking spaces for their nymphs. Each nymph can be placed in special windows within these outposts, where workers deeper inside can feed them while workers outside can easily retrieve them. A full nymph swells to a huge size and splays her legs, while a hungry nymph curls her body and clicks for food. In fact, this clicking can get so loud that the biggest outposts actually have noise-reducing structures built over them.

To collect this food, Tarantula ants make use of their highways.

As shiny specks, alone, one is a little easy to stand out. Five thousand is like a glowing gummy bear. Everything from curious beetles to medium sized mammals will wander into these hives, only to be slowly trapped by the accumulated webbing.

By the time they make it to these gleaming highways, the ants will have all the mobility, and boy is that an issue for you.

Tarantula ants make use of corrosive stings that don’t spread very far through the body, but do terrific local damage. Once trapped, they can dismember prey in minutes. Insectivorous mammals run the risk of their faces falling apart should they gorge on too many of these ants, while birds and other insects don’t even get to indulge themselves on the feasts before they become victims to it.

As omnivores, their reign is minimally impeded by a lack of predation, too. Nuts, seeds and foliage are all foods that feed the machine, as well as cultivated fungi and even farmed invertebrates. Moth caterpillars produce many fine silks and juices that some ant populations take full advantage of too, building insulating layers out of silkworm cocoons and vats to hold the liquids extracted during metamorphosis.

Like most urban developments, their biggest concern is disease. Parasitic flies leave their eggs along highways during the cold hours of the morning, and wormlike larvae make ample use of these ants’ large size. Worse is that these larvae can spread from ant to ant through the feeding of their sisters, making nymphs particularly vulnerable.

In such outbreaks, the best way to cut off a hive is by fire. In the dry grasslands, ants will extend strings of silk over to wildfires to cleanse a section of hive, often with both great accuracy and great sacrifice. Quarantining pheromones will stop transits in their place, tricking workers into setting their own infected population centres on fire.

These days, I have been making the drawings a little difficult for me, wondering if anyone is interested in joining the project, already providing ideas or illustrations, since I plan for it to be a big project, if anyone is interested, they can tell me.

I guess the title itself makes it pretty obvious that this is for worldbuilding purposes, haha. I’m currently working on a humanoid species that lives in this huge mountain range between continents. They spend their time mostly underground, in large caves and catacombs inside the mountains.

Long story short, they have rock powers, and I thought it would be cool if they had thick scales that are similar to the ones that pangolins have, except that they are made of rocks.

I’m mostly curious as to what would cause them to develop the scales. The “made of rocks” part, I’m willing to just chalk up to fantasy laws, but if that’s something that could be hypothetically possible, then awesome!

Would appreciate any comments, and happy to provide some clarifications if needed! Additional possible biological traits are also very welcome :D

Like many animals on Earth, medopods undergo metamorphosis. They start their lives by hatching from a larger egg cluster. For several weeks, they live in mostly trees and trunks where they feed on fruits, bark, leaves, smaller creatures and so on. In some species the “mother” brings pre-digested food to the younglings which is stored in a seperate stomach acting as a reserve food chamber. The tube that goes to this stomach chamber is opened when hormones signal birth. Most medopods except for a very few species are hermaphrodites, this means any individual of them can carry offspring. This is usually because they're solitary and due to the large arid savannahs where medopods live sparsley. Due to the long nights on Ghavija, they (like a lot of other fauna) also literally light up in darkness, especially so the larvae can keep track of each other and where they are. The larvae have chitinous stinging hairs that can cause extreme rashes upon enemies.

This adult snapper is also equipped with a dactyl-club able to fire at both extreme speed and power a lot like Mantis shrimp on Earth.

This is the first creature on a custom planet so more gigantism can take place. This creature is inspired by rayquaza from Pokemon emerald and is one of 3 species,this one a diurnal hunter with great vision. It is my first attempt at a custom creture

What evolutionary pressures and environment would cause homo species to evolve into tolkien style dwarf and how would they survive im guessing ambush hunting maybe they got small stocky size to one retain heat 2 hide behind cover like rocks in tundra environment but what do yall think ?

Requirements:

- Has to be an herbivore

- Has to go at an average consistent speed of at least 20mph

- Has to have the stamina to ride long distances

- Has to be strong enough to carry a rider and supplies

- Has to be agile in dense jungle

- Has to be easy to train

- Has to tolerate hot, humid weather (think Am/Af koppen climates)

I am having a hard time imagining anything other than human-like musical instruments and human-like (hit a ball around) sports that aliens could invent. There's nothing less complicated than kicking a ball or hitting a drum. The barrier of entry to create such objects is so easy, I think if aliens are into sports or music, these would be the first things they'd invent. I think for music, the difference would be what materials the instruments are made out of that determines what sound they make compared to human instruments. But with most human sports it's like....ball go back and forth. (pretty much)

But, to all you whom are more intelligent and creative than me, have you ever thought about what else aliens could invent that is different from human stuff? (presuming they are into music or sports). And also, it's so hard to imagine what genres of music they'd invent that isn't just human-techno-electric-woowoo stuff that we see in movies.

~Hi All! i realized i've shown only small snippets of the world map of Demeter and figured i'd give a full tour from the perspective of prospective researchers interested in seeking a posting there. For now this is just an early draft, but i would enjoy expanding on this for each location if it turns out there’s some interest regarding it. Let me know and enjoy the view!

((also, please ignore the name-drops of specific researchers, i'm a big fan of the Expanse by James S A Corey and i wrote these briefs from the perspective of it being framed as a world in the gate-network under early exploration. Regardless this is all origonal work and not fanfiction, it was just something to help me picture my world through the lense of human researchers.))

We will move Northeast to Southwest by locational posting. Read closely for the available opportunities at each posting to find which best matches your respective discipline, specialization, and psychological profile. Not all postings are well suited to those fitting certain predispositions, and whatever posting you are assigned is likely to last for several months to years, so be certain to read your employment contract carefully and link your psych evaluation along with your resume.

With all that out of the way, welcome prospective and applying researchers! read on to see the career opportunities that are available to explore during your time on:

Planet Demeter

Cichol’s Throne (A shallow sea of reefs and “false-kelp” forests in the polar northwest of demeter) (rich in silicates and phosphates, lead and nickel is abundant)

This nutrient rich shallow sea hosts a number of reefs dominated by manganese, zinc, and arsenic phosphates. They are brought here by upwellings from balor’s castle carried further by oceanic currents. This (excluding the arsenic) houses one of the safest locales for marine biologists looking to study the marine ecology of demeter without the near year-round storms of the Dionesyan Goblet. The high latitude of this location makes it exceptionally protected from UV for half the year compared to the more equatorial postings. It also offers close access to the head-offices of HR in the north pole depots, and regular visitation and collaboration with both the teams of the Balorian Hydrothermal Fields and Connand’s Inverted Tower. This gives researchers a look at a range of different aquatic habitats for those stationed here.

Balor’s Castle (Hydrothermal Fields; White, Rainbow, and Black) (Rich in copper, barium, iron, strontium, and arsenic) (Stretches from the northern temperate to south of the equator, west of the westernmost landmass)

These undersea hellscapes are composed of three hydrothermal fields:

Cethlenn’s Ill Portents

This field is the oldest of the three, initially formed 250 million years ago and rapidly dying out. It is a black smoker field formed from tectonic rifting as the landmass that eventually collide with another to create “emerald Olympus” and the Atlas Isles, move eastward, exposing fresh mantle beneath it. However, like any black smoker field, it is short-lived, and gradually dies out as the plate migrates further and further. Hence the name, a warning that hints and the fragility and short lifespan of the energetic activity that makes this habitat so favorable to extremophilic life on demeter.

Rich in: iron, lead, arsenic, manganese oxides, zinc sulfides, silver,

pyrite, chalcopyrite, galena, todorokite, Birnessite, Manganite, sphalerite, and others.

Lasts: 1,000-10,000 years per field

Balor’s castle

This is what is called a “Rainbow Hydrothermal field,” the rarest type on earth, but rather common on demeter due to its strange chemical make-up and resulting geology. On earth, rainbow fields are produced by a process called “serpentinization,” where newly exposed magmatic rock on the ocean floor undergoes immediate chemical change to magnesium-rich minerals, generating significant heat and the release of hydrogen from the chemical reaction. Naturally the lack of magnesium on demeter makes the inclusion of this type of field on demeter questionable, but the abundance of reactive copper and manganese will replace it. In addition, these types of fields, when found on earth, are the most abundant in the rare elements that we have highlighted as relatively common on demeter, so they are significantly more commonplace here.

Rich in: copper, manganese, sulfates, uranium, phosphates, silicates, thorium, titanium, nickel, vandium

bornite, Manganosite,

Lasts: 10,000-100,000 years per field

Ethnui’s Inheritance

This is a long-lasting white smoker hydrothermal field, due to the slower tectonic activity that formed it, supplying ample opportunity for native habitats to form. These types of fields can last millions of years, sustaining stable environments for slower forms of life, and a greater understanding of the most stable of demeter’s native habitats.

Rich in: Copper, silicates, barium, strontium, carbonates, gallium, chlorine

Lasts: 100,000-1,000,000 years

This posting is divided between time spent at the terrestrial facilities at the Silver Spine, and the aquatic bases situated near Cichol’s Throne. These workers have trouble adjusting to their posting, as it requires constant back-and-forth between the two, and foster hostility as outsiders who never truly incorporate into either stationing. It is also one of the most fascinating locations to investigate, so there is an underlying resentment that fosters that animosity that Balorian researchers experience. They are also only third to the Womb of Mefetis and Ogma’s Canal in terms of funding and resource allocation, deepening that resentment that those whose facilities they take up the space of often demonstrate.

Silver Spine (Equatorial-North Temperate Desert Basins and Mountain Ranges) (narrow continent rich in silver and lead)

This narrow Landbridge is rich primarily in five elements: silver, arsenic, barium, lead, and copper; bound together in a resinous matrix rich in the hallucinogen psilocybin. These are among the most abundant elements on all of demeter, but this sub-continent in particular sports a surplus beyond normal convention elsewhere on this world; makes this location uniquely stable in comparison to more turbulent locales. This abundance of silver is due to the resin produced by a local species that creates a liquid epoxy (Bisphenol A Diglycidyl Ether or as it’s more commonly called BADGE) that naturally chelates silver ions along with production of psylocybin. While such a potent hallucinogen is tempting, it requires heavy filtration to make potable to researchers (both because of the local proteins AND the arsenic). A laborious task that took all of seven months for a team of bored industrial chemists from Auberon, Bara Gaon, and a couple dozen belters; to find a workaround to make it ingestible.

 While the land touching the ocean to the north and west of this region is primarily silver-antimonies most rich in arsenic, the south and eastern undercarriage are formed from the more brittle metal carbonates supported by the Carbonated “Soda Sea” directly beneath it. The abundant carbonation is due to decarboxylation of ketones produced by the many species reliant on ketogenesis in this sea. The southern portion of this landmass is almost tolerable to human lungs after heavy filtration. The high wind and crashing of waves makes this a rich location for aeroplankton looking to take flight, so breathing open air is a quick way to be infected by alien bacteria. Demeter’s significantly higher atmospheric density compared to earth makes this planet rich in potential for organisms that can survive in open air, possibly living most, if not all of their life cycle in clouds and the wind of storms. This, along with the Janus Pass, are among the best places to study the very species that take advantage of this ecological strategy of taking flight.

Fomorii Wastes (North-Polar Ocean) (Rich shallow seas and high nutrients, with the deepest reaching hydrothermal fields of this young strange world)

Named by the first exploration team’s lead geologist Fayez Sarkis and bio-chemist Ahmed O’Connell, after the Monstrous creatures of old Celtic pre-Christian myths, the microbiomes of this Ocean occupies the northern temperate and polar regions, along the top of the world continent. This ocean stretches into the temperate and equatorial regions at the Balorian Hydrothermal fields to the west of the supercontinent. Otherwise, this ocean remains primarily in the region of this world covered by its northern glacier caps. Shallow seas offer ample opportunities for phototrophic life, making for colorful “False-kelp Forests” of microbial life in shades of pink, orange, and purple.

This also houses the polar home-base that can act as the communications hub that human resources uses to coordinate the various deployments and financing. It is the most stable meteorologically, but the most turbulent politically, as most leadership is concentrated here, where most meetings and higherups of collected.

The Titan’s Teats (Equatorial-North Temperate Mountains) (phosphate volcano north, and sturdy solid landmass south rich in lead and zinc phosphates)

This dual set of mountains houses the highest altitude mountains of Demeter, specifically “Emerald Olympus” (Which is actually primarily composed of pyromorphite and not true emerald) and the lake at its tip called “Apollo’s Pride” in the hollow of the mostly dormant phosphate volcano. The seeping phosphate in the rivers that run from this lake react with the high lead minerology of Emerald Olympus to form the pyromorphite that contributed to its confusing name.

The southern lesser mountain of “Atlas Isle” to Olympus’ south is a hunk of lead and titanium that has gradually been chemically altered by the phosphate leakage from its northern neighbor to instead compose its exterior from mostly zinc and tin minerals. Sitting between the carbonated “Soda Seas” to the west and the Naiad Sea of the Dionysian Goblet to it’s south and west, the lead and titanium ions are pulled from much of the exposed rock and replaced by elements more vulnerable to acidic decay.

Helm of Athena (Western Equatorial Narrow Continent) (high Tin and Zinc rich with silicates and carbonates)

This small outlet sub-continent at the southwestern tip of the narrow silver spine composes the western-most tip of the supercontinent, putting itself at the midway point between the acidic and alkaline oceans of demeter’s equatorial waters. This is considered more moderate and safe in terms of both climate and conditions. Even the arsenic rich hydrothermal fields of “Cethlenn’s Ill Portents” are miniscule in comparison to the fields located north and are quickly sequestered in the acrylic resin many intertidal hive-building species produce obsessively. Other resin producing species to the south are blue with psilocybin, creating another economic niche for bored scientists looking for chemical distractions during their off-hours.

Dionysian Goblet (Prime Meridian Tipsy Ocean) (series of ethanol-rich seas due to high count of fermentation bacteria, with regular storms and ozone clouds)

The series of seas that makes up this ocean is enclosed in on all sides but the southwest corner at the prime meridian of demeter. Its name is owed to the unusually high concentration of ethanol in these seas, hypothesized by lead exobiologist Elvie Okoye to be the product of the many microbes in these seas favoring alcohol fermentation as their primary metabolic strategy. This chemical makeup is believed to be the source of the constant storms and hurricanes that plague these strange seas.

After this discovery, it took all of seventeen days for some Illusian biochemist to concoct a filter to make it safe for consumption. Since then, it has become common practice for the majority of the research teams to partake after a long work-day. Many different “flavors” are available based on location and season, and a bustling economy that many higher-ups in management have been very careful to pretend not to notice. On rainy days, what else is there to do but stay in, watch the storm, and drink with colleagues.

In contrast, to such unfortunate weather, these seas still however provide the most protection from UV light on this world that still lacks a fully formed ozone layer, thanks entirely to the ozone clouds produced by these “Tipsy Seas” as some have taken to calling them.

Predictably, this makes it one of the safest and most desired postings on Demeter for researchers to request as assignment. Should you be long-lived enough to survive the astronomical waiting list, or well-connected enough to skip the line, this habitat makes for one of the few locals where researchers are welcome to traverse the outside terrane when typhoon season subsides (though still a vac-suit for proper air and isolation from native life is heavily advised).

The Phantom’s Limb (Equatorial-North Temperate plateau and mountain range) (Copper/Iron Desert Flats)

This massive plateau and mountain range are composed of soft metal silicates and phosphate minerals, with especially rich lithium and copper veins intersecting the many rivers that flow through this stretch of the supercontinent. The plateau stretching into the goblet itself is especially recent, as evidence indicates that it only recently breached the ocean surface after a rise in oxygen levels led to global cooling and dropping sea levels as glaciers form at the poles. This has made it the primary base of operations, and the region from which all incoming researchers and workers land when they make landfall, as there was minimal life occupying this region as a newly surfaced landmass.

Womb of Mefetis (North Temperate-Polar Eastern-Most Continent) (desert plateaus, salt basin desert, acid lakes)

This portion of the supercontinent and its subsequent microbiomes are simultaneously the most dangerous and most fascinating place on all of demeter, and the primary reason for the urgency of researching this strange world. To both biologists and geologists, this region holds the record for the most ongoing research projects, and to a casual viewer the most visually dazzling place on this planet that leaves no doubt how alien it is in comparison to earth. The only place on earth that remotely resembles this local is the Danakil depression of Ethiopia or old faithful of Yellowstone. It is primarily composed of a low altitude desert composed almost entirely of salts rather than sand, dotted with cavernous cenote of technicolor sulfuric acid lakes. These lakes (as best can be told from our most recent efforts to map the cave system beneath) stretch for miles down in mineral formations invoking visions of chetaluga cave or the paintings of Heironimus Bossche. On earth such locations are almost always the product of purely abiotic factors, but here on demeter, this seems to be the product of a number of related species of bacterial analogues that act photorophic-decomposers. This Phyla of Demetarian life have been dubbed “Ydra,” after the Greek root word for the mythical Hydra, a multiheaded beast slayed by Hercules, said to spit acid. This name is due to not just the concentrated sulfuric acid they produce, but their ability to reproduce by way of “Ternary Fission,” a method of producing three identical offspring at once in contrast to the two identical daughter cells produced by the method of binary fission found across all kingdoms of life descended from earth. This, along with the astronomical radiation levels thanks to Mount Forge to this region’s southwest, makes Ydra a metaphorical holy grail for the future of cancer research, prolonging lifespan, and preventative treatment for telomere degradation.

Ogma’s Canal – (East-Equatorial Brine River, stretching from the Boiling Passage to the De Danann Ocean, and ending at the Dungeons of Brigid)

This brine river carves into the sea floor and stretches thousands of miles to drain into the Dungeons of Brigid and fill connand’s inverted tower. This leak is the early warning sign of the gradual leak of sulfate salts and acids from the womb of mefetis, facilitating the urgency for the research teams to catalogue this strange world’s life before the cataclysm that will be unleashed when the world oceans flood lake lernea. The lakebed itself forms deep-stretching cave systems connecting the various acid-cenote pools, thickly saturated with salts, solidifying into massive salt deposits. This brine river formed when one of those salt veins broke to the surface in boiling passage to its south.

1. The Caesium Halocline Interface

• Chemistry: Caesium Chloride and Sulfate.
• Conditions & Aesthetics: A completely colorless, highly refracting zone. Because caesium has an immense atomic mass but its salts form exceptionally low-viscosity solutions in water, this layer acts as a shimmering, watery optical illusion. To an uncalibrated probe, it looks like normal seawater but possesses a much higher density 1.25g/cm. It shields the open ocean from the toxic hellion below.

2. The Zinc-Iron Sulfate Band

• Chemistry: Concentrated Zinc Sulfate and Iron(II) Sulfate.
• Conditions & Aesthetics: A glassy, pale green fluid layer. Here, density creeps up toward 1.4 g/cm. The temperature rises sharply from ambient ocean temperatures to roughly 70 degrees Celsius due to the geothermal heat trapped by the density gradient above.

3. The Manganese-Copper Halide Layer

• Chemistry: Saturated Copper(II) Chloride and Manganese(II) Chloride.
• Conditions & Aesthetics: A thick, oily, green to teal fluid. The complete lack of calcium allows these transition metals to reach concentrations unheard of in Earth geology. Hydrolysis of the copper halides begins to strip hydroxyl ions from the water, causing the pH to plunge directly to 2.0 (hyper-acidic).

This assignment is a dream come true for both disturbance and restoration ecologists, as it puts the early signs of the coming cataclysm under a microscope and lets them monitor the early signs of what is to come for this strange world. This is for those dedicated and serious about this mission, and it positions them as those monitoring the life-signs for this terminal ecosystem. When, not if but when, this world enters its death throes, it will be those positioned here that determine when this world must be evacuated for the safety of the crew.

Connand’s Inverted Tower – (Northeastern Polar Brine Pool) (Acidic, and highly stratified with a variety of salt layers making a multilayered brine pool where each layer is separated by the conditions of the water directly above)

This is a massive pit that, true to its name, plunges downward like an inverted sky scraper. Like a solution spun through a centrifuge, each layer of this stratified brine pool increases in density dramatically with depth, and houses unique chemical properties for each layer. The absence of alkaline earth metals like magnesium and calcium allows heavy transition metals and rare alkali elements to form an incredibly crisp, hyper-dense fluid column.

The top layers are the ones we discussed in Ogma’s Canal, but the depth of this pit creates new layers beneath:

4. The Barite-Anglesite Pandemonium

• Chemistry: Saturated Barium Chloride and Lead(II) Chloride solution, suspended over a dense porridge of precipitating barite and anglesite.
• Conditions & Aesthetics: A turbid, milky, opaque layer. As trace sulfate ions circulate downward from the upper ocean, they instantly react with the ascending barium and lead currents from the mantle. This triggers a nonstop chemical precipitation, making this layer look like a blinding, heavy snowstorm locked inside a liquid medium.

5. The Radiolytic Uranyl Sump

• Chemistry: Super-saturated Uranyl Chloride Radium Halides, and heavy radioactive decay complexes.
• Conditions & Aesthetics: A sluggish, ultra-dense fluid slurry boiling at temperatures exceeding 180 degrees Celsius. It glows with a self-sustaining, brilliant neon-lime luminescence. The sheer volume of Uranium-238 in the basement rock bathes this sump in intense ionizing fields, continuously splitting the surrounding brine via radiolysis into hydrogen and oxygen gasses that bubble up through the "snow" layer like an effervescent cauldron.

For prospective exobiologists studying the fringes of Connand's Tower, understanding cellular transport on Demeter requires discarding Earth textbooks entirely. On Earth, arsenic compounds are highly cytotoxic because they act as chemical mimics. Arsenate uncouples ATP synthesis by impersonating phosphate, while inorganic arsenite disrupts voltage-gated potassium channels, leading to instant systemic failure

However, on Demeter, where arsenic is vastly more abundant than potassium, native life has flipped this evolutionary paradigm:

1. Arsenic as the Primary Electrolyte: Demeter’s extremophiles utilize trivalent and pentavalent arsenic complexes as their principal intracellular cations and osmotic regulators. Their cellular machinery is natively tailored to the ionic radius and kinetic properties of arsenic.
2. Potassium as the Lethal Neurotoxin: Because their voltage-gated ion channels are structurally mapped around arsenic pathways, potassium acts as the blocking agent. If an alien microbe or complex organism from Demeter is exposed to trace potassium, the foreign ion jams their membrane channels, instantly arresting their bio-electric nervous or metabolic cycles.
3. Field Protocol: When gathering biological samples from the caesium halocline, exobiologists must ensure all sampling equipment is entirely stripped of terrestrial potassium residues. Introducing even a fingerprint's worth of Earth-standard sweat can cause immediate cellular lysis and death in native specimens.

The Janus Pass (Equatorial Mid-East Land-Bridge) (Epitomized by dividing basic and acidic, low and high salinity, and cold and hot oceans of this world)

This narrow land-bridge sits between the alkaline and stable ocean of the Goblet and the Turbulent and violently acidic seas to the eastern ocean, with its sulfate brine rivers, such as Ogma’s Canal and Orna’s Edge. The sudden drastic temperature fluctuations creates tornados and typhoons, making this habitat even more opportune for aeroplankton taking flight than the silver spine. The vulcanism of mount forge, responsible for the formation of this land bridge and dividing the world oceans, pumps out a surplus of ionizing radiation since 2% of demeter is uranium-238. This fragile divide however wears thinner every year, and a collapse of it is sure to occur within our lifetime, triggering a mass extinction. This is one reason for the rush to catalogue and classify the life of demeter before it’s tree of life has who knows how many branches sheared off permanently.

De Danann Ocean (Southeastern Temperate Ocean) (Acidic and salty, rich with brine rivers and hydrothermal fields)

This ocean exists directly east and south of the Womb and is directly influenced by the acidic inland. It plays host to Ogma’s Canal and a series of rainbow hydrothermal fields that give an average pH several orders of magnitude lower than the alkaline seas of the Dionysian Goblet. The life found in these waters is largely underpopulated compared to other oceans, but house unique extremophiles that become so well-adjusted to these hostile conditions that they are often unable to survive elsewhere. Many haloarchaea of earth’s tree of life are unable to survive freshwater or even oceanic conditions because of the low salinity compared to what they have become accustomed to. This is much the same on demeter, where the runoff of Ogma’s Canal makes seas and habitats within this ocean drastically different from those found in the fomorii wastes, Dionysian goblet, or the last we will explore, the howling abyss.

Clubfoot of Hephaestus (South-Temperate Mid-Eastern Sub-Continent) (Carbonate Volcano and Carbonated Lakes)

This unfortunately shaped sub-continent has also been nicknamed “Demi’s Dong” by many researchers and visitors alike. Its most fascinating feature is it’s carbonated lakes formed by underground vents and runoff from the semi-dormant carbonate volcano, positioned at the ankle (or upper scrotum for the vulgar). The lakes and close proximity to the Dionysian Goblet makes this a popular runner-up for the many unfortunate enough to miss out on that assignment.

Where it exceeds the Goblet, however, is in the rich opportunity for both geological and biological research. The carbonated and alkaline chemistry inland contrasted with the ethanol silicates to the northwest and acid-rich seas to its northeast make it the meeting point for opposite environmental forces, and the life found to maintain the balance here have already played host to hundreds of post-doctoral theses and dozens of patents in environmental engineering.

Elatha’s Golden Locks

Abyssal Plains like these are the oceanic equivalent of deserts: vast swaths of surface bereft of nutrient or energy sources. The key difference between these sea deserts and land ones is the concept of “marine snow.” This creates the sole source of energy that is fed to these habitats and make up the fields of ooze that serve as the transitional zones between the opulent reefs and shallow seas, and the deep brine or hydrothermal habitats found at the deepest depths of this strange world.

Naturally this is one of the least sought-after assignments on demeter, as well as a place that those who have pissed off the wrong person get sent. It creates a dichotomy of troublemakers and undesirables who are some of the biggest customers for the grey economy of demeter. Since the Janus Pass is much more heavily monitored by the security services, smugglers who operate in sending Dionysian distillations to other sites on the planet operate through here, operating under the logic of “the last place anyone would look.” Many of the deep-ocean probes meant to be taking sediment samples are re-tasked to carry orders intended for the helm, spine, or womb to hand-off points. Since local security is also likely here as a disciplinary punishment, they are often happy to ignore such inconsistencies in the equipment logs, so long as they receive their cut.

Howling Abyss (South-Polar and Mid-Western Equatorial Ocean) (abundant abyssal plains and lifeless depths)

This is in many ways the final frontier of Demeter and overlooked by many for its seemingly barren micro-biomes. While it is true that much of this region is unoccupied abyssal plains, there are likely many lifeforms yet to be discovered beneath the glacial ice. This region is also often seen as a first stage for many new recruits and researchers before they can get their bearings and achieve placement elsewhere.

However, there are some who never leave, and insist that there is much yet to be uncovered in this underestimated posting.

• It belongs to Wyveria family, specifically, light-bone wyverns.
• It lives in the shores of the North pole region and its islands(the map of Jýrithal is in image #1). Punris is one of the main transition points from sea to land in the food chain, as they mainly hunt fish, most often Red-gill Mýrwanas.
• They solve many problems with sheer numbers, as they huddle together for warmth, protect their nests from scavenger birds by just being too much, and survive getting eaten to extinction by most animals in their ecosystem by reproducing a couple of times a year.
• Their nests are built using bones, rotten flesh, and feathers. This attracts scavengers but also pushes most of the predators to hunt Punris outside of their nesting area due to the smell of rotten flesh. (Juveniles resting on flesh nest is in image #1)
• The reason why they build their nest this way is because of the warmth generated by the rotting process itself. However, these layers of rotten flesh need to be changed regularly, which is not too hard due to the shores being an active ecosystem with few scavenger species to deal with all the carcasses.
• Punris are curious creatures and might approach things with recklessness, they also get easily amused by things around them.
• One of the hardest challenges they face is the extreme climate. So, they have a layer of short fur around their shoulders, chest, and knees. But that is not enough. So they huddle together, rest and sleep by standing on their two feet, which minimizes body contact with ice or the ground in general. Their tail is thin, so they wrap it around their legs. They also use the rotten flesh for warmth as a layer between them and the ice.
• Because their gliding membrane can’t be completely folded, their swimming ability is not suited for a long chase, so they glide from higher ground after spotting a group of fish, and dive headfirst into them. After they catch their prey, they get out of the water quickly (swimming like Marine Iguanas), reaching the ice, and use their claws to climb. (hunting method is in image #3)
• Even though they eat a lot, they are skinny because they burn through calories too fast just to keep themselves warm.
• Juveniles hatch almost fully furred and they stay together all the time. (image #4)

Among the animals introduced to Gellios—alongside jellyfish, brine shrimp, and polychaetes—was the nudibranch, Glaucus atlanticus. These neustonic gastropods, which prey upon venomous cnidarians like Physalia physalis and sequester the prey's nematocysts within their own bodies, would—millions of years after their introduction to Gellios—give rise to the Slugbirds (Clade: Dracaspida) also known as Dracaspids. Emerging between the late Medusocene and early Mutatiocene, the Slugbirds would become one of the most successful lineages in the planet's history. Their profound significance in the history of Gellios stems from the fact that they were the first flying animals to appear following the planet's terraforming.

The primary reasons for this include the absence of any other flying animals on the planet, as well as the co-evolution of their ancestors in response to harmful radiation emanating from the star around which the planet orbits. By the time we reach the Early Calefacene, the Slugbirds continue to thrive as one of the most successful lineages. (Although most Slugbirds that lived during the Late Mutatiocene inhabited non-glacial regions, they nonetheless suffered just as much damage as other important lineages.)

Initially, the majority of basal Slugbirds went extinct; however, some lineages—such as the Aericudas—survived and diverged along a different evolutionary path. Today, the vast majority of Slugbirds come from the Rhynchoradulates.

Descending from an early type of Slugbird, these creatures saw their radulae gradually harden and evolve into beak-like structures. This resulted in a a bit converged to birds (and pterosaurs), though it was merely a product of convergent evolution.

Basal Rhynchoradulates, such as the seabird-like Snaltrels, occupy niches largely similar to those of their ancestors; they are also comparable in size to many of the seabirds that exist in our own time. Another basal lineage consists of the Slugbats—creatures that bear a near-striking resemblance to bats—which evolved their primary basal cerata to be positioned somewhat apart from the other two.

By this time, some Rhynchoradulates had lost the ability to fly (much like what occurred among ratites and many island-dwelling birds). Two examples of this are the slow-moving Ceratoalas, which possess a specialized diet, and the Seanaills, which resemble pinnipeds. Both groups descended from different flying ancestors and reached their current state after undergoing a process that led to the loss of flight.

Source

Asia, having large areas of jungles, is the perfect place to host a great diversity of animals, an example would be the family of troodontids, the Aerotroodontidae, this family developed a patagio, these, regardless of the genus, usually reach the tops of the trees to jump and be able to plan a greater distance, among these there are many specialized in niches such as the Flurrit, which is a hunter hunting animals smaller than the , another that is rarer. Vampirotroodon Sanguinivorus This troodontid has totally nocturnal habits, with the presence of two tusks which injects venom, not a deadly one but a sedative venom to feed on the blood of its prey when it has the opportunity, this venom capacity is obtained by eating certain insects and jungle squamatas, but it is also produced by the same but to a lesser extent, by other dinosaurs such as Enantionites, alvaresaurids and arbolicola ceraptocids, no. They have a clear classification of which genus they belong since the scarcity of fossils leaves us with this evolutionary void , it is possible that most tree dinosaurs have adapted in the mid-Miocene to expand their ancestors to other available niches, it is possible that we can know what genus these animals belonged to, and finally we have the Káu-Karú this one is called because when it comes to singing in courtship rituals it uses its beak to make those kinds of sounds . It is a Tapejarido with predatory habits, it lives in dense jungles like a nocturnal predator, the claws of its legs are used to subdue the prey in a similar way as do the raptors or scientifically called Dromeosaurs, this one with its vision and smell is an excellent hunter to locate several animals in the jungle.

Although Malaccrows exhibit behaviors similar to those of humans, they differ significantly in terms of their morphology, social structures, and the ways in which they express emotions. They have never been "mainstream" or conventional humanoid sophonts. Much like humans, they have developed countless cultures, and in some instances, some cultures they are known for their brutality on other lifeforms.

The Triple Moon Monarchs—a hunter-gatherer culture residing to the south of Gelatinoborea—emerged during an early era. They were primarily known for their cooperative approach to hunting the countless colossal animals that inhabited their surroundings. For them, the three moons orbiting Gellios were sacred entities, while the star itself was often associated with malevolence. They were one of many cultures that, unlike other Malaccrows, evolved to become nocturnal/crepuscular lifestyles like the ancestors. Yet, to underestimate them is to fail to consider how they might go about attacking such massive prey.

On a small, barren islet near the North Pole, a colony of Northern Brown Seanails (Phocopus borealis) lay resting—a state of slumber adopted for the sake of energy efficiency. A naive, year-old youngster, feeling a bit restless, wandered slightly away from the group; it was promptly set upon by three Red-Rayed Malaccrows, who struck the little creature with their spears and radulae by the trio. The youngster let out a sound much like a cry, and as the blood began to well up and spread, a few adults stirred from their sleep—but it was already too late.

The names of these three Malaccrows were, respectively, the Fallen Leader, the Fallen’s Deputy, and the Insignificant One. They had once been part of a larger social community, but its some other members cast them out because they were too "self-absorbed", "trampling" and "narcissistic." As for the trio, the hunting strategies they already knew would ultimately enable them to fare even better on their own.

Fallen Leader was the leader of this trio—a highly self-assured individual who could, at times, be aggressive. Leader’s Deputy, who served as his second-in-command, was an analytical person. As for the "Insignificant One," he was a pathetic figure who generally acted like a dumb. They were not inherently or entirely evil; rather, they were shaped by the ways in which life had affected them. Because of these circumstances, they came to be loathed by most other Malaccrows, leading to the prevailing belief that they ought to be killed.

This led to an internal schism within the group itself: the "Insignificant One" struck down the Fallen Leader with a lethal spear, and subsequently, the Leader’s Deputy was forced to kill the very individual—the Insignificant One—whom he had once held dear. Consumed by remorse for this act of fratricide, the Deputy took his own life just months later by casting himself into the sea to drown. The atrocities they committed throughout their lives earned them the deep-seated hatred of their own community. Yet, they were not entirely devoid of virtue; they had not completely forgotten the values of mutual aid and unity—tenets essential to the life of any Malaccrow. Nevertheless, due to the Leader’s unhinged brutality, the Insignificant One’s act of regicide, and the Deputy’s reluctant killing of the Insignificant One, they faded into the dusty annals of Malaccrow history, eventually becoming a tragic tale passed down through generations among the Malaccrow folks.

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What if instead of these archosaurs, cynodonts, dicynodonts and crocodilemorphs ruled the earth in a timeline where the great dying was slightly more devastating and the dinos and pteros had badluck. Would this make for a interesting story?

For costs ranging from 30-50$ ( few main focus species, less detail, only one diorama)

to

150-200$ ( detailed / day and night diorama, lots of seasons, more species ),

i will make custom art, including dioramas, of your spec-evo creatures!

If you're interested in supporting me and getting a SICK drawing, Dm me or say it in the comments.

https://www.instagram.com/p/De0k1XTxJDM/

I'm a hobby writer. I want to design better creatures to populate my scifi and fantasy worlds. I read some biology books and so on but they're not quickly adapted to this pursuit.

It feels like I'm creating chimeras rather than uniquely different forms of life. The traits don't slot together perfectly. Likewise, most series seem the same. Especially in regards to intelligence.

All human-like creatures, sapients, have intelligence levels roughly comparable to a human 's. Now, I can understand the concept that, perhaps, intelligence might level off after exceeding a certain point, diminishing returns and all that, but I cannot fathom how they share the same brain infrastructure, which they must for all their multitudinous similiaries to coexist together, when they're aliens.

The reason is, of course, because it's hard to find alternatives to the very fundamentals of life on this world. It's why I'm asking for a resource for it, cause going off of scratch is really hard. But, it's still unsatisfying.

Are there any specific books that comprehensively explain the relevant principles well?

The final image is my older piece for reference with my new piece. I am re-doing some of my older pieces for two reasons: Firstly I am now alot more skilled and have a bit more refined illustration skills so its nice to breathe some freshness onto my artworks. Secondly, I have decided I want my world’s parents star to be a above average magnetically active K type star instead of a M type red dwarf. This Means i must change 3 of my original artpieces, so instead of changing the colour and flare count of the star in each illustration, i decided to just completely Re-do each one with updated illustrative skills. I welcome constructive criticism and would love feedback 👌 👍🏿

I’m working on a sci-fi worldbuilding project where the magic system is partially tied to mental and emotional energy. I wanted to make a species which is far more adept at magic because of their strong emotions and empathy, but was curious as to why such a trait would evolve? Would it simply be to make socialisation better? Or maybe to further reinforce good and bad behaviours (like dying is bad, sugar is good)

15 Million Years P.H. - The Early Neocene - Flagbirds and Chizelzards:

With Pterotherian Bats ruling as the dominant aerial predators, carnivorous Rewings, the last clade of Birds who are capeable of long distant flight, had to try their luck on lower levels.

Flagbirds are predatory birds who are generally capeable of long distance powered flight, but prefer to chase small animals on solid floor.

Flagbirds are found almost worldwide, being only absent In Australia and covering around 30 Species, with South America having the lowest Flagbird diversity of only 2 species.

The Flagbird depicted here Is a Military Flagbird (Rapaxavia militaris), a North American species which Is currently hunting down a small Chizelzard.

Chizelzards are omnivorous North American Lizards which are known for the horn growing from their nose. They use this horn to chizel away wood to feed on hidden Insects and Tree Sap.