#spectember2024

[jfs-worldbuilding-and-art]

Spectember day 10: Hawk tuah

In the near future, there exists an exquisite, unique and weird genus of bats - the Sniper bats (Jaculator spp.).

These bats get their name due to their weird method of catching prey, they spit at it. They've got a whole set of adaptations for it to work. First they have a well developed, muscular and flexible tongue that allows them to move and accumulate the salivar projectiles to the front of the mouth. Once there both the tongue and the similarly developed lips now shoot the saliva at targets, giving the scientific name of Jaculator, meaning shooter. For the common name of sniper however, the origin comes from their forward facing eyes, excellent vision and a brain specialized in calculating distances.

The spit is nothing but regular drool, for it is specialized for this too. The saliva is both thick and thin at the same time, very similar to the slime of gastropods such as snails and slugs, acting almost like a newtonian fluid. Allowing for it to be shot very smoothly and precisely while hitting hard the target and sticking to it, what prevents the target from getting away in flight if not taking it down immediately, after which the bat swoops down and catches it midair. This method of hunting is so effective that these bats eat 90% of what they shoot.

[makairodonx]

Spectember 2024 Day 11: Hammer-Headed Terror Bird

Of all the bird species on Mars ll, there is none that can ever match the ferocious, imposing pyisique and striking beauty of the bizarre Pachycephalornis horridus, the scourge of Jariloia’s oak-studded savannas. Standing over three meters tall from head to toe and weighing close to a ton, the Hammer-Headed Terror Bird is the largest, heaviest and most powerful member of the hammerhead roamers, a strange family of large, flightless parrots that have evolved to occupy niches similar to those of Earth’s secretary birds and seriemas are found across many of the planet’s grasslands, scrublands, and other open areas. The species is sexually dimorphic, with males sporting a blue-colored cere and a head-crest of 1-meter-tall feathers and the females sporting a creamy-colored cere and a smaller head-crest, and its distinctive 2.7-meter-wide-head is heavily enforced with thick layers of keratin, which function in a similar fashion to a football player’s helmet, to protect the bird’s brain and skull when it swings it left and right to deliver a fatal, bone-crushing blow to the flanks of its medium-sized, fleet-footed ungulate prey. The bird’s feet have also been reduced to only two large hoof-like toes that aid it in its quick 103-km/h bursts of speed. The Hammer-Headed Terror-Bird also displays some limited pack-hunting behavior when it comes to more than two or three individuals chasing the same prey, and a feeding frenzy among them ensues over the quarry once the prey is caught.

During the spring breeding season the males will use their battering-ram heads to fight each other over a single female, who soon lays three single eggs. The hatchlings do not develop the adults’ hammer-shaped heads until they reach sexual maturity at about 6 years of age and are soon able to fend for themselves.

[jfs-worldbuilding-and-art]

This one is also a Best in Class submission. Best in Class is a collaborative seed world where the community chose what the planet was seeded with, and now, in the first phase we are creating descendants of those seeded animals 25 Millions of Years later.

Spectember day 13: Marine Metamorphosis

Sargamander (*Benthasalamandra biforma* - Two forms bottom salamander)

Ancestor: Japanese giant salamander

Diet: Carnivorous

Habitat and range: Sargassum fields on the ocean floor surround the Charlie Archipelago, northeastern coast of Wallacea.

A descendant of the Japanese Giant Salamander, the Sargamander is an amphibian with an interesting life history. Living in the temperate waters surrounding the Charlie Archipelago, these salamanders start their life in the water column. After hatching, the free-swimming larvae congregate into large schools where they find safety in numbers. The larvae have well developed eyes, a stream-lined body possessing a lateral line, fins and a long, muscular tail with a fluke in the end. They eat zooplankton early on, but later turn into fish fry and then small fishes.

After some time they start to develop into adults, losing the tail fluke, almost losing their eyes, turning their fins into walking limbs again and most importantly developing many and many folds, wrinkles and strips in their skin. These folds, wrinkles and strips are a mimicry of benthic sargassum that live on the seafloor. The adult Sargamanders lives in close relationship with those algae, living buried among them, waiting for an unsuspecting prey to pass by, such as fish. After which they will suck in the prey with a strong suction force, leaving the prey to no reaction time.

Differently from the larvae, adults have extremely slow metabolisms and don't need food or air very often, surfacing to breathe every 20 hours or so. Funnily enough they have lost their cutaneous (skin) respiration, relying solely on atmospheric oxygen to survive.

[jfs-worldbuilding-and-art]

The Grapplebill (Hamorostri) Order is Endemic to Muirlandia, being the main predators of the continent.

They receive their name due to their characteristic beak shape and hunting method. Small to medium sized grapplebills behave very similarly to the extinct Maniraptorans of Earth, holding themselves into prey using specialized sickle-shaped claws and balancing using the wings and tail fan. However there is one crucial difference, the grapplebill parrots also use a namesake - their hooked upper bill - to hold onto prey, using the sharp lower bill to slice the throat of prey, much like saber-toothed cats and other predators from Earth. For a stronger and more precise bite these birds have fortified their necks, making them short but strong, losing most of the neck mobility seen in most birds.

Green Bushkee (Interfector viridis - Green killer)

Ancestor: Kea

Diet: Carnivorous

Habitat and range: Central forests of Muirlandia

50 Centimeters tall keas who live in small communities in tree or ground nests, sometimes appropriating the burrows of dicynodonts. These communities consist of 2-5 individuals who hunt mostly alone, targeting small birds and dicynodonts, but will cooperate to take down larger prey.

Still flighted and hunts in crepuscular periods to avoid competition with other similar sized predators. Once prey is found they ambush it, clinging themselves to the sides/back of the animal, securing themselves with the two sickle claws in the front of the feet. Then they hook themselves with the beak generally in the neck region, after which they start to stab the unfortunate victim with its lower beak, in hopes of hitting an artery.

Tyrant Hookbeak (Parrex tyrannus - Tyrant Royal Couple)

Ancestor: Kea

Diet: Carnivorous

Habitat and range: Central and Eastern montane forests of Muirlandia

In the warm forests of Muirlandia lives one of the largest Kea descendants of 25 Millions of Years after seeding. It is the Tyrant Hookbeak, or Parrex. A 2 meters tall predatorial parrot from the Hamorostri (Grapplebills) order, a Kea order endemic to Muirlandia with a distinct way of killing prey.

These parrots live up to more or less 30 years of age and are monogamous, never changing partners even after the death of one. The chicks (generally 1-3) are tended by both parents for 5 years, after which they are independent and go off to live with other Parrex of the same sex for another 5 years. After reaching sexual maturity at the age of 10 they go looking after another Parrex to mate with. After a series of vocalizations to locate each other they show off their UV coloration in their plumage, the female gets to decide if the male is worthy of mating with if the plumage is bright enough to her taste. After which they go off to settle a new territory and make daily calls to warn off other Parrexes.

They live in forests that are pretty open due to the trampling done by large animals such as Dicynodonts and herbivorous Kea descendants, and thus have adopted a brown plumage dotted with white on the dorso, mimicking the pattern of sunlight hitting the forest floor or tree trunks.

Tyrant Hookbeaks gain their name from their characteristic beak with three hooks on the upper bill and gory method of hunting. All Grapplebills have a distinct hooked beak, strong neck muscles and flexible Cranial Kinesis that allows them to hunt prey in a unique way.

Parrex hunts in pairs in adulthood. After locating prey one of them goes to a set hiding spot and waits, while the other goes into startling prey and drives it to the hiding partner. When in close proximity the Parrex that was hiding ambushes the prey, hooking itself into the prey, generally in the neck, where it is easier to hit an artery. Once hooked the parrot will start stabbing the prey with its sharp lower beak, causing severe trauma and blood loss if not hitting an artery, killing the prey not long after.

Green-crowned Gorer (Caedis bicolor - Two colored gorer)

Ancestor: Kea

Diet: Carnivorous

Habitat and Range: Western, Central and Northeastern forests of Muirlandia

1 Meter tall parrots possessing long strong legs used to kick prey much like the Seriema or Secretary bird from Earth. Even possessing a raptorial claw in the feet used to stab small prey. However, as members of the Hamorostri order they still use their strong necks and hooked beaks for killing prey. They live and hunt somewhat similarly to the Parrex, however they tend to live in larger groups, between 2-6 or even more depending on the prey. Cooperating to take it down and feast as a group.

Their hunting method is almost like a mix of the hunting methods of the two previous parrots. Startling prey and driving it to an ambush, then attacking it using the hooked beaks. However they use more kicks with the sickle claw in addition to the beak. They are flightless but still retain sizable wings used in balance when attacking prey.

[jfs-worldbuilding-and-art]

Spectember day 6: Vacuumal

There was a species of highly advanced space-faring aliens, they are now long-gone, but they still somewhat live on through their genetically modified and engineered organisms.

They had all kinds of organisms used for all kinds of tasks, this one was a type of Living rocket specialized for traveling between gas giants for now unknown reasons, for these organisms have been unattended by the creator species for so long that they lost their "tool use", or the use they had for the aliens as a tool.

Traits common to all Living rockets are:

Tetraradial symmetry: Inherited from starfish-like ancestors;

Closed circulatory system;

Decentralized brain;

Black skin: Used for protection against the UV radiation from the many suns;

Fins: Minor fins used for balance and Main fins used for locomotion;

Radio organ: An organ specialized for sending and receiving radio signals used in communication between the Living rockets and the Creator technology;

Organ bag: A sack containing and protecting the organs of the Rocket;

Gas bladders: Bladders used for storing gas and using them to launch the rockets into space but also changing directions once there (minor bladders);

Since their "programmed" functions have since atrophied they now travel from a gasous planet to another gasous planet, using the chemicals in the atmosphere to produce their own food as they are chemosynthetic organisms by design.

[jfs-worldbuilding-and-art]

Late because i didn't have time yesterday but oh well, anyways.

Spectember day 2: Dino-soar

In an Alternate Earth scenario, the pterosaurs weren't the only flying vertebrates to evolve during the Late Triassic.

Soaropodomorphs are a clade of Sauropodomorphs that evolved active flight and diversified after the Triassic-Jurassic Extinction Event. They are descendants of small arboreal Sauropodomorphs that evolved patagia (skin membranes) between their arms and legs, with two of the fingers giving support to the wing while the other two are used in locomotion and manipulation.

They are opportunistic omnivores with highly carnivorous tendencies but will also eat the occasional nut and seed. They have both ends of the torso very muscular, with the rear end having strong tail muscles that attach to the legs, a trait shared by all non-avian dinosaurs. While the front has large pectoral muscles used principally for flight, even possessing a keel for attachment of such muscles. Just as those seen in other flying vertebrates like birds and pterosaurs.

[jfs-worldbuilding-and-art]

Spectember day 9: Marsupial Madness

Around 25 Millions of Years in the future, after the collision of Australia into the Asian Continent and a great Faunal Interchange that caused many animals who never met each other to now live closely, making for many extinctions and speciations, such as that of Tree Kangaroos, who managed to survive the interchange and actually thrive in the future forests and jungles of Asia.

One such clade of Kangaroos evolved to closely resemble the now extinct lemurs from Madagascar, with a form similar to that of *Megaladapis spp.*. With long arms, a short tail and long legs adapted for both walking and jumping from tree to tree. These animals do live like that, eating the leaves of trees and bushes, but also feeding on ground animals such as invertebrates, reptiles and small mammals.

However the lemur comparison is not the only to be made here, as the long arms and fingers of the so called Marsupial lemurs are also adapted for brachiation, with somewhat flexible shoulders almost like those of the now also extinct apes.

[jfs-worldbuilding-and-art]

Spectember day 3: Pocket Kong

Spectember day 4: Destination: Madagascar

Had a trip yesterday that took all of my afternoon, only could do the late day 2, so used today to kill two birds with a single rock having the two days (3 and 4) together. So...Anyways.

Madagascar in our timeline got colonized by many mammals, including Lemurs, Fossas and Tenrecs. But what if two other lineages got their way into the island?

This is the case for Hyraxes some 6 Millions of Years Ago in this timeline, the manner by which they arrived is unknown but what they became is clear. Due to the relative ecological vacuum left in the island, the hyraxes started to adapt to fill the niches filled by forest animals similar to tapirs, boars, deer, among others. And as such many species exist, filling different ecological niches that don't overlap with previous occupants of the island such as Lemurs and Elephant Birds.

Depicted here is one member of the genus Malagatherium spp., a territorial forest dweller in the size of around one meter at the shoulder. Where males have large tusks to fight with each other for dominance over females and territory.

However, the Afrotherians were not the only new Colonizers of the Malagasy island.

Relatively more recent compared to the hyraxes, came the Genus Australopithecus, by means also unknown. But what matters is that they found little ecological space to fill in the island, needing to adapt a small body size, the smallest of any Hominin, even more than the so called Hobbits of Flores (Homo floresiensis) at an average height of just 60 cm compared to the latter which has 120 cm. They are primarily herbivorous but with high tendencies for carnivory and scavenging, using stone blades and tools to crack open carcasses and bones. Unfortunately they fall prey to fossas and birds of prey native to the island.

[jfs-worldbuilding-and-art]

Spectember day 5: Unusual Culprit

Via Wikipedia: "The fur-bearing trout (or furry trout) is a legendary creature found in American folklore and Icelandic folklore. According to folklore, the trout has created a thick coat of fur to maintain its body heat. Tales of furry fish date to the 17th-century and later the "shaggy trout" of Iceland. The earliest known American publication dates from a 1929 Montana Wildlife magazine article by J.H. Hicken. A taxidermy furry trout produced by Ross C. Jobe is a specimen at the Royal Museum of Scotland; it is a trout with white rabbit fur "ingeniously" attached."

The Fur-bearing Trout is one of the silliest false creatures i have ever heard of, the truth is that it was a mix of a trout and rabbit fur. But what if that wasn't the case?

The "Fur-bearing trout" is actually, a huge insect larva, somewhat similar to those of Alderflies or other Megalopterids. It has two limbs turned into raptorial appendages, used for catching aquatic prey, usually small fish or other invertebrates. The "fur" is in fact, actually their gills, who have innumerous branching structures that are used to better absorb oxygen from the cold waters of Northern North America. It usually sits in the bottom of bodies of water, among rocks and debris, waiting for unsuspecting prey.

Turns out this animal is a cryptid on its own, not only are the larvae very rare but the adults of the species are also unknown. The Publication with the famous picture of the "fish" is just one specimen with deliberate alterations such as cutting of some appendages and body parts and the glueing of fish fins to better sell the tale of the furry trout.

[jfs-worldbuilding-and-art]

This one is actually part of a submission for the Best in Class community seed world being run by the r/speculativeevolution subreddit, Speculative Evolution Forum and the Specposium discord server. Where the community chose what the planet was going to be seeded, now for the first phase we are doing the descendants of the seedlings.

Anyways here is a Kea descendant after 25 Millions of Years.

Spectember day 12: We have a T.rex!

In the warm forests of Muirlandia lives one of the largest Kea descendants of 25 Millions of Years after seeding. It is the Tyrant Hookbeak, or Parrex (*Parrex tyrannus* Meaning Tyrant Royal Pair). A 2 meters tall predatorial parrot from the Hamorostri (Grapplebills) order, a Kea order endemic to Muirlandia with a distinct way of killing prey.

These parrots live up to more or less 30 years of age and are monogamic, never changing partners even after the death of one. The chicks (generally 1-3) are tended by both parents for 5 years, after which they are independent and go off to live with other Parrex of the same sex for another 5 years. After reaching the sexual maturity at the age of 10 they go looking after another Parrex to mate with. After a series of vocalizations to locate each other they show off their UV coloration in their plumage, the female gets to decide if the male is worthy of mating with if the plumage is bright enough to her taste. After which they go off to settle a new territory and do daily calls to warn off other Parrexes.

They live in forests that are pretty open due to the trampling done by large animals such as Dicynodonts and herbivorous Kea descendants, and thus have adopted a brown plumage dotted with white on the dorso, mimicking the pattern of sun light hitting the forest floor or tree trunks.

Tyrant Hookbeaks gain their name from their characteristic beak with three hooks on the upper bill and gory method of hunting. All Grapplebills have a distinct hooked beak, strong neck muscles and flexible Cranial Kinesis that allows them to hunt prey in a unique way.

Parrex hunt in pairs in adulthood. After locating prey one of them goes to a set hiding spot and waits, while the other goes into starttling prey and driving it to the hiding partner. When in close proximity the Parrex that was hiding ambushes the prey, hooking itself into the prey, generally in the neck, where it is easier to hit an artery. Once hooked the parrot will start stabbing the prey with its sharp lower beak, causing severe trauma and blood loss if not hitting an artery, killing the prey not long after.

[jfs-worldbuilding-and-art]

Spectember day 7: Curious Cultivars

Today in the southern part of Brazil and neighbouring regions exist the Araucaria, a gymnosperm plant (related to pines) with cones that bear edible seeds or nuts. These are, and have been historically harvested by locals for food. But what if the tree was actually domesticated?

That is the Domestic Araucaria (*Araucaria domestica*) (very creative i know), a species that has been bred by natives for hundreds of years to grow faster, breed and produce cones faster and with larger cones. Having a cone width of around 25-30 centimeters in width and long seeds, generally between 8-14 centimeters in length.

The seeds are harvested for food, especially for winter, as the nuts are rich in fat. But consumption is year-round. The seeds can be stored for long periods of time without spoilage, but can also be turned into flour for the production of breads among other things. Harvest is done 12 months after the female tree has been pollinated.

The wood of the tree is also valued for construction.

[jfs-worldbuilding-and-art]

Spectember day 11: Cambrian Contender

The Cambrian explosion, an event on Earth's past well known for being where most animal groups appear in the fossil record, most likely due to the Preservation Bias - Hard shelled animals tend to be fossilized more, and so can be found in larger quantities too. This is not the case for the enigmatic Plumirostra larvacea, the Feather trunk tadpole.

It was an animal that left no apparent descendants after the Cambrian Explosion and so it is poorly understood. What is known about it is that it had an eel, lamprey or even tadpole-like body with a long body and an even longer tail. It also had three pairs of gill slits on their sides, one pair of eyes and an eversible trunk with branching structures used as both gills - collecting oxygen from the water - and as filter feeding tools, collecting particles from the water column.

What it really is? We don't know. But given some of its anatomical traits, paleontologists think of it as some obscure, basal chordate.

[jfs-worldbuilding-and-art]

Hello, here i go again for another year of Spectember. This time doing the r/speculativeevolution subreddit created by @sailworldbuilds with the collaboration of the Specposium and the Speculative Evolution Forum.

By the way this year we have a collaborative spec project! Called "Best in Class" it is set in a seed world called Gaiademou, where you can suggest and vote for the animals that will be seeded! Then you will get the chance to speculate on how the selected animals and plants will look like after 25 Millions of Years!

Here follows the link to the form where you can suggest the organisms: https://forms.gle/bYonznyeXWWg7nSS8

Now, without further ado let's get into the creature of today:

Tapecilian

Craniovermis degeneratus (Degenerate skull worm)

In 50 Millions of Years the amphibians are still kicking around, principally in areas of high humidity and bodies of water. In such environments there are many kinds of animals, such as amphibians, birds, fish, mammals and reptiles.

One such animal is the Tapecilian, a kind of Caecilian (an order of amphibians that converged on the bodyplan of worms) with a rather unusual lifestyle not only for amphibians but for tetrapods or even vertebrates as a whole: They are obligate endoparasites. That means that they live most of their lives inside other animals, sucking the blood out of their hosts, in the case of the Tapecilians their hosts are mainly fish, although they can also parasitize mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians too.

They start their life as diminutive eggs in the sediment accumulated in the bottom of rivers and lakes. Once they are ingested by a fish -or another suitable host- they hatch into tiny larvae that soon cling to the walls of the gastrointestinal tract of the animal, using their strong jaws to take a bite and secure themselves in place, feeding on the constant blood flow caused by the wound, that stays open due to special enzymes in their saliva that prevent both the blood from coagulating or the wound from closing.

Soon enough they will develop into adults and may reproduce with other Caecilians in the same host, laying thousands of eggs that will get back to the outside world via the feces, and then start the cycle anew.

Their scientific name comes from the fact that they have reduced much of their organs and other processes down to the basics. Their stomach and intestines have become shorter due to the diet of pure blood, vital organs such as lungs and heart becoming vestigial and without function as their thin skin becomes the main way of respiration and their diminutive body does not need a heart to pump and distribute blood anymore.

But it doesn't stop there, their Vertebrae too, are almost that gone. In such size and due to such lifestyle bones have become almost unnecessary, with only their first three neck vertebrae and the skull remaining of their skeleton, thus the name "Skull worm".

[makairodonx]

My 7th entry for #spectember2024, this time a big flightless bird that belongs to an entirely different avian family despite resembling some kind of giant, long-necked chicken!

[makairodonx]

My Eighth entry for #spectember2024

The Common Doublefin Sunfish is a truly gargantuan representative of the Megamolidae, a family of oceanic sunfishes endemic to Mars ll/Potworia that are unique for having two tandem pairs of dorsal and anal fins. As the second-largest Megamolid after the Regal Doublefin, the Common Doublefin is also one of Potworia’s largest and heaviest bony fish, with fully mature individuals measuring over 8 meters long, 10 meters tall from the tips of the anal fins to the tips of the dorsal fins, and weighing over 3,2500 kg in weight, which is twice the average for Earth’s largest molas. Megamola mola inhabits much of Potworia’s tropical and temperate seas, where it feeds upon the jellyfish, small feeder fish and zooplankton that dwell at cold depths of up to 400m. Afterwards the fish returns to the surface to thermally recharge itself, and because their skins often get infested with parasites from such deep dives, the Megamolas will sometimes jump up to 5 meters to shake them off or enlist the help of smaller animals, such as fish or passerine birds that have evolved to occupy a similar niche to gulls, terns and other seabirds, to get rid of the parasites by feeding upon them.

[makairodonx]

My first contribution to #spectember2024