Round 5:Event: 1 (uh-oh) - "Snowball Earth" Scenario
Long ago, the oxygenation brought by the first photosynthetic lifeforms severely reduced the planet's atmospheric greenhouse gases. What meager insulation the remaining greenhouse gases could provide has finally given way, and a period of extreme cold has begun. For the first time, solid ice has formed at the planet's poles, and is rapidly (well, by geologic standards) expanding towards the equator, which is the last bastion of species not adapted to the cold.
Wiki Page:
thrive.wikia.com/wiki/Game:_Bootleg_Thrive_Forum_Game_Competition- Note: To stay consistent with the event, the wiki page's section on biomes has been reworked. In addition, since we have so many players, I've moved the species page to make things easier to read.
Player SpeciesGravenis knytrium (TheGraveKnight)Toxin Vacuole: 6
Having recently evolved a toxin-filled vacuole,
Gravenis knytrium has become virtually impossible for
Draconia to safely consume. What's more, the vacuole itself is connected to the cell's pilus, allowing use small, yet potent amounts of the toxin against both prey and rivals without needing to die first.
On another note, the dropping ocean temperatures have taken a heavy toll on the G. knytrium population. The species's lack of mitochondria and lysosomes gives it a slow metabolism, and no ability to stay warm.
Habitat: Open Ocean (Equator)
Conservation Status: Endangered
Gabrielus gabrielus (GabrielGG)Lysosomes: 5
Formerly having to settle with slow population growth due to intense competition,
Gabrielus gabrielus's new lysosomes allow it to digest a wider variety of food, even young cells of other species. In addition, the meager amounts of heat they produce have made this species slightly more prepared for the colder water.
Habitat: Open Ocean (Equator)
Conservation Status: Vulnerable
Draconia encrypta (Immortal_Dragon)Mitochondria: 5
Even with its lysosomes,
Draconia encrypta, for a long time, remained hampered by its low gains from food. Thanks to it recently gaining mitochondria, however, it no longer struggles to sustain its relatively large body.
Since it contains both metabolic organelles,
D. encrypta is less affected by the cooling waters than most other species.
Habitat: Open Ocean (Equator)
Conservation Status: Vulnerable
Dynamicus respire (evolution4weαk)Phototropic Dormancy: 2
Indistinct from prior generations,
Dynamicus respire's mitochondria have carried it through the beginning of the global freeze. However, stragglers at higher latitudes not only suffer from the cold, but from less light reaching through both the frozen surface and the upper water column.
Habitat: Open Ocean (Equator)
Conservation Status: Vulnerable
Agentus non-failus (agenttine)Lysosomes: 6
Faster Cilia: 6
Having long struggled to survive,
Agentus non-failus has finally had luck in evolving. Its unique lysosomes not only digest a wider variety of food (dead or alive) than before, but also generate some ATP (and, with it, heat) on the side. In addition, its cilia have become slightly larger and more sturdy, increasing swim speed (case in point, young
A. non-failus have no trouble escaping from older
G. gabrielus), with a minimal increase in energy cost.
Habitat: Open Ocean (Equator)
Conservation Status: Vulnerable
Caeruleus photos (Skyguy98)Photoreceptor: 3
Caeruleus photos faces similar circumstances to
D. respire; not only is the ocean cooling, access to light is also threatened. On the bright side, its spikes will likely keep
C. photos off the menu even as the glaciation decreases heterotrophs' food sources.
Habitat: Open Ocean (Equator)
Conservation Status: Vulnerable
Specium fractium (soundwave)Flagellum: 6
Once the most vulnerable species to predation,
Specium fractium boasts a powerful flagella that outspeeds even
Gravenis. Its mitochondria used to be its only saving grace (due to some faster cells not competing as well in terms of food sources), but now they allow it to reach a higher population than before it became more adept at escaping predators (that, and perform slightly better in the cooling oceans).
Habitat: Open Ocean (Equator)
Conservation Status: Vulnerable
Draconia failicus (Bigyihsuan)Deep Sea Membrane: 1
Generational weakening of the cell membrane has led to
Draconia failicus succumbing to the deep sea's crushing pressures.
Habitat: Deep Sea (Equator)
Conservation Status: Extinct
Gravenis sparkus (shiny)Toxins: 1
A mistake in the genetic code of
Gravenis sparkus causes it to synthesize a harmful agent, which flows freely throughout the cell. Major cell structures are often damaged by this uncontrolled toxin, which hardly helps
G. sparkus in the face of competition and the cold.
Habitat: Open Ocean (Equator)
Conservation Status: Critically Endangered
Dynamicus camelopard (Lanky Giraffe)Photoreceptor: 5
This species has developed a light-sensitive organelle, allowing it to judge the light levels of its environment. Aside from subtle genetic differences, it is virtually indistinguishable from
D. respire, and likewise faces identical circumstances.
Habitat: Open Ocean (Equator)
Conservation Status: Vulnerable
Draconia antecedere (RoboTranic)Horizontal Gene Transfer: 5
Draconia antecedere has made a unique modification; while prey is usually digested by the lysosomes as usual, sometimes DNA from their nuclei is recovered and taken to the nucleus. From there, it may successfully be replicated alongside "native" DNA (which it will be attached to). While it is rare for the DNA to be undigested, replicated, and added to the native genome all at once, as well as for this DNA to be anything other than "junk DNA," success allows faster evolution of
D. antecedere.
Aside from this, the species's circumstances are similar to
D. encrypta. In addition, the comparatively poor performance of
G. knytrium in the increasingly cold waters has lifted a slight burden on
D. antecedere's population.
(HGT will work just like in the previous game.)
Habitat: Open Ocean (Equator)
Conservation Status: Vulnerable
Dynamicus showa (hirohito)Signal Agent: 3
The third species within the
Dynamicus genus,
Dynamicus showa is, once more, identical to its brethren, and faces the same circumstances.
Habitat: Open Ocean
Conservation Status: Vulnerable
NPC SpeciesN/A