Post by Lanky Giraffe on Oct 6, 2016 20:13:40 GMT
Everyone on the forum has been talking about their species, but one thing I've noticed is that they are all animals. I decided to branch off from the trend and create a very strange species of Fungi called The Net. (Also, I can't draw very well and don't know how to add pictures which is why it's in this forum, when I can I'll put my future species in the forum everyone else puts them in.)
On the planet Aktar 4, a planet resting in the goldilocks zone of the star Aktar, there are jungles in the valleys of The Basin Hills. The trees in this jungle are very tall and wide (just like my-NO this not the place for those jokes!), relatively featureless except for the singular, round and huge leaf at the top. These giant leaves cast dark shadows on the ground below. In this forest is a very strange type of fungi, it covers almost all the jungle. This is The Net.
The Net is a big network of web-like, thin fungi. It roots itself to the trees, then stretches out to find another roost. Typically, each "thread" of fungi is 10-50cm wide with a half metre gap between each one. The fungi is purple-brown coloured and has a smooth texture to it.
What is special about The Net is its effect with the surrounding life. It is a symbiotic organism that most if not all of the jungle's life benefits from. Flowering plants and creeper-like shrubs grow on Net threads and can gain a huge benefit from the exchange of sugars and other key things. Small animals that find it too dangerous to live on the forest floor can use Net threads to quickly travel from A to B. The Net also shapes the ecosystem dramatically. Because of the fact it's height varies from a metre off the ground to 20m up in the air, large animals do not evolve in the Basin Jungles as travel would be limited. There are very few lakes or rivers, so native animals travel to underground caves with springs where the giant trees root to get water.
The layers in the Basin Jungle are also decided by The Net's position, the height of the shrub layer and the "dull" layer (is like the understory, but is barren and very dark) are chosen by how high or low The Net is. Underneath the net, it is colourful (despite low light levels), above the net is dark and featureless untill you reach the giant leaves. Only a few species ever travel higher then the net. One, an armored, reptilian sloth-like animal that gets its water from the surfaces of the giant leaves and the other a winged creature that preys on animals living on top of The Net.
So that's a very brief explanation of a species I thought of and the ecosystem it inhabits. I thought it would be interesting to come up with something different and I hope you enjoyed my first species!
On the planet Aktar 4, a planet resting in the goldilocks zone of the star Aktar, there are jungles in the valleys of The Basin Hills. The trees in this jungle are very tall and wide (just like my-NO this not the place for those jokes!), relatively featureless except for the singular, round and huge leaf at the top. These giant leaves cast dark shadows on the ground below. In this forest is a very strange type of fungi, it covers almost all the jungle. This is The Net.
The Net is a big network of web-like, thin fungi. It roots itself to the trees, then stretches out to find another roost. Typically, each "thread" of fungi is 10-50cm wide with a half metre gap between each one. The fungi is purple-brown coloured and has a smooth texture to it.
What is special about The Net is its effect with the surrounding life. It is a symbiotic organism that most if not all of the jungle's life benefits from. Flowering plants and creeper-like shrubs grow on Net threads and can gain a huge benefit from the exchange of sugars and other key things. Small animals that find it too dangerous to live on the forest floor can use Net threads to quickly travel from A to B. The Net also shapes the ecosystem dramatically. Because of the fact it's height varies from a metre off the ground to 20m up in the air, large animals do not evolve in the Basin Jungles as travel would be limited. There are very few lakes or rivers, so native animals travel to underground caves with springs where the giant trees root to get water.
The layers in the Basin Jungle are also decided by The Net's position, the height of the shrub layer and the "dull" layer (is like the understory, but is barren and very dark) are chosen by how high or low The Net is. Underneath the net, it is colourful (despite low light levels), above the net is dark and featureless untill you reach the giant leaves. Only a few species ever travel higher then the net. One, an armored, reptilian sloth-like animal that gets its water from the surfaces of the giant leaves and the other a winged creature that preys on animals living on top of The Net.
So that's a very brief explanation of a species I thought of and the ecosystem it inhabits. I thought it would be interesting to come up with something different and I hope you enjoyed my first species!