Official Thrive Forum Game Competition
Jul 3, 2016 14:19:59 GMT
StealthStyleL, Skyguy98, and 5 more like this
Post by TheCreator on Jul 3, 2016 14:19:59 GMT
Round 37 (Round 36; Round 38)
What is this!? A new round for the Official Forum Game?
Well… no. The original competition is dead and is likely never coming back. My descriptions might not have been as long as nickthenick’s essay rounds, but they still took way too much time.
B-but the text at the top of the page says Round 37!
Yes, yes it does. This is indeed a new round, but it is by no means the same game I ended with 4 months ago. This is a NEW, REVOLUTIONARIZED version of the official forum game competition with plenty of rule changes to make it more fun AND easier on me.
Great! So what are these new rules?
For one, there will be NO MORE EXTINCTIONS. Yes you heard me—if your organism is CR for 4 rounds and then finally dies out because of a meteor strike, you don’t have to branch from an existing player and start over, you simply “go to your closest related kin who happens to be perfectly prepared for his ecosystem”, which basically means that you will lose your last 3 adaptations (go backwards 3 votes) and gain the adaptation(s) that would have prevented you from going extinct.
That’s right, feel free to get connected to your species again.
The next rule change is in dice rolls. I am reinstituting the +2/-2 mechanic again, with a slight twist—you can +2 yourself (and this will be done automatically). So as long as you aren’t helping someone else out or trying to make someone go extinct, the lowest you can roll is a 3 (a super evolution will then be a 9). This will make survival based more on skill than on luck.
Finally, I am adding a new section called the “Ecosystem Tab” (credits to Ewery1, who none of you probably know). This will be a section at the bottom of each post that will describe how your species’ interact with one another. It will be slightly longer than your descriptions and will be updated every round to show the recent state of events.
Awesome! I’m loving it so far! When do we get to start?
Right away! With updates every 1-2 days, I hope. Below you will find a description of your creature: how it looks like, what niche it occupies, who hunts it, etc. in the likely chance that you completely forgot who you were playing as in the past quarter year. I’ve ignored the votes for your last round (sorry!) in writing the descriptions, but I did this to make them very in depth, so I hope you enjoy them. Have fun!
StealthStyleL – Saltus purpurous (Primary Consumer)
This tiny organism, which is less than a millimeter long, spends most of its time buried in the beach sand (to escape the scorching sun and hide from predators), only coming out when there is dire need. Its small size and simple physiology keep it in a never-ending “fight or die” situation. Whether it’s fighting for mates, fighting for food, or fighting to not get eaten, the members of this species often lose and manage to survive only because of their sheer numbers. Out of the tens of thousands eggs laid each fall, on average less than one organism survives to maturity, but this is enough to keep population stable and with a large amount of genetic variability.
The Saltus purpurous has a royal purple color, a remnant of its life ancient life on the reef, with four shorts legs on the bottom and four foldable wings on the top. These wings aren’t suitable for long term flight (partially because of their current design x-shaped design, and partially because of the small size of the organism), but they are excellent in providing a momentary lift into the air currents. Despite its small size, this species is able to jump almost 1 meters into the air in search of food or to escape.
It uses its 2 eyes, located on the size of its head, to obtain a 360 degree, black-and-white view of the environment while in the air, and its sense of hearing while underground. Mostly, it is searching for plants to eat. It’s eyes aren’t very good for close viewing (the image is in focus only when it is far away), so when it finally manages to find food, it relies on its nose tentacles to find edible parts.
To eat, the Saltus purpurous regurgitates acid on the desired section, softening it up, and then uses its pincers and mucus-covered nose tentacles to first bite off chunks of food and then shove it into its mouth. You can often see these critters covering the stems and leaves of sick and old plants, making a tasty treat for the larger omnivores.
NT
Bigyihsuan – Sacculus caeruleus (Primary Producer)
The Sacculus caeruleus is a very interesting organism that is unlike any other, both on Earth and on this planet. It is a blue spherical sack that is approximately 10 cm in diameter. Inside of this flimsy sack is a large supply of nutrient rich salt water. With walls approximately half-a-centimeter thick, it is easy for many organisms to tear it apart for food.
Unlike most plant species, this one doesn’t have any permanent roots. It is able to quickly grow roots into the ground (up to a centimeter an hour) to pull out necessary nutrients, before being pulled back to the ocean during long periods of high tide. It then flows on top of the ocean for several weeks and then returns back to the beach to be rooted and to replenish nutrients. These roots are shed and constitute an excellent source of food for smaller herbivores.
The plant itself is an autotroph. Its blue pigment is partially the result of Phycorotene, a cyan-colored pigment that converts sunlight to chemical energy, and a type of anthocyanin that was developed to better blend in back in the day. The skin of this plant has microscopic pores that let it CO¬2 and let out O2.
LC
Atrox – Dorsumrodo terrus (Primary Consumer)
This is one of the larger organisms on the planet and is around half a centimeter in size. It is a light blue color, a result of genetic drift from the original dark blue color. It has 2 fins at the front, 2 spinning turbines on the back, a short tail, and 2 large flat fins on top of its body. Although the ancestors of this organism used to float aimlessly in the water filtering plankton out of the water with their hair-like teeth, they all died out due to their small size and hence inefficient method of feeding (there isn’t that much plankton dissolved in the water that can sustain a population of fly sized creature with a 1 mm2 mouth opening). As a result, the Dorsumrodo terrus, the only surviving member of this lineage, now spends most of its time on the beach, right at the water line, where there is more food.
This organism flips onto its back and buries its two back fins into the ground as anchors. It then opens its mouth, sticking the hair-like teeth perpendicularly to the sand surface. As the waves recede back to the ocean, a high concentration of microorganisms is washed away with them and a large part gets stuck in the filter-like mouth of the Dorsumrodo terrus. The species has even evolved to use its spinning legs to push more water through its mouth.
Due to previous mutations, members of this species have lost gills and with it the ability to breath under-water. The submerged, upside-down position and turbulent waves also make it hard get out of the water to get air (and the waves sometimes keep them submerged for minutes at a time). Luckily, over time, this species has repurposed its 100% oxygen swim bladder as a “container” to hold extra oxygen for those long baths.
NT
deandactyl – Lacertos aerus (Secondary Consumer)
This species has the shape of a typical lizard—a very small typical lizard that doesn’t have a tail (2.5 cm long, 2 mm thick). It’s long body makes it easy to shift between the grains of sand at the beach, although its small size and course terrain makes it hard to build permanent burrows. The organism itself is a rusty red color, the result of genetic drift from its original purple one, and is covered in plates throughout. The only unprotected parts are the joints, which have a thick and rough skin, and the head organs; namely, three holes for retractable eye stalks, the mouth, and the nose opening.
Its mouth is located at the end of a trunk (which takes up .5 cm of the organism’s length) and has a two-way jaw, which originally evolved from two pincers growing into the body and becoming part of the lower head (so you have the top jaw part that doesn’t move, which look like a semi-circle, and then two quarter circles below it that munch up the food). However, the “jewel” of the Lacertos aerus’s mouth is its tongue, which acts like a harpoon, pulling in the food. It is able to shoot half a centimeter out of the trunk and stick to a prey item with a super glue-like compound. This super glue is very hard to break (virtually impossible), and as a result, the Lacertos aerus ends up detaching, digesting, and regrowing its tongue every time it catches something. This poses an issue if the organism accidentally misses and latches onto a rock, and as a result this creature has to spend much of its time stalking prey and only going for the kill once “it sees the white of their eyes”. Typically, this prey is the Saltus purpurous, which can be found infecting and devouring many plants.
Although at a time this species had a mucus and acid secretion on its skin, once the amount of predators on the beach decreased after the last mass extinction, this turned out to be to energy expensive and the species soon lost this trait.
LC[/b]
Redwatt50 – Virus noctis (Secondary Consumer)
This Virus noctis is one of the two carnivores on the beach, the other one being Lacertos aerus; however, due to numerous differences in their niches, they don’t often directly fight each other and are more or less able to live in piece (though deadly confrontation are known to happen). This species namely hunts during the night, spending the day buried underground, away from the sun and any predators. It has a very dark purple color that makes it incredibly difficult to see during the night, while its own eyes make seeing in the night even better than during the day. Both of these species, however, feat mainly on the Saltus purpurous.
The Virus noctis’s shape is very similar to a centipede, with its bodies cross section similar to the cross section of Saturn (thicker in the middle where all the vital organs are, and a thin flat layer on the outside to make it easier to crawl through the sand). It has 20 tiny legs made from calcium on each side of its body, and a not very pronounced head at the front. This head contains the organisms numerous senses—2 front-centered eyes and a nose—as well as a powerful jaw that has almost as much muscles as the rest of its body. This jaw can easily snap through the thin bones of the other organisms on this planet, allowing it to eat primary consumers whole.
On top of these bones is an incredibly deadly poison that can kill anyone on this planet within minutes of delivering a bite. The poison is chemically shaped like one of the amino acids, whoever it behaves very differently. Once it enters the blood stream of the prey, the infected organism’s enzymes begin building proteins using this faulty amino acid, and then the organism dies because its cells are unable to perform crucial functions. The Virus noctis itself has enzymes that are able to tell apart between this poison and the real amino acid, so the creature doesn’t die. While this is a very deadly offensive mechanism that stops anyone from hunting this organism and kills prey within a matter of seconds, it takes quite a bit of energy to maintain the poison at such a potent level.
NT
Zer1000 – Lucendi conculium (Secondary Consumer; Apex Predator)
This species has a sky blue colored skin and a generic shape: an elongated body with a non-distinguished head and 6 jointed tentacles. The front 2 limbs have a row of electrocytes that can generate a deadly shock capable of killing any creature of a similar size (2 mm long) provided that they touch a conductive surface. The back four simply become thicker toward the bottom to provide more surface area and better traction. At the bottom of its head is small stub—an electroreception organ. This organ needs to be submerged into a conductive surface (such as wet sand or the ocean) and provides a picture of the world. This is very useful to find prey when it is underground and cannot be located with the Lucendi conculium’s well-developed eyes or hearing.
The Lucendi conculium is yet another carnivore living on the beach. Since food is a limited resource, this organism has developed a large arsenal of adaptation helping it to outcompete both the Virus noctis and the Lacertos aerus species. One of these adaptations includes this species’ impeccable intelligence, the best on the planet and similar to that of mouse. Nonetheless, although it is capable of winning a direct fight with virtually any creature, it prefers to spend most of its time closer to the ocean (rather than farther up the beach like the other carnivores).
In this habitat, the Lucendi conculium preys mostly on the Dorsumrodo terrus and other creatures that the tide happens to bring in. It’s attack strategy is very ubiquitous, but at the same time very rewarding. The Lucendi conculium waits for a wave to pull back, and then rushes onto the wet sand. It submerges its electroreception organ underground and sends out weak electrical impulses to create a map of the nearby creatures. Finally, before the next waves hits, this organism rushes to its selected prey, hits it with a strong electric shock, and drags it back to the dray without the danger of waves.
Unfortunately, the Lucendi conculium’s shock takes a couple hours to recharge. This works okay if this organism is successful on its hunts every single time (it can eat in the morning, noon, and the evening), but not so well if for some reason this organism misses or the prey turns out to be resistant to electricity (e.g. it had a shell). In this case, the species has a second plan B—its sharp and tearing teeth bite into the flesh of its prey quickly ending its life.
LC
Skyguy98 – Desultoros turbus (Primary Consumer)
This black species is shaped like a coin. It has a flat body with 4 legs sticking out at 90 degree intervals. Between the 1st and 4th leg there is a head which houses the organism’s multitude of sensory organs. It has 360 degree vision with 2 cones, a jaw with sharp teeth for biting of pieces of plant, 2 holes for smell, and 2 for hearing. Between the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th leg there are 3 skin flaps that provide a large surface area and give the Desultoros turbus flight. Due to the organisms very small size, this isn’t a very controlled flight—the organism simply jumps up into the air (it can go over 2 meters high) and sails in the wind currents, periodically flapping its wings in order to maintain its height. While the flight isn’t as controlled as that of Saltus purpurous, this species is able to travel for much longer distances and sometimes finds itself hundreds of miles away from the beach on various islands (of course, it is just as likely to find itself drowning in the water).
To aid protection against predators, the organism’s body is covered with an exoskeleton and spikes. Although they don’t pose too big of a deterrence to carnivores (they are too thin), the Desultoros turbus is rarely eaten because it has numerous glands that deposit a potent chemical onto the outside of its shell.
The Desultoros turbus is also the first organism to develop rudimentary communication with other members of its species. It has a complicated pattern of signaling by using pheromones that are released into the wind. These chemical signals let other Desultoros turbus know that there is food in this location and they quickly gather around to the best of their ability. The organisms are still unable to control their flight readily, but they try their best to come near members of their species and eat plants together. Other chemicals are used as signals in reproduction and to mark danger. This communication is due to the species’ well developed nervous system (close to that of a fly).
NT
mitobox – Herbus ramus (Primary Producer)
The Herbus genus is the most common organism on the beach. It is able to live virtually anywhere that has a nutrient rich soil and plenty of sunlight and water, and as a result occupies the largest area. Wherever it is found, there is a thriving ecosystem of organisms. Although its protective bark, branches, and leaves set apart Herbus genus from the Sacculus caeruleus species, the real reason this genus is so successful is that it’s lifecycle doesn’t revolve around the ocean water and as such its ecological niche is much greater.
The Herbus ramus, a member of the Herbus genus is an enormous shrub that grows almost half a meter tall. It is a dark black color (compared to the light grey to brown to black colors of the other closely related species) that matches the black color of the volcanic ash and sand. Its main root spans many meters into the loose soil, sucking nutrients and water out of a virtually endless supply.
During the spring, the Herbus ramus begins growing bubbles on its surface that are filled with spores—single-celled haploid games that hope to grow into their own plants. These bubbles burst in the summer and the released spores are carried away by the winds (which are very strong due to the nearby ocean). Although millions of spores are released very few actually grow into Herbus ramus plants and die because of a lack of nutrition.
This plant is often seen covered in Saltus purpurous colonies and, more seldom, Desultoros turbus colonies. These tiny organism tear away at the bark with their strong teeth and acid, and if they are successful in breaking through the protective covering, they crawl into the vascular system killing and completely devouring the plant. Luckily, things aren’t always so grim as many carnivorous species lay their nests close to this plant feeding on the tiny critters and giving the Herbus ramus time to regrow its bark.
LC
What is this!? A new round for the Official Forum Game?
Well… no. The original competition is dead and is likely never coming back. My descriptions might not have been as long as nickthenick’s essay rounds, but they still took way too much time.
B-but the text at the top of the page says Round 37!
Yes, yes it does. This is indeed a new round, but it is by no means the same game I ended with 4 months ago. This is a NEW, REVOLUTIONARIZED version of the official forum game competition with plenty of rule changes to make it more fun AND easier on me.
Great! So what are these new rules?
For one, there will be NO MORE EXTINCTIONS. Yes you heard me—if your organism is CR for 4 rounds and then finally dies out because of a meteor strike, you don’t have to branch from an existing player and start over, you simply “go to your closest related kin who happens to be perfectly prepared for his ecosystem”, which basically means that you will lose your last 3 adaptations (go backwards 3 votes) and gain the adaptation(s) that would have prevented you from going extinct.
That’s right, feel free to get connected to your species again.
The next rule change is in dice rolls. I am reinstituting the +2/-2 mechanic again, with a slight twist—you can +2 yourself (and this will be done automatically). So as long as you aren’t helping someone else out or trying to make someone go extinct, the lowest you can roll is a 3 (a super evolution will then be a 9). This will make survival based more on skill than on luck.
Finally, I am adding a new section called the “Ecosystem Tab” (credits to Ewery1, who none of you probably know). This will be a section at the bottom of each post that will describe how your species’ interact with one another. It will be slightly longer than your descriptions and will be updated every round to show the recent state of events.
Awesome! I’m loving it so far! When do we get to start?
Right away! With updates every 1-2 days, I hope. Below you will find a description of your creature: how it looks like, what niche it occupies, who hunts it, etc. in the likely chance that you completely forgot who you were playing as in the past quarter year. I’ve ignored the votes for your last round (sorry!) in writing the descriptions, but I did this to make them very in depth, so I hope you enjoy them. Have fun!
StealthStyleL – Saltus purpurous (Primary Consumer)
This tiny organism, which is less than a millimeter long, spends most of its time buried in the beach sand (to escape the scorching sun and hide from predators), only coming out when there is dire need. Its small size and simple physiology keep it in a never-ending “fight or die” situation. Whether it’s fighting for mates, fighting for food, or fighting to not get eaten, the members of this species often lose and manage to survive only because of their sheer numbers. Out of the tens of thousands eggs laid each fall, on average less than one organism survives to maturity, but this is enough to keep population stable and with a large amount of genetic variability.
The Saltus purpurous has a royal purple color, a remnant of its life ancient life on the reef, with four shorts legs on the bottom and four foldable wings on the top. These wings aren’t suitable for long term flight (partially because of their current design x-shaped design, and partially because of the small size of the organism), but they are excellent in providing a momentary lift into the air currents. Despite its small size, this species is able to jump almost 1 meters into the air in search of food or to escape.
It uses its 2 eyes, located on the size of its head, to obtain a 360 degree, black-and-white view of the environment while in the air, and its sense of hearing while underground. Mostly, it is searching for plants to eat. It’s eyes aren’t very good for close viewing (the image is in focus only when it is far away), so when it finally manages to find food, it relies on its nose tentacles to find edible parts.
To eat, the Saltus purpurous regurgitates acid on the desired section, softening it up, and then uses its pincers and mucus-covered nose tentacles to first bite off chunks of food and then shove it into its mouth. You can often see these critters covering the stems and leaves of sick and old plants, making a tasty treat for the larger omnivores.
NT
Past Adaptations:
VGT
Circulatory System (3 chambers)
Muscles
Nervous system (II)
Digestive system (with acid)
4 Fins
Hearing
Purple
Notochord
Eyes
Herbivory
Lungs like a bird
Desiccation resistance
Teeth
Burrowing
Skeleton
Star nose
Pincers
Claws
Spit acid on pincers
x-shaped glider
Habitat:
Beach
VGT
Circulatory System (3 chambers)
Muscles
Nervous system (II)
Digestive system (with acid)
4 Fins
Hearing
Purple
Notochord
Eyes
Herbivory
Lungs like a bird
Desiccation resistance
Teeth
Burrowing
Skeleton
Star nose
Pincers
Claws
Spit acid on pincers
x-shaped glider
Habitat:
Beach
Bigyihsuan – Sacculus caeruleus (Primary Producer)
The Sacculus caeruleus is a very interesting organism that is unlike any other, both on Earth and on this planet. It is a blue spherical sack that is approximately 10 cm in diameter. Inside of this flimsy sack is a large supply of nutrient rich salt water. With walls approximately half-a-centimeter thick, it is easy for many organisms to tear it apart for food.
Unlike most plant species, this one doesn’t have any permanent roots. It is able to quickly grow roots into the ground (up to a centimeter an hour) to pull out necessary nutrients, before being pulled back to the ocean during long periods of high tide. It then flows on top of the ocean for several weeks and then returns back to the beach to be rooted and to replenish nutrients. These roots are shed and constitute an excellent source of food for smaller herbivores.
The plant itself is an autotroph. Its blue pigment is partially the result of Phycorotene, a cyan-colored pigment that converts sunlight to chemical energy, and a type of anthocyanin that was developed to better blend in back in the day. The skin of this plant has microscopic pores that let it CO¬2 and let out O2.
LC
Previous Adaptations:
Mitochondria
Fully Multicellular
Muscles
Nervous System (II)
Stomach (Very potent acid)
Horizontal gene transfer
Circulatory system (3 chambers)
Smell
Eyes
Vacuoles
Internal gills
Air sac
Strong Fins
Wheels
Acid resistance
Lungs
Bigger
Desiccation Resistance
Teeth
Skeleton
Habitat:
Beach
Mitochondria
Fully Multicellular
Muscles
Nervous System (II)
Stomach (Very potent acid)
Horizontal gene transfer
Circulatory system (3 chambers)
Smell
Eyes
Vacuoles
Internal gills
Air sac
Strong Fins
Wheels
Acid resistance
Lungs
Bigger
Desiccation Resistance
Teeth
Skeleton
Habitat:
Beach
Atrox – Dorsumrodo terrus (Primary Consumer)
This is one of the larger organisms on the planet and is around half a centimeter in size. It is a light blue color, a result of genetic drift from the original dark blue color. It has 2 fins at the front, 2 spinning turbines on the back, a short tail, and 2 large flat fins on top of its body. Although the ancestors of this organism used to float aimlessly in the water filtering plankton out of the water with their hair-like teeth, they all died out due to their small size and hence inefficient method of feeding (there isn’t that much plankton dissolved in the water that can sustain a population of fly sized creature with a 1 mm2 mouth opening). As a result, the Dorsumrodo terrus, the only surviving member of this lineage, now spends most of its time on the beach, right at the water line, where there is more food.
This organism flips onto its back and buries its two back fins into the ground as anchors. It then opens its mouth, sticking the hair-like teeth perpendicularly to the sand surface. As the waves recede back to the ocean, a high concentration of microorganisms is washed away with them and a large part gets stuck in the filter-like mouth of the Dorsumrodo terrus. The species has even evolved to use its spinning legs to push more water through its mouth.
Due to previous mutations, members of this species have lost gills and with it the ability to breath under-water. The submerged, upside-down position and turbulent waves also make it hard get out of the water to get air (and the waves sometimes keep them submerged for minutes at a time). Luckily, over time, this species has repurposed its 100% oxygen swim bladder as a “container” to hold extra oxygen for those long baths.
NT
Previous Adaptations:
Mitochondria
Muscles
Nervous System (III)
Stomach (Very potent acid)
Horizontal gene transfer
Circulatory system (3 chambers)
Teeth for filter feeding (hairs)
Heat Tolerance
Smell
Eyes
Hearing
Vacuoles
Fins (2 fins, 2 turbines, 2 glider fins on top)
2 Ball and socket joints (2 turbines)
Twisting muscle
Acid resistance
Lungs
Bigger size
Dessication Resistance
Skeleton
Swim bladder with pure oxygen
Habitat:
Beach waterline
Mitochondria
Muscles
Nervous System (III)
Stomach (Very potent acid)
Horizontal gene transfer
Circulatory system (3 chambers)
Teeth for filter feeding (hairs)
Heat Tolerance
Smell
Eyes
Hearing
Vacuoles
Fins (2 fins, 2 turbines, 2 glider fins on top)
2 Ball and socket joints (2 turbines)
Twisting muscle
Acid resistance
Lungs
Bigger size
Dessication Resistance
Skeleton
Swim bladder with pure oxygen
Habitat:
Beach waterline
deandactyl – Lacertos aerus (Secondary Consumer)
This species has the shape of a typical lizard—a very small typical lizard that doesn’t have a tail (2.5 cm long, 2 mm thick). It’s long body makes it easy to shift between the grains of sand at the beach, although its small size and course terrain makes it hard to build permanent burrows. The organism itself is a rusty red color, the result of genetic drift from its original purple one, and is covered in plates throughout. The only unprotected parts are the joints, which have a thick and rough skin, and the head organs; namely, three holes for retractable eye stalks, the mouth, and the nose opening.
Its mouth is located at the end of a trunk (which takes up .5 cm of the organism’s length) and has a two-way jaw, which originally evolved from two pincers growing into the body and becoming part of the lower head (so you have the top jaw part that doesn’t move, which look like a semi-circle, and then two quarter circles below it that munch up the food). However, the “jewel” of the Lacertos aerus’s mouth is its tongue, which acts like a harpoon, pulling in the food. It is able to shoot half a centimeter out of the trunk and stick to a prey item with a super glue-like compound. This super glue is very hard to break (virtually impossible), and as a result, the Lacertos aerus ends up detaching, digesting, and regrowing its tongue every time it catches something. This poses an issue if the organism accidentally misses and latches onto a rock, and as a result this creature has to spend much of its time stalking prey and only going for the kill once “it sees the white of their eyes”. Typically, this prey is the Saltus purpurous, which can be found infecting and devouring many plants.
Although at a time this species had a mucus and acid secretion on its skin, once the amount of predators on the beach decreased after the last mass extinction, this turned out to be to energy expensive and the species soon lost this trait.
LC[/b]
Past Adaptations:
Vertical gene transfer
Muscle fibers
Nervous System (II)
Stomach
Mouth
4 Tentacles
3 retractable eye stalks
Smell
Cryobiosis
Circulatory System
Thermoreceptors
Touch
Can digest plant and meat
Star-shaped mouth
Teeth
Rust red color
Long sticky tongue
Toxin Resistance (Toxin B – 6)
Jaw
Heat Resistance
Gills
Plated Shell
Stronger tentacles
Spit stomach acid
Cephalization
Scaly Skin
Skeleton
Burrowing
Snake-like body
Claws
Habitat:
Beach
Vertical gene transfer
Muscle fibers
Nervous System (II)
Stomach
Mouth
4 Tentacles
3 retractable eye stalks
Smell
Cryobiosis
Circulatory System
Thermoreceptors
Touch
Can digest plant and meat
Star-shaped mouth
Teeth
Rust red color
Long sticky tongue
Toxin Resistance (Toxin B – 6)
Jaw
Heat Resistance
Gills
Plated Shell
Stronger tentacles
Spit stomach acid
Cephalization
Scaly Skin
Skeleton
Burrowing
Snake-like body
Claws
Habitat:
Beach
Redwatt50 – Virus noctis (Secondary Consumer)
This Virus noctis is one of the two carnivores on the beach, the other one being Lacertos aerus; however, due to numerous differences in their niches, they don’t often directly fight each other and are more or less able to live in piece (though deadly confrontation are known to happen). This species namely hunts during the night, spending the day buried underground, away from the sun and any predators. It has a very dark purple color that makes it incredibly difficult to see during the night, while its own eyes make seeing in the night even better than during the day. Both of these species, however, feat mainly on the Saltus purpurous.
The Virus noctis’s shape is very similar to a centipede, with its bodies cross section similar to the cross section of Saturn (thicker in the middle where all the vital organs are, and a thin flat layer on the outside to make it easier to crawl through the sand). It has 20 tiny legs made from calcium on each side of its body, and a not very pronounced head at the front. This head contains the organisms numerous senses—2 front-centered eyes and a nose—as well as a powerful jaw that has almost as much muscles as the rest of its body. This jaw can easily snap through the thin bones of the other organisms on this planet, allowing it to eat primary consumers whole.
On top of these bones is an incredibly deadly poison that can kill anyone on this planet within minutes of delivering a bite. The poison is chemically shaped like one of the amino acids, whoever it behaves very differently. Once it enters the blood stream of the prey, the infected organism’s enzymes begin building proteins using this faulty amino acid, and then the organism dies because its cells are unable to perform crucial functions. The Virus noctis itself has enzymes that are able to tell apart between this poison and the real amino acid, so the creature doesn’t die. While this is a very deadly offensive mechanism that stops anyone from hunting this organism and kills prey within a matter of seconds, it takes quite a bit of energy to maintain the poison at such a potent level.
NT
Previous Adaptations:
Muscles
Nervous System (II)
Stomach (with acid)
Horizontal gene transfer
Circulatory system
Tearing Teeth that can crush through bone
Heat Tolerance
Smell
Eyes (reflective to see in darkness)
Internal lungs
Touch
Purple
Bigger (1 mm)
Notochord
Desiccation Resistance
Jaw
40 small, calcium legs
Toxic Bite (10/10)
Bones
Burrowing
Habitat:
Beach
Muscles
Nervous System (II)
Stomach (with acid)
Horizontal gene transfer
Circulatory system
Tearing Teeth that can crush through bone
Heat Tolerance
Smell
Eyes (reflective to see in darkness)
Internal lungs
Touch
Purple
Bigger (1 mm)
Notochord
Desiccation Resistance
Jaw
40 small, calcium legs
Toxic Bite (10/10)
Bones
Burrowing
Habitat:
Beach
Zer1000 – Lucendi conculium (Secondary Consumer; Apex Predator)
This species has a sky blue colored skin and a generic shape: an elongated body with a non-distinguished head and 6 jointed tentacles. The front 2 limbs have a row of electrocytes that can generate a deadly shock capable of killing any creature of a similar size (2 mm long) provided that they touch a conductive surface. The back four simply become thicker toward the bottom to provide more surface area and better traction. At the bottom of its head is small stub—an electroreception organ. This organ needs to be submerged into a conductive surface (such as wet sand or the ocean) and provides a picture of the world. This is very useful to find prey when it is underground and cannot be located with the Lucendi conculium’s well-developed eyes or hearing.
The Lucendi conculium is yet another carnivore living on the beach. Since food is a limited resource, this organism has developed a large arsenal of adaptation helping it to outcompete both the Virus noctis and the Lacertos aerus species. One of these adaptations includes this species’ impeccable intelligence, the best on the planet and similar to that of mouse. Nonetheless, although it is capable of winning a direct fight with virtually any creature, it prefers to spend most of its time closer to the ocean (rather than farther up the beach like the other carnivores).
In this habitat, the Lucendi conculium preys mostly on the Dorsumrodo terrus and other creatures that the tide happens to bring in. It’s attack strategy is very ubiquitous, but at the same time very rewarding. The Lucendi conculium waits for a wave to pull back, and then rushes onto the wet sand. It submerges its electroreception organ underground and sends out weak electrical impulses to create a map of the nearby creatures. Finally, before the next waves hits, this organism rushes to its selected prey, hits it with a strong electric shock, and drags it back to the dray without the danger of waves.
Unfortunately, the Lucendi conculium’s shock takes a couple hours to recharge. This works okay if this organism is successful on its hunts every single time (it can eat in the morning, noon, and the evening), but not so well if for some reason this organism misses or the prey turns out to be resistant to electricity (e.g. it had a shell). In this case, the species has a second plan B—its sharp and tearing teeth bite into the flesh of its prey quickly ending its life.
LC
Past Adaptations:
Nervous system (IIII)
Muscles
Digestive system (with acid)
Electrical shock (kill anyone of a similar size, must touch conductive surface on organism)
Eyes (three-dimensional, green and yellow)
Electroreception
Circulatory System
6 tentacles
Blue
Lungs
Desiccation resistance
Bones
Teeth (sharp and tearing)
Hearing
Habitat:
Beach
Nervous system (IIII)
Muscles
Digestive system (with acid)
Electrical shock (kill anyone of a similar size, must touch conductive surface on organism)
Eyes (three-dimensional, green and yellow)
Electroreception
Circulatory System
6 tentacles
Blue
Lungs
Desiccation resistance
Bones
Teeth (sharp and tearing)
Hearing
Habitat:
Beach
Skyguy98 – Desultoros turbus (Primary Consumer)
This black species is shaped like a coin. It has a flat body with 4 legs sticking out at 90 degree intervals. Between the 1st and 4th leg there is a head which houses the organism’s multitude of sensory organs. It has 360 degree vision with 2 cones, a jaw with sharp teeth for biting of pieces of plant, 2 holes for smell, and 2 for hearing. Between the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th leg there are 3 skin flaps that provide a large surface area and give the Desultoros turbus flight. Due to the organisms very small size, this isn’t a very controlled flight—the organism simply jumps up into the air (it can go over 2 meters high) and sails in the wind currents, periodically flapping its wings in order to maintain its height. While the flight isn’t as controlled as that of Saltus purpurous, this species is able to travel for much longer distances and sometimes finds itself hundreds of miles away from the beach on various islands (of course, it is just as likely to find itself drowning in the water).
To aid protection against predators, the organism’s body is covered with an exoskeleton and spikes. Although they don’t pose too big of a deterrence to carnivores (they are too thin), the Desultoros turbus is rarely eaten because it has numerous glands that deposit a potent chemical onto the outside of its shell.
The Desultoros turbus is also the first organism to develop rudimentary communication with other members of its species. It has a complicated pattern of signaling by using pheromones that are released into the wind. These chemical signals let other Desultoros turbus know that there is food in this location and they quickly gather around to the best of their ability. The organisms are still unable to control their flight readily, but they try their best to come near members of their species and eat plants together. Other chemicals are used as signals in reproduction and to mark danger. This communication is due to the species’ well developed nervous system (close to that of a fly).
NT
Previous Adaptations:
Mitochondria
Muscles
Nervous System (III)
Stomach (Very potent acid)
Vertical gene transfer
Circulatory system
Teeth for chewing plants
Heat Tolerance
Smell
Eyes (Blue and green)
Vacuoles
Hearing
Touch
Black
Spikes
Exoskeleton shell
Lungs
Desiccation Resistance
Jaw
4 limbs (2 arms and 2 legs)
Bones
Cephalization
Teeth
Toxin D (6)
Bigger (1-2 mm)
Delta-plane wings
Small hairs on arms
High-jumping legs
Swarming
Habitat:
Beach
Mitochondria
Muscles
Nervous System (III)
Stomach (Very potent acid)
Vertical gene transfer
Circulatory system
Teeth for chewing plants
Heat Tolerance
Smell
Eyes (Blue and green)
Vacuoles
Hearing
Touch
Black
Spikes
Exoskeleton shell
Lungs
Desiccation Resistance
Jaw
4 limbs (2 arms and 2 legs)
Bones
Cephalization
Teeth
Toxin D (6)
Bigger (1-2 mm)
Delta-plane wings
Small hairs on arms
High-jumping legs
Swarming
Habitat:
Beach
mitobox – Herbus ramus (Primary Producer)
The Herbus genus is the most common organism on the beach. It is able to live virtually anywhere that has a nutrient rich soil and plenty of sunlight and water, and as a result occupies the largest area. Wherever it is found, there is a thriving ecosystem of organisms. Although its protective bark, branches, and leaves set apart Herbus genus from the Sacculus caeruleus species, the real reason this genus is so successful is that it’s lifecycle doesn’t revolve around the ocean water and as such its ecological niche is much greater.
The Herbus ramus, a member of the Herbus genus is an enormous shrub that grows almost half a meter tall. It is a dark black color (compared to the light grey to brown to black colors of the other closely related species) that matches the black color of the volcanic ash and sand. Its main root spans many meters into the loose soil, sucking nutrients and water out of a virtually endless supply.
During the spring, the Herbus ramus begins growing bubbles on its surface that are filled with spores—single-celled haploid games that hope to grow into their own plants. These bubbles burst in the summer and the released spores are carried away by the winds (which are very strong due to the nearby ocean). Although millions of spores are released very few actually grow into Herbus ramus plants and die because of a lack of nutrition.
This plant is often seen covered in Saltus purpurous colonies and, more seldom, Desultoros turbus colonies. These tiny organism tear away at the bark with their strong teeth and acid, and if they are successful in breaking through the protective covering, they crawl into the vascular system killing and completely devouring the plant. Luckily, things aren’t always so grim as many carnivorous species lay their nests close to this plant feeding on the tiny critters and giving the Herbus ramus time to regrow its bark.
LC
Past Adaptations:
Chloroplasts
Dessication resistance
Low pressure tolerance
Black pigment to match land
Spores (VGT)
Roots (axial root)
Stalks
Vascular System
Leaves
Bark
Branches
Habitat:
Beach
Chloroplasts
Dessication resistance
Low pressure tolerance
Black pigment to match land
Spores (VGT)
Roots (axial root)
Stalks
Vascular System
Leaves
Bark
Branches
Habitat:
Beach