Round 38 (
Round 37;
Round 39)
Another day, another round. Hopefully updates will be more frequent now that everything is evened out. All you heterotrophs out there please check out Atrox’s reproduction description. It is how all of your reproduce, more or less, and the reason why you are confined to the water. Finally, don’t forget to read the ecosystem tab at the bottom of this round!
StealthStyleL –
Saltus draco (Primary Consumer)
Improve wings : Success(v) Bigger size : No effect (you rolled a 3)Over the years the single X-shaped wing of the
Saltus draco has separated into 4 individual appendages, similar to those of a dragon fly. This gives this species the ability to fly for extended periods of time in search of food and mates, as well as to escape other suspicious organisms. While the energy rich hydrocarbons stored in the muscle cells allow for over an hour of nonstop flight, this species utilizes its wings for only very short periods of time. For one, the tiny size of the
Saltus draco makes it incredibly vulnerable to the strong gusts of wind that can drown these creatures. There is also plenty of food opportunities nearby, so flying long distances doesn’t make much sense.
NTPast 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
4 wings
Habitat:
Beach
@npc –
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.
ENPrevious 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
Atrox –
Dorsumrodo rectus (Primary Consumer)
Turbines to side of body : Success(h) VGT : SuccessAfter eons of being a asexual organism that reproduced by cloning itself, the
Dorsumrodo rectus has finally developed a method of sexual reproduction. Every single month during the low tides, these organisms begin aimlessly wandering about in search of potential mates. Without any fighting rituals and any other selective pressures, the
Dorsumrodo rectus are only limited by their ability to actually find a mate. When one member of this species finds another, it rushes towards it “asks” if it has already mated with a complicated dance (again, no pheromones or sounds). If the mate replies with a complimentary dance—meaning it hasn’t yet mated—both organisms exchange gametes (this species is a hermaphrodite). Once a fertilized egg cell is formed from the two different gametes, it begins erratically dividing until it is a clump of around 250 - 500 cells. This clump is taken as close to the ocean as possible and buried underground. Unlike the
Dorsumrodo rectus, this primitive egg doesn’t have any kind of barrier that would protect from desiccation and must be kept moist. Furthermore, there are no sugars or nutrients “planted” around the clump of cells, other than the ones directly inside the cell body, which results in a low chance of offspring actually developing into juveniles. Luckily, these creatures mate quite often (once a month). After around two weeks, during the high tides, the clump of cells becomes a full grown organism that crawls out of the sand and swims to the beach to bury itself back in the sand in search of food.
In other news, this species has moved its turbines to the sides of their bodies to allow them to be used as individual appendages, which in turn allows for a larger water flow over this organism’s “teeth”.
NTPrevious 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
deandactyl –
Lacertos defringo (Secondary Consumer)
Decrease tongue stickiness : Success(v) Improve wings : Failed (you rolled a two)The very sticky lounge of the
Lacertos defringo was both a blessing and a curse. It allowed the organism to catch prey and drag it into its mouth, but at the same time it was energetically expensive to have to digest and regrow it every single time. As a result, it is no surprise that the species quickly developed an enzyme that is able to break down the glue and stop it from being sticky. Now the
Lacertos defringo is able to unstick its tongue if it accidentally latches onto a rock.
Unfortunately, the result of genetic mutations has caused this species to first develop unfavorable traits in its wings and then completely get rid of them.
EN[/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
Jaw
Heat Resistance
Gills
Plated Shell
Stronger tentacles
Spit stomach acid
Cephalization
Scaly Skin
Skeleton
Burrowing
Snake-like body
Claws
Habitat:
Beach
Redwatt50 –
Virus omnicomendenti (Secondary Consumer)
Better digestive system : Success(h) Nervous System : SuccessDue to a dramatic decrease in food, the
Virus omnicomendenti has developed a specialized chamber inside of its digestion track that houses specialized bacteria. These bacteria contain the enzymes necessary to break down the cell walls of the numerous plant species on the beach, effectively making this species an omnivore. Nonetheless, the sharp teeth of this organism aren’t very suited for the mechanical breakdown and chewing of plants.
This species has also developed a very interesting behavior (a result of its increased intelligence and denser nervous system). Instead of letting leftover food go to waste, the
Virus omnicomendenti now buries it deep underground, far away from other organisms. The coldness and high salinity of the beach sand prevents this food from rotting, and this organism is able to bury it out at a later time if it gets hungry, that is if it can remember where the food buried (luckily its sense of smell isn’t terribly bad).
VUPrevious 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
Zer1000 –
Lucendi tricorus (Secondary Consumer; Apex Predator)
Better heart : Success (you need a better heart if you want to become larger than a couple centimeters; also, next time you chose a size increase chose a size from 2 cm to 20)As prey became smarter and smarter, the
Lucendi tricorus has no choice but to adapt. The individuals that were faster and didn’t have as energetically demanding bodies managed to leave more offspring. Over time, a more developed heart became one of the defining features of this species. This three-chambered heart prevents a lot of pressure from being lost as blood goes through the two capillary beds (one in the lungs and one in the body), allowing for a higher blood pressure and more dissolved oxygen for muscles to use. This has made the
Lucendi tricorus much faster and a lot more capable of catching its fleeing prey.
LCPast 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 waterline
Skyguy98 –
Desultoros grandus (Primary Consumer)
Better wings : Success(v) Larger : Success This species is the largest heterotroph to ever roam the beach. As carnivores grew sharper teeth and developed deadlier poisons, the old
Desultoros grandus species was continuously being trimmed. Smaller organisms were eaten first because they weren’t as fast at getting away, and they were especially vulnerable to the electric shock of the
Lucendi tricorus. This left only “taller” and “bigger” genes in the gene pool of this species, eventually paving the way for the 5 cm long
Desultoros grandus.
At this larger size, the species isn’t very well at flying any more. Its exoskeleton and spikes are very heavy, and rudimentary circulatory system doesn’t distribute the oxygen to the flight muscles as quickly and efficiently as it should. Nonetheless, thousands of years of evolution and natural selection has led to this species developing wings that are very suitable for jumping over 3 meters into the air, similar to those of a cricket. These 2 wings are very fat and long—about 4 by 1.5 centimeters—and are followed with a balancing “rudder” on the back end of this species. The wings are actual repurposed front arms, so the species is forced to utilize them for walking as well.
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
Lungs
Desiccation Resistance
Jaw
4 limbs (2 arms and 2 legs)
Bones
Cephalization
Teeth
Toxin D (6)
Bigger (1-2 mm)
2 wings
Small hairs on arms
High-jumping legs
Swarming
Habitat:
Beach waterline
mitobox –
Herbus rhesus (Primary Producer)
White sap : Success The main threat to the safety of the
Herbus rhesus was pesky, little, flying herbivores that ate it from the inside out if they managed to break through the bark. As a result, the species relatively quickly developed a white goo whose main purpose is to pour out of any injuries and traumas to the bark covering the whole in a “Band-Aid” until the plant can heal itself. This goo is part of a positive feedback mechanism that is activated by oxygen. Specialized cells move through the vascular system of the
Herbus rhesus and if they somehow manage to get out of the plant (through a cut of some sort), they release chemical signals into the vascular system to attract more of these cells and then begin mass producing a white gooey chemical that prevents entry into the whole and traps any organisms that have already managed to make it inside. This goo eventually hardens to form a white shell, and then finally comes off completely once the bark is fixed.
LCPast 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
RoboTrannic –
Virus aquos (Primary Consumer)
Turn legs into paddles : SuccessFollowing a decreased supply of food on the beach, the
Virus aquos has reverted back to a more aquatic lifestyle in search of a better life. This species has moved its legs into two rows and made the top one much thicker and flatter, turning them into paddles. These allow the
Virus aquos to soar through the ocean at soaring, never before seen speeds. However, while there is quite a bit of zooplankton and algae in the sea, this species is not at all suited for ingesting it (it is too small compared to this organisms usual food), and has a very hard time staying alive long enough to produce offspring.
ENPrevious 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
ECOSYSTEMImmortal_Dragon , if you want to join, just chose a species and branch off.
The ecosystem is slipping away from its once relatively stable equilibrium (that lasted for a couple million years since the ice age). The
Saltus draco, once the prey of choice for most creatures has perfected its wings and flown away from all the carnivores. It is now incredibly hard to catch for the two secondary consumer,
Virus omnicomendenti and
Lacertos defringo, and they are forced to either move closer to the beach where there are other primary consumers or rely on stealth and sneaking up on the
Saltus draco when it is eating plants. The
Lucendi tricorus was relatively unscarred by this, as its normal food is still spending most of its time buried in the sand at the beach.
The
Desultoros grandus, another common prey item, has also been providing trouble for the beach carnivores—its large size and speed makes it very hard to kill and eat. That said, no predators doesn’t mean an easy life, as the large size now means a much faster metabolism and greater food demands. The
Desultoros grandus has then moved closer to the beach, where all of the larger plants matter is located. It’s main food is now the blue spherical orbs,
Sacculus caeruleus, which have almost been driven to extinction by the sudden demand and lack of defenses.
I will post a sketch of all your species and their relative sizes tomorrow. It’s not going to be very beautiful, and I’m not going to spend a lot of time on it, but it should give you a better impression of what your species looks like.
All in all, I like this round and feel like it is a step in the right direction.[/b]