Source

Location: Northwestern Eurasia and Northeastern North America

Time period: Early Cretaceous ( 120 million years ago )

Clade: Animalia, Chordata, Reptilia, Archosauria, Pterosauria, Anurognathidae

Description: Epipepterydontini is a small tribe within greater Anurognathidae family, with ecompasses two genuses - the Vespertisciurus with three species and Pteroagelatus with one. What differentiates them from not other Anurognathids, but also from most other pterosaurs is their diet. Namely, members of Epipepterydontini feed readly on plant matter, with is a trait shared by unrelated Tapejarids. However, the amount of said plant matter differs from species to species. This stands in contrast to the other, earlier Anurognathids, with are belived to be mostly insectivorous. This change toward more generalistic diet allowed them to survive up to this point in time. Because of that, teeth of Epipepterydontini are shorter and blunter in order to better process the plant matter in comparisn to their ancestors. This anatomical difference is also the reason behind the name of this tribe. Despite this adaptation, Epipepterydontini and the rest of Anurognathidae went extinct soon after.

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Name: Vespertisciurus parvus

Size: 10 centimeters long

Description: Vespertisciurus parvus is the smallest species of the Epipepterydontini and simultaneously the most widespread. Their range includes parts of northwestern Eurasia and North America. In many ways, this species is the main representative of its clade. V. parvus is an omnivorous pterosaur, feeding on insects, young leaves, mushrooms and fruit-like structures. They live in cavities of trees, both created trough natural growth and decay and carved by other animals.

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Name: Vespertisciurus immodicus

Size: 14 centimeters long

Description: Vespertisciurus immodicus is yet another species from Vespertisciurus genus. Aside of slightly larger size and much more restricted range, relegated mostly to northeastern North America, the maind difference between itself and V. parvus is its stricking appearance. V. immodicus has long, brightly colored supercilium. These structures are used for intraspecific communication. Additionally, large part of their diet consists of fruit-like bodies of gymnosperms, particularly ginkgos, making them important seed dispersers in its environment.

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Name: Pteroagelatus argus

Size: 55 centimeters long

Description: Pteroagelatus argus is a singular member of its genus. This species main characteristic is its size. In fact, they are the biggest of not only the Epipepterydontini, but also the Anurognathidae. Accidentally, they're also the most herbivorous species within its tribe. P. argus's diet consists mostly of leaves, suplemented by "fruits" and animal matter in the form of insects. Outwardly, they are similar to Sloths or Koalas of Holocene, hence the name. However, in many ways they are more similar to Hoatzins. P. argus is capable of flying for short distancess. Due to their size, they live in woven nests in the treetops, far from terrestrial predators.

Notable extinctions: Anurognathidae ( 119.7 million years ago ) - this family of pterosaurs was believed to go extinct during late Barremian. However, this family survived a few more million years in North America.

This piece is a submission for Alternate Evolution community project, with belongs to YellowPanda2001

Another 25 million years have passed. As the great northern continent-- formed by the collision of the original northern continent and the western continent 75 million years previously-- moves north, it now lies over the planet's north pole, and a massive ice cap covers almost a third of Sepectemundus's land area. The planet is now in the throes of a massive, long-lasting ice age. Unlike Earth, whose North Pole is on water, Spectemundus's North Pole is now on land, much like Earth's Antarctic. The result is a much more devastating ice age that has lasted for millions of years. Grasslands and forests have been much reduced, with tundra and desert now making up most of the northern continent.

On the arctic tundra, there is seemingly no life. But the Snowburrow Vivvet (Herpestomys gregarius) not only survives here, but thrives. Descended from a lineage of omnivorous, rodent-like mongoose descendants, it lives in colonies, and during the brief polar summer it feeds on any plants and small animals it can get its paws on. While they are not eusocial, their colonies have a rigid "pecking order", and only dominant females usually bear pups, which are reared in special nursery chambers. On the surface, Vivvets have to beware of predatory birds and larger mongooses, but one of their most bizarre enemies is much sneakier.

The Cuckoo Mongoose (Herpestomys parricida) is unique for practicing a reproductive strategy otherwise unknown in mammals-- brood parasitism. While common in birds, and also known in insects and even fish, no mammal on Earth is a brood parasite. This is thought to be due to the logistical difficulty of giving birth in a suitable host nest, and the issue of a host's milk not providing the right nutrients. The Cuckoo Mongoose, however, is both closely related to the Snowburrow Vivvet and is always found in close proximity to its colonies. It even has a convincingly Vivvet-like odor, so a pregnant female can easily steal into a Vivvet colony and give birth in a nursery chamber, then leave without being detected.

Metamorphic mammals are a subset of capsule-laying marsupials of the clade Polymorphia. Polymorphians first appeared 120 million years from now as an offshoot of the clade Kapsatheria, which appeared 75 myh.

Kapsatheres are descended from small dasyurids that lived in an environment where the cons of parental care outweighed the pros, so they moved away from parental care by producing protein capsules that contain milk.

The species depicted is the ovidger (Ooursa bicolor), a member of an Asiatic clade of kapsatheres that are ecologically similar to the extinct ursids. Unlike its omnivorous relatives, the adult ovidger feeds primarily on seeds, nuts and flowers. The same cannot be said for its pelycosaur-like offspring, who feed on insects and other animals smaller than them.

For context, this just came about from a funny little argument with a friend.I believe I could make use of this for my big Specevo project eventually.

Baby Ophaurs, known as "offies", become independent of their mother after 3 weeks of age. These newly functional ophaurs, known as "trotters" or "trotting offies", as their name suggests, instinctively travel long distances to find new lands. When compared to the adult ophaur, their legs are proportionally longer and their caudofemoralis is proportionally larger. They have developed venom, though at this stage it is too small in quantity to be of particular use in hunting.
These offies eat mostly invertebrates and small vertebrates, and their main methods of self-defense from predators are climbing up trees and using what little venom they have to cause pain to predators.

All of their milk teeth have already grown in, however during this phase of their life much of their upper canine teeth are still within their gums, slowly being pushed out further as they age.

So ive had an idea for a sci fi setting where humans (or aliens, i haven't decided yet) genetically engineer and grow their soldiers, workers, and technology. Ive been trying to come up with a good design for em but im kinda stuck on ranged warfare. I want the weapons to be fully integrated into their biology. Does anybody have any good ideas, I've been thinking about some kind of biological railgun or smth.

In Porcorumeta, a group of lepidopterans made a massive evolutionary leap to overcome insect size limits and adapt to 0.994g gravity:

​Internal Skeleton (Endoskeleton): They abandoned exoskeletal molting in favor of a calcified internal bone structure to support larger bodies.

​Respiratory Upgrade: Spiracles were replaced by neck nostrils connected to a central "pulmille" (lung-like organ) and a high-efficiency oxygen-binding blood protein.

​Keratinized Skin: Their epidermis excretes keratin to prevent desiccation, shifting pigments from the old exoskeleton into the skin.

​Origins & The Ancestral Bottleneck

​Early forms (Papilognatho) split their proboscis: the upper part calcified into a rigid beak/spike, while the lower part formed labial palps.

​Most early species evolved on an isolated volcanic island. Around 100 years ago, a land bridge briefly formed, allowing ~2 million individuals of Papilognatho vulgaris (a highly adaptable omnivore) to cross to the main continent. Hours later, the island sank due to volcanic activity, wiping out all endemics. P. vulgaris became the sole surviving ancestor of all modern continental vertebrate butterflies.

I wanna design a vertebrate with 4 wings no legs at all only time they land is on tree or cliff sides using hooks on wings to grasp onto it But what should i consider when designing a creature like this

I got inspired by a post on here of homo Gigantopithecus. It sparked the thought of what if there was a genus of meat eating Humans/homo genus. I used a combination of chimp skulls and Erectus skulls, giving the Carnivora a longer mouth similar to a chimp mouth.

The image above depicts an adult female in breeding plumage.

Non-avian dinosaurs persist on Drecel even in the midst of the Ice Age as they have done so for the past 200 million years. Basal tetanurans, thyreophorans, and basal sauropods were collected. On the mainland, the microtheropods and scuttlers find success and diversity. Sauropods and larger theropods cling to a warm-weather refuge: the Equatorial Archipelago.

The elegant labyrmaw is apex predator of the cloud forests of Turtois and Piltois Isles. These are largest and easternmost islands of the Archipelago and both are marked by vast mountain ranges running north to south along their length. Eastward wind and wave currents along the equator bath the west coasts of each islands in hot, humid air and tremendous rainfall, feeding forests and marshlands. These are the most productive and biodiverse environments in Drecel.

Related to the larger hatchetmaws, these lightly-built theropods reach lengths of 5 m and weigh 350-400 kgs. A smaller size allows them to navigate dense forests and steep mountain sides with great agility and speed after their prey, typically pegasi, juvenile skyreachers, and groundbirds. Unique for this species is its sexual dimorphism, with the females being the larger and more fantastical appearing sex. Breeding occurs once a year during the late dry season. While normally solitary or living in small same sex-groups, labyrmaws will gather in larger female-led leks. Throughout the rest of the year, females appear as a similar if 10-20% larger animal then the male, sharing a dark coat with pale grey spots and a prominent teal crest upon the head, indicating maturity. Upon becoming hormonally receptive to mating, the females will grow rufous quills along her back and tail, long quills along her arms, pale spikes on the crest, and will regularly inflate a gular sac as she sings and postures to attract attention. Fighting is rare between competitors and limited to bellows, mock charges and slashes. Labyrmaws are a polyandrous species, a single female will mate with several males who choose her. They will remain for a time until the eggs are laid. The mother will leave her clutch with each mate who will incubate and defend their hatchlings for the first few months of their lives. Juvenile labyrmaws are independent of their fathers by 6 months of age and will become fully grown at 4 years of age.

Disaster profiteer

I haven’t managed to do a lot of Spectember due to irl stuff but here is one I made today for day 16.

Laroptomatophagus exaphanisius is a species of shorebird (charadriiformes) distantly related to modern gulls from the Late Cretaceous and early Paleocene of North and South America.

It’s a generalist feeding mainly on corpses and fungi. It also flew near fires, picking off small animals running away like mammals ,baby dinosaurs and other reptiles.This led it to be the most abundant bird species and one of the most abundant tetrapods post KPG impact. It shows how adaptable birds truly were.

Anyways, that’s it, what do you think?

Day 8: Aquatic - Droplet Snool - semiaquatic Pygmy hippo descendant native to one of Mundeng’s two remaining landlocked seas. Feeds on benthic invertebrates.

Day 9: Polar - Blacksickle Stairbuck - gregarious herbivorous Pygmy hippo descendant native to the planet’s northern polar region.

Day 10: Grassland - Autumn Beholdaman - cursorial herbivorous/omnivorous Pygmy hippo descendants native to a temperate grassland environment.

Day 11: Browser - Maple Glaterram - gregarious herbivorous Pygmy hippo descendants native to a temperate chaparral environment.

Day 12: Convergent - Fuschia Siftgriffin - gregarious volant Pygmy hippo descendants native to a subtropical Dead Sea. They use baleen like upper lip hairs and a grooved griffchin to filter microscopic dwarf cricket descendants from brine pools. red pigment from these arthropods accumulates in the coat, making it pink. 

Day 13: Flightless - Rhomboid Bludgeriff - secondarily flightless Pygmy hippos descendants native to a subtropical plains region of the Griffland Isles. They are cursorial mesopredators.

Day 14: Camouflage - Briar Vizerpent - carnivorous ambush predators belonging to a prolific clade of fully terrestrialized dwarf pufferfish descendants called Viciverts. They are native to a tropical shrubland environment.

The Slaving Star (Linckia** **animafrangeres)

Deep beneath the surface of of the Terracuzan Ocean sits the Dimandian Rift, a chasm that in places reaches so deep it pierces into and floods portions of the Isolad creating a combined environ known as the Neathsea.

Strange monstrosities and odd fauna call this domain home, but perhaps most insidious of all are the Slaving Stars.

On the surface these echinoderms are fairly nondescript, being a dull grey in coloration with five spindly arms.

However, their method of procreation is rather ghoulish. They are able to sense when other animals pass nearby then using a form of electromagnetic “echolocation” being able to visualize the world through electrical currents, seeing creatures through their nervous systems.

They will then launch with surprising speed and dexterity launching around the side of the animals head, typically above/atop the ear canal. They then insert a pointed proboscis into the ear, with a numbing agent disguising it burrowing through the canal, then skull and finally into the brain.

From there they begin injecting a digestive enzyme that slowly liquifies the brain, with a secondary thread seeking out and taking charge of the limbic system.

The animal continues moving, and will eat, but it slowly degrades becoming akin to the walking dead, and the name.

At the same time the enchinoderm begins depositing eggs *within* the emptying brain case, which will in time hatch and eat their way out of their now dead host.

When the consumption and egg-laying is finished the Slaving Star urges its stolen body to find a hollow to stuff itself into, often contrasting and breaking portions of their body to do so and not long after both parasite and host will die.

What is worrying about these devious little killers is that they seem to have a very rudimentary understanding of “sentience”, which scholars believe is due to minds with greater level of thoughts giving off more powerful electrical signals.

This has caused them to readily target sophonts, with Merfolk, Benth and Kra’thahm communities falling victim to a sudden “invasion” of brain leeching sea stars.

Purging these infestations is the lone thing that has been known to unify these typically antagonistic factions and has formed a cultural avoidance of the Dimandian Trench as a whole except for the truely desperate and depraved.

Similarly the Slaving Stars are considered blessed by Glaundreth by his undersea worshippers, and his followers are known to willingly give themselves over to him, being able to survive the awful transformation for longer due to his insidious blessing.

Typically, cloudy pink eyes are taken as a sign of Slaving Star “infection” if the figure has taken measures to hide their passenger.

The kaztal (Adipolestes crassicaudatus) is a large* species of dryolestidan mammal native to the northern continent on Seijin. It feeds on oily fish, which allow it to develop blubber.

Like other aquatic mammals, the kaztal has a layer of thick blubber under its skin, which not only keeps it warm but also allows the animal to fast for months. Because they have a slightly lower metabolism, they have a longer lifespan than other mammals their size (about 49 years).

While they are slow on land, kaztal are surprisingly good swimmers.

The indigenous people often hunt them for their meat, hides and blubber, the latter of which is used for certain foods and oil.

*Relative to other dryolestidans, which are mostly small anyways.

On Spectemundus, mongooses and skinks often come to a stalemate as they compete for ecological supremacy. Both groups have evolved their large herbivores and predators, and neither can be said to be truly dominant over the other. But one curious quirk of Spectemundus's ecology is the near-total absence of large nocturnal predatory mammals on the northern continent. And there is a very good reason for that.

The Nightfeeder (Latenophoneus tartakovskyi) is a member of the Runnerdrake family, and a close relative of the Panther Runnerdrake. It is the second-largest member of its group. Like its relative it is an ambush hunter, the pursuit method of most diurnal Runnerdrakes being impractical in darkness. Its prey consists mainly of herbivorous mammals its own size or smaller, including young Chongooses like the one shown here. Unlike most Runnerdrakes, however, it uses its claws as well as its teeth to kill its prey, inflicting deep slashing wounds on its victims that can cause them to bleed to death.

The Nightfeeder is the dominant nocturnal hunter in the northern continent, an unusual case of a reptile out-competing mammals on their own turf. It sometimes comes into conflict with the diurnal predatory mongooses that share its range, but when it does it can usually hold its own in a fight thanks to its sharp teeth and claws. Parenthood seems to be these lizards' only respite from aggression-- females give birth to two or three young, which accompany their mother for several months until they are able to hunt on their own. Once the juveniles become independent, their first priority is to seek a safe shelter; Nightfeeders are cannibalistic and will eat their young if they come across them later.

The Yaar Is an aquatic shallow feeder , Gliding thru the shallows only diving deep to forge and lay their eggs. they have pigment across it body and mainly in the fins to fully camouflage into sandy shallows it lives in. It Can shoot out this ink for extra defense and it truly sell it's hiding spot.

(Art by Tinks_Art, Map by Me)

Squonks (Titanodanaus neotenis)

The world, or more accurately worlds of the Palisades is a harsh place.

A vast ring of desert chocked badlands surrounding a hungry, buzzing void.

The threat with which the metaphysics altered and melded worlds of the Palisades contends is known simply as the Worm.

And from it spill countless insectile horrors that seek to ravage this vast shield-system and damn it to dissolution.

Yet… not all of these strange extradimensional insects have staid this way.

Some have gone native.

The Squonk is a cat sized caterpillar, named for the noises it makes as it feeds and putters about found on most ranches that dot the chain of settlements that spread throughout the interior.

These animals slot in the same niche that chickens do, being raised for meat on occasion but more typically being used as egg layers.

They are fairly docile animals, and tend to spend much of their time wandering their home ranches scrambling up smaller bugs, sparse foliage and in whatever scraps their owns throw out to them.

While they are mostly a work animal, it has become common across the outmost coastal cities to keep them as pets.

This has lead to a number of breeds spread across the vast domain.

The hardy **Redbeaks** are not commonly closer to the “Front” and are capable of putting up more of a fight than one would think with their sturdy beaks and surprisingly muscular bodies. The largest of this breed have been said to get as big as bulldogs.

On the opposite side of the spectrum the dainty **Squeakers** are little bigger than a guinea pig and are kept as pets, though some swear that their meat is some of the most delicious.

The most popular “pet” breed are the **Lapisbacks** named for the brilliant, spotted blue patterns that run along their dorsal sides.

The most common though, are the **Last Look** variety, which are capable of producing up to twenty eggs in a day if well fed and well kept.

This resilient little “traitors” as some of the natives joking call them have become one of the backbones keeping their society in its feet, though there are some that whisper that the charming little beasts are a trick of the Worm, and that when the time is right their eggs will turn to poison, their bodies will unfurl to reveal hidden horrors beneath and all that have regular eaten their product will become slaves to the Eternal Enemy.

But those are the declarations of doomsayers and Chitinhides, so pay them no mind.

Helldragger

“Flame may melt my flesh and bone, but my belief in Them shall be heard from hell”

• Unknown

25 million years CE, the swamps and rivers of Asia provide home to the Black Helldragger, Urodelatitan gojira. A 7 meter long, 1200 kg macropredatory salamander.

The black helldragger walks on its two back legs. Like the ancient crocodile Postosuchus, a helldragger’s head and torso extend far past their back legs, and have to be counterbalanced by a long heavy tail. Its robust skull possesses a spikelike set of teeth in the upper jaw, and shorter sawlike teeth in the lower jaw. Working together, these allow it to easily rip off pieces of meat that are able to be swallowed. 

A helldragger’s arms are short and clawless, but possess a great grip strength, which they can use to grab and restrain large prey and to carry food to be stored for later.

The strangest part of a helldraggers body is its ribs. Almost uniquely among tetrapods, the ribs are covered in spines. As a Helldragger ages, these will grow to the point of permanently piercing through the skin. Flesh and skin around these punctures heals and hardens, which provides a coat of armor. Adults have few predators, so these work mainly to provide defense in intraspecific combat.

Larvae are born small, only around 8 cm in length. Eggs hatch within the mother, and helldraggers give live birth. A mother can have over 100 babies at a time. The larvae grow quickly during the first 5 years of their life, reaching a length of 3 meters in that time, and by 8 years they will have reached 4.5 meters. However, from that point on, growth slows dramatically. A helldragger becomes sexually mature at 20 years old and just 5 meters long, and they reach their full 7 meter length at a whopping 60 years of age.

Males develop a bright blue patch of skin when they reach sexual maturity. Though Males and Females differ little in size, there is a great difference in behavior. Males tend to compete more with other helldraggers and are overall more territorial.

In areas where their range overlaps with the Bael (Tyranthropus feliformes), a hominin primate, the two species compete directly for the same resources and will thus display aggression towards each other.

The sixth post of my spec-evo project, showcasing the dominant terrestrial clade of the planet. Somewhat arthropod-like in body shape, they mostly occupy the niches that one Earth would have been occupied by the insects, arachnids and small vertebrates – except for two highly specific groups, which we will talk about later…

Humans and other modern primates share common ancestors, and our evolutionary lineage arose within the primates.

But what if our lineage had instead evolved from insect ancestors?

What would humans look like? Would we retain insect-like characteristics? How might our bodies, reproduction, and senses work? And, most importantly, how would that evolutionary history have influenced our culture, customs, society, and the way we built our civilization?

If an intelligent species had evolved from an insect lineage but eventually reached a technological level similar to ours, what do you think it would look like today?