EVOLUTION ATTEMPTS: Gripping tentacles- 5+3=+6, Improved senses- 1+2=3, Uric acid- 1+2=3, Poison traps- 1, More nocturnal- 5, Less heat-loss- 5, More toxins- 6, Better wings- 2+2=4, Better hearing- 5+1=6, Better pack-hunting- 6+1=+6
The philosopher nightmace is, as of now, the most intelligent animal ever to have evolved on this planet. It has a grasp of complex problem-solving and forethought, making it only slightly less intelligent than a human. Its pack-hunting skills are phenomenal, and can use complex cultural language to communicate. The poison-spitting tubes have developed into manipulating tentacles, and the extra musculature lets them spit venom over even greater distances. Said venom can now kill with mere drops, and a goat-sized animal would die in seconds if it had no immunity. For the majority of animals, however, they do have some sort of immunity, so far more venom is needed to kill them. Nightmace are even better at hunting at night now, and their hosts will often wake up to a delicious meal of carrion from the nightmace's own meals. Infrared-proofing insulation lets them stay active in even the coldest weather, and makes it harder for animals with infrared vision to see a philosopher nightmace. Improved hearing lets them detect a mouse-sized animal burrowing from up to 50 metres away.
The woodland is starting to dry out as well, and the coastline is shrinking. The other continent has joined ours, and glaciers are coming down from it, smothering the coasts. Relatives of ours, sightmace, have evolved complex vision in ultraviolet, normal and infrared spectrums. They can take advantage of their previously-evolved absurd overcompensation for a lack of sight, and if we don't have some luck, we might be in trouble.
GENERATION 26:
Philosopher nightmace
A mottled dark purple bird-like animal that hunts under the montane forest canopy. They use their fanged tentacles to attack and kill their prey. They mostly fly. They grow up to 40 centimetres long, and their offspring are called tentaclets. They use two claws on their back to snatch prey from the ground or air.
SOCIAL: They live in groups of about 25, alongside one or two eagle-squid.
SENSES: It has a sense of touch that lets it figure out if it's touching food, and an extremely good sense of smell/taste. A keen electrical sense lets it find creatures that are close to it, and it can feel vibrations from moving creatures. Its hearing is extraordinary, and it can echolocate. However, this is still inferior to the eagle-eyed vision of other slicers, although the eagle-squid partially makes up for that.
REPRODUCTION: It 'kisses' a mate it approves of, passing male cells to it, and growths grow inside of the womb. Tentaclets follow their mother and are fed by them. They eat regurgitated food from the mother's guts, and when they are old enough, they leave.
MOVEMENT: They fly by using their front wings to glide and their back wings as engines. They have two legs on their underside, which can break through wood and dig through dirt. They can use their wings and legs to gallop across the ground.
EATING: It impales small animals and digests them by drawing them into the guts. They are able to prey on most animals smaller than them, and they use venom. Most of their food is from grazing worms and the dense vegetation. Other prey include land-dwelling spearfaced worms (slitherers) and other flappers, as well as leggedgrinders. We can use a precise jet of neurotoxin, laced with silica shards (to pierce the skin), to kill prey. We scavenge from the kills of our host when we are not hunting.
PREDATION: We have few predators, now we are protected by our shells and our hosts.
SYMBIOSIS: The greater eagle-squid, a large predator with a 3-metre wingspan and powerful vision and claws.
COMPETITION: Sightmace seem to be the greatest threat. They are like us, but with sight.
INTELLIGENCE: We have complex language and good manipulators.
ENVIRONMENT: A cold woodland with loose trees and quite a few balloons above it.
CURRENT ENVIRONMENT: Cold woodlands
NEARBY ENVIRONMENTS: Mammoth steppe, icy ocean, alpine meadows, glaciers, icy mudflats
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Topic: Competition- An evolutionary suggestion game (Read 102735 times)