5th Turn
Event
Strength Dice: 63
Temperament Dice: 2
One member of The Harbringers have dried out for unknown reasons, reducing the amount of water coming to The Crater Sea. Salinity has increased as a result.
All of your populations will be a notch lower for this round until your lineages go under automatic micro-adaptations to adapt.
Team Pancake
Naturegirl1999: Supports Kilojoule Proton
Kilojoule Proton: Pockets of stem cells through the fragile pan: 1+2+2= 5
Demonic Spoon: Supports Kilojoule Proton
Shedding Pancake
The maladaptation that made the pans of its ancestors wide but unstable have been reshaped into an advantage. Rings of stem cells line its fragile pan, allowing it to continuously grow, and as in the name, shed the outer parts. Some of these parts also have stem cells, inherited by their split, and by their help, they grow into new pancakes. Their populations have increased, only held back by the current salinity situation.
The genes regarding splitting in two are vestigial now. It is now considered a true plant, as it has become complex enough.
Status: NT
Description
A small green plant shaped like a flat, thin circle. It is 15 centimeters in diameter. A small water siphon is situated at its center, which it uses to get minerals and nutrients more efficently. Surrounding this pump, a ring of long and thin, retractable white tendrils reside, and are used to filter the water and digest the things they catch. It reproduces by shedding the outer edges of its pan and the pieces with stem cells growing into new pancakes. It lives permanently stuck to the sea surface through the dozens of tiny oil-filled pimples across its body. It can be found forming coincidental mats, as well as alone.
Team Pasta Vēlōcis
Curious Cat: A primitive digestive system using water suction: 5+2+2: capped at 5
King Zultan: Supports A_Curious_Cat
0cra_Troper: Supports A_Curious_Cat
Precursor Blish
As this clade of blob continued to diverge, it no longer resembled a blob or anything close to it, so it was granted a new name; Blish. And as it's no longer relying on chance and has a form of bodily system, it is considered a true animal.
Unlike it's older relatives, this species has the ability to digest it's food internally. The central dot on its front have split into four smaller ones, which encircle a toothless, jawless, muscle-less cavity that has the ability to open and close according to the information the animals chemotaxis sends it.
It is closed most of the time, but when the signal it recieves becomes strong enough, it starts to periodically suck in water and push it out of its outer surface in an attempt to take in what smells tasty. Inside the mouth is the creatures insides, a semigelatinous mass of cells dedicated to digestion take whatevers been sucked inside chemically apart. Waste is discarded by the same way, but reverse.
As a bonus, the outer layer have also become specialised after its role has been stolen. They are now isolative cells, not letting anything except water get out or in.
It has gained size, but without an efficent way of getting oxygen, it is stuck.
Status: NT
Description
An aquatic animal that is 5 centimeters long. It moves along the sea floor and above with its tuff of flagella on its bum and digests any organic debris it can find through its mouth that leads to its digestive insides. It has 10 black dots on its very front, 4 of them larger then the other 6. The smaller six form a hexagon that surrounds a square that is formed from the bigger 4, which surrounds a single jawless mouth. These dots are connected to the bum fuzz and the mouth with connections of specialised cells. It uses these dots to sense the strength of certain smells associated wih food and move towards the strongest emission it can sense and know when to open and close the mouth. It reproduces by splitting in two when it gets too big.
Team Lagus Blob
flazeo25: A flagella made out of flagellas: 1+1=2
Suicidal Blob
As an evolutionary experiment with increased speed, the coastal blobs have hyperthropied a single spot of flagellum and sacrificed the others. This single batch have further combined into a tail that allows it to move faster.
But there are serious problems with this. As the only sense it has is a simple and indiscriminatory thermoreception, these animals constantly beach themselves and dessicate and airdrown trying to reach to the warmest spot they can find. They could not do this before due to their older system of locomotion not allowing them to move too far into the shallows as it required some depth.
The tail is also inefficent in design, it is cumbersome and rather slower than it should be.
They need a way to know that they will beach, or this may lead to extinction. Waters are a bit too warm now, eh?
Status: EN
Description
A round proto-animal 12 centimeters in width and length. It slowly moves along and tries to commit suicide on the sea shore and digests any organic debris it can find, which is usually algea. It has a long tail resembling a flagella, which it uses to move around. Covering the body, a specialised layer of tissue prevents any nutrient loss. And under and around that, there is a calcite framework that keeps it rigid and provides pathways for cells to move. A specialised protein allows it to sense and change directions towards the heat. It reproduces by splitting in two when it gets too big.
Team Friendly Pancake
Kashyyk: Mutualism through nutrient transfer between the members of a mat: 4+1=5
Mat Pancake
The neutral mutation that made its ancestor merely stick together have gained a meaning in this species. Now they live in mats numbering thousands, overshadowing the seafloor wherever they pass by.
Their tendrils have adapted to just wave around until they stick and fuse into eachothers' bodies, creating massive networks of plants that act as single organisms.
They are successful, and are in great condition. They are now fully dependant on eachother as well, as their now increased metabolism and size are only sustainable with the help.of others. They starve if they are separated.
Status: NT
Description
A small green protoplant shaped like a flat circle. It is 12 centimeters in diameter. A small water siphon is situated at its center, which it uses to get minerals and nutrients more efficently. Surrounding this pump, a ring of long and thin, retractable white tendrils reside, and are used to form connections with others of its kind to transfer nutrients. Surrounding the edges of the pan is a coat of bonding proteins that allows it to stick to others of its kind. It reproduces by splitting in two when it gets too big. It lives permanently stuck to the sea surface through the dozens of tiny oil-filled pimples across its body. It can be found as mats numbering thousands plants, and never alone, as they die if they are separated.
Environment
On the southern hemisphere of the planet Aqautico, a giant saltwater crater lake called The Crater Sea resides.
Surrounding the sea, a barren, lifeless rocky wasteland goes on for hundreds of kilometers, stretching as far as eye can see.
And through the east side, four rivers called The Harbringers follow curved, close-by paths to the sea, coming from far away and who knows where. Where they come from is also close to a volcano. Along with the four rivers, there is a dry river bed, a remnant of a time when there were five of The Harbringers.
Multicelluar life is limited the sea, represented only by simple lifeforms. Vast growths of algea and giant mats of protoplants can be seen along the shallow coasts and the deep sea.
Author
Topic: Competitive Evolution (Turn 18) (11/15) (Read 33334 times)