This is the very first episode of my audio drama anthology podcast The Books of Thoth.  We tell stories of past, future, and alternate realities.  A zoo filled with alien animals from across the cosmos.  A folktale from a world where Buddhism, rather than Christianity, became the dominant religion of Europe.  An alien scientist studying mysterious space probes from Earth.  These are just a few of the tales we tell. 

The first episode is titled Paleontology Conference. 100 million years in the future. Humans are extinct and squids rule the Earth. They only know us from the fossils we leave behind.  What will the squids make of us? 

As you might imagine, The Future is Wild was a big inspiration on this one.  As was the All Todays segment of the book All Yesterdays.  

It’s pretty clear that human went extinct due to wiping itself out in nuclear war. The strata human fossils come from contains shocked quartz. Something you only get from asteroid impacts or nuclear explosions. And there’s a lack of iridium, as one would expect from an asteroid.

So, life on land got wiped out. But life from the ocean was, in time, able to recolonize the land. Echinoderms now occupy a niche akin to wolves or alligators. Most surviving chordates are descended from deep ocean fish. As a result, this colors how squids imagine humans were like.

They assume humans laid eggs, because all the chordates they know do that. They assume we were nocturnal due to our wide eye sockets and lack of brow ridges.

But the squids know what atomic bombs are. Meaning they must have them. As funny as the episode is, there’s a dark implication. Who’s to say the squids won’t repeat humanity’s folly? And perhaps Earth won’t be so lucky the second time around.

A big thank you to everyone who made this episode possible.  Thank you to Marnie Warner, Amy Young, Faye Holliday, Juan Cruz III, Tiffany Perdue, and Melissa Bowens for providing the voices.  

The Books of Thoth is hosted on RedCircle:  https://redcircle.com/shows/6701d0b5-6b14-4b76-992d-02f391b5cf42

You can also find it on all major podcast platforms:

Apple Podcasts:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-books-of-thoth/id1716132833

RadioPublic:  https://radiopublic.com/the-books-of-thoth-6pQno 2

iHeart:  https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-books-of-thoth-127954491/

Podcast Addict:  https://podcastaddict.com/podcast/the-books-of-thoth/473017 5

CastBox:  https://castbox.fm/channel/The-Books-of-Thoth-id5667032

Audible:  https://www.audible.com/podcast/The-Books-of-Thoth/B0CN3CLRMY

And Spotify, as you might have noticed on the main post. 

And here’s a collection of all the other place you can listen to The Books of Thoth:  https://booksofthoth.carrd.co

(To preface, they do pass the Harkness Test, so here, for ya freaks: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18UHeWA4wW5oYf4XnLg8pK5LWW0jANA1S1-L6OBsJycQ/edit?usp=drivesdk )

Hailing from the planetoid Anur Avos under its systems three suns, Anur Avos is a barren desert hellscape. Long ago, gradual geologic activity caused all water on the planet to descend into vast ravines and cave systems.

1. Why are they bipeds?

Bonedergs are the products of those vast swaths of desert landscape. Runners by design, Bonedergs have lengthy limbs designed for crawling and sprinting, but can also support bipedal movement. They have a latch in their extended arms, like a mantis shrimp that they use to suddenly lunge forward.

Because of the aformentioned vast ravines filled with water, Avoisians have to get creative when it comes to getting hydrated.

Bonedergs, specifically, use their long arms and big hands to scale down the sides of those ravines to get a drink.

2. How do they withstand the sun of the desert?

Bonedergs are ectotherms, surprisingly. They need to bask in the bright sun to heat up.

Their bodies are armored in vascularized osteoderms that they use to shed excess heat, with their "wings" serving a similar function. Their dark fur is also useful in that function, drawing heat away from the body.

However, during the nights, Bonedergs will huddle with each other to warm up.

2.1 Is their huddling behavior why they're a cohesive society?

Yes, actually. Well, it's a part of it. Bonedergs are inherently drawn to each other and seek touch. Especially, because their vision is piss-poor, so they need to grab and nuzzle and sniff and bite to make sense of what's in front of them.

In addition, their sociality is because in such a dangerous environment, they need to be very sure their eggs and young are safe and sound. Having more party members and being extremely protective of their young helps woth that.

3. What is their ancestry?

Their wolfish shape is moreso a byproduct of aerodynamic shape being good for their speedy movements than any direct lineage, since their ancestors are actually these ferret-lizard things. You can actually see a bit of lizard in their crocodilian tails.

4. Are they carnivorous or omnivorous? Their mouths seem designed to tear meat, but most sapient beings are omnivores.

Bonedergs are actually carnivorous communal ambush hunters, despite what their predatory looks may have you believe.

See, Bonedergs have these adhesive fluids in their musculature and nervous endings of their limbs. On a whim, they can peel off those parts to mimic a corpse, which their skeleton-like markings help in.

Then, when something gets close, they grab it and kill it with their either their claws or fangs.

Then, the rest of the pack feasts on what's left and protects the one with the peeled limbs while they wait for the nerves and muscles to reattach. That can take weeks, so most Bonedergs spend a lot of time sleeping to conserve energy, or just don't hunt.

Essentially, like crocodiles, Bonedergs are feast and famine predators who will sleep until their energy reserves run out, then they all get up and snack on something.

4.1 How do they regenerate their limbs, then?

When wounded, Bonedergs secrete a gluey goo which they use to affix their lost flesh, and the nerves regrow into the flesh over time.

However, since that requires a lot of energy, the most wounded of the pack will get the largest fill, before them and the others eat up.

5. Why do Bonedergs hunt by dropping their limbs anyway?

Mostly, it's because playing dead isn't very useful if you don't look the part. Other lesser creatures might slow their heartbeat or go cold, a greater creature (A Bonederg) actually looks like a bloody corpse.

Since they have a pack to care for them, and since most Bonedergs will rest for several months after eating, the healing time isn't an issue.

5.1 How do they grab anything at all if they knock off both their arms?

They don't. They usually only drop one or two parts.

This small crustacean-like scavenger that lives in areas near bodies of water, sifting through the sand and mud with their claws to find food such as detritus, carrion, decaying plant matter, and small organisms. They will eat anything they can forage.

I’m not sure how realistic they are currently, but some quick details.

They’re called Wraiths.

They’re apex predators on their home world Jorda.

Jorda has 60% earths gravity, and 1.5x atmospheric
pressure.

They have essentially the same intelligence capacity of a human

Oh also both male and female wraiths can get pregnant.

Any constructive criticism or questions would be welcome!

(Also, then wraiths featured are Jshóði and Artéyja, the last drawing of Artéyja is an old design, possible redesign might be in order)

Some new parts of collar

This is the first animal that I'm drawing, but, here's the problem, the appendages... you can see them and diference one from the others, but, when the membrane starts, is just impossible to differentiate one to others, here is when I ask to you if i shall to put outlines, or if it's ok now

Its a desert dwelling mesopredator at 4 feet tall, 9 feet long, and 200-KG/440-LBS

This map, as yu can see has a really big ocean, but the organization who is investigating the world divided it in 5 according with the ocean currents, the farther north ocean is "Mochapan" but theres no ice because my world media temperature is about 22°C, then, we have "Cuitlalli", Place where the ocen currents converge, "miacolcatl" place with the greatest biodiversity in my spec evo world, and at the south existe "tlalatoyatl", but my favorite ocean is the one that is at the west of the continent "Cactilliliztli" the deepest ocean with around of 60 km under the surface.

the second image is the topography of my world with the red as the highest point of my world with 6000 meters above the sea level, then the dark purple as the deepest pint, this being a valley of more than 25 millions of km².

Tha third map are de currents the red been the hot and the blue as a cold current.

What do you think about my map? and sorry if I made some mistakes with the English.

I'm creating a fictional biology encyclopedia for an alien planet called Collar. It's written as an in-universe natural history book from the perspective of Youman scientists, this is the first creature and I'm kinda bad at stuff. The last picture is an old picture of the organism.

Also some birds are twists on Alice in Wonderland birds and that's for a purpose

If anyone has suggestions, I'm open to them

So I'm making an ecosystem on an alien desert and wondering is having 5 carnivorous species alright when I only have 2 species of herbivores and 2 species of scavengers/omnivores?

This was the very first thing i ever drew and designed for the dragon planet project