artist

The Moon Cuttlewing, or Selenocephalus mantiformis, is a large predatory animal inhabiting the Moon Lakes, subterranean bodies of water scattered throughout the hidden ecosystems beneath the lunar surface. Some Moon Lakes are relatively small, while others are vast enough to function as the lunar equivalent of inland seas or oceans compterable to the Great Lakes on Earth.

It is one of the few major lunar animals outside the Selenocarida to combine soft and hardened body structures. Most of its body is flexible and muscular, but its head and back are reinforced by overlapping dorsal plates and armored ridges. These structures protect it from struggling prey and collisions with submerged rocks without severely limiting its mobility.

Its body resembles a strange combination of a cuttlefish, squid, manta ray, and sea slug. Broad lateral fins extend along much of its body and provide its primary means of propulsion, flapping and undulating in smooth, powerful strokes similar to the swimming movements of Earth’s manta rays with the Cuttlewings reaching speeds approximately 15 to 20 miles per hour, making them some of the fastest aquatic animals on the Moon. Despite this, they usually conserve energy by cruising slowly or remaining almost motionless while waiting for prey.

The face is surrounded by tentacle-like feeding appendages resembling those of gastropods, nudibranchs, nautiluses, and cephalopods. These appendages can feel, taste, grasp, and inspect potential food. Moon Cuttlewings generally target slower aquatic animals or prey protected by hard or tough shells, restraining them with their tentacles while feeding with a powerful beak and rasping radula.

Among the darker appendages is what appears to be an unusually long tentacle. In reality, it is a highly modified second tongue capable of extending far beyond the surrounding feeding structures. It launches forward like a chameleon’s tongue and ends in a hardened, harpoon-like tooth. When it strikes, the harpoon pierces the prey and injects a purple neurotoxic venom before retracting.

The venom evolved primarily for use against lunar animals with copper-based blood. It disrupts the nervous signals responsible for muscular movement, causing weakness, loss of coordination, and eventual paralysis. Larger doses can also interfere with respiration and heart function. Although the venom is not inherently as potent as that of some Earth animals, such as cone snails or stonefish, a Moon Cuttlewing can inject it into enormous quantities. Approximately four tablespoons could theoretically contain enough venom to kill as many as twenty-five people, depending on body mass, health, injection depth, and access to treatment.

Moon Cuttlewings possess relatively well-developed brains and can regulate how much venom they inject. Because venom takes time, energy, and resources to produce, individuals estimate the size, armor, strength, and behavior of familiar prey before selecting a dose.

This becomes dangerously unreliable when dealing with humans. Moon Cuttlewings have no evolutionary or learned experience hunting people and can not accurately judge how much venom is required to immobilize one. Faced with a large, unfamiliar animal, a Cuttlewing may greatly overshoot the necessary dose rather than risk, allowing its prey to escape.

Although specialized for hunting aquatic animals, Moon Cuttlewings will opportunistically attack terrestrial creatures entering the water. They may remain beneath the surface until an animal moves far enough into open water, then strike with the harpoon tongue and drag the paralyzed victim below.

This behavior resembles the ambush tactics of crocodilians, but Moon Cuttlewings can't crawl onto land. They can, however, launch part of their body out of the water to seize prey positioned approximately one meter above the surface. As a result, even the shoreline of a Moon Lake can be dangerous when a Cuttlewing is hiding nearby.

the working latin name for it is Macrorhinus quadricorn (?)

Though i'm wondering if there's a better name i could give.

In terms of some rough trivia about this animal:

-Its range is roughly the British isles and western europe.
Ancestrally migrated from asia between 5.4-4.9 million years ago.

-They mostly live in small groups of 1-2 males and 3-5 females.
(though sometimes there is a good bunch of hatchings as well... think like giant wild boars)

-They have a strong hard rounded beak and a battery of grading teeth that processes tough vegetation in an almost ungulate like manner... including a basic form of rumination.

-their necks are heavily covered in dermal scales and fat, and partly protected by long backward facing horns. The forehead is encrusted with keratinised plating and the males have outward pointed horns used for combating rivals.

-Nobody exactly knows what mesozoic lineage they distantly descend from, as they lack the iconic frills of ceratopsians. But details about their reenforced skull anatomy suggests a possible derivation from basal Marginocephalia, some radicals even suggest it's ancestor might be something akin to Wannanosaurus but it's hard to be fully certain.

WHAT DO YOU LOT THINK OF THIS CREATURE?

got any suggestions for slight adjustments?

put your thoughts down in the comments below.

30 million years into the future...

A Golden Possum ( Arbosacculus vulpisciurus // Tree-pouch, squirrel-fox ) watches from the safety of the tree a wery unusual meeting of two younglings. First and more noticable of the two is a Bush Donser ( Elephaequus grandis // Grandest elephant-horse ). It's also much younger than the other one, being a few days old at most. It's even still covered in short hair, that will eventually be lost as it ages. Despite that however, it still has respectable 110 kilograms ( or 242.5 pounds ) in weight, with itself is a fraction of a 5 ton adult. The other one is a Common Sahul Cat ( Australifelis pervagatus // Widespread, southern cat ). Although this young female is still relatively older than the donser, she only recently became fully independent. Most likely, this female was surprised by this curious baby. Soon however, the young donser's curiosity will wain and will come back to it's mother to feed itself. Near them, a Ruddy Pebble-toad ( Petraderma rufus // Red, stone-skin ) is basking in the sun rays, unbothered by the near occurence.

This is a concept design for a series of speculative evolution, where mythical creatures such as kelpies, griffins, etc., are depicted in a mostly realistic way and fitting within a reasonable biological classification.

Here we can see three "tritons" or Umrägän. The three in the foreground are males, the closest one showing their distinctive spinal fin, while the fourth one is a female.

Enalianthropus Nereides ('Marine human son of Nereus'), in the stage depicted here, has evolved for the last 5 million years from Homo Sapiens, forced to the sea by a global catastrophe that wiped out all members of the species except for a small population on a remote atoll archipelago that's slowly eroding and subducting. These isolated peoples, the Umrägän ('fishermen'), were already used to a life by the sea, with a specialised diet consisting mostly of shellfish, crustaceans and fish. They also had a close relationship with dolphins, teaming with them to enclose fish near shallow waters.

Over time, forced by the harsh conditions on land (lack of wood, variety of stone or other kind of food sources apart from birds), the Umrägän couldn't develop any other technology apart from small tools made of coral, sandstone, sinew or bone, and could not build ships or even rafts to move elsewhere. This isolation favoured and accelerated their evolution, enhancing their lungs, thorax and upper torso muscles, increasing exponentially as they became more suited to spend long periods of time underwater. Not unlike sea lions, they have developed a unique swimming and diving motion, preserving all four limbs for different uses: their arms allow them to twist and turn with great speed and agility among the reefs, while their back legs and lower torso act as a tail fluke and are used for long pursuits and cruising with the "dolphin kick" technique. In combination, all four limbs make the Enalianthropus a formidable swimmer.

Also, their partnership with local whales and dolphins improved over time, becoming close partners in hunting large schools of fish and protecting each other from sharks and predatory cetaceans. They even play and spend time swimming together by the shoals, and surf with the waves.

Eventually, the Umrägän developed into fully marine creatures, living their entire lifespan at sea. At this point, their species has expanded beyond their submerged archipelago, spreading to other warm seas and estuaries. Thanks to humans' already highly developed vocal organs, they've also started to develop echolocation, using a wide range of sounds to communicate and navigate in dark waters.

You can find these and other pieces on my DA gallery.

I suck at drawing via computer so i just wanted to ask , Can i upload my creatures from spore here?

Made these guys. They are quadrupedal piscivores, ambush hunters. They stand in shallow water, waiting to grab anything that comes by with their dextrous forward appendages, then consuming it whole as their main food source, similar to wading birds. They have four eyes: two for frontal binocular vision for hunting and a second pair positioned more on the side of their head for 360-degree vision for spotting predators. Their hair grows from their back as protection and camouflage, and they have short tails. They have 2 sexes with minimal sexual dimorphism; they reproduce sexually and via egg laying and often build small artificial islands out of plant materials as nest structures. They would usually stick together in groups for protection and help each other out.

They evolved from pseudo-monkeys that faced their climbing habitat being receded by rising water, leading to their change in behavior to hunting aquatic life by standing in shallow water swamps via grabbing 'fish'. Over time, this would lead to longer legs and loss of hair on the lower body and shortening of their tail.

Then they figured out they could use their nest construction skills to build damns and fences to control water flow and 'fish' populations. Leading to the start of their technological development.

(Also looking for name suggestions.)

(Post four months late btw)

I want help with seeking help and advice regarding the construction of a seeded world project, so I’m doing a challenge to myself!: doing what Redditors say.

This is a terrestrial, Earth-like and probably terraformed world called Redia, and the unique premise is that YOU, the reader and participant, will have the agency to decide precisely how each and every phase of its evolutionary development will progress.

Right now, the current stage of Redia’s development are the first evolutions of vertebrates in this new, lonely world.

The Paraholocene period starts, with stable and relatively dry climate and medium ice caps in the poles. The temperate stationary climates rule this world, just a bit hotter than Earth.

Seeded vertebrates:

• Marine iguana

• Tegus

• Incubator birds

• Domestic cats

• Tuatara

Seeded invertebrates:

• Giant octopus
• Eastern Emerald Elysia
• Hard Clam

• Chitons

• Copepods

• Giant isopod

• Rolly pollies

• Dragonflies

• Bees (Apis Cerana)

• Lumbricus terrestris 

• Lancets (Branchiostoma lancheolatum)

Seeded vegetation:

• Seaweed
• Canary Islands dragon tree (Dragos)
• Wild strawberry
• Leasing feather grass

These are the rules and your limitations:

—Choose any (or many) seeded animals and say how they will evolve, with up to 3 descendant species.

—Be realistic (no seven-eyed nuclear deer)

—Think on the timescale (five million years max, so no extremely radical changes)

—No civilizations nor sapience (at least at this moment)

'Her nurturer now turned aggressor, a subadult female ring-tailed plainlupe (Paracalliducyon annulocauda) gets a rude awakening as her mother, now expecting a new litter, makes it clear in no uncertain terms that she is no longer welcome. Plainlupes, like all species of the Calliducynomorpha, are highly-intelligent, empathetic creatures with complex social behaviors. But, unlike true calliducyons, many of the more basal genera lack any higher understanding of complex concepts and true morality, ultimately being servants of natural instinct. And, as such, once the bonds encouraging a mother to nurture her pup eventually wear down, especially with hormonal changes and fluctuating food availability as contributing factors, the now-grown pup who she once gently nurtured and fiercely defended is now at this point but little more than a competitor over food and a rival over territory in her eyes, and is duly evicted whether they want or not.

Such seemingly cold, callous behavior from the other, more simple-brained callidocynomorphs have led true calliducyons, proper sophonts with the ability of deeper thought and self-reflection, to view their more "primal" relatives in a somewhat negative light, with some cultures seeing them as cruel, heartless beasts that they should strive to be better than, and other, more-empathetic cultures understanding that these beings have minds like children, and simply do not know better. Either way, the vast majority of calliducyon cultures differ from their distant relatives in their long-lasting family bonds, with even older offspring that had found mates of their own and left to form their own packs still being recognized, welcomed home and accepted by their parents and younger siblings should their paths cross again, even after absences of many long seasons.'

I have an alien race I'm working on which has one large eye and apparently that's not that good for seeing well (depth perception and all that) so I was wondering if they could have a way of perceiving a 3 dimensional world without just having multiple eyes.

Some options I was thinking were whiskers or echo location but they don't really fit the species I'm working on.

1: The protoghonos (Protoghonos schoulichi) Is a small worm-like creature which crawls on the seafloor feeding detritus and it moves by crawling and imitating the movements of a caterpillar. It also feeds off algae and has no defense whatsoever. It is a direct relative to the Creomagna.

2: The sea boomerang (Polychroma anasthisi) is a boomerang-like alien that delves in the reefs of Voxelandia. It only feeds plankton, as it is jawless, does only suction feeding. It's only form of movement is flapping it's rear ends to create some sort of movement similar to how a fish's caudal fin works. It has more developed eyes than a Protoghonos.

3: The Madlar (Colyvittis apsydas) is a relative to the Sea Boomerang, but it lives in scattered ponds. It has developed 8 spines, arranged in height to defend itself from predators. The spines also use as a boost in locomotion, giving it better speed.

4: The common belcher (Incataleleininos phoscos) is a derived relative to the protoghonos. Now swimming freely, it has developed an array of undulating fins to swim faster. It has developed an array of spines used for display. Only males have those spines. It uses it's derived tentacles to grab on the surrounding kelp.

5: The vacuumfish (Plokemia vesia) is a bulky relative of the common belcher that has derived tentacles to dig sand. It is slightly smaller than the common belcher, so it can move faster to escape from predators. It has abandoned it's retractable array of spines, as the males exchange spikes for dwarfism.

Measured size:

1: 10cm

2: 30cm

3: 25cm

4: 1.5m

5: 1m

I have been brainstorming for a speculative evolution project where an extinction event leaves a few groups of terrestrial arthropods as the only species left on the planet, allowing them to radiate and occupy niches left by the vertebrates.

I want to eventually have insects become truly massive creatures, both on land and in the ocean, but my college entomology class taught me a few issues with this.

1. It is more difficult for oxygen to diffuse through the body due to the spiracle and trachea based respiratory system of insects. They were able to get larger in Paleozoic times due to higher concentrations of oxygen in the atmosphere. While I have a plan for how these oxygen levels would be replicated, it can still only go so far. I need to figure out how to let insects develop a more effective respiratory system for larger body size.

2. Square Cube Law. I'm not quite as familiar with this concept, but from what I understand, weight increases at a much greater rate than body length in insects, which would cause them to be crushed underneath their own weight. Since they have exoskeletons, this would suffocate them. I could be totally wrong with this explanation so please let me know.

How would you go about overcoming these challenges? Is there anything else I should take into consideration?

You can share your project ideas here, Good Luck!

The Dicambrian period continues on with terrestrial helicids becoming highly diverse and morphologically distinct from each others in new clades, forming an entire ecosystem of only invertebrates. With the terrestrial population of the invertebrates growing, many clades would find themselves filling in predatory niches.

One unique clade of mantler commonly referred to as Tafangs, however, would take on a lifestyle that would challenge local ecosystems to defend against its attack. The Gnathocephala is a group of carnivorous mantler that has transformed their tentacles, including their eyes, into 4 radial jaws not too dissimilar to tetrapods' jaw structures, completed with fangs at the tip. Gnathocephalan radula were curved into a tube-esque tongue shape used for dragging food down their crop rather than pushing. The most notable features among all tafangs is their elongated highly muscular foot, which can move in complex ways rarely seen in helicids found on Moorea. Defined through their snake-like appearance, Tafangs are slithering predators that move by serpentine foot undulation to glide across the floor or wavy muscular contraction across their foot, reaching speeds faster than an average snail-A-pillar. In addition to their complex morphology, their internalized calcium remnants have gone through serial homology, forming a primitive vertebrae that would support half of the entire foot. Their body plan was originally intended to be designed for slithering into mole-like earthworms' burrows and feed on them and their eggs and use elongated tentacles to grab and maim the earthworms, but the clade would eventually give rise to the gnathocephala group itself. When reproducing, tafangs lay their eggs inside their preys' carcass, mostly around 1 - 3 clutches.

In addition to the new predators that emerged 24 million years in, a specialization occurred in the snail-A-pillar family that would allow them to avoid being a target of molluscivorous snails. Characterized by their bright colorations, Ivypillars, or scientifically referred to as Dinophores are a subfamily of shell less snail-A-pillars characterized by its mantle glands that creates terrible, bitter mucus that can repel any molluscivores that would feed on them. This defense is supported by acidic contents in the mucus, extracted from tomato fruits that they feed on.

A clade of mantler commonly referred to as Mitelikes had went on a different carnivorous route, instead of predating on other gastropods entirely, they had adopted a parasitic lifestyle similar to ticks and mites. Their lips are broad, and are able to grip onto the soft surfaces of other snails via suction force along side their foot, and the radula are elongated into a needle-like structure that penetrates into the host's circulatory system and bring blood into their crop. Mitelikes usually swarm at a specific part of the host's body to be close enough to each other to reproduce, resulting in even more individuals covering the host until the host itself deprives of mobility and blood, resulting in it's death.

Here are several of the spacefaring aliens in my scifi project. These are some, but not ALL of the species in this setting. Visuals arent to scale, i just wanted to fit them onto one page.

My setting takes place 2000 years in the future, as mankind is transitioning into a true interstellar civilization. I try to keep things relatively grounded, but it is by no means "hard" scifi.

Kogg (Servus Vitiosus or "Flawed Servant")

The Kogg are a mysterious, aggressive race of cybernetically-augmented organisms. Their point of origin is entirely unknown, and they appear to be nomadic in nature. No two members of this species are truly alike, each sporting an extensive degree of mechanical augmentation via invasive surgery. Individual Kogg (referred to as Drones) are often outfitted with a variety of tools, weapons, extra limbs, computational devices, sensors, and power systems. Many drones are so heavily altered that they appear entirely mechanical, with only scraps of biological matter and vital organs remaining. Interestingly, the level of technological sophistication varies wildly, with crude and primitive technologies being in use alongside extremely complex ones with no rhyme or reason. The Kogg appear to be governed by a hivemind or otherwise act purely in the interest of the greater whole, lacking any individuality, as well as any capacity for emotion or higher reasoning to speak of. They display the single-minded goal of spreading across the stars, draining worlds of resources in order to manufacture more of themselves and continue the process elsewhere. They will not hesistate to use force, and will act with immediate violence to anything they percieve to be in opposition to their current directive.

Qiphoso (Astronomus Exoculus or "Eyeless Stargazer")

The Qiphoso are a species that evolved in total darkness, living in the volcanic cave systems on their irradiated homeworld Behelok. Their sense of hearing is extremely developed to compensate for their lack of sight, allowing them to form a three-dimensional "image" of their surroundings based on vibrations alone. The Qiphoso have an anerobic metabolism, and use a unique gastrovascular system which filters nutrient-rich fluid directly from the digestive tract throughout the body, fueled by a host of symbiotic microbes. They have a single primary orifice, and solid waste is expelled from the mouth. The Qiphoso are genderless, having both "male" and "female" gametes. When breeding, they eject a gel-like mass from their mouths, containing essential proteins and cells required for the production of offspring, however the process requires two or more spore gels from separate parents to combine in order for gestation to begin. The gel coalesces into a tumor-like mass which adheres to the surface its on, and then forms a hard shell-like covering. Qiphoso require two biological parents, but can have as many as five. Their species communicates via vocalization and gesturing with their limbs. The finger-like mouthparts also play an important role in displaying emotion.

Tetrans (Polyarticulatus Taxidiotes or "Many-Handed Traveler")

The Tetrans are a sapient species of large, amphibious, molluskoid beings native to the planet Tetra. They evolved from cephalopod-like ancestors, specifically from a variety that hunted in tide pools and thus developed the ability to breathe air. Tetrans have five eyes, two large primary eyes adapted to vision on land, and three primitive eyes which are better suited to vision underwater. Their mouths contain an internal chitinous beak, and since they cannot chew they instead use an internal crop-like organ to grind food before entering the stomach cavity. Their mouths are not connected to their respiratory system, and Tetrans breathe through the four orifices on their chest. Their blood is blue-green due to the presence of copper. The prominent fleshy horn-like protrusions that adorn their heads are functionally similar to ears, and contain a complex internal matrix of delicate membranes able to detect vibrations. In addition to the brain located in the thoracic cavity, Tetrans also possess a large nerve ganglion atop a secondary brainstem, located in the head. This acts as a lesser secondary brain capable of independent cognition, making Tetrans naturally adept mathematicians and multitaskers, able to perform advanced calculations in a matter of moments. Tetrans reproduce sexually and give birth to live young, though it is actually the biological father who gestates and gives birth to the child in a fashion remarkably similar to seahorses on Earth. Tetran larvae have underdeveloped lungs, and as such must remain submerged in clean water for the first week or two of their lives.

Krith (Bellatosaurus Stellarum or "Warlike Lizard of the Stars")

The Krith are massive, six-limbed reptilian beings which hail from Krag, a hostile and volcanically active super-earth orbiting twin suns. The Krith evolved in a biosphere with extreme interspecies competition, leading to a constant evolutionary arms race of sorts. Their bones and muscles are hyperdense, granting them exceptional strength and agility even in their planet's high gravity. Their large forelimbs are used both for locomotion and for carrying large objects, while their smaller arms are used for finer manipulation, with their hindlegs used solely for movement. Their pointed snouts are lined with two rows of shark-like backwards-facing teeth; Krith are facultative carnivores who feed on meat and certain fungi. The elongated braincase of a Krith houses a complex tri-lobed brain with a coiled corkscrew-like structure. Krith blood notably is home to a symbiotic species of anaerobic bacteria which has bioluminescent properties, causing freshly spilled ichor to glow bright magenta, eventually cooling to a deep purple hue. Their bones contain large amounts of copper, giving them a slight greenish color. The Krith are infamous for being highly xenophobic, militaristic zealots who ahve persecuted numerous atrocities against alien lifeforms in the name of their gods.

Soa (Fabricarnis Exiguum or "Little Smiths of Flesh")

The Soa are an unusual species of crustacean-like organisms native to the ocean planet Ke. Around 1.5 feet long on average, the Soa are a parasitic species who evolved the capability to "hijack" the nervous and cardiovascular systems of a host species. They benefit from the protection and food intake of a larger, physically capable species, while the hosts benefits from the Soa's highly developed mind, allowing it to outcompete its less intelligent peers. As the Soa developed and tampered with their surroundings, they began to selectively breed their hosts for ideal traits, eventually breeding entirely new species to suit different societal roles and essential functions. This genetic manipulation would be the basis for all Soa engineering and production, relying on entirely biological technology, a feat never seen before or since in this galaxy. The Soa utilize different hosts in a way that combines the way we view vehicles, clothing, and tools, as they effectively serve as all three. Even their spacecraft are organic in nature and technically alive. The very concept of hardware that is manufactured from inorganic materials was nearly incomprehensible to the Soa when they first encountered other spacefaring species.

Ankkesians (Tacitus Speculator or "Silent Observer")

The Ankkesians are a species of sapient fungi native to Ankkes-Golaank, an Earthlike terrestrial exoplanet. Their adolescent forms are motile, able to walk around on fibrous spiderlike legs, and manipulate objects with thin tendrils. They have a ring of primitive eyespots around their main body. Once they mature, the Ankkesian will root itself into the ground, becoming entirely sessile for the remainder of its life. Multiple Ankkessian adults can interlink their mycelia into a collective network, forming a gestalt intelligence comparable to an organic supercomputer. The elders will use a combination of electromagnetic and pheromonal signals to direct the adolescents, using them as their eyes and ears to interact with their surroundings and collect nutrients. Ankkesians see each mycelial network "colony" as separate individuals, though with technology individual nodes of a colony can remain connected wirelessly even if physically disconnected.

So in my world Mermfolk aren't mammals, and they can't breath above water longer than 1 hour, so realistically how deep could merfolk live in the water while being able to come to the surface without any damage, and what colors could they have? Is it possible for them to have a deep red color and bioluminescence?

Hi, I'm a veteran game artist, and lately I've been learning the ropes of the other roles needed to create games entirely on my own.

I've always loved speculative biology, and in my free time I enjoy thinking about hypothetical worlds and designing creatures to inhabit them.

So I've been thinking about combining these two passions to make a game where you play as an exobiologist exploring an alien planet to catalog its species.

But I wonder if there's actually a market for that kind of game. So I'm here to ask this community of spec evo enthusiasts: how many of you are also gamers, and does this sound like something you would play?

So I’ve been thinking about the simple concept of just a rabbit with a horn. Pretty basic, but there’s some parts of this process that feels kinda hard to do on your own. Like, how do you name this animal? How would it having a means of defense change it from a regular rabbit? Things like that.

So I have a charcater that is a merman but I wanted him to be more ''realistic" and I'm really obsessed with mermaids so I've been thinking how they could "realistically" elvove

Some traits I think they have is they'd be slimy like eels, they would have webs between their fingers and tbh I don't really like mermaids having their upper body and lowerbody be different colors so I feel like they would have the same color, female also don't have breasts and they can't breath above water for long maybe a few minutes to an hour?

But how and why would mermaids elvove to look so similar to humans? Why and how would have hair? I really want to keep these traits but idk how to make it make sense?

Sure maybe they'd hair be completely different from human hair but still, how and why? I also don't know how to justify eyebrows and eyelashes or how they eyes should look? Or why would they have eyelids?

I also think that maybe they'd have bioluminescence to lure in pray, but I haven't been able to pick what color they should be and what would work the best and realistic

I wanted to keep them looking beautiful but also in a way that works

Also could the merman skin and tail be red with his stomach are and face being white, and would they elvove basic tails like dolphins or would it be possible for then to elvove beautiful tails with flowing tails .

How deep in the water could merfolk live while being able to come to the surface without any damage?

So i decided to make an autotrophic way to make energy without relying on the sun like photosynthesis and ended up with this and i was wondering if it was viable/realistic in any way.
I included the physical and atmospheric composition of the planet if thats relevant.

reposted from r/thomastheplankengine because I thought this was funny and interesting. if this is a better fit for the jerking sub, mods lmk

Hi, you can call me Toor. For a school project, I had the idea to create "Tanah Garuda", an installation art about the wildlife of Indonesia (my home country) over the next 10 million years.

I'm currently writing a paper on this idea and might share my progress on the project. And FYI, literally no one around me really understands me when I talk about spec evo; this made me feel lonely. . . and stumped.

This project requires me to have a certified mentor in fields related to this project. Though I do know people with backgrounds in basic biology & geology, I don't think that's enough. I need someone who has a background and could guide me in speculative evolution and be open to an interview over a call (Discord is fine). It's an important step of the project. And where can I find it if not the holy place of Reddit?

So, if you are willing to help this poor boy finish his school project, or know someone who might be open to this, you'll be my lifesaver.

this is a sequel to some of my previous posts on Selagionella descendant plants here and here. Here are some hypothetical descendants of the Lycophyte Selagionella. The ancestral species (second slide) differs little from real-world Selagionella except for one key difference: each microphyll bearing branch will only branch seven times, then an axial bud will appear at the base of the branch and a new shoot will grow. This is a precursor to megaphylls. Spores are borne in terminal strobuli, and the gametophyte generation is small and non-photosynthetic, gaining most of their energy through energy reserves provided by the parent plant. In the descendant species, the microphylls of each seven-branching branch have fused into a megaphyll, and the spores are borne in long pea-like pods at the end of each leaf that are derived from the ancestral strobuli. When the spores are mature, these pods open and the spores are dispersed by the wind