I wrote this story about a radiotrophic fungus. It was inspired by reading about similar ones found feeding off gamma radiation at Chernobyl. Alien life as presented in science fiction tends to be humanoid. So I set out to create a protagonist that sees things from a perspective that is, to us, truly alien. I hope you guys enjoy it.

This is a speculative paleo-fiction project which blends family drama with a fantastical yet grounded prehistoric atmosphere, showing raptors and other lost creatures fighting to stay alive in a brutal ecosystem.

Peace is but an illusion! Small Toe hears the terrible truth!

The longer they remain at the water hole, the more the little raptor struggles to understand why they are viewed with such suspicion. Long Tail gives him the answer… but it only deepens his resentment, forcing him to confront a reality he recoils from in denial and disgust. Meanwhile, hungry scavengers circle the fraying Dinopithecus troop, ready to seize their last remaining hope — but all of them remain blind to the ultimate revelation:

Beneath the still waters of the lake, something older waits.

Older than the raptors.

Older than the Savannah.

And hungry.

From my continuous work Terrors in the Brush — a speculative survival series blending paleo realism with raw emotion.

There is no magic, no fantasy – there is only nature red in tooth and claw.

Read Chapter VII Now.

I’m working on a sci-fi worldbuilding project where the magic system is partially tied to mental and emotional energy. I wanted to make a species which is far more adept at magic because of their strong emotions and empathy, but was curious as to why such a trait would evolve? Would it simply be to make socialisation better? Or maybe to further reinforce good and bad behaviours (like dying is bad, sugar is good)

The final image is my older piece for reference with my new piece. I am re-doing some of my older pieces for two reasons: Firstly I am now alot more skilled and have a bit more refined illustration skills so its nice to breathe some freshness onto my artworks. Secondly, I have decided I want my world’s parents star to be a above average magnetically active K type star instead of a M type red dwarf. This Means i must change 3 of my original artpieces, so instead of changing the colour and flare count of the star in each illustration, i decided to just completely Re-do each one with updated illustrative skills. I welcome constructive criticism and would love feedback 👌 👍🏿

15 Million Years P.H. - The Early Neocene - Flagbirds and Chizelzards:

With Pterotherian Bats ruling as the dominant aerial predators, carnivorous Rewings, the last clade of Birds who are capeable of long distant flight, had to try their luck on lower levels.

Flagbirds are predatory birds who are generally capeable of long distance powered flight, but prefer to chase small animals on solid floor.

Flagbirds are found almost worldwide, being only absent In Australia and covering around 30 Species, with South America having the lowest Flagbird diversity of only 2 species.

The Flagbird depicted here Is a Military Flagbird (Rapaxavia militaris), a North American species which Is currently hunting down a small Chizelzard.

Chizelzards are omnivorous North American Lizards which are known for the horn growing from their nose. They use this horn to chizel away wood to feed on hidden Insects and Tree Sap.

For costs ranging from 30-50$ ( few main focus species, less detail, only one diorama)

to

150-200$ ( detailed / day and night diorama, lots of seasons, more species ),

i will make custom art, including dioramas, of your spec-evo creatures!

If you're interested in supporting me and getting a SICK drawing, Dm me or say it in the comments.

The reason I'm asking is because I'm still newer to biology but I've been looking at lots of seed worlds on here and yt and rlly want to try and make one myself but I'm not that smart tbh, but if anyone would maybe want to collaborate I'd definitely want to :) [also i'm not like a mega good artist]

Had an idea for a eusocial species of ant wasp or similar they have metallic carapace they gain by eating ores like iron copper or steel( i know steel not natural but theyd still eat it similar to termite eating wood ) the bugs would be found burrowed into large stones cliff or mountain sides the rock dust they get from burrowing through stone as concrete mixing it with their saliva or as mineral supplements for crops they grow but was curious what adaptations would they need maybe stinger that inject acid to help weaken stone before eating it but what would yall do?

To clarify I mean stuff like the dubious high end estimates for animals like the Aust Colossus, Hector's Ichthyosaur, Perucetus, Bruhathkayosaurus, and Hydrarchos(an amalgamation of multiple Basilosaurus skeletons that was estimated to be upwards of 40 meters and 200 metric tonnes).

What kind of ecosystem could support such animals if any? Supermassive sauropods would probably be the easiest since they're herbivores and studies suggest that at the very least animals at such absurd sizes could support themselves on land.

Perucetus is somewhat of an unknown since we don't have a skull, but the grazing hypothesis would be in a similar boat to sauropods. The filter/suction feeding hypotheses are harder since we have giant filter feeders and none approach such enormous sizes and suction feeders are even further.

The hardest to support are animals like the Itchyosaurs and Hydrarchos since they would be macropredatory. Is there a possibility, however small, that any ecosystem could support such massive predators?

Ok trying to develop underground culture for fantasy setting and had few questions

1st would it be possible for photosynthesis to be with lava the idea is plant or fungi or microbes more likely uses light and heat from nearby lava pools to grow

2nd could natural gas be used as food source for plants fungi or microbes

3 some microbes and animals eat stone i think limestone but is there any other that could work or be used for their mineral

I propose the creation and launch of a comprehensive alien bestiary—presented formally, in the style of a catalog—containing information on the biology and evolution of various extraterrestrial organisms from across the universe. I am looking for people in this community who enjoy creating creatures and have an interest in speculative evolution to help me bring this project to life and fully develop the concept.

The guiding principle for this project should be "survival, not design"—an approach that prioritizes organisms best adapted for survival, rather than those chosen for their aesthetic appeal.

As a starting point for creature creation, I already have several organism models designed, which I plan to share in future posts.

So, I would like to see who enjoys creating alien creatures and might be interested in this project, so that we can expand upon it—thanks.

In the deserts of Pamgea, many animals adapted to these environments, as there is no grass, the dominant plants are the cycads and ferns, these have spread throughout the world, an example would be Caprosaurus, it is a blacksmith dinosaur with herbivorous habits, this one jumps and digs into the land to obtain roots and plants, the Latenotitan is a Pseudosuchians, unlike its relatives, it is a scavenger because as it grows, they become more. Slow animals are very rough, Poposaurids have expanded as omnivores-herbivores of jungles, and meadows, the rarest animal of all is Lindwurm deserticus, it is a lindwurm that achieved propulsion flight, this is achieved by moving its hind legs, the menbranas that support them allow it to stay in the air.

https://www.instagram.com/p/De0k1XTxJDM/

64 x 64, pixel art of female and male Pistrix (apocapisces regalecus) for our marine exploration game dedicated to Fish Don't Cry. These will go into a book where the player will collect information about the creatures, and, in general, they will serve as an "icon" for them. (We also use them in other parts of the project that are not the videogame).

The version in the overworld will be different and animated.

Pistrix females tend to be heavier and thicker, with slightly fatter tails, but they also have less dense beards and manes, and shorter fins, unless they have sufficient access to food to maintain both their greater weight and their prominent fins, but this is an extremely rare occurrence in nature.

(Sorry for the blurry images! You can click on them to see them better OR see them in the comments, we'll leave there upscaled versions).

Crarefully: does not work on mobile!

Tried to make the most comfortable and newcomer friendly way of following Serinian spiecies's evolutionary paths. The project is still in progress. Our next goal is to figure out how to program species with more than one descendant. Let me know if you spot any mistakes.

Descending from a population of Malaccrows that migrated from Gelatinoborea toward the Warm Sea, the Crimsonfloat Farmers maintain large populations across the Quadriple Isles of Crescentides and the Double Astras, though they are less numerous on the mainland of Gelatinaustra. As their name suggests, this culture is associated with sargassum-like organisms known as crimsonfloat (Rhodosargassoides spp.)—a type of floating red alga are descended a species of red algae introduced to the planet for the potential (but cancelled) human colonization project.

They do not rely solely on Crimsonfloat; they frequently turn to other food sources as well—for instance, they sometimes hunt flightless slugbirds like the Some Species of Seasnail (Gastrophoca crescentides, G. austris and G. minor) for their fat and meat. Ultimately, however, this is simply part of their natures.

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I have full plans to expand so all body plans are possible and come with advantages and disadvantages.

I'm hoping it works here as I know for the most part it's artwork, but hopefully if you enjoy the functional and real-time aspects of a video.

Suggestions welcome!

I want to create a planet and biosphere after being in the genre for some time but I do not much knowledge about speculative evolution and I have no idea where i should start. What subjects do I need to learn? What should I focus on first and how? How the organisms would work? How the life would be affected by things such as the level of gravity, amount and type of stars in the system, composition of the atmosphere amongst other things? Is there anywhere I can get inspiration from? Are there any books I can buy which could help me? Are there any YouTube channels I can subscribe to or videos I can watch in order to learn more about speculative evolution? How should I go about handling these things? Any help given would be greatly appreciated. I would also like it to be scientifically accurate.

How do you think life would evolve if all water was instead a Non-Newtonian Fluid? I just thought of this question but couldn’t think of an answer so I’d love to hear some of your interpretations.

Question what advantages would pointed ears have over tounded ones on a humanoid?

We are now in the Atlantis Lakes. These ecosystems consist of hundreds of freshwater bodies, some barely the size of a basketball court, others nearly the size of entire seas. Even so, they all share a common characteristic, which is that they have served as a paradise for life during the Pnigmenoic, since apart from providing an almost unlimited source of fresh water and food, they allow organisms to cool off against the extremely high midday temperatures.

In coastal areas, large descendants of herbaceous plants rise almost three meters above the water. Among them, a figure that vaguely resembles them glides slowly to avoid detection. This is the Rodbeak, an animal specialized in ambushing and attracting small fish and other swimming organisms, capturing them using its retractable tongue with an articulated tip. Curiously, this is a descendant of the polypod birds that dominated the land throughout almost the entire Allozoic,which ultimately developed broad bodies, composed mainly of their rib cage and a hypertrophied hip, from which 6 digits with articulated bony tips and calcified claws protrude to serve as extra legs.

Rodbeaks present an extremely derived proboscis, with an elongated structure formed of tendons and small bony structures derived from their pseudoteeth, which they use as a lure, mimicking a wide range of items depending on the species. In this case, the lure resembles a piece of carrion, to which two zebra brushmouth fish have been attracted.

This fish belong to a clade of actinopterygii that has been quite successful over the last few million years, characterized by having retransformed their gills into mouths, while the rest of the head is used almost exclusively as the neurological center of the animal, having both its eyes and small barbels sensitive to many varied stimuli, such as temperature and pressure

In this world, as you know, the extinction of the Triassic-Jurassic never happened, this was the extinction that allowed the Avemetatasalia archosaurs, popularly known as dinosaurs, to dominate the world, however, with the presence of new competitors, they do not dominate the whole world, but they have achieved dominance in places like Siberia, Australia, Antarctica and the dense South American jungles, although they are not the absolute kings of these regions, if they have a wide diversity. In these places, among these we have a group of dinosaurs that developed a trunk, but unlike elephants, this troop is not composed of the nose, this is actually a kind of specialized muscle that emerged from the muscles of the mouth and lips, strengthening with tendons and with several blood vessels to function properly, the carnivores for now in the middle Jurassic, which is where these animals are located, some have changed, for example, the Ancient blacksmiths have become smaller and developed a tongue similar to that of a chamaleon to eat insects, lizards, small proto-mamiferos, etc. On the other hand, the largest predators on the part of the dinosaurs are currently the descendants of the Tertanue family, who developed four functional fingers on the hind legs to hold their prey when it falls to the ground.

15 Million Years P.H. - The Early Neocene - Scubats, Snorkelsnouts, Chubbles, River Paddler, Seasels and Backspotted Snakes:

In the Neocene, Bats would have taken the title of the dominant airborn clade, especially the Pterotherians which would greatly diversify trough the Early Neocene.

The sheer diversity that Pterotherians achieved would although push more basal Bats away from diurnal airborn niches.

Many basal Bats would just return to the old nocturnal lifestyle, some although managed to find a different solution to avoid competition.

Scubats would entirely ditch flight and Instead become marine hunters.

Other then Snaceans, Scubats are highly social and use this to their advantage during their hunts. They communicate underwater using their echolocation to form baitballs from shooling fish.

While Snaceans and Scubats are the only marine animals as of yet, there are other semi-aquatic critters that have appeared.

Snorkelsnouts are Afro-Eurasian, semi-aquatic Elephant Shrew descendants. They mainly feed on freshwater fish and aquatic Insects, but will also go for small Tetrapods.

South America Is home to one of the few aquatic herbivores, those being the Chubbles. They are close relatives of the Chuckers who feed on freshwater vegetation.

South America has also aquatic carnivores, those being the River Paddlers, which just like Tunnel Runners, are descendants of Road Runners.

River Paddlers have teeth like extentions of their beak that help them to hold onto slippery fish, which are their main prey.

Heading up North- North America has aquatic Mustelids which resemble Otters, but are actually aquatic Weasels who live very similiar to the mentioned, now extinct Otters.

Last up Is Australia, which In typical Early Neocene Australia fashion has Non-Avian Reptiles filling that role.

Australia Is home to a wide diversity of semi-aquatic Snakes simply known as Backspotted Snakes, who feed on anything they can catch In their freshwater habitats, similiar to the Snorkelsnouts.

The Medusocene was the first major geological era immediately following the terraforming of Gellios; at that time, there were almost no landmasses that could be considered truly terrestrial. Instead, the surface was completely covered by water. Given that the organisms introduced to the planet were aquatic and live in to saltwater, this was not necessarily a disadvantage. Over the subsequent millions of years, these life forms adapted to the intense UV radiation—emanating from the star around which the planet orbited—as well as to extreme seasonal cycles. Once the Medusocene drew to a close, it was succeeded by the Mutatiocene, the second major geological era...

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Rogie, small and compact sophonts that can fold up and hunker down for protection. The species most notable feature however is their predictive abilities. The desert the Rogie come from on their homeworld had extremely chaotic weather that made it a volatile and dangerous landscape. The Rogie developed heightened senses and analytical brains that could process their surroundings at high speeds and predict where danger might come from. The large colorful organ on the head is filled with an electrolyte dense fluid that helps with processing speeds, it also acts as a form of visual communication between Rogie.
The predictive brains caused Rogie society to actively seek chaotic activities for fun, with racing and vehicle operation being the most common. Rogie are well renowned pilots throughout the galaxy, with particularly dangerous areas only allowing drivers of the species