#sci-fintasy

[projectkarya]

Which aquavenatoregid should I illustrate in greater detail first?

A = Leviathans; genus Cetiasaura (silhouette = common leviathan)

B = Wavehunters; genus Lepidocetioides (silhouette = Iyotian wavehunter)

C = Wanis; genus Hydropitherus (silhouette = umiwani)

D = Wanis; genus Hydropitherus (silhouette = kombwani

E = Nissies; genus Potamophisaurus (silhouette = Tchamenl's nissie)

F = Nissies; genus Potamophisaurus (silhouette = Gadarian nissie)

Voting ended onJun 11

[projectkarya]

So I was browsing Reddit, as one does, and good ol' r/SpeculativeEvolution hit me with this post by u/_Soft_Kiwi_:

Which got me to thinking of gnomes in general; in particular, though, interpretations that depict them as assistant workers within the household (e.g. hobgoblins/tomte)...:

...as well as some interpretations of house elves/gnomes that depict them as having tails with tufts on them, e.g. nisse from Netflix's Hilda and I swear I've seen older interpretations as well with tails:

Which, in the spirit of Project KARYA, of course, got me thinking, "what IRL creature could potentially serve as the basis for such a species on Karya?"

Introducing, Tarsiers:

Tarsier - Wikipedia

As their own branch of the primate family tree, tarsiers first appeared around 45 million years ago, and fossils of extinct species have been found in regions across Europe, Asia, and even North America. Considering this, it would be easy to make spec evo a lineage that would come to be less dependent on the trees, maybe become more bipedal and saltatorial (movement by hopping), and even have one or two species becoming comfortable with the presence of sophonts to the point of inhabiting their dwellings. They would come to serve as pest control as well as "tidying up" scraps and what would otherwise be considered garbage (either to eat for themselves or to add to nests for decoration purposes).

Will sketch a potential ancestor design and post when it's finished!

[projectkarya]

More size charts coming within the next few hours! Dino nerds, you're gonna love some of these ones ;3

Here's a sneak peek of sorts, by showing the last common ancestors of the upcoming clades:

[projectkarya]

Working on the next creature art (ft. Eudraco pyrophorus, the spark dragon). I love how cute my animals end up becoming, despite some of them being apex predators of their environments. How some just seem to have have absolutely no brain cells

[projectkarya]

A size chart - but for plants!

Archaeopyrgosidae

Last Common Ancestor: Lepidodendron karyaensis Key:

A = Disciasodendron erosus, the serrated twin-capped towerling; one of five species of Disciasodendron.

B = Pyrsodendron erectus the straightened torcher; one of three species of Pyrsodendron.

C = Salicoidopteris argentatus, the silvery willofern; one of six species of Salicoidopteris.

[projectkarya]

I'm really proud of the direction my art style is progressing, and I can't wait to continue drawing more! While I work on the piece from the Tridactylocheiridae poll, I'll start making more polls for future pieces, starting with the following:

Which therrynichid genus would you like to see fully illustrated?

A - Hatchhunds

B - Shas

C - Ammits

D - Hippogryphs

E - Gryphons

Voting ended onMay 26

[projectkarya]

Foraging for Food in the Frigid Fog

An Omorian strider stops in a winter-touched muskeg for a quick bite to eat. Unbeknownst to it, danger lurks just out of sight...

Context

Hi, y'all! Project KARYA is a sci-fintasy setting in the works, in which, as I describe, "various iconic tropes found in fantasy and folklore/mythoi are viewed through the lens of science fiction"; the worldbuilding project intends to fully theorize "realistic" ways in which a variety of things from fantasy settings could exist, if they were to exist in a science fiction setting instead.

Today, I wanted to share a depiction of one of the 2000+ species that are unique to the titular world of Karya: the Omorian strider (Megalodromeus omoriensis), descended from a species of non-avian dinosaur called Dysalotosaurus karyaensis. Growing up to seven-and-a-half meters in length, and topping the scales at over a metric tonne, it is the largest species of Megalodromeus, as well as the largest of the entire clade Microdromidae; it is also among the largest extant dinosaurs living on Karya. The Omorian strider is common grazer in the more rugged regions of the planet's polar continent from which its name comes from, most usually found in cold wetlands and expansive tundras. They are covered in a feathery coat that is a mottled brown during the summer, but turns an off-white during the winter to aid in camouflage. Their massive bulk and generalist diet made it an ideal species for several auran (equivalent to "elves") cultures to domesticate as a utilitarian animal, resulting in the domestic strider (M. domesticus) that is most commonly used for meat, its semiannually-shed pelt, and as a beast of burden.

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Like what you see? Feel free to ask questions and/or provide positive criticism! Want to know more about Karya's life forms? Then I heavily suggest reading The Full and Comprehensive List of Unique Karyic Organisms (found on pinned page)! I'd be happy to talk about it more to those who are interested :3 if you also have any questions pertaining to Karya's striders and their relatives, please feel free to ask! Bonus points if you found what's stalking the strider ;3

[projectkarya]

Operation "Getting Off My Ass And Make SOMETHING By Making Size Charts For Previous Clades" is a go!

((sorry for the lull of Project KARYA content, haven't been in the brain space to work on the current Gobbi's Lesson. I hope this is an acceptable compromise!))

A comparative size chart for various genera within the kingdom Vivibullae ("living bubbles"), descended from a unique lineage of multicellular eukaryotes. It is sometimes considered a sister clade to Animalia. Pictured for a sense of size are the silhouettes belonging to sampled species of extant genera of Vivibullae:

Terrabulla dumetora (A), the brambubble

Oroaphrus oroaphrus (B), the montane bubble

Palustrabulla vulgera (C), the common swamp bubble

Aquabulla borealia (D), the northern lake bubble

Oceanophrus oceanophrus (E), the common ocean bubble

Notosaphrus notosaphrus (F), the common southern bubble

Marebulla vulgaris occidentalis (G), the western sea bubble

Irisaphrus irisaphrus (H), the rainbow bubble

Profundobullus magnus (I), the great abyssal bubble