#speculative ecology

[theantiazdarcho]

The Lancetfish is a species that looks like it comes straight out of a realistic fantasy world building project.

[juicyolpickle]

A carnivorous animal by the name of Hell hounds or Hook beaks, serves the role as a highly adapted pack hunter, this Borease animal is one of the most adaptive creature on this planet as they can be found about in each craves and surface of the planet.

It’s adaptivity is evident in its biological design as its pincer like jaws, eyes, and fur, have morphed from climate to climate giving this genus varied sub species with their own unique traits to further adapt to their species circumstances.

It earned its name for its obvious Earth counterpart the canine and the similarities that they share. Being excellent social hunters and for an amazing sense of smell, though unlike earths animals they do not have nostrils to gather smells but instead reply on head quills that resemble hair, highly sensitive organs similar to insect antennas that gather air particles.

[exotonplanet]

Grand Solgot and two unique specimens from his large menagerie. Two hybrids, both results of hybridization between polar broadheads and spotted reavers. while the practice is looked down upon, they're cared for very well. these hybrids are bred both for their beautiful golden spotted coats, but also due to how specialized broadheads are. the southern riverlands are no place for a cold dwelling species, so the broadhead reaver was created. these do not occur in the wild, and only a few exist in captivity.

examples of hybrid results

[spookygibberish]

Nichetember? -tober?

So lately I've been working on a little speculative ecosystem project, picking back up the work I did about four years ago. A lot of those creatures were designed for prompts for an art challenge that I just happened decided to use in that way, but I was thinking how much I'd like to have an actual list of prompts geared towards the goal I set for myself. Which lead me to making up this, a little list of prompts based on very broad ecological concepts so as to be as applicable as possible to the widest possible range of different projects.

Producer - give me an autotroph ie. an animal that feeds directly on an energy source, like light, radiation, or chemicals

Primary Consumer - predator of the autotroph you just made (cows are predators of grass!)

Secondary Consumer - now what’s something that eats that animal.

Tertiary Consumer - or an “Apex predator”, an organism with no natural predators of its own

Decomposer - something that consumes the remains of any of the previous organisms.

Parasite of any of the above organisms

Hyperparasite ie. something that parasitizes that parasite

Coprophage - something that eats dung

Ecosystem engineer - an organism that creates habitats for other organisms

An organism with a hard shell, carapace, etc.

Durophagic predator of previous organism

An organism which occupies different trophic levels in its adult and immature forms

A sessile organism

An organism that with a symbiotic relationship with any of the previous organisms

An autotroph small enough to fit on your fingertip

An autotroph small enough to fit in your hand

An autotroph taller than a house.

Autotroph with specialized defenses

Autotroph that depends on a symbiotic relationship

The organism the previous organism depends on

A fossorial organism

An aquatic organism

A cursorial predator

An ambush predator

An organism that utilizes mimicry

An organism not visible to the naked eye

An R selected species - an organism which has many offspring, each with a low chance of survival

A K selected species - an organism which has few offspring, each with a high chance of survival

A keystone species - an organism who’s presence defines the ecosystem it is a part of, without it this ecosystem would not exist in the same state

An extremely specialized organism

An adaptable generalist

This is formatted as a month-long challenge, but I don't think anyone needs to approach it that way if they want to do it.

Part of the goal of this is to not just design organisms, but to think about how each thing you design interacts with the other creatures, and how they form an ecosystem together!

[tgirl-tamag0tchi]

Contrary to popular misconception, dragons are in fact variously herbivorous and insectivorous omnivores, while unicorns are facultative carnivores.

Firstly dragons, or more specifically wyverns, are descendant of the Yi genus of the late Jurassic period. Bearing both primitive feathers, and webbed bat-like wings. Somewhat small, the largest living species only reaches the size of condor. They don’t in fact breathe fire, that’s a misconception, but have been known to spread fire like some birds of prey, in order to rush small prey out of hiding, in times of scarce fruit resources.

Unicorns are in fact not horses or goats, but members of Mesonychidae, a group of hoofed mammals that also gave rise to whales. Their superficial similarities to horses is due to evolving to run down their distant relatives over open grasslands. Their horns are in fact hollow structures of keratin, weak, but used for display. As their crushing jaws and strong legs are used to take down prey.

Wyverns and unicorns though inhabiting distinct niches, often fight over breeding territories in forest glades. With unicorns occasionally feeding on injured wyverns.

[headphone-the-idjit]

I think I forgot to mention that seakites are technically a class and not a genus or species.

There is much variation within the class and depending on the region it only gets moreso fucked. Here is a helpful fellow who’s from inland towns!

[monster-huntologist]

Monster Ecologies: Nibelsnarf

Entry 46 - Nibelsnarf

Name: Nibelsnarf

Aliases: Lurking Mouth Wyvern, Hapurubokka, Nibel

Classification: Reptile, Leviathan

Biology: A strange monster with little relation to many others in its classification, Nibelsnarfs are desert-dwelling Leviathans. They are easily identified by their flat bodies and gigantic mouths in relation to their body size. They possess a yellowish-brown shell across the tops of their bodies, with the rest being covered in navy scales. Peculiarly, their underbelly is vibrantly decorated in bright colours. This is believed to intimidate any opponents that may uproot it from the sand during battle, giving it a vital moment to recover. Numerous adaptations help Nibelsnarfs to thrive in their sandy environment, such as shovel-like limbs to aid in digging, highly advanced hearing and eyes on the top of their heads to more easily navigate the dunes, high water retention due to internal fluids, and gill-like organs to filter out sand and other debris that enters the monster's mouth. Some of this sand and debris is instead swallowed and stored in a specially evolved organ. The monster can layer eject the contents of this organ alongside large amounts of air through their gills, useful for both getting rid of irritants and creating a spray that can deter intruders into its personal space.

Behaviour: As to be expected from their somewhat doofy appearance, Nibelsnarfs are simple-minded monsters. Their average day consists of patrolling their territory looking for something to eat, with not much variation to speak off. It only attacks other monsters if it sees them as possible food, rather than a potential threat to its territory. However, due to their gluttonus behaviour, almost anything that enters its territory is considered a potential meal. They are also more prone to conflict with humans either living in or passing through deserts, as they are more prone to attacking caravans than most other monsters that share their habitat. Nibelsnarf habitats can often be recognised by sand “casts” that match the shape of the monster’s shell, formed when the monster camouflages itself as a sand dune above ground.

Habitat: Nibelsnarfs are exclusively desert-dwelling monsters that require massive amounts of sand in order to hunt and maneuver properly. Some Hunters have even known to use the phrase “Nibelsnarf out of sand” as an alternative to “Fish out of water”. The species is also rather wide-spread, being found in numerous deserts throughout the Old World. However, on extremely rare cases, there have been accounts of particularly strong Nibelsnarfs managing to dig their way through solid rock, which in turn widens their habitat range. These more exotic Nibelsnarf have even been known to inhabit the entire opposite of their usual biome in cold tundra environments.

Diet: Nibelsnarf are exclusively carnivores and are known to be quite the gluttons, eating anything they can fit in their massive mouths. It’s diet mostly consists of small monsters such as Apceros, Rhenoplos, Hermitaurs, Delex, Genprey, Jaggis and Cephalos. On occasion they may go after larger monsters such as Great Jaggi, Gendrome, Volvidon, Qurupeco or even Barroth that spend too much time out on the open dunes. Sometimes Nibelsnarfs will bite off more than they can chew however, as attempts to feed on the young of more aggressive monsters like Sand Barioth, Rathian, Rust Duramboros, and the Blos wyverns often lead to rather disastrous results once the parents fight back. For a similar reason, Nibelsnarf will often refrain from including adults of such higher tier species on their menus, as the damage they could inflict to the Leviathan would outweigh the potential meal.

Attack Method: Other than the occasional tail slap, body slam and sand expulsion, the attack method of Nibelsnarfs consists almost entirely of biting. As Nibelsnarf are primarily ambush predators, they do not have as more intricately developed fighting adaptations as many other monsters. Despite being incredibly simple however, the tactic works wonders thanks to the monsters massive maw lined with razor-sharp teeth and possessing immense jaw strength. Utilising its excellent burrowing skills, it swims through the sand with biting breaches and gnashing charges in order to crunch and bite its opponents to shreds. It is often blind during these charges however, so many Hunters can trick the Leviathan into eating Barrel Bombs by placing them in its charging path. These explosives will then detonate in its mouth, stunning the monster out of the sand and allowing an opportune moment to attack it in turn.

Place in the Food Chain: In the many deserts where Nibelsnarfs can be found, they always occupy a spot around the middle of the food chain. While they indeed prey on numerous monsters both smaller than them and around the same size, they in turn have to be wary of larger creatures such as the Blos wyverns, Sand Barioth or Rust Duramboros that can more easily fight them off. The fact that the Leviathan has a habit of trying to eat their young despite this often results in the monster having just as many wounded retreats as successful hunts. On the other hand, all Nibelsnard needs is one good ambush in order to catch many monsters by surprise and drag them under the sand for consumption.

This has been a report on the Nibelsnarf. Thank you for reading.    

[mynebulaarts]

Phew, this one took a while to finish… Another Original Species!!

Read each image to learn more about how to make your Mortic

Since it's an open species!! When you make yours, you can tag me, but don't forget to use the hashtag #MyMortic

And soon I intend to bring other species of my own creation, follow me here and on my other networks ^^

To follow closely and not miss anything!!