In case anyone here did not know, brachiopods are an entire phylum of shelled animals which are superficially similar to bivalve mollusks but aren’t closely related. They filter feed using two spiral shaped structures lined with tentacles called lophophores. Here is a concept exploration of what brachiopods could diverge into in a scenario with far less competition!

a goose barnacle descendant that evolved to actively hunt fish and other marine animals with modified raptorial cirri. They started out as facultative ambush predators but evolved to detach from the substrate and swim using a modified peduncle convergently having evolved a whale like tail. the first pair of cirri evolved into sensory structures with chemoreceptive and tactile function. the rudimentary nauplius eye and lateral eyes have undergone rapid evolution, becoming true (simple) eyes, uniquely three seperate ones, giving the barnacle remarkable 3D vision. one pair of cirri evolved to resemble pectoral fins, and have a similar function. Their life cycle is pretty similar to other barnacles, with a nauplius and cyprid stage, but with the exception that the barnacle detaches from the substrate after the first molt.

i really like this because the barnacle is dorso-ventrally as well as anterior-posteriorly switched compared to other crustaceans, somewhat convergently evolving the deuterostome condition.

still looking for a name. suggestions welcome

On a planet two thousand and five hundred light years away, on the fourth planet from its host star, lives a colony of 130 feet long flying whales which evolved on its host planet during the 500 million Ice Age period. Due to the flying whales lacking any natural predators from the ice age, it had grown huge and has a natural smile on it. Within the whales are hydrogen-producing bladders, but with only its 6 flippers and its thinner-than-normal tail, it moves as fast as a bicycle. The flying whales had only evolved for the planet Ice age, and by the looks of things, it's entering the warming/ending period... may X-LL21A have mercy on them.

The Gargantuan Leviathan of 4546B is a huge extinct creature. Today only its massive bones can be found.

New data scans show quite a different lifestyle than the initial assessment.

The creature was a slow moving but ravenous omnivore, with different food preferences at different stages of its life, but always with enough opportunism to fuel its gargantuan metabolism. It spent most of its adult life as a benthic creature. Fully grown Gargantuans are too heavy to swim for extended periods of time. Instead, most locomotion consisted of half-slithering and half-punting itself across the seafloor. At this large of a size, extracting oxygen from the water becomes inefficient. To compensate, the Gargantuan has extensive gills and a high blood pressure, as well structures of “accessory gills” along the sides of its body, which were wrinkled patches of vascularized skin which can be retracted under scales during times of movement to not impede hydrodynamics. While the fully grown creature was an opportunistic omnivore, most of its time feeding was spent eating animals buried in the sand and mud. These consisted of shellfish and worms as well an meiofauna, as well as any bottom-dwelling fish not fast enough to escape. To feed, the creature simply scoops up huge mouthfuls of mud and sand, and vomits up water to trap any creatures against the baleen-like hair on the roof of its mouth. Small creatures get caught in its extensive gill rakers as well.

However, these creatures hatch from their eggs with a much more active and predatory lifestyle. Over the years they will slowly shift to a more herbivorous diet. After that, they will shift their diets to incorporate more benthic organisms, before shifting into the more indiscriminate feeding methods of their final stages. Most individuals of a given population would never reach these sizes and stages of their life.

It seems the habitats these creatures needed, large and relatively shallow tracts of vegetated or barren sand, are no longer common on 4546B, and the burrowing shellfish which made a up a large portion of its diet have gone extinct. The creature itself seems to have gone extinct millions of years before the Kharaa, possibly due to changing climate or habitat.

Would this creature have been alive today, it may pose minimal direct danger to a human diver, granted they stay out of its way of its mouth. However, it could pose a huge danger to any artificial structures erected within its territory.

Here's my concept griffins as Maniraptoran dinosaurs, closely related to Deinonychus, Velociraptor, Archaeopteryx and Microraptor. I chose the name Gryps orophylax (from Latin 'griffin' and Greek 'mountain guardian ').

Over millions of years, after surviving the Chicxulub Impact and the following mass extinction of all non-avian dinosaurs, they adapted their initial climbing quadrupedalism from the trees to the slopes and cliffs of their evolving landscape.

At first confined to the Ladakh Island Arc in the Tethys Ocean, they avoided competition with the increasingly fiercer mammalian predators. But as India and Eurasia collided, their land became part of the world's largest mountain range, and griffins rose with the Karakoram, Hindu Kush and Tian Shan mountains where they were encountered by humans for the first time.

I've decided a distinctive sexual dimorphism that has the feathered wings of ancestral Maniraptorans become a vestigial feature that only develops in certain dominant females. These wings, useless for powered flight given the weight of griffins, became an element of display against competing predators, and help with jumps and short glides along rocky slopes along with keeping nests sheltered and warm.

You can find these and other pieces on my DA gallery

Ive been doing speculative art for some time and i keep seeing things labelled as ‘seed world’ but i do not know what this is?

Yeah I really wanna know

Several of the color sketches and process work for the Chansent. It was a lot of fun playing around with these, as I imagined that different regional varieties would present a range of colors depending on whether they lived in the steppe-tundra, arctic, taiga, or alpine biomes.

Herds of orange-backed Appelsiidna Chansents are the most numerous, thanks to their preference for the abundant grasslands that make up a majority of the far north, with herds of brown Eaktodáhtolaš Chansents seen mingling with the large numbers of Appelsiidna even though they prefer the taiga’s hugging the south of the steppe-tundra. Continuing south/southeast, the gold-coated Meahcci Chansents are very rare; individuals can only be found in the secluded alpine regions that hem in the other biomes, along with the purplish-grey Sáhppat’s in the lower alpines and highland regions. Further to the north, the snow-blending Muohta can be spotted on the bleak arctic flats nearer to the poles, and elusive blue-cheeked Gobmi’s have been purportedly seen in every northern biome, but tales of them are few and far between.

Unlike their ancient brethren, Chansent horns blacken with age, in no small part thanks to their continuously-growing nature, and the oldest bulls and cows possess grand crowns of a deep obsidian color.

Their cloven hooves, other than being larger than their smaller, earthly ancestors, bear few fundamental differences with them. Notably, however, they’re a bit longer and flatter than other Wisent-descendants, with a narrow, somewhat sharp edge, leading to local xenozoologists theorizing it’s useful for both stabilizing on the cold northern earth, and digging through the frozen ground.

Also toyed with the idea of it evolving non-cloven hooves, with those bearing more similarities to rhinos or tapirs. Gonna try to make use of em on another creature (or maybe the saiga-looking chansent sketch), since it was quite fun studying both animals very strange, and quite alien-looking feet.

(if linking to other sites/accs isn't okay pls lmk)

I often post process work on insta, if you're interested, it's @ jo.baylis

Drasilortius Minimus

Despite its name, Drasilortius minimus is only "small" when compared to its titanic relatives, still weighing in at a substantial 2 to 3.5 tons. It is the swiftest land-dwelling member of the genus, capable of reaching speeds between 30 and 35 MPH as it patrols the thick undergrowth of the russian wilderness. Lacking the sheer mass required to weaponize raw shockwaves, it relies instead on mechanical devastation, boasting an incredible bite force of 3,500 PSI to effortlessly crush bone. Because it cannot rely on lethal infrasound, its presence call has evolved into a much higher-pitched, piercing brass trumpet sound that cuts clearly through dense pine forests to coordinate territory lines with nearby rivals.

This species being entirely endemic to Russia, thrives in the brutal, freezing expanse of the Siberian taiga and the remote forests of the Russian Far East. It has evolved a much leaner, more muscular framework than its bulky New World relatives, serving as the swiftest land-dwelling member of the genus. This agility allows it to seamlessly navigate deep Russian snowpacks and tightly packed pine canopies, filling an apex predatory niche akin to a massive, reptilian Siberian tiger.

Lacking the colossal body mass required to weaponize lethal, eardrum-shattering infrasonic shockwaves, Drasilortius minimus relies instead on pure mechanical devastation. It has an incredible bite force, coupled with rows of thick, bone-crushing teeth designed to effortlessly smash through the dense winter bone and frozen hides of modern Russian fauna. Because it cannot drop prey with raw air pressure, it utilizes the thick forest cover to stalk targets before unleashing its speed, delivering catastrophic, high-speed body checks and crushing bites to quickly immobilize its meals in the snow.

Because it cannot produce the deep, chest-vibrating sub-bass of its larger cousins, its presence call has adapted into a higher-pitched, freezing acoustic profile. Its hollow nasal chambers shape its breath into a piercing, metallic brass trumpet sound that echoes blatantly across the desolate Russian wilderness. This loud, unmistakable horn blare cuts clearly through sub-zero blizzards over vast distances, allowing individual minimus pairs to map out their massive territorial boundaries and warn rivals away from their active hunting grounds without ever needing to risk a physical confrontation in the harsh climate.

Drasilortius Maliforceps

The Drasilortius Maliforceps is the swamp and wetland specialist of the genus, instantly recognizable by its distinctively elongated, specialized jaw structure. Its skull architecture features a wide, splitting gape lined with needle-sharp, interlocking teeth designed specifically to trap slippery, fast-moving aquatic prey. It behaves as a highly aggressive ambush predator within North American marshes, looming motionlessly among the reeds when hunting. Across all of its global territories, maliforceps is notoriously territorial and hyper-aggressive toward anything that encroaches on its waterways.

It is known to locals as the "Murderous Spined Stork." meaning it is a highly specialized wetland and swamp expert. To maintain its aquatic lifestyle, this species restricts its range to Southern Canada, North America, North Africa, and Eastern Europe, specifically favoring regions where extreme freezing temperatures are not a major issue. Standing on powerful, webbed digitigrade legs, it moves through deep mud, stagnant waters, and dense shoreline reeds with an eerie, silent grace that completely defies its multi-ton weight class, ensuring its hunting grounds remain accessible year-round.

Unlike its larger, land-dwelling relatives who lazily treat humans with complete indifference, maliforceps is notoriously territorial and hyper-aggressive across all of its regional territories. It possesses absolutely no fear of humans or modern vehicles, viewing any bipedal entry into its wetland domain as a direct challenge or an easy meal. It is a calculated ambush predator, looming motionlessly among the tall marsh vegetation or cypress knees for hours, perfectly camouflaged, before executing a lightning-fast lateral snap at anything foolish enough to wander into its strike zone.

To communicate across the dense, sound-absorbing vegetation of its global habitats, its vocal tracts have evolved a unique resonance. Its presence call is a harsh, metallic, grinding drone that sounds like a heavily distorted, industrial foghorn echoing blatantly across the water. When multiple individuals territory-match across the southern Canadian fens or the waterways of North Africa, the overlapping acoustics form an ominous, mechanical symphony. The moment this booming drone suddenly cuts out into dead silence, it serves as a terrifying indicator to researchers and locals that the storks have locked onto a target and begun a silent stalk.

Drasilortius Virastrius

This is a medium-sized Drasilortid with long spindly claws that cut and spear prey or opposing threats. They have large fish-like tails and swim at a mildly fast pace. They're not entirely aggressive and show behaviors similar to suborder Odontoceti (toothed whales). The large outward-facing claws it possesses.

In the coastal waters, tidal mudflats, and marine estuaries bordering South America, Southwest Africa, and the shorelines of Europe, Drasilortius virastrius reigns as a highly intelligent, semi-aquatic marvel.

Navigating these rich Atlantic currents, its social structure and hunting mechanics closely mirror those of modern killer whales, exhibiting advanced problem-solving and coordinated pod tactics to herd massive schools of open-ocean fish or isolate marine mammals against rocky cliffs. It transitions beautifully between land and water, utilizing its mildly fast swimming pace, fish-like tail, and heavy, sail-backed body to dominate the surf zones where traditional land predators cannot follow.

The creature’s elongated, spindly claws are highly specialized tools for extracting hidden calories from these diverse shorelines. When patrolling the beaches and estuaries during low tide, these massive, outward-facing talons allow it to effortlessly excavate deep subterranean burrows, shredding through thick mud, sand, and coastal rock to drag out buried prey that would otherwise be entirely safe from surface hunters.

In close-quarters combat or territorial disputes with rival predators along the shoreline, these claws transform into viciºus weapons, capable of delivering sweeping slashes or devastating kicks that can instantly flay the hide of an opponent.

When communicating across the vast expanses of its global coastlines, Drasilortius Virastrius takes full advantage of water's superior acoustic conductivity. By lowering its massive, horn-bearing snout just beneath the surface, it unleashes its blatant presence calls directly into the ocean waves. The resulting low-frequency, horn-like acoustics travel unobstructed through the water column for miles, creating a strange, vibrating thrum that can be physically felt through the hulls of nearby boats long before the agile, sail-backed leviathan breaks the surface.

Considering, that Cretaceous currents system was more salinity-based than temperature-based and also some rules were a little bit different than in our Holocene Earth, how do you think would Retrograde earth be in Cretaceous?

the furniture crab is a colony of termites misremembered as a one big termite fused inside of a table by the backrooms kane parsons mentions it in the Directors Commentary for backroomsmov heres a link. crab timestamp 1:20:08 the crab isn't canon to kane series yet i think

hi, i remember a project where the media was a species chart of each continent, the specevo seems quite strict and i really liked it

however i cant find it anymore, directions will be appreciated

This mushroom has grown in the forests of Europe. These mushrooms have been used for 1000s of years as a psychedelic. They release black mucus like spores, when an animal eats the mucus, they will die only a few hours later, the mushroom spores will start growing inside the body, decomposing the animal.

The psychedelic property comes from (S)-2-amino-2-(3-hydroxyisoxazol-5-yl)acetic acid found inside the mucus, if taken in small doses, it will offer a mild to severe hallucination that are typically characterized by delirium, distorted sizes of objects, and profound sedation. If too high of a dose is taken, the creature will die from respiratory failure caused by the other neurotoxin, Muscarine

Most of the time it used to prey on humans but what are some other reasons a species would evolve to look like or sound like humans thats not due to them eating humans my best idea is they use it to lure in things that do but would flee from them if they knew ?

I’m developing an alien speculative evolution project, and I would like to know what other minerals can cause different colors of blood. Iron makes red blood and copper makes blue, but what other colors can be created with other minerals and metals?

William Goldman, in his authorial persona as S. Morgenstern, specifically describes the Rodents of Unusual Size, native to the Florin/Guilder Fire Swamp as eighty pounds, comparing them to the real-life largest modern-day rodents, the South American capybaras (averaging about 150 lbs), making them smaller but more deadly to humans who would go near them.

So, taking that into account and assuming a northern European biome around Germany and Sweden with a niche that would require them to prey on animals along with the occasional humans who intruded on their habitat, what evolutionary requirements would be necessary for these species to evolve? And would they still be around in modern times, assuming a real-life point of divergence of around AD 1810?

The floating islands harbor on their surface some of the most unique microecosystems in Molaria, constituting an extremely diverse source of resources that has favored the colonization, evolution, and rapid adaptive radiation of various clades, whose current representatives show extreme morphological divergences from their basal patterns.

Probably the most divergent taxon inhabiting these environments is that of the slugfish. These organisms with morphology analogous to that of gastropods derived phylogenetically from the skin muncher, transforming the ancestral ventral sucker into a locomotory foot. Inside this appendage, simple skeletal elements developed that act exclusively as points of muscle insertion. Although they retain the ability to adhere to smooth surfaces such as the algae on which they feed, they usually move actively over the mucous layer of the host fish.

The emperor flateel represents the largest predator within this ecosystem. It presents an extremely elongated and horizontally compressed body reminiscent of a ribbon, moving through undulations through the algae. It plays the role of trophic regulator by controlling herbivore populations that could potentially constitute pests. Its jaw presents scissor-like modifications with enough power to pierce through an adult man's hand from side to side, causing lethal damage to its prey. The reproductive dynamics of this species are poorly documented because the population density is usually limited to a single individual per floating island. It is believed that reproduction occurs exclusively when two islands exchange their biota in social interactions, although this hypothesis requires more evidence.

The icangararas integrate a genus of armored fish that has specialized in inhabiting the periphery of the floating islands. They move in the vicinity of the host, feeding on both the algal culture and small ectoparasites. These fish exercise a mutualistic protective role, alerting the giant fish to the presence of macropredators and using a pigmented substance analogous to cephalopod ink to deter or distract threats, even coming to block the gills of attackers.
For their part, the mower fish constitute larger herbivorous descendants derived from the mole fish. Their lower tooth presents continuous growth and an extremely sharp edge to cut algae with precision, while their lower fin has transformed into a subtly articulated structure with horizontal orientation that acts as a maneuvering caudal fin at ground level. In juvenile stages, no consumption of plant material is observed, as they inhabit the lower areas of the floating island feeding on hard-shelled organisms to synthesize the calcium required during dental calcification.

The feather teeth are organisms whose adult morphology is practically unrecognizable among vertebrates. The larvae show an asymmetrical and elongated fonsiognomy typical of a flat Ranzania, but upon reaching the mature stage they semi-bury themselves in the mucosa of the island. In this process, the lower gill hypertrophies, deploying filamentous structures specialized in both gas exchange and capturing suspended particles. Remaining semi-buried in the mucosa, only the cranial region and the anal opening are exposed to the outside, adopting a strictly sessile lifestyle. This condition has led to severe anatomical regression, characterized by the loss of multiple organs, extreme reduction of the brain in favor of spinal control, atrophy of the internal skeleton with the exception of the ossified skull, and total reabsorption of structures such as the eyes. This genus is not exclusive to floating islands, being also recorded in estuarine environments, swamps, and shallow coastal areas with soft sediments.

The boomerang fish integrate another genus of flattened molaids that has undergone rapid adaptive radiation in benthic niches. This taxon stands out for presenting articulated bony protuberances provided with independent mobility on the margins of its fins, which function as grasping appendages. These structures allow them to anchor and climb through the macroalgae network. Despite this locomotory adaptation, it is an active hunter of echinoderms and small fish, which it pursues through the vegetation until capturing them with an extremely powerful retractable jaw apparatus.

Among the smallest vertebrates on the planet are the mite fish, small relatives of the mole fish that inhabit the interior of the mucous tissue of floating islands, feeding on the host's epidermis. They build complex networks of colonial galleries that can extend across the entire body surface of the animal. The clade's reproductive system is functional hermaphroditic with role differentiation. Most individuals barely reach a centimeter in length and play the female reproductive role by presenting atrophiated male gonads. The colony has a single dominant individual of larger size, close to 3 centimeters, which develops the male reproductive system and acts as the primary breeder. Upon the death of the dominant individual, the smallest specimen usually undergoes a hormonal transition that triggers the development of male organs and rapid somatic growth. Occasionally, large female-role specimens may alter their hormones to challenge the dominant breeder if they perceive a decline in its reproductive performance.

Finally, the gill-piercers constitute a genus of highly derived neotenic Ranzanias that have consolidated a niche based on hematophagy and micropredation. They present small dimensions and habitually inhabit the gill cavities of large megafauna. They extract blood from the gill filaments through highly specialized and keratinized labial structures simulating a beak, having completely lost their dentition due to neotenic processes. The species denominated tiger gill-piercer, specifically adapted to floating islands, shows greater longevity than other parasites because its biological cycle is synchronized with the reproductive period of the host to guarantee the infestation of the offspring. These organisms are capable of modifying the host's reproductive cycle through the secretion of hormones directly into the bloodstream. During courtship, males employ display sacs located on the sides of the stomach that inflate with water, projecting the ventral region with an intense scarlet coloration produced by the blood stored inside

Okay, so I've been working a spec evo/biology world for a few years now and I'm struggling with the planet design. Originally, I wanted a planet that's almost twice the size of earth with less density, but as I've gotten older, I've realized this is a bit foolish. I want creatures that are much bigger then those on Earth, so I want to make a planet that is infact bigger, but twice as large feels a bit much. I wanted the gravity to be stronger so that they would be bigger and stronger, so if they ever visited other planets in the very very far future, they'd be stronger than normal, nothing like Superman, but enough to make others question attacking. How do I go about this with planet? I have other ideas like a very thin ring like Neptune, or 2 moons, but I don't want this to have catastrophic consequences for life on the planet. Please provide any help you can as I'm not entirely educated on planets, thank you for the help🙏

Ok in some fantasy setting their beings with 3 eyes 2 human like eyes then a 3rd one in the forehead what could be some reason something like this would evolve in a human/like species ?

The Boar Drake is one of the most common species of ornithiscian dinosaur endemic to the Realm of Abundance. Found in both continents of Hortensia and Feronia, they are regularly encountered by the many civilizations of Arcadian cultures.

They are derived heterodontosaurs that grew to larger sizes and became obligate quadrupeds. Like their ancestors, they possess four sharp tusks, unusual for most herbivores. These tusks were fortified with traces of iron and serve as both a means of display and defense against predators. As generalist omnivores, they mainly eat ferns and horsetails with the occasional fallen fruit or nut. They would also feed on fungi, arthropods and even carrion to supplement their diet.

Due to their small size relative to the much larger herbivores it shared its habitat with, it was loaded with many anti-predator adaptations. Its aforementioned tusks were self-sharpening every time it closed its mouth and can deliver some severe wounds on would be predators. While able accelerate quickly, this wasn't enough to escape the many cursorial predators from dromaeosaurs, phorusrachids and adolescent tyrannosaurs, instead they mainly stood their ground and often had to fight. They were covered in sharp quills that would deter an attack from most predators, including an adult Coronavenator. Some wild boar drake have been found with dead Jackal Birds locked in battle with them in their final moments, with the theropod coming out far worse, while the ornithiscian lasted far longer only dying to infection from dragging along a dead paravian's claw lodged in its neck.

There have been a few independent domestication events from tamer island populations, but the wilder mainland populations are too aggressive and territorial for the same thing and have been known to kill people. Despite this, they are among the most regularly hunted game as their high fecundity and low predation rate makes them a popular target for both sport hunting and just regular sustenance hunting. Their meat and skin make for prime skewers and stews. Their bones, being sturdier and more solid than the hollow bones of theropods also made them useful in crafting items from utensils to weapons.

Resupinavidae, or commonly called Faeries, are small hover-flying monotremes, akin to hummingbirds. They are nectarivores, with worldwide distribution and a variety of species.

Their unique characteristic is their powered flight, which utilizes a modified pelvis and leg bones, with powerful muscles, to achieve rapid down and upstrokes that both generate lift. Complete loss of their arms aids in aerodynamics. Their tail is prehensile, which they use to grap onto branches to rest.

Electroreception is the key way they locate flowers with feed. They act as pollinators that the flowers attract with the charged pollen, similar to how bees of our world are guided towards flowers.

A special kind of family of flowers, the Faebridges , have evolved side by side with these creatures, having strange narrow shapes that only the faeries can easily access. This gives them their name, as faeries can always be seen around them, creating myths and stories of them being portals to a strange world where only these weird creatures reside.

Part of my worldbuilding project Oblivia, on Instagram.

L'aragosta vampiro e un parassita inventato grazzie al consiglio del commento di ciuculatamenss

Questa creatura e un parassitoide che si e evoluto esclusivamente per parassitarie la salamandra Marina infatti discende sai pidocchi delel balene ma lui a deciso di mangiare e nutrirsi del particolare stato di grasso che protegge al salamandra Marina da tagli o combattimenti però lo strato può essere mangiato e spesso può causare gravi fastidi alle salamandre marine l'aragosta Marian si e evoluta piegando e compattando il proprio corpo per sopravvivere ai salti e schianti sulla superficie del loro corpo questo permette di diminuire i danni, ogni arto si e evoluto per uno scopo diverso perforazione movimento spostare e farsi spazio fra la carne e persino per trovare le aree più proficue

^{Sulla superficie di queste salamandre si trova un batterio bio luminescente che} da la bioluminescenza a queste creature ✌️

Domande o consigli per i prossimi :) ?

part of my spec evo worldbuilding project that is centred around dragons, who in this settings are the descendants of early squamates that were isolated in a southern continent after the extinction of the dinosaurs, allowing them to diversify before a great biotic exchange unites them with the northern continent populated by more familiar mammals, creating the setting of the world we will come to explore. Smilodrakon is part of the terrestridrakona, which is the largest and most populous family of dragons by far. Smilodrakon magnus is an ambush hunter that specializes in taking on the giant beaked rodents that have come to diversify and fill the niche of dominant herbivore across the board, but it retains some dietary flexibility, supplementing much of its diet with fruit and roots it digs up and forages, kind of like a more active carnivorous bear. the blue accents only appear during mating season on males.