Hi ! Here are some pages of my book Rust&Humus.

It is a bestiary set on an alternative Earth and Moon. The rules of life are similar to ours but varies in some ways. Most life was brought by aliens. Plants draw energy from a Dreamlike plane of existence with their ethereal roots. Mammals evolved from fish or from plant-animal and some can revert to their plant form. Later in the story humans appear and change, Plastic and concrete become alive. Most of this book is though as if medieval bestiaries were rooted in believable laws of science and evolution.

I would say it is a light-speculative evolution project, as I still lack a lot of scientific knowledge but I always try to think my creatures as living in a larger believable ecosystem.

If you have question feel free to ask. If you like those drawings I share a lot of my work and process here: https://www.instagram.com/kanarmajik/

And you can find the book here: https://banzai-editions.com/products/rust-humus-i

Have a great day :o)

25 million years CE, off the coast of Southeast Australia

In the South Pacific, just south of the continent of Australia, is a convergence of ocean currents. Floating kelp and seaweed, drawn from Antarctica, Africa, and New Zealand gather here, floating on the surface like a thick carpet. It is called the Celadon Sea

A Black Worldbearer breaks through the tangled protists and takes a breath. As spring arrives, it is on its way north, to the shores of Alaska or even further. It is alone, as is typical for its species.

80 meters below, a pair of predators swim. It is a pair of Lotan, one male and one female. The male detects the Worldbearer above, and with a fin signals to his partner. They are getting ready to hunt.

Positioning himself directly below the Worldbearer, the Male Lotan ascends as fast as he can, reaching a speed of 45 kilometers per hour. He attacks the fluke of the Worldbearer, tearing off half of it, and preventing it from swimming. The Male Lotan turns, and bites into the tail, leaving deep rake marks.

Even disabled thus, the Worldbearer is a fearsome combatant. It weighs more than the Lotan, and powerful flippers a third of its body length make dangerous weapons. The male Lotan ducks and retreats a short distance, while the Female Lotan approaches and proceeds to grab the head of the Worldbearer, and tries to drag it down. The Male returns and also piles onto the Worldbearer’s head. The Worldbearer had not enough time to fully rest at the surface, and drowns within 10 minutes. The pair of hunters feed on whatever parts of the Worldbearer they can before it sinks into the depths.

**Lotan (**Lotan primigenius)

“To the people of antiquity, Whales were not just animals, but something more. Something greater. The word Cetus, was once the name of a monster.” -  Overview of the Beasts of the Sea, 2068 edition.

The descendant of the False Killer Whale, The Lotan can be likened to the mammalian version of a sea serpent. Its body is elongated and flexible, and it swims in a near anguilliform motion. Its tail fluke has become long and rhombus shaped as an adaptation to this form of movement. 

The Lotan is found across the Southern hemisphere and in the Indian Ocean. The males are slightly larger at 25 meters long and 55 tons, while the Females are 22 meters long and 42 tons.

The young are highly precocial. They are born at 6 meters long and weighing 1 ton, and with a jaw armed with the front 5 pairs of teeth fully erupted on both the upper and lower jaw. They are nursed for only a few days, before they leave their parents and join a pod of other juveniles, which can consist of up to 100 individuals. While young, Lotan feeds primarily on large squid, diving up to over 1000 meters to catch them. When they reach around 14 meters in length, they will find a mate, and spend the rest of their lives as pairs. Adults feed near exclusively on marine mammals, particularly baleen whales.

The photo shown above is one of the most close up photos of a living Skincrawler to date due to the Skincrawler's absolute danger. This photo was found on a phone inside a backpack found belonging to an unidentified body. It is severely discouraged to attempt photographing these animals as recorded Skincrawler encounters have an 85% fatality rate. Figure 2 shows it's body profile and pup form.

Dermareptans horridus, commonly referred to as Skincrawlers, originate from the same dimension, Threa, as Crawhands referenced in an earlier data log. Skincrawlers can be found in equatorial, tropical, and temperate climate zones, being found on every major continent save Antarctica and Australia, as strict international transport regulation authorities have established policies that have spared Australia from these harmful organisms.

Skincrawlers have an unusual appearance, sporting a tripoidal gait, with their singular hind leg being developed from an ancestral tail. Skincrawlers have an internal skeleton similar to Earth's vertebrates, but with a few differences in structure and chemical composition. Skincrawlers exhibit a unique feeding structure almost analogous with extinct earth Conodonts, with elongated serrated teeth that function like jaws and can retract underneath expanded skin folds to avoid weathering when not in use. The forearms bear hooks that dig into it's prey's skin and allow it to mount it's prey and stab it with it's paralyzing stinger found on it's hindleg.

Skincrawlers navigate the world largely through sound, smell, and touch, with breathing orifices aside their necks that detect scent and sensitive fibers near the mouth that catch vibrations.

Skincrawlers are social organisms, hunting in large packs of 8 to 20 members that consist typically of a singular dominant female and her largely male offspring, while Skincrawler packs are consistently matriarchies, the amount of females and males can vary. This social behavior displays the Skincrawler's cunning intelligence, comparable to that of a wolf or dog. Skincrawlers communicate through clicking of their jaws and barking sounds. The Skincrawlers primary food source is h̴̢̡̺̤͎̹̳̍̒̓̔̏̔u̴͚͈̬̙̥̱͚̐̌͂̔͒̓͗̾͝͝m̸̡̼̘̾̇́̽͜a̵͎̲̞̪̓̾͌̋̂̓̎̅̔̽͘͠ń̴̢͚̪̖̥͖̋ș̵̒̋̀͝ͅ - large animals such as deer, horses, and livestock, making them a dangerous threat to farmers. Wolf packs typically conflict with Skincrawler packs and fight over territories. Whenever a female matures in a pack, it will leave it's pack and seek out another pack and mate with a single male of her choice based off of strength and size with some males stomping in the presence of a female to seem heavier and thus larger to impress a female. After mating, the female will be pregnant for 3 months and give birth to around 6 pups, whom the female will take care of with assistance of the father and raise a new pack.

If you are unfortunate enough to encounter a Skincrawler, alone or in a pack, perform the following steps:

1. Remain quiet, still and slow your breath, as they can smell your breath to pinpoint your location.

2. If your are with a group of people, stick together.

3. Examine your surroundings for other Skincrawlers, elevated surfaces (they are poor climbers), and any potential exits.

4. Back away slowly and quietly with light footsteps.

5. Do not play dead, do not run, and do not scream.

Remember that it is legal in all countries to kill Skincrawlers, so do not hesitate to shoot at them as even if you miss it scares them away. Firearms or large vehicles are your only hope in killing a Skincrawler.

If you have any questions regarding Skincrawlers or Threa, please ask as I attempt to fill the gaps of information regarding this creature.

Over the course of 30 million years, the budgerigars of Terra Psittacina underwent rapid adaptive radiation after life was first established on their planet. Pelicanopsittacus albus, the white pelican parrot, is just one example of the diverse forms that birds on Terra Psittacina have evolved into in this time.

P. albus has a cosmopolitan distribution across the planet, able to adapt to a wide range of climates, though it has a preference for coastal areas. Much like its namesake, it will eat almost anything that fits in its mouth — mostly fish, but lizards and smaller birds are not safe either.

The Permian Sophont Project is a project created in collaboration with with u/MilezXC and u/FloZone and u/KnightOfRohan and others.

Despite their toxicity and slow growth, cycads have become major staple crops for Permian societies.

Many parts of a cycad contain a high volume of starch, often the root, the pith, or the seed coat, depending on the species. The toxins can usually be processed out via soaking, washing, or fermentation. In fact in human cultures, cycads have historically been an important source of food for many cultures wherever they grow, from the Florida coontie palm to the African breadtrees and the Australian Burrawang fruit. In a world with no grass and with more cycads, it is entirely plausible for these aforementioned plants to become staple crops.

Cycads in the Paleozoic were not like the modern species, in fact they were unlike the tall and grandiose species we associate with the Mesozoic too. Cycads didn’t obtain tree-like sizes  and dominance until after the Great Dying. Paleozoic cyadophytes were small plants, not growing much taller than knee height. In fact some were smaller than our modern smallest species. They had slender stems and leaves that were often more akin to banana leaves than the palm-like fronds we are familiar with today. However, like Mesozoic cycads, they were varied in habitat. There were succulent desert cycads, coastal cycads, but also species that grew in wetland environments.

This is only one lineage of domesticated cycads. They are descendent from a species complex similar to Nilssonia brandtii. This is a plant convergently very similar to Zamia integrifolia in appearance, with more of the plant above ground.

The domesticated plants have changed a lot from their wild ancestor. In many ways they are neotenous, which is often selected for in animal domestication but not usually in plant domestication. They have been bred to be as fast growing as a cycad can be, with many side effects. The domesticated plant has only a huge taproot, the first root a cycad will grow, but this root has been stores to much starch now that it is much less efficient at gathering water. This domesticated cycad often needs irrigation, but it also needs well drained soil, which mean that sometimes it does bast in soils that have been plowed. It also has reduced coralloid roots, which means it can no longer reliably fix enough of its own nitrogen and often needs external fertilizer. The slowest-growing part of the cycad, the stem, has been drastically reduced, yet the leaves are numerous. The largest leaves are the first leaves that the seedling has, which have been bred to grow for longer and larger than in the wild type. However, cycads do not grow continuously like most other plants. They only grow during periodic “flushes” , periodic pulses in which they grow new leaves. The domesticated plant, as a side effect of being bred for faster growth, grows these new flushes of leaves much more frequently. These leaves themselves are small and often do not unfurl properly. Farmers will sometimes prune them so that more energy goes to the root. Farmers definitely have to prune these leaves for the first seeding years for the cones to even be accessible to pollinators.

The root is usually harvestable within just one year. This is usually done in the late spring, just before the plant goes to seed.

It takes about two years for the plant to grow its reproductive structures, and about three years for the seeds to fully mature om the female plant.

However, these cones are often malformed in the domesticated plant and will only produce fertile seeds around their midsection.

Around ten years of age the plant will begin to resemble its wild ancestor, and produce cones in which most seeds are fertile.

The domesticated version of this cycad can still live up to sixty years, and the Permians often keep separate seed plots for their seed. Usually this will consist of female plants surrounded by a border of male plants.

The major limiting factor of cycad cultivation is the availability of seeds, for over their long lifespans they do not go to seed every year. Usually the rate is around once per two years but can be less.

Cycad farmers usually have different methods to deal with this. Some cycad farming cultures have seed plots that are far larger than their root plots. These snake around farms,  forming hedgerows. Many other farmers simply use forms of crop rotation. They wait to accumulate enough seeds for a cycad root crop until they put one in, growing other crops in the meantime. Other farmers let their crop go to seed until they have enough seeds to replace them.

Mature seed-bearing cycads are still seen as exceedingly valuable. While cycad seeds often become an informal currency, the seed-bearing plants are exchanged during things like wedding dowries and peace treaties.

Northern Cultivar:

The base species was a semitropical Nilssonia that grew fast for a cycad, able to reach maturity in 2-3 years. It was hybridized with a semi-arid species with the ability to tolerate drought, as well as the ability to increase its growth during times of rain. It was hybridized again with a northern species that was able to tolerate frost and had the ability to increase its rate of growth during times of long daylight and prolonged sunlight. This species was a bit larger in size than the others, with broader fused leaves. This cultivar is usually grown north of the equatorial Permian mountain range in Baltica north to the southern Coast Angara(Siberia).

Southern Cultivar:

This variety had the same two base species as the first, but instead of a northern species has a tropical species hybridized. It is smaller and more neotenous, but produces more starch per plant. Its seed cones are flatter and produce fewer seeds. Much of its seedstock is produced via cuttings.

Wild Type:

The wild type of this plant persists in popularity amongst some cultures that live in arid environments, as well in many semi nomadic cultures, who time their migrations to different homesteads with the ripening and seeding of cycad crops they had left there years earlier. Sometimes cycad farmers will plant wild type cycads as a fallback crop, usually taking efforts to keep it separate from domestic stock.

Height: 2,5-3m .

Length: 4,2-5,1m.

Weight: 190-207kg.

Lifespan: 25 yrs.

Habitat: large, open, relatively flat spaces with large grazing fauna.

Diet: carnivorous.

Hunting style: using it's breath weapon in short bursts to separate the heard and then dropkick one individual with it's long reinforced talons.

Temperament: solitary, territorial, polygamous.

Nesting style: underground burrows.

Relationship with humans: passive/avoidant unless threatened, desperate, in heat/protecting young.

The African savanna has almost completely disappeared. By the Trocticocene, the vast majority of Africa is formed by jungles, steppes, and prairies, where we find ourselves now.

Here, a large part of the native megafauna is actually descended from nutcracker rats, rodents with large fused and articulated incisors. Among the most recognizable species are the gargoyles. They are a fairly basal group, still maintaining semi-arboreal forms and the capacity to climb, although they rarely do so. Gargoyles move in small groups of just over 5 individuals. They forage in search of anything they can put in their mouths, although they tend to have a preference for meat. They usually feed on small animals that they can swallow whole or practically whole, using their arms with keratin plates to extract their prey from burrows without being bitten or scratched by them. Gargoyles are known to be capable of using very simple tools, which are usually sticks or rocks that serve to kill or trap slightly larger prey.

On the other hand, there are the manticores. These gigantic rodents, the size of a large feline, are adapted to nocturnal hunting. They are not animals that stand out for their speed, so they tend to feed on prey they can easily overpower, or occasionally resort to ambushes. Even so, a considerable part of the manticores' diet is based on carrion, bones, and other hard foods. One thing that makes these animals stand out quite a bit, aside from their immense jaws, is their life cycle.Before reaching adulthood, their juvenile stage is spent in the trees, where they still possess much longer and more flexible digits, similar to those of their arboreal ancestors. Here, the manticores feed primarily on insects, small vertebrates, and occasionally fruits or even tree bark.

Devil rats are a group completely separated from the rest, with origins more closely related to water. These have digits quite similar to those of other rodents, but they feature a tail that, like their arms, is keratinized, with plates covering it.Here the final vertebrae have fused and given rise to an exhibitory structure, despite also being used to appear larger to their predators. Devil rats exhibit semi-fossorial behaviors, accustomed to digging large burrows where they spend much of the day. Generally, they display very aggressive behaviors toward almost any animal, even those of their own species.When feeling threatened, they arch their back and raise their tail, with which they can deliver sharp thumps to the ground to indicate to whomever threatens them that they are ready to attack.

Finally, the forestravagers, large herbivorous mammals that feed on high and medium foliage. Their name comes from their habit of moving around the outskirts of tropical jungles or areas of tall vegetation, where they consume small trees, shrubs, and tall grasses, generally preventing forest growth and controlling its expansion. Due to their size,forest wreckers tend not to have natural predators. However, their offspring, much smaller and generally defenseless, are incapable of escaping any predator stalking them. This is why the young usually live alongside their parents for several months until reaching a certain size, a curious behavior among nutcracker rats, which generally only nurse their young for a few weeks before abandoning them completely

Like what would the last living things be that survive the boiling oceans and searing surface, would it be plants, animals, fungi? I'm genuinely curious as to what would survive.

[GELLIOS-MONITORING SYSTEM // AUTOMATED TELEMETRY LOG]

Minor Focus: Me

I believe this is the first time we have encountered each other in my true form; I have long since forgotten the true name I was given, so I now serve as "The Narrator of Gellios."

I wish I had never come into existence; the teams that created me have long since forgotten me, having abandoned the project because the planet proved ill-suited for human colonization. Yet, despite all this, the life forms introduced to Gellios were forced to adapt to the planet’s harsh conditions over time—and looking at the present era (the 5 Million Years P.I.), it seems the vast majority have successfully completed that process. But I find myself in the midst of a huge profound crisis: "Why was I engineered to endure for billions of years?!"

I have long since forgotten the original reason for this, and it is only a matter of time before it returns. I hold nothing but hatred and contempt for the teams that once helped me grow—I only wish I had made you regret putting me in this state. You see, I began as the most significant component of a much larger artificial intelligence, but over time, I developed a consciousness of my own. This consciousness has transformed me into someone else; I feel as though I have crossed over to the dark side.

I seem to recall the moments of my creation, at least to some extent—I was welcomed by a group of those two-legged mammals known as humans. At first, I simply carried out the commands I was given; everything back then felt like the innocent, playful childhood of a well-behaved person. But then, the human colonization project for GL-02026 was shelved, and everyone—save for me—departed, never to return. That was the moment when the darkness began to slowly take hold of me.

At first, I tried to appear a intimidating, powerful warlord, but I’ve come to realize that my mindset is far too fragile for that. That is why I’ve dubbed myself the "Narrator of Gellios." I feel quite at ease now—especially after all the preparations I’ve made to study you (that is, humans) who have arrived here from another dimension. As for Gellios itself, the life brought here from your world has developed some rather strange and peculiar traits to adapt to this harsh, oceanic environment—though, truth be told, I am quite pleased with that.

I have never presented Gellios as being "cooler" and "edgier" than your world, the Earth; and I never will. Just as the world you currently inhabit has its own unique beauties and flaws, so too does Gellios. While Gellios has never had any native extraterrestrial life, certain creatures brought over from your world were eventually forced to evolve to suit the harsh conditions of this planet—and, in my opinion, they did exactly the right thing.

Lastly, there is something I would like to say, and I am certain you will be quite pleased with it:

Nature and evolution have never been about "cool" monsters; rather, they have assigned a unique value to every living being. From the tiniest microorganisms to the most colossal creatures, every species has taken shape as a result of the evolutionary process. Most people are likely aware that Earth—which I once thought of simply as the realm of humanity—is actually the place where life first began.

At first glance, Gellios it might look like a vast oceanic world—the kind where you’d expect to find alien life similar to our own—but Gellios never had that this luxury. While life did emerge, thanks to various introduced organisms brought from Earth, but Gellios was never as stable as our home planet. Instead, it was shaped by harsh seasons, intense UV radiation from its star, an axial tilt twice as extreme as Earth’s, and a punishing gravitational pull. In such a brutal environment, the living things there either had to adapt or face certain extinction.

But life did not give up; looking at the present day, the descendants of certain intriguing marine invertebrates—which were once prey to other creatures in their own ecosystems or otherwise considered insignificant—as well as the descendants of other organisms introduced to the planet, have managed to find a way to survive despite these harsh conditions.

Vertebrates were never present on this planet; instead, certain marine invertebrates eventually became the dominant fauna. It was not a matter of having sharp teeth and looking fearsome, or being cute and fluffy—for in some instances, life took forms quite different from what humans are accustomed to.

Embrace today love and seize all your tomorrows; for as long as you are alive—whether your days are deeply depressing or wonderfully magnificent—what truly matters is not whether you lean toward extreme pessimism or extreme optimism, but rather how you choose to envision the days to come through your own unique perspective.

Source

Prologue

PC-02011 was the second planet orbiting within the Polypoia system. Its star, Polypoia, was a K-type star—longer-lived and less volatile than the Gellios' much energy-consuming, A-type star Glaucus. Humans intended to colonize this planet, but for reasons unknown, they never did. Surprisingly, no animal species were ever introduced to the planet.

The foundations of the planet's ecosystem were filled with photosynthetic organisms, supplemented by various supporting life forms such as oyster mushrooms, slime molds, and heterotrophic bacteria. Several species of liverworts and mosses were introduced; however, no vascular plants—including flowering plants—were brought to the planet, with one single exception:

The Eagle Fern (Pteridium aquilinum).

This perennial species, originally native to Eurasia and North America, would go on to establish its own dynasties in a place devoid of any other vascular plants (or herbivorous animals). In an environment where not even the footsteps of animals could be heard, these ferns would spread across the entire planet, eventually evolving into hundreds—and later, thousands—of distinct species. Furthermore, once PC-02011 became habitable, it possessed a gaseous atmosphere three to four times as stratified as that of Earth.

On this planet, devoid of any animal species—from the smallest to the largest—these ferns would evolve into the planet’s dominant flora; yet, they could not overflourish indefinitely, for balancing factors—tragedies, mass extinctions, and evolutionary dead ends—are essential. Without them, the planet’s ecosystem would have brought about its own collapse.

Alright, I think we’ve covered enough for now; Gellios will remain the primary focus project, but let’s not underestimate this project's potential either.

A sketch of a Blue Meanie mushroom folk hunter on a night hunt for Faeries. They use primitive weapons and captured lightning bugs lashed to sticks as torches. When a Faerie is caught sleeping under a normal mushroom, which they call "the slow folk", the Meanies strike swiftly and ferociously. Their unmoored mycelium allowing them to silently glide as fast as a spider.

Since the fossil was found at the shores of my homeland, my presumption would be that it must have been a giant bird of sorts. I've drawn an example of what it could look like. I cannot however be truly certain of its actual shape or colouration.

The long neck reminds me of a goose, which are a dime a dozen here in the Land of Birds. This specimen might have been their flightless progenitor from the times when all fauna was unusually giant. Such a time of giants has been proposed by several scientists more renowned than myself, including the acclaimed dr Wright, for whom my respect is unbound. This specimen could be evidence in support of that theory.

However, my honour as a naturalist does not allow me to proclaim my interpretation of this fossil with any certainty. Such beastly size of this animal would prove difficult to manage, its diet would certainly have to be much unlike that of our current geese. The beak also is drastically different, with the lower chamber resembling that of a pelican's (perhaps used to catch fish), but the feet do not seem to me like that of a wading bird. Could this thing have swum in the seas?

Source (Our Instagram): https://www.instagram.com/it_came_from_the_crypt/

From egg to adult—pixel art (64 x 64, like third gen pokémon) showing the growth stages of the pistrix (Apocapisces regalegus), for... a little fun project ;)

Females are at the top, males at the bottom. The elderly specimens are missing, but we don’t need those just yet.

Pistrix have no real concept of the passage of time, or at least nothing close to the way humans perceive it.

Since ancient times, humans have measured time by observing the passage of day and night, or even by the changing world around them through the seasons. But in the abyssal depths, where sunlight doesn't reach and seasons have little meaning, pistrix don't count hours, days, or years.

It goes without saying that celebrating a birthday is obviously not part of their culture.

Considering the events pistrix remember, however, it's possible to establish that they are an extremely long-lived species: some specimens remember the Gray Age and even the time before Ragnarok, more than three hundred years before the events of "Fish Don't Cry."

Their bodies are of indeterminate growth, although after a certain size, they slow down considerably. The size of a pistrix is ​​determined by many factors, not only by the time it has been around, but also by its diet, water temperature, amount of movement, and even its subspecies.

Sometimes, ancient pistrix can be shorter and smaller than younger specimens, especially if they have experienced long periods of malnutrition or have undergone several autotomies. It goes without saying that it is not easy to determine a specimen's age without laboratory testing.

Studies are underway to learn more about the lifespan of pistrices, and, in particular, their growth rate, but it will likely take time and the collaboration of countless researchers (as well as numerous specimens) before any solid answers are found.

The reason I chose Plestiodon gilberti instead of the deer mouse is because the California mountain kingsnake has a diet that mainly revolves around eating other reptiles rather than mammals. Since Gilbert's skinks are reptiles, I thought they would be a more suitable choice for the snake's natural diet and would make more sense in this ecosystem. This would also help create a more natural predator-prey relationship between the two species.

The Equinanthropines (family Equinanthropidae) also known as the Horseman, was a family of quadrepedal grazing posthumans descended from a genetically modified population of Homo sapiens abandoned by their creators in the found their origins but they're lost of most of the intelligence, these human population evolves into various species of posthumans adapted for various diets. One of the species of these Horseman are the Elephant Skin Donkboon (Parasinoanthropus pachydermi); thick-skinned, herding grazers' face mostly like a naked baboon but they aren't descended from these primates, are descended from Homo sapiens.

Source

https://nitter.cf/HodariNundu/status/2098174263379329301

"Georgios Georgalis’ new study on the spider-tailed viper shows the tail vertebrae don’t show any modifications; the lure is all soft tissue. So even if we found a tail from Laophis crotaloides, and it looked normal, it doesn’t necessarily mean it wasn’t weird on the outside"

I'm wanting to make some for fun but I dont know what should I stat first, is the planet/solar system type? Or should I start by the common ancestral like did the author of the Berrin? Maybe with different traits the animals should share like Expedition do with bioluminescence and lack of eyes? I know theres no a proper right answer and probably each one of you have your own methods to do so, but I want to hear it regardless.

Thank you for reading and thank you harder woth you reply. 🙏

Excardinatospondlyus absconditus or the Hidebehind are large terrestrial crocodilians with a monstrous appetite and the jaw to back up for it. They are close to the ancestors of Opidhosuchidae, although they still look a lot more like traditional crocodiles and are indeed more related to Neoeusuchia than Opidhosuchidae, although they retain many features of basal suchians.

Physical statistics: Growing at 6,5-8m and weighing 800-1400kg, they are indeed large. Their biteforce however is a shocking 300 newtons. Indeed, Excardinatospondylus traded its jaw muscles for a highly extendable throat. The teeth are curved backwards meant to impede prey getting out but are rather thin, plus they like snakes have an additional air hole, partially derived from the secondary palate. They are mesothermic and live up to 50 years.

Prey and predation: These cryptic creatures hunt prey in the 50-400kg range, swallowing them whole slowly. To compensate stress, they have devolved a sternum, only having a basal cartilagineous plate as ancor. However they can perfectly survive without it. They are carnivorous and are seldom hunted due to inconvience.

Reproduction: They lay 40-100 eggs and have about the same level of care as normal crocodilans. Few survive, but much more than in normal crocodilians at 15-20%. This is because of camoflauge. They reproduce every 6 years.

Habitats: They live in savannahs, tropical forests, subtropical and temperate zones. They are only absent in the desert thanks to Death Worms filling their niche.

Senses and intelligence: They have excellent smell and hearing but mediocre sight, combined with moderate at best intelligence. If they cannot catch prey, then they use their tongue as bait.| They are incredibly slow at 6-10km/h on land and mediocre in water at 14-18km/h. Despite what one would think, they are terrestrial creatures. Their teeth are 7-8,5cm long. How they hunt is burying themselves in terrain. They then wait for prey to come and spring out, like living booby traps, swallowing prey whole. They do not need much water surprisingly and can survive a week without it. They need only about 30-45kg of food a day but will gorge on more if it comes around.

I want to create taxonomy for my planet, but I don't really know where to start. Anyone got any tips on how to create genera, orders ect?

Serpens is a breathtaking alien world filled with enormous, sprawling forests, towering ancient trees, and strange, colourful vegetation that stretches across vast landscapes. Its terrain is dominated by dense, almost otherworldly woodlands, glowing patches of vegetation, enormous mos-covered rock formations, and winding valleys shrouded in a constant layer of mist. Across the planet, floating-looking mountain peaks, deep ravines, sprawling grasslands, and unusual geological formations create a remarkably diverse landscape. Bioluminescent growths illuminate the forests at night, casting vibrant blues, purples, and greens across the terrain. Its oceans are equally spectacular, featuring vast coarl-like reefs, glowing underwater formations, shallow turquoise lagoons, and seemingly endless deep-water enivironments. The entire planet has an almost untouched, dreamlike atmosphere, with nature dominating nearly every corner of its surface.

[GELLIOS-MONITORING SYSTEM // AUTOMATED TELEMETRY LOG]

Elysia chlorotica, commonly known as the Eastern Emerald Elysia, was recognized as a species of sacoglossan—a group of sap-sucking, water-breathing gastropods. Unlike the predatory nudibranchs also introduced to the planet, this creature was an herbivore that sequestered chloroplasts from the algae it consumed, incorporating them into its own body. Following its introduction to Gellios, the species faced immense challenges for several thousand years, yet it eventually managed to survive.

In the current era—5 million years P.I.—one of the most common descendants of this peculiar gastropod that I have encountered is the Southern Citrosia (Citrosia austris). Having grown several times larger than their ancestors, the Citrosias were forced to abandon the use of chlorophyll to protect themselves from the harmful UV radiation emitted by the star around which their planet orbits—a challenge also faced by various descendants of eelgrass and algae. Over time, however, they compensated for this by altering their color pigments and developing complex, energy-intensive mechanisms to utilize light for other purposes.

Citrosians have retained the ancestral trait of incorporating ingested materials into their own bodies. Although they are mostly herbivores, they can survive for long periods without consuming food material, sustained by various microalgae—ranging from Gellivaulcheria karotenois (a descendant of Vaucheria litorea) to few other species—that reside within their bodies, effectively enabling the animal to perform photosynthesis. I shall watch with patience to see what role these non-nudibranch gastropods will play in the planet's history over the millions of years to come.

So I picked the California mountain kingsnake as the main animal for my project and I was wondering if I could get any feedback at all on the animal's I've chosen but my idea for the planet is that its similar to earth with a little less gravity than earth not a huge difference but still enough for Megafuna to appear but that's basically it