trashysaur1125

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Just a fun reminder that "avians" evolved twice independently on Athrmagaia!!

Pachyalatans are a type of heteropod, a non-modular xeno-vertebrate. The streaked cavyhawk is a Polypteran, a clade of volant Euathyrmatherians that outcompeted the Pachyalatans in the "bird of prey" niches.

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Necktacular

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I will not elaborate on this thing further. Not yet, anyway lol

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The skull anatomy of a mock ox, a common Ruminantiforme in the Borean steppe.

Ruminantiformes are generally herbivores that ferment bioplastic vegetation in their crop. Like all Athyrmatherians, they lack teeth, instead possessing a keratinous rhampotheca (beak), and their lower jaw is actually a modified pair of limbs that have a limited degree of independent movement. Their true mandibles are internalized, and work in conjunction with a horny dental pad on the palate to serve as their equivalent of molars. Vegetation is chewed orthopalinally, sort of like various ornithischian dinosaurs.

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Reworked the proportions of the fingers a bit, they felt too long before.

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The Astutocentaurini & Death Part 2: Utility Vessels

As discussed before, the Astutocentaurini believe in the idea of two deaths: death of the self (the head) and death of the vessel (the body). But how are headless citizens dealt with while still alive? Following self-death, the vessel of an Athyrmatherian has the potential to live for a long time under controlled conditions, anywhere from a year to nearly a century, depending on the creature's species and age. The feudal societies of the world have thus converged on a similar solution: At some point in their adult life, a person will usually be required to sign a will in which they can either decline or agree to posthumously donate their vessels to society. These repurposed vessels are known as "utility vessels."

A utility vessel can be considered an archaic sort of biotechnology, an organic automaton that can be sold and used for various purposes. When awaiting ownership or rental by an employer, they are typically housed and maintained in storage facilities called "body shops," eerily reminiscent of auto shops in their presentation and purpose. They can even be modified surgically and "mechanically" to certain degrees if permitted by a will, although more extensive cases of body modification can be rather controversial. Despite this apparent commoditization, utility vessels are treated with an odd yet palpable sense of respect and reverence, which is culturally analogous to our respect for the dead. Indeed, the very shops they are sold by tend to be subsidiaries of the same funeral homes that house their deceased selves, and employers are legally obligated to return dead vessels so they can be buried in the same graves. With each use, utility vessels are paid in money for their services, and some laws and regulations advise against any particular uses that may be deemed indignant to the former persons. It is also common for utility vessels to be dressed in lavish and beautiful garbs or intricately carved bioplastic shells that match their cultural backgrounds. The centerpiece of these decorations is a custom-carved "persona," a fake head that, in addition to functioning as a feeding tube, serves as a symbolic reminder of the person the vessel used to be attached to.

Under native legal definitions, utility vessels are usually classified into three types based on their composition and functionality. Type "A" utility vessels consist of the thoracic, upper, and lower abdominal zooids, with the thoracic zooid housing a ganglion that makes them autonomous enough to perform specific tasks in response to certain stimuli. This allows them to haul or carry loads similar to pack animals, with the behaviors being conditioned through rhythmic ground vibrations and rewards of liquid food. Type "B" utility vessels consist of only the upper and lower abdominal zooids, and they lack autonomy outside metabolic regulation and basic righting and balancing. Due to this, they have to be pulled or pushed manually like living carts, and they are mostly used to carry lighter loads or to act as portable bases for more stationary equipment. Type "C" utility vessels are essentially any singular zooid that is separated from a composite, and they are typically relegated to use as a surgery stock for organ transplants, zooid replacements, and sometimes to "construct" more complete utility vessels.

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The Cosmology of Athyrmagaia, the Home World of the Astutocentaurini

Athyrmagaia is like a distant twin of Earth in many regards. It is the third planet of a G-type main-sequence star called "Doppelganger", and it lies right in the system's Goldilocks zone. It is one of three celestial bodies in this system that currently harbors complex multicellular life, the other two being the sweltering hot Musp and the frigid Hel, both of which we will examine at a later date. Athyrmagaia is about 93.928 miles away from its home star, and it travels an elliptical counterclockwise orbit that is about 413 Earth days long. Its axial tilt is about 24.2 degrees, which results in slightly more dramatic seasons throughout the year. With an axial rotation speed of about 893 mph, its days are about 28 hours long, just four more hours longer than our own planet.

Athyrmagaia has two natural satellites, nicknamed "Nicholas" and "Kringle" respectively. Nicholas behaves similarly to the Terran moon, whose counterclockwise orbit takes about 29.5 local days to complete. Its most fundamental difference, however, is that it has its own sub-moon, Kringle, which is less than a quarter of its size. As Nicholas orbits Athyrmagaia, Kringle occasionally comes between them, which amplifies lunar gravitational forces. As a result, the tidal patterns on Athyrmagaia are much more complex, and in addition to the daily cycle of high and low tides, there is a larger monthly cycle in which the tides get their highest and lowest at the very middle of the month. The moons are tidally locked, with Nicholas locked to Athyrmagaia and Kringle locked to Nicholas.

Several of Athyrmagaia's geophysical characteristics are shockingly close to those to those of Earth. It is about 12,742 kilometers in diameter and has a total mass of 5.972 × 10^24 kg. The centrifugal forces of its axial rotation give it a subtly ellipsoidal shape (although it's practically imperceptible). Its chemical composition is also somewhat similar; the crust comprises oxides containing elements such as aluminum, calcium, silicon, iron, potassium, and magnesium, and its mantle is a mixture of superheated rock and magma comprised of silicates. Its core, just like that of Earth, is a 1,200-kilometer sphere of superheated iron and nickel. However, it is a much older planet, estimated to be about 8.043 billion years old. Despite its advanced age compared to our home, Athyrmagaia is still a very tectonically active world. Mid-ocean ridges constantly ooze hot magma as tectonic plates slowly and steadily shift Athyrmagaia's surface features, and active volcanoes can be found here as well. Its metallic core also acts like an electrical generator, and its kinetic energy generates a strong magnetosphere that shields the planet's surface from deadly UV radiation. It should be noted, however, that there is some geological evidence that Athyrmagaia experienced an unexplained, albeit brief, period of "tectonic arrest" around 230 million years ago. This event is believed to be linked to the Borea-Comedian Mass Extinction Event and was likely responsible for the formation of Cronos, a monstrous (and thankfully long-dead) shield volcano with a surface area comparable to Saudi Arabia.

Like Earth, most of Athyrmagaia's surface comprises of an interconnected global ocean with large continental landmasses. However, Athyrmagaia's continents and oceans are much more localized than the more generously distributed Earth, with the northern latitudes being mostly land and the southern latitude mostly ocean. The sea can be divided into the Great Central Ocean, the Polar Ocean, the East and West Crescent Oceans, and the Comedian Ocean. Inversely, the planet only has three continents: Borea, Comedia, and Austrus. Although the continents are few, they comprise a relatively substantial portion of the planet's surface. Borea, the biggest continent, exceeds Europe and Asia in size and is formed from two smaller continental units (Macroborea and Microborea). It is so large that it wraps around almost the entirety of the northernmost latitudes, and the mountain range that forms the border of its larger and smaller regions runs straight through the north pole. Its smaller western neighbor, Comedia, still exceeds most of Earth's other continents in terms of scale, including Africa. On the opposite end of this scale is Athyrmagaia's only southern hemisphere continent, Austria. It is the smallest continent, so much so that it has less surface area than Australia. The rest of the southern hemisphere, save for the southernmost portion of Comedia and a few islands, is almost entirely marine, and the south pole is essentially in the middle of the ocean.

Athyrmagaia's atmosphere is nearly identical to Earth's. In terms of composition, it is about 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 0.9% argon, while the other 0.1% is comprised of other gases such as carbon dioxide and neon. It also lacks a definite boundary, and it has an average atmospheric pressure of 1013.25 millibars at sea level. This means it is breathable for Humans, and the surface can be explored without a pressure suit. Similar gases are also found in the oceans, though, as expected, they are present in different quantities.

An Earth-like atmosphere and hydrosphere also means an Earth-like biosphere. Regarding chemical composition, life here is probably the most similar to Earth out of all alien biospheres known to science at this time. Not only are they carbon-based, but their biology has converged on the same macromolecules as ours, and they even encode their genetic information using DNA and RNA. This is exceptionally rare, as most known forms of carbon-based alien life often use alternative polymers for their genetics. A differing cell structure also makes us immune to Athyrmagaian pathogens, which means that a human would be able to eat Athyrmagaian food with minimal health risks.

Except for a small number of Archaean-like methanogens, a vast majority of the microbial and multicellular organisms on Athyrmagaia are aerobic respirators that use oxidative phosphorylation to produce ATP and require essential elements such as oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon to survive. Not only do they rely on this Terran atmosphere to live and breathe, but they also play a role in recycling and replenishing its gases. The heterotrophs ("consumers") feed on other living things as they use oxygen from the atmosphere to power their metabolism, releasing carbon dioxide as a byproduct. Meanwhile, the autotrophs ("producers") replenish this oxygen by using carbon dioxide and abiotic energy sources to produce their own food, which separates the oxygen from the carbon and reintroduces it to the atmosphere. These autotrophic forms also made the planet's water and air breathable to begin with; back before the first autotrophs and heterotrophs evolved, the oxygen content was much lower, and there were significantly larger quantities of carbon dioxide on both land and sea.

Biochemical and metabolic similarities aside, it is still quite an alien biosphere compared to our own, and there are multiple discrepancies between Earth and Athyrmagaia biology that complicate the possibilities of human habitation. While we are immune to each other's diseases, there is still a small possibility that they may adapt to infect alien cells, which means that environmental suits are still recommended for surface exploration. The "plant" life uses polylactic acid (a type of bioplastic) in addition to cellulose to construct their cuticles. This substance is indigestible to Earth animals, but many of the native organisms are well suited for dealing with it. The planet's equivalent of cellulolytic "bacteria" can break down polylactic acid using the enzyme proteinase K, which degrades the substance through hydrolysis. Some herbivorous animals are also able to produce this enzyme to assist in digesting vegetation, though most just utilize symbiotic forms of the former microbes to do so. It also just so happens that polylactic acid is highly flammable, and it releases gaseous isopropyl alcohol when it is burned with flame. Due to this, naturally occurring wildfires often release plumes of toxic gas that linger for several days before dissipating. Fortunately, most of the native fauna are highly resistant to these toxic emissions.

Athyrmagaia's global climate is one that us Terrans would be very comfortable in. It's global temperature is similar to that of Earth during the Pliocene epoch, and it is currently in the midst of a minor warm period that started about 2,000 Terran years ago. Unlike the artificially-induced global warming that once threatened our Earth, Athyrmagaia's warm period is a wholly natural climatic trend, and it is a result of the millennia-spanning variations in its proximity to its home star. Based on current estimates, the planet will likely enter another glacial maximum (or "Ice Age") within the next millennia, as the planet has already started cooling down slightly over the course of the past century of study.

Just like Earth, Athyrmagaia's surface can be subdivided into latitudinal belts that constitute regions of relatively homogeneous climate. From the equator to the poles, these bands represent tropical, subtropical, temperate and polar climates respectively. This is because latitudes closer to the poles tend to get less direct sunlight than those in the tropics. Some of the other major determining factors of regional climate and weather on Athyrmagaia are atmospheric and oceanic circulation; Tropical and polar easterlies in higher and lower latitudes blow from the east, while prevailing westerlies in middle latitudes blow from the west, which distributes both warm and cool air across the land and sea. Oceanic currents also play a part in this process, bringing precipitation from the tropics to higher and lower latitudes. These phenomena, combined with the varied topographical features of landmasses, forms a wide variety of biomes. The poles are capped with ice and tundra, while the equator forms a belt of steamy jungle. Subtropical latitudes form dry forests, shrublands, deserts and savannahs, and the temperate latitudes consist of forests, steppes, and taiga.

As a result of its 24.2-degree axial tilt, Athyrmagaia is also a highly seasonal world, with springs, summers, autumns and winters that become more noticeable as you travel further away from the equator. The seasons of the north and southern hemispheres are opposite to each other; In the northern hemisphere, the year starts with winter, which is followed by spring, summer and autumn until it cycles back to winter at the end of the year. In the southern hemisphere, the year instead starts with summer, which is followed by autumn, winter, and spring and then ends with summer once again. At the equator, however, no such seasons exist, with there instead being two wet seasons and two dry seasons. Larger climatic trends have also occurred as a result of variations in the axial tilt and proximity to the sun over the course of millions of years, such as the current warm period.

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I plan on adding sea people of sorts to my Athyrmagaia project, and in my head currently they're all like

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A male Shovelperson (Astutocentaurus alluvium), getting ready for some farmwork.

Shovelfolk are a basal species of sophont Astutocentaurini that lives almost exclusively in the river valleys of the Takaran Western Weave. They are a small yet very ancient species, having survived for over 3.8 million years and outlived all four previous iterations of global civilization. Not only that, but they are the only living sophonts that retain a cultural memory of these advanced prehistoric societies, which has led to many of Borea's other cultures to regard them as a wise and experienced race (although not everyone agrees.)

Shovelfolk are mostly pacifists, living in primitive albeit egalitarian clans. Due to a fairly long cranial lifespan (about 100 to 150 years compared to the 70 to 90 years of other closely related species) and relatively slow fecundity, warfare is very rare among them, and a more subtle sexual dimorphism means that men and women are not nearly as segregated regarding their societal roles, which has likely played a part in their species' persistence across deep time. Despite existing mostly outside of Borean feudal interspecies society, they regularly cooperate with the Borean oliphaunts and the Plainer tribes in their everyday lives and are on fairly good terms with the former in particular. They are also skilled at masonry and metallurgy, and they take pride in their rather extensive use of excavating tools, particularly their namesake shovels. Their greatest achievements, however, would have to be their warrens, vast underground villages that they bore directly into cliff faces of solid rock and clay. They've been building and living in these warrens for millions of years, which has resulted in their current condition of shorter, more robust limbs and smaller body sizes (only about 3 feet to be exact.) Their distribution is largely relegated to the river valley, and as a result, their cultures and religions are largely identical to each other. Despite this, they have managed to maintain a stable population and healthy gene pool by regularly outbreeding with neighboring Shovelfolk clans. Rather fittingly, a particularly common theme in Shovelfolk cultures is their reverence for the Takara River itself, and it is a fairly common motif in their clothes and artwork.

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These were fish

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It's the beginning of a new saga

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Serina the manga

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the largest animal ever to fly the great lance dragon or langoon are giant Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaurs that rule over saikin with a serrated beak and powerful claws these animals are capable of hunting prey up to a ton or more in weight The langoon are most similar to the long extinct azdarchids in appearance and indeed hunt on the ground in a similar fashion yet perhaps surprisingly these animals are far closer to Genera like Harpactognathus than any Azdarchoid

langoon are known to mate for life with males building nests to impress females if the female deems his nest building skills acceptable she will chose him as a lifelong mate they are also unique as being a pterosaur that actively care for their young they have few offspring but the young have a far greater chance at survival this way

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Ok so, here’s a funky fact: in the early evolution of fish, the claspers (reproductive organs still present in modern sharks) actually began as a genuine third pair of limbs. Sooo what if instead of becoming purely reproductive, the claspers instead developed into full on legs.

Basically what I’m saying here is six-finned fish -> hexapedal early tetrapods -> hexapedal temnospondyls -> hexapodal tiny weirdo arboreal dendrerpetids that develop membranes to glide -> amphibian dragons

they have little grabby hands and spurt venom out of their mouths and they are my precious new babies