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Published: 2020-01-09 10:51:13 +0000 UTC; Views: 650; Favourites: 6; Downloads: 0
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Description
A yellow sun dawns.And it bathes with its warmth the lands of Tletonatiuh.
It's been 2My since the ships took off and left the world to the new life, and before diving fully into the changing biosphere of the planet, watching it adapt in each period of geological time, we will see the first steps of its new inhabitants.
Greens adapt:
The plants did not have much difficulty adapting to the light of a G0 sun, their spectrum being quite similar to that of the original sun, but the new climates and the lack of competition helped the appearance of new evolutionary lines.
In the desert plains, few things have changed, but now the Cacti extend further north where their C3 photosynthesis is more effective. The warmer areas are dominated by the Agaves and some gigantic Cacti, but not only are they restricted here. The Agaves seem to have adapted well to more rainy and humid environments forming spiny lumps of sharp leaves that stand out in the fields of Peanut.
Peanuts have also adapted, and shrub varieties have quickly appeared in wooded areas and grasslands, some reaching large sizes. Despite this, its fruits have not changed much, although in shrub varieties they are no longer buried in the ground and serve as food for some animals.
The Dandelions also have shrub varieties, especially in the cooler areas such as the poles and in the high mountains, where the pines seem not to thrive and have become the dominant plants.
The ferns, without any competition so far in the rain forests, have become the dominant plants, some now resemble palm trees and are up to 20m high. But his reign will not last long.
Finally, the Pines have not changed much. Smaller varieties have appeared and even some could be considered shrubs, and some populations have adapted to warmer and tropical environments, getting closer to the equator.
In the oceans, Kelp and Brune Algae have become the dominant photosynthesizers and form large forests where water is rich in nutrients.
First and Minute Steps:
The arthropods have also adapted to the planet, favored by a lower gravity and an increasing concentration of O2, some have begun a process of gigantism.
The Crabs and Lobsters have not changed much, but some populations have become smaller and others have grown slightly. There are even varieties that make inroads on the coast.
Millipedes have not changed much either, but now some species grow to giant sizes of 30cm because of the abundant plant matter, and even begin to feed on living plant matter.
The Pine Processionary in warmer environments has left aside its social behavior and has become a solitary variety, ignoring its equals. Instead, they remain social at the poles, and form large nests in the Pines. Other varieties, both social and solitary, have begun to feed on other plants, although they still prefer the Pines. They have also suffered gigantism, but to a lesser extent.
The Cockroaches have been the most successful group of all. Being able to digest a great diversity of foods, varieties with predatory predispositions about other cockroaches soon appeared. Others instead became vegetarians, and some of these have reached amazing sizes of 15cm and have begun to breathe actively, and even Cockroaches capable of feeding on wood appeared. With the increasing depredation on this group, some Cockroaches began to actively use the flight.
The Camel Spiders did not undergo many changes, although now some live in more humid areas and have become a little larger.
To end the group, the Bees have apparently not changed, although their diversity has grown. Some bees from open areas have become more aggressive to protect their nests from invaders, and others have begun to add plant products to their diets, but a population of bees has changed markedly.
The Egoist Bee (in the image), inhabitant of the desert and semi-desert zones, has left behind its sociability to become a solitary Bee that builds its nests in the Agaves that it uses as food for its larvae. This incredible change is a response to the scarcity of flowers in such environments, which may be separated by kilometers from each other, and which are not enough to sustain a colony. These Bees are larger than average, carrying with them a store of fats and sugars for long trips in search of companions and flowers, with a silvery exoskeleton to reflect the light of the merciless sun and avoid overheating. Even so, mortality rates are really hight.
Shells and Reefs:
Those that have adapted better to the seas were the Mussels. Without any competitor except the sponges, the Mussels reefs prospered, forming extensive colonies in all the seas and subdivided into hundreds of different species with unique shells, although somewhat conservative in form.
Other Mussels, because of the predation of Chimaeras and other fish, developed thicker and rounder shells, making them more difficult to bite and resembling a thick clam. Giant mussel species also appeared.
Speaking of mollusks, the snails also adapted. With the abundant vegetal matter and without vertebrate competitors, the herbivorous species of the group of the Invertebrates grew. Including snails, also favored by low gravity. The snails did not change their diets, but their environment and some returned to fresh water, growing more than their terrestrial companions if they were not eaten before.
Returning to the seas, Sea Urchins underwent a great expansion. With nutritious Kelp forests massively at the poles, the Echinoderms thrived exponentially, and hundreds of varieties now live there, varying in color and size, some now poisonous, and others with long, thick spines. But its expansion will soon be controlled.
To finish, the porifera did not scarcely change, they gained in diversity and form small reefs or they are incorporated to the reefs of Mussels.
The Great and Little Blue:
For marine vertebrates and the pelagic environment, things also changed. Now the zooplankton is formed by larvae of Mussels, Crustaceans and Porifera mainly.
The Ctenophores, without competition also in the niche of pelagic plankton feeder, grew to large sizes, dragging long and sticky tentacles to feed.
Arrow worms also grew, like most species on the planet, although they are still tiny with 1.8cm in length on average, because of the abundance of zooplankton.
Zooplankton is not the only source of food. Lampreys also adapted to the shortage of fish in the sea, and now their tongue-plunger has been modified like a radula to help them get an extra protein from their prey. This has caused their food sources to develop thicker and harder skins, which in turn causes an increase in the radula power in a feedback cycle.
Other Lampreys have started looking for other food sources, and some of the Lamprey with Radula now also depredate Sea Urchins and Mussels. And even a group of these has lengthened its larval stage and shortened that of adult to take better advantage of the plankton.
The lampreys had another impact on the seas and rivers of Tletonatiuh. The strong predatory pressure caused the phenotypes of smaller fish to be reduced, unable to survive the constant attacks. The result has been that Chimeras and Stripes have thicker and harder skins, or that they grow in size. Lungfish already had rigid scales, so they were not so affected.
The Chimeras also evolved in other directions. Some have started to feed on small urchins and those that ate mussels have grown slightly because of their abundance. Other varieties have also begun to feed on Lamprey.
The Rays have not changed much, but now some have returned to the sea. In rivers, where they are most protected from lampreys, some Rays have decreased in size and now have a more active lifestyle.
Finally, the Lungfish have adapted perfectly to the rivers and now there are hundreds of varieties in size and behavior. Some have begun to feed on the vegetation, others depredate the smaller Rays and some Lamprey. Some varieties have adapted to the innermost rivers, which dry up irregularly when the rains cease, and they have recovered the instinct to dig burrows to wait for the return of the water, like their relatives from faraway Africa.
Sunrise of the Vertebrates:
On land, Vertebrates have also expanded.
The Marsupial Mole soon lost the habit of digging burrows to become a predator of insects on the surface, especially at the poles where the Varans do not compete with them. Others left the deserts behind and began to dig in more humid lands.
The Geckos also adapted to the soil, and some varieties have become terrestrial Geckos, but because of the higher predatory pressure they have adapted to resemble their surroundings to some extent, since "only" 2My have passed. They are also larger, since giant insects abound here, and in order to break their hard cuticles they needed larger jaws. Those who have remained in the trees continue to resemble their relatives, without too many changes.
Other scaly, the snakes, have changed their diets and now there are also predatory varieties of vertebrates, especially Geckos in the trees and soil, but also giant insects and arthropods in the ground, so they also grew by the same reasons that the Geckos. Besides these, other snakes adapted to take advantage of the rivers and now there are varieties that feed on fish intermittently.
To finish, the master of the ecosystem, the Monitors, has adapted surprisingly. Unlike the other terrestrial vertebrates that had small bodies and predatory pressures, the varans were able to make the most of their abilities. Now they have appeared Tree-dwelling Varans living in the trees, others have adapted to live near the rivers. Some varieties have begun to feed on the fruits of the Peanut-Bushes, something too hard for their reptile relatives.
Unlike the rest of reptiles, who would be unable to defend themselves from attacks by bees, a variety of Varanid has begun to feed on bee hives, though only occasionally.
Another unusual variety is one that runs on its hind legs in the desert, feeding on everything it finds, including Cockroach, Camel Spiders, and Agave and Cactus fruits.