Sagan 4 Creature Feature #61 – Tamjack
By Hydro | June 15, 2013
By Jlind11
The tamjack split from its ancestor. Their fur has shortened and they have become more streamline in order to swim faster, its movement similar to Earth’s otter. The scales on its back have shrunk and increased in number. They now serve the same function as the scales on Earth sharks in that they direct water into currents over the body, thus increasing aerodynamics. Their primary adaptation is their tail. Instead of being a thick rudder, it now has serrated edges like a saw. Not only does this allow individuals to chop down larger flora for use in their floating nests, but the grooves also add power to their swimming strokes, in a similar way to the bumpy grooves on Earth’s humpback whales; they can also swing their ax-like tail as a weapon in and out of the water if they are threatened. It has become so successful that it has replaced its ancestor in all but the southern coasts of Dixon.
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Sagan 4 Creature Feature #60 – Hullback
By Hydro | May 16, 2013
By Hydromancerx
The hullback split from its ancestor, the seashellsnapper. However with so much competition in Bumpy Polar Coast, its ancestor was forced out and eventually went extinct there. Now in the open ocean, it had to drastically adapt or die.
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Sagan 4 Creature Feature #59 – Tunnel Rustling
By Hydro | April 11, 2013
By Jlind11
The tunnel rustling split from its ancestor and moved into the Barlow Desert, following the pionferruses. It has shrunk to half its size, both to make its subterranean lifestyle easier as well as to prevent it from exhausting its food source.
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Sagan 4 Creature Feature #58 – Gupongrass
By Hydro | March 22, 2013
By Rhodix
The gupongrass split from its ancestor and grown larger leaves. Starch buds protrude from the base, which also stores it in large amount inside, giving it a soft structure. The bush base is quite small, growing no more than 10 cm long. It will bend according to the water flow direction, eventually being broken or uprooted and fixed in another place. It lost the ability to grow runners, but still can form huge fields due to the large amount of leaves that keep growing and detaching from the base, regenerating new bushes when resting on the ground.
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Sagan 4 Creature Feature #57 – Arboreal Flunejaw
By Hydro | February 14, 2013
By Bardic
The arboreal flunejaw split from its ancestor, the rainforest flunejaw. The evolution of the bighorn krugg and its eating of flunejaw eggs took a toll on the flunejaw population. Some responded simply by being more protective of their eggs, but some took a different route: they began climbing the newly evolved tribranch grovecrystal, then the tallest flora in their environment. Regaining their distant ancestor’s mucus-coated eggs, but also keeping the eggs hard-shelled, they could lay eggs on the ‘bark’ of the grovecrystals. To climb trees, they had to become smaller, so they became half as large as their ancestor.
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Sagan 4 Creature Feature #56 – Minibean
By Hydro | January 11, 2013
By Nergali
The minibean has split from its ancestor and has undergone a unique transformation. Ancient genes for the strainbean form have become reactivated in this, causing it to resemble it in form, save for such traits as a tiny, nearly functionless mouth that only drags in water and the ability to absorb nutrients directly through its skin. Its populations have boomed throughout the nearly barren sea where it now thrives.
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Sagan 4 Creature Feature #55 – Charyflora
By Hydro | December 11, 2012
By Hydromancerx
The charyflora split from its ancestor the charybdis. Its life cycle has become more simplified with an egg, larva, pupa and adult stages. The eggs, larva and pupa stages are nearly identical to its distant ancestor the metamorph fee, while the adult phase most closely resembles the charybdis’ female secondary adult stage. They now use “parthenogenesis” to reproduce and thus are all female. In the adult phase it is mainly a detritivore, but also supplements its diet by having marine basilliphyta grow in special transparent nodules that grow on branches that protrude from its body. They can grow 2 to 6 branches and on each branch grow 8 to 12 nodules. The marine basilliphyta are given a protective place to grow and are given nutrients while in return the charyflora gets to absorb excess sugars the marine basilliphyta makes from photosynthesis.
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Sagan 4 Creature Feature #54 – Tripodician
By Hydro | November 12, 2012
By Nergali
A new dawn has begun for the tripodician, the hybridized descendant of the tripodian and the pygmypodian, both of which it eventually replaced. Their brains have become complex enough for the gift of sapience to fall upon them, allowing them to no longer be ruled by their surroundings and instead shape them to their own needs.
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Sagan 4 Creature Feature #53 – Urkamen
By Hydro | October 3, 2012
By Time Traveling T-rex
The urkamen split from its ancestor and migrated south-east to the Slarti Salt Flats. It has a symbiotic relationship with the urshowad, an organism it protects. The two organisms share whatever food they get by integrating their circulatory systems. The integration is much more intimate than in their ancestors’, who would consume each-others sap and blood. In the urkamen and urshowad, the sap and blood flow in the same vessels, mixing together.
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6th Anniversary
By Hydro | September 2, 2012
Today marks the 6th anniversary of the creation of Sagan 4. Many creative people have worked on this project over the last 6 years. We have had people come and go, just like the species of Sagan 4. Many thanks to everyone who has participated in the past and present. May Sagan 4 have many years to come. Happy Anniversary of Sagan 4!
In the image above it shows a picture by each person who has been on the Sagan 4 team.
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