Terra 2: A Second Tree Of Life

10 Million Years PE: Almara

10 Million Years Post Establishment; Almara

So long has passed since the beginning of the project now that the land itself has changed. Darsi has started moving north to the pole, Almara to the southeast and Okiina has begun breaking apart. The climate is continuing to cool and more and more ice is forming, lowering the sea level and exposing more land. The landbridges that once connected the supercontinent of Terra had broken as of 8 million years PE and sunny, warm days have been replaced with grey, melancholy ones. Rainfall has been steadily decreasing, especially at the equator, and has caused bamboo forests to grow less frequently. The climate is changing so quickly now that some lifeforms have been unable to keep up and have gone extinct. For the first time in Terra 2's history it is already suffering an early extinction event, though only a few hundred species have gone extinct. Most life at the equator had adapted for warm, temperate weather. Some robins had become large and flightless, about the size of emus, by 7 million years PE and some kiwis had even lost feathering around certain areas of their body, like the belly or neck. But now such species who couldn't adapt quick enough are extinct and have been replaced by hardier creatures. We will now look at the various flora and fauna inhabiting the northernmost continent of Almara in more detail.

(Disclaimer: Latin/scientific names in this entry do not follow binomial nomenclature)

Fauna

Capbara Descendants

Capyram

The capyram has evolved from large baras of 5 million years PE that started mating through sexual selection. In this instance, the females particularly liked males with strength and muscles who could fight off threats such as other somewhat dangerous males, and keep their mate safe. The males who mated with these females therefore had strong, capable children (more so if they were male) who would mature and repeat the cycle, spreading the beneficial genes. But when two males wanted to mate with the same female they wouldn't simply allow each other to have a turn like most baras, but would instead proceed to fight each other for the right of preserving their genes. And the females quite enjoyed the spectacle of the two males, often larger than the females, violently bump into each other. As of 8 million years PE, the males were almost 4 feet tall at the shoulder and had small protrusions on the top of their skull, derived from the bone of their cranium, which they would use to protect themselves during fights, instead of using it as an offensive tool as in Earth rams.

But now, 10 million years post establishment, the capyram is a large herbivorous rodent the size of a large mountain goat with a similar apetite, consuming over 75lbs of grass and shrubs every day. Instead of horns, though, the capyram has a large plate of bone on their head encased in a thin layer of keratin, giving it a rough appearance, stretching from the forehead to just above the nostrils. They primarily use this plate to engage in interspecific combat between males. Females also have this plate but it's less developed and lacks the keratin plate, giving it a white/rusty yellow appearence and is much more vulnerable to damage (the females can sometimes be involved in fights with others over food as well, or with any male that doesn't take "no" as an answer). The capyrams still have the same box-like shaped skull of their ancestors and ever-growing teeth. Their fur can range from pale grey to brown or black, depending on the species, with most having grown hair on their previously exposed toes.