Terra 2: A Second Tree Of Life

Trading Places: Burrowing Baras & Land Dwelling Hamsters

15 Million Years Post Establishment

For millennia, hamsters have been adorable burrowing critters with a love of holes in the ground, even on Earth. On Earth, hamsters had been domesticated and left defenseless with their still intact burrowing tendencies that they were unable to put into practice as a consequence of them living in human cages; small, mostly helpless and pretty pathetic, the hamster is nothing to boast about. Or at least, it was. Once given the chance to do more on Terra 2, that was exactly what they did. Now, 15 million years after their last contact with humanity (or whatever force akin to humanity planted them here), hamsters have become a jack of all trades. There are burrowing species who cling to their ancestors, arboreal species reaching new heights and ground dwelling species independent of the underground. Burrowing habits were almost universal in Terra 2's hamster populations 5 million years ago, as none of them were fully ready to give up on their roots. But now there are in fact a multitude of various species who have completely abandoned their subterranean dens to such an extent that they are now simply unable to dig dens. An act that was once so instictual and easy is now an almost impossible task in many hamsters and is unnecessary in even more. So, after all this time, hamsters have finally become a fully terrestrial species!

Meanwhile, capybaras began on Terra 2 as fat, small, diminutive rodents about 3 feet at the shoulder and with an appetite to eat entire praries. I would've liked to say it was different on Earth, but it was much the same. Once left abandoned on Terra 2, the capybaras lost one of their own ancestral traits as well; swimming/semi-aquatic lifestyles. This loss did not take as long as their cousin's to come into full effect, though, with the first fully terrestrial capybaras arising almost 13 million years ago in the early Archi Epoch. Their webbed feet quickly became better at walking long distances and their lung capacity significantly decreased. Of course, later on in the first 10 million years, semi-aquatic behaviours re-evolved in some species such as the river bara and its modern descendant, the opo. What is important to note, however, is that these adaptations were independent and not hand-me-downs from ancient aquatic adaptations. So what did some of these non-aquatic species specialize in instead? A niche left empty by their rodent brethren. The baras began to dig.

Various hamsters, once diggers, have now become walkers while baras, traditionally terrestrial animals, have chosen to take their place beneath the soil, almost in some sort of ecological trade. The species that this so called "trade" involved are not particularly significant as of 15 million years PE, consisting mostly of small omnivores. However, this is not to say they are not incredibly diverse in shape, for that, they have in spades. So, what incredible forms have they taken? Let's have a look!

Above; A myriad of large and small mammals on Terra 2 that were part of the trading place event. All the burrowing species you see are descended from capybaras and all the land dwelling animals are in fact hamsters. How far these little creatures have come!