Terra 2: A Second Tree Of Life

Polar Growths

25 Million Years Post Establishment

The world is now truly getting cold. Terra 2 has been cooling ever since before Earth life was even seeded on the planet, but now its effects are very obviously noticeable and have led to the first mass extinction in Terra 2's history. During the late Archi Epoch, various species were already beginning to go extinct, though they did so slowly and over millions of years as their populations slowly declined. Over the last 10 million years, however, thousands of species previously common to the world of Terra 2 have vanished in an extremely short and brutal manner as the ice age finally arrives, stripping them of their false sense of ecological security. Species such as the large rhinofinches or ganettbirds, large herbivores with no defense against predators or the cold, have quickly been snuffed out along with various specialized mammals such as the sniffers, bandas, terratheriums and scuttlebaras. Kiwis have not been treated well either, with many species such as the majority of the kodos, many maris descendents and the entire lineage of nectarfowl have all but disappeared from the world in the last 10 million years. One region of the world has been affected more than most, however, that being the once tropical paradise of the Okiinan Riverlands that now, after 21 million years of existing, have completely collapsed along with the thousands of species that once thrived in its various deltas and springs, now frozen over and covered in an inch of snow. Snow, as a whole, has become very common in the far north and south, with the extreme latitudes being trapped in permanent ice. The ice caps have now made physical contact with Almara, Okiina and Darsi, significantly lowering sea levels and disrupting the oceanic food chain. Contributing to the crisis that the biosphere is going through, Okiina has now been ripped apart by tectonic forces into two lands; West Okiina and East Okiina. While West Okiina is its own landmass now, East Okiina is completely conjoined with Darsi, with the two pretty much being the same landmass.

Above; A map of Terra 2, 25 million years post establishment.

Following the freezing of the northern and southern seas, paired with the constant and heavy snowfall, many ecosystems were put into a position that they had yet to face in Terra 2's history; the first mass extinction is occuring barely 25 million years into the experiment. This mass extinction is not only due to the climactic condition but also due to a tragic twist of ecological traps. You see, as Terra 2 began to cool, there was an overall rise in aridity due to the dropping levels of rainfall, eventually creating the first deserts and raising temperatures in many parts of the world. As an adaptation to the "warming", many species began to evolve shorter fur, less feathers and losing abilities associated with the winters that, although slowly, were growing colder. This "trap" is what ultimately lead to many clades now going extinct as they had adapted to the wrong lifestyle, quickly succumbing to the colder temperatures in the last 10 million years. While some clades have experienced minor set backs, such as the tranboo who, although pre-adapted to cold weather, have experienced a significant thinning of their population, others have been completely annihilated by the ice age. Lavenders have been hit especially hard in Almara. Already a rather unsuccessful group on this continent, having to compete with the far more succesful dandelions, all but the smallest and most generalized of lavenders have gone extinct, quickly snuffed out by the cold. Spider bamboo, once the dominant flora in Almara's open grasslands, have now become almost completely engulfed by the frost of the Mid-Pagomegi Ice Age. There are now only 2 representetives of the entire clade, both being small, diminutive bushes that have utilized their rhizomes to absorb the snow that falls on them, actually making use of the cold climate and just barely carrying their genes into the future.

Plants and animals have now had sufficient time to be entirely unrecognizable from their ancestors. For example, many species of alpine mimicking dandelion species have now come into existence as large spider bamboo species are no longer present, leaving a vacuum that was soon filled by the more adaptable flowers. They can now stretch many meters into the air, sometimes over 22 feet, and possess thin, elongated leaves covered in thick cuticles that prevent the evaporation or freezing of internal water in their cold, dry homes of Equitorial Almara. Their stalks are surprisingly solid, able to withstand the rapid winds of the winter storms. Tranboo, which was once the only grouping of flora that resembled specialized Earth trees, is now just one of many tree-like descendants of plants on Terra 2, with many convergent bamboo descendants and flower derived species coming to resemble trees to an amazing degree. Sow while the ice age has been devastating for the foliage that was unable to cope with the new climate, it has been a relatively prosperous era for others who have taken advantage of the very frost that wiped out their distant relatives. The ecosystems that have been severely impacted by the ice age have also left many gaps in their food chains, which has allowed species to evolve and speciate into niches now left empty. The oceans, however, have not been so lucky. The sea level has dropped by nearly 70 meters, completely resetting coastal environments and raising salinity by 2.6%, essentially poisoning the water collumn, leading to an incredible loss of marine biodiversity. Most oceanic fish over 10 feet in length, such as the elephish, have been relegated to the history books. Overall, over 90% of marine life has now vanished from the sea.