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Evolab
Oct 2, 2006 20:08:29 GMT -5
Post by Tobey on Oct 2, 2006 20:08:29 GMT -5
((Feel free to use Evolab in your character's backstory, as long as you ask me first. Keep in mind, though, that their only human-based project is Project Eco, so any characters from Evolab must be Project Eco creatures. When designing a Project Eco species, just keep in mind that it has to be able to conceivably evolve from Homo Sapiens in only 30 million years. So nothing with additional limbs or anything like that. This is probably an irrelevant detail, but also keep in mind that none of these creatures probably would have re-evolved tails unless they had darn good reason to do so. Another tip about designing species; keep convergent evolution in mind. Certain designs are seen over and over in nature, particularly among mammals. Doglike, catlike, and bearlike forms are common among mammalian predators, for example, and deerlike and horselike forms seem to be popular with the prey species. Other than that, feel free to get creative, but please tell me about your new species when you're asking permission to create your Evolab character))
The Evolab headquarters is an upscale, three-story building in Washington DC. Unlike almost all labs, it’s widely known what Evolab is; a genetics lab, and a very successful one, at that. It’s also fairly well known that they work for the government, and that they’ve accomplished incredible scientific breakthroughs in the fields of medicine and biology. What /isn’t/ known about Evolab is its most revolutionary project, one that was started about a hundred years ago (in 1912), when genetics was still a science in its infancy. This project is one of Evolab’s most top-secret, which is supposedly because they don’t want other labs to copy their work. At least, that is the explanation that the public has come to believe. This project is known as Project Eco; a name that in reality is merely based on the word “ecosystem,” but, if anyone ever heard it, would be assumed to mean something that was environmentally friendly; a positive image that would shift suspicion off of Evolab.
Project Eco is Evolab’s only example of genetic experimentation on humans; all of Evolab’s other projects are just as harmless as the public believes. The Project involved isolating human DNA and simulating its environment with a complex computer program, thus speeding up its evolution. Many different computer programs were used, simulating different environments, and creating different species. After the equivalent of 30 million years of evolution, the programs were stopped, the DNA strands were replicated many times, and genetic differences were implanted in each set of genes, guaranteeing variation among individuals, and thereby minimizing inbreeding. Then, finally, the resulting genetic codes were implanted in egg cells, and the resulting creatures were raised to adulthood.
The creatures were kept in the many levels of basement of Evolab’s headquarters, where there was tight security and enough space for the thousands of individuals of each species to be studied. They were found to be nearly as intelligent as humans, in almost every case. They quickly learned English, and solved problems that even some humans would have trouble with. Once they had been studied to the scientists’ satisfaction, they were moved to a series of biodomes located throughout the U.S.
Each biodome is a marvel in and of itself. They were built underground, all without the aboveground populations ever knowing anything was going on. Each biodome is about 500 miles in diameter, costing several billion dollars in government money to build. But the government decided it was worth it, because the advances in technology that would be brought about by Evolab’s research promised an even bigger return on the deposit. There are four of these gigantic underground biodomes: one in southern Illinois (created to simulate a range of temperate habitats), one at the tip of Florida (to mimic tropical, hot and humid environments), one in Arizona (to create desert and savannah environments), and one in Alaska (to simulate artic conditions). Each biodome contains a range of conditions within its specialty area, as well as a percentage of fresh and salt water environments for the species that ‘evolved’ an aquatic lifestyle. The fruits of Project Eco were transported in armored convoys to the biodome that simulated the environment that each species would have evolved in. For years afterward, the creatures were observed at a distance, through the many hidden cameras that were placed in each biodome. The biodomes were designed to make sure that the majority of the creatures inside would never realize they were in an enclosed space; the walls and ceiling were cloaked in an enormous, state-of-the-art screen, upon which were projected images of sky and horizon. Clouds moved, rain fell, and wind blew; the illusion was just about perfect.
Now, almost a hundred years since the start of Project Eco, the Project is now on its third generation (allowing for some variation among species, since they don’t all reproduce at the same rate). A few of the first-generation creatures are still hanging on, but there are by no means many of them left, as most have long since died of old age. The remaining creatures live by instinct, the predatory species regularly hunting, killing, and eating the prey species. But there is very little bitterness about that; that’s just the way life is, the way it’s always been. You run, or you get eaten; you hunt, or you starve. A few of the older creatures tell stories of ‘humans,’ creatures that walk on two legs and cover their pink skin with cloth, but most of the biodomes’ populations discount these stories as mere legend. The knowledge of the English language has been passed down, more or less, through the generations; so the various species can communicate, but even so, they think very much the same way wild animals do.
As with any lab, there are escapes. The main weak point of the biodomes has been the air ducts; the system the scientists use to keep the domes oxygenated, and to create winds. They had to be connected to the outside, and they had to have a thinner covering than the rest of the dome’s walls, so that air could get through. The ducts are invariably well hidden, but nevertheless, occasionally creatures have managed to find them. When this happens, Evolab sends out teams of specialists to recapture the escapees as efficiently, and with as little fuss as possible. Their experiments are worth millions, so they will stop at almost nothing to get them back. Nevertheless, a small number of escapees has managed to evade them over the years.
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Evolab
Feb 13, 2007 17:45:11 GMT -5
Post by Tobey on Feb 13, 2007 17:45:11 GMT -5
((I'm putting up descriptions of the individual biodomes in their own posts for organizational purposes, and also because they're akin to being separate labs, in a way. I'll probably never finish all four of the domes, but at least you'll know a little more about where Pipsqueak came from. Keep in mind that the species listed are only the more important ones; there are others that aren't listed.))
Illinois dome (temperate regions)
The environment in this dome consists of mainly grassland, but forests are fairly common in the wetter areas, near streams and lakes and such. The 'ocean' part of this dome is to the northeast, and near that area the grasslands are scruffier, and sandy beaches are common. To the west is a small mountain range, for highland habitats, where it's rockier and slightly colder. The seasons are present, but very mild; it would be very rare for it to be cold enough to snow in winter, and summer rarely goes above ninety degrees.
Major human-descended species: Agilis cervus, Ursaleo horribilis, Brutus gigantes, Pseudocanis Lycaon, Heterocheirus dactylus, Terrestrialis suricata, Megalutra oceanus, and Cetaceanus pseudelphinus.
Non-human species: Small birds, such as sparrows and thrushes, insects, fishes, small crustaceans and algae that compose oceanic plankton, various microscopic organisms, small frogs and lizards, various trees and grasses. No mammals other than human-descended ones.
Agilis cervus is by far the most common species in the Illinois biodome. They call themselves 'cervu,' (a corruption of their own scientific name) but are just as often called 'runners,' 'deer-people,' or just 'prey' by the various species of the biodome. These deer-like creatures are the main food source of most of the biodome's predators. They're quadrupeds, with nimble legs, light brown short fur, cloven hooves of a brown color only a little darker than their fur, and a black stripe down either side of their body. They have large eyes, thin faces, long but dainty-looking muzzles, and slightly lengthened necks, but otherwise their faces look human, except for the horse-like mane of chestnut to black color that replaces hair. Their ears are deeply cupped, rolled into an almost cylindrical shape, and mounted atop their heads; cervu are one of the few species that can swivel their ears to hear sounds from different directions. Most are about the size of deer, but there are larger and smaller subspecies. They're social creatures, often congregating in large herds, and forming close friendships who will sometimes look out for each other during predator attacks. They are skittish by nature, and are often saved from predators only by their speed. However, their hooves are quite sharp, and they can deliver a powerful kick for defense if needed. Usually, however, this is a last resort. Very common, and extremely wide ranging, there are many variant subspecies of Agilis cervus (as well as different species within the Agilis genus; I merely picked the most common one), adapted for everything from forests to highlands.
Ursaleo horribilis is the apex predator of the Illinois dome. Probably the rarest of the species listed here, they're also known as 'bear-lions,' 'ursals,' 'felines,' or 'hunters;' they seem not to prefer one particular term for themselves over the others. Usually having light brown fur, their color can range from gold to rusty orange, with the very rare white. Regardless of color, they have a dappled pattern of a darker color on their back (in the case of white individuals, dappled color is grey). About the size of a large lion or small grizzly bear, they have four thick, muscular legs that are as good for wrestling the larger prey species as they are for running. Their large, only slightly dexterous paws are tipped with enamel colored claws. Their face is lengthened in the same manner as a lion or tiger, and their canines are long and sharp. A lionlike mane replaces human hair, but females have the larger mane in this case. This mane is longest at the back of the head, truly resembling the hair from which it evolved. Their ears are fairly small and rounded, somewhat like a lion's, but are rarely visible beneath the mane. Like most creatures in the biodomes, they lack a tail, giving them a somewhat bearlike appearance. Almost always solitary, these creatures very occasionally form groups, but such groups are inclined to have disagreements; ursals often have sour dispositions towards each other and toward other species, but more friendly individuals are not altogether unknown. It's thought that the typical ursal rudeness towards others evolved as a sort of way to keep everyone else aware of who is at the top of the food chain. Ursals have a mutual enmity with Pseudocanis Lycaon; ursals being more powerful, but lycas being more numerous and organized. Such a dislike is mainly instinctual, and is thought to have evolved because the two species are often in direct competition. There are only a few subspecies, of which the second most common (after the most common, plains variety) is the forest variety; they're smaller, slimmer, and typically darker-colored than their plains-preferring kin.
Brutus gigantes is somewhat more common than Ursaleo horribilis, but still quite rare. They're usually called 'brutes,' or 'brawlers,' both of which are terms that they thankfully see as compliments. One of the largest species in their biodome, they're equivalent in mass to a large rhinoceros. They are also one of the few creatures in the biodome that can stand up on two legs, making them a frightening sight to behold when they rear up to their full height of fifteen feet or more. They have armor-like, nearly furless skin, much like an elephant or rhinoceros, and their coloration consists of various shades of ruddy grey-brown. Their bodies are built for both quadrupedal and bipedal lifestyles, but they usually only rear up to defend themselves from predators. They have thick, slightly elongated, triangular jaws filled with large, flat, heavily ridged teeth, and their eyes are sunk back into their skull, protected by thick eyelids. Their noses consist of folded slits above their mouths; but despite this, they have a superb sense of smell. Their ears are thick, inwardly cupped ridges on the sides of their head, giving them decent hearing. All of them are completely bald, having no more hair on their heads than on the rest of their body, and they have no neck to speak of; their heads seem to be connected directly to their shoulders. Their feet are like human feet, but much wider; almost circular, even. Their hands are much like human hands, as well, but very thick fingered; except for the pinky, which is a vestigial stub. Their hands are their primary weapons against predators; the backs of their hands are covered in hard, callous-like material, and their first and second knuckles are overlain by bony spikes; such that when they form fists, they have two extremely deadly weapons at their disposal. This is why they rear up to face predators; so that their fists are freed to fight with. Brutes are just as often solitary as not, depending on the individual; some go it alone, but others form small herds. Despite what one might think, they're only slightly less intelligent than most other species in the biodome, although they often seem less intelligent than they are because of their notoriously short tempers. Almost always herbivorous, they are capable of digesting almost any vegetation found in the biodome. On very rare occasions, they have been known to eat meat, but their digestive systems aren't really built to handle meat on a regular basis.
Pseudocanis Lycaon is the second major predator of the Illinois biodome. Also known as 'lycas,' 'canines,' or collectively as 'The Clan,' these carnivores have thick coats of tan or gold fur, often tipped with grey or brown. They are quadrupedal; their paws, having once been hands, retain some vestige of manual dexterity, but now have much shorter 'fingers' which are tipped with enamel-colored claws. Their legs are long and thin; good for long-distance running, but not very good for short bursts of strength. Their faces are dominated by long, dog-like snouts with two-inch canine teeth, and cunning eyes. Their snouts terminate in a flat, slightly upwardly swept nose, skin-colored and bare of fur, with folded nostrils, which gives them a sense of smell unrivaled by the other species of the biodome. Their pointed, faintly foxlike ears, located at the top of their head, are deeply recessed with ridges and grooves, allowing them to detect the precise source of any sound they hear. Their society is incredibly complex, often neither completely matriarchal nor patriarchal. The canine clans are one of the few races that pass down their knowledge in great detail to the next generation; they are one of the few species who remembers their full scientific name, and tales of the scientists have been passed down until they became very much like a religion. Lycas are very philosophical, at least when they aren't hunting, and have been able to learn a fair amount of information about the world around them, most of it true, but a little of it wrong; for instance, they believe that plants grow by absorbing soil through their roots. They tend to focus on what can be known for sure, sometimes testing hypotheses in ways strikingly similar to human science; and they like to find ways to use their learned knowledge to their advantage, particularly in hunting. They're also much more concerned with language than the other species, remembering many words that were learned from the scientists that would otherwise have been forgotten. When hunting, they show a marvelous degree of cooperation, more so even than contemporary wolves. They almost always hunt as a group and live in packs, but a few solitary individuals have been known. They're about the same size as wolves, but unlike wolves, they lack a tail. Lycas have a mutual enmity with ursals; ursals being more powerful, but lycas being more numerous and organized. Like ursals, lycas have only a few subspecies, but the most common 'plains' variety frequents both the grassland and forest areas about equally.
Heterocheirus dactylus is one of two scavenger species in the Illinois biodome. Usually called 'dactyls' or 'vulture-bats,' they have pterosaur-like wings, with the membrane supported by only one lengthened finger, the rest of the hand available for walking and manipulating objects. They are covered in a thin layer of fine fur, usually of a black or dark brown color (to be seen more easily against the sky), but lighter colored 'mutants' of various shades have been known to occur. Their face has somewhere between an apelike and doglike snout, with large, sharp teeth, and beady little black eyes. These creatures are quite small, only two feet from head to toe, and with a wingspan of about four feet. They live by scavenging, using their bird's eye view and sensitive nose (whose nostrils are folded over to increase surface area for smell) to find abandoned carcasses. When they can't find food that way, they find a predator, and use their aerial position to help the predator find prey, in exchange for the leftovers of the kill. Most predators have learned to associate the scavengers with food, and will usually follow one instinctively if they're hungry. Despite this aid that they give to predators, many predators see dactyls as their lowers, and often resent them for taking their kills. Dactyls are easily the most antisocial of the races, and any meeting between two or more of these scavengers almost always ends in a fight, either over territory or food. The only thing they have resembling social structure occurs during mating season, when they gather together and establish a hierarchy by competing for mates. Most of them have no name, as they are abandoned by their parents at a young age, and the parents don't see any point in giving their offspring names. Dactyls have an instinctual dislike of Terrestrialis suricata, presumably because the two species often compete with each other for food.
Terrestrialis suricata is a scavenging species that typically live in subterranean colonies. Often called 'tunnel-rats' or 'suris,' they have a more varied diet than the dactyls, eating insects and plant roots in addition to whatever meat they can find. However, despite this difference, the two races have a mutual, instinctual enmity, because they often compete for food when food is scarce. Suris have elongated, cone-shaped faces akin to rats, and small, rounded ears on top of their head. The corners of their mouths extend back close to their jaw joint, allowing them to open their mouths very wide. Their canine teeth are slightly longer and sharper than a human's, but the molars generally look the same. They're covered in fine fur, usually of a pale clay-red or orange color, with numerous thin brown stripes on their back, and a pale underside. They have short limbs and elongated bodies, making them look a lot like tail-less meerkats; they're even roughly the same size as meerkats, about two feet from head to toes. Suris, however, are almost completely quadrupedal, unlike meerkats. Suris have poor eyesight, but an amazingly keen sense of smell, which they use to find food. Their hearing is likewise better than average, and they can hear at much higher frequencies than most creatures in the biodome. To avoid their colonies being detected by predators, they have also evolved the ability to speak at a much higher frequency than the audible range of most carnivores. However, they can lower their voices to speak at a frequency that other species can hear; but even when using their 'interspecies voices,' they are considerably more high-pitched than most races. They have elaborate tunnel systems that cover miles of land, so most of the time they will have an opening near a discovered food source. Within the colony, there are several jobs such as 'digger,' 'gatherer,' 'scout,' 'caretaker,' or 'negotiator.' Usually an individual suri is suited for only one particular job; the strong ones become diggers, responsible for digging new tunnels and the upkeep of old ones; the fast or stealthy ones become gatherers, sent out to bring back food from the outside world; the sharp-nosed or keen of hearing ones become scouts, to keep an eye out for danger or locate new sources of food; the gentle ones become caretakers, raising the young suris whose parents are away; and the cleverest ones become negotiators, settling any interspecies conflicts that arise.
Megalutra oceanus is a species adapted to an aquatic lifestyle. Usually called 'lutrae' (singular, lutra) among their own kind and 'otter-eels' or 'seafolk' by most others (despite that the same term is used for Cetaceanus pseudelphinus), they are an ocean-going race that has not yet completely lost its affinity for land. However, because land is home to many more predators than the water (and also because lutrae are generally awkward on land), they only venture onto land when they need to. The Megalutra genus actually evolved in the arctic regions simulated in the Alaska biodome*, so they are endowed with a thick coat of waterproof fur of a variety of shades of grey, some lighter, some darker, and ranging from a slightly blue-grey to a slightly tannish-grey, but almost always with a lighter-colored underside than topside. Their nostrils are located on their foreheads, allowing them to breathe with minimal effort; however, they cannot breathe through their mouths. They are able to vibrate their vocal chords without breathing, allowing them to be able to talk underwater or in air; like most species in the biodome, they speak English, but due to their unique way of talking, some sounds don't come out right (they have a lot of trouble with breathy sounds like 'h', 'sh', 's', and 'f', and so prefer hard sounds like 'k', 'ch', 'd', 'b', and 'p'). Their faces protrude slightly more than a human's, and their mouths are spiked upward in the middle, giving them a lower jaw with a noticeable upward point, and an upper jaw with a 'dent' in it. Their teeth are small and sharp, a good design for catching fish. They have no external ears, and tend to look bald because the fur atop their head is the same length as everywhere else. Their neck, like the rest of their backbone, is extremely flexible, allowing them to flex side to side like a snake. They are one of the exceedingly few species in the biodomes that possess a tail; their tails are about three feet long and very wide in the vertical direction, like an eel's. Their limbs are very short compared to their body length, and their hands and feet are clawed and webbed, looking a little like a seal's flippers, but you can still see the similarities with their human ancestors. They use their limbs and tail to swim, flexing their bodies back and forth like a crocodile does. They're roughly the size of a human, about seven feet from nose to the end of their tail. They are a very social and friendly race, nearly always traveling in groups, and also one of the more open-minded species when it comes to the other species in the biodome. They tend to always be full of energy, and see most things as a game. They subsist almost entirely on fish, and most of them will only harm sentient creatures in self-defense or if there's no other food source. There are other subspecies of lutrae, but since they evolved in arctic waters, the most variety among lutrae can be found in the Alaskan biodome.
Cetaceanus pseudelphinus is also an ocean-going species, but unlike Megalutra oceanus, they are completely aquatic. However, like Megalutra, the ancestor of the Cetaceanus genus comes from elsewhere*. In the case of Cetaceanus, they evolved in tropical waters akin to the Florida biodome. The Illinois biodome is the only place where the two genera Megalutra and Cetaceanus coexist, because neither can survive at the extremes of the other's environment. Cetaceanus pseudelphinus are often called 'delphins,' 'waterbirds,' or 'seafolk,' (a collective term used to describe both them and the lutrae), but most of them prefer to refer to themselves eloquently as the 'birds of the sea.' They are completely furless and hairless, and their skin is about as smooth and rubbery as a dolphin's. Their backs are a dark brown color (with some variation in shade from one individual to another), while their undersides are a creamy white. They have wide mouths, filled with small, blunt, generally useless-looking teeth. Their nose consists of a bulbous bulge in their face, about the size and shape of a somewhat distorted cell phone, but their actual nostrils are surprisingly small. However, they do not breathe through their nose or mouth, but rather have a blowhole on the back of their neck. Their neck is very thick, such that there is no distinction in width between the head and torso; however, their torso is much more rounded than a human's. Because of this, their faces are perpetually facing forward. Like lutrae, delphins have no external ears. Some of the scientists studying them believe that there may be a distant link between delphins and dactyls, since both have a membrane of skin supported by the arm, but this is only speculation, as the structure of the 'wing' is very different among the two species. For one thing, delphin wings are clearly adapted for swimming, not flying; the membrane is very thick, thick enough to not be damaged by the resistance of the water. For another, delphin wings are supported by the arm alone, with no elongation of any of their fingers; in fact, the remnants of the hand are not even visible beneath the flesh of the fin. All told, delphin fins look like giant triangles of rubbery skin, with a bulge at the leading edge where the arm bones are; the membranes are attached to the sides of the body, ending at the hips. Delphin legs, likewise, are connected by a sheet of skin, which is wide enough that their legs are held about three feet apart when stretched. This flap of skin is used in conjunction with the wings to propel the delphin through the water, but it's also used for steering. Delphin feet, like their hands, are hidden within the thick layer of skin. Delphins are about ten to twelve feet from face to the edges of their hind membrane, and about eight feet from wingtip to wingtip. Perhaps the most perplexing thing about the Cetaceanus genus is their modified respiratory and digestive system. They evolved as filter feeders, and developed a very unique approach to that lifestyle. Their respiratory system developed a second branch, leading to the back of their neck, giving them their blowhole. Their mouth, nose, and vocal chords were later cut off from the respiratory system, allowing them to take in water through the mouth and expel it through the nose without risk of choking. This is how they feed; they take in water with plankton in it through the mouth, and the plankton is caught in their specialized nose hairs and held in a modified sinus cavity while the water escapes through the nostrils. Then they are able to bring the plankton back into the throat to swallow it. This same system is what allows them to talk underwater; their vocal chords are modified to function in water rather than air, so as long as they are in water, they can speak normally, although their voices tend to be very deep and thick. On land, they can speak by gulping water if any is available, but if they try to speak using air, it comes out dry-sounding, like hissing steam, and extremely difficult to understand. This usually isn't a concern, however, since delphins, much like modern whales and dolphins, can't survive more than a few hours on land anyway. They are very peaceful, calm creatures, living their lives at a leisurely pace, in stark contrast with the energy of their lutra neighbors. Delphins are just as philosophical as the lycas, if not more so; but they have different ways of going about it. The lycas tend to focus on everything that can be known about the world around them, whereas delphins tend to focus on the things they can't ever know for sure, like how time began, or where the ocean came from. A few subspecies of Cetaceanus pseudelphinus can be found in the Illinois biodome, but the most variation in the species, and in the Cetaceanus genus in general, is found in the Florida dome.
*When I say that a species evolved somewhere else, I mean that Evolab's computer simulation of evolution allowed for an approximation of migration, so that evolving creatures could 'move' from one biodome to another. I should note, however, that the biodomes are no longer linked to each other in any way.
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