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You might remember my first radiation of conodonts last month. Now it’s time for phase two of my art/evolution experiment. With the aid of a dice, I halved the numbers of condont species, leaving only five to radiate into 11 new (and somewhat better drawn) species. These are:
pinkish – eats smaller plankton
gray – eats larger plankton
gray-blue – detritivore, conodont elements protruding through gill slits provide protection
gray-green – bottom-dwelling detritivore, duplicated conodont elements on first four segments
light teal – fast pursuit predator
teal – slow pursuit predator
orange – large pelagic plankton-eater. First conodont elements provide stabilization
light orange – bottom-dwelling crustacean-specialist. First conodont elements provide stabilization and grab prey
magenta – benthic ambush predator
dark purple – specialized bivalve eater
purple – eats small, reef-dwelling invertebrates
I won’t ask you who you want to survive the next extinction event, because that’s going to be random. But what niches do you want to see the survivors evolve to fill next time?
#danielmbensen #art #illustration #speculativeevolution #creatureart #creaturedesign #specbio #conodonts