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Description
The diversity of the fauna of Anthropoterras has increased vastly since the days of the original humans. From once species to over 7200, the human lineage occurs on every continent and every landmass, and even in the seas. Alongside them however, lies an entirely different league of creatures. These ones are not vertebrates, but a completely different group. With almost-carboniferous oxygen levels (the slightly denser atmosphere is more than enough to make up for this though) and lower gravity than Earth, the arthropods and gastropods are all able to get much bigger than they ever could on Earth. Not only this, but one group in particular was already large to begin with, thanks to a special breathing advantage. The robber crab is one of the most fascinating organisms on Earth, thanks to a unique proto-lung that it has developed, allowing it to be over 30 times larger than any other living arthropod. The reduced gravity and high oxygen levels means that many arthropods can grow up to 5 times the size they do on Earth. This is also true of the robber crabs. But they gained new advantages, as they shook off their vestiges to the water in favour of fully terrestrial lifestyles. Not only this, but their breathing continued to improve until they developed a full respiratory system. This allowed them to diverge into a variety of forms, and dominate a number of interesting niches. Some of them are even starting to develop endothermy. This is one of those groups, the novocrabs. These animals may not be as dominant as the humans, but they nevertheless manage to divide the niches that would be held by other vertebrates, and as a result grow into quite extravagant forms.

Order: Novocrustacea:

Families: 3

Species: ~70-90

The novocrabs are one of the most derived of all arthropods, having developed across a number of forms in order to become a successful group. Absence of competition from more basal amniotes allowed them to expand their domain significantly. Some of the groups’ features have allowed them to abandon their attachments to the water and allow them to truly expand. The development of eggs which did not require water to be useful, along with the development of internal sex like in many insects, helped establish a more permanent foothold. As mentioned earlier, their breathing system developed and allowed improvements in size to be made. Already, their size offers them an advantage over other arthropods and velvet worms, and this allowed them to compete directly with the post-human species for niches. With no reptiles present, low energy niches became widely available for the early novocrabs and the like to exploit, allowing them to develop new interesting forms. They have longer legs than their predecessors, allowing them to travel faster and over greater distances, not limiting them to particular habitats. Later on, in the last 20-30 million years, the development of endothermy occurred, creating further development of domination in the ecosystem. Novocrabs include some of the largest terrestrial arthropods ever, and unlike their relatives are also surprisingly intelligent, fast and agile. Most members tend to have 8 legs and two pairs of pincers, a greater and lesser pair. The mandibles are much larger than in the ancestral forms, allowing them to eat more food more effectively. Their bodies are more streamlined in proportions, enhancing their speed and agility, allowing them to take a number of niches previously unavailable to them.

The diversity of the group is quite high as you can imagine, coming in a wide range of forms that would otherwise be occupied by such creatures as reptiles, rodents, amphibians and other creatures. Diets are also quite variable. They are found in many habitats and are present across nearly all of anthropoterras, even dominating on certain islands. The smallest of the novocrabs is the crabrat, a small omnivorous creature living in the Atlantean rainforests of Parthia. It has a fast reproductive rate, excellent parental care, and can feed on almost anything. In many respects, it is just like the rats of home Earth. The largest species on the other hand is the mighty placocheirus, a huge crab species living on the island of Burumak and the surrounding smaller lands. It gorges on vegetation all day, with no large predators to deal with, and grows to weights of more than 800lb due to the reduced gravity, exceptional respiratory system, high oxygen levels and vast food supply. Two candidates for the most interesting species exist. One of these is the possum-crab, an arboreal creature which works as an insectivore similar in proportions to a terrier. Since the insects it feeds on are gigantic, they are practically similar to more conventional predators, and will even attack the young of the arboreal post-humans. The other species of interest is the King Crab, a large predator on Westeros’s plains. They are similar in size to a jaguar, and serve a niche more like that of a hyena, being mainly scavengers, but also effective predators when they need to be. Their claws are similar to those of eurypterids, and very effective for killing and maiming prey. A number of species can be explored here:

Crabrat: (pseudorodentia vulgaris). A ground dwelling small omnivore, can survive in almost any habitat, and feed on almost anything. Is intelligent and sociable, and so can hunt in coordinated groups to bring down bigger prey when food is scarce. Lives in Atlantean forests of Parthia.

King Crab (deinodankanus major). Living on the plains of Westeros, these follow the niche of the hyena, living in small groups and challenging the local hominids for supremacy of the predator niches.

Fermenting crab (grameophagus altus). A strange Parthian animal that has adapted to grazing on grass, making up herds thousands strong. They are not different to sheep in size or position in the ecosystem, being enough to scare of any dangerous insects or most deathworms from it.

Armadillo crab (xenophilus ssp). The deserts of Westeros are home to an insectivorous creature that lives through the sand and rock in search of its next meal. This creature is equipped with powerful claws and an aggressive attitude to match.

Placocheirus maritimus. This titan exclusive to Burumak dwarves all other terrestrial arthropods, growing bigger than the biggest (living) tortoise on Earth. It is a lower browser, though it is over 1.3m tall at the highest point of the body, and can therefore do so at quite impressive heights for an arthropod.

Crab possum (arbrocrustaceas incrediblis). This arboreal and intelligent creature roams throughout the island of Bliss, filling a similar niche that monkeys would fill on Earth or humans would fill elsewhere.

Angler-beast (allotherium spp). A semi-aquatic creature in Westeros’s rainforests. It lures its prey with a glowing green stalk above its head, resembling a leaf. Herbivores near it, and are quickly snatched, dragged underwater and pulled apart by its pincers.

As they come in various forms, they occupy many different niches, and so their predators come in a variety of forms. Placocheirus has no predators on its island, and so lives in peace, while other species aren't so lucky. King Crabs are the largest predatory form, but face competition from lycanthropes and fingerexes for their food. Fermenting Crabs are regular prey for hookhands, underbites, nephilim of various forms, Atlans and even acid-strikers (giant predatory velvet worms). The smaller species have their own various predators, including other novocrabs. These are truly a fascinating part of the ecosystem.

Description
The diversity of the fauna of Anthropoterras has increased vastly since the days of the original humans. From once species to over 7200, the human lineage occurs on every continent and every landmass, and even in the seas. Alongside them however, lies an entirely different league of creatures. These ones are not vertebrates, but a completely different group. With almost-carboniferous oxygen levels (the slightly denser atmosphere is more than enough to make up for this though) and lower gravity than Earth, the arthropods and gastropods are all able to get much bigger than they ever could on Earth. Not only this, but one group in particular was already large to begin with, thanks to a special breathing advantage. The robber crab is one of the most fascinating organisms on Earth, thanks to a unique proto-lung that it has developed, allowing it to be over 30 times larger than any other living arthropod. The reduced gravity and high oxygen levels means that many arthropods can grow up to 5 times the size they do on Earth. This is also true of the robber crabs. But they gained new advantages, as they shook off their vestiges to the water in favour of fully terrestrial lifestyles. Not only this, but their breathing continued to improve until they developed a full respiratory system. This allowed them to diverge into a variety of forms, and dominate a number of interesting niches. Some of them are even starting to develop endothermy. This is one of those groups, the novocrabs. These animals may not be as dominant as the humans, but they nevertheless manage to divide the niches that would be held by other vertebrates, and as a result grow into quite extravagant forms.

Order: Novocrustacea:

Families: 3

Species: ~70-90

The novocrabs are one of the most derived of all arthropods, having developed across a number of forms in order to become a successful group. Absence of competition from more basal amniotes allowed them to expand their domain significantly. Some of the groups’ features have allowed them to abandon their attachments to the water and allow them to truly expand. The development of eggs which did not require water to be useful, along with the development of internal sex like in many insects, helped establish a more permanent foothold. As mentioned earlier, their breathing system developed and allowed improvements in size to be made. Already, their size offers them an advantage over other arthropods and velvet worms, and this allowed them to compete directly with the post-human species for niches. With no reptiles present, low energy niches became widely available for the early novocrabs and the like to exploit, allowing them to develop new interesting forms. They have longer legs than their predecessors, allowing them to travel faster and over greater distances, not limiting them to particular habitats. Later on, in the last 20-30 million years, the development of endothermy occurred, creating further development of domination in the ecosystem. Novocrabs include some of the largest terrestrial arthropods ever, and unlike their relatives are also surprisingly intelligent, fast and agile. Most members tend to have 8 legs and two pairs of pincers, a greater and lesser pair. The mandibles are much larger than in the ancestral forms, allowing them to eat more food more effectively. Their bodies are more streamlined in proportions, enhancing their speed and agility, allowing them to take a number of niches previously unavailable to them.

The diversity of the group is quite high as you can imagine, coming in a wide range of forms that would otherwise be occupied by such creatures as reptiles, rodents, amphibians and other creatures. Diets are also quite variable. They are found in many habitats and are present across nearly all of anthropoterras, even dominating on certain islands. The smallest of the novocrabs is the crabrat, a small omnivorous creature living in the Atlantean rainforests of Parthia. It has a fast reproductive rate, excellent parental care, and can feed on almost anything. In many respects, it is just like the rats of home Earth. The largest species on the other hand is the mighty placocheirus, a huge crab species living on the island of Burumak and the surrounding smaller lands. It gorges on vegetation all day, with no large predators to deal with, and grows to weights of more than 800lb due to the reduced gravity, exceptional respiratory system, high oxygen levels and vast food supply. Two candidates for the most interesting species exist. One of these is the possum-crab, an arboreal creature which works as an insectivore similar in proportions to a terrier. Since the insects it feeds on are gigantic, they are practically similar to more conventional predators, and will even attack the young of the arboreal post-humans. The other species of interest is the King Crab, a large predator on Westeros’s plains. They are similar in size to a jaguar, and serve a niche more like that of a hyena, being mainly scavengers, but also effective predators when they need to be. Their claws are similar to those of eurypterids, and very effective for killing and maiming prey. A number of species can be explored here:

Crabrat: (pseudorodentia vulgaris). A ground dwelling small omnivore, can survive in almost any habitat, and feed on almost anything. Is intelligent and sociable, and so can hunt in coordinated groups to bring down bigger prey when food is scarce. Lives in Atlantean forests of Parthia.

King Crab (deinodankanus major). Living on the plains of Westeros, these follow the niche of the hyena, living in small groups and challenging the local hominids for supremacy of the predator niches.

Fermenting crab (grameophagus altus). A strange Parthian animal that has adapted to grazing on grass, making up herds thousands strong. They are not different to sheep in size or position in the ecosystem, being enough to scare of any dangerous insects or most deathworms from it.

Armadillo crab (xenophilus ssp). The deserts of Westeros are home to an insectivorous creature that lives through the sand and rock in search of its next meal. This creature is equipped with powerful claws and an aggressive attitude to match.

Placocheirus maritimus. This titan exclusive to Burumak dwarves all other terrestrial arthropods, growing bigger than the biggest (living) tortoise on Earth. It is a lower browser, though it is over 1.3m tall at the highest point of the body, and can therefore do so at quite impressive heights for an arthropod.

Crab possum (arbrocrustaceas incrediblis). This arboreal and intelligent creature roams throughout the island of Bliss, filling a similar niche that monkeys would fill on Earth or humans would fill elsewhere.

Angler-beast (allotherium spp). A semi-aquatic creature in Westeros’s rainforests. It lures its prey with a glowing green stalk above its head, resembling a leaf. Herbivores near it, and are quickly snatched, dragged underwater and pulled apart by its pincers.

As they come in various forms, they occupy many different niches, and so their predators come in a variety of forms. Placocheirus has no predators on its island, and so lives in peace, while other species aren't so lucky. King Crabs are the largest predatory form, but face competition from lycanthropes and fingerexes for their food. Fermenting Crabs are regular prey for hookhands, underbites, nephilim of various forms, Atlans and even acid-strikers (giant predatory velvet worms). The smaller species have their own various predators, including other novocrabs. These are truly a fascinating part of the ecosystem.