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povorot — Chulengo Diversity
Published: 2009-08-15 03:46:19 +0000 UTC; Views: 15187; Favourites: 271; Downloads: 0
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Description
Extant Subfamilies of the Family Merycauchenia ("ruminating long-neck").1: American Mazama - A largely solitary moose-like group of browsers common in the forests and wetlands of the northern Hemisphere.
2: Steppe Chulengo - Endemic to the steppes of Eurasia, these large grazers live in large herds and enjoy a wide diversity across both the new and the old world.
3: Prairie Brocket (male and female) - A small, antelope-like group of merycauchenian widespread in the new world.
(I'm enjoying playing with my new ungulate friends a lot...)
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Comments: 22
These remind me of what a moose would look like if it were to be mixed with a llama or Bactrian camel.
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Those big ones look like they're a cross between a saiga antelope, a moose, and a camel.
They are COOL!!!!
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Saiga antelope are the shit, when I first saw them in "Planet Earth" I was like: Holy shit those are the coolest ungulates ever. I giddily appreciate their influence here.
What's their herd structure like? Male dominated harems or elephant-esque matriarchal herds with roving bachelor packs competing for mating rights? Can they vocalize with their trunks?
Damn, I love these things.
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Thanks, man - I felt the same way when I first saw the saiga! I had to use that snout in this project.
For herd structure, I was thinking the larger chulengos would have more gregarious social lives then the camelids I modeled them on. I think the bachelor-herd idea works well. During most of the year, the females and young would live in herds of up to 300, with the males living in much smaller herds of 10-40. During the winter, these herds would come together in to big mixed winter mega-herds, numbering in the thousands. As for vocalizing, I dunno. Maybe having the trunks evolved as resonating chambers (duck-bill style?) for calls between chulengos on the high steppes...
I've been thinking of an arctic species, too - looking something like a stocky humpless bactrian camel with caribou colouring (and the saiga schnozz, of course).
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The mega-herd idea sounds awesome, would be quite the ecological event for the local predators and scavengers.
I could see the arctic breed being somewhat woolly, like a musk-ox. Their big noses would be perfect for warming up the air before it enters their respiratory system; a common adaptation for animals living in freezing climates.
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Amazing animals ! They completely plausible, they could even serve as models for future mammals !
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Thanks, man - I hadn't even thought of that!
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Yeah, I could imagine future Saigas resembling these animals
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"(I'm enjoying playing with my new ungulate friends a lot...)"
I'm enjoying it too. Conservative to be completely believable, yet different enough to still be interesting.
I'm likin' your technique with these, too. Rough, yet still gets the job done.
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THanks! I've been trying to be a little more conservative with my critters - looking at a few of the more cringe-worthy dougal dixon creatures, I figured that to err on the side of the real might end up looking better in the long run.
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No flightless muppet-pterosaurs? No brachiating felines?
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a) -auchenia just means "neck," actually. Otherwise, Synauchenia would be a rather odd name for a short-necked placoderm.
b) I can't help but to think that the chulengos are descended from the love-fawns of a moose and a saiga antelope.
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A: Shit. Well, "ruminating neck" doesn't make any sense. What would I call it, then?
B: It was a three-way with a camel, actually.
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a) You could go with "Merychocamelidae," but, "ruminating camel" is a little redundant, as, they can apparently already ruminate. But, "Merychauchenia" sounds fine as is, anyhow.
b) It's the only way to go when you're with a camel, even.
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Could you help me with latin names, if you ever have a moment? I was thinking Ceratodon as the infraorder for the tusked ungulates...
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I'd be more than happy to help with the taxonomy... Like "Ceratodontia"?
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Exactly! I think I'm going to be having a lot of trouble with the derived deinonychosaurids soon, so I might need some taxonomic guidance!
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did these evolve from a common ancestor of Tapirs?
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No - they're descendants of artiodactyl or artiodactyl-like ungulate ancestors. The tapir-like features are the product of convergent evolution.
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I expected that answer, but I just love asking.... oh yeah, what happened to pterasaurs in this alternate earth, did the avian-dinosaurs kick them off the pedestal or what? Oh and keep up the amazing work!
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