Akasaran Desert

 East of the mountain range separating most of Mesogea from Occimesogea – the continent’s western “horn” – is a large, seemingly unending region of arid desert, splitting northern and southern Mesogea in half. The mountain range is one of the largest on the planet, forming only relatively recently following the collision of Occimesogea with the mainland. Normally, mountains don’t last as long as they do on Earth, with the more acidic rain eroding them away quicker. Although the greater level of tectonic and volcanic activity – a result of the tidal influences the planet is subjected to – makes up for this to an extent.

With moist air from the tropical west blocked by mountains, and the cooler, drier prevailing winds from the east travelling over much land and a few low-lying volcanic mountains before reaching this region, the Akasara Desert is one of the driest places on the planet’s dayside. Most of the rock and sand in the desert is a reddish-orange colour, composed largely of iron-oxide.

 

Akasaran Coneback    

(Pikonu conoton)

Size: Males; 1.1 – 1.4 meters in height, 1.7 – 2.2 meters in length. Females: 1.4 – 1.8 meters in height, 2 – 2.5 meters in length

Diet: desert shrubs, roots  

Habitat: desert

Reproduction: Protandrous sequential hermaphroditism. Lays large, hard-shelled eggs, from which undeveloped larvae hatch

With the prevalence of open, flat plains on Xenosulia, hopping is far from an uncommon means of locomotion, especially among cursorial herbivores. One group of tariforms, the pikonids, or “tribbits”, specialises for this. While most animals that incorporate hopping into their movement are relatively small, this family contains among the largest of hopers, rivalling cavids in terms of size, although smaller species do exist. The Akasaran coneback is one of the larger members of the group, as well as being among the largest animals in Akasaran Desert.  

By storing energy in their tendons, these tribbits are able to reach high speeds while expanding comparatively little energy, an invaluable adaptation in the energy poor environment they inhabit. They tend to live in small herds for protection for help finding food, with predators picking out only the slowest among them. These predators almost always consist of the East Lituan kipon and other related species, as well as some smaller desert-dwelling onychodons and other dromeiforms to a lesser extent. Also, Lophopteryx, while primarily scavengers, have also been known to take down larger tribbits occasionally. But in general, there are few predators large enough to hunt them, with the desert unable to support many large carnivores.

While not as good at conserving moisture as laminites, the coneback is able to survive long periods of time subsisting only on the water contained in their food. Many of the hardy plants found in the Akasaran Desert store large quantities of water to get them through drier periods, which are often found in bulbous growths underground. These animals will use their dextrous proboscis to dig these growths out of the ground, favouring these parts of the plant. With a thin body, loose skin, and large ears, they are also very good at loosing heat, the constant desert day giving them no reprieve.  

Taxonomic classification
Tree: Xenosulivitae
Domain: Rhytocaryota
Kingdom: Xenosulizoa
Phylum: Hydratozoa
Superclass: Tripoda
Clade: Sucodermata
Class: Spinoptilita
Order: Tariformes
Family: Pikonidae
Genus: Pikonu
Species: P. conoton

 

East Lituan Kipon

(Kubu lituensis)

Size: 0.9 – 1.2 meters in height, 1 – 1.3 meters in length

Diet: meat, primarily medium to large herbivores and filter feeders

Habitat: desert, shrubland

Reproduction: protogynous sequential hermaphroditism

The armoured laminites are especially successful in desert environments, able to more effectively conserve moisture than the sucoderms due to a variety of factors. While in most parts of the mainlands, they are limited to relatively small and inactive carnivores and omnivores, much larger species can be found in the Akasaran Desert, less limited by competition.

The order Kiponiformes constitutes some of the largest and most active laminites. While most laminites adopt a sprawling posture, kiponiforms hold their limbs erect benefit them. Most, including Kubu lituensis, are predatory, preferring tripodans over the spherozoans and cardozoans most other laminite clades focus on. With the difficulties of hiding in the open landscape they inhabit, at least at their size, they are primarily pursuit predators, eschewing the sit and wait tactics of their smaller relatives. Their front limbs are used for holding down prey, and the inner claws are especially sharp, held up above the ground to protect them from being blunted from walking. The killing blow is usually dealt with a bite, however.

Taxonomic classification
Tree: Xenosulivitae
Domain: Rhytocaryota
Kingdom: Xenosulizoa
Phylum: Hydratozoa
Superclass: Tripoda
Class: Laminita
Order: Kiponiformes
Family: Kubidae
Genus: Kubu
Species: K. lituensis

Sponge Bison

(Oocephalus rhisopus)

Male sponge bison

Size: Males; 2.5 – 3 meters in height. Females: 2 – 4 meters starting at the ground

Diet: aeroplankton

Habitat: desert

Reproduction: protandrous hermaphroditism, with individuals born as male and becoming sedentary hermaphrodites. They give birth to live young that crawl out of their mother

While aerobic filter feeders are common in most open places, the winds can get especially strong in the desert, facilitating this lifestyle. However, like plants, the sedentary xenospongozoans do not grow as well as they do in grasslands, with less water available to them. This provides filter feeding animals with less competition, with sitostome species especially prevalent here. While the lack of water poses and issue for them, they’re able to occupy a greater variety of niches, with a large assortment of different mouth structures found here specialised for catching different aeroplankton and algae species.

With aeroplankton providing a plentiful source of food, sitostomes are less limited in size than most of the desert’s inhabitants. Among the largest of the Akasaran sitostomes is Oocephalus rhisopus, their herds found roaming the deserts in large numbers. While they do face some risk of predation from some of the desert’s larger carnivores, predators generally ignore older individuals in favour of smaller prey like pikonids. Their size provides them with plenty of protection, so they tend to be slow moving, with little else in the way of defence. For greater stability, their bodies are compact, their legs roughly forming an equilateral triangle, at least during the male phase.

Like most sitostomes, they are protandrous, becoming hermaphroditic later in age. In the hermaphroditic life stage, among those who live long enough, they grow much larger, burying themselves half in the ground and becoming sedentary. This way, the niche they inhabit is similar to that of large xenospongozoans in other areas. In the desert, the sponges tend to be smaller, and much less numerous, so they don’t face too much competition.

The sedentary hermaphrodites are visited frequently by herds of males, who provide them with water in exchange for injecting male gametozoans. With the specialised structure of their oral proboscis, using this to mate is impractical, with the males’ tentacles used to deposit gametozoans instead, after extracting them from the proboscis. During the process of mating, the larger hermaphrodites will also leave gametozoans on the males, which will remain until they journey to another hermaphrodite. This allows the hermaphrodites to mate with each other despite being sedentary, the males acting as pollinators.

Hermaphroditic sponge bison

Taxonomic classification
Tree: Xenosulivitae
Domain: Rhytocaryota
Kingdom: Xenosulizoa
Phylum: Hydratozoa
Superclass: Tripoda
Clade: Sucodermata
Class: Spinoptilita
Order: Sitostomatiformes
Family: Ooglossidae
Genus: Oocephalus
Species: O. rhisopus

Akasaran Crestbird

(Lophopteryx psammus) 

Size: 1 – 1.2 meters in height (not including crest or wings), 5.9 – 6.4 meter wingspan

Diet: carrion

Habitat: desert

Reproduction: individuals are female most of the time with seasonal maleing

The flying entomopterites are a diverse group, and can be found throughout the world in almost every biome and habitat. The order Asikapteriformes includes many larger and often carnivorous species, which, while not particularly agile in air or able to take flight quickly, are specialised for low energy soaring. With a six meter wingspan, the crestbird is larger in size than most other bugbirds. But it’s far from the largest, and actually on the smaller end when it comes to asikapteriforms.

While many asikapteriforms are predatory, Lophopteryx gets most of its food through scavenging, spending long stretches of time souring over the desert in search of carrion. They able to search for food more effectively this way than many other scavengers, especially in the Akasaran Desert where food is rare, so they dominate this niche. Still, their beaks aren’t able to bite into some of the harder parts like bone, which are picked off by more specialised scavengers, especially some of the smaller tusk-dog species that inhabit the area.

While it is common for entomopterites to become colourful during maleing, there are some bugbird species that remain colourful all the time. The Akasaran crestbird is easily identified by its green or green-blue hue, as well as the head crest. While attracting a mate and enhancing social status may play a factor, identifying other members of the same species may also be important. Not facing much predation, being easy to spot by other individuals may be more of a priority, especially considering their tendency to fly in flocks when searching for food. This increases their chances finding carrion, and also means that each individual doesn’t need to put as much effort into the search.

Despite being colourful even outside of the mating “season”, crestbirds do undergo some changes during maleing. Being on of the few Xenosulian species able to see blue (although this isn’t that rare among entomopterites) these changes include the changing of the wing membrane to a bright bluer colour and the development of blue stripes and spots in some individuals. Also, in near infrared the difference between individuals who have undergone maleing and those that remain female is more apparent.

Top-down view of a crestbird in flight

Taxonomic classification

Tree: Xenosulivitae
Domain: Rhytocaryota
Kingdom: Xenosulizoa
Phylum: Hydratozoa
Superclass: Tripoda
Clade: Sucodermata
Class: Entomopterita
Order: Asikapteriformes
Family: Lophopterygidae
Genus: Lophopteryx
Species: L. psammus

 

Sand Chilu

(Pisozumi michiku)

Size: 30 – 60 cm in length

Diet: small animals

Habitat: desert

Reproduction: simultaneous hermaphrodites  

Of the numerous laminite lineages to lose their limbs, the polyplaciforms are by far the most widespread and diverse. Their greatly elongated bodies, providing them with a cryptic form, is ideal for hiding from predators and prey alike. This serves the sit-and-wait hunting tactics of most species well. Although they do run into competition from many of the smaller, similarly sized trignathites, namely the serpentiforms, they do tend to go after much smaller prey due to their inability to open their jaws as wide.

Desert dwelling polyplaciforms like the sand chilu tend to live in the sandier areas, spending hours or even days hiding beneath the sand and waiting for their moment to strike. Finding a good place to hide can be difficult in such an open space, so they’re not really left with many options other than burying themselves.  

Taxonomic classification
Tree: Xenosulivitae
Domain: Rhytocaryota
Kingdom: Xenosulizoa
Phylum: Hydratozoa
Superclass: Tripoda
Class: Laminita
Order: Polyplaciformes
Family: Ammophidae
Genus: Pisozumi
Species: P. michiku

 

Bristletoothed Horseshell

(Hippocelyphus tracheodus)

Size: 40 – 60 cm in length, 50 – 75 cm long proboscis 

Diet: detritus

Habitat: desert

Reproduction: protogynous, with females capable of parthenogenesis

Detritus from aeroplankton is an abundant source of food in most open biomes, deserts being no exception. With the lack of as much plant or animal life, many species are forced to make greater use of this. Countless flat-bodied pulusiform species roam the Akasaran desert, but there are many other animals that have developed a similar diet, given the greater evolutionary pressures to do so.

The chilipiforms, a sister clade to the pulusiforms, are characterised primarily by the hardened, segmented plates on their backs, and share the muscular foot of their relatives. While the majority are herbivorous or sometimes omnivorous, mainly eating still-living plant matter, some like the horseshell, have convergently evolved to be more like pulusiforms. In addition to having a diet primarily consisting of detritus, their bodies are also a bit more flattened than other chilipiforms, making them better suited for roaming open and windy landscapes.

Unlike their pulusiform relatives, the bristlestoothed horseshell has a far longer oral proboscis, allowing them to sweep a wide area for biomatter while moving comparatively little. This method of feeding is especially useful in a desert where conserving energy is important. Although the proboscis is too large to be retracted, for protection they’re able to pull it underneath their body, lifting themselves up with their two legs to make room while doing so. They usually only do this when they feel threatened, assuming this defensive posture when they spot potential predators approaching, although they do also sleep in this position.

Their leaf-shaped radula, which can’t be retracted into the proboscis, has teeth specialised for sweeping up different types of detritus of a different size than most pulusiforms, preventing them from running into too much competition except when resources are scarce. They also tend to inhabit areas where predators are more common, their armoured bodies providing them with a greater deal of protection. While the majority of their diet does consist of detritus, like other chilipiforms they will eat vegetation when its available.

For protection, in addition to their shell, their compound eye is also greatly hardened, a feature they have in common with other chilipiforms. The lenses, rather than consisting of a more transparent cupitin variant as in most hydratozoans, actually consist of silicate, like their bones. This quartz compound eye is almost as resistant to damage as the shell, meaning the only real weak spots are the oral proboscis and the underside.

Taxonomic classification
Tree: Xenosulivitae
Domain: Rhytocaryota
Kingdom: Xenosulizoa
Phylum: Hydratozoa
Superclass: Tripoda
Clade: Sucodermata
Class: Xenosquamita
Order: Chilipiformes
Family: Hippocelyphidae
Genus: Hippocelyphus
Species: H. tracheodus

 

Thorny Springhopper

(Acanthopus sunaziensis)

Size: 20 – 30 cm long

Diet: hingeflies, occasionally spherozoans or small tripodans

Habitat: desert

Reproduction: protogynous sequential hermaphroditism

Sulaciforms are an order of laminites specialised for preying on the small flying cardozoans, or “hingeflies”. Their hopping movement serves them well for this, allowing them to move quickly in short bursts to catch their rapidly moving prey. Their long, extendible tongue has a sticky pad at the end, although once caught they will usually need to bite into the hingefly to break open their hard wing-shell with their strong jaws.

Desert dwelling species like tend to be more heavily armoured, with the thorny springhopper having a number of spines and horns growing out of the exoskeleton. Despite this, the exoskeleton is also thinner than normal to more efficiently disperse heat. The shape of their exoskeleton is still enough to make them unpleasant to eat, in spite of it being softer, and they are slightly poisonous. Although they’re not toxic enough to kill most species, many predators will still avoid them for this reason.

Taxonomic classification
Tree: Xenosulivitae
Domain: Rhytocaryota
Kingdom: Xenosulizoa
Phylum: Hydratozoa
Superclass: Tripoda
Class: Laminita
Order: Sulaciformes
Family: Acanthopodidae
Genus: Acanthopus
Species: A. sunaziensis

 

Drylands Microtribbit

(Puliki akasarensis)

Size: Males; 20 – 30 cm in height, 30 – 40 cm in length. Females; 50 – 70 cm in height, 60 – 80 cm in length

Diet: shrubs

Habitat: deserts, shrublands

Reproduction: protandrous sequential hermaphroditism. Lays large, hard-shelled eggs which larvae hatch from

Smaller pikonids are far more common than larger ones like the coneback. While most species are found in grassland, focusing on different plants and plant parts to avoid competition with the larger tariforms, desert dwelling species do exist including the drylands microtribbit.

Regulating their body temperature isn’t as much of an issue as it is for their larger relatives, with their body size providing them with a high surface area to volume ratio. Still, they do have a number of adaptations to deal with the heat, like a thinner body than most other pikonids of similar size, and they loose most of their heat through their thin oral proboscis. Their elongated dermal spines provide them with a great deal of defence from predation, making them less pleasant to consume.

Taxonomic classification
Tree: Xenosulivitae
Domain: Rhytocaryota
Kingdom: Xenosulizoa
Phylum: Hydratozoa
Superclass: Tripoda
Clade: Sucodermata
Class: Spinoptilita
Order: Tariformes
Family: Pikonidae
Genus: Puliki
Species: P. akasarensis