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Future Australia; Let's try to redeem the badspec.
Topic Started: Nov 8 2013, 11:28 PM (393 Views)
Citrakayah
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Right, this is here because it is awful, and we are going to try to tear it apart, put it back together, and make it halfway decent.


Australia has yet to be shown in any speculative evolution "documentaries" (etc. The Future Is Wild) but this is a representation of what might happen to the fauna of Australia in 5, 10 and 25 million years in the future.

Australia is largely the same shape as it is in the human era, with the only major new feature to form outside its current boundary being Barrenseed Island, a large volcanic hot spot island, south of Tasmania, formed above the East Australia Hotspot.

For people that want to edit this page, there are a list of rules that need to be followed - KaptainWombat.

Rules

* Placental mammals, at least not in this scenario, do not completely displace marsupial megafauna.
* Most projects like this have large, flightless, seal-like birds that evolve to replace marine mammals. Marine mammals are more adaptable than most people seem to think. Also, birds have to be able to leave the water to lay eggs, as they are to specialised to change into live bearers, like mammals and reptiles can. Aquatic, flightless, birds will still be around, they just wont be very big. There is also no good reason for a bird like, for example an albatross or a gannet, which spend up to 80% of their time in the air, to evolve into a large flightless seal like creature. Large penguins might evolve, but they will still look like penguins and not like seals or toothed whales.
* Crocodiles and birds are closer to each other than either is to lizards and snakes. Crocs and birds are to be placed under the heading 'Archosaurs' and any lizards or snakes under the heading 'Reptiles'. 'Reptile' in this case refers to the order 'Squamata'.
* NOTE: Just because most humans go extinct, doesn't mean they take out anything bigger than a deer in the process. The Future is Wild said, in the very first episode, that all marine mammals were somehow 'dependant' on humans to survive! Go here to watch that episode and watch between 14th and 15th minutes to see the quote. Even if every single little marine mammal species go extinct, which is very unlikely any time soon, there are many other animals that are far more likely to take their place than birds, hasn't anyone thought about fish? There are plenty of big filter feading sharks around. It is also worth noting that any changes that affect marine mammals will affect most seabirds even more (except, possibly, for seagulls).


Humans are still present on earth in this timeline, but more than 99% of the population left earth at the start of the next ice age (in roughly 10,000 years, as of 2013). Those that stayed did so by choice. The human population is only about 1 million and the majority live in the combined landmass of Africa-Eurasia; the population of the Australian continent, still an island, is roughly 50,000, centered on the former location of Sydney.

This is NOT part of the Future is Wild timeline, and marine mammals, both pinnipeds and cetaceans, are as plentiful as they are in today's world. The Pleistocene-Holocene ice age is beginning to end at this time, but it is not done yet. In the northern hemisphere, giant descendants of wild boar, known as mammoth-swine, and large predatory primates, bears and saber toothed descendants of cats can be found. But it is "down under" that is the real predators paradise.

Major Australian animal groups of this timeline include:
*Gojirasuchians - Large, sometimes semi-bipedal, terrestrial crocodiles.
*Smilocyonids - Large, hyena, dog and bear-dog like carnivorous predatory marsupials.
*Aquavaranids - Marine monitor lizard descendants found throughout the Indian and South Pacific ocean.
*Gigavombatids - Huge elephant-like descendants of wombats.
*Areovaranids - Small to medium sized, gliding monitor lizards.
*Thylasimians - Mostly small descendants of Brush-tail Possums, generally primate-like arboreal omnivours, with some major exceptions.

In 5 million years time. . .

The Earth is in the grips of another Ice Age. Ice sheets extend from the poles as far south as the Great Lakes, and as far north as New Zealand.

Geology
With the earth in the grips of an ice age, the sea level has plummeted to more than 100 meters lower than it is today. This has exposed vast areas of seabed that were formerly shallow inland and shelf seas. Australia has also started to collide with the Indonesian Archipelago and this has begun to form a mountain range. The subduction trench that runs along the edge of South East Asia has spread along the western edge of Australia to about the location of modern day Broome. Along the trench lie 6 active volcanoes, and many dormant ones. Several are over 3000 meters tall. Just south of the former island of Tasmania lies Barrenseed Island, a large hot spot Island the size of the Big Island of Hawaii. Barrenseed Island has three volcanoes, two of which are active, and many small flank vents. The highest point is known as Mt Barrenseed, which is 3,267 meters tall. Mt Barrenseed is quite similar to Mt Etna in chemistry and behavior but has larger, more fluid lava eruptions from flank vents and small but violent explosive eruptions from its summit crater. Several small recent cinder cones in the former Derwent Valley of Tasmania, once the location of the capital of Hobart, are also thought to be less than 20,000 years old. Volcanic activity isn't new to Australia, the last eruption on the Australian mainland happened at Mt Gambier and Mt Schank in South Australia at about the time the Pyramids of Giza were being built, some trees are older than that.

Mammals
Animals of Australia remain mostly marsupials, with some of the extinct forms echoed in current forms. However, due to human interference, there are far more non-marsupial species, including several large vertebrates, and several predators. Foxes and cats, for example, have achieved a foothold, though, surprisingly have been driven into small predatory niches similar to what they live in today, having been out-competed by marsupial carnivores. Meanwhile, camels thrive.

Australia, in compared to today where the biggest land predator is often half pet dog, is a predators paradise. There are more predators hunting down under than there are on the African plains today.

Wooly Wombat (Vombatus immensus)
A descendant of the common wombat, this animal bares a close resemblance to the huge late Pleistocene Diprotodon, hence the name, and is just as big at two to three tons and 3.5 meters long. Its lower incisors have separated slightly and have become longer to form a pair of short tusks that are used to defend it from predators, since burrowing is no longer a valid strategy. Young (but weaned) wooly wombats, however, will burrow until they grow too large.

Hairy Slothroo (Macropus megatherioides)
A future kangaroo descended from the Eastern grey kangaroo that has developed a thick wool-like fur to keep it warm in the colder parts of the continent, the hairy slothroo can still hop but it is rather slow to accelerate and so is more likely to stand and fight. It is named because it resembles, to some extent, the giant ground sloth Megatherium though, it is much faster and more agile. It has seven inch claws on its hands that can do real damage to most predators. Its only serious predator is the bush dragon, which is also exceedingly rare in the hairy slothroo's cold and mountainous habitat.

Robust Camel (Australocamelus robustus)
Camels were introduced to Australia in the 19 century as beasts of burden, but soon became a pest and now there are over a million camels in of both Bactrian and dromedary varieties roaming free in the central deserts. In the future this is one of the only species although they evolve into many forms further into the future, most adapted for high browsing, although the running camels have gone extinct due to competition with kangalopes.

Kangalope (Gracilipus velox)
Kangalopes are a family of kangaroos that are more or less living fossils. They fill the niche of the fast moving grazing animals that are occupied by the ungulates of the Northern Hemisphere and Africa/South America. They have therefore changes little from their modern day ancestors--their body morphology worked just fine, so there was no reason to alter it. They have no proper weaponry so they are likely to turn and hop, hoping to outrun their predators.

Marsupial Leopard (Thylasimias grandis)
The marsupial leopard is the largest Thylasimian. As its name suggests, it has evolved to fill the same niche occupied African/Asian leopards and, formerly, by Pleistocene marsupial lions (Thylacoleo). The body has changed little from its modern day ancestors though it has gotten larger and is of comparable size to a large dog. But like the anatomically similar marsupial lions, and unlike most placental predators, they have no upper canine teeth. They also have multiple molar and premolar teeth like most mammals. They will often wait in trees for several hours until an animal such as a large kangaroo wanders within reach. They use their elongated lower incisor teeth to hold the prey's neck and their upper incisor teeth to cut through its windpipe and jugular.

Leopard Quoll (Hesperonictis thylakos)
A small smilocyonid. It looks similar to the Marsupial leopard, but is smaller and resembles a ferret rather than a cat or possum. Common in western Australia, especially in the volcanic highlands about half way between the northern and southern tips of the western coast, where marsupial leopards are absent.

Tortoise Echidna (Ankylacantha australis)
A descendant of the echidna that resembles a tortoise or armadillo, with many of the spines fused to create scale-like plates, similar to a rattleback. Up until the Pleistocene, the niche of large armoured herbivore was taken by the Meiolaniid turtles. But the last representative of that family died out around 4000 years ago on some small islands, and were already extinct much earlier on mainland Australia. The comparatively recent date of the extinction, around 40,000 years ago, means that nothing has yet evolved to fill that niche.


Tortoise echidnas, while difficult to kill, are hosts to many parasites, much like hedgehogs. Their build and spines make it difficult for them to groom themselves, so they have virtually no defense against fleas and ticks.


Smilocine (Smilocyon lethalis)
A descendant of dasyurid marsupials, part of a newly evolved family, the Smilocyonidae, that are probably descended from one of the larger species. It looks similar to, but is larger than the thylacine, and has evolved from a very different ancestor, the quoll. The smilocine has significantly longer legs than the thylacine, and a more gracile build, ideally suited to running after fast prey. Their name, meaning 'lethal knife dog' refers to their robust but doglike build and their elongated, knifelike serrated upper canine teeth. They are generally dominant of the grasslands that cover most of the habitable parts of the continent. Unlike thylacines, they retain the quoll's spots, and don't have some of the behavioral anomalies that thylacines did. The Smilocine fills the niche of a cursorial predator, similar to a cheetah (Acinonyx) or American cheetah (Miracinonyx).The best analogue to the Smilocine is the strongly built but cheetah-like sabre-tooth cat Homotherium, from Pleistocene North America. Oddly enough, Smilocines don't use their sabre-teeth to kill prey directly, rather their canines and insisors have no gap between them and act like a sort of 'cookie-cutter' (see Xenosmilus).

Marsupial Hyena (Smilocyon ingens)

A very large relative of the Smilocine that resembles a hyena. Like its relative though, it posseses a pair of daggerlike serrated canine teeth that in old individuals can be as long as a steak knife. Its body is almost bear-like in build, earning it the nickname of 'hyena bear', though it still has the hyena-like body form that gives it its name. It too has the 'cookie-cutter jaw' that its smaller relative has, but it has also got crushing teeth to crack open bones and nuts if necessary. It weighs upwards of 80 kg and can be 2 metres long and 1 metre high, larger than a modern day spotted hyena.

Southern Fox (Vulpes australis)
Many animals had been introduced to Australia during the age of man , but none of them really became the top predator. Instead they continued to remain small animals and one of them is the Southern fox. The Southern fox is a small animal the size of a jackal. It looks like a red fox, though with a shorter fur, sand colored fur, a longer snout and longer legs. It also has a shorter tail. They live solitary lives and are opportunistic animals.

Otterat (Lutromys tasmaniensis)
The otterat is a species of native rodent, evolved from the rakali, or water rat. It fills the niche of otters in the southern areas of Australia. They can grow to be about 10kg and over 1 metre long.

Reptiles
Bush Dragon (Varanus pelorus)
An enormous lizard that is descended from the lace monitor, the bush dragon can weigh up to 400 kg and can measure up to 8 metres long with a tail that is longer than its body and head combined. Its name, meaning "monster monitor" is a testimate to its colossal nature. Unlike the extinct Varanus priscus, otherwise known as Megalania, bush dragons are 'gracile', cursorial predators. They are the top land predator of Northern Australia and anything is fair game to them, including other bush dragons. They are also common in some parts of Southeast Asia and are often found near water. Their ability to swim has caused them to begin to travel up northwards, island hopping, and as a result they are just as common as far north as the Philippines as they are in Australia, though Australian animals are generally larger, sometimes significantly, than their Asian counterparts.

Marine Monitor (Varanus marinus)
An aquatic monitor lizard descended from the water monitor (Varanus salvator) of Southeast Asia, this animal is common around the shallow seas around the edges of Australia and Southeast Asia but has been found as far west as India and as far east as New Zealand. They live like a cross between a crocodile and a seal. They are as long as 7 metres and can weigh in at over a ton. Their diet consists of mostly fish and cephalopods, but they will attack anything from fishing lures, to dolphins and even small crocodiles.

Cyanide Snake (Cyanidanguis venenum)
The cyanide snake is a highly venomous snake, descended from the tiger snake. It is found all over Australia, and is venomous enough to bring down a wooly wombat in self defence. Butcherbirds will occasionally attack small snakes but only the Snake Killer has the immunity to their venom to regularly attack them.

Archosaurs
Sprintercroc (Crocodylus velox)
A medium sized crocodilian, about 4 metres long, descended from an isolated population of saltwater crocodiles. Sprintercrocs are much more terrestrial than most crocodiles and will often hunt for extended periods far from water. They will also happily swim after fish like their ancestors. They evolved when, as the new ice age started, the high Holocene sea levels started to drop and the flooded Gulf of Carpentaria started to be exposed and a large lake system started to form. These lake are seasonal and only a few were permanent, so the local crocodiles had to walk considerable distances to find suitable water. They started to evolve longer and stronger legs at the expence of the great size they achieved in the human era, and of their closest relatives that live in more aquatic environments elseware. Over time these crocodiles evolved into the almost entirely terrestrial, but still somewhat water dependant, Sprintercroc. As the name implies, sprintercrocs are quite quick and can easily outrun a human, at least over a short distance. Sprintercrocs are the ancestors of the Gojirasuchians.

False Moa (Dromaius imperator)
It is a descendant of the Emu, present day Australia's largest bird. Moa were found in New Zealand, not Australia, but were related to emus. False Moas are much larger than than the late Pleistocene Dromornithid bird, Genyornis newtoni, at up to three metres tall and 450 - 500 kg in weight, tied first with the Elephant Bird and Dromornis stirtoni, as the heaviest bird of all time. As a result of their size, they are rather slower than their ancestors, but can still outrun marsupial leopards and marsupial hyenas. Their main predators are sprintercrocs (when near water), smilocines and bush dragons (everywhere else).

False moas breed during the summer, during which the males produce a loud, and some would say, even terrifying call to attract females. In the Carpentarian Swamp, this started the legend of the 'Neo Bunyip'. While the eyewitness accounts describe a reptilian body plan, most likely from a sprintercroc, they also described a loud hissing to screaming cound. It was later found out that this was the false moas mating call.

Although false moas do travel in groups, attracting more distant females helps promote genetic diversity, and provides a way for females to gauge the suitability of males. Whichever male can produce the loudest sound is the most suitable - however, the male false moa must be wary, for his call attracts predators like a beacon.

Butcherbird (Aquila carnifex)
The butcherbird is a descendant of the wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax) that has evolved to become even larger--an example of megafauna. The butcherbird can have a wingspan of up to five meters, and can weigh up to twenty kilograms.

Echidna Bird (Insectornithius micros)
The echidna bird is a recent development in Australia, roosting on tortoise echidnas and picking them clean of parasites.


Snake killer (Casuarius serpentovenator)
Cassowarys were omnivorous birds and would sometimes scavenge. A group started a more carnivorous diet and used its claws not only for defense, but also as a weapon to kill small animals, and so evolved the snake killer. The snake killer gets its name from the fact that it's main and favourite food are snakes which it kills by kicking them to death like the modern day secretary bird and the South American seriama. They are 1.3 m tall, have reddish-brown feathers, and light olive skin on the head. They lay three eggs every two years. Once hatched, both parents take care of the young for a year.

In 10 million years time. . .


With the gradual outpouring of carbon gases following an uptick in volcanic activity, the greenshouse effect began to take effect, heating up the Earth's surface and sea temperatures. Over hundreds of thousands of years, the ice caps began to retreat, melting at an ever faster rate as volcanic activity continued uninhibited. The result of mass flood, as the sea level began to rise, enveloping the coastline, forming a massive swamp on the outlining lowlands of Australia. Some animals, such as the bush dragon and false moa, are little changed from 5 million years in the future, but most animals have evolved into different forms.

Mammals
Treestalker (Thylasimias invincibilis)
A descendant of the marsupial leopard. Though similar to their ancestors, they are much larger and are now comparable to an actual leopard or even a lion in size and significantly larger than Thylacoleo, to which it resembles to a striking degree. This also makes them slow but powerful climbers and gives them access to larger prey.

Thyleon (Phascolantereon leonoides)
While treestalkers hunt the forests and treetops for lost animals and small game, the niche of big game hunter on the plains goes to the thyleon, a larger descendant of the Smilocine. Lion sized, sabre toothed and intelligent, the Thyleon hunts for anything it can find, from small rabbits and rodents to cattlebeasts and Great Slothroos.

Cattlebeast (Bubalus australis)
A descendant of the Water Buffalo, which was introduced to Australia and became feral. They resemble their ancestors but are more land based and are only rarely found in water. They live in herds to protect themselves from predators. Greater Gojiras and Treestalkers lurk in the northern rainforests and Bush Dragons and a host of mammalian carnivours stalk the plains further south. They feed in the southern grasslands in the winter and migrate north in the summer.

Great Slothroo (Macropus nothrobrachius)
The great slothroo is a larger relative of the now extinct Hairy Slothroo. They can weigh up to 250 kg and be up to 2.5 metres tall. Unlike their modern day relatives, which have relatively short non-flexible arms, Great Slothroos have very long and powerful arms. The only thing that would convince you that it is a kangaroo is that they still hop to get around. Known predators include Thyleons, Treestalkers and, occasionally, Greater Gojiras, and Bush Dragons.

Reptiles
Rainbow Serpent (Morelia archon)
The rainbow serpent is a large python.It gets it's name from it's colors similar to those of the modern day coral snake.It is 5-8 m long and it feeds on gazelle sized animals.

Aquavaranidae
The Aquavaranids, or New Mosasaurs are a class of future marine reptiles that resemble the Mosasaurs of the Cretaceous. They evolved from the now extinct Marine Monitor. The marine mammals, while still very much presant, have had their glory days, and large predatory ceteceans and pinnipeds are now only found in the cooler areas of the world. Northern Australia and Sundaland are ruled by the largest Aquavaranid, the Seastalker or Northern Ghost.

Archosaurs
Seacroc (Cetichampsus solitarius)
With cetaceans being more restricted in range, saltwater crocodiles were able to specialize for a more aquatic lifestyle. The result of this evolutionary path created the Seacroc. Seacrocs look rather like their ancestors, but have flippers instead of legs. They seem to have evolved convergently with the Aquavaranids, though are more coastal and still lay eggs, as opposed to live birth like marine mammals and Aquavaranids.
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martiitram
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I created 3 of the animals : the snake killer , the rainbow serpent and the southern fox.
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Citrakayah
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Okay, then, let's start on those first.

Quote:
 
Rainbow Serpent (Morelia archon)
The rainbow serpent is a large python.It gets it's name from it's colors similar to those of the modern day coral snake.It is 5-8 m long and it feeds on gazelle sized animals.


Okay, firstly, that is a very long snake. Typical specimens of the green anaconda, one of the world's largest snakes, are about five meters long, with the largest specimens being six meters long.[1] Reticulated pythons are longer, but still fall well under eight meters.[2] That being said, there have been longer snakes,[3], so it's not impossible.

The problem is, what caused it to get so big?

Now, as far as coloration, pythons tend to have far more subdued coloration than venomous snakes, because they aren't venomous, and pretty much nothing eats them anyway (and I'm not even sure that something would mistake them for venomous if they were brightly colored)--they want to hide from prey, especially large prey. Therefore the cryptic coloration.

And other than that there's pretty nothing else there. Nothing on behavior, lifespan, ecology, evolution, or anything of the sort.
[1] Boulenger, G.A. 1893. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History), Volume I., Containing the Families...Boidæ.... Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). London. xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I.- XXVIII. (Eunectes murinus, p. 115.)
[2] Fredriksson, G. M. (2005). "Predation on Sun Bears by Reticulated Python in East Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo". Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 53 (1): 165–168.
[3] "Ancient, gargantuan snakes ate crocs for breakfast". CTV News. 4 February 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-02-08. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
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martiitram
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Well , what I meant was a darker version of the coral snake's color.We could make only males have that color , but only in the matting season as a display mechanism.About the size , 5 m is their usual length and only large ones reach 8 m.I'v added just a bit of information , but I could add more.
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Citrakayah
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I'm not quite sure that you realize how much that three meters is--it's approximately ten feet. That is an enormous amount of variation--about 33%.

A darker, more muted version of the coral snake's color could work, I suppose. Works just fine for these guys. As far as a display mechanism, as far as I know snakes don't really do those--though that doesn't rule it out, I'll first have to figure out why they don't do them.
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martiitram
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In my country we use m so I know how much that is , but still , I could make it with a max length of 5 m.
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Citrakayah
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Max length of about five meters would probably be better. And downsize to eating gazelle-like creatures less often; it's fairly unusual for snakes to do so and I'm unsure of the environmental conditions that would cause it.
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martiitram
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Just like an african rock python.
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Zirojtan
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Hmmmm... Citra, you don't seem to have brought up any of the stuff we discussed on our call the other day :(


Citra and I determined that within 5 million years, if current trends continue in tectonic movement, that Australia/New Guinea will have probably merged with Sulawesi, or at least have gotten close enough to allow for island-hopping of different species.


But if I recall correctly, there were two things that we were stumped on:


1. During what Ice Age did humans depart the planet en masse? Did the current interglacial period that we are in abruptly end in a few thousand years and we all just left, or are we referring to another one even further in time?
2. What is the environmental approach of those humans that remain on Earth, and what has it been over history? Have we dilligently sought to restore what we have lost? Have we somehow found the technology to eradicate introduced species (of plants AND animals, as plants drastically alter environments as well) and have we cloned any Pleistocene fauna to try and restore the Earth to what it was before we conquered it?


For me, while I think the prospect of cloning extinct animals is an interesting one, I'm actually decidedly against it. Environments have changed so much since the extinction of the Pleistocene Megafauna and the end of the last glacial period that we could never properly restore what was. Trying to do so might do more harm than good. As far as introduced species of flora and fauna are concerned, my view is this:

I see nature as we know it as a still in a movie. As we are just a small part of the greater story of life, and our time on this Earth is so short, we tend to view nature as some sort of sedentary or long-term system that we have done enormous damage to. In fact, I have even read people on the Old Forum claiming that neanderthals and early hominins didn't have any real effect on their environments, implying that we are somehow unique as somehow unique as some sort of grand exterminator. When you look at evolutionary history though, you see that all species directly affect their environment to different levels, and while no species has ever conquered the planet in the same way we have, that doesn't mean that other species have not done immeasurable damage to others and drastically altered the face of this Earth. Hence, everything is in a constant state of change. It is true that we have done damage in introducing certain species to certain environments that may never have been threatened by this specific species, but that doesn't mean that that environment that we view as so permanent would not have been changed by something else at some other period in time. It is as temporary as anything else. Therefore, I say that for the most part, we should let the introduced species rain free. Things that are already in the process of being eradicated, such as cane toads, are fine with me. But other things, like dogs, cats, dingos, cows, camels, horses, etc., I say just let them be. Hoofed mammals and carnivorans would have invaded the Australian continent by at most 10 million years from now anyways.


Now, if we're to take this into account, this does away with a lot of the reptilian megafauna that the original author of the article had put up, as history has shown us at least in the case of South America during the Great American Interchange, that when more advanced mammalian predators enter the scene, your reptilian and avian megafaunal predators tend to get outcompeted. The avian predators of course is not as good a case to argue, as phorusrhacids DID invade North America for a little while, and we're not quite sure why they went extinct.
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martiitram
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Citrakayah
Nov 8 2013, 11:28 PM
Right, this is here because it is awful, and we are going to try to tear it apart, put it back together, and make it halfway decent.


Australia has yet to be shown in any speculative evolution "documentaries" (etc. The Future Is Wild) but this is a representation of what might happen to the fauna of Australia in 5, 10 and 25 million years in the future.

Australia is largely the same shape as it is in the human era, with the only major new feature to form outside its current boundary being Barrenseed Island, a large volcanic hot spot island, south of Tasmania, formed above the East Australia Hotspot.

For people that want to edit this page, there are a list of rules that need to be followed - KaptainWombat.

Rules

* Placental mammals, at least not in this scenario, do not completely displace marsupial megafauna.
* Most projects like this have large, flightless, seal-like birds that evolve to replace marine mammals. Marine mammals are more adaptable than most people seem to think. Also, birds have to be able to leave the water to lay eggs, as they are to specialised to change into live bearers, like mammals and reptiles can. Aquatic, flightless, birds will still be around, they just wont be very big. There is also no good reason for a bird like, for example an albatross or a gannet, which spend up to 80% of their time in the air, to evolve into a large flightless seal like creature. Large penguins might evolve, but they will still look like penguins and not like seals or toothed whales.
* Crocodiles and birds are closer to each other than either is to lizards and snakes. Crocs and birds are to be placed under the heading 'Archosaurs' and any lizards or snakes under the heading 'Reptiles'. 'Reptile' in this case refers to the order 'Squamata'.
* NOTE: Just because most humans go extinct, doesn't mean they take out anything bigger than a deer in the process. The Future is Wild said, in the very first episode, that all marine mammals were somehow 'dependant' on humans to survive! Go here to watch that episode and watch between 14th and 15th minutes to see the quote. Even if every single little marine mammal species go extinct, which is very unlikely any time soon, there are many other animals that are far more likely to take their place than birds, hasn't anyone thought about fish? There are plenty of big filter feading sharks around. It is also worth noting that any changes that affect marine mammals will affect most seabirds even more (except, possibly, for seagulls).


Humans are still present on earth in this timeline, but more than 99% of the population left earth at the start of the next ice age (in roughly 10,000 years, as of 2013). Those that stayed did so by choice. The human population is only about 1 million and the majority live in the combined landmass of Africa-Eurasia; the population of the Australian continent, still an island, is roughly 50,000, centered on the former location of Sydney.

This is NOT part of the Future is Wild timeline, and marine mammals, both pinnipeds and cetaceans, are as plentiful as they are in today's world. The Pleistocene-Holocene ice age is beginning to end at this time, but it is not done yet. In the northern hemisphere, giant descendants of wild boar, known as mammoth-swine, and large predatory primates, bears and saber toothed descendants of cats can be found. But it is "down under" that is the real predators paradise.

Major Australian animal groups of this timeline include:
*Gojirasuchians - Large, sometimes semi-bipedal, terrestrial crocodiles.
*Smilocyonids - Large, hyena, dog and bear-dog like carnivorous predatory marsupials.
*Aquavaranids - Marine monitor lizard descendants found throughout the Indian and South Pacific ocean.
*Gigavombatids - Huge elephant-like descendants of wombats.
*Areovaranids - Small to medium sized, gliding monitor lizards.
*Thylasimians - Mostly small descendants of Brush-tail Possums, generally primate-like arboreal omnivours, with some major exceptions.

In 5 million years time. . .

The Earth is in the grips of another Ice Age. Ice sheets extend from the poles as far south as the Great Lakes, and as far north as New Zealand.

Geology
With the earth in the grips of an ice age, the sea level has plummeted to more than 100 meters lower than it is today. This has exposed vast areas of seabed that were formerly shallow inland and shelf seas. Australia has also started to collide with the Indonesian Archipelago and this has begun to form a mountain range. The subduction trench that runs along the edge of South East Asia has spread along the western edge of Australia to about the location of modern day Broome. Along the trench lie 6 active volcanoes, and many dormant ones. Several are over 3000 meters tall. Just south of the former island of Tasmania lies Barrenseed Island, a large hot spot Island the size of the Big Island of Hawaii. Barrenseed Island has three volcanoes, two of which are active, and many small flank vents. The highest point is known as Mt Barrenseed, which is 3,267 meters tall. Mt Barrenseed is quite similar to Mt Etna in chemistry and behavior but has larger, more fluid lava eruptions from flank vents and small but violent explosive eruptions from its summit crater. Several small recent cinder cones in the former Derwent Valley of Tasmania, once the location of the capital of Hobart, are also thought to be less than 20,000 years old. Volcanic activity isn't new to Australia, the last eruption on the Australian mainland happened at Mt Gambier and Mt Schank in South Australia at about the time the Pyramids of Giza were being built, some trees are older than that.

Mammals
Animals of Australia remain mostly marsupials, with some of the extinct forms echoed in current forms. However, due to human interference, there are far more non-marsupial species, including several large vertebrates, and several predators. Foxes and cats, for example, have achieved a foothold, though, surprisingly have been driven into small predatory niches similar to what they live in today, having been out-competed by marsupial carnivores. Meanwhile, camels thrive.

Australia, in compared to today where the biggest land predator is often half pet dog, is a predators paradise. There are more predators hunting down under than there are on the African plains today.

Wooly Wombat (Vombatus immensus)
A descendant of the common wombat, this animal bares a close resemblance to the huge late Pleistocene Diprotodon, hence the name, and is just as big at two to three tons and 3.5 meters long. Its lower incisors have separated slightly and have become longer to form a pair of short tusks that are used to defend it from predators, since burrowing is no longer a valid strategy. Young (but weaned) wooly wombats, however, will burrow until they grow too large.

Hairy Slothroo (Macropus megatherioides)
A future kangaroo descended from the Eastern grey kangaroo that has developed a thick wool-like fur to keep it warm in the colder parts of the continent, the hairy slothroo can still hop but it is rather slow to accelerate and so is more likely to stand and fight. It is named because it resembles, to some extent, the giant ground sloth Megatherium though, it is much faster and more agile. It has seven inch claws on its hands that can do real damage to most predators. Its only serious predator is the bush dragon, which is also exceedingly rare in the hairy slothroo's cold and mountainous habitat.

Robust Camel (Australocamelus robustus)
Camels were introduced to Australia in the 19 century as beasts of burden, but soon became a pest and now there are over a million camels in of both Bactrian and dromedary varieties roaming free in the central deserts. In the future this is one of the only species although they evolve into many forms further into the future, most adapted for high browsing, although the running camels have gone extinct due to competition with kangalopes.

Kangalope (Gracilipus velox)
Kangalopes are a family of kangaroos that are more or less living fossils. They fill the niche of the fast moving grazing animals that are occupied by the ungulates of the Northern Hemisphere and Africa/South America. They have therefore changes little from their modern day ancestors--their body morphology worked just fine, so there was no reason to alter it. They have no proper weaponry so they are likely to turn and hop, hoping to outrun their predators.

Marsupial Leopard (Thylasimias grandis)
The marsupial leopard is the largest Thylasimian. As its name suggests, it has evolved to fill the same niche occupied African/Asian leopards and, formerly, by Pleistocene marsupial lions (Thylacoleo). The body has changed little from its modern day ancestors though it has gotten larger and is of comparable size to a large dog. But like the anatomically similar marsupial lions, and unlike most placental predators, they have no upper canine teeth. They also have multiple molar and premolar teeth like most mammals. They will often wait in trees for several hours until an animal such as a large kangaroo wanders within reach. They use their elongated lower incisor teeth to hold the prey's neck and their upper incisor teeth to cut through its windpipe and jugular.

Leopard Quoll (Hesperonictis thylakos)
A small smilocyonid. It looks similar to the Marsupial leopard, but is smaller and resembles a ferret rather than a cat or possum. Common in western Australia, especially in the volcanic highlands about half way between the northern and southern tips of the western coast, where marsupial leopards are absent.

Tortoise Echidna (Ankylacantha australis)
A descendant of the echidna that resembles a tortoise or armadillo, with many of the spines fused to create scale-like plates, similar to a rattleback. Up until the Pleistocene, the niche of large armoured herbivore was taken by the Meiolaniid turtles. But the last representative of that family died out around 4000 years ago on some small islands, and were already extinct much earlier on mainland Australia. The comparatively recent date of the extinction, around 40,000 years ago, means that nothing has yet evolved to fill that niche.


Tortoise echidnas, while difficult to kill, are hosts to many parasites, much like hedgehogs. Their build and spines make it difficult for them to groom themselves, so they have virtually no defense against fleas and ticks.


Smilocine (Smilocyon lethalis)
A descendant of dasyurid marsupials, part of a newly evolved family, the Smilocyonidae, that are probably descended from one of the larger species. It looks similar to, but is larger than the thylacine, and has evolved from a very different ancestor, the quoll. The smilocine has significantly longer legs than the thylacine, and a more gracile build, ideally suited to running after fast prey. Their name, meaning 'lethal knife dog' refers to their robust but doglike build and their elongated, knifelike serrated upper canine teeth. They are generally dominant of the grasslands that cover most of the habitable parts of the continent. Unlike thylacines, they retain the quoll's spots, and don't have some of the behavioral anomalies that thylacines did. The Smilocine fills the niche of a cursorial predator, similar to a cheetah (Acinonyx) or American cheetah (Miracinonyx).The best analogue to the Smilocine is the strongly built but cheetah-like sabre-tooth cat Homotherium, from Pleistocene North America. Oddly enough, Smilocines don't use their sabre-teeth to kill prey directly, rather their canines and insisors have no gap between them and act like a sort of 'cookie-cutter' (see Xenosmilus).

Marsupial Hyena (Smilocyon ingens)

A very large relative of the Smilocine that resembles a hyena. Like its relative though, it posseses a pair of daggerlike serrated canine teeth that in old individuals can be as long as a steak knife. Its body is almost bear-like in build, earning it the nickname of 'hyena bear', though it still has the hyena-like body form that gives it its name. It too has the 'cookie-cutter jaw' that its smaller relative has, but it has also got crushing teeth to crack open bones and nuts if necessary. It weighs upwards of 80 kg and can be 2 metres long and 1 metre high, larger than a modern day spotted hyena.

Southern Fox (Vulpes australis)
Many animals had been introduced to Australia during the age of man , but none of them really became the top predator. Instead they continued to remain small animals and one of them is the Southern fox. The Southern fox is a small animal the size of a jackal. It looks like a red fox, though with a shorter fur, sand colored fur, a longer snout and longer legs. It also has a shorter tail. They live solitary lives and are opportunistic animals.

Otterat (Lutromys tasmaniensis)
The otterat is a species of native rodent, evolved from the rakali, or water rat. It fills the niche of otters in the southern areas of Australia. They can grow to be about 10kg and over 1 metre long.

Reptiles
Bush Dragon (Varanus pelorus)
An enormous lizard that is descended from the lace monitor, the bush dragon can weigh up to 400 kg and can measure up to 8 metres long with a tail that is longer than its body and head combined. Its name, meaning "monster monitor" is a testimate to its colossal nature. Unlike the extinct Varanus priscus, otherwise known as Megalania, bush dragons are 'gracile', cursorial predators. They are the top land predator of Northern Australia and anything is fair game to them, including other bush dragons. They are also common in some parts of Southeast Asia and are often found near water. Their ability to swim has caused them to begin to travel up northwards, island hopping, and as a result they are just as common as far north as the Philippines as they are in Australia, though Australian animals are generally larger, sometimes significantly, than their Asian counterparts.

Marine Monitor (Varanus marinus)
An aquatic monitor lizard descended from the water monitor (Varanus salvator) of Southeast Asia, this animal is common around the shallow seas around the edges of Australia and Southeast Asia but has been found as far west as India and as far east as New Zealand. They live like a cross between a crocodile and a seal. They are as long as 7 metres and can weigh in at over a ton. Their diet consists of mostly fish and cephalopods, but they will attack anything from fishing lures, to dolphins and even small crocodiles.

Cyanide Snake (Cyanidanguis venenum)
The cyanide snake is a highly venomous snake, descended from the tiger snake. It is found all over Australia, and is venomous enough to bring down a wooly wombat in self defence. Butcherbirds will occasionally attack small snakes but only the Snake Killer has the immunity to their venom to regularly attack them.

Archosaurs
Sprintercroc (Crocodylus velox)
A medium sized crocodilian, about 4 metres long, descended from an isolated population of saltwater crocodiles. Sprintercrocs are much more terrestrial than most crocodiles and will often hunt for extended periods far from water. They will also happily swim after fish like their ancestors. They evolved when, as the new ice age started, the high Holocene sea levels started to drop and the flooded Gulf of Carpentaria started to be exposed and a large lake system started to form. These lake are seasonal and only a few were permanent, so the local crocodiles had to walk considerable distances to find suitable water. They started to evolve longer and stronger legs at the expence of the great size they achieved in the human era, and of their closest relatives that live in more aquatic environments elseware. Over time these crocodiles evolved into the almost entirely terrestrial, but still somewhat water dependant, Sprintercroc. As the name implies, sprintercrocs are quite quick and can easily outrun a human, at least over a short distance. Sprintercrocs are the ancestors of the Gojirasuchians.

False Moa (Dromaius imperator)
It is a descendant of the Emu, present day Australia's largest bird. Moa were found in New Zealand, not Australia, but were related to emus. False Moas are much larger than than the late Pleistocene Dromornithid bird, Genyornis newtoni, at up to three metres tall and 450 - 500 kg in weight, tied first with the Elephant Bird and Dromornis stirtoni, as the heaviest bird of all time. As a result of their size, they are rather slower than their ancestors, but can still outrun marsupial leopards and marsupial hyenas. Their main predators are sprintercrocs (when near water), smilocines and bush dragons (everywhere else).

False moas breed during the summer, during which the males produce a loud, and some would say, even terrifying call to attract females. In the Carpentarian Swamp, this started the legend of the 'Neo Bunyip'. While the eyewitness accounts describe a reptilian body plan, most likely from a sprintercroc, they also described a loud hissing to screaming cound. It was later found out that this was the false moas mating call.

Although false moas do travel in groups, attracting more distant females helps promote genetic diversity, and provides a way for females to gauge the suitability of males. Whichever male can produce the loudest sound is the most suitable - however, the male false moa must be wary, for his call attracts predators like a beacon.

Butcherbird (Aquila carnifex)
The butcherbird is a descendant of the wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax) that has evolved to become even larger--an example of megafauna. The butcherbird can have a wingspan of up to five meters, and can weigh up to twenty kilograms.

Echidna Bird (Insectornithius micros)
The echidna bird is a recent development in Australia, roosting on tortoise echidnas and picking them clean of parasites.


Snake killer (Casuarius serpentovenator)
Cassowarys were omnivorous birds and would sometimes scavenge. A group started a more carnivorous diet and used its claws not only for defense, but also as a weapon to kill small animals, and so evolved the snake killer. The snake killer gets its name from the fact that it's main and favourite food are snakes which it kills by kicking them to death like the modern day secretary bird and the South American seriama. They are 1.3 m tall, have reddish-brown feathers, and light olive skin on the head. They lay three eggs every two years. Once hatched, both parents take care of the young for a year.

In 10 million years time. . .


With the gradual outpouring of carbon gases following an uptick in volcanic activity, the greenshouse effect began to take effect, heating up the Earth's surface and sea temperatures. Over hundreds of thousands of years, the ice caps began to retreat, melting at an ever faster rate as volcanic activity continued uninhibited. The result of mass flood, as the sea level began to rise, enveloping the coastline, forming a massive swamp on the outlining lowlands of Australia. Some animals, such as the bush dragon and false moa, are little changed from 5 million years in the future, but most animals have evolved into different forms.

Mammals
Treestalker (Thylasimias invincibilis)
A descendant of the marsupial leopard. Though similar to their ancestors, they are much larger and are now comparable to an actual leopard or even a lion in size and significantly larger than Thylacoleo, to which it resembles to a striking degree. This also makes them slow but powerful climbers and gives them access to larger prey.

Thyleon (Phascolantereon leonoides)
While treestalkers hunt the forests and treetops for lost animals and small game, the niche of big game hunter on the plains goes to the thyleon, a larger descendant of the Smilocine. Lion sized, sabre toothed and intelligent, the Thyleon hunts for anything it can find, from small rabbits and rodents to cattlebeasts and Great Slothroos.

Cattlebeast (Bubalus australis)
A descendant of the Water Buffalo, which was introduced to Australia and became feral. They resemble their ancestors but are more land based and are only rarely found in water. They live in herds to protect themselves from predators. Greater Gojiras and Treestalkers lurk in the northern rainforests and Bush Dragons and a host of mammalian carnivours stalk the plains further south. They feed in the southern grasslands in the winter and migrate north in the summer.

Great Slothroo (Macropus nothrobrachius)
The great slothroo is a larger relative of the now extinct Hairy Slothroo. They can weigh up to 250 kg and be up to 2.5 metres tall. Unlike their modern day relatives, which have relatively short non-flexible arms, Great Slothroos have very long and powerful arms. The only thing that would convince you that it is a kangaroo is that they still hop to get around. Known predators include Thyleons, Treestalkers and, occasionally, Greater Gojiras, and Bush Dragons.

Reptiles
Rainbow Serpent (Morelia archon)
The rainbow serpent is a large python.It gets it's name from it's colors similar to those of the modern day coral snake.It is 5-8 m long and it feeds on gazelle sized animals.

Aquavaranidae
The Aquavaranids, or New Mosasaurs are a class of future marine reptiles that resemble the Mosasaurs of the Cretaceous. They evolved from the now extinct Marine Monitor. The marine mammals, while still very much presant, have had their glory days, and large predatory ceteceans and pinnipeds are now only found in the cooler areas of the world. Northern Australia and Sundaland are ruled by the largest Aquavaranid, the Seastalker or Northern Ghost.

Archosaurs
Seacroc (Cetichampsus solitarius)
With cetaceans being more restricted in range, saltwater crocodiles were able to specialize for a more aquatic lifestyle. The result of this evolutionary path created the Seacroc. Seacrocs look rather like their ancestors, but have flippers instead of legs. They seem to have evolved convergently with the Aquavaranids, though are more coastal and still lay eggs, as opposed to live birth like marine mammals and Aquavaranids.
You forgot to add the greater gojira and maybe some others too.
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