New Family Posted: The Cryptopters!!!
Another family to be presented in Metazoica, the Cryptopteridae. I was talking about them on here yesterday and decided to create their page on my site. You can view their page here: http://www.metazoica.com/Cryptopters.html. I "stole" Dixon's idea for Arbovespertilio, only instead of making it a predator, I made it a harmless plant-eater, like a modern sloth. I think it makes better sense, since the animal would not be able to move fast enough to capture mice and such fast-moving animals as that. In their world, which is the Hawaiian (or Batavian--according to Dixon) Islands, their main predator, Cercomoloch, lives in the top level. So these bats live at lower and ground levels, and all have lost their wings. Most do however "fly" in different ways. Acronurus "flies" in the same manner as lemurs and monkeys do today. Another species, Pitheconycteris, brachiates like modern gibbons do. And Cryptopterus "flies" along the ground, like deer and antelope can.
In today's world we are already seeing some island bats turn somewhat flightless. It's almost a stones-throw to these animals losing their wings completely and adapting to using other methods of "flight", even if it is mock-flight. Most of these animals do not get very big. Since they are confined to the small Hawaiian chain, they can only get so big. The 2 largest species are Cryptopterus and Arbovespertilio. Arbovespertilio gets up to about the size of a modern orangutan, and is tailless. Cryptopterus is about the size of a St. bernard dog, and has a very short tail. The longest tail belongs to Acronurus, a strictly tree-dwelling animal the size of a domestic cat. The tail is longer than the head and body length.
In today's world we are already seeing some island bats turn somewhat flightless. It's almost a stones-throw to these animals losing their wings completely and adapting to using other methods of "flight", even if it is mock-flight. Most of these animals do not get very big. Since they are confined to the small Hawaiian chain, they can only get so big. The 2 largest species are Cryptopterus and Arbovespertilio. Arbovespertilio gets up to about the size of a modern orangutan, and is tailless. Cryptopterus is about the size of a St. bernard dog, and has a very short tail. The longest tail belongs to Acronurus, a strictly tree-dwelling animal the size of a domestic cat. The tail is longer than the head and body length.
So, I think these ones look like usual animals. But, being the chiropterans by the origin, they must inherit and develop the features of their ancestors. But your bat ancestors look too ordinary. As fior me, I don't see the features of their ancestry.
ReplyDeleteThey have leafs on their noses. The fingers are fused together, except for the thumbs. Other than that, they aren't meant to look much different.
ReplyDeleteBTW, forgive me if I am wrong, but your last name is so familiar. Is this Paul??? How've you been? How's the new baby?
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm.
ReplyDeleteMy baby is all right, and now we are half-year old!
Good to see you again!! I wondered where you disappeared to.
ReplyDeleteSo, Cassandra, what do I mean talking about chiropteran features? First of all, these creatures have skeletal specializations to flight, and their descendants must inherit them. And you, as a creator of new animals derived from bats, must take them into account.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, bats have joined chest bones. Ribs are movelessly attached to the column (except of flying foxes), and vertebrae are also fused (bats breath exclusively due to movements of diaphragm). Because of it we must say goodbye to galloping forms moving with the help of the spinal mobility (remember the cheetah, for example).
Next, the reducing of ulna limits the rotational movements of hand. It means: say goodbye to primate-like tree-climbers. Their reduced wing-hands may look and act like rake, being not able to complex actions.
And, of course, the position of hind limbs turned asides and not able to move in parasagittal plane strongly limits the set of possible directions of terrestrial bat evolution. They may be small tree-climbers (I mean, bark-creepers, but not branch-grippers), small rodent-like ground dwellers moving supporting on external surface of wrist, and so on. Possible, they may even jump like grasshoppers on turned back to front hind legs. But the movement like typical terrestrial mammals is prohibited for them by principles of evolution.
As for the feet, I'm figuring bats to learn how to pearch, like birds, which will turn their feet foreward.
ReplyDeleteThe rest, I will have to think how to integrate them into these animals. "Jump like grasshoppers"? Hmm...