Terra 2: A Second Tree Of Life

3 Million Years PE

We are now 3,000,000 years into the project. Although on a geological scale we have only traveled forward by a few seconds, to a human even this relatively short period is nearly inconceivable. If you were a capybara 3 MYPE (Million Years Post Establishment) then your ancestors would be as old to you as mankind's ape predecessors. However, this has still only produced small shifts in Terra 2's biosphere. But one thing sets this period apart from any before or after it; while in the past species could still breed with one another's close relatives there are now species with common ancestors who cannot interbreed at all. The species on Terra 2 are finally so different from one another that breeding between two species would be impossible.

The most changed in the last 2 million years are the kiwis. For 870,000 years they were defenseless and vulnerable to predators like the egg robbins, who would take benefit of the kiwi's flightlessness and inability to fight back. But then 1 million years PE, a remarkable friendship between the kiwi and the ant had evolved. Both were vulnerable to attacks from other animals like egg robbins and large centipedes who wanted to eat the ant larvae. So the kiwi and the kiwi ants teamed up to survive, the ants clearing large patches of grass by eating it that the kiwis would use to lay their eggs and make roosts. If anything tried to attack the egg then the kiwi ants would overwhelm the intruder, not harming it but simply irritating it enough for them to give up. The ants in return get the kiwi's dead bodies when they die of old age which they use to feed and house their developing nymphs. While some kiwi ants have stuck to this mutual relationship some just couldn't resist their friend's eggs. Before long this mutually beneficial relationship became parasitic, the ants making sure the kiwis layed their eggs near the nest before eventually eating it. Some would get away with it by placing dead egg robbins near the egg to "frame" them. Others were abandoned by the kiwi when it spotted them eating their offspring. But most chose to do something strange for a kiwi bird on Terra 2. It would fight back. The Peawis (pee-wees) have evolved a threatening display of feathers that can splay out to the sides to make themselves look bigger. These feathers evolved from the vestigial wings that lost the ability to fly before even being introduced to Terra 2. They are taller, now about 30 inches, and more aggressive not just towards ants but towards everything that isn't them. These strange birds may give birth to a very strange lineage in the future.

Above: A Defensive Peawi (formidulosus-avis defensus or "Scary-bird Defensive")

Oceanic mollusks diversified greatly 3 million years in. Sea slugs have grown to massive sizes, up to 4 feet long with amazingly colorful skin and a growing population high in the millions. Squids have become dominant carnivores in the ocean, eating anything that moves in the abyss, including but not limited to Abyssal Goldfish, Abyssal Guppies, and other squids. But sometimes this can be a fatal mistake. While hunting in the depths a squid may encounter a Towering Jellyfish. They are the largest lifeform on the planet, reaching lengths of 50 feet, and have the most powerful sting of anything to exist, earth or otherwise, able to kill anything before they are even able to know that they have been stung. Originally evolving from the box jellyfish, which already have incredibly painful stings, the towering jellyfish are at the top of the oceanic food chain, wrapping their tendrils around anything that moves or breathes. While this position is taken by a mollusk this will not be a long-term reign, as fish are beginning to finally diversify.

The lobsters, some now reaching lengths of 1 meter, have proved as excellent marine predators. They have forced life in the ocean to diversify and defend against these large killer crustaceans. Most notable are the goldfish and guppies which have begun diversifying into a myriad of different species in the last 2 million years. Some have grown up to 2 feet in length and some have shrunk to just 0.5 inches in length. The bigger the fish the less likely it will be preyed upon. But now the first examples of fish predation are evolving as large goldfish are accidentally swallowing guppies when feeding on plankton. And the goldfish are more than happy to accept a free meal. Many large Goldtuna are beginning to evolve larger gaping mouths with which to swallow schools of very small half-inch guppies. And so, the first piscine predators are evolving on Terra 2.

The world 3 Million Years post establishment is still plentiful but is now showing the first signs of predation and competition. It was the first time animals had to watch their backs and make sure they were safe.