11-06-2019, 08:38 PM
I have added a mention of the Marsh/Swamp in the early ‘Basic Ecotypes’ section, and then given it a more detailed description — including some brief notes about probable fauna — in one of the posts from which I’d moved comments to make room for articles about particular ecotypes.
In the ‘Basic Ecotypes’ section, too, I have added — under the (SUGGESTED) label, for now — a note about the [likely] southern limits of the ‘plains’ habitats.
I have added the new names for the “mongoose-like” & “civet-like” carnivores to the main description of their family, and -- for reasons explained there -- have also changed the scientific name for one of the species already described.
(UPDATE)
I sat down last night, with several useful books, and thought a bit more about that family. Some of the results have now been added to its entry earlier in this thread, with the same ‘UPDATE’ label that I’ve used here.
I’ll add more details for the “Nyctoscansorid” side of this group as soon as I can, too, but still need to finish working them out.
(UPDATE) TO THE (UPDATE) (09. 10. ’19.)
And then I realized that the most specialised lineage of ‘snake-eating’ mongoose-like Notovenatorids had accidentally been omitted (i.e. It was then that I decided that there should be an even more highly specialised one…) and incorporating that into the phylogeny — with the delay blamed IC on waiting for the results of a further & even deeper study into the identities of their closest relatives — ended up seeing the former genus ‘Notovenator’ split into three parts as well…
Also using the '(UPDATE)' tag, I have made a minor change to the classification of the 'Treetops Bear' (by moving it from one sub-genus to another).
I have added the one extra species of Antelope that I mentioned as a possibility, which is another 'Oxelope', under the (SUGGESTED) label, after the entry for the Quadricorns & the first-described 'Oxelope. Also in that post, in the section about [other] Antelopes & Gazelles, I have integrated another species of Gazelle into the list and changed some details about the already-listed three species of Gazelles as well (changing two of them from pure grazers to ‘mixed feeders’ -- who both browse & graze -- and have noted their possible use of scrub for cover from predators)… which makes them more like some RL gazelles. I do have a copy of the original text saved, which could be restored if you don't like these changes.
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Some more thoughts about Birds:
As noted in the list of “important” fauna for the Marsh/Swamp, there would be — unless you object — at least one species of Crane here. I think that you would have a bird of the ‘Crowned Crane’ type (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balearica), whose RL members are limited to Africa today but were formerly more widespread: If so, what colour would you prefer for the feathers of its ‘crown’?
“Formerly more widespread in RL” would also justify adding a species of Ostrich to the plains-living species (although its range probably wouldn’t extend far south of your northern border), as one RL species actually reached as far east as China, but I would prefer to use a bird from a possible IDU-endemic family that’s already on my lists in that ecological role instead… How do you feel about having an Ostrich-sized relative of the RL ‘Great Bustard’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_bustard) wandering around there? Potential colloquial names, if your people don’t just call it “Ostrich” anyway, might include “Bustrich” or simply “Really Big Bustard”. ;-)
RL Africa has the ‘Secretary Bird’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretarybird) (which is related to Eagles & Hawks) as a predatory bird that can fly but that hunts mostly by walking along the ground; RL South America has, in a comparable role, the ‘Seriema’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seriema) (which is related, although less closely, to the Falcons instead). For the IDU’s southern continent in general, and your nation in particular, my first choice for filling that ecological niche would be an endemic relative of the Cranes (with suitable adaptations to its legs & feet) although using another endemic relative of the Bustards (with suitable adaptations to its beak, & proportionately longer legs) might also work quite well. Opinions?
There is another group of birds whose RL members today are limited to Africa, but which was previously more widespread, that I have already put on the IDU’s list and think is cute would fit quite well -- perhaps as the main seed-dispersal agent for the 'Mint-Trees' -- in some parts of your country: Take a look at the Mousebirds (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mousebird), if & when you have time, and let me know whether they’re acceptable to you…
In the ‘Basic Ecotypes’ section, too, I have added — under the (SUGGESTED) label, for now — a note about the [likely] southern limits of the ‘plains’ habitats.
I have added the new names for the “mongoose-like” & “civet-like” carnivores to the main description of their family, and -- for reasons explained there -- have also changed the scientific name for one of the species already described.
(UPDATE)
I sat down last night, with several useful books, and thought a bit more about that family. Some of the results have now been added to its entry earlier in this thread, with the same ‘UPDATE’ label that I’ve used here.
I’ll add more details for the “Nyctoscansorid” side of this group as soon as I can, too, but still need to finish working them out.
(UPDATE) TO THE (UPDATE) (09. 10. ’19.)
And then I realized that the most specialised lineage of ‘snake-eating’ mongoose-like Notovenatorids had accidentally been omitted (i.e. It was then that I decided that there should be an even more highly specialised one…) and incorporating that into the phylogeny — with the delay blamed IC on waiting for the results of a further & even deeper study into the identities of their closest relatives — ended up seeing the former genus ‘Notovenator’ split into three parts as well…
Also using the '(UPDATE)' tag, I have made a minor change to the classification of the 'Treetops Bear' (by moving it from one sub-genus to another).
I have added the one extra species of Antelope that I mentioned as a possibility, which is another 'Oxelope', under the (SUGGESTED) label, after the entry for the Quadricorns & the first-described 'Oxelope. Also in that post, in the section about [other] Antelopes & Gazelles, I have integrated another species of Gazelle into the list and changed some details about the already-listed three species of Gazelles as well (changing two of them from pure grazers to ‘mixed feeders’ -- who both browse & graze -- and have noted their possible use of scrub for cover from predators)… which makes them more like some RL gazelles. I do have a copy of the original text saved, which could be restored if you don't like these changes.
__________________________________
Some more thoughts about Birds:
As noted in the list of “important” fauna for the Marsh/Swamp, there would be — unless you object — at least one species of Crane here. I think that you would have a bird of the ‘Crowned Crane’ type (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balearica), whose RL members are limited to Africa today but were formerly more widespread: If so, what colour would you prefer for the feathers of its ‘crown’?
“Formerly more widespread in RL” would also justify adding a species of Ostrich to the plains-living species (although its range probably wouldn’t extend far south of your northern border), as one RL species actually reached as far east as China, but I would prefer to use a bird from a possible IDU-endemic family that’s already on my lists in that ecological role instead… How do you feel about having an Ostrich-sized relative of the RL ‘Great Bustard’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_bustard) wandering around there? Potential colloquial names, if your people don’t just call it “Ostrich” anyway, might include “Bustrich” or simply “Really Big Bustard”. ;-)
RL Africa has the ‘Secretary Bird’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretarybird) (which is related to Eagles & Hawks) as a predatory bird that can fly but that hunts mostly by walking along the ground; RL South America has, in a comparable role, the ‘Seriema’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seriema) (which is related, although less closely, to the Falcons instead). For the IDU’s southern continent in general, and your nation in particular, my first choice for filling that ecological niche would be an endemic relative of the Cranes (with suitable adaptations to its legs & feet) although using another endemic relative of the Bustards (with suitable adaptations to its beak, & proportionately longer legs) might also work quite well. Opinions?
There is another group of birds whose RL members today are limited to Africa, but which was previously more widespread, that I have already put on the IDU’s list and think is cute would fit quite well -- perhaps as the main seed-dispersal agent for the 'Mint-Trees' -- in some parts of your country: Take a look at the Mousebirds (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mousebird), if & when you have time, and let me know whether they’re acceptable to you…