Welcome to Terra 2: A Second Tree Of Life, an on-going speculative evolution project.
Speculative evolution is a sort of writing and artform where one uses basic principles of science to construct fictional yet realistic worlds and the life living u...
This era is much longer than the shorter but still important Archi Epoch, spanning 39 million years of evolutionary history. The initial supercontinent of Terra has now broken apart into two landmasses, that being Almara in the west and the Okiina-Darsi landmass in the east. Darsi has continued moving north, pushing up a mountain range where there was once a land-bridge. This mountain range has had a profound effect on the eastern lands, diverting air currents and rainfall, keeping Okiina a tropical paradise while the rest of the world continues to cool. Speaking of cooling, the ice caps have grown massively, being nearly 250 miles long each. Ice and snow has infiltrated the north of both Okiina and Almara, making this the first permanently frozen parts of both continents, seeing snow all year round. Of course, snow is not new to these places, but it had never been so persistant before now. As a consequence of Terra splitting in 2, the Median Sea and the North Sea have now merged and their indiginous life has been put in a precarious position; the merging has allowed the spread of the crustaceans unique to the Median Sea. Okiina, specifically, has seen the formation of a large open lake in the Okiinan Riverlands. Though seemingly insignificant now, this is the beginning of a split in the continent as, just like Terra, it too will soon rip in half. Almara has slightly rotated by about 20° and is heading south. Darsi, notable for its crescent shape, has begun to collapse in upon itself. The two long strips of land that make its crescent have started curling inwards, threatening to turn the Darsinium Sea into a Darsinium Lake. South of the Median Sea we find the only place on Terra 2 relatively unaffected by climate change; the Tielen Isles. From a climatological and geological standpoint, these islands have remained almost identical to their initial beginnings 15 million years ago, their temperature dropping by just 0.2°C over the entire Archi Epoch.
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Above; A map of Terra 2, 15 Million Years Post Establishment.
Desertification is on the rise in this era as the climate cools. A well known effect of a cooling climate is the formation of deserts, as paradoxical as it may seem. As the temperature drops, rainfall in some areas becomes rarer and if that area happens to be on the equator (where there is more direct sunlight) then it is likely to see a drop in plant populations or even an absence of it, giving way to a desert. This is precisely what has happened to Darsi, or at least its northern portions. Just south of the Dakina mountain range (the mountains formed from the remains of the Dakina landbridge that has now been pushed up as Darsi and Okiina collide) is what started out as a simple patch of dry grass but has now spread and become a 150 mile wide temperate desert, practically devoid of large plants such as bamboo or dandelions. A simmilar situation has occured in the west as Almara forms its own steppes. While not as dry as the Dakina Flats (the desert in Darsi) the Almaran Steppe is still home to a lot less flora and fauna than is usual for the continent, though large flowering plants and grasses still grow in forests from time to time and grass covers the majority of the plains. As time marches on, these "deserts" will be short lived and most likely disappear within 5-10 million years as snow and ice takes over.
Now we can explore the world as it is 15 million years post establishment. Let's go!
(Note; From now on chapters will not be marked with a "number x- million years PE" in the title, instead the time in which the chapter is set will be said at the bginning of the passage. Thanks)
