TRIPODIFORMS

an evolutionary history

by Sienna Rodriguez

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PROLOGUE

IN THE YEAR OF 3037, orbiting space stations on the terraformed planet of Mars detected and recovered a satellite cast out from interstellar space, one not unlike the many mankind has sent out in our early history of astral exploration. Attached to it was humanity’s first sign of intelligent alien life—a triangular, gold-plated tablet around the size of a saucer. This tablet contained images, sounds, and experiences of a civilization more than 3.5 light years out of the Milky Way, electronically encoded onto the metal’s surface. The following is the partial translation of the satellite’s first volume, detailing the complex phylogenetic history of the universe’s only other known sapient species, from their ancestors’ early evolution in the oceans of their alien planet, to their rise of super-intelligence long after.

This is the evolution of the Tripods.

INTERNAL & EXTERNAL DIAGRAM

SPECIATION

The widespread success of Diplomorphs ensured they would hold a prime stake in the biological future of Eradis. Indeed, within a few hundred million years, Diplomorphs had diversified into a number of unique groups. Four-lobed, hard-shelled Tetrabites scrounged the sea floor for dead or dying matter. The free-swimming Jellies paralyze attackers with their neurotoxin-spewing tentacles, predated only by those specialized to consume them, like the Beakfish, whose exclusive diet of Platytrygons granted them near immunity.

Various groups of Spadefish dominate the deep waters of Eradis. Their pseudomelia evolved to become a strong, flexible tail, and their mouths grew more muscular, capable of tearing through flesh. Others became specially adapted to predating on other lifeforms. The Lurejaw lives in the reefs surrounding Eradis’s mega-continent, baiting creatures with its derived pseudomelia and trapping them in their tough, jointed limbs. The apex hunter of its time, the Lashing Mouth, pursued its prey using jet-like organs that propelled it forward at high speeds, ensnaring anything unlucky enough to not escape its razor-sharp grasp.

CHAPTER 2: FIRST STEPS ON LAND

Diplomorphs began walking on land less than they did crawl. Sluggish, vulnerable species of Walking Fish left the waters and found paradise on the beaches of one of the planet’s mega-continents. Early Walking Fish were largely generalist, feeding on small beach creatures and the various plant-like species that had evolved. The moist atmosphere of early Eradis and thick skin of the Walking Fish meant they could go long periods without the threat of desiccation. Over time, as descending species became more specialized for terrestrial life, the Diplomorphs would give rise to a new into and exciting class of life: Tripodiforms.

EVOLUTION

CHAPTER 3: TRIPEDAL FAUNA

It would take nearly ten million years before the Diplomorphs’ gradual transition to terrestriality was complete. As time went on, the surface of Eradis grew hotter and dryer. Vast wetlands and rainforests became huge swathes of savanna or desert, but life, as always, persisted. The first Tripodiforms to be fully adapted to living inland were small, omnivorous foragers called Speirastoma. Like the ancient ‘anteater’ on Earth, Speirastomes use their long, whip-like cephalobrachi to forage for tiny eusocial omnivores living on and below ground. Many species of Speirastoma were exceedingly social themselves, with behaviors like burrowing, nesting, and herding adapted to support communal living.

Alioelaphodus

Clade: Alioelaphodus |  Common Name: Honeytongued Sailback |  Size: 2.5–3.0 ft tall (comparable to deer)  |  Habitat: Plains, steppes, & savanna

From the Speirastomes came a number of new clades. Nimble grazing herbivores called Alioelaphodus roam the savanna in colonies of tens or hundreds. Like in the Honeytongued Sailback, most species of Alioelaphodus feature prominent posterior sails extending from their anal septum. Evolved initially for thermoregulation, the sails also hold several glands which secrete pheromones unique to each individual, providing a basis for identity in large herds. 

Brachidira

Clade: Brachidira |  Common Name: Darwin’s Giraffe |  Size: 18–22 ft tall (comparable to giraffe)  |  Habitat: Plains, steppes, & savanna

The Brachidira are among the strangest-looking species of Tripodiforms known to Eradis. Their long, muscular cephalobrachi are capable of reaching leaves and fruit in the canopies of the planet’s sparse forests. Their eyestalks are fused into a single unit, with a secondary brain evolved in place of ganglia just behind the eyes. Species with this adaptation are described using the term monocollum. Tripodiforms with two distinct eye stalks are bicollum.

Megalopod

Clade: Megalopod |  Common Name: Three-crested Megalopod |  Size: 40–50 ft tall (comparable to humpback whale)  |  Habitat: Woodland & swamps

Megalopods are among the largest lifeforms to walk Eradis, with some species reaching a staggering 15 meters tall. Their size, while perhaps their greatest biological defense, comes at a significant metabolic cost. Megalopods must consume more than a ton of food everyday to sustain themselves. As such, species often live alone or in small, familial herds. 

Polyoculus

Clade: Polyoculus |  Common Name: Crabdog |  Size: 2.6–2.8 ft tall (comparable to wolf)  |  Habitat: Woodland, jungle, & swamp

Prowling the forests of Eradis are the elusive “Crabdogs,” a species of the clade Polyoculus. These social carnivores hunt in packs of up to a dozen. As ambush predators, they surround their prey under the cover of dense foliage before striking. Polyoculi are easily recognizable for their evolved eyestalks, consisting of up to three sets of eyes, and their various pseudo eyestalks, with one set being adapted spiracles. 

Glossodon

Clade: Glossodon |  Common Name: Whips |  Size: 4.0–4.5 ft tall (comparable to lion)  |  Habitat: Plains, steppes, & savanna

Glossodons are solitary apex creatures known for their incredible speed. They have evolved whip-like tails at the end of their bodies for stability during hunts, and rigid polearm-like cephalobrachi armed with talons for spearing and dispatching their prey. Their namesake are their specialized tongues, evolved to bring food and water into their mouths and skewer the vitals of prey.

Carporaptor

Clade: Carporaptor |  Common Name: Climbers |  Size: 3-5 ft tall (comparable to chimpanzee)  |  Habitat: Woodland & jungle

Climbers are arboreal frugivores living in the planet’s scarce jungles. Their huge eyes and slim arms are adapted specifically for identifying and grabbing fruit. But perhaps their most unique trait, and the telltale sign of all Carporaptors, is their strange third ‘arm,’ derived from the posterior limb of their Tripodiform ancestors. While the diet of Climbers primarily consists of fruit, some species of Carporaptors feed on other creatures. They may raid small nests or burrows, taking young and devouring their eggs.

HERDING & PREDATION

LATER MARINE LIFE

REPRODUCTION

Evolution as we know it cannot exist without the reproduction of a species. Specifically, sexual reproduction—or the joining of gametes to create a new, genetically different offspring. In early life on Eradis, particularly in Diplomorphs, the gonads of both sexes evolved adjacent to their stomach chamber. Periodically they would release their gametes from their gonads into their stomach, and then their mouths. Fertilization occurred outside of the body in water. By the time Walking Fish evolved, however, the two sexes became dimorphic. In the ‘sperm’ carrying sex, their gonads had evolved a small gamete producing chamber which opened beneath the mouth slit. The ‘egg’ carrying sex had a larger organ with a hollow tube used to vacuum the gametes from their counterpart. Fertilization happened directly in the female and birth was oviparous. Later, the chamber in females was specialized to hold a developing fetus until it reached gestational maturity, wherein a live birth occurred.

CHAPTER 4: "ADVENA"

The ancestral species of the Tripods came as a last-ditch evolutionary effort for survival. A weak and vulnerable clade of omnivorous Tripodiforms, native to the grasslands of East Koalemos, escaped competition with other predatory species not by outpowering them, but by outsmarting them. It began first with individual instances of tool-use. Sticks for stabbing prey or hard-to-reach fruits. Sharp stones for carving, cutting, and mashing. Skills were passed from generation to generation, and each one built off new, exciting discoveries. Like in the ancestral species of humans, the Tripodiforms were evolving to learn and adapt. Within tens of millions of years, this evolutionary arms-race would bring about the first super-intelligent clade known to Eradis. The Advena.

ADVENA SAPIENS & TOMENTOSUS

The rapidly changing climate of Eradis caused the Advena to branch into two distinct species: the extant A. sapiens—or Tripods—and extinct A. tomentosus. The former lived along the equator, with small bodies to protect them from the heat. The latter lived at the poles and evolved a robustness that enabled them to survive the region's deadly cold. In many ways, they are comparable to the early humans and neanderthals that once coexisted on Earth. Like the neanderthals, the A. tomentosus died out, and A. sapiens became the sole dominant intelligent species of Eradis. It is speculated that the planet's increasing temperature was a primary factor in the extinction of A. tomentosus. Interactions between the two groups were likely sparse, necessitated only by migrations brought on by extreme disasters. Regardless, both clades were highly inventive, seen in the clothing worn by the two specimens below, stitched from plant matter and skin.

INTERNAL & EXTERNAL DIAGRAM

EARLY SUSTENANCE 

SOCIALITY

Alone, a single A. sapiens was almost certain to die. Early neolithic society consisted of upwards of a couple hundred individuals and dozens of families. Members collaborated to make shelter, collect food, and raise and teach the future generation. Early doctors treated the injured and sick, seasoned warriors organized hunts. Very rarely, however, was violence used toward one another. It is speculated that the fierceness of surviving on Eradis made Tripods more willing to work together. Others point to a cultural factor of unity, or a biological difference in their brains that makes them less susceptible to violent behavior than humans. Whatever the case, the intense empathy A. sapiens shared with each other lent them an incredible hand in technological progression.

 COMMUNAL LIVING

Society for early Tripods constituted small, often nomadic settlements. Primitive homes were constructed using the planet's highly fibrous plants and mud, stone, or wood. Tribes near coastlines or mountains often insulated their houses with the skins of their prey. Otherwise, textiles harvested from game were used decoratively, for clothing or art. 

COMMUNICATION

Language and writing were an essential part of preserving the culture of A. sapiens. It’s theorized that as early as two thousand years after the rise of the Tripods, various tribes had developed early writing systems. Unlike humans, Tripods—and all Tripodiforms—do not have hearing in the traditional sense. Instead of ears, they detect vibrations with the sensitive growths of bone from their feet called digits. These bones—resembling the nails or claws of Earth animals—are in fact mostly comparable in structure to teeth. Tripods shed their digits constantly, with their length, size, and color changing in response to their environment or the health of an individual. Babies are born without digits and thus are essentially deaf, communicating purely with gestures. As such, most A. sapiens communicate primarily use ‘hand’ signs of their cephalobrachi, accentuated by simple shudders or purrs which can be easily detected by those close by. 

EPILOGUE

SOME SIX HUNDRED MILLION years of history is known about the Tripods. Through this vast length of time, the species advanced relentlessly. Small, nomadic clans became great farming settlements. From agriculture came math and science, and from community came art, languages, and writing. Soon the Tripods spread all across Eradis, and in time even took to the stars. Civilization as humans know it was likely achieved within only a few thousand years—millions before life even began on Earth. Their accelerated success facilitated an endless cultural ambition. This ideology could not afford time for war. It had no room for apathy. The Tripods were a race deeply concerned with the endeavors of one another as a whole, not as simply themselves. Like humans, they too pondered the existence of another world like their own. A planet with a race of intelligent life who could recieve a message and understand it. It was only natural, therefore, for the Tripods to send out such a satellite to space. When Eradis was at last threatened by the explosion of their dying star, this desire to eternally preserve their history became a necessity. And that they did. The Tripods, in their last mortal effort, sought to do exactly what they had done since their dawn of civilization: to spread their knowledge and discoveries to help those that came after. 

The following is an excerpt decoded from one of the satellite's two other volumes, written on behalf of this small, distant world. It is an introduction and an ending. It is the Tripods' first hello to mankind, and their last goodbye.