| Geistrat | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| General Information | |||
| Universe | Sagan 4 | ||
| Classification | Boatitherium yurei | ||
| Homeworld | Sagan IV | ||
| Environment | Krakow Rocky, Krakow Plains | ||
| Intelligence | Non-sapient | ||
| Biochemistry | Carbon-based lifeform | ||
| Biological Information | |||
| Reproduction | Sexual, two genders: Live birth | ||
| Average Length | 5.9-7.87 in (15-20 cm) | ||
| Locomotion | Quadrupedal | ||
| Feeding Behavior | Opportunistic Omnivore / Scavenger | ||
| Prey | Anything it can catch, anything decaying | ||
| Eye Color | Red | ||
| Skin Color | White with black splotches | ||
| Lineage Information | |||
| Ancestor(s) | Protosagania, protomancerxia binarflagella, protomancerxia quadflagella, protomancerxia megaflagella, mancerxia sorbus, mancerxia majorsorbus, mancerxia florapod, mancerxia amphaflorapod, elevated plent, herbivorous plent, greater herbivorous plent, acuo, mobon, nobom, nobomaton, nobuck, notooth, diminutive notooth, nonibble, nosqueak, nouse, norat | ||
| Descendant(s) | |||
| Cultural Information | |||
| Alignment | Unaligned | ||
| Organization | Colonies | ||
| Sociocultral characteristics | |||
| Scientific Taxonomy | |||
| Planet | Sagan IV | ||
| Domain | Eukaryota | ||
| Kingdom | Mancerxa (Plents & Ukfauna) | ||
| Phylum | Chloropodia | ||
| Class | Phyllauria | ||
| Subclass | Xylodonta | ||
| Order | Boatitheriformes | ||
| Family | Boatitheridae | ||
| Genus | |||
| Species | yurei | ||
| Other Information | |||
| Status | Extinct | ||
| Creator | Somarinoa | ||
| First Sighting | Allenian Period | ||
| Last Sighting | Biglian Period | ||
| Possible Population | 0 | ||
The geistrats (Boatitherium yurei; formerly classified under Comorodent yurei) was a species of geistrat indigenous to the planet Sagan IV. They were extremely successful and survived for 92.85 million years before going extinct. They were eventually out-competed by their warm-blooded nodent relatives at the onset of the Biglian Ice Age.
Background history[]
Evolution[]
Map of the initial geistrat territory on Sagan IV.
The norats of the Krakow Rocky and Plains eventually adapted themselves into an offshoot of the species, becoming known as geistrats. Unlike their predecessors, the geistrats' lungs are now significantly larger, and are able to be used in such a way as to inflate their form in order to make themselves bigger to hopefully scare off predators. To aid in this effect, they have also obtained a ghostly white coloring, with three black markings, and their front legs are now significantly shorter than their back legs. Their eyes have also obtained a dark reddish tint, which helps aid in their pseudo-fearsomeness.
When they feel threatened, they will suck in large amounts of air to inflate themselves, while at the same time bending their front legs and extending their hind legs into a sort of four-legged bowing position. This shows off their backside, which with the three markings, form a frightful visage of some unknown creature. They now can also produce a wailing noise that comes out of their posterior ventilation shaft (aka the butt-nostril) to make them seem even more vicious. If lucky, this will scare off their foes. If not, they will try and high-tail it back to their dens for protection.
They also now build their family colonies underneath Graveyard Trees in the Krakow Rocky, although the geistrats upon the Plains continue to build colonies underground in small burrows. Family units are generally between 5 and 12 individuals. Those geistrats have it somewhat easier than those on the plains, as their den-burrows are underneath strong Graveyard Trees, and they can feed on Graveyard fruit which fall off the branches. However, the two locations' populations are in fact one species, and they have just adapted slightly different strategies in terms of housing.
With their adaptations, they have begun to out-survive the norats in their local habitats; although they did not completely replace them in the plains, those norats who survived in the rockies eventually moved back into the Huggs Temperate Forest, leaving the Krakow Rocky to be inhabited by the geistrat alone, while the Krakow Plains are now shared by both the norat and geistrat populations.
Importance[]
The geistrat led to a number of lineages of new norats that spread across the world, with members still extant to this day.
Extinction[]
The geistrat eventually fell off the fossil record and went extinct. Research suggests that because they were a ectothermic species, that they were outcompeted by their endothermic nodent relatives as the Krakow region was overtaken by the Biglian Ice Age.
Development[]
"This was my eighteenth species I created and submitted for the Spore-based game, Sagan IV, of which I was a member and moderator for a number of years. It was created as part of a Halloween contest one year and surprisingly became my most successful lineage of all time. Even though I haven't been a part of the community for probably a real-life decade, members of their lineage can still be found on the planet."
Appearances[]
Sagan 4[]
The geistrat was originally created for the sole purpose of use in the Sagan 4 Speculative Xenobiology project. It first appeared during Generation 94 and last appeared in sometime during Week 21.
Amalgam Online (2010)[]
The geistrat appear on Sagan IV, which in this MMO has all its species compressed into the modern era due to how the galaxy was created. They serve as a docile background species though getting too close to one will cause it to inflate and hiss, making the worlds seem more alive. The player can purchase a geistrat as a pet for their player house if they desire.
Monster Space (2013)[]
In Monster Space, the geistrats appear as a docile background critter. Despite being docile themselves, they can alert other more dangerous enemies in the area to the player's approach as getting too close to a geistrat will cause them to stand up and hiss.
Dangerous Wilds (2014)[]
In Dangerous Wilds, the geistrats are found in the same environments as before, serving the same purpose as before; however the player can also now trap geistrats to convert them into a makeshift alarm against monster attacks in settlements as they will inflate and hiss at monsters passing by them.