Roamer
From Sagan 4 Alpha Wiki
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Roamers were a small subgroup of Caudopodosauriformes descended from the probiscisaurus, which are of the families Proboscisauridae and Protoaphegetidae. There were only four species, but they were nonetheless significant for having produced Sagan IV's first sapient species. They were found exclusively in Glicker, a supercontinent composed of what are now Darwin, Drake, and Vivus.
Roamers are now extinct, with every single species being wiped out by a gamma-ray burst in the Martykian period. Their closest living relatives are dwellers and shrews.
Description
Roamers were tripedal and typically carried a single egg under their bodies using their hind pair of legs. All species were herbivorous, using a tapir- or elephant-like trunk to pull branches to their mouths to feed from. Like most caudopodosaurs, they stood with their legs placed under their bodies. In addition to carrying their eggs, some species such as the Savanna Roamer also used their hind pair of legs to hold on while mating. Like most basal Spondylozoans, they had the ability to change color, which they used to communicate or hide from predators.
Later species of roamer, the Savanna Roamer and the Nomad, had long bony eyestalks which gave them a very distinct silhouette and allowed them to watch out for predators.
Roamers can be likened to Terran elephants, being large herbivores with trunks used for feeding.
Intelligence
Roamers were not directly stated to be intelligent prior to the Nomad, but the Nomad's very existence suggest they must have already been very smart. The Nomad is not just smart, but sapient, having formed a culture and utilized complex tools typically inaccessible to non-sapient fauna.
Extinction
Like most species living on the surface at the time, all roamers became extinct due to the gamma ray burst. The Nomad managed to survive on the surface for a short time after its non-sapient relatives went extinct, but its small surviving population ultimately succumbed, as most of its food had died out and the irradiated landscape was inhospitable.
Meta
- The roamer lineage was created by Flisch, who also made all but one of the species.
- The Nomad, a kind of sapient roamer, is subject to more fanart than any other sapient species on Sagan 4.