Sapphire Borewurm
From Sagan 4 Alpha Wiki
| Sapphire Borewurm | ||
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| (Dentafacies opertacollum) | ||
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| Information | ||
| Creator | Bufforpington Other | |
| Week/Generation | 27/167 | |
| Habitat | Lamarck Water Table | |
| Size | 3 cm Long | |
| Primary Mobility | Unknown | |
| Support | Exoskeleton (Sapphire) | |
| Diet | Lithotroph (Basalt), Rhizovore (Yellow Cushion, Podweed, Villigrass), Detritivore | |
| Respiration | Unknown | |
| Thermoregulation | Ectothermic | |
| Reproduction | Asexual (Budding) | |
| Taxonomy | ||
| Domain Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species | Eukaryota Siderobiota Ferrovermes Siderostegae Erythromyzae Dentifacidae Dentafacies Dentafacies opertacollum | |
| Ancestor: | Descendants: |
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While the spinel borewurm proliferated in the lower soil horizons of the non-volcanic regions of Lamarck water table, another population diverged in the volcanic regions. Here, sulfur is a commonly occurring substance, so the borewurms bound it to their Mg2+ to eliminate it as waste. However, the Al3+ was combined with silicate to form its exoskeleton. This led to the evolution of the sapphire borewurm.
The sapphire borewurm primarily lives in Lamarck water table's volcanic regions. They primarily feed on the rhizoids of yellow cushions. However, the high sulfur content of their food source proved to be somewhat of a problem, as it accumulated to toxic levels. As a result, the sapphire borewurm bound it to the magnesium byproduct of its lithotrophic feeding and expelled it. This left the sapphire borewurm with Aluminum and Iron. Like the Spinel Borewurm, the Sapphire Borewurm uses all of its iron in respiration. And like the Spinel Borewurm, the Sapphire Borewurm combines aluminum with silicate to form its armor. However, the absence of magnesium results in the armor being made of sapphire instead of spinel. Iron impurities are often incorporated into the exoskeleton as a vestige of its past use in its ancestor. This results in its sapphire exoskeleton taking a yellow hue. However, a rare green variant can be found in cases where Sapphire Borewurms consume disproportionately high amounts of titanium.
The sapphire borewurm's gills are covered by an extension of their exoskeleton. Protecting them from being damaged by rock and sediment while burrowing underground. This is especially helpful when burrowing through solid rock. The opening in the cover faces backwards to prevent said rocks and sediment from entering the gill chambers. Like the spinel borewurm, the sapphire borewurm has grown smaller so that it can expend less oxygen when in anoxic waters.
The sapphire borewurm's teeth are more blunted. Combined with the sapphire's absurdly high Mohs' value of 9, the sapphire borewurm is best suited for boring through rocky soils and solid rock. While sapphire borewurms do bore through solid rock more than their ancestors, this behavior is still uncommon, as it is still strenuous to bore through solid rock. However, this behavior allows the sapphire borewurm to access the rhizoids of the now otherwise inaccessible table cushion and out of reach yellow cushions. Sapphire borewurms often coexist with spinel borewurms, with their counterparts inhabiting lower soil horizons and seeking out corpses while they themselves inhabit the uppermost soil layers feeding on yellow cushions. They also occur in the lowermost, rocky soil layers searching for scraps of detritus.