Primizoic Era (Animula)

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Animula, latin for a piece of soul or life, is another sanctuary for life; a planet quite similar to earth, but due to evolution's randomness in establishing traits, is home to creatures awe-inspiringly different superficially, behaviourally and fundamentally to life on earth, down to their very cells. When humans, in in midst of a new foray into space by means of wormhole genesis, discovered this amazing life-filled planet, scientists had at last found conclusive evidence that life did indeed exist out of earth, and not just tiny extremeophilic life; life that was multicellular, sophisticated, intelligent, and all the more astonishing (and massive because of Animula's lower gravity).

The Primizoic era of Animula's history of life could be given the recognition of containing the weirdest life forms of all; a time when, since every other creature was a similar "experiment" and therefore that much more unlikely to punish your unconventionality (by eating you or outcompeting you), morphs and phenotypes of life varied wildly. This is also the time when the Ingena evolved: the group that would produce nearly all life visible to the human eye in the history of Animula.

Time and Timescale measurement in Animula

1. Animula has 328.5 days a year, and 21.6 hours a day, equating to 7095.6 hours a year, as opposed to 8760 hours a year on earth. 2. However, for simplicity, we will measure time based on earth years. Timescale is measured by the amount of years it happened in after the impact of Sagittaan Cluster, with the abbreviation "yai" (for years after impact) used after the number. Contrastingly, "ybi" refers to years before impact. 3. For instance, oceans were mostly fully formed at around 800 myai (million years after impact).

History (2784–2994 myai)

Semeligene (2784-2850 myai) The first multicellular life forms so characteristic of this eon were probably photosynthesizing complecells that lumped in mats for protection from complecell-eating Parvi and other complecells; the first Parenids, Animulan equivalents of plants, and also the first Ingenians. Other multicellular life started to cover the ocean bed, ranging from filter-feeding codependent colonies of Parvi filtering out free-floating Parvi, to other strange photosynthetic Parenid structures made of dead cells, with only the top of the column composed of the living, therefore leading to ever-growing towers of independent cells. As Parenids continued to diversify in species and systems, leading to cooperative efforts between cells such as giant fan-like Parenids floating on the surface of the water to tiny, hardy thorn-shaped Parenids covering the sea floor. In time, some Parenids evolved the ability to take root on other Parenids, therefore having a head start in terms of nutrients by absorbing them from their hosts; these were the first Motoplants, though, not being able to move, did not live up to their latin name meaning "moving plants". Eventually one genus of these primitive Motoplants evolved the ability to detach from its host to find another one once the original had run out of nutrients or died, one of the features which would define Motoplants for the millenia to come.

Betagene (2850-2907 myai)

During the onset of the Betagene, and indeed the time point at which most scientists start to call the time period the Betagene; a strange Motoplant evolved, the first Motonatamycotan. These strange motoplants appeared as rather ordinary Kleptomycota-form near immobile bulges; however, the "larval" form of these motoplants were highly mobile, a tiny long wriggly creature absorbing nutrients and free floating Parenids from a short cylindrical structure at the "front end". After absorbing enough nutrients and findign a good growth site, the larva strongly attaches itself to the ground and degenerates into a photosynthetic lump nearly indistinguishable from a primitive seabell, whereupon it is known as an adult. As their lifestyle might suggest, the first exoanimals evolved from neonatal morphs of these Motobunches, with the larva staying longer and longer in that form and adapting complex organs to sustain its motile state for longer, eventually staying in that state for its entire life.

From left to right: Larva, Adolescent, Adult.

The first exoanimals quickly radiated into a flurry of strange and wild forms, quickly filling niches long left empty. Despite being brainless and mostly deaf to the world, the fact that every other exoanimal was similarly unintelligent and therefore unlikely to outcompete you meant that the upper betagene was a metaphorical "experiment", with completely different forms evolving and going extinct. The three main forms were: the vermiforms, primitive tube-shaped creatures who changed very little from their motoplant ancestors; the appendagids, mutliple motile strands branching off from a central lump; and the cylindriformids, possibly the strangest, composing of a hollow cylinder that pushes water through it with a peristalsis motion, filtering food out in the process. These creatures were collectively called the Cascuinanians, latin for ancient empty-headed creatures, and they dominated the Animulan oceans during the betagene, for up to 55 million years.

See more: Cascuinania

Tertiagene (2907-2994 myai)

The tertiagene, with its onset defined as the time at which the first known Duritian skeleton, of a small Praecursorus, fossilized into the rocks of where is now the Centralian steppe, but what was once the eastern depths of the Massus ocean, about 2907 myai; though clearly these creatures had existed a while before, it was soon after this period that a great many more skeletons of what were clearly duritians appeared, and a noticable decrease in Cascuinanian fossils at the same time. It was obvious that this was the time when the duritians were radiating and diversifying in the Primizoic seas.

See more: Primiduritizoa

So, what exactly are Duritians? Duritians are skeleton-lacking creatures. Duritians were named (latin for hard skin) for a lattice of rigid outer skin, known as hardskin, which acted like a pseudo-exoskeleton, supporting the animal's flesh; that evolved at first as a protective armor. They were also much more mobile, durable, and intelligent than their Cascuinanian predecessors, and quickly outcompeted them, diversifying and dominating ocean ecosystems (see the Primiduritizoa page for details).

Terrain

Primizoic Animula had four oceans: the northernmost Massus ocean, the middle western Vesper ocean, and the southernmost Galerum ocean. Both the Massus and the Galerum are frigid due to their proximity to the poles; however massus experiences warm currents from both its southern tip and the strait between it and the Vesper; whilst the Galerum, due to its surrounding of the south pole, is cold everywhere and year round. The vesper is the opposite. It completely covers the warm equator in many places, and is warm year round.

Keep in mind that this map is a generalistic one applying to the whole era, due to Animula's larger and less mobile plates. Each epoch does and will have varying terrain, but all follow this basic map.

Animula
Information	Taxonomy • Exoanimal Biology • Parenid Biology • History of Life
Life
	Parenidae	Motoplantae	Inania	Duritia	Inframolia	Habitats
Primizoic Era			• Cascuinania	• Primiduritizoa • Duritiscorpidae
Vitazoic Era					• Primiinframolezoa
Telluean Era
Molean Era
Mesoean Era
Neoanimalian Era					• Draconemaria (Class) • Trimala (Class)	style="border:solid aqua 1px; font-size: 80%"|• Dromecicidae (Class)