Welcome to Kappa: the World of Turtles

Hey guys! Thanks so much for the crazy reception to this video! I'm blown away it's bonkers!!

Just wanted to respond to some common fair critiques I've been getting.


1)) a number of comments suggested that, without their normal food of fish, all of the Alligator Snapping Turtles would simply starve to death. I disagree!

Alligator snappers are opportunistic, eating basically anything they can including crayfish, mollusks, amphibians, snakes, worms, water birds, rodents, even small alligators (1). But they don't just supplement their diet with stuff other than fish. In some areas, for example, 90% of their diet consists of freshwater mussels (2)(3).

These turtles are not nearly as specialised in fish as some people have suggested, and their diet tends to consist of whatever happens to be abundant in the area.

Therefore, I think that billions of triops, with many probably growing much larger than their ancestors in as short a time span as a single turtle's lifetime, would be plenty to sustain healthy breeding populations basically anywhere.

However, I did make some mistakes! In my intro vid I asserted that Alligator Snapping Turtles were omnivores, but they are actually almost entirely carnivorous. I seem to have gotten their diets confused with that of the Common Snapping Turtle, which are much more omnivorous, with plant matter making up about a third of their diet (4).

The only amendment I'd make here then is that herbivory would probably take longer to evolve than other lifestyles.



2)) Some people have pointed out that the size of the giant butterflies is a bit of a stretch, and on this one I agree.

The biggest flying insect ever discovered, the giant Dragonfly relative Meganeura, has a wingspan of about 70cm (5), so it seems reasonable that this is an upper limit on size.

I did neglect to mention that Kappa's oxygen levels are much higher than earth, as the c02 levels fuels plant growth that raises the oxygen.

So, the insects on Kappa will probably grow to similar sizes to carboniferous arthropods, with the giant butterflies reaching comparable size to Meganeura.



3)) Others have let me know that a belt of literally BOILING oceans would lead to both a catastrophic runaway greenhouse effect, and eternal hypercanes that would scour the surface clean (Thanks to @pokemonfanmario7694 and @8kayydub8).

I think my bri'ish was showing when i said 'boiling', as I meant more around 70 celsius or something. When it's hot in the UK we call it 'boiling' as a figure of speech.

So yeah, that's still hot enough to cook you alive (in a few minutes) and would be very steamy, but not literally boiling. Hopefully these lower temperatures would leave the rest of the planet habitable.



4)) It's been pointed out to me that the monarch butterfly caterpillars lay their larvae exclusively on flowering plants called Milkweeds (6), (thanks to @arepenguinsawesome2279) so I'm adding them to the list of initially seeded species.




5)) Another seed list amendment is the Luna Moth. I just picked them because they looked super interesting, and didn't know that they exclusively lay their eggs in the canopies of woody plants (7). Since I don't want any trees on Kappa (yet), they're gonna have to go :((



6)) I've also seen some questions pointing out that triops eggs need a period of desiccation before hatching, and that's normally the case.

However, I've seen reports from Triops breeders that they often have some eggs from every batch hatch before they can drain the tank and dry them out (8). My guess is it's an adaptation to more effectively exploit resources in ephemeral pools that last longer than normal.

So in Kappa's soaking wet world, any triops with this adaptation will obviously be selected for, and they'll expand rapidly.



7)) I might have to look at the insect list and add more in, as the pollinating plants need specific creatures to pollinate them. Wasn't aware of this before actually (thanks to @BT-eo4gh). Might need to add some flies in for example.

I do really want this to be as scientifically plausible as possible, so thanks so much for all the feedback everyone!


Sources:
(1) animaldiversity.org/accounts/Macrochelys_temmincki…
(2) www.researchgate.net/publication/371590443_Bite-Fo…
(3) www.researchgate.net/publication/232680467_Food_Ha…
(5) portal.ct.gov/deep/wildlife/fact-sheets/common-sna….
(6) www.nwf.org/garden-for-wildlife/about/native-plant…
(7) entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/moths/luna_moth.…
(8) www.reddit.com/r/triops/comments/17z2rhi/triops_eg…

Th idea of eagle sized predatory butterflies is both beautiful and horrific

As someone with a geology background, the idea of playing with natant plate tectonics on a terraformed world is super cool

Narration and speculative evolution is amazing. My only issue is with the boiling seas due to the extreme greenhouse effect. Water vapor is responsible for roughly 50% of the greenhouse gas effect on earth while only being 0.25% by mass. Near constant boiling of the oceans would very quickly lead to a runaway effect turning that world into venus.
I think your planet nearly entirety covered with wetlands is entirely possible with a less extreme greenhouse gas effect and very efficient ocean currents dispersing the heat from the equator to the polls.

I seriously loved your video and cant wait to watch more!

Man... Watching this the second time makes me want to create my own speculative evolution in a planet ruled by three dragon looking animals that rule over their own domain with plenty of food/prey items for them to grow and evolve, The Three dragon lords being :
1. Crocodile skink (Tribolonotus gracilis) : Lord of the Lands
2. great eared nightjar (Lyncornis macrotis) : Lord of the skies
3. Delhezi bichir (Polypterus delhezi) : Lord of the waters

The fact that you made all this by yourself is actually astounding. I know I’ll eagerly be waiting for the next episode when it’s released. Cheers man!

Also, slightly unrelated, but I utterly adore all the forms that the Triops evolved into. Anomalocaris would be proud!

The triops realized there are no fish around.

this feels like a general description of Florida and i love it

Oh my gosh! This is so amazing! The art the art! It is just really good I truly love the painterly style :) I can’t wait for more episodes. This is so exciting!

🐢

A new spec evo project? Wirh turtles?

COWABUNGA IT IS!

Stunning artwork, great choice of animals for speculative evolution (as a lover of reptiles and invertebrates), i will resume my opinion in a reference.
"And you, young Skywalker, we will watch your career with great interest"

I like it when seed worlds focus on stuff other than the main creture (serina is a good example with the fish and sea slugs

bro, i am working on a project so similar to this, doing desert tortoise, cactus, and bees. watching with huge interest. Love the art, well realized it feels, no crazy jumps, lovin it.

This is GOOD. Sets an awesome atmosphere, has amazing art, and all around I can see a creative vision behind it. 11/10 very nice

As a naturalist and turtle researcher- I’m SOLD

Not only is the idea really interesting but the Art is also spectacular and incredibly nice to look at! Great job and I’m excited to see where this goes

I have no idea what to expect but seed world content definitly is always worth dipping ones toes into;)

The production value of this project is exquisite

I love that it's animated, no spec. Evo project that i know of is animated