u/DinosaurThing14

Nestled amongst the Chahałheeł mountains is the stunning Lake Wasadlo. A large, crystal blue water body similar to Lake Louise in Banff, Alberta. Lake Wasadlo is also fairly deep and can contain surprisingly large animals. Animals such as the Ogopogo. Ogopogo are long, snake like mosasaurs which survived the K-T extinction event and evolved into long, “sea serpents”. How did mosasaurs get to a random lake in western North America? Well, while Laramidia and Appalachia started to merge together again, mosasaurs were stranded in the western interior seaway as it slowly merged together after they had just survived one of the largest extinction events on earth. The small mosasaurs swam through rivers and into lakes they could comfortably live in. One of the most appealing was Lake Wasadlo, a huge lake that could easily fit many individuals. Some mosasaur populations got larger, evolved and eventually some became the modern day Ogopogo. Ogopogo are mainly piscivorous, but will eat other animals from time to time when exceptionally hungry. Although the most Ogopogo are found in lake Wasadlo, it can overcrowd and some juveniles are still small enough to swim through connecting rivers and reach other large enough lakes. As far as sexual dimorphism goes, females are larger and longer than males, although males sport striking lacrimal crests and a dewlap. Ogopogo move like sea snakes, waving through their water although they can use their tail fluke to reach higher speeds, catching up to prey. Ogopogo do not possess gills and must surface to breathe. They actually spend quite some time on the water surface, showing off their iconic upright squiggle swimming pattern. The Ogopogo are quite interesting animals that quite surprising when you look at their ancestors

In the northern pine forests of the Chahałheeł Mountains, you may find a disturbing sight such as that of the Wendigo. Standing at an impressive 11 feet tall when you count the antlers, Males are absolutely huge. Their antlers usually add about an extra 2 feet of height so at the head, they stand around 9 feet. Females average at about 7”6 feet although both genders can grow larger. On top of height, sexual dimorphism is also apparent in the spines, eye size and of course, antlers. Or lack there of in females. These antlers evolved for intimidation and courtship, not for interspecific combat. When dispatching prey, Wendigo will stalk their prey through the woods, and then at the right time, pick them up with their large arms and bite through their flesh. Their powerful bite force can even break bone. Wendigo, at day will scale mountainsides to reach their dens, usually nestled in high altitudes. These dens are dotted with bones and spare meat they store in case of famine. Wendigo are what’s known as hypercarnivores meaning they need to consume more meat a day than the usual predator. For the Wendigo, this is to keep their warmth, strength and body function as even though the look emaciated, Wendigo are surprisingly strong. They also keep very high internal temperature. This is due to the fact they don’t possess fur and sometimes, even have to drape animal hide over themselves making them constantly mistaken as huge, upright deer. Especially with males. Wendigo also, like their cousins such as skinwalkers can mimic animal cries, often using them to attract prey. During mating season, Wendigo will find a mate. Undergo sexual intercourse and then the male will leave the female. The female is forced to raise their young. They give live birth to around 2-3 individuals a year. Mothers will teach their children to hunt and climb mountains, using their hoofed feet. Any Wendigo spotted in groups is almost certainly mother and children group. Wendigo are terrifying animals that are known in the cold forest as apex predators. For the most part…

(Keep in mind I am now renaming this to the pseudo wendigo so I don’t offend anyone)

The striped Scion are mid sized, nocturnal predators residing in Calypso’s temperate forests. Their bright yellow colouration actually appears brownish red to its prey, and the brown stripes look like the bark of the towering trees. They use their long legs to run through the forest, avoiding trees and tall shrubs. They will also stand on their hind legs and use their manipulation limbs to hold onto the tree, using their forelimbs to claw and drag out small animals sleeping in hollowed out holes in the trees. They are also known as yellow stalkers, due to the fact they will stalk their prey for hours on end, trekking through the wood until the time is right. They are pretty much solitary although during mating season, they will group up with females, undergo sexual intercourse and then stay with the female for a few months, up until their baby’s are born (they give live birth). The male will leave to live out its life but the female will stay with its young, nursing and teaching them how to survive. After a couple months, offspring will leave their mother and carve their own path. They need about 5000 calories to eat each day, which makes them quite voracious at times. They aren’t top dogs however. Larger predators exist in these forests. Striped Scion fill a niche similar to a small cat, just with the size of a brown bear. Their bite force is around 600 psi. They use a mix of sharp teeth and crushing jaws. Overall, striped Scion are dangerous predators of the temperate forest, and make the night all the more scary.

Avyktens are bird like, opportunistic carnivores that gather on Calypso’s polar areas. They tend to congregate around the arctavian sea, a polar sea that is also the deepest on Calypso. Avyktens live in a harsh environment. The number one problem is the cold. For that, a thick layer of feather like covering, called nivvalae coat the body. Their nivvalae trap heat to keep warm. They also have black skin which absorbs the most heat of any colour. They prey on small snow burrowers, mountain residing animals and even swarm larger animals in groups. They also eat fish analogues that swim in the arctavian sea, diving down under the water to catch them. Their nivvalae are watertight insuring they don’t freeze in the frigid water. Avyktens possess blue eyes which allow them to see in low light conditions, crucial for long nights and blizzards which are quite common on the northern pole. Males have blue nivvalae dotting their wings and end of tail to attract mates. Avyktens are very social and have tight nit bonds with their family. They can be found in huge flocks, resting on the sides of cliffs and huddling to keep warm. Although their frame makes it seem they can’t fly off the ground, even with Calypso’s slightly lower gravity (than earth), their hollow bones actually allow them to flap through the arctic. Although usually found in the North Pole, every (Calypsean) year they make a migration from the North Pole to the South Pole. There doesn’t seem to be a reason for it, or any we know of since they only stay in the South Pole for a couple of calypsean months before returning to the North Pole. This phenomenon is still a mystery to us, unfortunately. Avyktens are quite hardy creatures though and are a stunning example of flight capable life on Calypso.

The Jettékion are fast, open water predators found in the oceans of Calypso. They are terrifying creatures, utilizing countershading camouflage to catch prey off guard. They are the fighter jets of the sea, equipped with jet propulsion to speed through the water, reaching top speeds of 50-60 mph at the fastest. Like most calypseans, they have four eyes, 6 limbs and a split lower jaw which in this case, is filled with black razor sharp teeth. Jettékion are around the size of larger earth mosasaurs like tylosaurus making their speed impressive. Their main prey consist of mid size herbivores and carnivores, as well as some fish analogues. They are pseudo-apex predators of their habitat. Not quite at the top but definitely scary. There are some cases of group hunting but not full on pack coordination, rather multiple individuals ganging up on a larger creature. They give live birth to young which are abandoned after a few weeks after birth. Jettékion do not have gills though and have to come up to the surface to breathe or skirt slightly below the water, raising their nose stalks. Speaking of out of water, Jettékion also have a habit of jumping high out of the water, and sometimes even catching flying animals. On water or in the air, your not safe in the open ocean from Jettékion

The Anbovyln is a large herbivore of Calypso’s tropical plain and Savannah. Like most life on calypso, they have 6 limbs, four for movement and two for manipulation, A split lower jaw, nose stalks and four eyes. Nose stalks are peculiar and are actually the remnant of an adaptation their common ancestors had. The nose stalks protruded above the water allowing their aquatic ancestors to breathe submerged close to the surface, almost like a snorkel. This adaptation is useless on land however and in most terrestrial species have shortened nose stalks or almost nonexistent ones. Their front two eyes are on retractable stalks that allow for a wide array of eyesight while their back two are fixed to the eye socket. On their feet, they have a mix of hoof and toe. The front limbs have a large hoof and singular hind toe while their hind limbs have two toes in front and a hoof on the back. Calypso has a slightly lower gravity than earth allowing animals to support more mass with less muscle. The Anbovyln has longer front limbs than the hind ones to make its frame more imposing. On top of that, it has a hump that slowly gets taller as it gets to the back end for intimidation. Anbovyln are fairly social, living in family groups of 5-10 individuals. When predators are nearby, young Anbovyln (called hooligans) will hide under the parent’s legs for protection. Anbovyln lay eggs, and large ones at that which hatch after 6 months of being laced. Hooligans will take 7 Calypsean years to mature which is 10 earth years for perspective. Anbovyln eat the taller shrubs and low lying trees, pulling branches and leave off to digest. The Anbovyln are an animal akin to something like a cow on Calypso but compared to earth life, their a truly alien species

This is my map of Calypso, my alien world. I updated it to add lakes, rivers and names for major areas. I didn’t really think of the etymology much, basically just what came to mind. Also, the Falkland Islands looking archipelago isn’t called Falklandia (sadly)

This is my map of my alien world calypso. The yellow represents forestry areas, red is kinda prairie/plains, white is also a fungal plains type thing and tan is deserty. Ofc, the light blue is snowy and all other colours are in betweens. Lakes aren’t really added yet, just inland sea and such. Blue is water (lighter colour=shallower water)