TFIW: TER - Green Sahara by SpecJects on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

Today, the Sahara Desert is the largest and hottest desert on planet Earth, but it wasn’t always like this. In prehistoric times, the Sahara was once a lush savanna, covered with grasses, trees and lakes, and in the future, it could happen again. 100 million years from now, with the increase of greenhouse gases, the Sahara has once again gone from an arid and desolate desert to a wet tropical grassland landscape. And as always, in this time period, evolution can run rampant.

Grandelope
Ancestor: Springbok
Size: 3 m (height), 3.2 m (length)
The grandelope is one of the largest animals of this green Sahara. This giant antelope has evolved from a population of otherwise smaller springbok that have since traversed from their native homeland, the Karoo desert of South Africa. Now thriving in these reborn grasslands, the grandelope fills the role of giraffes, spending a majority of its lifetime browsing on leaves for more than to 10 hours a day. With the exception of the offspring, adult grandelopes have little to no predators to worry about.

Baboolope
Ancestor: Papio spp.
Size: 1.6 m (height), 1.9 m (length)
Although the instance of herbivorous baboons may have already happened with gelada baboons of today and redsnout baboons of the ice age world, one species of baboon seems to take this to another dimension. The baboolope, for example, has developed an ungulate-like gait to accommodate a high speed locomotion, and its fingers have shortened to become like hooves. The only fingers that’ve been retained are its opposable thumbs which it uses to grasp onto grass which it feeds on. Living socially in harems, the baboolope is also sexually dimorphic, with males adorning lion-like manes.

Dash cat
Ancestor: African wild cat
Size: 1.1 m (height), 2.2 m (length)
The dash cat is a somewhat familiar cat. In fact, one could be forgiven for thinking that it is extremely similar to today’s cheetahs, only without the spots. However, when inspected closer, it has actually descended from a population of African wild cats, being convergently evolved like a cheetah, with a flexible spine to increase its stride lengths, a long tail used for counterbalance, and dark tear markings to reflect the sun’s glare. With all of these traits combined, the dash cat is a specialized pursipuit predator, capable of chasing down fast-moving quarry.

Marrow dog
Ancestor: Domestic dog
Size: 1 m (height), 1.6 m (length)
In the past, there were canids with teeth that are specialized for crushing and consuming bones. 100 million years hence, with no bone-crushing hyenas in sight, it can happen again. The marrow dog, evolved from the domestic dog of the Sloughi breed, is one such canid that fills the niches of which. True to its name, the marrow dog is primarily a scavenger, feeding on the nutritious marrow inside the carcasses’ bones it crushes, with the shortened muzzle, and strong jaws fit for the job.

Mole spink
Ancestor: Coturnicini spp.
Size: 14-16 cm (height), 35-39 cm (length)
This spink’s name may be mistaken with the unrelated North American spink from the ice age world, but it is actually evolved from African Old World quails. It is drastically different in terms of body plan and lifestyle, so to speak. Unlike the spink from Kansas, the mole spink from the green Sahara spends its life virtually underground, living socially in large colonies with wide networks of tunnels. In so doing, its wings have become tiny and vestigial, using only its large beak for digging, while its fringes of sensitive hairs surrounding the beak detects its surroundings. But as with any quail, the mole spink is sexually dimorphic, with males being reddish-brown and females being more drab in color.

Special thanks to Zarekay56 and codylake (especially for the concept designs)!