Evolution

On Nekenalos, dinosaurs never suffered the crippling blow of the extinction-level event that struck Earth 65 million years ago. Some of the creatures alive today are still easy to identify as dinosaurs to the human eye, but divergent evolution has done its work and as a result, there are various dinosaurian species that need to be considered.

Saurian size

The massive dinosaurs of lore no longer exist even on Nekenalos.

Carnosauria (large carnivores) were driven to extinction by three factors: The active efforts of early (less 'principled') Nayabaru, shifting climactic conditions on Nekenalos during the 65 million years in Upsilon Andromedae, and the disappearance of large prey.

Recognisable sauropoda (long necks) have disappeared, making way for stouter descendants specialised on burrowing, tree-climbing or amphibious living. A few of them have outright moved to the seas, recognisable mostly by their extremely rudder-like tails.

Mammals

Mammals have seen a lot of diversification on Nekenalos despite the fierce competition from dinosaurians. They are predominantly rodent-sized, but there are some species that grow to the size of dogs - most notably a rare, wolverine-like predator that likely inspired 'Howlers' of kavkem mythology - and of course a broad selection of mammals in the range between those sizes.

They excel at the roles 'omnivore' and 'scavenger', and have largely carved this niche out for themselves. Generally speaking, they have better hearing than dinosaurs, but weaker eyes. They're notorious for the diversity of their teeth within a single individual.

Due to the hearing disparity, many kavkema assume to some degree that mammals are psychic.

Domestication

Nayabaru have domesticated a few dinosaurian species. The two most notable cases are both ceratopsians:

The Rheshjere and their desert relatives Mureheja are beasts of burden and used to carry heavy loads - including carts of Nayabaru travelling for long distances. Visually they resemble a cross between a Styracosaurus and a Pachyrhinosaurus - they have shield horns, but none on their nose.

The Zarmata are typically used as pets. They're often found in households that recently contributed to raising Nayabaru children that no longer need any guardianship.

Other species

Pterosaurs exist, with wildly varying headcrests. They've generally proven themselves to be better ocean fishers than birds and are thus abundant at the coast. Meanwhile, birds are mostly forest-dwellers, where their wings give them a significant survival advantage.

Ants are likely to be around in a roughly recognisable form, having evolved in their broad strokes in the Cretaceous.

Feel free to come up with species as you play! We'll expand this page with player-supplied fauna as we go.