Something A Little Exquisite

Sweet! Now to hurry this up so it can go at the BLAZING SPEED of real evolution.

Alright, I'm just gonna birth this baby. (Ed, if you still have yours, feel free to post it whenevs!)

DragonFogel got us started with this unholy abomination, the Old One from which all future generations hail. To look upon its true form causes madness in the minds of lesser men, but this image gives an inkling as to its horrible, unthinkable nature:

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In this archaic form, it sports limbs, tendrils, and great leathery green wings on which it glided for eons through the aether before claiming its foothold on the uninhabited seas of ancient earth.

At the hands of fakeimpostor the creature's limbs fully entered the material sphere and developed shape and purpose comprehensible to mankind.

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It grew a second eyestalk and its legs became more complex. Feathery tendrils encircling its eyestalks suggest a sensory purpose, though they may be respiratory gills, or even decorative or communicative. Its odd, dangling protolimbs of colors beyond this universe have developed into true claws, a primary and a secondary.

AgentBlue's creature has ascended to godhood.

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A halo over its head, the godbeast has developed an exquisite tattoo-like pattern on its torso. Its secondary claw has become more of a tube or suction hose. Although its new dorsal fin suggests that it still requires control underwater, well-defined digits at the end of its limbs may give it a better grip on solid surfaces as it fully abandons its aquatic environ. It now sports a tail which it may use to signal its fellows.

Schazer's iteration takes to the skies!

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A thin but tough webbing unites the three limbs on each side, allowing the creature to glide from heights to descend upon unsuspecting prey. Its claw and tube-mouth have merged into a single dangerous proboscis, while the eyestalks have rotated to a horizontal alignment better suited for viewing prey from above. The dorsal mane or fin may stabilize it in flight, or may serve to attract mates or warn off predators; the glistening tail certainly seems more decorative than functional.

Alas, the pursuit of beauty over function led to disastrous inbreeding, as g0m's specimen attests:

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Atrophying due to disuse, the central leg on each side went on to lose its gliding webbing, eliminating any capacity toward flight. The ends of its eyestalks and proboscis have grown engorged and less functional, while its dorsal mane and tail remain as gorgeous as ever. No longer the impressive predator it once was, it has grown dependent on its green drool to attract or disgust prey into submission. Perhaps this green drool is partly the result of the creature now incorporating vegetable matter into its diet to supplement its dwindling hunting ability.

After that decline, cyber95's creature rises from the ashes:

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It seems predators have been tormenting our poor creature ever since it lost its gliding ability and with it its status as alpha predator. In response to increased predation, the species has developed armored plating, and the disused central legs on each side have become specialized winglets that allow it to hop or leap greater distances to effect escape. Its green tongue belies its increasedly vegetarian diet, and it has lost the frontal teeth which it formerly used to bite prey.

Pick Yer Poison's creature has taken up beach combing as a hobby:

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Increasingly reliant on its wings to escape danger, its legs have become shorter and wider, distributing its weight more evenly on the sandy surfaces on which it spends its time. With a hint of atavism, the creature has developed a pair of pincer-feelers that allow it to dig or sift through sand for small prey which it can snatch with its now prehensile green tongue.

Around this time, an eldritch catechlysm threw the universe into chaos, and from that chaos emerged the singular entity known only as btp's creature:

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Thrown into a multidimensional abyss, the creature has developed increasingly complex pincers and feelers around its mouth, while its eyestalks have shrunk from the ineffable terrors of non-euclidean planes and whispering madness. It also grew some nice green bumps!

As the dimensions stabilized and a deceptive appearance of normalcy returned, Jacquerel's creature haunted the abyss, biding its time:

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Ekeing out a brutish existence among the deep caverns and catacombs, the creature has become a predator once more. The greenish bumps have extended into protective ridges, effacing the beautiful mane of its ancestors. Its complex mouthparts have become simple but terrifyingly effective spikes, fangs, and teeth. Its eye stalks have disappeared completely, perhaps so as not to be damaged by the spikes of its peers. The edges of its winglets (now mere fins) are now armored against the world. Even its decorative tail has hardened into a utilitarian fin for its subterranean swims.

As the eons drift by, the troglophyllic creature develops a tasteful eye, as evidenced in Reecer6's specimen:

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Its additional eyes allow it to look with admiration or envy on the pompadours of its brethren, pompadours which have evolved from the green protective ridges into complex and awe-inspiring curlicues of mysterious texture and questionable rigidity. It has developed some attractive green stripes as well, but is somewhat self-conscious about its inability to close its complex and fearsome jaws. Eating, among these creatures, is a deeply personal matter.

As the sun cools and the forgotten creatures from the depths rise to reclaim the surface of the earth, Pharmacy's beast is first among them:

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The armor has developed into what might be considered an exoskeleton. The wing/fins on the sides have regained full functionality as the demoniac creature takes to the skies. Its pompadour has become a pair of deadly horns, complementing the central spike above the mandibles and the lower spikes below its eyes on either side. The third pair of eyes has been discarded as unnecessary, while the mouthparts have united to form a comprehensible set of carnivorous teeth.

How will the creature evolve in the future? Your guess is as good as mine.

Oh man, Pharms' monstrosity is gorgeous. Love the spine-ridge on Jacqs' one, too.

This was a fun time and I really like the finished result (and of course, a lot of the ones in between. It's not like the final one is actually the goal :P)