The Leaves of Autumn Bestiary©

As on any world with blue skies, running waters, and the whispering winds fresh with spring and sharp with autumn, life runs free and can be found in every region and in every place. The Bestiary is a catalogue of life upon Eadaë, in its many forms and its wonderful diversity. Updates October 30, 2005 Updated the Dardannin Mountains page. October 18, 2005 Added the Dardannin Mountain page. October 6, 2005 Created the major ecological zones, and a brief description of the animals to be found there. in time, these will be replaced by more specific entries. April 4, 2005: Deleted the preliminary Bestiary entries after I realized they were not what I was wanting. January 16, 2005: Added a VERY preliminary listing of critters. December 15, 2004: Established this page. Data coming soon.	The Continent of Ansend
	The Uplands of Tir na Brün: This region, isolated from the rest of Ansend by the Pegantic Ocean to the west and the Dardannin Mountains to the east, sports an ecology similar to pre-Industrial Britain and western Europe. Bear, deer, wolves, and wild boars are among the most common animals seen. These are interspersed with slightly less common ice age animals, such as the Irish elk in the open moorlands, and the cave bear in the coastal highlands.
	The Dardannin Mountains: The animals here are similar to those of the Rocky Mountains. However, there are several ice age species that have adapted to mountains life, and others that have evolved into unique forms, isolated as they are in various deep and lush valleys. Most commonly seen are various species of deer, mastodon, cold-adapted giant sloths, and other minor species. The predatory chain is topped by the cave lion, or in this case a mountain adapted species, and closely followed by the wolf, saber-tooth tiger, cougar, coyote, and other minor carnivores. As one moves further south, the animals become more warm adapted, and the river valleys are often populated by various species of water-going rhinoceroses, as well as warm weather loving sloths, camels, and wild horses. Last updated October 30, 2005
	Anadain Flats: In the north, from the glacier-hugging tundra to roughly half the distance to the southern Velineve Sea, the biota is dominated by ice age forms. Most common are the large herds of woolly mammoth and long-horned bison, with smaller herds of musk-oxen and woolly rhinoceros. Also present are large herds of caribou, deer, and great flocks of migratory birds. Predators here are mainly wolves and the dog-faced bear, the latter having established enough of a foothold to keep even the cave lion as a secondary predator. Further south, however, where the climate is warm but stormy as the warm air from the Velineve competes with the cold air coming from the continental ice sheets, the biota is much more reminiscent of North America during the Oligocene, with large and varied herds of titantotheres, primitive elephants, and Indricotherium. More modern elephants, such as the imperial mammoth are also present, but in smaller numbers than their kin. The cave lion again tops out the food chain, but cheetahs and leopards are also common. Saber-toothed tigers are also present, but their role is quite secondary, and there are several minor species present. The rivers are inhabited by water-going rhinoceroses, as well as large species of crocodilians.
	Oldenmoss Forest: The Oldenmoss Forest is a vast expanse of old growth woodland, dating back to before even the Yaurdwali te Dwauta were brought forth into the world. While there exists a normal biosphere within, dominated by deer, bear, and cougar, along with wolves and elk and moose, much of the life in this almost unbroken expanse of forest is... unusual. Forged by the Power of the Yaurdwali, and later the Aewylin, who dwell here now, many of the creatures of the Oldenmoss are magical in nature. Indeed, this is the last refuge of much of the Fae'tama, those beings that are kin to both the y'Asalla and the Eldharin, but of a Power much less than they (though still far greater than most mortal beings).
	Eastern Coastal Regions: While this area represents a major range of climates and topography, the biomes here are a representation of the east coast of North America, from the northern reaches down to Florida. Black bear, various species of deer, cougar, and wolves inhabit the entire region, with specialized species of various animals being found in some of the more specific environments. Mastodon are common throughout the eastern-central region, while to the north a species of winter-hardened, mountain adapted bison are common. In the south, in the plains, there are species of Columbian mammoth. Ground sloths, glyptodonts, and various species of saber-tooth are also common.
	Margoth: Margoth is a perfect, primarily sub-tropical representation of North America and Europe in the late Paleocene and the Eocene. The only major departure are animals that have been imported by Man, such as horses, swine, bovines, and cats and dogs. Indeed, it is the last two in this list that have detrimentally affected the life of the island, as hunting dogs and feral cats have decimated suburban and bordering regions of the native Margoth life.
	The Sub-continent of Joppa: This is a varied region of thick swamps, burning deserts, and a small peninsular region of forested mountains. As such, there is a wide variety of life here. In the major swamp regions, the ecology is based on the Chinlé formation of the upper Permian and lower Triassic, including the various major predatory pelycosaurs, raiusuchids, phytosaurs, and the more docile aetosaurs, rhynchosaurs, and others. Also included are some of the primitive Dinosaurs of the period. Where applicable, these animals range over into the red deserts of Joppa, along with a smattering of a few more modern mammalian species, such as can be found in the more desert areas of Australia. In the more clement northern peninsula, late Triassic dinosaurs can be found, but are migratory in nature and outnumbered by the more common, typically north-west coastal North American biota.
	The Continent of Amtherias
	The Kadatha Desert: A climatic extension of the red deserts of Joppa, the Kadatha is largely scrub, similar to the south west of North America. However, much of the biota here is Australian in origin, including some of the larger, Pleistocene antecedents to that land. Likely the Australian representatives in Joppa migrated there from this region. In some regions that are barren and rocky, there are almost no large animals, and the desert is more the realm of small mammals, reptiles, and birds.
	The Desolation: In the past, the Desolation was a fertile, lake-strewn land with an ecosystem similar to the African Savanna, a condition that was spread across most of northern Amtherias. However, with the cataclysmic end of the Valensian Age, this land became an unbroken sea of dunes. Very few animals can exist in this waterless region, and none of them larger than an insect. There is water here, of course, but it is locked in underground reservoirs, most of the time hundreds of feet deep.
	The Sub-continent of Sakkagi: As was the Desolation of old, the Sakkagi region is a prime example of the African Savanna, with animals from the modern world making the majority of life here. Interspersed are forms that were common in African during the Pliocene and Pleistocene as well. Before the end of the Valensian Age, these animals existed southward and westward, blending into the forested plains that made up the "neck" of eastern Amtherias. However, after that age ended and the climate changed so radically, that land became desert, as did the Desolation, and those forms of life went extinct there. now, the African life exists into the mountains separating Sakkagi from the "neck", but they are not found any further south than this.
	The "Neck" of Amtherias: Once a fertile region of forested plains blending into the jungles of the south, this region is now barren desert, green only where the single river runs from the mountains to the Velineve Sea. The biota here is limited to those form that have managed to adapt to a semi-desert setting, such as some hardy forms of antelope, hippos and crocodiles in the rivers, and cheetah as the top mammalian predators. Some of the Dinosaurian species from the southern regions have migrated northward, adapting to the desert, while others wander through the southern regions as a part of their migratory routes.
	The Great Amtherian Jungles: Amtherias is, for the most part, covered in nearly unbroken jungles, extending from the northern mountains that hold back the Desolation, to the southern coasts where they thin and give way to wet temperate rain forests. Because of the open southern ocean, currents are able to carry both warm waters and more northerly weather systems, keeping much of the continent lush and wet. Even in the far south, this effect keeps things fertile and relatively warm year around. Because of this, various Dinosaurian groups from the Jurassic and Cretaceous have found niches here. Even the central and coastal mountains are inhabited by various such species. In the south, where the great rivers empty their waters into the oceans, mangrove swamps are host to Cretaceous biomes found in central Montana.
	The Southern Mountainous Peninsula: While most of this region of Amtherias is relatively warm, the mountains of this peninsula are high enough to capture a fair amount of snow in the winter, and near constant rain for much of the rest of the year. The conditions tend to be dismal, and in fact resemble a somewhat warmer version of Newfoundland. Life here is decidedly not Dinosaurian, and in fact seems to be representative of Pleistocene China, from the presence of Gigantopithecus to various other forms, as well as some modern species. Why this region -- and the neighboring Maiga Plains -- should not be Dinosaurian, as is most of the rest of Amtherias, is unknown. One can only guess at the will of the Mother and Father.
	The Maiga Plains: Actually an island off of the southern Amtherian coast, this is a land that is actually intermittently covered with both thick pine forests and open plains, hot in the summer and frigid in the winter. These plains, located in the southern half of the islands, are populated by taiga antelope, adapted forms of bison, and other minor mammalian species. This region gets very cold in winter due to the passing of the cooler southern oceanic current. In the north, however, the warmer currents keep that region much more clement, and snow, although possible, is a rarity in the winter. Here, various forms of mammals are to be found, representing a selection from both North America and Europe. A very few Dinosaurian species have established themselves here, but they tend to be small and play secondary roles to the dominant mammals.
	Oceans and Seas
	The Pegantic Ocean: Stretching away westward from the coasts of Ansend and Amtherias, the Pegantic is known as the boundless sea, and many believe it to stretch away to near infinity. At the end of it, perhaps, lies Hybasa. but what is known is that it is home to many different species of whales and dolphins, and also tends to draw various species of sharks. Seals and walruses congregate along the coastlands as well, including various Pleistocene species. The rare species of Mosasaur are also known to occur in the Pegantic.
	Northern Bentic Ocean: This is a cold and stormy body of water, showing how little has changed since the coming of the Mother and Father. The oceanic currents here bring up warm equatorial waters to keep the north-eastern portion of Ansend from freezing over, but they cool quickly, and often interact poorly with continental weather systems and the cold air from the ice sheets. A few species of hardy whales inhabit these waters, along with various species of penguins, but otherwise life is restricted to shoals of large game fish, such as tuna or cod.
	Southern Bentic Ocean: Quite a bit warmer than the northern waters, this portion of the ocean benefits from free south polar circulation, aiding it in becoming a tropical ocean that maintains tropic and sub-tropic temperatures along eastern Amtherias. As a warmer-clime ocean, the Southern Bentic hosts several reptilian forms, from deep water Plesiosaurs to Ichthyosaurs, as well as several species of primitive whales. Ocean-feeding Pterosaurs are also common here.
	Velineve Sea: This is a very warm, relatively shallow sea. Although it possesses a deep ocean basin as a result of tectonic rifting, much of it is covering continental plates, a testimony to just how young the Velineve is, geologically speaking. Mosasaurs are the top predators, with various sharks following closely behind. But by and large this sea is home to large whales and many different types of other, smaller sea going mammals. The fish here are large species, with an accompanying multitude of smaller tropical species.

The Leaves of Autumn concept © John M. and Margo L. Dollan 2002-2005
This Page first uploaded December 15, 2004
Most recent update for this page October 30, 2005