Darwin IV

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Darwin IV is a fictional planet that was the subject of Wayne Barlowe's book Expedition and the television special, Alien Planet, based on Expedition. Although the details of the discovery and exploration of Darwin IV differ in the two presentations, both are essentially the same in their depiction of the planetary environment and its native lifeforms, whose abundance and variety prompt the name Darwin.

Contents 1 Introduction 1.1 Book 1.2 Television 2 Senses 3 List of species 3.1 Animals 3.2 Vegetative Organisms 4 External link

[edit] Introduction

[edit] Book

Expedition describes Darwin IV as the fourth of six planets orbiting a binary star system approximately 6.5 light years from the Sol system. Darwin IV is discovered by a benevolent and technologically superior alien race known as the Yma. The Yma also provide suitable transportation to the planet for a number of human observers by means of an unspecified faster-than-light drive system. This technology reduces the travel time to a much more manageable 2 year journey, during which the explorers inhabit "sleep-pods." Barlowe notes that the Darwinian day lasts 26.7 hours and that its gravity is 0.6 times that of the Earth. Darwin IV's most notable surface feature is "Mare Amoebicus," the Amoebic Sea.

[edit] Television

In Alien Planet, a more basic scenario is presented where a ship called the Von Braun is sent to explore an alien world outside the solar system. The Von Braun is sent to a binary star system about six and half light years from Earth. At 20% of the speed of light (0.2c), it takes over 40 years to travel to this system. Upon arrival it goes into orbit around Darwin IV, the Von Braun deployed the Darwin Reconnaissance Orbiter to scan the planet from orbit. The Von Braun also dispatches three identically shaped lighter-than-air probes to the planet surface. These three probes are:

• Leonardo da Vinci (nicknamed "Leo" and colored blue).
• Isaac Newton (nicknamed "Ike" and colored yellow).
• Balboa (named after Vasco Núñez de Balboa and colored red). Balboa did not survive entry into the Darwin IV atmosphere, because one wing of its lifting body transport failed to unfold. (Balboa was evidently doomed from the start--the screenwriters of Alien Planet never proposed a nickname for it, and it wasn't named in full name.)

In both stories the low gravity and dense atmosphere allow for aerial organisms that would be impossible on Earth.

[edit] Senses

The species on Darwin have all evolved sonar, echolocating using pings (ex: Rayback), clicks (ex: Gyrosprinter), high pitched squeals (ex: Sea Strider Nymphs), roars (ex: Emperor Sea Strider), and more, since they have evolved to the point where their eyes no longer exist or are atrophying. Many have complicated cephalons to aid in this sense. The majority have also evolved biolights; but rather than communicating information in the visible light spectrum, biolights on Darwin IV function in the infrared range, as all Darwinian animals are quite sensitive to that spectrum. It is important to note that their sensory organs to detect light in the infrared spectrum are more comparable to thermoreceptors found in pit vipers or rattlesnakes. The Rimerunner still has one bizarre, retractable, atrophying eye, a remnant from a time when sight-based organisms still had a place on Darwin IV. Also, most species are hermaphrodites.

[edit] List of species

Below is a list of the species found on Darwin IV. NOTE: Species marked with a "*" are featured in both the Alien Planet TV special and the book Expedition. Unmarked species are found exclusively in the book.

All species in Alien Planet were mentioned or depicted in Expedition; however, it should be noted that the Electrophyte was only briefly depicted in the book and was only fully explained in Alien Planet.

[edit] Animals

• Amoebic Sea* - The Amoebic Sea is a gelatinous sea of single-celled organisms. All the water in the Amoebic Sea is absorbed and sealed within the gelatinous mass to prevent further evaporation, as the planet is slowly losing water over the eons. It is home to emperor sea striders and sac-backs.
• Arctic Sedge Slider - A ten-metre-tall biped, the Arctic Sedge Slider is perfectly adapted for life in the cold. The Arctic Sedge Slider's name comes from the furrows it leaves in its wake. This creature has an ingenious adaptation for the cold. When temperatures drop low, or when a fierce arctic storm approaches, the Arctic Sedge Slider has the ability to retract its head deep into its warm body cavity. When conditions are favorable again, its head reemerges again and it resumes its activities. The Arctic Sedge Slider has what may be the biggest sonar bulge of any animal on Darwin IV. This massive organ produces sonar pings in, not one, but multiple frequencies. Since the bulge is located on the Arctic Sedge Slider's back, it gives the animal the ability to "see" in 360 degrees. This makes it much more difficult for a predator to catch an Arctic Sedge Slider by surprise. A pair of Arctic Sedge Sliders.
• Arrowtongue* - Averaging about eight feet (2.4 metres) tall, an Arrowtongue impales its prey with a 26-foot-long, serrated, arrow-tipped proboscis. Like many spiders on Earth (and like most predators on Darwin IV), Arrowtongues are liquivores, injecting digestive juices into their prey and then sucking out the liquified food. They are fierce, solitary hunters found across the planet. Like most of Darwin IV's animals, their pointed, spade-like heads contain no true jaws. It possesses several tail-like appendages in addition to it long balancing tail. The arrowtongue's body and legs vaguely resembles the bipedal predatory dinosaurs during Earth's Cretaceous era, such as the T-Rex. A picture of a rather threatening looking Arrowtongue, a running Arrowtongue from Alien Planet
• Beach Loper - The Beach Loper is a biped with a trunk vaguely reminiscent of an elephant's. A Beach Loper being attacked by a swarm of Beach Quills
• Beach Quill* - Beach Quills are short-range attack hunters and are some of the smallest creatures on Darwin IV. They attack in colonies and kill their prey with a neurotoxin. In Alien Planet a large colony kills a Groveback. They can propel themselves by means of a folded muscular "foot". An image of a Beach Quill.
• Belly-Thrower - A monopedal (single-footed) animal which has an eating habit similar to that of a starfish on Earth; it inverts its stomach outside the body and catches prey in it.
• Bladderhorn* - This creature is a bright blue, rather comical-looking bipedal animal, with two "antlers" extending out of the sides of its head, which are actually sacs designed to inflate and make it look much larger than it truly is. Bladderhorns make bellowing sounds by deflating the air sacs. The Bladderhorn uses its "antlers" for communication, which, in Alien Planet, causes Leo to conclude it's a good candidate for communication. Leo shows the Bladderhorn a symbol puzzle, but the Bladderhorn becomes apparently agitated, bellowing at him, and then runs away. Ike sees the same Bladderhorn near the conclusion of the exploration. Bladderhorns fight with their bladders like antlers, using light shows and their bladders to scare away predators and rivals. Image of a Bladderhorn with its proboscis drinking from a pond, Alien Planet's Bladderhorn with its "antlers" deflated.
• Bolt-tongue - Though it resembles a small Arrowtongue, the Bolt-tongue has some key features that distinguish it from its larger relative. Its skull is longer and narrower than the arrowtongue's, and it lacks the small fleshy spines of its savannah counterpart. Its sonar bulge is in the form of an arc running down the front top of its head. Its back lacks biolights and has a large patch of grey running from the tip of its skull to the end of its tail. The Bolt-tongue inhabits sub-polar regions of the northern icecap, where it preys upon several species of arctic herbivores. Its tongue has a larger and more pronounced serrated arrowhead tip than its cousin. The head of a Bolt-tongue.
• Butchertree* - Many species prey on the numerous, fast breeding Prismalope, but the Butchertree is the only species that actually lures the Prismalope instead of chasing it. Dotting the plains of the northern hemisphere, the Butchertree kills just about anything unfortunate enough to come within range of its four branch-daggers. They have a bizarre relationship with an unnamed flying organism, which is the primary food source of Prismalopes. The butchertree grows underground tentacles that heavily resemble these flyers, allowing the "tree" to lure Prismalopes close enough to try to capture and eat them. It is unknown just how this species reproduces. One possibility is that the small flyer it associates with transfers eggs and sperm between individuals. Another possibility is that the flyer itself is the second gender of the species, an extreme form of sexual dimorphism. Either way, young Butchertrees are found close to their "parent", and are connected to them through an umbilical cord similar to that of the "growths" that mimic the flyers. The cord disappears once the young are capable of nourishing themselves. In Alien Planet the Butchertree is one of only two species shown to prey on Skewers. A sketch of a butchertree, Butchertree from Alien Planet.
• Daggerwrist* - The Daggerwrist is a human-sized tree-dwelling carnivore. It glides from tree to tree with the assistance of thin membranes, or patagia, similar to those of a flying squirrel. Its forelimbs are large daggers designed for clinging to plaque-bark trees and killing prey, mainly Trunk-suckers. Unlike most of Darwin IV's predators, the Daggerwrist has what could looks like a jaw. But the lower "jaw" is actually part of the skull that detaches to stab its prey and inject the needed digestive enzymes. A Daggerwrist perched on a tree, a sketch of a Daggerwrist gliding, a sketch of a Daggerwrist's head.
• Diskflyer - Diskflyers live around the Amoebic sea and operate within very distinct four square kilometer territories. It is not known whether young Diskflyers stay within the territories in which they were born or if they leave to establish new territories of their own. Diskflyers are hermaphroditic, like most of Darwin IV's fauna, and mating impregnates both partners. It is not known whether diskflyers give birth to live young or eggs, but it is probably the latter.
• Ebony Blister-wing - An immense floater, the Ebony Blister-wing can sometimes attain wingspans in excess of 1,000 feet.
• Emperor Sea-strider* - The Emperor Sea-strider is the one of the largest known creatures on Darwin IV. In Alien Planet, the Emperor Sea-strider is around 60 feet tall, but it is much more massive in the book Expedition. Though their exact size is unknown, if Mr. Barlowe's account is correct, they would be 620 feet tall! Emperor Sea-striders walk on the surface of the Amoebic sea with their two massive feet. Emperor Sea-striders are found only on the Amoebic Sea for the reason that the sea is the only source of food in numbers large enough to support such creatures, much like krill is for baleen whales on Earth. When Emperor Sea-striders are born they are capable of flight, but as adults they are bipedal. They have a bizarre way of feeding; their mouths are located on their feet, so it basically eats the organisms by stepping on them. The identifying traits they have are a mouthless crested head, two very large orange biolights (which are cavities in the book), two large tails (which is actually a tail and a phallus according to the book), and smaller blue biolights accenting their crests and tails. Painting of adult and nymph Striders.
• Eosapien* - Eosapiens are the sentient natives of Darwin IV in both Alien Planet and Expedition. The Eosapiens appear to be highly mobile, airborne, and semi-sentient. They possess limbs with tentacle-like fingers, navigate with organic rudders, and use large sacs of methane to provide lift. Eosapiens have rudimentary intelligence roughly equivalent to that of our own early ancestors like Homo Erectus. They carry spears for hunting. Their name means "Dawn Thinker" in Latin. In Alien Planet they were one of only two species able to prey on Skewers. Leo was assaulted by an Eosapiens shortly after trying to communicate with a Bladderhorn. A group of Eosapiens apparently interpreted a camera disk launched by Ike as a threat; the last image from the camera disk showed the Eosapiens flying away, carrying a limp Ike. The floating balloon probe resembles the floating Eosapiens, and the launch of the video disc was probably interpreted as throwing a weapon. This species differs in appearance in the book compared to Alien Planet. In Alien Planet, the Eosapiens fingers were made more tentacle-like and longer, and they increased the size of its bladders, had spears instead of clubs, their skin colour and hunting strategies also differ from what is found in the book. Barlowe's version of an Eosapien with a club, Eosapien from Alien Planet production.
• Fin Leg - Small, silver, barrel-shaped herbivores with two fin-like limbs, hence the name. Even though it only has two fins, it walks on four points, two on each fin.
• Finned Snapper - A carnivore with 2 front legs and an aerofoil like hind quarters that lifts it when it runs. They feed on Jetdarters.
• Flipstick - Flipsticks are tall, cylindrical creatures. The Flipstick's signature form of locomotion involves leaping into the air and flipping 180° to land on its opposite end. An ecosystem showing Flipsticks
• Follow-wing - Small violet flyers that usually follow Skewers to scavenge from their kills. They are related to the Skewer, but they are only 2 meters long. Unlike their larger cousins and most life on Darwin IV, they have an example of convergent evolution; like most large animals on Earth, they have actual jaws. But unlike Earth animals, their jaws open sideways.
• Forest Gulper - A large creature that lures creatures into its mouth by scent, then slowly digests them alive. They resemble a gigantic green barrel with a thick snake-like tail, and a pair of atrophied beating wings. These wings are used for flight in the Gulper's larval stage, but become vestigial as the animal matures. A Forest Gulper about to devour a Spade-nose
• Forest Slider - Forest Sliders are bipedal animals that are born with four limbs, but as their rear skid hardens and matures, their hind limbs shrivel and eventually fall off. A Forest Slider drinking from a stream in a forest, a young Forest Slider with one of its hind limbs shriveling away.
• Gelsucker - The gelsucker is a quadruped, but also has a pair of clawed arms, giving it a total of six limbs. Gelsuckers are so called because they feast on the flesh of the Jelly Bladder plant, which grows in small groves on the outskirts of pocket forests. They use their clawed arms to rip the Jelly Bladders open, and then use their extendable proboscis to suck out the semi-solid flesh.
• Gill-Head - A biped with a sike on its chest to support it, almost like a third leg. They are one of the last remaining terrestrial air-sifters, such as the Rime-Runner. It is preyed upon by the Eosapien.
• Groveback* - In Alien Planet the Groveback is one of the largest creatures native to Darwin IV. When fully mature, they are large enough to have entire stands of trees grow on their backs during the long periods of dormancy spent buried in the ground. Once mobile, they travel on two large front legs and a rear appendage shaped much like a boat rudder. The feeding habits of the Groveback differ between the book and the film. In Alien Planet, the Groveback feeds by absorbing nutrients from the soil through the skin of its underbody. In the Expedition, the Groveback is a filter feeder, feeding on the microscopic plants and animals that number in the millions in Darwin IV's air currents. Considering the Groveback's size and speed, the first mentioned lifestyle may sound more realistic, but when considering the multitude of slow filter feeders and a many nostril-like orifices covering the Groveback's head, the latter lifestyle is just as possible. Picture of Groveback, movie production screen, another view of a Groveback from Alien Planet.
• Gyrosprinter* - The "antelope" of Darwin IV. However, unlike the antelopes of Earth, the Gyrosprinter has just two legs arranged in a rather unconventional manner - one right behind the other. The legs appear to have evolved to become fused from two forelegs and two hind legs over millions of years; the Gyrosprinter's ancestors were probably once quadrupeds like many of Earth's quadrupeds. Unfortunately, such a placement of legs can be a problem for balance. The Gyrosprinter has solved this by having two balance organs (similar to the inner ear of a human) located in two thick prongs protruding from either side of its body. It has two hearts, a two metre long tongue, and its nostrils are located on its shoulders. A Gyrosprinter resting.
• Hook-tailed Flyer - A yellow, medium-sized flyer with a hooked tail and a single float bladder.
• Ice Crawler - Quadrupeds that resemble pillbugs are nearly motionless and make comically flatulent noises when emerging from their "sleep sack". Ice Crawlers on a beach with Rime-runner
• Ice Dart - A small flying animal that has three pointed tubes for feeding and drinking, one on its face, another on its bottom sides, and a third one on its rear. It also pokes itself on ice during snow storms.
• Jetdarter* - One of Darwin IV's more bizarre aerial life forms. The Jetdarter is a scavenger whose compact body assumes a dart-like shape. It has no wings to aid in flight. Instead, it has a biological version of a ramjet engine - complete with a turbine of bone and gristle. It has two legs which fold up during flight, although on Alien Planet, they do not appear to have legs at all. The Jetdarter forms nests in the pocket-forests and fears many predators, such as Eletrophyte plants and Finned Snappers. Anatomical sketch of a Jetdarter, Image of a Jetdarter.
• Keeled Slider - The Keeled Slider is a large brown animal with kneeled arms. It builds special egg chambers to keep eggs and young. It slides down muddy mountains. It is not hermaphroditic. Two Keeled Sliders.
• Littoralope* - The Littoralope are the creatures that use huge Sea-Strider skulls for shelter in Expedition. In Alien Planet, the Littoralopes are described as placid, slow-moving quadrupeds with little evidence of intelligence. They also have tails resembling their heads, similar to Symets, which did not appear in Alien Planet. This feature probably evolved to confuse predators. photo with Littoralopes living inside of a Sea Strider's skull, Alien Planet version.
• Mummy-nest Flyer - They are black flyers, with a tail that bends back to meet the front of the body. (like scorpions, except the tail is curled under the body, not above) Unlike some flyers, they are not jet propelled, so they have to flap their wings to fly
• Mummy-nest - This animal has sphincter-like orfices on its body. It is later invaded by Mummy-nest Flyers (though they may have once been one and the same).
• Praire-ram - Prairie-rams are animals that impale their prey's chest to suck out bodily juices. Picture of a Praire-ram.
• Prismalope - A triped of Darwin's plains, Prismalopes often travel in herds. The first thing one notices about this creature is its massive prism-shaped head. Though it appears ungainly, it houses the Prismalope's grasping tentacles, which it uses to capture small prey. This fast-breeding creature is preyed upon by a multitude of predators, both terrestrial and airborne. Prismalopes with butchertrees in the background.
• Prongheads* - Prongheads are bipedal predators that feed on Gyrosprinters and Littoralopes. They are named for the three hollow prongs protruding from their faces that act as tubes to siphon liquids from their prey, since they use their feet to inject their digestive fluids into prey. They hunt in pack in a similar manner to wolves on Earth. A Pronghead surveying the plains in search of prey, Image of Pronghead in Alien Planet.
• Rayback - An agile and aggressive predator of Darwin IV's grasslands. This creature gets its name for the four tall ridges that project from its back. Apart from its ridges, the Rayback does not appear to have any specialized features. Its only weapons are its lightning-fast speed and a dagger-like tongue. It is fierce and attacks anything that moves. It was the first animal encountered by Barlowe, and apparently, his sudden appearance caused it to start attacking him and his vehicle. A biped, it bears a general resemblence to the Bolt-Tongue and Arrowtongue. Picture of Rayback.
• Rimerunner - The Rimerunner is a one-legged animal from the polar regions of Darwin IV. Supported by only one leg, the Rimerunner hops across its arctic home like a kangaroo. It eats only aerophytes and other microscopic airborne organisms. At the front of its head, the Rimerunner sports an umbrella-like organ. This organ, suspended by thin neural cables, is a sophisticated sonar system along with a simple and atrophying eye. Picture of a Rimerunner.
• Rugose Floater - Rugose Floaters are heavily wrinkled, fish-like aliens that float in the air. During spawning season, they have eggs trailing behind their "fins" and reduce to their crescent shape when spawning is complete. This is the creature seen on the front cover of Expedition and at the top of this web page. Larger image.
• Sac-Back - The Sac-Back lives at the edge of the Amoebic Sea. The Sacback gets its name from the sac on the male's back. The sac is used to store pre-digested food from the Litoral Zone, which is later fed to the females. Male and female Sacbacks live completely different lives. Males live on the surface, walking around on their three legs. Female sacbacks dig "tombs" in which they bury themselves. Once buried, the only part of the female that sees the light of day is her mouth and tentacle. Two Sac-Backs mating.
• Scavengewing - Scavengewings are flying animals that have a special digestive system suitable for eating carcasses.
• Skewer* - The largest aerial predator of Darwin IV. It is an enormous flying creature, with a wingspan of 50 feet (over 15 m). Not even the largest pterosaurs (like Quetzalcoatlus with its 40 foot wingspan) from Earth have a wingspan even approaching that size. Its wings do not flap but squeeze, shifting shape to shift flight. It is actually propelled by combusting methane gas in four jet-pods on its wings. This allows the Skewer to travel at speeds of 200 miles per hour. Its killing tool is a hollow lance that impales its prey, injects digestive enzymes, and sucks the corpse dry. The Skewer also hunt in groups, each Skewer dropping the spoils and another swoops in to feast. A pair of Skewers in flight with some Follow-Wings.
• Spade-nose - A quadruped that lives in forests and has a spade-like nose, hence the name. It is a common prey of the Gulper. Image of a gulper about to devour a spade-nose.
• Springwing - The Springwing is a winged animal with forelimbs somewhat like those of a horse's. It springs itself off cliffs to fly. Photo of a Springwing.
• Stripewing - The Stripewing is a lazy flying creature with stripes on its wings which breaks into a hopping frenzy each night.
• Symet - Symets are herbivores named for their protective symmetry. In Expedition, Barlowe observes a herd of Symets in a desert in bordering the Vallis Przewalski. Although they are not featured in Alien Planet, Littoralopes are altered to have identical tails and heads like Symets. This feature may have evolved to confuse predators. Image of a Symet.
• Thornback - The Thornback is an herbivore that walks on its three-legged gait. It has a large "thorn" on its back shaped like a shark fin. Its head vagely resembles that of a rhino's. Image of a Thornback, Thornbacks pursued by an Arrowtoungue.
• Trunksucker* - The Trunksucker is a small animal that glides through Darwin IV's forests and clings to plaque bark trees, sucking their sap. The first dead creature that the probes find on Darwin IV is in fact a Trunksucker, most likely killed by a Daggerwrist. Image of a Trunksucker from Alien Planet.
• Tundraplow - An animal that digs part of its body in the ground to get food. It looks remarkably similar to the Eosapien.
• Unth* - The Unth is a mountain creature with asymmetrical tusks. The Unth is named for the sound it makes when it exhales. Unths live in herds. The Unths of Alien Planet are first encountered by Leo, but Ike meets up with this peaceful herbivore near the end of his journey. The Unth herd was apparently spooked by either the Bladderhorn duel nearby, or the mystery creature (which turned out to be an Eosapien), which deactivated Leo. Two Unths fighting in a snowstorm, a sketch of an Unth.
• Unnamed Flyer - As of yet, this species has no common name. This flying creature is the main food source of the Prismalope in the northern plains. This species has developed an intriguing relationship with the Butchertree. Within a 15 ft or so radius of a Butchertree are a dozen or so small growths. The growths are actually part of the Butchertree, connected to it by underground tentacles. These growths are physically identical in appearance to the small unamed flyers and are used to lure the prismalopes and other prey. This camouflage is also able to deceive prey into coming inside the Butchertree's attack range, where they then find themselves skewered and drained of fluids. Two Prismalopes unwittingly getting too close to a large Butchertree while investigating unnamed flyers (or the Butchertree's decoys).
• Hammer-Headed Veldt Wing - A hooded flying animal that has a crescent shaped head at the end of a skinny neck. Hammer-Headed Veldt Wing being chased by a hungry Rayback.
• Sea Strider Nymphs - Hatched from eggs, the tiny sea strider nymphs are attracted to an energy source located beneath the adult's mouthless head. Hollow, lighter-than-air creatures, they cannot yet walk, but they fly about Darwin IV on their short wings, like Earth's hummingbirds. [1]

[edit] Vegetative Organisms

• Plaque-bark tree* - These trees are tall with straight trunks, regular side branches, and sparse leaves. The trunk suckers feed on them.
• Tube grass - Long grass which is hollow like a tube giving the plant its name.
• Aerophyte - Heart-shaped pink bushes that grow in the plains.
• Fodderball weed - The fodderball weed produces football-like fruits called zimns.
• Jelly-bladder plant - These are plants with jelly-like forms on their stems.
• Float ball - These are bushes with stems so small they look like they're floating.
• Stickball plants* - The stickball plant is part sponge and part virus. The only creatures that eat them are the gyrosprinters.
• Beachfinger - These are grass like plants that thrive near the ameobic sea.
• Hillvine - Hill vines are long plants that grow in the hills.
• Cliff-polyp - These are red grass like plants that are only eaten by Springwings and Baldderhorns.
• Red mountain-spike - These are big spiked plants that are eaten by Unths.
• Arctic polar-vane A red plant that lives in the tundra.
• Snow-bulb - Snow bulbs are large white bulbs that live in darwin IV's icecaps.
• Electrophyte* - These mushroom-like plants electrocute any jetdarter then eat it. Image of Electrophyte
• Gourd Tree* -15-story tall plants that are supported by root-like stilts. Gourd Trees are either hollow or spongy inside. They have to be for the stilts to support them. In Alien Planet they are encountered by Leo and Ike, comprising the trees surround the landing site of the probes. In Expedition, the Gourd Trees are calld Steeple Gourds. A couple of Gourd Trees (see left in image).

[edit] External link

• A gallery of Expedition paintings with commentary by Barlowe