Meta:Sapients

Sapients are species which have achieved intelligence and sophistication potential on par with a human. Though high intelligence has evolved a number of times on Sagan 4, only a small handful of species were allowed to develop sapience.

Sapients can only be evolved by moderators or certain contest winners, and they can only make one. It is required that if they evolve, they must go extinct immediately, usually by way of mass extinction event.

Sapient Species
This section covers the sapients which have already evolved and the meta surrounding them.

Nomad
The Nomad was Sagan 4's first official sapient species, created by Somarinoa in Generation 100. It is a type of Carpozoan derived from the Roamer lineage. Notably, it appears as though Somarinoa misinterpreted the ancestor as a plent when creating it, as it has a vocal organ where a butt nostril would be located and inexplicably produces sperm from its trunk. It was created for a sapient contest, where it competed against two other entries: the Firestarter, a type of Gulper created by Hydromancerx which is sometimes regarded as a prototype of the Sagon, and some type of Phant, of which all information is lost.

The sapient contest which resulted in the Nomad was made as a result of members attempting to evolve sapient species. Though most information on pre-Nomad sapient attempts is lost, two attempts by Bonosaber are known.

Sagon
The Sagon is a sapient gulper created by Hydromancerx. It was the subject of a failed "tribal game" before it was submitted in Generation 139. Notably, a sister lineage to it, the Cottoncoat and its descendants, are still extant.

Tripodician
The Tripodician is Sagan 4's third and latest official sapient species, created by Nergali in Generation 144. It is a type of land swarmer, more specifically a triwalker. Unlike with the other sapients, which were created by their creators' own accord, Hydromancerx asked Nergali to create the Tripodician to replace the intelligent but non-sapient Tripodian and Pygmypodian so that they would not be misinterpreted and evolved into sapients later. A non-submitted species similar to the Tripodician but with clothes was also created and submitted by Hydromancerx in case Nergali failed to submit his on time, but it was retracted when the Tripodician was submitted.

The Tripodician is notably the only sapient to have had a significant impact on other species, through the domesticated Genteel Tuskent.

Known Failed Sapient Attempts
There are a few known failed Sapient attempts which were either rejected or lost contests.


 * Azelangur, a sapient azelemur created by Bonosaber.
 * Chimpus, a sapient shrew created by Bonosaber. It is the only failed sapient with its art and description intact, and it has gained infamy for its use of "minecraft weapons" (though it actually predates the existence of Minecraft) and the fact that its religion is not only a rip-off of a real religion but Christianity specifically.
 * Firestarter, sometimes considered a proto-Sagon, which was created by Hydromancerx for the sapient contest.
 * An unknown phant submitted for the sapient contest, which is now lost.
 * A hybrid descendant of the Tripodian and Pygmypodian which is similar to the canon sapient Tripodician, but with clothes. It was created by Hydromancerx.

Intelligent Non-Sapient Species and Lineages
A number of lineages have developed relatively high intelligence, including self-awareness and tool use, without becoming sapient. Some of them would give rise to sapient descendants, while others would not.


 * The Cantro and its descendants were created with intent to produce a sapient, and as such they have ape-like intelligence. The Lemupus in particular is comparable to the Terran Australopithecus.
 * The Tripodian line, which would also produce the sapient Tripodician, have high bird-like intelligence comparable to Terran corvids.