Introduction to Extinct Fauna

Sagan 4 is home to many groups of fauna both living and extinct, and for a newcomer just starting to explore its diverse array of biota, knowing where to start can be difficult. Extant groups are introduced in the Introduction to Extant Fauna, however Sagan 4 also has many extinct groups worth covering.

This page includes both natural clades and evolutionary grades.

=Up to GRB= These organisms became extinct either before, during, or shortly after the gamma ray burst in generation 100.

Phants
Phants were a noteworthy offshoot of bearhogs which resembled elephants and tapirs. They became extinct as a result of the gamma ray burst, except for the cavehogs, which silently died out only a few million years later.

Roamers
Roamers were a lineage of tripedal caudopods with long trunks which carried their eggs under their bellies using their hindlimbs. They are notable for having produced a sapient species, the nomad.

Non-Azelemur Azelaks
Azelaks were a branch of caudopods which didn't walk on their tails and had color-changing fur. Most of them became extinct as a result of the gamma ray burst, but they were survived by the azelemurs.

Many azelaks were herbivorous, but they also produced a branch of raptor-like forms with long hand claws.

Up to Ice Comet
These organisms were still kicking after the gamma ray burst, but died out before, as a result of, or shortly after the ice comet impact event.

Through the Ice Age
The ice age was a major geologic period in its own right, lasting 37.5 million years with a whopping 12.5 million year snowball event in its center, resulting in the extinction of countless groups that had made it through the previous extinction events.

Post-Ice Age
These organisms died out after the ice age for some reason or another, mostly habitat loss from shrinking polar regions and rising sea levels.