Cladistics: Parasymmetrodactylae

Modern Anisospondyls can be placed into one of three major categories. There are the Brachiostomata, a group which was apparently very diverse in Eryobis' her past but is now only represented by a handful of species. There are the Trapezostomata, the Anisospondyls that evolved an enlarged bone below their jaws that effectively acts as a table to keep food from falling out of their mouths.

And then there are the Cryptognatha, the Anisospondyls that evolved a second set of jaws derived from their palate- and tongue bones and the group that by far the most modern Anispondyls fall into. 

Cryptognaths as a clade are quite old and fossils like those from the Frouren Formation show that they were already around by the middle of the Bobossic period 145 million years ago. Curiously enough, this actually makes Cryptognaths the youngest clade among the surviving Anisospondyls, as Trapezostomes are estimated to have evolved over 12 million years before the first Cryptognaths appeared.

Yet despite-, or perhaps because of their later appearance on the world's stage, Cryptognaths are the most successful, numerous and diverse terrestrial vertebrates Eryobis has ever seen. One major reason for this is the fact that genetic evidence points to at least 4 different lineages of Cryptognaths surviving through the devastating cataclysm known as the World Scarring, making them the effective inheritors of Eryobis.

When biologists first touched down on Eryobis, they classified the Cryptognath Anisospondyls in 2 major groups: The Paleodactylae and the Symmetrodactylae. As the name may infer, this distinction was made based on the anatomy of their feet. Specifically, the amount of digits on the front limbs. 

Due to the strange evolutionary history and anatomy of Anisospondyls, the left and right (neural and lacrimal) front limbs are not homologous as one side will have been derived from the pectoral fins while the other came from the pelvic fins. Because of this and perhaps some ancient bottleneck early on in their evolution, Anisospondyls evolved with 3 digits on their neural (pectoral) limbs and 4 digits on their lacrimal (pelvic) limbs. This asymmetry has seemingly been the ancestral condition for pretty much every Anisospondyl group since their conception.

Cryptognaths are no exception. Biologists quickly noticed that that certain Cryptognaths had asymmetrical toes and this, combined with the knowledge that this asymmetry is a primitive trait, led to these Cryptognaths being labeled as "Paleodactyls". While this term has partially held up, its counter part, the term "Symmetrodactyls", has not.

Symmetrodactyls were grouped based on the fact that the toes on the lacrimal and neural limbs were equal in number and thus symmetrical.

That however, is where the relationship between "Symmetrodactyls" ended. Genetic testing and studies of their embryonic development revealed that the so called "Symmetrodactyls" were actually 3 distinct, largely unrelated clades. These were subsequently named: Eusymmetrodactylae, Parasymmetrodactylae and Effingodactylae.


Although the digits of Eusymmetrodactyls and Parasymmetrodactyls may look superficially similar, having a standard number of three digits on all front limbs, the differences in structure between the two groups already starts shortly after conception. Where Eusymmetrodactyls lost the fourth digit on their lacrimal limbs, the Parasymmetrodactyls lost their first digit to achieve digit symmetry. So while leaving similarly looking footprints, genetic testing found that Parasymmetrodactyls are actually more closely related to the Effingodactyls than to the Eusymmetrodactyls.

Yet, their relation to Effingodactyls is not a close one, having split well before the World Scarring event occurred. As such, Parasymmetrodactyls are a very diverse clade.

There are a number of physical traits that nearly all Parasymmetrodactyls share such as a scale covered hide, ectothermy and an olfactory organ located above the visendal mouth corner. This organ is often accompanied by a bony growth or spike and likely evolved from a taste organ that migrated outside the mouth to act as a nostril, as the Parasymmetrodactyls lost their true, fish-like ancestral nostrils.

The most basal members of Parasymmetrodactylae are the Siludrilidae, a family of serpentine Anisospondyls native solely to Hatèmica. Not much is known about these creatures as they all appear to be either fossorial, aqautic or a combination of both. From the specimens we have recorded and studied, we've found out that Siludrilids have very small, almost rudimentary eyes and instead rely on a pair of barbels on their mandibles to sense their surroundings. 

Genetic evidense suggests that Siludrilids are the sister group to all other living Parasymmetrodactyls, which are classified as the Xenosauropsia. This group in turn seems to be into two major branches which likely diverged in the Recrescian stage of the Anaktisian period around 100 million years ago.

First of these branches is known as the Novocordea. What marks this group is the anatomy of their hearts and the fact that they do not seem to be completely ectothermic, with one family, the fully aquatic Sirenosauridae, being in fact homeothermic animals. These often marine animals are mostly herbivores that stay close to coastlines around Eryobis that will feed on seaweeds, though many supplement their diet with invertebrates and some are fully durophagous with a diet consisting largely of pectinauts. 

Vyarisauria

Like the Sirenosaurids, many other Novocordeans seem to be aquatically inclined. The Vyarisauria are a clade consisting of several families of Xenosauropsians that are hypothesised to have originated on the shores of the Vyaris Ocean when it was forming as the paleocontinent Kwispuul broke apart. The least aquatic Vyarisaurs are the members of the Tarandrosauridae. The species in this family are often iguana like animals and are often omnivorous or herbivorous. The most striking characteristic of this family is that most males grow large horn- and antler like structures from their mandibles. These structures can actively impede their ability to feed, so it is likely that females use them to judge the fitness of males. In addition, some species have been recorded using these stuctures for both intraspecific combat and defense.

The great majority of crocodilian resembling Anisospondyls belong to the aptly named family Eryosuchidae. Much like terran crocodiles, these Vyarisaurs are often semiaquatic, armour plated carnivores. Eryosuchids can be found in tropical and subtropical regions all around the world where they prey on a wide variety of animals ranging from small fish to large game. While all Eryosuchids can swim, the degree to which they do this can vary quite a lot per species and region, as some Erysuchids will spend almost their entire lives living on land.

Another family of semiaquatic Vyarisaurs isthe Phocasauridae. These creatures can also be found all around the world, but unlike Eryosuchids have an elevated metabolism and higher body temperate that allows them to venture into temperate water as well. Much like the animals they derive their name from, the pinnipeds of old Earth, Phocasaurs can often be seen resting, alone or in colonies, on beaches and rocky outcrops in the sea. Phocasaurs can be extremely large animals, with the largest species reaching over 8 meters in length, though their long and muscular tail does take up half that length. As such, the diets of Phocasaurs can also differ quite a bit per species. Some are small fish specialists, sporting rows of jagged interlocking teeth that form a cage no fish can escape from. Others are large prey specialists, feeding on other marine Anisospondyls like aquatic Stauropterygians and Chalacheiropterans or even other Phocasaurs and then others are durophages or specialise in soft bodied invertebrates.

Cynerpetoidea

Curiously, despite being the most aquatic of the Novocordeans, the Sirenosaurids are not that closely related to the Vyarisaurs. Instead these marine grazers appear to be at or near the base of a superfamily known as the Cynerpetoidea. Unlike their closest living relatives, all members of this superfamily are mostly terrestrial. While bearing a vague resemblance to ancient land crocodilians of Earth, the Cynerpetoids are not Eryosuchids, with the similarities in appearance, most notably the rows of osteoderms and large scales  likely being the result of convergent evolution.

The smallest and most widespread Cynerpetoids are the members of the family Suchocyonidae. These animals tend to be on the smaller side compared to some of their relatives, usually not exceeding 50 kilograms in weight. They are more omnivorous and often live in burrows. While they likely originated in Bloëcan Miesjeta like the other members of their superfamily, the Suchocyonids somehow crossed the Vyaris Ocean around 10 million years ago, likely rafting from Azchèda to Hatèmica and Lachoba. How they did this remains somewhat of a mystery, though one theory is that Suchocyonids have a higher salt tolerance than Cynerpetoids.

The Cynerpetidae on other hand, have always remained in Miesjeta. Among their relatives, it is the Cynerpetids with the highest metabolisms, which is perhaps why they of their relatives are most common in the older regions of the continent such as Azchèda and Lotharca. These creatures are fast animals that often hunt by chasing their prey down over a short distance. They also appear to among the most intelligent Xenosauropids besides Phocasaurs and Sirenosaurs and it is Cynerpetids that have been domesticated by the Eryobian natives in some regions.

The Cipehyolidae family contains some of the largest land carnivores alive on Eryobis. These carnivores are often the apex predators in the regions where they live, with especially the tropical and subtropical forest and wetland regions of Bloëca falling under their domain. Some biologists have compared Cipehyolids to ancient terran carnivores like Rauisuchians and Sebecids for these creatures also resemble land crocodiles. The biggest Cipehyolids of tropical Bloëca have been rumoured to stand up to 2 meters tall at the hip and measure over 10 meters from head to tail, which would indeed make them among the largest land predators of Eryobis and also some of the biggest terrestrial carnivores Humanity has ever encountered.

Eucryocardia

The second large branch of the Xenosauropsia is the one leading up to the Eucryocardia. As the name might suggest, all members of this clade are entirely ectothermic, which recent studies have shown might actually be a derived trait rather than the ancestral condition. The majority of modern Parasymmetrodactyls are Eucryocardians, with a majority of the latter belonging to the Eryolacertilia. Despite having been determinded to be the sister group to all other Eucryocardians and thus being the most basal, Eryolacertilians can be found on every continent except Rubiëra and fill most of the niches we'd associate with lizards on Earth and other colonies. They are a very diverse group and most are quite small, with only a handful surpassing 1 meter in length.

Plicataventria

Some of the strangest animals on Eryobis, which is saying something, are members of the group called Plicataventria. 

At the base of this group are two families of aberrant creatues that vaguely remind of tortoises. The Irrisiidae, a family native soley to Hatèmica, are the most basal Plicataventrioids. They are odd creatures. They walk quadrupedally, but not in a way comparable to any other Anisospondyl. They walk soley on both pairs of their front limbs, with their hindlimbs being very small and located at the rear of their bodies. Because of this, they have extremely large pectoro-pelvic girdles that connect their front limbs, which makes their bodies rather stiff. This type of locomotion and stiff body morphology can be seen across all members of Plicataventria. Irrisiids have small osteoderms on their backs and are mostly omnivores. It has been reported that they use their small hindlimbs in the digging process as well as with mating.

A slighly more derived family of Plicataventroids are the Opistonychidae. Native to deserts all across Miesjeta, these creatures invoke the sense of "tortoise" more than perhaps any other Anisospondyl. They possess an anatomy that is very similar to that of the Irrisiids, though Opistonychids sport large plate like osteoderms on their back and evolved their hind limbs for a different purpose than digging. Rather Opistonychids have elongated the claws on their hindlimbs and turned them into defensive spikes. Akin to terran porcupines, Opistonychids will turn their spiky rears towards potential threats for defense and as they retain control over individual claws, they can quite accurately stab their aggressors if necessary.

The higher Plicataventria can be divided into four groups. 

Most basal of these is the family known as Plicatachelidae. These animals are almost exclusively aquatic and can only be found in the Rukard Sea, the inland sea that lies on the border between southern Miesjeta and Azchèda, and the rivers and lakes that are connected to it. Plicatachelids are mostly herbivores or feed on invertebrates. Though their bodies and osteoderms are covered by a thick layer of leathery skin, their skeletons reveal that their bodies are folded. The arms below the mouths of Plicatachelids are in fact their hind limbs.

It is currently thought that Plicatachelids were pushed into the aquatic niches they hold in modern times from another, closely related group that began spreading around Bloëca around the same time the former appear in the fossil record, the Corythostegoidea. This superfamily clearly displays the folded body that Plicataventrians are known for. With rows of hard keratin covered bony plates running all along their backs, the well armoured creatures tend to be herbivores and omnivores and are often quite small. 

Across the Vyaris Ocean in Lachoba and Guralta is where two other families of Plicataventrians can be found. Most notable of these are the Apelathedontidae, a family of carnivores that are among the largest terrestrial Plicataventrians. In a curious case of convergent evolution, Apelathedonts have evolved large bony projections from their mandibles akin to Tarandrosaurids. They use them for completely different purposes however, as Apelathedonts seem to have evolved these structures to help them tackle large prey. In addition, these carnivores have have and blade like claws on their hind limbs, which are located below the mouth, to help them tear into live prey and carcass alike.

The Entomosauridae are the other Plicataventrian family that can be found in the western hemisphere, with members from Lachoba all the way to southern Tlèëa. Much like their cousins, Entomosaurids are a bit more carnivorous than their Miesjetan counterparts, though the majoirity of Entomosaurids are also quite small creatures that can very often be found scurrying in the undergrowth.

Saurrhamphia

Besides the peculiar Plicataventria, there is another major branch of Eucryocardians that can be found on Eryobis, the Saurrhamphia. As much be indicated by the naming, the members of this clade all have some form of beak or keratinous structure at the tips of their mandibles. Because of this, some researchers have proposed that the ancestral members of this clade were quite specialised herbivores that would later radiate into a wider range diets.

A good supporter for this ancestral herbivory theory comes in the form of the Asaurocnidae, which have been shown to be basal to all other Saurrhamphians. This is a family of slow moving arboreal herbivores that can often be found hanging upside down from tree branches much like sloths of old Earth, except these creatures are truly ectothermic. With strong limbs and very large curved claws, Asaurocnids are experts at not moving much.

Another family of arboreal Saurrhamphians are the Salitostiliidae, whose members are best characterised by their large hind limbs that allow them to jump between the canopy. Salitostiliids often have beaks that strongly curve downwards. It is believed that this allows them to break into tree bark to access arthropods living beneath, though they also include leaves and "fruits" into their diet.

Some of the most charismatic creatures on Eryobis are members of the Microdrakonidae, which as their name would imply, can indeed look like little dragons. These somewhat skink like creatures are quite common across Guralta and Tlèëa where they mainly feed on plant matter such tubers and also feed on various kinds of arthropods. Microdrakonids are often covered in extensive bony plates, osteoderm stubs and spikes, which makes them quite well protected from a large portion of the potential predators they share their habitats with.

The Eryobiguanidae were for a long considered to be members of Eryolacertilia before DNA testing showed them to be Saurrhamphians. It is easy to see the mistake, as Eryobiguanids retain many basal Xenosauropsian traits that are commonly associated with Eryolacertilians, such as a rather lizard like body shape. Eryobiguanids, much like the terran iguanas they share their name with, Eryobiguanids are mostly herbivores, though a few omnivorous and carnivorous species also exist.

Some of the strangest faces of any Anisospondyls belong to the members of the Arpazognathidae. These Saurrhampians represent the third time a group of Xenosauropsians evolved to look and behave like iguanas since the World Scarring and all evolved on a different continent in a glaring way of convergent evolution, with the Tarandrosaurs in Guralta, Lachoba and Tlèëa, the Eryobiguanids in Miesjeta and the Arpazognathids in Hatèmica. 

Much like their ecological counterparts, Arpazognathids are mostly herivores with a few exceptions. Curiously similarly to the unrelated Tarandrosaurs, Arpazognathids also display sexual dimorphism with males growing large bony structures on their heads. These often include spikes growing from the beak on the mandibles, which are often accompanied by a large arching horn that grows from between the eyes. Male Arpazognathids have often been seen duelling with other males in a way strangely reminiscent of certain beetles from Earth.

At some point though, a mutation occured in some Arpazoganthoids that made females also grow such structures. It would not have taken long for this mutation to become accompanied by an increasingly carnivorous diet as they began to use this additional weaponry to hunt other animals. It would be from such mutated populations that the Ginguridae would evolve. They would take the use of their bony growths to new extremes as they developed a unique jaw mechanism that allows them to move their mandibles up and down in addition to opening them side to side as is typical for Anisospondyls. Because of the mechanism, which bears some similiarity to that which was seen in Haidomyrmecinae ants of Cretaceous Earth, Gingurids can slam their prey against the "roof" of their jaws which evolved from the horn that grew from between their eyes. Gingurids are a relatively new family that have seen great success and quickly spread around Eryobis, filling the niche of semiaquatic ambush predators like crocodiles. The fossil record and even modern reports show that whenever Gingurids occur in the same region as Eryosuchids, the Gingurids tend to dominate and even can even replace them completely in an ecosystem.

When one observes the distribution of Parasymmetrodactyls across Eryobis, it becomes clear that they are a very "western" group, as none of their ancestrally terrestrial members can be found in Rubiëra in the east.

This points to Parasymmetrodactyls having evolved in the ancient supercontinent of Kwispuul and rather than spreading across oceans, merely drifted to new locations as tectonics pulled Kwispuul apart, with a few exceptions where some must've rafted over. Additionally, the Parasymmetrodactyls seem to be more aquatically inclined than any other kind of Anisospondyl, with a number of families independently evolving to live mostly in the water. Their specialisation in ectothermy and energy conservation allows them to fill completely different niches to Eusymmetrodactyls and Effingodactyls, which gives them an evolutionary edge like no other.

Currently they exist all over the world except in the coldest of regions and are likely to continue to do so for many millions of years to come. 

The most reptilian looking and behaving of all Anisospondyls, many Parasymmetrodactyls are quite popular as pets for both natives and humans alike 

 

Cladistics: Effingodactylae

Modern Anisospondyls can be placed into one of three major categories. There are the Brachiostomata, a group which was apparently very diverse in Eryobis' her past but is now only represented by a handful of species. There are the Trapezostomata, the Anisospondyls that evolved an enlarged bone below their jaws that effectively acts as a table to keep food from falling out of their mouths.

And then there are the Cryptognatha, the Anisospondyls that evolved a second set of jaws derived from their palate- and tongue bones and the group that by far the most modern Anispondyls fall into. 

Cryptognaths as a clade are quite old and fossils like those from the Frouren Formation shows that they were already around by the middle of the Bobossic period 145 million years ago. Curiously enough, this actually makes Cryptognaths the youngest clade among the surviving Anisospondyls, as Trapezostomes are estimated to have evolved over 12 million years before the first Cryptognaths appeared.

Yet despite-, or perhaps because of their later appearance on the world's stage, Cryptognaths are the most successful, numerous and diverse terrestrial vertebrates Eryobis has ever seen. One major reason for this is the fact that genetic evidence points to at least 4 different lineages of Cryptognaths surviving through the devastating cataclysm known as the World Scarring, making them the effective inheritors of Eryobis.

When biologists first touched down on Eryobis, they classified the Cryptognath Anisospondyls in 2 major groups: The Paleodactylae and the Symmetrodactylae. As the name may infer, this distinction was made based on the anatomy of their feet. Specifically, the amount of digits on the front limbs. 

Due to the strange evolutionary history and anatomy of Anisospondyls, the left and right (neural and lacrimal) front limbs are not homologous as one side will have been derived from the pectoral fins while the other came from the pelvic fins. Because of this and perhaps some ancient bottleneck early on in their evolution, Anisospondyls evolved with 3 digits on their neural (pectoral) limbs and 4 digits on their lacrimal (pelvic) limbs. This asymmetry has seemingly been the ancestral condition for pretty much every Anisospondyl group since their conception.

Cryptognaths are no exception. Biologists quickly noticed that that certain Cryptognaths had asymmetrical toes and this, combined with the knowledge that this asymmetry is a primitive trait, led to these Cryptognaths being labeled as "Paleodactyls". While this term has partially held up despite it becoming clear that "Paleodactyls" are almost definitely polyphyletic , its counter part, the term "Symmetrodactyls", most certainly has not held up.

Symmetrodactyls were grouped based on the fact that the toes on the lacrimal and neural limbs were equal in number and thus symmetrical.

That however, is where the relationship between "Symmetrodactyls" ended. Genetic testing and studies of their embryonic development revealed that the so called "Symmetrodactyls" were actually 3 distinct, largely unrelated clades. These were subsequently named: Eusymmetrodactylae, Parasymmetrodactylae and Effingodactylae.

While the digits of Eusymmetrodactyls and Parasymmetrodactyls look superficially very similar, being three toed on all front limbs, the Effingodactyls are clearly different, possessing four toes on all front limbs. Other Anisospondyl groups have achieved front-limb-digit-symmetry by reducing digits like the other "Symmetrodactyl" Cryptognaths did or by fusing digits as Brachiostomes and Liomedactyl Trapezostomes have done. 

Effingodactyls are different. 

Instead, Effingodactyls appear to have grown a new digit on their neural front limbs. Studies on the embryonic development of their front limbs have shown that this extra digit is the result of a "domesticated" form of polydactyly whereby the third digit of the neural limbs duplicates to form a new "fourth" digit. While birth defects like this usually tend to get weeded out over time, it is theorized that this particular case of polydactyly was so advantageous to early Effingodactyls that it gave those with it an evolutionary edge over those without, ensuring that the condition became anchored in the gene pool. 

Genetic evidence and the molecular clock point to modern Effingodactyls having appeared and differentiated between 110 and 90 million years ago, during the Recrescian stage of the Anaktisian period. Fragmentary fossils from this period in time suggests that these early Effingodactyls were small and often arboreal creatures. Yet, the most basal members of the group that still live to this day are neither. The Perucatheriidae is a family of a handful of species of quite primitive Effingodactyls native exclusively to the tropical island of Boncorm, west of Miesjeta. Rather odd looking creatures, most agree that Perucatheriids were already present in Borncorm before it became an island, where it became a refuge for them while their kin died out elsewhere as time went on. They are easily recognizable by their often extravagant and vividly coloured crests made of fleshy and inflatable tissue. These structures grow from the visendal spiracle and are much more developed in males than in females.

Another family of very basal Effingodactyls is the Gnathoglossidae. Similarly to the Perucatheriids, Gnathoglossids appear to be relics left alive only because of isolation. The island continent of Hatèmica has been largely isolated for an estimated 70 to 50 million years, which makes it a last stronghold for many lifeforms that have gone extinct elsewhere, so it should be little surprise that it is here where Gnathoglossids can be found. These creatures bear some resemblance to echidnas and anteaters from Earth and in similar fashion, Gnathoglossids have been recorded feeding predominantly on eusocial, often colony building, arthropods. These creatures permanently keep their visendal front limbs off the ground. This is likely done to protect the large claws of these limbs from becoming dull. They use these claws for intraspecific combat, defense and most importantly for breaking into colonies and tree bark to access their food. The "tongue" that Gnathoglossids possess is in actuality an extremely long and extendable pharynx, for at the end of the tongue there is a tiny set of jaws, which are of course the linguo-palatal jaws that Cryptognaths are known for. How exactly Gnathoglossids feed has yet to be properly studied, but most agree that they use their pharynx akin to how an anteater would use its tongue, sticking it into a hole where it would lap up arthropods with adhesive saliva before retreating it back into the mouth. It is likely that Gnathoglossids filter their prey from their pharynx with insides of their lips so they can be lined up for the small mouth to swallow.

In addition to large claws, Gnathoglossids are also quite well armored, possessing multiple rows of large osteoderms all over their body which, combined with their sometimes surprisingly large sizes, makes them formidable foes for anything that dares to tackle them.

With the exception of the two aforementioned families, almost all other living Effingodactyls fall into the supergroup called Gharibotheria. The members of this group are typically seen as the most mammal-like of all Eryobian creatures. They are all endothermic, viviparous, are covered in filament that can best be described as fur and possess pinnae on their shoulder-ears made of flesh, cartilage and muscle, much like those of mammals. At the very base of Gharibotheria, or perhaps even outside it, are the Archaeojanoridae. A family of generally small and shrew like creatures, Archaeojanorids differ from all other Gharibotheres in the anatomy of their inner ears, underdeveloped ear pinnae, lower metabolism, sprawling hind limbs and the fact that they seem to be ovoviviparous, still developing eggs but hatching them while still inside the body. 

They can be found all over Guralta, with a handful of species also being found in Lachoba and Tlèëa. They are typically nocturnal and mostly feed on small invertebrates. Some species of Archaeojanorids possess long caniniform teeth lined with deep grooves, leading some biologists to suspect they might be venomous. No studies have been conducted to confirm this however.

Similarly to how it is the last refuge of the Gnathoglossids, the island continent of Hatèmica is home to another basal family of Gharibotheres called the Glossolatiriidae. These odd Gharibotheres have long been the subject of debate among biologists. A combination of primitive and derived traits has made their placement on the Effingodactyl phylogenetic tree rather difficult, though most seem to agree that they form their own branch and aren't particularly related to any other current Gharibotheres. 

Glossolatiriids tend to be omnivores that fill niches we would associate with raccoons, opossums and mustelids on Earth, being opportunistic and highly adaptable to their environments. They can be found in almost every habitat in Hatèmica and some species can even be found on the continent of Lachoba, likely been brought there after heavy storms dragged them out to sea where they would have clung to rafts of driftwood.

Thylacophora

The other Gharibotheres can be placed into one of two major branches. Arguably the most diverse of these branches leads to the Thylacophora, the "pouch bearers". As their name might suggest, these Gharibotheres possess a pouch made of skin and muscle, very much like those of the marsupials from Earth. The likeness to mammals is even more strengthened by the fact that Thylacophorans possess what are essentially mammary glands within their pouches.

An interesting anatomical trait that sets Thylacophorans apart almost all other living Anisospondyls is the shape and configuration of their pectoro-pelvic girdles, which are angled "in reverse", as this placement puts their visendal front limbs anterior to their caecal front limbs. While there are a couple of other groups that also have this trait, such as Machairoplatid and Pseudokadrid Trapezostomes as well as the extinct Syrinchotids, the vast majority of Anisospondyls possess the reverse girdle arrangement; with the caecal front limbs anterior to the visendal front limbs. A side effect of this arrangement is that it caused their external ears to migrate to a position in front of the limbs, instead of between them as is typically the case in Cryptognaths, which likely happened to avoid the pinnae getting in the way of the moving limbs, or vice versa. Because this makes it seem as if the ears sprout from the back of the head, this adaptation contributes even more to the Thylacophorans' likeness to mammals.

Some of the most basal Thylacophorans are the Phascolictoidea, a superfamily of generally small, omnivorous creatures that can be found all over Miesjeta. Many explorers call them rabbits, possums or roos for their superficial similarity to these Earth animals.

In a curious case of evolution having no regard for our laws of convention, the family of the largest Thylacophorans is most closely related to some of the smallest. The Brachiorhinidae are large herbivores that bear a striking resemblance to elephants. Their fleshy spiracular nose has developed into a prehensile trunk and they often possess large ears to dissipate heat, although this last trait is something seen in a number of unrelated large Gharibotheres. While Brachiorhinids may not have tusks, they do keep their visendal front limbs permanently off the ground. These limbs are tipped by large claws are most often used for digging, scratching bark off trees, pulling branches down to feed and for combat. They typically weigh in between 400 kilograms and 5 tons, yet they still carry their young in a pouch. These pouches face backwards and the young tend to leave these pouches while still being quite small so as to not put too much strain on the mother.

The closest relatives of the Brachiorhinids are the Atsidatheroidea, which also have backwards facing pouches. These creatures are typically rodent like in appearance and often fill the niches of small, nocturnal herbivores. Many of them are also fossorial, which would explain why their pouches face backwards, as this prevents dirt from getting in the pouch. It is as of yet unknown how Atsidatheroids avoid competition with Triprotodont Trapezostomes, as both of these groups associated with rodent like niches.

Despite not being particularly related to the previous two groups, another family that shares the backwards facing pouches is the Telomechrhinidae. This is a family of badger or hog like, typically omnivorous, nocturnal creatures native to Tlèëa and northern Guralta. In a curious case of convergent evolution, these creatures evolved an elongated bone above their jaws, something only seen in the extinct Ceratanodirids. The similarity is only superficial however, as the purpose of these bony growths is for completely different between these unrelated groups. In Ceratanodirids it served for combat, in Telomechrhinids it forms a support for the nose, which is extended all the way to the front of the jaws. While this gives Telomechrhinids a superior olfactory sense, it also prevents them from using their jaws to an extent, as they cannot properly hold food as other Anisospondyls can. For this reason, many Telomechrhinids have larger teeth on the caecal side of their jaws than on the visendal side.

Aiodyparxii

Genetic testing has revealed that Telomechrhinids are most closely related to the largest group within the Thylacophora: the Aiodyparxii.

The members of this group can be highly divergent in morphology and lifestyle, but there are a couple of characteristics that almost all share. A majority of their members are at least partially arboreal and it is likely that this has always been the case because it seems that an ancestral trait is the digits on their front limbs being heterodactyl, meaning that the inner two digits are opposable to the outer two. This actually disregards the actual embryonic number of the toes, as it means that the visendal front limbs will have their 1st and 2nd digits opposable while on the caecal limbs it will be the 3rd and 4th digits.

Another ancestral trait that they all have is a specialized and highly complex vocal organ that allows them to make sounds that can match those of Earths songbirds in acoustic complexity. 

Considered by many biologists to be the most basal Aiodyparxians are the Trogailurids, a family of vaguely cat or quoll like, often arboreal carnivores that live in Lachoba and southern Guralta. These creatures are most often solitary, but like the cats of Earth, are also often held as pets by native populations.

It is assumed that it was from Trogailurid like creatures that the most diverse Aiodyparxians of all, and actually Effingodactyls as a whole, evolved: the Chalacheiroptera. When Eryobian explorers are asked about the "birds of this world", chances are they are thinking of a Chalacheiropteran. These flying creatures are some of the most widespread animals on Eryobis, existing from pole to pole and every landscape in between. Many explorers call them "sharos", a likely nod to the fact that many of them fly with their hindlimbs like the Triassic reptile from Earth called Sharovipteryx. Their limb configuration is indeed quite odd, as many of them walk bipedally on their caecal front limbs, while their hind limbs have been turned into large wings for powered flight and with their visendal front limbs being smaller wings used mainly for steering.

While this is the case for the vast majority of Chalacheiropterans, there are a small number of basal members that instead have it reversed; flying mostly with their visendal front limbs while the hindlimbs are used to steer. Curiously, the Chalacheiropterans with this configuration also tend to have heavily reduced caecal front limbs, as the way the muscles of these creatures work apparently cannot empower one without drawing from the other. This phenomenon has also been observed with the other flying Anisospondyls, the Stauropterygia, where instead of just one pair, both pairs of front limbs were turned into wings for powered flight, which apparently is possible with Anisospondyl anatomy. The Chalacheiropterans that fly with their front limbs are often terrible at walking on the ground due to their caecal limbs being reduced and the others being wings.

Another major group within the Aiodyparxii is the Thylacopithecoidea. As their name might suggest, these creatures bear a great resemblance to primates, being very intelligent, often arboreal animals with forward facing eyes. Quite unlike primates however, these creatures tend to have large, movable ears and sport claws on their digits. Almost all members of this group live in tropical and subtropical regions around Miesjeta, most in notably rain- and monsoon forests. There are of course exceptions to this, with certain species living in the savannas or high in the mountains while others live in some colder climates. But the most notable exceptions are a number of members of the Sammelkidae family. While Sammelkids are often the most arboreal of all Thylacopithecoids, with some members never voluntarily touching the ground, this family also contains the most terrestrial of them all. Due to the strange anatomy of Sammelkids, the terrestrial species have evolved to walk bipedally on their visendal front limbs while permanently holding their caecal- and hind limbs off the ground. It is these strange terrestrial Sammelkids that the native sapient species belongs to.

Schistorhinaria

Besides the Thylacophora, there is another major branch of Gharibotheres. The members of this branch are often quite easily distinguishable from other Effingodactyls because of one physical trait: their fleshy spiracle nose splits into two tubes that go in front of the eyes onto the jaw halves. It is this trait where the names of the group derives from: Schistorhinaria. 

Not all of them appear to have these split nostrils though. Recent DNA tests have determined that the family called Stachyopsidae are more closely related to Schistorhinarians than to any other Gharibotheres. These hippopotamus like creatures that grow "antlers" from their cheeks have a typical single opening spiracle like most Effingodactyls. Autopsies have shown however, that there is a septum within the nostril, which is not present in any non-Schitorhinarian Effingodactyls.

Within Schistorhinaria proper, there are several branches. One of the branches most unrelated to any others is the one that leads to the Barropecidae and Imbricatopoda.

Barropecids are a family of large sized herbivores native exclusively to Hatèmica. Where Brachiorhinids got the trunks, the Barropecids got the tusks that make them superficially similar to elephants. That however, is where the similarity ends. Barropecids are known for their bright facial colors in males, four large tusks with two on each side and caecal limbs held off the ground which it uses for digging and combat. 

Their closest relatives, the Imbricatopods, look nothing like them. Imbricatopods are often significantly smaller, more slender and tend to be carnivorous. They are widespread all across Miesjeta, with the majority of their species existing in the subcontinents of Azchèda and Lotharca, which indicates that they seem to prefer more temperate climates over tropical ones. There are a number of families within Imbricatopoda, of which some members are held as pets by native populations.

Imbricatopoda are not the only large group of mainly carnivorous Schistorhinarians. In fact, they are outdone in diversity, range and success by the Eryobiferae. This clade encompasses the majority of carnivorous Gharibotheres, as well as some herbivorous species. Eryobiferae appear to be quite an old clade as they can be found on all the landmasses that once made up the paleocontinent of Kwispuul, namely Guralta, Lachoba, Hatèmica, Bloëca, Azchèda and parts of Tlèëa. Members of Eryobiferae can be quite divergent between these landmasses, but one trait that they all share is their nostrils having moved all the way to the tip of their jaws, which is not seen in any other Schistorhinarians.

Phytojanorida

The clade most closely related to Eryobiferae is is the Phytojanorida. Contrarily to the mainly carnivorous Eryobiferans, the Phytojanoridans are almost exclusively herbivores. Most basal to this clade is the Privojanoridae. This family of small nocturnal creatures are the least herbivorous of the larger branch, often incorporating arthropods, annelids, fish and even carrion in their diet.

The most primitive Phytojanoridans, and a likely what their common ancestors looked like, are the Xenohyracoidea. These creatures are often quite small and can best be compared to large rodents or small ungulates in terms of the niches they fill. Over time, it seems Xenohyracoids have given rise to a number of families of larger herbivores. While not exactly Xenohyracoids, the Parakadridae likely arose in such a way. Parakadrids are, as their name might suggest, quite similar to Kadriomorphs in the sense that they tend to be long legged slender herbivores. The most striking difference between Parakadrids and true Kadrians is the fact that Parakadrids use all six legs for locomotion, while true Kadrians only use four. Generally speaking, Parakadrids get overshadowed by true Kadrians and thus often live in more extreme habitats like mountains and deserts, although most of their species can actually be found in Lotharca, where Kadrians are not well established.

The largest number of Phytojanoridan families are part of the Chipoda. 

This group gets its name from their peculiar front feet, which for some reason are zygodactyl ungulate, with four hooves making an "X" shape. This means that their feet have quite efficient weight distribution, which allows them to attain quite large sizes. Indeed, it is the Chipoda to which some of the largest living terrestrial Anisospondyls belong to, with some species reaching upwards of 25 metric tons in weight.

While not nearly all Chipodans get this large, the median size across their clade is around 300 kilograms, with many of them being comparable to the rhinoceroses and hippopotamuses of Earth, although some more slender and long legged forms also exist.
 

When one observes the distribution of Effingodactyls across Eryobis, it becomes clear that they are a very "western" group, as none of their purely terrestrial members can be found in Rubiëra in the east.

This points to Effingodactyls having evolved in the ancient supercontinent of Kwispuul and rather than spreading across oceans, merely drifted to new locations as tectonics pulled Kwispuul apart. That said, there are a number of Gharibotherian families that have members across different continents, despite genetic research showing they only came to be long after Kwispuul likely broke up. This means that Effingodactyls, seemingly more than any other terrestrial group of Anisospondyls, are very prone to- and capable of surviving ocean voyages on rafts of vegetation.

Why exactly this seems to happen to Effingodactyls more than most creatures is as of yet a mystery. One theory is that they are inherently more tolerant to salt and able to preserve water better than most creatures, but no one has been able to confirm this.

Regardless of how some of them are able to spread across oceans without boats, there is one kind of Effingodactyl that does make boats. And it is for this reason that Effingodactyls are often seen by humans as the most important creatures on Eryobis. Their very mammalian appearance also makes them feel more familiar to us. 

It should therefore be no surprise that of all animals that get smuggled off Eryobis for the illegal pet trade, Effingodactyls are the most common victims.

Cladistics: Monotoalosia (Kadriomorpha)

Among modern Anisospondyls, there are few as diverse as the Eusymmetrodactyla. The bulk of their species and diversity comes from their flying members, the Stauropterygians, which were obviously able to disperse and diversify around the globe quite easily.

But the second most successful group of Eusymmetrodactyls is nothing to scoff at either. 

The Monotoalosia are often considered to be the dominant macrofaunal herbivores of Eryobis. They can be found on every major landmass except Rubiëra and are usually counted among the megafauna wherever they exist.

The Monotoalosia are a rather odd looking group, even for Eryobian standards, and have an interesting but unexpected evolutionary past. Genetic testing and paleontological evidence suggests they split off from other Eusymmetrodactyls shortly after the Stauroptergyians split off, possibly placing their origin as early as the start of the Recrescian, some 106 million years ago. Their earliest and most basal members seem to have been small, gliding, rodent like animals and curiously, one family of these most basal members survived to modern times in the tropical rainforests of Bloëca, the Paleovolyidae.

The revelation of Paleovolyids as Monotoalosians was a quite recent one. It was previously assumed that they were members of Polyotoalosia that simply had only one pair of auricular filaments and a beak at the end of their mandibles. But a reexamination of their foot anatomy, in which their front feet are oriented "sideways", and some molecular testing revealed that they were in fact closer related to Kadriomorpha than to any other Eusymmetrodactyls. 

It would be this discovery that led to the answer of a question that scientists had been asking since the very beginning of Eryobian exploration: how did Kadriomorphs get those odd traits?

Indeed, Kadriomorpha are ranked among the strangest looking of Anisospondyls. But not for their alien looks, no rather for the fact that they don't look like aliens. Their appearance has a lot of similarities with hoofed animals from Earth and like them, Kadriomorphs are almost all completely quadrupedal with heavily reduced visendal front limbs. Often all that remains of their former front limbs is a long spike like claw, sprouting from their shoulders.

No one could figure out why until Paleovolyids were revealed as their cousins and the group Monotoalosia was officially created. The Kadriomorphs inherited their traits from ancestors that were specialized in gliding.

It is speculated that Kadriomorphs evolved from Paleovolyid like creatures that left the trees and instead decided to make a living on the ground. They would have used their caecal front limbs and hind limbs to walk, while their visendal front limbs supported the patagium and were likely held off the ground.

Soon they would have lost the ability to climb and glide completely in favor of a terrestrial lifestyle.

Some of these early Kadriomorphs would have used their former wing arms to grab and manipulate food, eventually leading to modern creatures like the Nothrungulatids.

Others were reducing the wing arms and elongating the claws to serve as defense weaponry to attacks from above. Prokadrians and Bounindriids are leftovers from this stage.

As Kadriomorphs were becoming more and more adapted to a cursorial lifestyle, the visendal limbs became more reduced, their other legs become longer and stronger and their claws would become hooves. They became the Kadrians.

The Kadrians are easy to recognize. They often bear an uncanny resemblance to terran herbivores like antelopes, rhinoceroses and horses. 

The most basal Kadrians are the aptly named Protokadrids. These creatures are some of the only Kadrians alive that still walk on their toes and just their hooves and sport visendal limbs that still very much resemble hands with long claws. Some scientists doubt whether Protokadrids aren't even true Kadrians at all and not just advanced Kadriomorphs because of these primitive traits.

All other Kadrians share a number of traits that distinguish them from Protokadrids. The most noticeable of these are their completely unguligrade feet and visendal limbs that have been reduced to nothing but a single metacarpal that supports a large claw. 

Or so we thought. 

Turns out there are two families of Kadrians that do not conform to these standards. The Lagokadrids of Tlèëa have two digits and thus two claws on their visendal limbs and the Camelokadrids of western Miesjeta also still have two visendal claws and do not walk on their hooves, rather being digitigrade.

Because of this, a new group was made: the Eukadria, the true Kadrians. Besides all the aforementioned traits, Eukadrians also all share a large and well developed, chambered digestive tract that extends beyond their hips and makes the base of their tails look bulbous. In addition to their beaks, they have highly specialized linguopalatal jaws that are very long for Cryptognath standards. This second pair of jaws is able slide and can move both back-and-forth and up-and-down, making them extremely efficient in chewing tough plant matter.

The Rhamphoceratids are the most basal of the Eukadrians. In the past, this family also contained a number of gracile genera that resembled other Eukadrians more, but nowadays the Rhamphoceratids are large bulky animals that are the most massive of the living Kadrians.

Eukadria knows two major branches that are ever so slightly more related to each other than either is to the Rhamphoceratids. The less "derived" of the two are the Plesiokadria. These are typically stocky and heavy set animals with primitive hooves.

The other branch, the Neokadria, on the other hand are the more typical animals people imagine when they hear the word Kadrians. They are gracile, slender legged, often vaguely deer or antelope like animals that put all their body weight on a single hoof per leg.

Curiously, the hippopotamus like Lurdukadrids of Hatèmica have recently been proven to be more closely related to Neokadrians than to Plesiokadrians, despite bearing a greater resemblance to the latter. 

The Kadrians and Eukadria as an extension are a very old clade, which is best exemplified by their peculiar global distribution.

Back when Kadriomorphs first started appearing, the landmasses of Guralta, Lachoba, Hatèmica, Bloëca, Azchèda and western parts of Tlèëa were united in the supercontinent called Kwispuul. This may partially explain why some relatively closely related groups can be found oceans apart. 

Eukdria appear to have their origin in Guralta, which is where the Rhamphoceratids, a number of Plesiokadrians and basal Neokadrians can be found.

It seems however that some groups like the Acanthatheriids and Lurdukadrids managed to get to other continents before Kwispuul had fully broken apart.

But then there the Embolokadrids of Hatèmica and the Ceratokadria of Miesjeta. The molecular clocks of these groups suggest that they only appeared after Kwispuul was already supposed to have broken up. 

Some scientists suggest that the ancestors of these groups rafted over, but given the nature of Kadrians, that is rather unlikely. 

Most seem to believe in the theory that there must have been island chains or temporary landbridges connecting Hatèmica and Miesjeta to Guralta at some point in the past, and that these wayward Kadrians island hopped to their current locations.

In the last few years, researchers added a new and highly unexpected member to the Monotoalosia family tree: the bizarre Bouvijasiren.

This cat sized aquatic creature was for a long time, and due to a lack of proper studying, considered to be a Brachiostomatan because of its arms located below its mouth. An actual proper examination of the animal however revealed that it was not a Brachiostome at all, but rather a Cryptognath. Not just any Cryptognath too, but a relative of the Kadriomorpha whose closest living relatives appear to be the gliding Paleovolyids.

How exactly this odd critter evolved or where it came from is not yet understood, although some fragmentary fossil evidence seems to hint at it being the last relic of a once more diverse group. All that is currently known about it is that it lives exclusively in brackish and freshwater systems of the island called Bouvija and its surrounding smaller islands in the farsouthern regions of Rubiëra.

Cladistics: Chalacheiroptera

After the World Scarring event devastated the planet, Eryobis was undone of all its previous volant vertebrates; namely the “Volichthyes”.

In the wake of the World Scarring, there would be two new groups of vertebrates taking to the sky.

Arising some 40 million years later, the Chalacheiroptera evolved from Effingodactyl Cryptognath Ansisospondyls and began as surprisingly mammal like creatures that kept their young in pouches. Due to the way their muscles and joints worked, the Chalacheiroptera evolved their hindlegs into their main wings for powered flight, while turning their visendal front limbs into steering wings. On the steering wings, they have one very long clawed finger that they use to manipulate the pouch, but also use for preening and feeding.

Their main wings have a strange configuration with the digit membranes. The first finger is clawed and usually shorter than the others. Its membrane is completely separated from the wing. The second and third fingers are connected by a membrane, but the membrane on the third finger is also separated form the wing. The fourth finger is also completely separated from the other membranes and the membrane of the fifth finger connects to the body. This strange configuration gives the impression of some sort of feathers and likely aids them in aerial manoeuvrability.

Unlike the Stauropterygians where we can still see surviving members from almost all steps of their evolution, only the truly flighted Chalacheiropterans can be seen today. But despite this, they are nearly as diverse and just as wide spread as the Stauropterygians. In modern forms, the ancestral ear pinnae are turned downwards. This might have evolved for either hunting or aerodynamics, or perhaps a combination of both.

They still give birth to underdeveloped babies and raise their young in pouches, but usually only for a short time before the young are moved to a nest.

Cladistics: Stauropterygia

After the World Scarring event devastated the planet, Eryobis was undone of all its previous volant vertebrates; namely the “Volichthyes”.

In the wake of the World Scarring, there would be two new groups of vertebrates taking to the sky.

The first of these were the Stauropterygians.

Stauropterygians come from a very early lineage of Eusymmetrodactyl Cryptognath Anisospondyls that started climbing “trees” as soon as plants grew tall again. Stauropterygians, sometimes also known as x-wings, are best known for their 4 wings that they can use with incredible dexterity. In many species these wings are roughly equal in size, but there’s also many where this is not the case, with either the upper or lower wings being larger.

Modern Stauropterygians can, for the most part, be classified into three main groups:

>Eustauroptera

>Rubieroptera

>Griphonoidea

Most scholars agree that griffins, Griphonoidea are the most basal and that Eustauroptera and Rubieroptera are the most closely related to each other and compose the group Stauroptera, but new genetic testing has provided a surprising lot of evidence that this is not the case. One study found that a group of strange “Eustauropterans” are actually highly advanced griffins and that the current Rubieroptera is not a monophyletic group, but rather a waste basket of basal Stauropterans.

Stauropterygians are one of, if not the most diverse group of Anisospondyls on Eryobis. They exist all around the world and come in every size from small hummingbird-like creatures to griffins that could give the largest Azhdarchids a run for their money. Besides dominating the sky, a surprisingly great amount of Stauropterygians have gone secondarily flightless over the course of their evolution and one of these has given rise to some of the largest, smartest and most dangerous predators on land.