Here is a little excerpt from The Kaligen Experiment: Bestiary:
“The new Synapsids have earned the genus name of Lanxcoma or “Scale Hairs.” Unlike the original Synapsids, the creatures produced by the D-Mutagen are true hybrids between reptile and mammal. Like elephants, Lanxcomas have little hair, which helps carry heat away from their skin and prevent overheating. Their skin is scaly like a reptile’s, which gives them protection from the harsh elements of Kaligen Island. While they lay eggs like reptiles, Lanxcomas are warm-blooded animals that nurse their young with milk glands on their stomachs. Scent glands can be found on their snouts, which they use to mark their territory by wiping their glands on trees, rocks, or bushes. They even possess primitive inner ear bones that give them a more heightened sense of hearing than a pure reptile. Like true mammals, Lanxcomas are equipped with specialized teeth such as incisors, canines, and molars. With the bloodline of the original Synapsids extinct, the Lanxcomas may provide scientists with a scenario of how such creatures could have evolved if they had not died out.”
Prehistoric lost worlds often feature active volcanoes. Because Kaligen Island was created by unnatural geological forces, I am thinking of featuring an equally unnatural volcano in the next volume of The Kaligen Experiment. This volcano will have some features that make it stand out from natural volcanoes. I won’t say if this volcano poses a danger to the ecosystem or not, but it will be quite a sight.
Meganeura was a giant species of dragonfly that existed 300 million years ago. It was roughly the size of an eagle and ruled the skies of the Carboniferous Period. The Kaligen Experiment features a mutated species of dragonfly that is as big as Meganeura, but there are a number of differences between the two species. With my species, its exoskeleton is more ridged, its legs are more blade-like, and the tips of its wings more pointed. Like all the giant arthropods on Kaligen Island, this dragonfly serves an important role in maintaining the health of the ecosystem.
In the next volume of The Kaligen Experiment, there will be a character who is a bit of a stoner. Despite being a stoner, he will have an intimate understanding of what is really happening on the island. Plus, he will be a bit of comic relief in an otherwise grim story.
One of the mutated marine creatures that made an appearance in The Kaligen Experiment is a species of foot-long eel-like fish. They are like lampreys in that they are jawless and have eel-like bodies. Their heads are rounder and their eyes are larger. This makes them similar to the prehistoric conodonts, which lived from the Cambrian Period to the Jurassic Period. However, my creature has smaller teeth than a conodont and its tail fins are larger and more eel-like. Instead of being predators or parasites, my creature is a bottom feeder that feeds on decaying organic matter on the sea floor.
“I have come into the possession of a map. The sole surviving record of an uncharted island. A place that was thought to exist only in myth . . . until now.”
Carl Denham, King Kong (2005)
I have always been fascinated by the various versions of Skull Island. Skull Island has been known to be the home of King Kong, but that is not why this island intrigues me so much. The entire island is an evolutionary anomaly, inhabited by prehistoric giants and monsters that have undergone millions of years of evolutionary mutations. Evolution has a track record for producing real monsters and it evolution has stepped on the accelerator on Skull Island, creating a menagerie of nightmarish abominations. As a result, Skull Island has become widely known as the most hellish place on Earth. I like the 2005 and 2017 versions of Skull Island the best because they depict the unpredictable forms evolution can take under extreme circumstances. It goes to show that Skull Island was uncharted for good reason.
Another unique hybrid creature that appears in The Kaligen Experiment is a blend between fish and amphibian. These creatures will be like a reimagining of when fish turned into amphibians during the Devonian Period. They have no back legs, have both lungs and gills like a lungfish, and can come on to dry land for brief periods of time. The lower half of their bodies are eel-like with strong finned tails. Their front legs are particularly large and muscular and equipped with grasping hands. One of the main characters gets up close and personal with a seven-foot-long species in The Kaligen Experiment: Genesis.
In addition to synthetic dinosaurs, The Kaligen Experiment features various hybrid creatures. Once such example are mammal/reptile hybrids, which act as a more extreme version of Permian synapsids. Their skin is scaly like a normal reptile and are partially hairy like an elephant. Like a platypus and early mammals, these creatures lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young. Now that the evolutionary clock has been reset with these animals, it will be intriguing to find out what they might evolve into in a few million years time.
Bumpy the Ankylosaurus has remained on Isla Nublar at the end of season 3 of Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous. Due to this, there are four possible fates for her between Camp Cretaceous and Fallen Kingdom. First, she may have been attacked and killed by a carnivore on the island. Second, she may have been among the dinosaurs that died on the island when Mount Sibo erupted. Third, she may be one of the dinosaurs that were auctioned off at the Lockwood Manor. Fourth, she may have been one of the dinosaurs that escaped into the wild on the mainland. I wonder if we will learn of her final fate in either Dominion or future seasons of Camp Cretaceous.
There was a leaked photo of a new dinosaur hybrid that will appear in season 4 of Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous. This one is visibly different from the Indominus Rex, Scorpius Rex, and Indoraptor. Not only is it far cuter, but it is clearly a herbivore. At first glance, this creature looks like a mix between a Sinoceratops and a Spinosaurus. It is clearly a baby, which implies it could be a companion dinosaur that will replace Bumpy the Ankylosaurus. We have seen what carnivorous hybrids are like. Now, it is time to see a herbivorous hybrid.
Grady P Brown - Author 