Feather Bush

The feather bush has evolved from the juvenile state of its predecessor, the fractal tree, finding more benefit in searching for their nutrients rather than waiting for the nutrients to come to them. In order to aid in forward locomotion, its leaves have lost their appearance in favor of that of a dual set of tendrils, allowing water to flow around and through them, which in turn allows the Feather Bush to much easier swim through the water, while still having the ability to be able to sense available nutrients in its dark home. Pictured here is a swarm of feather bushes approaching an active hydrothermal vent. [creature design by Joemo221]

Basic Information

Anatomy

The large tendrils of the feather bush still share the same purpose as the leaves of the predecessor, finding its necessary nutrients: iron, copper, silica, aluminum silicates, aluminum oxides, zinc oxides and different forms of uranium ore, dissolved in the water it swims in. Instead of allowing it to take place on the outside of the body, it has internalized the process of converting ionizing radiation into metabolic energy, filtering the water in its front-most chamber and implementing the necessary reactions in its guts, along with extracting minerals required for growth from the water. The bladders once found on the surface of the Fractal Tree have subsequently been internalized into a single bladder. Electrical Current gathered in digestion is now stored in a central organ, allowing for the accumulation of energy required for movement.

Genetics and Reproduction

In order to reproduce on the go, the feather bush has partly forsaken the pure asexual reproduction of the fractal tree. Instead, they develop both male and female gametes in the body near the end of the digestive system. When they encounter an environment with aluminum phosphate, a group of Feather Bushes will release their accumulated gametes, which will find each other in the water and develop into a planctonic organism with nothing but a mouth, a small gut, and two feather-like tendrils, which it uses both to paddle through the water and flick some nutrients into its gut, after 48 earth hours pass, it will use the nutrients stored in its gut to form into the second stage of its life cycle, and its namesake. After a local week, it will have grown into a single Adult Budding form, from this single adult, several other buds will form, each one with the organs of the free swimming form, only instead sharing electricity to enhance the growth of others. In a period of anywhere form 1 local lunar cycle to several local years, the budding forms will split off into a juvenile free swimming form. In the next 48 hours, the extensions on its tendrils will atrophy into the tendril, thickening the tendril. Its body will also grow in length to accompany a proportionally long tail, fit for swimming. After it has developed into an adult, It will begin its search for other sources of aluminum phosphate to release its own offspring.

Ecology and Habitats

Feather bushes live in the same regions as their ancestors, in the deep ocean where thermal vents are present, providing a food source. They travel between the thermal vents present in the ocean, reproducing when the current environment is sufficiently hospitable.

EXTINCT

Genetic Ancestor(s)