r/SpeculativeEvolution • u/123Thundernugget • 1d ago
Alternate Evolution [OC] (Permian Sophont Project) : Neocalamites and Calamites: Farming in the Permian
The Permian Sophont project was created by u/FloZone and u/MilezXC
These are intelligent Permian Anomodonts, relatives of Sumina.
For the people of Northern Pangea, one of the earliest cultivated plants are the giant prehistoric equisetums int he genus Neocalamites and Calamites. At this time Neocalamites was more common, although some older calamites lineages would persist until the end Permian extinction.
Neocalamites was a giant horsetail plant that could grow to the size of trees, found in wetlands and cloud forests across northern Pangea and South China Island. It grows very rapidly and doesn't require much in terms of actual cultivation.
The Sophonts use these plants for all sorts of purposes:
The shoots and roots are edible, including small potato-like nodules which can be used to propagate them. However they usually need to be cooked or fermented as when eaten raw they contain compounds that interfere with the functions of certain vitamins. They are a staple of many northern diets.
For the people's of the northern hemisphere of pangea, these plants are a common and popular building material, used to make almost anything and everything. Some varieties have long enough leaves to weave baskets from. However, it is considered too brittle to weave rope from, and conifer bark fiber or climbing fern or animal gut is often the preferred rope-making material.
Paper is also often made from Neocalamites and Calamites. Some cultures make paper clothing by mixing together pulp from both the giant equisetums and conifers, treating the resultant soft cardboard-like substance with conifer resin to make it more weather resistant.
Unfortunately, these plants, despite all their usefulness, will never be truly domesticated. Many of the giant prehistoric horsetails relied mostly on asexual reproduction. And even with out modern technology, it is almost impossible to breed equisetum from spores. The gametophytes are microscopic and non-photosynthetic, and often parasitic on mycorryzae like orchid seedlings.
Cultivars do occasionally emerge, often through random mutation of an individual plant which is then asexually propagated.
Sometimes hybrids appear when two plants are grown in close proximity. Sometimes the Sophonts take advantage of this by creating breeding plots, though this isn't a common practice.
Instead, most of the variety comes through shaping the environment and growth conditions of the Neocalamites and Calamites. For example, low silica soils are usually chosen for many eating varieties. Other methods of manipulation involve pruning, cutting, and trying knots around the plants to restrict certain growths.
While Neocalamites may never be domesticated, it will eventually become widely traded as an ornamental plant, becoming invasive across much of the continent, explaining the worldwide distribution of this plant during the Triassic.
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u/AstraPlatina 20h ago
Suminia is a goldmine for Spec Bio forms.
I made a similar sophont, but as a merfolk like creature
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u/MidsouthMystic 20h ago
This is a very cool idea. I'm looking forward to seeing more of this project.
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u/FloZone 10h ago
Love your artwork!
While Neocalamites may never be domesticated, it will eventually become widely traded as an ornamental plant, becoming invasive across much of the continent, explaining the worldwide distribution of this plant during the Triassic.
Imagine, the global distribution of some biota was an early argument in favour of Pangea, but imagine Wegener's face if you'd told him, no Pangea didn't exist, another sophont just brought plants and animals to all parts of the world just like we are doing right now.
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u/Marco-Catbird 1d ago
This project is so cool