Line #6 Website/SpecWorld


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/specworld.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:A mock-up for [[WhatCouldHaveBeen if it were a book.]]]]
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4	Spec World, or the Speculative Dinosaur Project, is a massive, ''massive'' world-building work in progress. It's basically an attempt to imagine how the world would be if the K/Pg Extinction Event hadn't happened 65 million years ago as seen from the perspective of dimension-hopping explorers and scientists from our world ("Home-Earth").
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6	The best thing you can do is just [[http://speculativeevolution.wikia.com/wiki/Speculative_Dinosaur_Project start reading]].[[note]]The project has been jumping around for the better part of a decade, to put it mildly. You may see the original incarnation [[http://web.archive.org/web/20080731013714im_/http://www.bowdoin.edu/~dbensen/Spec/ here]], but use it only for nostalgic purposes, as a lot has changed. The current version can be found on the Speculative Evolution Wiki.[[/note]]
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8	The project has [[DeadFic stalled out since 2008]] (mostly due to unexpected discoveries in paleontology that made many of the concepts outdated) and there are many lost illustrations and broken links. But the imagination, wonderful creature designs, good biology (for the time, anyway) and offbeat humor more than make up for it.
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10	The project isn't entirely dead, as DA pictures from the staff like [[http://pristichampsus.deviantart.com/art/Terrorsaur-139874737 this]] suggest that, [[LeftHanging once the main site is updated, things will get very interesting...]] (A summary including some of the new ideas can be found [[http://speculativebiology.wikia.com/wiki/The_Speculative_Dinosaur_Project here]].)
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14	!!Tropes Used:
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16	* AlternateHistory: More like alternate ''pre''history, but the principle is the same. Specworld is what the Earth might have been like if the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs never hit.
17	* AlternateHistoryDinosaurSurvival: The entire premise is a in-depth look at how dinosaurs and other organisms (but mostly dinosaurs) might have evolved had the K-Pg extinction event not occurred. In this case, a FramingDevice of a parallel universe is used showing human scientists exploring the alternate Earth.
18	* AquaticSauropods: The mokeles are a group of semi-aquatic titanosaurs, which are the most speciose group of living sauropods due to their ability to swim across the ocean and colonize remote islands. The project of course does its research, the mokeles are descended from terrestrial animals and are now extremely derived to suit their swimming habits, such as nostrils placed on top of their head, a duckbill-like mouth, comparatively dense bones to keep from bobbing at the surface, and thick armour to protect them from crocodilians.
19	%%* ArtisticLicenseBiology: In the earlier stages of the project it was full of this; there are still quite a few that are being fixed. Care to elaborate on specific examples?
20	* ArmlessBiped: The [[FeatheredFiend terror-bird-like]] [[https://speculativeevolution.fandom.com/wiki/Spec_Dinosauria:_Diablornithiformes gobblers]] have only a few tiny bones remaining of their wings.
21	* CallASmeerpARabbit: Species are named after Earth animals, fictional Earth animals, fictional characters... Justified, as scientists from our world are doing the naming.
22	* DeadFic: Updates stalled out around 2008 as scientific knowledge of dinosaurs continuously made a lot of content outdated. An archive of the project is currently maintained on the Speculative Biology Wiki.
23	* DeathWorld: Many of Spec's lifeforms are overly dangerous (ex. there's a species of raptor that likes cutting people's heads off for no reason and penguin-piranhas that are so aggressive they'll even attack the moon) and a lot of animals and plants that want to either kill you or ruin your day.
24	** There's a type of venomous tree!
25	* ExcusePlot: The bit about scientists crossing from Home-Earth to Specworld. How they did it isn't important, just that they got there.
26	* {{Expy}}: Some animals are analogues of RealLife modern ones.
27	** Semi-justified that similar niches would probably be held by animals similar in appearance (i.e. the ciraf is an African high-browser like the giraffe - but the coloration is very unoriginal and it has a close relative that is very similar to the okapi).
28	* FeatheredFiend: Any of the predatory or aggressive coelurosaurs, particularly the penguins of death!!!, the cityfinches and the nerds-of-paradise (also known as the chunderbird).
29	* GiantSquid: The Baleen Squids, which fill the niche of baleen whales in Spec's oceans. They actually aren't squid at all, but descendants of Mesozoic creatures called belemnites.
30	* InSpiteOfANail: In the Spec Earth, there are numerous taxa which would not have existed during the Late Cretaceous, but still evolved during the Cenozoic and survived to the present day down familiar lines in spite of the massive difference in global ecology, designated as parallel species (or just P-, for short). This may vary from order level (primates, several bird groups) all the way down to parallel ''species'' (such as P-''Crocodylus niloticus'', the Nile crocodile).
31	* LeftHanging: There are still several incomplete pages, incomplete descriptions and illustrations, and dead links that haven't been fixed.
32	* ManiacMonkeys: Primates on Specworld evolved from lemur-like stock into small cat- or fox-like predators.
33	* MixAndMatchCritters: Many creatures resemble these. Scowls, basically owls with raptor faces, are among the [[UglyCute cuter]] examples. Other notable examples include the puffindingo (a small grassland theropod with puffin-colored faces) and the Moby Duck (a whale-sized platypus relative), as well as many of the other spec monotremes, which are essentially platypuses crossed with beavers, weasels, badgers, skunks and other small-to-medium sized mammals.
34	* TheMockbuster: Not of the site itself, but still worth mentioning. In 2017, a Thai mockbuster of ''Anime/DinosaurKing'' was released called "Dinosaur Duel Master", which used the K'z'k Tuskhorn as one of the dinosaurs, apparently under the impression it was a real animal.
35	* MokeleMbembe: The mokeles are a clade of sauropods adapted to an aquatic lifestyle. Their adaptations to this lifestyle have also led to them becoming very physically distinct from their terrestrial kind, and as a result are very crocodile-like in appearance.
36	* NameOfCain: A noasaurid, and fastest predator of Madagascar. It kills and eviscerates its prey entirely with its hands. On an unrelated note it has a symbiotic relationship with a spider that protects it from parasites.
37	* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Lots, examples include the imperial sabre-tyrant, the white ninja, the horned molok, the giant psycho-killer penguin of DEATH!!!, the king kronoshark, and the cockatrice. Among plants there's the Tree of Pain (ironically, animals don't actually feel pain when stung by this tree, they die before that).
38	* NeverSmileAtACrocodile: Crocodilians are the top predators of Madagascar and parallel species grow on average larger than on our world, while there are quite a few other types such as...
39	** The cuttercrocs; basically identical to "normal" crocodilans except that they have slicing teeth that leave much bloodier wounds.
40	** The crunchercrocs: hyenas if they were crocodilans, the carcass of a full-grown titanosaur will not exist after 3 days when a group of crunchcrocs find it.
41	** The croctiger and the croclion, huge, saber-toothed top predators of Madagascar.
42	* NinjaPirateZombieRobot and RuleOfCool: The Spec ecosystem seems to run on these tropes. The thing is, it's still believable.
43	* OurCryptidsAreMoreMysterious: Because Spec is an alternate timeline where dinosaurs still exist, it has to designate its "cryptids" differently. "Cryptids" in Spec are alleged, undiscovered species of dinosaurs and other creatures whose only reports are eyewitness accounts and unconfirmed sightings, and their existence is usually the topic of much discussion. Fittingly enough, most of them are expies of several alleged cryptids from our world.
44	* RaptorAttack: Averted. While raptors are abundant, they are all correctly depicted with feathers, and most (though not all) of them are not pack hunters. The Cain, Madagascar's top predator, does look the part of a Hollywood-style scaly "raptor", but it is a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noasauridae noasaur]] rather than a dromaeosaur. Many of the illustrations are rather outdated though: they aren't nearly feathered ''enough''.
45	* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Specworld is not without these despite being a DeathWorld. For example, the marsupial known as the [[http://speculativeevolution.wikia.com/wiki/Spec_Mammalia:_Metatheria?file=Sugarcat.jpg sugar cat]] is every bit as cute as its name implies.
46	* ShoutOut: There are many pop culture references intermingled in the creature names and descriptions:
47	** Most obviously, to Alfred Hitchcock's ''The Birds'' (there's a bird literally called the ''Alfred's hitchcock'').
48	** There are a group of mammals called [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} pokemuses, native to Spec-Japan.]] Two species are called the pikachilla and the raichilla.
49	** Also, a giant whale-like platypus relative, called the [[Literature/MobyDick Moby Duck]].
50	** One species of caripoo is known as the Annelk, noted for its [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Elk%27s_Theory_on_Brontosauruses frequent and obnoxiously loud coughing noises.]]
51	** There's a group of baleen squids known as [[Literature/CthulhuMythos cthulumorphs]], with one semi-cryptid deep sea species known as the great ktulu, a smaller related species called the ktulu spawn, and a mosasaur predator that hunts them called the Nodens.
52	* SpeculativeBiology: A whole site dedicated to what the world would look like if the Cretaceous extinction never occurred.
53	* SpeculativeDocumentary: Err, website.
54	* TakeThat:
55	** Not on the main website, but in the spinoff The Saga of the Caripoo, Brian Choo mentions that he'd "rather watch Highlander II than meet another caripoo."
56	** This is also the reason why you won't find anything even remotely similar to a sapient creature on Spec; it's a silent protest against the idea of [[LizardFolk Dinosauroids]] (to the point where the group of dinosaurs to whom Dale Russel's absurdly humanlike Dinosauroid belonged is almost extinct!)
57	** The [[Series/BarneyAndFriends Orang-B'narni]]. Enough said.
58	* TemperCeratops: The K'z'k Tuskhorn is an incredibly vicious ceratopsian from South America, said to be responsible for more human deaths than all of the continent's predators.
59	* ThreateningShark: The [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast king kronoshark]].
60	* ToiletHumor: A fair bit, most of it courtesy of contributor Brian Choo, such as the self-explanatory rectal probe bird and the dino faeces-eating caripoo.
61	* ToothyBird: Certainly, as several varieties of toothed birds have survived on Spec.
62	* VomitIndiscretionShot: The Nerd-of-Paradise is a bird that uses its own vomit to subdue prey and fend off predators. It [[AcquiredPoisonImmunity cannot be poisoned]] because it vomits out any toxins in its body.
63	* ZergRush: Cityfinches do this. One account notes how an injured molok (a species of abelisaur) accidentally fell on one of their nests and after an hour its mutilated carcass was found to be stuffed with dead cityfinches through every orifice.
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Context Website / SpecWorld