The discovery of advanced life on Novaluna, and further study thereof, empirically demonstrated an important, if retrospectively obvious principle in the field of exobiology; that all life as we know it shares common goals and diverse means. In many ways, Novalunar life is reminiscent of its Terran equivalent. Some of its fundamental characteristics, reflective of what is necessary for life to originate and evolve, are held in common; organisms are carbon-based, water-dependent, and oxygen-reliant, and furthermore make usage of many organic molecules identical or analogous to those found in life on Earth (although the matching chirality between Terran and Novalunar molecular biology is considered somewhat of a coincidence). A significant level of evolutionary convergence has also been exhibited by Novalunar organisms on phylogenic scales large and small. Many such organisms can be divided up into taxonomic kingdoms with rough equivalents on Earth, and within those rankings many phenotypic similarities can be observed.
Nevertheless, many of these similarities conceal major differences that exist down to the most basic level of biochemistry. While Novalunar organisms form genetic material out of ribo- and deoxyribonucleic acid backbones in a manner similar to Terran organisms, they make regular usage of a third nucleobase pair not naturally found on Earth and a different ribosomal
Novalunar Biology
structure, and are thus capable of synthesising a variety of different amino acids, polypeptide chains, and proteins thereof. In higher-order biological structures, meanwhile, many functional analogues to Earth biosystems exist, yet differ in significant regards nonetheless, ranging from cell structure to macroscopic system organisation.
Nomenclature
Due to the importance of distinguishing the two subdisciplines of biology that regard Terran and Novalunar life, fundamentally distinct as they are, and emphasising the analogous but not ancestrally shared structures and processes in both classes, an entire parallel system of scientific nomenclature has been developed for application to Novalunar organisms and biosystems. Most broadly, the subdiscipline of biology specialising in Novalunar biology is sometimes termed nolubiology, the nolu- affix being a productive contraction of novalunar often appended to other scientific disciplines for specificity.
At the microscopic level, organisms of Earth and Novaluna alike are fundamentally based upon cells as discrete, self-contained units of life, and in both formal and informal discourse Novalunar cells are indeed referred to simply as "cells". When specificity is needed, especially when forming the scientific names for specific types of Novalunar cells, the Latinate term vas (plural: vasa) is used, very particularly in contrast to the Greek-derived cyte, which is used exclusively in reference to Earth organisms. This is an important distinction regarding different cell types; nerve cells on Earth animals are known as neurocytes, while on Novalunar creatures they are known as nervivasa, and the two are not interchangeable. Similarly, while Novalunar cells can, as Terran ones, be distinguished by the presence or absence of a nucleus containing genetic information, the terms eukaryote and prokaryote are applicable only to Earth cells, with Novalunar cells instead receiving the distinction of either nucleate or anucleate.
Major Taxa
Pseudophyta
Pseudophytes, singular Pseudophyte (/ˈsudoʊfaɪt/), are Novalunar organisms belonging to the taxonomic kingdom Pseudophyta. Ostensibly the Novalunar equivalent of Earth plants, these organisms are chiefly, but not exclusively, photosynthetic, and furthermore account for the majority of macroscopic biomass and land area coverage on Novaluna. Nevertheless, they diverge from their Terran analogues in many important respects.
Like most Archaeplastidia species of Earth, phototrophic pseudophytes rely on biological pigments to capture solar radiance, in turn catalysing metabolic pathways that convert and store the energy in biochemically useful forms, chiefly carbohydrate molecules. This makes them the dominant primary producers on Novaluna, forming the trophic base of most food chains and underpinning the majority of ecosystems present on the moon.
However, most similarities between plants and pseudophytes are analogous in nature; in very few instances have they converged on biologically identical phenotypic features. For instance, pseudophyte photosynthetic pigments are not arranged in discrete chloroplasts as in Terran plants, but rather in continuous ribbon-like organelles that show little evidence of symbiogenesis. Of even greater note as towards the difference between plants and pseudophytes is the latter's endogenous abilities, in some clades, as saprotrophes. Though this varies in degree from species to species, some pseudophytes have shown themselves far more analogous in function to Earth fungi than plants, while others
A mature aedis hospitum complex of the pseudophyte species Pluvicaptor iridis (Iridescent Raincatcher). Raincatchers and most other genera of the pseudophyte phylum Herboidaneae are known for their ostensible resemblance to Terran plants, having evolved many analogous features.
still resemble neither. This remarkable ability is suspected to have originated via endosymbiosis very early on in the pseudophyte clade's evolutionary history, perhaps even predating divergence of the taxon itself (although this is heavily disputed), as many of the requisite enzymes for external digestion are produced by membrane-bound organelles with their own genetic material separate from the rest of the cell. Similarly, almost all pseudophytes have the ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen unassisted, a trait also--but more tenuously--hypothesised to have come about from symbiogenesis.
Due to this complicated mix of trophic methods exhibited by pseudophytes, its is only those taxa that rely mostly or entirely on photoautotrophy that are reliably identifiable by laypeople as "pseudophytes"; that is, deceptively similar to Terran plants. The phylum Herboidaneae ("herboids") in particular is known for containing many species of pseudophyte that have converged upon a remarkable number of morphological features with plants. Closer inspection, nevertheless, reveals as well the differences inherent even in these notionally similar characteristics. Pseudophyte cells, for instance, do not by default possess cell walls of the sort found in plants and fungi; most pseudophyte cells instead co-develop with a partially integral fibrous structure in and between cells, similar not only to cell walls but also to the extracellular matrices found in many animal organ systems. This permits a number of pseudophyte cell types to assume the motile and amorphous physical properties not normally found in Earth plants or fungi, while still allowing the construction of sturdy and diversified superstructures across the macroorganism as a whole.
The most apt comparison between plants and pseudophytes, then, is moreso their roles as ecological cornerstones. Not only do they, as primary producers, serve as the ultimate basis for the rest of a given ecosystems they are present in; they facilitate an immense amount of interspecific interaction--be it cooperation or competition--between other organisms at all stages of life. Unlike in pansarcid-dominated biomes, which are unfavorable at best and hostile at worst to species not capable of pansarcid colonial interface (which is limited, in all but a few exceptions, to other indigenous pansarcids), pseudophytes depends significantly on a number of complex mutual or commensal relationships with organisms not in its kingdom. Pseudophyte biomes are therefore, where possible, highly amenable to a vast diversity of organisms across all nolubiological taxa. For example, the herboid class Aediculae is distinguished by their large and sophisticated aedis hospitum complexes, structures which, like Earth flowers, serve the highly multifarious purpose of interacting with other species of organisms. This holds true even in Novaluna's so-called "xenophobe" biomes characterized by high resistance to cross-biome interface; Fogmires, though malign to extraneous organisms, are host to flourishing internal diversity.
The taxon name Pseudophyta is a combination of the Greek roots ψεύδω/pseúdō, "false" and φῠτόν/phytón, "plant", in recognition of the many superficial similarities between Earth plants and pseudophytes and thus their vulnerability to confusion. In its default, plural form, the Greek and Latinised versions of the taxon name are indistinguishable. However, the official singular form, Pseudophytum, is Latinate. In conventional speech, moreover, pseudophytes are shorthanded simply to phytes.
Visciplexariae
Visciplices or Visciplexes, singular Visciplex (/ˈvɪsɪplɛks/), are Novalunar pseudophytes of the family Visciplexariae. Visciplices are a diverse and cosmopolitan family, species of which are found in many different environments across Novaluna.
Visciplex organisms play complex, multifaceted roles in their ecological settings, plying the boundaries between independence, parasitism, and mutualism. Due to variant capabilities of both phototrophy and saprotrophy, most visciplices can survive part or all of their life cycles independent of other organisms, and many species have indeed become largely non-symbiotic. However, the majority of visciplex species rely on other Novalunar organisms, typically other pseudophytes, in some form or another to flourish.
Most notably, some visciplex species became the most economically important native Novalunar organisms to human settlers in the early years after their arrival. The fleshy tissue of the Common Gorefruit (Visciplexa dulcis) and viscous exudate of the Sweetliver (Cruorisucus sacchari), upon close study, were
A striking display of various visciplex species, in seasonal colouration, forming a large superstratum over megascopic pseudophyte organisms.
revealed to have compositions remarkably amenable to human nutritional requirements. Fast-growing and hardy, these and other visciplex species became the first Novalunar organisms cultivated by humans on an industrial scale for everyday usage, supplementing the early colonists' diet of Terran organisms cultivated in closely monitored containment. As they grew readily under native Novalunar conditions and did not pose a potentially catastrophic threat of ecological invasion, they were more economical to farm, and as genetically engineered cultivars proliferated they gradually replaced Earth-originated cereals and tubers as the primary staple food of Novalunar humans.
Visciplex is derived from the Latin word viscus, "organ", referring to the purple, pink, and red colouration most species take on when not photosynthesizing, as well as plexus, meaning "plaited", "twisted", or "woven". The suffix -ariae denotes it as a pseudophyte family. Colloquially, the term is typically shortened to singular visc and plural visces.
Toxomichlariae
Toxomichlas, singular Toxomichla (/tɔksoʊˈmikla/), are pseudophytes of the family Toxomichlariae, which is the eponymous type family also for its order Toxomichlares and class Toxomichlatiae. As herboid pseudophytes, toxomichlas broadly resemble Terran plants in appearance, being green-pigmented phototrophs with fibrous, channeled structural properties.
Pseudophytes of the class Toxomichlaticae in general, and of the family Toxomichlariae in particular, dominate and characterise the Novalunar biome known as Fogmire, not in their prevalence but also in the unique conditions they create. Taking advantage of the high humidity and near-boundless supply of water in the regions they inhabit, toxomichlas are infamous as the progenitors of the thick, biogenic, highly noxious mist that permeates many such biomes. Through a process not dissimilar to transpiration, toxomichlas draw surplus water from their inundated environs, infuse them with a variety of corrosive or toxic compounds depending on the species, and aerosolise the resultant solution with a specialized vegetative structure known as a caligator. In combination with the thick foliage they produce acting as an effective windbreak, this allows toxomichlas to completely saturate their proximate environment with a dense fog often deadly to organisms not adapted to withstand it.
It is theorised that toxomichlas initially evolved this ability as an advanced method of protecting against pests, beginning simply as volatile toxins released by damaged tissue. Thereon this ability merged with stomata-like tranpiratory pores that allowed it to release these chemicals suffused in water vapor, then as a denser aerosol of mist as the caligators responsible for this further evolved.
Toxomichla is a combination of the Latin root tox, "poison", itself from the Greek root τόξον/tóxon, "bow", as well as a Latinisation of the Greek root ὀμίχλη/omíkhlē, "fog". The suffixes -ariae, -ares, and -atiae are used in nolubiology to denote pseudophyte families, orders, and classes, respectively. Conversationally, toxomichlas are various referred to by the singular and collective tox, and plural toxes or toxies.
Pansarcidae
Pansarcids, singular Pansarcid (/pænˈsɑrkɪd/), are Novalunar organisms belonging to the taxonomic kingdom and high-order clade Pansarcidae. As a group, pansarcids are of particular interest to nolubiologists for their profoundly unusual phylogenetic, ecological, and morphological characterists, all of which make pansarcid organisms entirely incomparable to anything found on Earth.
Remarkably, most pansarcid species exist within massive, mutualistic agglomerations that both span and characterise the biome they inhabit and include a huge diversity of pansarcid organisms from all across the kingdom. These symbiotic colonies contain some of the highest biomass densities of any biome on Novaluna, enough to cover the entire ground in a biological substrate and form biological structures the size of buildings. Sustaining this megascopic symbiosis is a coevolved system of interorganism resource sharing, wherein all individual organisms in a colony interface
Gaia's Gall, a stunning example of pansarcid biomass accumulation, located in the Heart of the World pansarcid mega-colony.
with one another via a common, colony-wide vascular and nervous system. This stupendous intercladistic cooperation has resulted in most pansarcid colonial species becoming highly specialised in their morphology, evolving to suit a niche function that, akin to an organ in an individual creature, benefits the colony as a whole. Because of this, pansarcid colonies are often referred to and regarded as superorganisms (or, more accurately, holobionts) of a particularly superlative nature.
Although they are suspected to have initially evolved from chemolithotrophs utilising Novaluna's extensive and consistent volcanic activity, pansarcids are unique in having since evolved to encompass almost all available forms of trophic activity and the phenotypes necessary to sustain them, from sessile photoautotrophs (now common) to highly motile, even animal-like organoheterotrophs (significantly less common). Furthermore, not all pansarcids exist as components of a colony. Some exist as perfectly independent individual organisms capable of surviving on their relative lonesome, or as non-obligate members of small quasi-colonies. Most such taxa originated as colonial organisms and later diverged, the only exception being a residual, relict phylum of highly basal, unicellular pansarcids known as Solopulvis, notable for having never evolved in parallel symbiosis with the rest of the kingdom.
The designation Pansarcidae is a Latinisation of the Greek roots παν/pan, "all", and σάρξ/sárx, "flesh", meaning all-flesh, in reference to the sheer size and contiguous biomass of some pansarcid colonies. In common parlance, they are often referred to as sarcs.
Pneumogastreiae
Pneumogasts, singular Pneumogast (/ˈnumoʊgæst/), are Novalunar organisms belonging to the pansarcid family Pneumogastreiae. Most pneumogasts are notable for being among the most visible and diverse of individual, non-colonial pansarcid organisms, a trend which most, but not all, organisms of the clade follow.
Pneumogasts are primarily distinguished by living almost their entire lives as obligate aerial organisms. Morphologically, the majority of their body volume consists of a large, membranous gas bladder filled with hydrogen produced by digestion. This, in conjunction with fins and secondary bladders for modulating buoyancy, allow pneumogasts to float in the air in a manner akin to a balloon. While some pneumogasts may constantly or periodically anchor themselves to the ground, typically by use of tentacular appendages, most spend the majority of their lives free-floating in the air.
Most pneumogasts are mixotrophic organisms; in adapting to the sparse aerial environment, they not only utilise photosynthesis, but also catch and consume airborne microorganisms as sources of energy and carbon, as well as draw water via diffusion and condensation from the atmosphere. These adaptations are especially important for the pneumogast genera that seldom or never return to the ground.
Pneumogasts are thought to have evolved from colonial organisms that first served as storage bladders for digestive byproducts, then later as airborne photosynthetic platforms capable of floating above foliage canopies (important for small pansarcid colonies in pseudophyte forests). Eventually, they separated entirely. Some pneumogast clades, however, have since re-evolved the ability to integrate with pansarcid colonies, albeit usually to perform a completely novel function. One such example is the White Skylace (Caelifilum candidum), notable for being one of the longest individual organisms on Novaluna. Tethered to pansarcid ground colonies solely by a single neural cord bundle sheathed in a fibrous membrane with incredible tensile strength, the white skylace can float up to 1,200 metres in the air. The purpose this serves is as of yet unknown, but hypothesised as a method of collecting atmospheric information for usage by colony response systems.
Pneumogastreiae is the Pansarcid familial-suffix variant of its type genus Pneumogaster, itself a canonically Latinised combination of the Greek roots πνεῦμα/pneûma, "air" and γᾰστήρ/gastér, "belly".
Zoomorphae
Zoomorphs, singular Zoomorph (/ˈzu.ɑmɔrf, ˈzoʊ-,/), are Novalunar organisms belonging to the taxonomic kingdom Zoomorphae. Well-known for being Novaluna's equivalent to Earth's animals, zoomorphs are largely, but not universally, characterised by high physiological complexity, high motility, and sophisticated systems of environmental response, much like animals are. Of great fascination to Nolubiologists are not only the countless unique adaptations they exhibit, but also those features they have converged upon with animals over the course of their evolution.
In many ways similar to their convergent cousins of Animalia, zoomorphs are chiefly chemo-organo-heterotrophs reliant on consuming other organisms as sources of energy, electron donation, and carbon, although a small number of partial exceptions exist, such as the semi-lithotrophic Strawmouth Pino (Pino calamostoma). Furthermore, like animals, zoomorphs exhibit significant and oftentimes superlative motility to complement their heterotrophy, achieved with versatile organ systems paralleling those in animals, and exist in complex food webs arranged on trophic levels from obligate herbivores to apex predators.
Most notable among the biological systems evolved by zoomorphs are those converged upon not only by Earth animals, but also by
A herd of pyrgs, of the species Pyrgus turrium, the tallest known terrestrial zoomorphs on Novaluna. As such, these docile, rainforest-inhabiting herbivores are some of the rarest species of zoomorph.
organisms of the kingdom Pansarcidae, with which zoomorphs are only very distantly related, their divergence predating the emergence of complex multicellular organisms in either clade. Chief among these are the nervous systems of both taxa. Pansarcid nervous systems arose from insulated microtubules of conductive electrolyte solution striated at different intervals, allowing for speed and simplicity in signal transmission across the great distances spanned by pansarcid colonies, at the cost of signal complexity and robustness. Conversely, zoomorph nervous systems are based around action potential propagation along cellular membranes, very much akin to the mechanism behind animal nervous systems; this has permitted the evolution of more complex neural arrangements, such as the development of dedicated sensory organs, ganglia, and central nervous systems. Zoomorph nervivasa (nerve cells) are morpologically distinct from the dendron-soma-axon-terminal-synapse formation of animal neurons, resembling twisted or braided cords with concentric, peripheral organelle-containing netlike structures as their somata and special interlinkages as their synapses, yet nevertheless function in a manner quite similar to animal neurons.
Similarly, zoomorphs have evolved a sophisticated form of contractile tissue very much analogous in function to muscle tissue in animals. However, while zoomorph carnivasa (muscle cells), like animal myocytes, operate on the principle of sliding filaments controlled by modulated biomechanochemical reactions, zoomorph carnivasa exhibit more complex geometric contractions in concert with a more intricate series of biochemical pathway reactions. As a result, zoomorph muscle tissue is demonstrably capable of much more force per cross-sectional area than natural animal muscle tissue of the same density of contractile units (carnimica in zoomorphs, sarcomere in animals), up to four times as much per unit of area in some species of zoomorph. This, in combination with Novaluna's lesser gravitational pull, is explanatory as to the superlative sizes reached by some zoomorphs.
Zoomorphae is derived from the Greek roots ζῷον/zôion, "animal", and μορφή/morphé, "shape", morphae being a declension-matched Latinisation of the plural form μορφαί/morphaí. This refers to the zoomorphs broadly mirroring Earth animals in evolutionary convergence and ecological function. Colloquially, zoomorphs may be contracted to morphs or zoos (pronounced as two syllables).
Ambivolaticae
Ambivolars, singular Ambivolar (/æmbɪˈvoʊlər/), are Novalunar organisms of the zoomorph family Ambivolaticae. Typefied by the genus Ambivolatus, ambivolars are greatly renowned for their cultural importance to Novalunar humans, given their curious nature and lack of fear or hostility towards the colonists.
Ambivolars are cosmopolitan, omnivorous, generalist zoomorphs inhabiting temperate and tropical coastal regions all around the Sea of Prosperity. Within their natural habitats, they act as important keystone organisms due to the hugely varied and complex manner in which they interact with their environs; although their carnivory is typically limited to scavenging and predation of small zoomorphs, and their herbivory to browsing, they are the main limiting factor in the proliferation of many such organisms given their opportunism. Most important, however, is their role in facilitating interaction between water and land in coastal habitats; ambivolars are fully amphibious organisms that feed and live in both environments, playing a major role in transferring other organisms and substances between zones.
Unlike semiaquatic and amphibian animals of Earth, ambivolars are fully capable of respiration both in and out of water; like other organisms of the class Fluxipulmiviae, they possess two heavily vascularised, lung-like sac complexes running the length of their ventral body cavities, terminating at both ends with specialised valved respiratory opening called spirators. These lungs are capable of extracting oxygen from perfusions of both air and water using a complex system of valved subdivisions and powerful contractile and peristaltic pumps, intaking through the anterior spirator and expelling through the posterior spirator. This system of respiration is efficient enough to allow adequate respiration in both environments when resting and immobile, although their active metabolic loads generally requires them to, while underwater, constantly move (seldom an issue given its tautological nature).
Locomotion-wise, ambivolars are well-known for being agile in all of their habitats, be it flying in the air, swimming under the water, or navigating forest canopies. They have four appendages terminating in four dexterous digits, each with a large, membranous wing. Ambivolars utilise these wings for rapid, agile flight as well as swimming, exhibiting radically different movement patterns for both activities; in canopies or on the ground, their wings fold parallel to their limbs and they navigate with plantigrade, quadrupedal, and arboreal locomotion techniques. In most environs, however, they generally prefer brief, rapid bursts of motion and are generally ill-suited towards long-distance movement requiring endurance; as such, very few species are migratory, confining themselves to relatively small areas of coastal habitat.
As the island of Vistora Nova, on which the Exclave was established, is home to a sizeable population of various ambivolar species, they are among the zoomorphs with which humans have had the most frequent and extensive contact. In contrast to much Novalunar life, ambivolars are generally viewed as docile, even friendly towards humans and generally harmless unless provoked. Their intelligence, social structures, and curiosity have made them popular cultural symbols for Novalunar humans, and they have even come to be regarded as emblematic of the colonists themselves. Their generalist nature and tolerance for new environments made them the first native Novalunar zoomorphs to adapt to the urban environs constructed by humans; while this is generally viewed as a positive development by Novalunars, they have nevertheless at times become mildly problematic by obstructing transport and stealing food.
Ambivolatus stems from the Latin words ambō, "both", and volātus/volō, "flying", so named due to their ability to "fly" both in the air and under the water. As it is also the type genus for its family, the latter is formed by adding the suffix -icae to the end. In typical Novalunar fashion, this is often contracted to the single-root ambie in colloquial speech.
Conexicae
Conexa, singular Conexum (/kəˈnɛksʌm/), are Novalunar zoomorphs belonging to the family Conexicae. Thanks to the profoundly unique evolutionary adaptations demonstrated by its eponymous genus Conexus and exemplar species Conexus radii, conexa are some of the best-known zoomorph predators of Novaluna.
Exclusive to the genus Conexus is a biological system entirely unlike any other, on Earth or Novaluna, in form and function; a biological radio transceiver. Used by conexum packs to communicate discreetly across great distances and through dense vegetation, this biometallic organ, known formally as a transceptive dorsirudens, is considered a wonder of physiology and an attestation of the power of evolution. In terms of conventional radio communications, conexum communication signals are analogue, multiplexed, amplitude-modulated, and generally encoded in an idiosyncratic and rapid "grammar" more akin to animal communication signals than human-created RF communication. Different frequencies are used by different packs and communities of conexa in ways that correspond to their environmental conditions; lower frequencies with favourable skywave and groundwave propagation are used by conexa that range and separate across great distances, while higher frequencies are used in closer conditions for a variety of reasons, although most fall into the VHF band of radio frequencies.
Phylogenically, conexa are part of the zoomorph class Rudeniviae, a clade characterised by the presence of a long, prominent length of nervous tissue known as a dorsirudens running from the anterior to posterior portions of the body, similar to the spinal cord of Earth's Vertebrata subphylum. Within the Rudeniviae, the family Conexicae first evolved the ability to precipitate crystalline metallic deposits along their dorsirudentes in order to improve signal transmission rates along this important neural axis. Incidentally, this development was also a sort of precursor antenna; shielding to reduce crosstalk between biometallic nervivasa later evolved in other genera, but in Conexus this organ remained partially unshielded and furthermore specialised into a radio-wave receiver sensitive enough to pick up the presence of other conexa, known as a receptive dorsirudens. As a method of detecting the presence and position of ally or rival conexa that was incredibly resistant to detection by prey species, this feature persisted as a rudimentary form of communication, and furthermore served as an important intermediary that led to conexa later evolving a tunable bioelectric oscillator using stacked electroplaques for power, thus allowing them to use their dorsirudens to actively broadcast signals with variable wavelengths and amplitudes and representing the organ's transition to the modern transceptive dorsirudens.
Given that their characteristic feature heavily facilitates interaction between individuals of the same species, it is of little surprise that conexa exhibit highly complex systems of social and interpersonal interaction, within and beyond the dedicated social groups (generally called packs, but within the tradition of strange animal groupings also called platoons). Using not only radio communication, but also a complex mixture of vocalisation, scent exudation, body language, and in some species, colour changing and bioluminescence, conexa are capable of extremely sophisticated and variable social interaction in all facets of life, living in fluid, semisocial groups with multifaceted division of labour systems. They are furthermore some of the most intelligent of all zoomorph clades, demonstrating advanced problem-solving, spatial visualisation, and social coordination abilities.
However, as obligate carnivores that are standoffish at best and viciously aggressive at worst towards humans, they are more often viewed with fear, as symbolic of the dangers of Novalunar wildlife. In many ways, this is justified; conexa are some of the most effective and lethal apex predators of the zoomorph kingdom. As the paragon of pack hunters, their extraordinary communicative abilities allow platoons of conexa to take down zoomorphs so large nearly all other predators avoid them. Growing up to the size of Terran tigers (although more frequently the size of leopards), conexa are densely-muscled quadrupeds with incredibly sharp teeth, claws, and sometimes even spines or armour plates reinforced with biometallic precipitate. Their visual and auditory acuity are extremely high, with some nocturnal species having advanced night vision in addition. They are fast and agile runners, climbers, and swimmers, using their physical ability and pack formation to surround, outflank, and pincer attack prey. Given their very high caloric and nutritional dietary requirements, an individual conexum can eat up to 20% of its body weight in one feeding, although daily averages are closer to 4-6% and may vary depending on the season and habitat.
Conexus comes from the Latin word cōnexus, meaning "connected" or "linked", due to the genus' remarkable ability to communicate quickly and effectively across great distances and thus link together the members of a platoon.
Litobia
Litobians, singular Litobian, Litobiont, or Litobiote (/liˈtoʊbi.ən, -ɑ/ɔnt, oʊt/) are Novalunar organisms in the phylogenetic kingdom Litobia. An extremely widespread and diverse clade of unicellular and simple multicellular nucleate organisms, litobionts are found in and play vital ecological roles in virtually every biotic environment found on Novaluna, surpassed in habitat range only by extremophilic anucleates akin to Earth archaea. Often compared to the obsolete, paraphyletic grouping of Terran life Protista, or more accurately to various clades such as Amoebozoa and Heteroconta, litobionts manifest in a vast variety of forms, most often as single-celled organisms of many sizes and permutations, but also frequently in simple yet internally differentiated multicellular structures, similar to brown algae.
The defining synapomorphic trait of litobionts that distinguishes them cladistically from other kingdoms is the pegnumosome, an RNA complex sometimes known as a "second ribosome" due to its function in further modifying a subset of proteins and polypeptides into pegnumins and pegnumases, structural and enzymatic proteins with a remarkable capability for facilitating a variety of inorganic chemical reactions, including the precipitation of complex, high-order inorganic structures. While this trait is poorly conserved within the kingdom, having been lost or reduced in capability in up to 70% of litobiont species, in some specialist groupings of litobiont pegnumosomes conversely play an expanded and indispensable role, from producing the proteins that construct impressive external habitats to facilitating the creation of biosystems with a remarkable array of properties. One such cellular organelle built out of pegnumin proteins and pegnumase-precipitated structures from the litobiont species Cowl of Grey (Pallium psionum), no less, served as the first inspiration for what would later prove to be one of the most transformative technologies in human history.
Litobia originates from the Ancient Greek stems λῑτός/lītós, "simple", and the feminine form of βῐ́ος/bíos, "life", in appreciation for the relative "simplicity" of litobiotic lifeforms in comparison with other nucleate Novalunar clades.
Palliolae
Pallia, singular Pallium (/ˈpæli.əm/), are Novalunar litobiota of the family Palliolae. Represented by the type genus Pallium and a number of other genera, this diverse and widespread clade of multicellular litobionts is widely famed for the evolutionary innovation borne by a single member species, Pallium psionum.
Known also as Cowls, members of Palliolae are simple, generally unremarkable multicellular aquatic autotrophs often found inhabiting coastal reef ecosystems around the world. Frequently regarded as analogous to brown or red algal species on Earth, cowls may live either or both rooted benthic and free-floating pelagic life cycles. Due to their hardiness, the various species of cowl are known to flourish in nearly all aquatic and coastal environs on Novaluna, especially the cold polar and subpolar waters in which other macroscopic phototroph species are uncommon. For most species of cowl, their most distinctive feature is the production and secretion of several different types of thick substance similar to mucilage; while the physical and chemical properties of these secretions are of mild interest to researchers and product developers, cowls are chiefly regarded as a curiosity at best, and more often as a fairly mundane component of Novaluna's marine ecosystems, albeit with one major exception.
Cowl of Grey, formerly identified by the species name Pallium canastrum before being changed to Pallium psionum, is a species of benthic cowl inhabiting the coastal reefs and continental shelf seamounts of the far-southern island of Tranquility. Although research into the truly remarkable properties of Cowl of Grey specifically would not be sparked until later on, biologists took an interest in Tranquility's coastal marine ecosystems in part because some resembled reef biomes typically only found at much lower latitudes. Further investigation revealed this to be the result of remarkably clear pockets of water contained within localised eddies adjacent to reefs, caused by unusually high water temperatures and concomitantly low levels of oxygenation and thus aquatic microorganisms. The presence of subtropical marine conditions in an otherwise subpolar region, even in such small localities, entirely in the absence of major poleward currents or other detectable sources long puzzled oceanologists; purely oceanographic studies at first shed little light on this quandary. As biological research progressed on the creatures inhabiting these unique ecosystems, however, the two fields began to converge.
As increasingly exhaustive investigations were undertaken and hypotheses narrowed down, the source of these unusual conditions was eventually traced to a seemingly mundane, visually unassuming species of cowl, at that point known as Cowl of Grey and paid little regard. Such an idea seemed far-fetched at first; Cowl of Grey exhibited no feature that suggested it had the power to manipulate the fundamental conditions of an entire marine ecosystem. And yet, as the organism was put under the light of scrutiny, a most fantastical feature was discovered to have evolved inside it. Exceptionally complex organelles known as psionaria, constructed using the pegnumosome-derived proteins unique to litobionts, were found to be associated with Cowl of Grey's environment-influencing abilities. The exact mechanism of action by which this was accomplished remained a mystery for some time after, until Mithra Research, an Exclavite technology startup, discovered the psionarium's usage of psions to redirect oceanic energy flows. Revelation of this hitherto obscure and theoretical particle's abilities sparked a massive flurry of research, later to culminate in the beginnings of a technological revolution the likes of which had never been seen before. For this reason, Cowl of Grey gained widespread fame as the progenitor of such an immensely important branch of science and technology.
Pallium derives from the Latin word for "cloak", whence the English word "cowl", an accessory for some cloaks, is derived as a reference to the translation.