#eco-dev

This week we're interested in sonar: the echolocation ability used by bats, shrews, and some cave-dwelling birds, and of course, whales, dolphins, and porpoises. It's useful for everything from hunting to navigation. Do you have any species in your world that use sonar? What are they?

The seasons bring all sorts of gluts and short-term experiences: for example, more apples than we can hope to eat, and the joy of walking through the cherry blossoms. It's not all feel-good stuff though. Hot and dry weather can make grasshoppers change into locusts, and very few of us want that; in some parts of the world, ants grow wings and fly when they sense a storm coming. What seasonal events happen in the ecosystem of your world?

Plants need to spread their pollen to other plants of the same species to reproduce. Some rely on the wind, but some need animals to do it for them, whether those are bees, birds, bats, or something else. Incidentally, there is a tropical plant that produces a huge white flower so that bats, famously a nocturnal animal, will see at night. What are your pollinators like? ...of course, that assumes that your world has plants that rely on pollination in the first place. Do you have something more exotic?

The world contains a few very slow-growing things. Cacti grow very slowly indeed, making cactus 'forests' a treasure of nature. The very oldest creatures in the world at the stromatolites of Australia; aside from those, humans are pretty much the slowest to mature. What if something else in your world matures more slowly? What in your world is slow-growing, and why?

This week we're looking at poisonous or venomous plants and animals. There are plenty of real-life examples, especially among vulnerable creatures: frogs and fish make good eating, so some have developed toxins to make themselves less so. Plants are literally rooted to the spot and need to protect themselves somehow. Then there are the venomous examples: snakes, spiders, and duckbilled platypi (yes, I know!) What are the notable examples on your world?

Most cultures have staples of one kind or another, but let's not forget the non-essential but incredibly popular favourites: tea and coffee! While nobody needs these to live, they definitely have an impact on quality of life. Do you have these foods and drinks in your world? What impact does caffeine have on your species? Do you have different drinks alltogether, and what are they?

Today we're wondering what are the oldest plants in your world? Ancient woodlands lurk in Europe, with oak trees that existed in medieval times, and the Amazon's oldest trees form the cornerstones of their ecosystems. What are your oldest individual plants, and what do your ancient woodlands look like (or perhaps woodlands isn't the right word? If not, then what is?)

From time to time, humans discover fossils. They wash up on beaches or are found on designated digs. We find everything from full dinosaur skeletons to mysterious little fragments which leave almost everything to scientific deduction - or failing that, imagination. We find countless ancient shark teeth and a cornucopia of long-dead shells, footprints and lumps of long-hardened tree sap and fossilised poops. All of it gives us different information - and raises different questions. What prehistoric creatures existed on your world, and are they found in the current day? What do your modern day people think of them?