COWS EVOLVING TO BE SMALL? - Cattle Seedworld

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On Earth, specialized animals usually don't become generalists, probably because there's already generalists after most extinction events. But on a planet of cattle, where invertebrates are the only competition, perhaps large herbivores could evolve into smaller, less specialized lifeforms?

This is part of my seedworld series, Project Apollo. Seed worlds are planets that were 'seeded' with earth lifeforms, that are then left to evolve independent of earth in this new context. This can result in extreme diversification, reminiscent of Darwin's Finches, mammals post K-T Extinction Impact, or when vertebrates first came onto land. Serina, a natural history of the world of birds by Sheather888/Dylan Bajda and Tales of Kaimere by Keenan Taylor are two examples of popular seedworlds.

Sorry, this video was pretty short. I probably could've gone into more detail about the evolution of specific groups, like arboreal or burrowing cattle, but I think I'll leave that for future episodes.

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To quote wikipedia: "With an average length of 45 cm (18 in) and an average height of 30 cm (12 in), the Java mouse-deer is the smallest surviving ungulate (hoofed) mammal, as well as the smallest artiodactyl (even-toed ungulate). Despite their common name of "mouse deer", they are not closely related to true deer."

I imagine ungulates could get a lot smaller if competition weren't present, although something cattle sized would have to make a lot of changes if it got that small. It's a very interesting concept and I'm not sure how well I explored it in this episode, but I was looking forward to doing so.

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If you've got fanart you'd like shown in this series, post it in the r/speculativeevolution subreddit (   / speculativeevolution   ) and I'll probably see it. But don't flood the sub of course, and I can't guarantee it'll be in the vid.

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Original concept by reddit user Bteatesthighlander1

Credit to those who drew their respective images in the video, such as Keenan Taylor and Dylan Bajda. Most other images were drawn by myself, can be found on Wikipedia, or are protected by fair use. Some have been modified/edited.

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♫Music is from Youtube's Creator Music and does not belong to me.