American Megafauna

Summary of DNA

Roadrunner DNA
These varieties of DNA are the most important for the predator-prey relationship.

• Armor-piercing (A)
  1. useful for predators of ecotypes which have armor
  2. a requirement for herbivores in most marine biomes
  3. required for herbivores in the cactus biome
• Armor (a)
  1. predators of armored prey require at least as much Armor-piercing as there is armor
  2. niche characteristic in several biomes
  3. incompatible with speed in most cases
• Nocturnal (N)
  1. predators of nocturnal prey require at least as much nocturnal
  2. a niche characteristic for some biomes, including marine biomes
  3. usually limited to smaller sizes
• Speed (S)
  1. predators of speedy prey require at least as much speed
  2. niche characteristic in many biomes
  3. incompatible with armor in most cases
• Wings (SS) (a special case of Speed)
  1. behave just like Speed
  2. may travel up to 3 hexes
  3. may overfly ice (see also Physiology)

Other DNA

• Browsing (B)
  1. a requirement for herbivores in many biomes
• Grazing (G)
  1. a requirement for herbivores in many biomes
• Husker (H)
  1. required for herbivores to use MAST in wooded biomes
  2. never appears above size 3
• Insectivore (I)
  1. required for herbivores in several biomes
  2. never appears above size 3
• Marine (M)
  1. a requirement for herbivores in marine biomes
  2. required for predators in hexes which are exclusively marine
• Physiology (P)
  1. niche characteristic in many biomes
  2. PP required to cross an ice biome (see also Wings)
• Sex (Sex)
  1. doubles gene income
• Wild (W)
  1. player chooses DNA once after any time card is expressed
• Technology (WW)
  1. requires Tool Use DNA to express
  2. DNA may be changed during Trophic Change at cost of 1 gene
  3. limited to sizes 1-3

Balancing Variant

Choose starting DNA in order:

• mmm: AP or M or PS or I (if I, max size is 3; if PS, max size is 5; recommend I for first time)
• mmrrr: AB or BM or G or N (if N, max size is 1; recommend G for first time)
• rm: NP or S (if S, max size is 5; recommend S for first time)
• rrrr: AA or AM (recommend AM for first time)

Summary of Catastrophes

Mesozoic:

Summary of Cold-Blooded Variant:

New rules for Reptiles, except avian:

• no N, S or Sex (except S for pterosaurs)
• 2 herbivores per biome biomass
• 2 predators per herbivore (so there could be 8 cold predators in a hex)
• max migration of 1 (except pterosaurs 2)
• not allowed adjacent to ice sheet (adjacency does not require an arrow except in the case of holding zones – the Laurentian Shield is not adjacent to the Kolyma Archipelago)
• acquiring double P switches to warm-blooded