Hypothetical question for you: what if frogs
ruled the Earth? Not just terms in terms of numbers… but
in terms of their position in the ecosystem. Amphiterra is a speculative biology project
by the talented artist and writer Roxy Valdez, which imagines the incredible and surreal
forms frogs might achieve if given the perfect environment to evolve. While the world of Amphiterra often looks
like an alien planet, the artist imagines it’s actually an alternate timeline of Earth,
where subtly different climatic conditions led to early amphibians out competing the
first dinosaurs and protomammals. What creatures will develop and thrive in
this drastically different history? For this entry into the archive, we’ll explore
the fascinating possibilities of the Amphiterra Project. And remember to support Roxy Valdez on Patreon
using the links below if you’re a fan of this project. Now let’s leap back 252 million years, and
begin our tour through the timeline of Amphiterra... Our epic tale of frog ascendency begins in
the early Triassic, with the oldest member of the frog lineage: the diminutive Triadobatrachus. This amphibian is present in our timeline
as well, but in the alternate world of Amphiterra, the wetter, damper conditions will lead Triadobatrachus
to be better suited for the period than early synapsids and reptiles. As a result, its descendants will rise to
the top of this primordial Earth... By the Late Triassic in what is now Nigeria,
the Common Eofrog has emerged from the Triadobatrachus — and represents the first major deviation
from our world. Brought on by the ideal conditions of this
alternate timeline, the Eofrog is, essentially, just a big frog. But over many eons, it will provide the anatomical
basis the most significant species of this alternate reality. The reign of the amphibians has now begun… By the early Jurassic, the descendants of
the Eofrog have evolved to fill various major niches across the ecosystems of the world. In the marshy plains, an effective early predator
has emerged in the form of the amusingly named Greater Moistboy. While these lifeforms have a comical appearance,
the advance they represent is tremendous, having brought their limbs underneath their
body to be taller and faster than their competition. The Moistboy also possess an enlarged clavicular
ring, which essentially functions like a ribcage and helps support their growing weight. Many of the most successful predators of the
future will branch off from this design. In the rainforests of what is now Northern
Africa, the Marbled Snapapple perches on a branch. This early tree-dweller has evolved a creeping,
unpredictable form of movement convergent with our timeline’s chameleons, and will
serve as a foundation for various unusual offshoots. Already it is becoming more sedentary — a
lifestyle that will continue until it reaches truly extreme levels… In the forests of what is now Eastern Africa,
another major tree climbing species has emerged in the Lanky Frogget. While they still spend some time on the forest
floor, these thin, long-legged organisms are expert climbers, patiently navigating from
branch to branch. Even more than the Snapapple, the Froggets
descendants will be the champions of the world’s canopies. And the last major niche filled is that of
the grazing herbivore, which is currently occupied by the Lowland Dogus. These heard dwelling lifeforms are cousins
of the Greater Moistboy, and have similarly made the critical advancement of raising their
frame off the ground. A wide range of future herbivorous megafauna
will owe their evolutionary ancestry to the Dogus — as the various Eofrog descendants
continue to diversify and expand in number… On the dry plains of the Cretaceous period,
a mighty predator comes to rule. The Bullpronks are the descendants of the
Greater Moistboy — and have become efficient pack predators. They hunt grazing animals in coordinated prides,
much like lions in our modern day. To communicate while on patrol, Bullpronks
can raise and lower their tails like signal flags, and even flush them with color. These tails are actually a retained trait
from their tadpole stage, showing these lifeforms have had to get creative to take over niches
typically unassociated with amphibians. And speaking of getting creative, in the misty
rainforests of the north, the Mottled Suckerlump is a creature whose specialized lifestyle
has caused a tremendous shift in its body plan. Even more than their ancestors — the Marbled
Snapples — these animals are incredibly inactive, with some spending their entire
adult life rooted to a single branch like an amphibious barnacle. As with our timeline’s flatfish, their anatomy
seems absurd, yet is actually perfectly suited for their methods of survival. The Suckerlump’s lifestyle requires few
calories, so they can subsist on the insects that come into the range of their projectile
tongue. And with their characteristic mottled coloring,
they effectively hide from insects . . . until it’s too late. And further along into the Cretaceous, an
even stranger variant of the Suckerlump will emerge under the waves. The Tropical Frondle can be found nestled
in the underwater shallows, and has a truly bizarre lifestyle. Beginning as a free-swimming tadpole, once
they mature, they never develop limbs, becoming completely stationary filter feeders. This lifestyle requires little brain power,
so like soft bodied ‘sea squirts’ of our timeline, Tropical Frondle shockingly digest
most of their brains upon reaching adulthood — repurposing the valuable proteins elsewhere. The Frondle’s most characteristic adult
feature is their highly derived tongue, which has evolved sticky branches to catch the planktonic
organisms it survives on. At this point in the timeline, some creatures
have clearly become unrecognizable as amphibians… And high in the treetops around the same period,
a frog with an equally bizarre body plan makes its home. The Tree Frixel is a descendent of the Lanky
Frogget, the other tree-dwelling specialist that emerged alongside the Snapapple. The Tree Frixel is even better adapted for
the trees however, with a body plan that at first seems implausibly awkward, but makes
perfect sense when the Tree Frixel is in its element. Like our primates, Tree Fixels swing through
the canopy above — with their hindlimbs perfectly positioned to navigate from branch
to branch, as this biomechanical visualization illustrates. As a result, the Tree Frixels have developed
thumb-like digits, and a general rise in cognitive ability. Given time, they may give rise to something
truly exciting… One relative of the Frixel will take a very
different path than its tree climbing cousins. In the forests of our timeline’s Central
America, you might spot a Gliding Alloo. Thus far in the Amphiterran timeline, amphibians
have yet to conquer the skies in the way our birds or bats have, as their ectothermic,
low metabolism bodies aren’t well equipped for the rigors of powered flight. But the Aloo has found a loophole. To hunt, it climbs up trees and uses eyes
rotated almost to the back of its head to calculate the distance of its prey. Once a target is locked, the Alloo leaps back-first
towards the forest floor — using primitive wings, and a specialized sac that inflates
to provide drag to slow its descent. As bizarre as the Alloo’s strategy might
seem, it is not unlike the early dinosaurs, Archeopteryx in our timeline, that achieved
flight. The future may yet hold skies dominated by
the Alloo’s curiously inverted descendants. Speaking of curious descendants, at the very
end of the cretaceous period, the arid grasslands will give rise to a creature so bizarre it’s
at first difficult to comprehend. This is an Inhabited Lorge — a slow, bulky
herbivore that is the distant descendant of the Lowland Dogus. At a glance, the slow-moving Lorge might seem
vulnerable to predation. But the Lorge has its own private security
in the form of the Colonial Gobolins — a species that have evolved to live within the
Lorge’s hump. The tiny Gobolins are actually another branch
of the Banded Suckerlump’s family tree, and they have developed a close symbiotic
relationship with their living nests. At the first sign of danger, the Gobolin horde
will exit the Lorge, and swarm the attacker until it backs off. It’s an effective strategy, yet this highly
specialized pairing won’t have many offshoots going forward in a changing world… Yet another descendant of the Lowland Dogus
will continue on. Upon the cold tundra of the early Tertiary
period, one amphibian has found an ingenious way to survive the cold. The Foaming Squander lives farther north than
most amphibian megafauna can exist. Yet the Squander stays warm thanks to its
eponymous foam. Specialized pores on the squander’s back
produce a thick, towering covering of insulating foam. This foam is similar to the mucus coating
some frogs in our timeline produce to keep their skin moist. The Squander’s foam is unique, however,
as it traps heat within its structure, allowing the Squander to roam the polar reaches. With this clever adaptation, descendants of
the Squander will be well equipped for the cooling climate... To the south, another species that will have
many successful descendants dominates the dry steppe. The Steppe Fraggon is a carnivorous behemoth
distantly related to the nimble pack hunting Plains Bullpronk. Now highly territorial, the massive Steppe
Fraggon has no need for a pack, hunting all on its own. But the Steppe Fraggon is actually an omnivore,
with a lifestyle that could be compared to a bear, gorging itself to build fat for a
winter hibernation. As the planet continues to cool, the Fraggons
will endure, and will diversify in unexpected ways... But one creature whose fate is more mysterious
inhabits the trees of temperate environments. High in the canopy, the astonishing Freeple
live in elevated, wooden villages. A descendant of the Tree Frixel, Freeple have
achieved a level of intelligence roughly analogous to a human. Like male frigate birds, under their chin,
Freeple have a highly developed gular sac for communication. But Freeple communication is highly complex,
with their language almost comparable to a curious form of morse code. Even more curiously, it seems the Freeple
vanish from the Amphiterran timeline several million years after their evolution. What fate befell these enigmatic creatures? Did they die out, or given time, reach a level
of advancement that allowed for a different kind of exit? We have no way to say for sure, but no matter
the nature of their departure, the Freeple’s absence makes room for even stranger species. By the late Tertiary, an isolated island environment
has given rise to a stunning lifeform. The Splendid Fraggon is a descendant of the
Steppe Fragon and has become a peaceful herbivore, spending its day wading through swampy jungles
on graceful, stilt-like legs. With a vibrant coloring, a Splendid Fraggon
silently picking their way through their island home would likely be a magnificent sight. They feed on mushrooms that grow in this region
in abundance, forgoing the omnivorous lifestyle of their ancestor… On the mainland, however, another Fraggon
descendant has taken the opposite path. The Catastrophic Fraggon is the largest land-dwelling
carnivore the world of Amphiterra has ever seen. The Catastrophic Fraggon’s rotund anatomy
might seems surprising at a glance, as it almost looks too bulky to be able to stand. Yet examining the animal’s skeleton, the
Fragon’s center of gravity is a clavicular ring that began overdeveloping all the way
back in the Greater Moistboy. This hypertrophied ring acts as the lynchpin
to the fraggon’s massive bulk. While the catastrophic fraggon’s reign is
amazing, it’s also rather short. An impending drop in temperature will cause
the age of the Fraggon to end prematurely. Yet one type of Fraggon, already well adapted
to the cold, will live on. Stalking the newly formed tundra, the Arctic
Fraggon thrives late into the Tertiary, protected from the cold thanks to layers of blubber
and a thick hide. Its most unique adaptation to stay warm, however,
is the thick coating of ‘fur’ on its underside. These hairs are actually dermal papillae:
tubes of skin and fatty tissue that trap warm air against the Fraggon’s body. And since the Amphiterran ice age is imagined
to be less severe than our own, the Fraggons have all they need to continue to thrive. But there are other ways of surviving the
cold. A short distance south, the Eon Toad are a
species with a very different method of enduring the long winter months. Not a type of Fraggon, the Eon Toad is actually
a descendant of the Foaming Squander that has traded its foaming coat for something
even stranger. Eon Toads enter a state of hibernation that
can last multiple years, enduring periods of minor freezing and unfreezing as it waits
for the perfect spring to become active again. While this type of cold protection has never
been seen in an animal, some plants contain cryoprotectors that stop their cells from
lethal shrinkage while they allow themselves to be frozen solid for long periods. And on the subject of plants, the Eon toad
will often wake to find many types of vegetation have grown over its body, which can be harmful
if left unchecked... And in the same region, the final species
of this timeline can be found — which serve as an example of just how alien the fauna
of Amphiterra can be. The Foaming Trogglefolk are another descendant
of the Foaming Squander, which are quite a bit smaller than their ancestors. Incredibly, Trogglefolk live in villages constructed
from their characteristic foam, which freeze into solid structures due to the cold. They’re also highly communal, sculpting
the foam on the bodies of family members into regionally distinct ‘styles.’ This social grooming behavior is not unlike
that of certain primates in our timeline, and shows an emerging intelligence. Indeed, certain communities of Trogglefolk
have begun cultivating edible fungus within their nests, demonstrating the beginnings
of agriculture. Like the Freeple before them, Trogglefolks
may rise to incredible heights… Over the course of this journey, we’ve seen
pseudo-frogs rise and fall, evolve incredible adaptations and fulfill unexpected niches. But now, we must return to our own timeline,
where frogs, though not quite as abundant, are still quite wonderful. If you enjoyed learning about Amphiterra as
much as I did, you can support Roxy Valdez on Patreon and social media using the links
in the description. And as always, thanks for watching. If you enjoyed this entry, please lend your
support and like, subscribe, and hit the notification icon to stay up to date on all things Curious. See you in the next video.
