Elephants of Kaimere Part II: Modern Species of the Known World

[@Paracanthus]

Very nice work. I'm beginning to understand how mammals and dinosaurs are sort of on an equal footing now. Looking at your other videos on the animals of Kaimere, I'm would like to ask in the most genuine way, what's the goal with your speculative evolution? To me, looking at the videos on the natural history of the animals, the history in a sorts reflects the Earth's natural history. So what defining feature(s) make Kaimere stand out from Earth's natural history or other Spec Evo projects?

[@TalesofKaimere]

Thank you! What is the goal? In a small scale sense, I like to see this project as an opportunity to explore alternate prehistory. For example, having a lot of theropods in dominant predator roles gave an advantage to South American megafauna which were used to tall predators with UV vision, so found themselves in a very favorable context whereas on Earth, South American megafauna were hammered by climate change right before a huge biotic interchange that resulted in their majority extinction. In this sense I get to show a context in which things were much more stacked in their favor. It’s also a lot of fun and also gives me an opportunity to explore not only alt history evolution for often overlooked fauna such as ground sloths, non-T. rex theropods, and small ornithischians, but also a lens through which I can discuss evolutionary and ecological topics I find fascinating and underscoring the importance of context being the deciding factor in the course of evolution rather than the debate of superior or inferior organisms. Sabertooth cats and mammoths were obviously highly successful animals, as we see in our own history, but not every context favors their methods and lifestyle, and I like to explore that idea. On a large scale scale, the goal is to make a setting for my literary work. That’s really the point of all this. I want a setting that is familiar to Earth readers, but the further from the known world you go, the less familiar it becomes. You can find deer, horses, lions, and rabbits in the known world. Even just the next continent over, most animals and plants aren’t even going to be in families we have on Earth, and that’s even more the case further you go. The indigenous life of the planet, which the native people call magic, is something I’d argue stands out, but to be fair, I’m intentionally not that aware of other spec projects and it may well have been done before. I know I’m not the first Seed World project (I got the idea from the Narnia books so obviously not an original concept there) but to my knowledge the way I turned the magic itself into a spec organism is pretty distinct, though again, since I avoid reading into other spec projects so I don’t get even subconsciously influenced to take their ideas, I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of other people have come up with similar notions. At the end of the day though, the point of all this is a setting in which I can tell stories that feature magic, adventure, politics, warfare, romance, prehistoric animals, and scenarios of alternative history and prehistory that excite me and I hope excite others.

[@Paracanthus]

@@TalesofKaimere Thank you, that helped a lot. I completely agree, context is king. Animals aren't inferior to one another, it's really the *environment* that rules all. I honestly really respect what you are doing with the world to make it unique. I understand you're very busy, but I've been working on my own novel for quite some time now. The idea of working on one is not very original, and as a high schooler I know how these projects often end. However I'm fully dedicated to it and I really think that when it's completed it will stand out as something more than sloppy fanfiction. My novel is called Aurora of the Solar Ocean, and though it is in planning, I am in the final stages and nearing the beginning of writing. It is a science fiction space opera, the main theme of which being that there's still so many beautiful things left in our world that we need to fight for. It also has a strong sense of responsibility, and the world is unique with remnants of past civilizations and animals that live in space being a large focus. I know you're quite busy, but I would just love to send you the document for you to check out. This series has garnered incredible respect from me, and we need more writers like you. Aurora does relate to prehistoric life as one of the chapters is set on an abandoned Ring World which is occupied fully by prehistoric animals.

[@ananslator3655]

This just goes to show how interesting elephants are

[@TalesofKaimere]

Heck yeah

[@owli-wankenobi3727]

1:38 I just realized that the common oliphaunt's range extends into the monsoon forests of western Arvel... I wonder how they fit into the local ecology there...

[@operandwriter]

Elephants might generally be smaller, but at least they're more diverse on Kaimere than on Earth

[@ananslator3655]

Yeah we only have two species that are living while these guys have a whole bunch of species

[@Andrey.Ivanov]

​@@ananslator3655 We have three species on Earth: african bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), african forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) and asian elephant (Elephas maximus). If it wasn't for the Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene extinction event we would have had many more species from 8 different genera and 4 different families: Elephantidae (Loxodonta, Palaeoloxodon, Elephas and Mammuthus), Stegodontidae (Stegodon), Mammutidae (Mammut) and Gomphotheriidae (Cuvieronius and Notiomastodon)

[@ananslator3655]

@@Andrey.Ivanov you learn something new every day

[@thylaconical2840]

A beautiful synopsis on the diversity of proboscideans shown here! It really brings to mind just how amazing it would be if these great animals were still around.

[@TalesofKaimere]

Absolutely! it's really tragic. Researching for this series really underscored how close we were to seeing over twenty species of proboscidean within the past hundred thousand years or so when today we only have three. A lot of people think I'm going too crazy with biodiversity in Kaimere when the truth is in recent prehistory we're at an all-time low since before the Oligocene.

[@thylaconical2840]

@@TalesofKaimere I absolutely agree. I can’t imagine I’m the only one who gets lost in these ideas of seeing our planet just a few million years ago. It’s strange just how separated we are from our own biodiversity and our own recent natural history. I imagine that’s why I’ve taken such a liking to Kaimere. Brings forth the fantasy of modern humans finally getting a chance to see what was lost.

[@verrdantwilds]

It’s crazy how just a single clade provides so much content for a series of videos- keep the elephant videos coming Keenan!!!

[@alejandroelluxray5298]

Proboscideans back in the day were just as diverse as many ungulates, perhaps even more so that some, Kaimere is no different on that regard

[@Andrey.Ivanov]

When the old elephant episode (whitch only covered true elephants and one amebelodontid) came out almost two years ago I remember asking you whether there going to be deinotheres and gomphotheres in Kaimere. You responded saying that you were considering one of the clades for the Eastern Continent. Nowadays the deinotheres of Kairul are cannon and gomphotheres represent a successful clade with a long history in Kaimere and even have one living representative in the Known World. Not only that but we now also have relict Mastodons and Stegodonts. It's great to see how this project is evolving to become even grater with every new episode. P.S. - I really like all the insular species and I think they contribute greatly to the uniqueness of the Southern Khalin Islands.

[@dudotolivier6363]

Yes, same thoughts. However, Amebelodontid are also true elephants. but they are Archaic ones, the ones of the Elephantidae family are called exclusively Modern or Extant Elephants to made apart theirf amily from the others true elephants, to avoid confusion since true elephants is a order that regroups many families. Deinotheres, on the others hand, aren't true elephants at all, whatevers Archaic or Modern/Extant ones, since they aren't part of the order Elephantimorpha but belong instead to the direct sister lineage to this latter, the Plesielephantimorph.

[@Andrey.Ivanov]

@@dudotolivier6363 I personaly use "true elephants" to refer to the family Elephantidae (so basically Loxodonta, Elephas, Primelephas, Stegotetrabelodon, Mammuthus and Palaeoloxodon). For other families I prefer to use their clade names to avoid confusion. Other than that I'm aware that amebelodontids are closer to modern elephants than deinotheres for example, but I still feel like they are distinct enough to not just call them elephants. It's just my personal preference though, as "elephant" is just a common name for the handful modern species, and like most common names (as opposed to scientific terms) it's not clearly established how we should use it to refer to extinct taxa. For this reason I don't even correct people who call all proboscideans elephants as long as they recognize that they represent many distinct groups

[@alejandroelluxray5298]

Well apparently there are 2 types of Gomphothere counting the plains specie, however I do not know if it still inhabits the Known World or if it is extinct

[@dudotolivier6363]

@@Andrey.Ivanov They're are still true elephants noneless. This is why all the elephants that aren't from the Elephantid are called Archaic elephants and that the ones of the Elephantid are called Modern Elephants. To avoid people to think that the others are in the Elephantid too. Also, the fact that they are in differents families and distincts isn't an arguments to consider them as not true elephants. A true elephant is any member of the Elephantimorpha order. While all the families have their own distinct traits, they are minors and outside that, they barely look very differents to one each others. They have all trunks, evolved/developped upper tusks, and are all big animals. The definition of what is an elephant by everyone is basic and stop at that. As far I'm aware, as comparison, all the species of the genus Homo are completely apart to one each others, like H. erectus, Neandertal or Denisova, yet there are all considered whithout any problems to be, at reason, true humans species. And we call them Archaic human and our species the exclusive term of Modern human to avoid confusion when we speak about them. Or, like others example, Dugongs and Manatees belong to two dustinct families. Yet, there are both true Sirenian.

[@dudotolivier6363]

@@alejandroelluxray5298 Both are alive but aren't present inside the Known World.

[@ryanchen1819]

12:18 Around dire wolf-sized!

[@CoralReaper707]

Proboscideans are probably some of the funkiest animals to ever evolve. Some of my favorite extinct proboscideans include the stegodonts and palaeoloxodon!

[@4dultw1thj0b]

Oooh the Manephaunt sound so cool! I'd love to see a close look at sapience in some of the non-primate species of Kaimere.

[@lamnaa]

Hope we get to see more of Blackfish Island some day, I bet it's got some interesting insular species given how large and how isolated it is.

[@dudotolivier6363]

It's possible that Keenan can put here the Byamdan, the giant rodent he once tought for the Known World mainland before using the first design he made for it for a kaishelan multituberculates. With a new design and in a place suitable for a species of giant rodent such it was intended to be.

[@alejandroelluxray5298]

I'm happy to see that despite the monarchs domain, there's plenty of big proboscideans that live in the Known World, and I love their diversity in both continents and islands, elephants have also been one of my favorite animals since I was a kid and this is, so far, one of my favorite videos about Kaimere, and also my favorite series, and I would wait with excitement the video about the highland titans

[@nooneimportant834]

I'm a simple man, I see Kaimere, I click and leave a like Proboscideans especially Great as always Keenan! I hope to see a video on the Jurassic Islands

[@angelcouce1307]

It's just incredible. I thought the last video of proboscideans was the best of your channel, but every new video is better than the last! Fantastic job with this creatures, Kaimere is becoming one of the most detailed alternate worlds I have seen.

[@TalesofKaimere]

Thank you so much!!

[@skistorm739]

@@TalesofKaimere I waiting into make up completely into species but alein and fantasy after earth version's

[@darrenheideman2546]

Showcasing elephants and their kin being smaller scaled is a welcomed change of pace. I also love how there's much documentation about this world, there's still elements of mystery.

[@Dylan-Hooton]

These dwarf proboscids are nice! I really wished that these (along with the mammoths, palaeoloxodons, and oliphants) existed on Earth and are alive today alongside our current elephants. Imagine keeping some of these little pachyderms as pets... ^_^

[@dudotolivier6363]

I like the fact that you keep the original Drenduga Paleoloxodon design and the original "Tuga" desing/species. Like that, that made 4 aparts living extants species we have in the Known World currently !

[@vasantmasurekar4826]

Exceptional episode . I loved the intro and meeting all these Big Small giants was a great joy. Can't wait to meet the Mammoths and Drenduga next and absolutely looking forward to the Dinotherium episode too. This series will be my favorite😍

[@dudotolivier6363]

Despite that we only have a brief segment on the Amebelodontid with the Khorobi/Cleavertusker, i'm still happy about the presentation. That you depict this animal and its family under their true accurate view, even in the big lines. That still educative stuff and who help against the huge famous misconception of "sluggish clumsy and ridicule swamps dwellers" still very present in people mind. Instead, you depict well these animals as full land and browsers herbivores, and capable of dangerosity like mainland elephants (even if what kaimeran people think about them is exageration, the base still originate obviousely for sure from good aggressive encounters that were amplified due to mouth to ears process). And that still as an effect something to be proud off !

[@alejandroelluxray5298]

I tend to see amebelodonts as the elephant equivalent of hippos... So you can imagine how dangerous I believe they were

[@dudotolivier6363]

@@alejandroelluxray5298 Amebelodontid were fully land animals. And browser of trees branches, sticks and leaves. Again, the old representation of these animal with a shovel shaped mouth and flat large trunk inhabited swamps is completely obsolete and debunked. Sure, like all Modern Forest and Bush African and the Asian Elephants, they obviousely were very good swimmers, and passed time to time in swamps or wet areas and/or close to, but that was in a minimal level and not in a permanent one like for hippos. Sure, their physiology would have make them good to live such a life in swamps more than every others Proboscidean, but this path was never used and take by them.

[@raccoon3164]

Did we had an episode on frogs and other Amphibians already ? i don't think we saw if there is some on Kaimere That appart I LOVE Elephants ! and it is a blast to finally see them in this world

[@1998topornik]

I like that island dwarfism gets highlighted. It is shame that khoorbi got yeeted from mainland Kaimere but in exchange we got more of the giant elephants in the known world and more fleshed out very smart mini elephants. I hope in future there will place in Arvel when some of the prairie oliphaunts still roam. I am also interested if there will be more cool art of proboscideans in kaimeran context (like koga killing some giant theropod or drenduga browsing alongside some dinosaurs).

[@wminsing]

Lovely series so far, fascinating group of critters. And I LOVE how you've added other sophonts to the setting, super excited to see what's next!

[@theomnissiah-9120]

2:43 this picture just makes me laugh, dinosaur just runs by grabs the calf and leaves

[@anthonyporche8110]

Hi there! I just want to say that I'm just getting started learning about Kaimere and I'm really liking it so far, particularly the dinosaurs. In fact, I think it's becoming an inspiration for the flora and fauna in my own fictional world. Simply put, it's an alternate version of Earth in which most of the Pleistocene wildlife is still around as well as some creatures from mythology, cryptozoology, and maybe even medieval bestiaries. Or at least some of the more plausible examples. my favorite example are the dragons. My dragons are large, carnivorous reptiles descended from small, freshwater mosasaurs that survived the KT Extinction event and diversified into a family of (mostly) top order carnivores called Draconis. could Meanwhile, my dinosaurs live on their own isles in the Atlantic that I'm currently calling Gondwana. It's also known as the Isle of Singing and Dancing Chimeras after early explorers describing the dinosaurs as combinations of various known animals. For example, ceratopsians are rhinos with porcupine quills, the flightless pterosaurs look like deer, elk, and moose, or monkeys, with beaks and frills like magnificent hornbills, and more. Lastly, I've had a few fringe ideas that may or may not be in the final product, such as slimes descending from prehistoric comb jellies (Credit to Phrenotopia), wyverns as their own group of carnivores though I'm not sure if that might conflict with my griffons. Perhaps they could be mostly terrestrial animals with the flying species being an outlier of the family, maybe something resembling the cockatrice? Really, the biggest challenge would be figuring out a common ancestor for them. because

[@TalesofKaimere]

That’s awesome and I’m glad you’re enjoying Kaimere. Happy worldbuilding!

[@anthonyporche8110]

@@TalesofKaimere Thanks!

[@danielsenft5068]

This maybe one of the best episodes. and the common oliphaunt is Both Brilliant an terrifying

[@TalesofKaimere]

Thank you!

[@chancegivens9390]

Man... these proboscidean episodes have been absolutely spectacular! Once Ive finshed all of my current figurines you bet your ass ima make all of these incredible tuskers!

[@TalesofKaimere]

Heck yeah!!

[@chancegivens9390]

@@TalesofKaimere If I figure out how, I'll send you one in the future!

[@murilocorrea9360]

You've really been giving your all these episodes! It's really great to see all this diversity in such detail! I'm really excited about the Khorikoim too! I love sapient non-humanoid species and knowing they'll get their own episode is just a treat!

[@TalesofKaimere]

Heck yeah thanks! It's been great to work on!

[@EternalChairmanDev]

I have an idea for a sort of game where your a sort of wildlife conserver dealing with poachers , invasive species, maybe some shape changing poachers to or playing as one, it would probably require a means to do it full time

[@ashhawk7489]

I am loving this multipart format and learning about the island probacidians.

[@TalesofKaimere]

Thanks! I definitely have loved doing series formats it allows me to get into a lot more detail.

[@003mohamud]

Do you have a video featuring these people: 18:16? Also is that black and white skin and sharp teeth natural or are the teeth filed and the skin painted? Thanks!

[@TalesofKaimere]

Not yet. Black and white skin are tattoos and the teeth are filed.

[@thomasscaife6867]

4:05 I can’t help but think of the “a world where birds eat horses” scene from Walking with Beasts

[@TalesofKaimere]

Iconic

[@rylanbrewer3320]

On kaimere this is a world were birds eat elephants and also a world were sloths eat deer

[@lorencalfe6446]

your knowledge of anatomy is incredible!

[@TalesofKaimere]

Thank you!!

[@sivanlevi3867]

I'm liking the revision to the map design and the Khalin Islands. I do have one question for this episode. Is the Cleavertusk also called the Khorobi? Or is that a different animal? PS: I think Keenan is a rogue Assembly or Bolondakoi naturalist giving us Earthlings the all the details of Kaimere, LOL

[@TalesofKaimere]

The khorobi got split: the name now applies to tropical forest oliphaunts especially in the Kentarim islands, while the design and lore are for the cleavertusk. Old design didn’t make sense for a tropical animal so the split made sense. P.S. pls don’t say that you’ll blow my cover

[@sivanlevi3867]

Oh I see now. Good to know for future reference. And sorry about that. I meant that as a joke!

[@sabithasajan5564]

Hello there! I used to look lots of your artworks on Pinterest. Glad to you see u have a channel. Love you work. Keep going 😊

[@TalesofKaimere]

Thanks so much!

[@Luca-kd2sg]

Great episode! I really love dwarf elephants.

[@TalesofKaimere]

Heck yeah thanks!

[@dudotolivier6363]

I like a lot the humoristic piece at 8:35 by @j_stocky ! Showing in a comedic way the fate of the mainland woolly mammoth and it's dwarf form from the Wrangel island, and the fact there was interbredding inside this specific population XD

[@Aerostarm]

It hasn’t quite been 2 months, but hopefully your video timetable has cleared up a bit, could you make a conlanging video about the languages of Kaimere now?

[@TalesofKaimere]

I don’t yet have a conlang sponsor and unfortunately until I do I won’t be able to devote the time it will take to make a conlang episode

[@Aerostarm]

@@TalesofKaimere awwwe, I better start saving up then. Also how much would a non-animal related episode cost?

[@officialc1459]

I wonder how eels faired in kaimere. I don’t remember any being mentioned.

[@TalesofKaimere]

They’re doin well I just haven’t taken the time to study their fossil history and figure out possible ancestors.

[@officialc1459]

@@TalesofKaimere ah I see. Well hope someday we get to see some of the long fellows. From the poison blood conger eels to the famous moray.

[@TedShatner10]

The Tuga are very cute.

[@dudotolivier6363]

So, the Chuga is now 3 apart species instead of one ? Ok, that unexpected yet still interesting in the same time. I'm very hyped for the final episode about him/them !

[@TalesofKaimere]

No the chuga is one species, but I realize that isn't clear without the context of the episode: werephaunt is basically Archaic English for male elephant, wifphaunt is female elephant, while kinderphaunt is a bit of germanic thrown into the mix for little or child elephant.

[@dudotolivier6363]

@@TalesofKaimere Nice ! Love when you work on the different languages' aspects of this worldbuilding setting too ! So, that, that is very interesting ! :)

[@thenerdbeast7375]

_shudders_ The Firebacks, I predicted they would be a problem in the forests and I was right. Their intelligence likely surpasses that of the Megaraptorans and is a match for that of the proboscideans, making it almost a battle of tactics oh herds putting up defenses and Firebacks trying to strategically outplay them.

[@beastmaster0934]

Honestly, if Kaimere ever goes through another mass extinction. My moneys on either the terror birds or cockatrices in becoming the new apex predator.

[@InnahaNyellaV]

I wonder how big grassland oliphants were compared to the Drenduga of the known world. The Nikari- Oliphant seemed to be un- pare with the paleoloxodon or bigger, though it is possible they are sort of lightly build as they did live with robust monarchs.

[@TalesofKaimere]

At their largest, grassland oliphaunts approached the size of the theoretical maximum of mammals, where Palaeoloxodon namadicus and Paraceratherium sit.

[@InnahaNyellaV]

Intresting

[@ryanchen1819]

Other than amebelodonts, mammoths, mastodons, palaeoloxodon, and stegodonts, what other kinds of tuga are there?

[@drthomas06]

Another banger from the lad himself

[@TalesofKaimere]

Heck yeah!!

[@ryanchen1819]

How do common oliphaunts and tuga interact with hippos?

[@dariusrose9909]

Hope Deinotheres get an honourable mention.

[@TalesofKaimere]

Oh they're getting their own episode!

[@dariusrose9909]

@@TalesofKaimere You are a god sir. I probably send you an email about an episodes about the Komu and the giant Abelisaurid.

[@koopajuniorsavannah5170]

Just Amazing how do you make the art?

[@TalesofKaimere]

Thank you! I draw it in colored pencil then edit in photoshop

[@dboot8886]

The mini-phants are *people?!* Cool!

[@BigBossMan538]

It’s great to see elephants still hanging on. Shows how surprisingly hardy they can be in challenging environments. Do you think that musth is ancestral to elephants? Or derived? Interesting to think about

[@TalesofKaimere]

That’s a great question! I presume it’s ancestral to at least the giant clade. It would be a rubbish trait for an animal that isn’t bigger than their predators

[@My_Favorite_GOATS]

Love the fact that in our own history elephants are known as giants second only to non avian dinosaurs. While in Kaimere it's like "Hey you know those small trunked things?" "Yeah." "Why do they have that one giant relative in arvel?" *shrugs*

[@TalesofKaimere]

“Idk I just figured he was a big freak” -Khalin who one time set foot on the mainland and hated it

[@My_Favorite_GOATS]

20:12 so menephaunt(?) are to other proboscedians what humans are to great apes?

[@TalesofKaimere]

Yup pretty much!

[@thegamecrasherthemastergam8485]

So boss, when are we doing a video on the languages and writing systems of Kaimere?

[@TalesofKaimere]

I’d be all over that! Unfortunately haven’t had any interested sponsors, and there’s so much work to be done there that I can’t afford to devote the time yet. Once I get my feet more under me and I have more budget to spend on non-sponsored episodes that’s definitely on the list!

[@ianswinford5570]

This was awesome! Say, do any nations in Kaimere use proboscideans as war mounts, like the Carthaginians did with their war elephants. Speaking of which, there’s a fantasy book series where people use dinosaurs as war mounts called “The Dinosaur Lords” by Victor Milan. I’ve heard mixed reviews, but I think you might like it.

[@TalesofKaimere]

Thanks! That will be covered in the drenduga episode. I've seen them back when I worked at Barnes and Noble. The pitch on the back of the book and first few pages didn't grab me (seems like it's really just 'throw dinosaurs and knights together and do no worldbuilding around those implications') but I'd give it another chance if I heard good reviews and had some time.

[@davidegaruti2582]

could in the future of kaimere island elephants adapt as cursorial erbivores that prefer to quickly run away from their assailants rather than fighting against them ? given thei are hind gut fermenters they could become like horses or capybaras ...

[@TalesofKaimere]

Unlikely (specialized animals usually struggle to adapt) but it's possible! Deinotherium was a highly cursorial animal.

[@DrKarmo]

Are there any giant prairie gomphotheres around? The concept you made for them were so good

[@TalesofKaimere]

Not in the known world, but there are two species in the realms beyond we will meet in later episodes!

[@DrKarmo]

@@TalesofKaimere speaking of that, the known world is the main setting of the series and where most of the big civilizations are, but how common is human society beyond the known world? Are there any other large empires? Are people from beyond considered barbarians?

[@bonemarrow3439]

Man i wish we had this diversity of elephants, here on earth

[@TalesofKaimere]

We almost did 😭 only 10-12k years ago there were several species in many more genera. So close!

[@highlyvurgultis3706]

Aw man, the only mastodon left is on a super dangerous island nobody can go to :( That aside the tiny proboscideans are some of my favorite kaimeran (and real world although theyre all extinct) animals

[@hinskiemaso9198]

Are Chuga closely related to Grassland Oliphaunt? Chuga despite just looking like Oliphaunt calf, Oliphaunts evolved to be smarter and to have more complex socialyty.

[@TalesofKaimere]

They absolutely did! Usually classified in the same genus Magnaolifantus

[@electrostrike1236]

I love all the new elephants of Kaimere but I have to know is the Khorikoim a updated version of the Chuga?

[@TalesofKaimere]

Yes. Chuga is just the common tongue word for them, whereas Khorikoim is their name in Kentarim. They generally don’t speak in words so don’t much care what we call them but since the Kentarim are the only Kaimerans who actually interact with them, it seemed silly to not use their word.

[@Loshko86]

a lot of unique ones :]

[@juanisol8275]

Exploring More of the archilepago borderlands of the Known World!! Yay!! Dwarf and Colossal Elephants concepts are Awesome!!🦣🏝️🐘

[@timothystuedemann5390]

I found the name of what could be lurking on blackfish island but you might need a bag of Diamonds. Kaimeres version of the Grootslang. Half elephant half snake or in this case maybe a mammallike reptile.

[@shingtiong9425]

Your editing skills have improved very much.Another awesome episodes.Also maniphant perfection wonder if any that are named manfred.Did you redesign the dredunga?

[@TalesofKaimere]

Thank you! Drenduga got a partial redesign. Made some anatomical adjustments to the old one to represent the bald summer coat, while being primarily in the highlands, they do grow a winter coat. Will be exploring further in the drenduga episode.

[@dudotolivier6363]

@@TalesofKaimere From what I see, the First/Old design seem untouched. Must be very minors traits. Still, i'm happy that you keep it as it was overall. After all, elephants are quite basic animals when it come about the physical appearance.

[@FatFish7600]

What happened to the Grassland Olifaunts outside of known world? Did they went extinct?

[@TalesofKaimere]

There is a relict population in Kairul

[@ananslator3655]

I wanna personally see a video on giant reptiles like crocodiles and snakes and perhaps large bugs like the ones from the Carboniferous period

[@chheinrich8486]

Couldnt you talked a little bit about the koga, the deinotherium from kairul

[@TalesofKaimere]

They're getting their own episode at the end of the series.

[@chheinrich8486]

@@TalesofKaimere oh thank you by the way, have you seen the Trailer for meg 2 the trench, maybe referate the megalodon attacks trex scene in a future story🤣

[@levinjoseph233]

The last one was interesting But one doubt do they seafear with boats

[@liambrandley2716]

Will we get to learn more about the giant oliphaunt later in this series

[@TalesofKaimere]

Yes.

[@Tuna_the_shark]

I wished that my world was this big

[@soudino2723]

are their any undiscovered proboscideans in/around the general area of the known world?

[@TalesofKaimere]

None planned

[@themadkipaerys6713]

I take it Oiliphants are taking the place of the Drenduga as the Titan garden's resident elephant?

[@TalesofKaimere]

Yup! Although they aren’t super common in the gardens

[@rylanbrewer3320]

Why were drenduha replaces

[@TalesofKaimere]

Too big, easy zentaur kill in that context

[@ryanchen1819]

Though Keenan did say that drenduga occasionally wander to Ni'Khar. So chances are, may have wandered off in the titan gardens though like the common oliphaunt, aren't common and in the case of the drenduga, even more rare and more vagrant.

[@ryanchen1819]

Is Blackfish Island the same place where the insular giant Kaimeran echidna lives?

[@TalesofKaimere]

Yup!

[@GreatAukEntertainment]

I hope rhino's managed to gain a foothold in kaimere just like the elephants! A rhino charging a pack of cockatrices would be a great wallpaper! 🦏

[@ananslator3655]

Hell yeah that will be cool as heck

[@shingtiong9425]

They did.It's descendant from the Java rhino.

[@dudotolivier6363]

Keenan have already established that Rhino indeed have a great successfull run on Kaimere, which continue in Modern Kaimere.

[@Ditidos]

I think there is a huge diversity of rhino species in Kairul. But have mostly dissapeared from the Known World, al least that's what I remember from old episodes.

[@dudotolivier6363]

@@Ditidos So far on the Known World, there was only one single rhino, and who was presented during the rhino day special. Otherwise, Keenan never speak about rhinos inside the Known World. But he have plans for a species in the Houze Prairie and one in the Highland of Arvel.

[@Ditidos]

Buah, such diversity in a clade that cannot compete with the apex predatory dinosaurs. That said, what happened to the stinking, foul tasting Khorobi from Arvel? Were they reworked to the Cleavertusk or just retconnet out of existence. Also, is cool seeing some oliphants surviving. They are a very nice design and the naming convention is quite clever.

[@TalesofKaimere]

Thanks! The khorobi was split: design and lore is with the cleavertusk, while the name is the Kentarim word for the common oliphaunt. Having a shaggy dude didn’t make sense for a tropical island so rather than make the khorobi naked, thereby stripping it of the iconic white cap, I just separated it from the name because it would be silly for the isolationist To Katon to call a local animal a name in a language spoken several thousand miles away

[@landenriley8442]

Doesn't musth affect all creatures when they're in heat

[@TalesofKaimere]

Getting too aggressive is not a good adaptation when you’re not the biggest bloke on the block. Musth was generally selected against being too extreme

[@dudotolivier6363]

I have a question, If I remember correctly from your social accounts (but I don't know no more which one), there 12 species of dwarf elephants living in the Khalim/South Islands that belong either to Maleoloxodon or Mammoth. I think it's Paleoloxodon. Right ? If yes, that mean that we know 3 of the 12 dwarf species that were presented in this episode, and 8 remaining unknown. But as you mention it in the social account, they are barely diferences in everything, especially in ecology and behavior, so would have been boring and not relevant to prsent them all.

[@TalesofKaimere]

That is correct. I do not have time to draw every Palaeoloxodon tuga species especially since the two here represent the two extremes in size and build. Every other is somewhere in the middle.

[@dudotolivier6363]

@@TalesofKaimere So, that made 10 remaining species of elephants that aren't Paleoloxodon ! On 23 species of Tugas/Dwarf elephants : - 12 species of Paleoloxodon in total. - at least 2 species of Mammoth - 1 species of Stegodontid - 1 species of Amebelodontid - 1 species of Mammutid - and, as so, 6 last species of unknown affiliations/relationship !

[@TheGBZard]

May I ask where we can find the music you use?

[@TalesofKaimere]

Epidemic Spunds!

[@liambrandley2716]

Which is more common or has a bigger impact in modern kaimere, elephants or ceratopsians?

[@TalesofKaimere]

In the continents of the known world I'd say elephants. Definitely ceratopsians in Kairul.

[@ryanchen1819]

@@TalesofKaimere Speaking of which, how do ceratopsians and proboscideans interact with each other?

[@skistorm739]

how many mutant species are in karimere?

[@skellybones271]

Elephantus time

[@beastmaster0934]

Are grassland Oliphaunts still around in Kairul?

[@TalesofKaimere]

Yup!

[@beastmaster0934]

@@TalesofKaimereAwesome, at least they ain’t extinct. Man, day by day, Kairul is getting more and more amazing. A continent bigger than Eurasia, with a vast grassland that encompasses the entire northern portion of the continent. Where the Uktan, Ghlanos, Common Hyena, and many other Houze Prairie animals first evolved.

[@josephlongbone4255]

With my knowledge of geopolitics, blackfish Island has the potential to become a great power. They have an isolated location which helps protect them from foreign invasion. A large temperate ireland with large forest resources for shipbuilding, flat plains for farming and agriculture and a strong naval tradition. Using these resources they had the possibility to dominate the surrounding islands and build an overseas empire...

[@TalesofKaimere]

You have a keen eye! Put a pin in that. It may come up again later on...

[@josephlongbone4255]

@@TalesofKaimere I'm British, insular boat boys are in my blood.

[@timothystuedemann5390]

So there are still some grassland Oliphants?

[@spinadosantos3541]

Yes

[@mandrakeblake-tw1uv]

Let us remember Reverend Dr.Elizabeth Strong, the one whom this video was originally dedicated to.

[@SashedPotato]

This video really made me realise how alien proboscidians are.

[@TalesofKaimere]

They really are crazy

[@maozilla9149]

nice

[@MrT_Rex]

Haaa insular evolution...so interesting TINYPHANTS

[@andrearossi6953]

So the drenduga no longer live in nikhar?

[@TalesofKaimere]

Correct. They might occasionally wander that far (bulls especially are highly migratory and if they find themselves north of the mountains they might just meander) but it isn’t common and their range is mostly concentrated to the south

[@ryanchen1819]

Did any Asian elephants hopped onto some island(s)?

[@TalesofKaimere]

Nope. The tropical islands they would have been comfortable on were too close to shore to be a sanctuary

[@youtubejosephwm6699]

Is kaimere speculative evolution?

[@TalesofKaimere]

It is indeed!

[@youtubejosephwm6699]

@@TalesofKaimere okay what type of speculative evolution is it a seed world?

[@doppelhelixes]

Since you often said they got health issues because of inbreeding/small populations. I recomend reading about inbreeding depression. Once the inbreeding depression is overcome (all negative recessive traits are removed out of the population) there is no real downside to inbreeding anymore. Therefore as long as individuals with negative traits will be removed out of the population, it is sustainable. The reason why humans avoid inbreeding as much, because we did not allow sick kings and queens to die but instead forced them to produce an prince....

[@TalesofKaimere]

Considering how often insular populations have had extinction attributed to inbreeding, I think it’s safe to say it’s at least enough of a problem that it was worth mentioning in the episode

[@timothystuedemann5390]

Well from Africa there is a myth that there is a snake related to elephants. So some sort of carnivorous elephant look alike is not that far fetched.

[@alghoulaj7172]

This is one of my favorite mammalian episodes, which I'm pretty sure it'll be kinda hard to surpass for how amazing it is. So, the Grassland Oliphants are totally extinct? Well, that's a huge shame, as they were one of the most amazing Megafauna of Kaimere we ever knew so far.

[@TalesofKaimere]

The genus still has two species beyond the known world, but they are extinct in the known world itself.

[@alghoulaj7172]

@@TalesofKaimere Oh well, at least they still live. So, there will be an episode about them in the next few weeks or... A much later time?

[@sentinelstorm487]

Between its unknown ecology, xenophobic native population, and presence of a magic cult - Blackfish island sounds like a fantastic setting for a TTRPG campaign no?

[@TalesofKaimere]

They would certainly be a potent faction!

[@MammothMorals]

Wouldn't sapient be more accurate for the manephaunts? Sentients is that they experience life like most animal's do. sapience is how intelligently aware they are.

[@TalesofKaimere]

While sophont, sentient, and sapient are often used to describe something of or near human intelligent, only sophont is restricted to that definition. I use the other two words to have some vocabulary variety so I’m not saying sophont over and over again. Sapient and sentient both have other definitions so you’re right that they aren’t as precise, but since both are synonymous just have other definitions too, I’m content with my word choice

[@baeuy5019]

Elephant

[@rcthom12]

Seafaring elephants?!

[@TalesofKaimere]

Heck yeah!

[@miguellilly8859]

oliphaunt's are creepy; there my favorite elephant

[@TalesofKaimere]

Heck yeah!

[@williamblue356]

3:51 This is a world where birds eat elephants (if you don't get the reference you had no childhood lol).

[@Aerostarm]

I don’t get the reference

[@williamblue356]

@@Aerostarm it's a reference to a scene in walking with beasts where a giant prehistoric bird called gastornis hunts and kills a small primitive horse while the narrator says "this is a world where birds eat horses". Funnily enough, gastornis was actually proven to be a herbivore a few years after the documentary series was released but I digress.

[@Aerostarm]

@@williamblue356 ooooh! I loved prehistoric beast!

[@loisonnut]

Instead of investing in anti-predator defenses, some of these guys need to invest in a better barber.

[@TalesofKaimere]

Brutal lol