CONTENTS

• Nonhuman Peoples of Siphonia
• Sentiary (Table of Sentient Species)

NONHUMAN PEOPLES OF SIPHONIA

Most of Siphonia's seas lie 4-5 km below the old sea level. Beside trapping heat, the high air pressure makes flight easy. Even large animals glide on skin flaps from tree to tree, and many fly.

Including the people. No, not humans. In the tropics, at least, it's too hot for them: up to 50 C (120 F) and 100% humidity! The dominant species here will be giant parrots. Even our parrots are as bright as chimps, though it took until this decade for the evidence to finally overcome our smug mammalocentrism. And they manage it with brains weighing only ounces. Bird brains (despite human insults) beat mammal brains for efficiency--and by a wide margin!

But the dense air of Siphonia's deep basins can support fliers as heavy as 25 kg (55 lbs). Most megaparrots are only a bit over half this, but that's quite large enough for them to have brainweights approaching a pound. They're just as intelligent as a human--perhaps more so. These megaparrots are imposing creatures in other ways as well: brilliantly colored, with much deeper (but still piercing) voices, and wingspans up to 4 meters (13').

They have close cousins in the Pacific: crested white cockatoos. They're even larger and (possibly) more intelligent--the Agassiz and Pacific Deeps have air 20% denser than in the Atlantic or African Deeps.

Equally imposing are some more distant cousins: megaravens. They're even less recognizable, for in these sweltering basins, black feathers are a sun-absorbing disadvantage; as ravens spread into the Deeps and grew, they lightened in color, ending up looking more like their close cousins the jays: various mixtures of gray, blue and white. But they're unmistakably ravens: huge heads, rich but hoarse voices, the playfulness tinged with a dark irony... really, they haven't changed a bit. A useful tonic to anyone grown tired of parrots' loud good cheer (punctuated by equally loud prima-donna tantrums).

But fliers aren't the only creatures who have grown larger, with startling consequences for brain size. For an example I'll use the species you're most likely to meet here in the Deeps: a newly evolved people who cope with the heat and humidity in a different way, by hardly coming out of the water, in the day at least. You see them in every port and river town: big wet furry things chirping at you and wiggling their whiskers. They're descendants of giant freshwater Amazonian otters, of course.

Their quick evolution was one of those unpredictable consequences of radical environmental change. Recent studies show that the size of animals and the number of species (and probably total biomass, too) correlate well with the oxygen content of the air. Earth's atmosphere has varied greatly over its history--in the last billion years alone, it's varied from 13 to 30% oxygen! While the percentage of oxygen on Siphonia isn't much higher than on our Earth, the dense rainforests in the deepest basins have raised it to 21 or 22%. However, that's merely the percentage. In the Pacific Deeps, air pressure's so high that 70-80% more oxygen is available--a bigger change than animal life has seen since brains evolved! All that extra oxygen makes it much easier for an animal to grow larger--OR to grow larger specialized, oxygen-hungry organs. Like brains! They're the costliest organ of all, pound for pound, measured in both calorie and oxygen consumption. In an environment where food isn't too hard to get--and these exuberant jungle coasts sure qualify--it turns out that supercharged air has freed many nonflying species to grow much larger and more intelligent. Amazonian otters, already big and smart, apparently crossed a crucial threshhold: social intelligence, the ability to understand, predict, and influence other creatures' behavior, became more important as they got less predictable. A spiral of brain-growth ensued, rather quickly tripling brain-size... precisely as it already has in humans and dolphins (and possibly elephants) in our world, and to ravens and parrots in Siphonia.

Other than scaling up, the otters haven't changed much, physically. Better thumbs, of course--though they were always pretty good at snatching fish. The main adaptation is to heat: they're gracile, that is, slenderer, with longer limbs. More surface area per pound means a cooler otter: more evaporative heat dispersal when they're on land.

But this heat-adaptation isn't extreme. Some otters are now found in the southern Louisville Islands, at 50 south, below glacial peaks. It's much warmer than our Antarctic was, of course--air that dense guarantees it never quite snows on the coast, not at 50, and not much even at 60--but still, they've come a long way from the muddy tributaries of the equatorial Amazon.

Of course, mentally they've come further still; from bright animals to people in a geological blink.

SENTIARY

A (very tentative) bestiary of sentient species on Siphonia, 100,000 years after the Big Slurp. Probably this will undergo drastic editing--down to a mere half-dozen intelligent species. 100,000 years is so brief! (My rough draft had a million years, but I wanted the landforms to stay recognizable--those sedimentary plains and volcanoes and porous coral peaks would weather a lot.) On the other hand, I'm not sure elephants, ravens and parrots really have that far to go. The more favorable conditions of the Deeps may tip them over the edge in quite a short time. When the world changes, life really scrambles. Punctuated equilibrium? Simpler to put it the other way round: latent fluidity! And the Big Slurp, like the K-T impact, brings it out.

SPECIES	WHAT?	WHERE?	BEHAVIOR
AI	Artificial intelligences are common on and around Siphonia, but AIs are better seen as a phase of life than as a species--you may start out as an animal or a program and careen through a series of incarnations as a robot, organic person, pattern in the Web, chip-enhanced animal, smart tree... depending on your work, location, and personality.	Ubiquitous, but especially common in orbital cities	Pure AIs shouldn't have a species-character, but they do: without animal instincts, very young and old AIs tend toward geeky, naive, enthusiastic idealism, while moderately experienced (adolescent?) AIs tend toward a "just kidding" arrogance--frustrated with other species' slowness to accept the Obvious Thing To Do.
BONOBO	Chimplike, but leggier and more upright, gracile (lightly built). A gentle, sensual, intuitive and psychologically perceptive people. Omnivorous, but today mostly ethical vegetarians.	Native to the rainforests of the eastern Atlantic Basin, they're now found around the world in tropical and subtropical lowlands.	Bonobo communes and sex hostels are famous--people of every species seek healing there. Bonobos living among other species often become psychologists, counselors, and doctors, or actors, dancers and standup comics.
CETACEAN	see DOLPHIN, ORCA, WHALE
CHIM	Omnivorous arboreal apes, small but stocky and strong; descended (literally: three miles down) from chimpanzees.	Rainforests like Angolia and Pernambuco and Helenia in the Atlantic Basin, the Penrhyn Sea in Pacifica, and the Bengal Valley.	Often found in politics and other competitive sports.
COCKATOO	Properly "megacockatoo", these elegant white crested birds have wingspans of 4-5 meters and weigh up to 20 kilos--one of which is a compact, efficient brain.	Common in warmer lowlands.	If you think of cockatoos as crested, bleach-blonde parrots with sweeter voices, you won't be far off. Social, a bit temperamental. Masters of 3D visualization, with an ear for music to intimidate a whale.
CYBORG	see AI
DOLPHIN: TURSIOPS (BOTTLENOSE)	These small fish-eating whales are little changed, other than the fingers at their fin tips.	Rocky coasts, especially with offshore deeps where nutrients upwell, like the Atlantic Ocean's Romanche Gap or the Amirante Strait in the African Ocean.	Jokes, jokes, always with the jokes...
ELEPHANT	About the size of the Indian elephant. Two races, one much skinner and leggier; a heat-adaptation. Tip of the trunk is more differentiated; most individuals now have three large "fingers," all opposable.	Worldwide, from the uplands (where they look more Earthlike) to the cooler basins (where the anorexics reign).	Clannish--it's hard to live among species you can squash inadvertently. They dominate construction, infrasonic music, storytelling. They invented body murals. They talk like they invented dreamwork, too, but they're just very good at it.
GLIDERWOLF	see WOLVES
GORILLA	Shy vegetarian apes, descendants of our lowland gorillas, but with bigger brains and smaller, leaner bodies (to cope with the heat of the sea-basins).	These evolved gorillas inhabit the hill-jungles of the Atlantic Basin. Highland gorillas, little changed, live on the ex-continents--mainly the Congo and Amazon Plateaus.	Lowland gorillas are mostly silvicultural Buddhists. Highland-gorilla brains, lacking the extra oxygen of the Deeps, haven't enlarged. Are they even people?
HUMAN	Balding, non-arboreal, quasi-amphibious apes. Though rather inept in the water, they cluster along coasts and congregate in great mating rookeries on sunny beaches.	Worldwide, but rare in the rainforested parts of the Deeps; also rare in inland deserts.	Obsessed with exploring niches they don't naturally fit in, humans are big customers for strap-on wings, scuba gear, space suits, chip implants, etc.
OCTOPUS	A molluscan people, mostly nocturnal, communicating via signs, pictures projected on the skin, and typed text.	Rocky shallows and coral reefs. In the Deeps, they're increasingly seen in mangrove forests, climbing out of the water into the trees.	A shy species, wary of vertebrates and little seen. Dexterous. Good sculptors. Octopus decor beats Rococo for sheer feverish invention.
ORANGUTAN	Large arboreal apes with red-brown fur and flattish faces. Vegetarians, still rather solitary by nature like their smaller-brained ancestors, communicating mostly by email.	Dense rainforests of the new sea-basins. The ex-continents are too cold for them.	Solitary eco-monitoring, which for orangutans is a form of worship. Less mystical orangutans are often engineers, as the species has an extraordinary feel for tools and mechanical processes.
ORCA	Giant black and white dolphins, essentially. Often "killer whales" in older texts.	Coasts where cooler nutrient-laden water upwells and fish abound: the Aleutian and Kurile Trenches in the northern Pacific or the Kermadec/Tonga Trench in the Agassiz.	Orcas, both individuals and tribes, vary too much to summarize easily. A quirky people.
OTTER	A lake and river people, up to two meters long, based mostly on the giant Amazonian otter. Omnivores partial to fish--and everything else.	Ubiquitous on rivers, lakes and seashores all over Siphonia, though most common in the warmer Deeps.	All the cliches are true. Otters really are as playful and good-natured as you think. But their dexterity and cunning rival their social skill--as many otters are civic engineers than sushi chefs, sculptors, or clowns. Most, of course, have more mundane work: fishers, sailors, traders, and dockworkers.
PARROT	Properly "megaparrots", these red and green omnivorous nut-loving birds have wingspans of 4-5 meters and weigh up to 20 kilos--one of which is a compact, efficient brain.	Ubiquitous in the warmer Deeps: north Agassiz, the southern Pacific, the Bengal Delta, the Wharton Sea, northern African Ocean and the central Atlantic.	Often fruit and nut farmers, but parrots are in every field--except solitary work. They're smart, quirky, loud, individualistic... but deeply social.
RAVEN	These long-billed omnivorous birds of variable color (grey, blue, white and mixed) have wingspans of 4-5 meters and weigh up to 20 kilos--one of which is a compact, efficient brain.	Ubiquitous in the cooler Deeps. Colonies can be found even in the torrid zone.	Curious, playful, acrobatic. Ravens can be found in every field but opera singer (though their scats and raps are unsurpassed). A raven will find a way to turn any task into fun. Sociable, outspoken, but low-maintenance friends: they bear solitude better than parrots.
SQUID, GIANT	A huge carnivorous mollusc of the deep sea, surfacing only on dark nights. Able to project complex images on their skin, and navigate in three dimensions with unsurpassed skill. More sociable than their ancestors, but still loners by nature.	Trenches and deeps all over Siphonia, but little seen by other peoples.	The squid of Kurile Trench in the western Pacific, wrestling whales before huge audiences, qualify as hams--lowbrow perhaps, but the most social of squid. The squid of Meteor Trench (southwest Atlantic) have loftier ambitions--as starship pilots.
TREE: ENTS AND HUORNS	Tree-minds sensing and directing the growth of whole groves, not single trees. Ent isn't a species name; a number of tree-species link like this.	dense rainforests of the Deeps	Not an easy group to know, as Ents and especially Huorns (antisocial Ents, though the name may be a joke) mostly ignore animal life, though they may have AI friends and seem to like baleen whales as webpals.
TREE: INN-TREE	Large sentient trees growing warm, podlike rooms (windows and all). Inn trees bud off food (and social drugs like hot coffee or cold beer) as naturally as a cow gives milk.	Rainforests like the Philippine Deep, Carolinea in the south Pacific, or the Bengal Delta.	Tree-inns shelter other species in exchange for gossip, entertainment and nutrients (a euphemism for garbage and shit, OK?)
TREE: MOTHERTREE, TREEMOM, FRUITBEARER	Tree-minds whose bodies are living genetic factories, bearing strange fruit: new organisms, from naturalistic to utilitarian to fanciful... even intelligent.	Rainforests in the Deeps. Widely distributed but not common anywhere.	The art of playing God. Species creation. Planetary ikebana, if you prefer.
WHALE, BALEEN	Large filter-feeding cetaceans. Several species: gray, finback, blue, etc.	Dolphins are coastal; sperm whales hunt the deeps; but baleens graze most of Siphonia's seas. Typical calving lagoon: Agassiz Sound, the eastern tip of Agassiz Sea. Largest music festival: Conrad Sound in the southern African Ocean	It's as singers that the big whales are famed, though their contributions to philosophy can't be ignored. Living centuries without hands, unable to affect the world directly, makes you think.
WHALE, SPERM	Big, squarish-browed toothed whales. The biggest brains in the solar system, bar none (up to 7 kg--yours is 1.5 if you're lucky).	Deep seas, especially around trenches where small, non-intelligent squid abound.	The biggest brains in the solar system--and what do they do with them? Championship squid wrestling! More proof God (or Darwin) is asleep at the wheel...
WOLF, GLIDERWOLF	Large canines with broad skin flaps, able to glide long distances in Siphonia's thick air, even soar on thermals. Wolves are classed as Carnivora, but they were always omnivores, and today they're farmers and herders--mostly (high-protein) vegetarians.	Mountain, cliff and mesa country. Typical: Clippertonia on the east shore of the Pacific.	Small farms and dairies, Mesa Verde style cliff dwellings. Wolf cuisine is famous, expecially wolf cheese, wolf tofu.

The following route snakes around Siphonia, covering most features (under construction)

1. Arctic Valleys, sea level to 3 km high
2. Atlantic Ocean (our N. and S.E. Atlantic), sea level
3. African Ocean (S. Atlantic plus W Indian Ocean), sea level
4. Bengal Sea (N. Indian Ocean), sea level
5. Australian Ocean (E. Indian Ocean, Tasman Sea), sea level
6. Davis Sea (S. Indian Ocean), sea level
7. Anzac Basins (N.Z. to Australia), 0.5-2.5 km high
8. Mornington Sea (S.E. Pacific) sea level
9. Nazca Seas (E. Pacific), sea level to 1 km high
10. Agassiz Basin (S. Pacific), 1 km down
11. Pacific Ocean (central & N. Pacific), 1 km down
12. East Asian Seas, 1-3.5 km high
13. Javan Seas, 0.5-2.5 km high
14. Australia, 4-5 km high
15. Amazon Highlands and Andean Cap, 4-8 km high
16. African Highlands, 5-6 km high
17. Antarctic Cap, 4-5 km high (no, not 7-8!)
18. European and Siberian Highlands, 4-6 km high
19. Caribbean Lakes, 2-5 km high
20. Canadian Highlands, 4-6 km high

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