Taxa in Recovery, Part 1: The Rat-Grasses

Of all the major plant families, rat-grasses suffered the heaviest losses at the end of the Muricene. Only three species out of thousands would survive; one from the ratstem lineage, one member of the rat-reeds, and the Aglirian drunk-grass. The latter had already been isolated from the rest of the Magnigranaceae for nearly two million years when the extinction struck, living on the not-yet-interconnected Gecko Isles. With their reproduction no longer tied to Muridiungulate granivores, the drunk-grasses were unaffected by the rat-grassland collapse. Meanwhile, tectonic uplift and volcanic activity was gradually building up the Isles into the larger landmass of Aglirium. Once warm temperatures returned, they exploded in diversity. One species became upwards of a hundred, and the drunk-grasses became a family in their own right: the Fructogranaceae, or Fruitgrasses.

The Drunkfruit (Inebriofructus) is the most basal fruitgrass, relying on a dispersal strategy unchanged from its ancestors. Like regular grasses, its seed coat is fused with the pericarp into a single layer. In Fructogranaceae, this layer never hardens into a tough shell, but rather remains soft and fleshy. Without protection from the elements, these fruits quickly spoil and ferment, attracting geckos and kiwis that enjoy their intoxicating effects. The single small seed within each fruit is then often ingested by accident. With nothing protecting it from the acid in the herbivore's stomach, the seed has a less than 0.1% chance of surviving digestion. The few that make it out alive proceed to germinate within the pile of dung, growing into small, thorny bushes ubiquitous across the subcontinent. Drunkfruit plants often go many years before flowering, as they need to store enough energy to produce hundreds of their grape-sized berries to ensure a few might sprout successfully.

Derived Fructogranaceous plants have added a layer of skin to the outside of their fruit, keeping it safe from damage and delaying fermentation. Floatseed Berries (Thalassofructus) are one such example, growing around Aglirium's coastline. Their fruits are consumed primarily by small seawis and semi-terrestrial Thalassaurs, providing a sugary morsel to supplement their often carbohydrate-poor diets. In return, the grains within get deposited elsewhere on the beach, quickly digging their sinuous roots into the unstable dunes. In the event that a seed finds itself swept away from shore, it can survive for up to a week at sea, sprouting wherever they happen to land. Especially large fruits, packed with above-average stores of energy, may even make the journey all the way to the Abelian or Loxodian coast.

The Panapterran beaches are home to a handful of species of Seastem (Salinogranus), a descendant of the salty ratstem and the only genus in its family, Salinogranaceae. After evolving during the Muricene to live in algae-choked conditions where rattalopes rarely dared venture, it too eventually stopped relying on them to spread its seeds. Instead, seastems grow atop shore-hugging matkelp colonies, dropping their seeds into the pale green ooze that supports them. The algae serves as fertilizer while the seedlings' roots weave their way into the mat, eventually growing long enough to dangle into the water below. As they age, horizontal roots also begin to spread, creating a dense structure that strengthens the matkelp ecosystem.

In far-off Choeropica, the last of the rat-reeds survives in tropical wetlands. Here, giant sappybaras are the only remaining seed-spreading rats, allowing a single species of Muridiungulate-reliant plant to survive. It is known as the Rat-Tree (Granidendron pseudodendroides) and is the largest pseudotree of the Early Arthrocene, reaching twelve meters after just a single growing season. Its seeds, hard and roughly walnut-sized, grow in clusters of hundreds, eventually weighing the plant down so much that its branches snap off. The strong-jawed Sappopotamus (Tetradactylus latipes) quickly devours the grains, and those that aren't ulverized are spread far and wide across the swamp.