Darwin IV

Darwin IV is a fictional planet that was the subject of Wayne Barlowe's book Expedition and the television special, Alien Planet, based on Expedition. Although the details of the discovery and exploration of Darwin IV differ in the two presentations, both are essentially the same in their depiction of the planetary environment and its native lifeforms, whose abundance and variety prompt the name Darwin.

Expedition describes Darwin IV as the fourth of six planets orbiting a binary star system approximately 6.5 light years from the Sol system. Darwin IV is discovered by a benevolent and technologically superior alien race known as the Yma. The Yma also provide suitable transportation to the planet for a number of human observers by means of an unspecified faster-than-light drive system. This technology reduces the travel time to a much more manageable 2 year journey, during which the explorers inhabit "sleep-pods." Barlowe notes that the Darwinian day lasts 26.7 hours and that its gravity is 0.6 times that of the Earth. Darwin IV's most notable surface feature is "Mare Amoebicus," the Amoebic Sea.

In Alien Planet a less fantastic scenario is presented where a ship called the Von Braun is sent to explore an alien world outside the solar system. The Von Braun is sent to a binary star system about six and half light years from Earth. At 20% of the speed of light (.2c), it takes over 40 years to travel to this system. Upon arrival it goes into orbit around Darwin IV, the Von Braun deployed the Darwin Reconnaissance Orbiter to scan the planet from orbit. The Von Braun also dispatches three identically shaped lighter-than-air probes to the planet surface. These three probes are:

Leonardo da Vinci (nicknamed "Leo" and colored blue).
Isaac Newton (nicknamed "Ike" and colored yellow).
Balboa (named after Vasco Nuñez de Balboa and colored red). Balboa did not survive entry into the Darwin IV atmosphere. (Balboa was evidently doomed from the start--the screenwriters of Alien Planet never proposed a nickname for it.)

In both stories, the low gravity and dense atmosphere allow aerial organisms that would be impossible on Earth.

List of species

Below is a list of the species found on Darwin IV.

Arctic Sedge-slider - Around ten feet tall, the arctic sedge slider is perfectly adapted for life in the cold. The arctic sedge slider's name comes from the furrows it leaves in its wake. This creature has an ingenious adaption for the cold. When temperatures drop low, or a fierce arctic storm comes, the sedge slider has the ability to retract it's head deep into its warm body cavity. When conditions are favorable again, its head reemerges again and it resumes its activities. The arctic sedge slider has what may be the biggest sonar bulge of any animal on Darwin IV. This massive organ produces sonar pings in, not one, but multiple frequencies. And, since the bulge is on the sedge slider's back, it gives the animal to "see" in 360 degrees. It takes quite a clever predator to catch an arctic sedge slider by suprise. See a pair of sedge sliders here.
Arrowtongue - Averaging about eight feet tall, an arrowtongue impales its prey with a 26-foot-long flicking, serrated, arrow-tipped appendage. Like many spiders on Earth (and like most predators on Darwin IV), arrowtongues are liquivores, injecting digestive juices into their prey and then sucking out the food. They also are fierce, solitary hunters found across the planet.
Bladderhorn - It is bipedal and bright blue, with two antlers extending out of the sides of its head. Bladderhorns use bellows for communication, which, in Alien Planet, makes Leo think it is intelligent, and he shows the Bladderhorn a symbol puzzle. This spooks the Bladderhorn into running away. Then the mystery creature attacks and deactivates Leo. Ike sees Bladderhorns near the conclusion of the exploration. Bladderhorns fight with their antlers, too, using light shows to scare enemies. Image of a Bladderhorn here.
Bolt tongue - Though it resembles a small arrowtongue, the bolt tongue has some key features that distinguish it from its larger relative. Its skull is longer and narrower than the arrowtongue's, and it lacks the small fleshy spines of its savannah counterpart. Its back lacks biolights and has a large patch of grey running from the tip of its skull to the end of its tail. The bolt tongue inhabits sub-polar regions of the northern icecap, where it preys upon several species of arctic herbivores. Image of a bolt tongue here.
Butchertree
Daggerwrist
Diskflyer - Diskflyers live in the Amoebic sea and operate within very distinct four square kilometer territories. It is not known whether young diskflyers stay within the territories in which they were born or if they leave to establish new territories of their own. Diskflyers are hermaphroditic, and mating impregnates both partners. It is not known whether diskflyers give birth to live young or eggs, but it is probably the latter.
Ebony Blister-wing
Emperor Sea Strider - The emperor sea strider is the one of the largest known creatures on Darwin IV. Measuring a colossal seven stories tall, it dwarfs every other creature on the planet except, perhaps, the ebony blisterwing. Sea striders walk on the surface of the Amoebic sea with their two massive feet. Sea striders are found only on the Amoebic Sea for two reasons: the sea's gelatinous surface is the only material that can support the striders' great weight, and the sea is the only source of nutrients big enough to support such creatures. When sea striders are born they are capable of flight, but as adults they are bipedal.
Eosapien
Fin Leg
Finned Snapper
Flipstick
Follow-wing
Forest Gulper
Forest Slider
Gelsucker - The gelsucker is a quadruped, but also has a pair of clawed arms, giving it a total of six appendages. Gelsuckers are so called because they feast on the flesh of the jelly bladder plant, which grows in small groves on the outskirts of pocket forests. They use their clawed arms to rip the "bladders" open, and then use their extendable proboscis to suck down the semi-solid flesh.
Grove-back
Gyrosprinter
Hopper Cone
Icecrawler
Jetdarter
Keeled Slider
Littoralope
Mummy-nest Flyer
Praire-ram
Prismalope
Rayback
Rimerunner
Rugose Floater
Sac-back - The sacback lives at the edge of the Amoebic Sea, where it feeds on the sea's gelatanous covering. The sacback gets its name from the sac on the males back. The sac is used to store pre-digested "sea" material which is later fed to the females. Male and female sacbacks live completely different lives. Males live on the surface, walking around on their three legs. Female sacbacks dig "tombs" in which they bury themselves. Once buried, the only part of the female that sees the light of day is her mouth and tentacle. Image of mating sacbacks here.
Scavenge-wing
Skewer
Springwing
Stripewing
Symet
Thornback
Tundra-plow
Unth - The Unth is a mountain creature that resembles a warthog somewhat. It is first encountered by Leo, but Ike meets up with this peaceful herbivore near the end of his journey. The Unth is so named because of the sound it makes when it exhales- uuuuuunnnth!!!! Unths live in herds. The Unth herd was apparently spooked by either the Bladderhorn duel nearby, or a mystery creature, which deactivated Leo. Its tusks are asymmetrical, which means they look different.
Unamed Flyer - As of yet, this species has no common name. This flying creature is the main food source of the prismalope in the northern plains. This species has developed an intriuging reltionship with the butchertree. Within a 15 ft or so radius of a butchertree are a dozen or so small growths. The growths are actually part of the butchertree, connected to it by underground tentacles. These growths are physically identical in appearance to the small unamed flyers, and should a flyer land next to one, it would be virtually impossible to tell which was which. This camouflage is often so good it can decieve prismalopes into coming inside the butchertree's attack range, where it usually doesn't last much longer.