| Property | Details |
|---|---|
| Species | Unknown |
| Attitude | Passive |
| Type | Anchored |
| Category | Sponges |
| Biome | Sleep Bay 3 |
The Apocalypse Sponge is an anchored Lifeform. It grows on the walls and Titan Rockbore bores deep in the trench where Sleep Bay 3 lies. It cannot currently be scanned.
Appearance
The Apocalypse Sponge can be found in groups of 4-12 short, thick yellow tubes. Depending on the lighting it may appear in different colors.
Databank Entry
Symphon apokalupsis. An unassuming button-shaped sponge that may be an omen of mass extinction.
1. Simplicity
Among the earliest animal forms on Earth, sponges are a group of cells that live between two membranes and work together to pump water. Sponges on this world are similarly elegant.
2. Tolerance
Due to this simplicity, sponges tolerate low oxygen and high temperatures better than many other organisms. They also benefit from elevated death rates, which floods the water with decaying matter.
3. Role in mass extinction
Biospheres dominated by sponges may be an indicator of a recent or ongoing mass extinction. After Earth's first major die-off during the Ordovician period, some 85% of species went extinct, leaving a world ruled by sponges. The popular existential terror franchise "Life Is Only Pulse" is set in a fictionalized version of this time period.
Assessment: possibly a warning sign of planetwide ecological collapse. Possibly not.
Gallery
In Game
