American Megafauna Rules

The continuing contest between dinosaurs and mammals

Version 2.5
By Philip Eklund
Copyright © 2001 by Sierra Madre Games Co.
Living Rules: 30 July 2010

CONTENTS

Introduction Stage I. Carnivore Cull

Parts Ending the Game
Setting Up the Game Optional Games
Playing the Game Example of Play
Stage A. Reveal Epoch Card Ecological Lessons
Stage B. Express Cards Milieu
Stage C. Recess DNA Implications of American Megafauna
Stage D. Adjust Trophic Level and Size References
Stage E. Population Expansion Credits
Stage F. Herbivore Migrations Endnotes
Stage G. Carnivore Migrations and Final Size Sequence of Play
Stage H. Herbivore Cull Setup Table

1
INTRODUCTION
A quarter of a billion years ago, an unknown
catastrophe engulfs the Earth. The swamps and ice
1
caps of the Permian are replaced by the blistering
deserts of the Triassic. On both land and sea, 96% of
the animal species die.
2
In the corner of Pangea that will be known as
America, small survivors cautiously sniff the post-
holocaust air at the dawn of the Mesozoic Era. Some
of these unspecialized quadrupeds have sloppy ever-
replacing reptile teeth; these will be the dinosaurs.
3 4 Physiology Sheets
Others have sculpted "one-shot" teeth; these will be
the mammals. The victor in this titanic ecological
struggle will determine the masters of the planet.
Clearly, the ruling reptiles triumphed since that day,
248 million years ago, and dominated for 170 million
4
years. Only to be over thrown, in what must be the
upset of the eon, by the mammals. Yet the contest is
not over.
Overview of Play
Players start as one of four (or five, with the
5
Expansion) nondescript archetypes, but can mutate
or branch out new species from this basic type by
bidding on DNA or genotype cards as they are
revealed. Each player's population grows and is
counted when the Mesozoic cards are all played, and
again when the Cenozoic cards are gone. The player
with the highest total wins.
Game Scale
Each epoch card represents 6 million years. The game
is one galactic year long (260 million years, the
amount of time it takes the solar system to orbit once
about the center of the Milky Way). Each hex
represents a physiographic region 1500 km across.
Each biomass point represents 2000 megatons of
6
vegetation, arthropods, or sea-food. Each genotype
tent represents either 30 megatons of herbivores, or 1
megaton of predatory animals. A "megaton" is a million
metric tons, where each metric ton is 1000 kg.
American Megafauna Version 2.5
This rulebook combines the Basic and Advanced
game rules of the 2nd edition and its expansion into
one streamlined set of rules. Rules that were in
various parts of the old rulebook (such as the
Glossary-Index) have been collected and rationalized,
while non-rule information has been moved to the
7
endnotes. The rules are designed to work with all
existing components. All "Advanced Rule" references
on the epoch cards are in effect when using this
rulebook.
2
PARTS
P1. List
The Second Edition of American Megafauna allows up
to four people to play, and includes these components:
1 Rulebook
1 Map
188 Epoch Cards
120 DNA Tents, 224 Population Tents
1 Timeline / Game Tips Sheet
The American Megafauna Expansion (referred to in
these rules as the "Expansion") adds the Proto-Croc
8
(a.k.a. Arizonasaurus ) and increases the maximum
number of players to five. The following components
are included:
46 Epoch Cards
27 DNA Tents, 56 Population Tents
1 Physiology Sheet
Dice are not need to play this game. To represent the
gene pool, about 25 markers (such as pennies or
washers, not included) per player are required. To
prepare for play, print out the physiology sheets at the
end of this rulebook, cut apart the cards, and cut apart
and fold the playing pieces ("tents").
P2. Cards
Starburst cards (those marked with rays as shown in
Setting Up The Game) depict survivors of the Permian
Extinctions. Starburst cards are set aside after setup
but before play begins. The remaining cards (called
epoch cards) determine the course of the game. The
five types of epoch cards are Biome, DNA, Genotype,
Immigrant, or Catastrophe.
9
a. Expansion Cards. The four "Technology" cards
added in the Expansion (Clothing, Hand-Axe,
Hafted Weaponry, and Fire-Bearing) are identified
by an eight-pointed-star background. They do not
use any adaptation slots when expressed. Place
them at the bottom of the expressing genotype's
slots. Technology cards cannot be inherited, and
require their genotype to have Tool Use
expressed.
Some of the cards added in the Expansion are
described below:
Hand-Axe [#213]: This card wins all predator
dentition culls, due to bone marrow scavenging.
 Think of such creatures as having "zero" dentition,
for predator tie-breakers.
Poisonous Fangs DNA [#196] and Hafted
Weaponry [#214]: These are especially helpful for
predators. Spear-armed and fang-armed creatures
ignore the armor, swiftness, and nocturnal
defenses of their prey.
Fire-bearing [#215]: Allows creatures to ignore
the "extinction calculus" found on some
catastrophe cards, and increases their migration
range to three.
Symbiotic Bacteria DNA [#222]: Allows a
genotype to win herbivore-dentition culls against
all other genotypes. In effect, the genotype has
seven teeth, defeating even immigrants.
P3. Physiology Sheets
Each Physiology sheet lists an archetype (starting
10
animal type for that player) and a dentition (tooth
pattern formula that shows the arrangement and form
of teeth, coded r for reptile-style teeth and m for
mammal-style teeth). The number of letters in the
dentition formula is a vital survival factor. For instance,
mmrrr with five letters has more than the four of rrrr.
Dynasty
Player's Archetype Dentition
(today's survivors)
Dino-croc
rm Reptile (birds)
pseudosuchian
Dog-face
mmm Mammals (placentals)
cynodont
Beak lizard
rrrr Reptile (lizards)
rhynchosaur
Two-tusker
mmrrr Mammal (platypuses)
dicynodont
Proto-croc
rr 1/2m Reptile (crocodilians)
arizonasaurus
Note: Often players will need to check which type is
the more mammalian or more reptilian. The dog-face
has the most m teeth, while the beak lizard with four r
teeth is the most reptilian. Interestingly, the two-tusker
is both more mammalian and more reptilian (though
still a mammal-type at heart) than dino-croc.
a. Genotype Columns. The two left-most columns
of the Physiology Sheet are associated with the
player's starting genotype, called its archetype.
The remaining three columns are used for up to
three more genotypes the player may obtain by
winning auctions during the game.
3
b. Size Dial. The rotation of the genotype card in this
track records the size of adult individuals in the
population (from 40 kg to 60 tons). The sizes are
abstracted from one to six, as indicated by the red
pointer in the corner of the genotype card.
P4. DNA Tents
Each DNA tent records a genotype's inherited
attributes. These tents correspond to DNA cards and
are placed on the genotype cards during the game to
indicate the ways in which they have evolved. The
following list shows the DNA codes and their
meanings:
A = Armor piercing
a = armored*
11
B = Browse (ability to eat trees)
12
G = Graze (ability to digest grass and shrubs)
13 14
H = Husker (ability to shell mast )
I = Insectivorid (arthropod-eating ability)
M = Marine (swimming adaptations)
N = Nocturnal* (burrowing or nighttime senses)
P = Physiology (behavior and climate adaptations)
S = Swiftness*
W = Wild (player choice; see Stage B1e and B1f)
15
sex = sexual intimidation or advertising
wings = may migrate three and fly over seas, ice-
sheets, and bridges.
16
* Roadrunner DNA: "Roadrunner" is a term used to
refer to any herbivore inedible due to armor, speed,
and/or nocturnal DNA.
P5. Map
17
The map is divided into 11 hexagons (hexes). Each
hex is divided into two slots, plus three triangular
areas, one over and two under the slots. Between the
hexes are displacement arrows and borderlands.
Each row of hexes is called a latitude. The map has
five latitudes (hex rows), labeled "arctic circle", "jet
18
stream", "horse latitudes", and two "tropical". For
instance, the two northernmost hexes ("Beringia" and
"Greenland") are in the Arctic Circle latitude. The
southernmost latitudes, "tropical", have three hexes
(Sierra Madre, Gulf of Mexico, and Panama).
Each latitude is marked on the western map edge with
a climate preference icon, either "dry", "wet", or
"seasonal"; see preferred latitude (Stage A1).
a. Borderlands. The ten outlying areas are treated
as hexes with one slot and both a predator and
husker triangle. Any number of biomes may stack
in a borderland (retaining their biomass), but only
the uppermost is active. Genotypes or biomes
may migrate in or out of borderlands only along
displacement arrows. The Asian and South
American borderlands can store immigrants
waiting to emigrate into America.
g. Slots. Either of the two card-sized squares in a
hex. Biome cards are stored in either the east or
west slot. An empty slot is terrestrial (land) if the
Greenhouse Level is below 300 ppm, otherwise it
is marine. A hex with both slots flooded may block
migration; see migration limitations (Stage F1).

19
b. Bridge. A land isthmus between two continents
used for terrestrial migrations. The three bridges in
20
the game are Cocos, Kula, and Cantabria. A
marker placed on a bridge location indicates
flooding, causing displacement and migration
limitations. Bridges can flood or clear due to
21
Greenhouse or Milankovich changes, or a
special catastrophe card. If the Cocos or Kula
bridge clears, each immigrant (starting with the
top) stacked in South America or Asia will invade
per Stage A4c-A4f.

c. Displacement Arrow. Each slot and borderland P6. Genotype Tents

has one arrow exiting to the north, and another to
the south. These indicate where to displace
biomes during Greenhouse climate changes.
d. Husker Triangle. A triangular region below each
slot, two per hex. Animals that are eating mast are
placed in this area. Only a biome with the acorn
icon beneath its biomass numbers has mast. A
husker triangle can support as many husker
population tents as the biomass of the biome. The
triangle's DNA requirements are "H", and the
22
niche is whatever the niche of the biome above it
is.
Each player has four sets of 14 population tents which
are distinguished from those of other players by
dentition. The four different animal pictures on the
tents match the four genotype columns on the player's
Physiology Sheet.
P7. Timeline
This sheet is used to store the epoch cards before
they are revealed. Each card played from the timeline
represents an epoch (one game turn). After 29 turns
(30 turns in a 4- or 5-player game), as shown on the
timeline, the era changes from the Mesozoic to the
Cenozoic.

e. Mountain-Building Slots. Slots marked with an

orange border are mountain-building slots.
23
Orogeny biomes are restricted to these slots.
Orogeny biome cards must be played in mountain-
building slots, and never displace nor grow.
Marine biomes are blocked from being placed or
migrated into these slots. Exception: A marine
biome can exist in a mountain-building slot if it is
designated to start there at the beginning of the
game. If the biome card is displaced out of its
initial location, all normal rules apply (i.e., it can no
longer be placed in a mountain-building slot).
f. Predator Triangle. The triangular region in each
hex above the slots. All tents placed here become
predatory. "Predator" is a synonym for carnivorous
meat-eating, including scavenging, in this game.
SETTING UP THE GAME
a. Choose Game Length
The standard game, covering the period from the
Triassic to the Quaternary, lasts 41 turns. For a
shorter game, players may start in later eras:
Jurassic (35 turns), Cretaceous (25 turns), or
Tertiary (12 turns).
Note: The later eras are more challenging
because there are fewer starting biomes without
DNA starting requirements: The Triassic has 11
biomes with no requirements, the Jurassic 9, the
Cretaceous 8, and the Tertiary 7.
b. Place Starting Biomes and Map Markers
Lay out the map in the middle of the playing area
so that it is accessible to all players. Reading

4
 down the correct column on the Setup Table
(located at the end of this rulebook), place biomes
and markers as follows:
Biomes: Each biome card is placed in the slot
shown on the Setup Table. The number in
parentheses after the card name is the card
number. Where multiple cards are listed in one
slot, cards are stacked in the order listed (i.e.,
place the first card listed at the top of the stack).
All biome cards are initially placed so the "2"
biomass value is pointing northward (i.e., the text
on the card reads right-side up).
Bridges: If the land bridges are "Flooded," place
markers on all three bridges. Otherwise, leave the
bridges empty.
Milankovich Cycle and Greenhouse Level:
Place markers on the listed Milankovich Cycle and
Greenhouse Level positions.
Example: If starting in the Triassic, place card 177
24
in Beringia East, card 175 in Greenland West,
and so on for all slots listed in the Triassic column.
All bridges are clear, so no markers are placed on
the map. One marker is placed in each of three
top Milankovich Cycle positions, and lastly, a
marker is placed in the 300 ppm Greenhouse
Level position.
c. Choose Physiology Sheet and Archetype
Each player receives one Physiology Sheet at
random (or each may choose his favorite if all
players agree) and the associated archetype card.
Place the archetype card in the leftmost size dial
of the Physiology Sheet so that its upper-left
corner arrow points to size number 1.
Note: It is recommended that rm not play against
mmrrr in a two player game. This is because the
mmrrr two-tusker player would win both mammal
and reptile tie-breakers.
5
d. Receive Starting Gene Markers. Each player
starts the game with five genes (markers). Extra
markers are put into a communal gene pool.
Note: If using the Expansion's Proto-Croc, the
Proto-Croc player starts with ten genes instead of
five, if the Dino-Croc (dentition rm) is also in the
game. This is because the Proto-Croc is
disadvantaged when pitted against the Dino-Croc.
e. Shuffle and Deal Cards
Set aside any unused "starburst" cards. The
remaining cards are the epoch cards. Mix them
well and then randomly deal cards to form face-
down stacks as indicated on the Timeline. Do not
deal cards to any unused stacks (i.e., if the game
starts in the Jurassic, do not deal any cards to the
Triassic stack). The remaining cards will not be
used in this game.
Note: For the 4- and 5-player game, deal out one
additional card to one of the stacks in the
Mesozoic.
f. Place Starting Populations
Each player locates the 56 genotype population
tents with his dentition on them. Fourteen of these
are taller than the rest; these are his archetype
population tents. In player order each player
places one archetype tent on a biome card on the
map. This must be one reading "NONE" in the
corners of the biome (see requirements).
S1. Player Order
Any player may request that any setup phase or epoch
stage be performed in order from the most r dentition
to the least r dentition. Thus, the order is: rrrr, mmrrr,
rr 1/2m (available in the Expansion), rm, and finally
mmm.
S2. Late Arrivals / Early Departures
a. Late Arrivals: If a player arrives after the game
has started, he gets an unused Physiology Sheet
and its archetype card, and is paid his five genes.
He may immediately use these genes to purchase,
for one gene each, any DNA or genotype cards
discarded during the game. The player then
places one population tent in any suitable biome
or triangle.
b. Early Departures: If a player leaves the game, his
population tents remain in place. They compete,
adjust size and population, and follow biome
 displacements as immigrants; see Stages A4f and
A4g.
PLAYING THE GAME
Each turn represents one epoch and is divided into
nine Stages, which are played in the order listed
below. If necessary, Stage activities may be performed
in player order.
Stage A: Reveal Epoch Card – Turn over and resolve
the topmost epoch card of the earliest deck on the
Timeline. Note: If playing with 4 or 5 players, draw two
cards instead of one, resolving the first before drawing
the second. Ignore "Genetic Drift" if it appears on the
second card.
Stage B. Express Cards – DNA and genotype cards
held by a player may be "expressed" (placed face-up
and in play on his Physiology Sheet).
Stage C. Recess DNA – Cards in play on his
Physiology Sheet may be "recessed" (removed from
his Physiology Sheet and held in his hand).
Stage D. Adjust Trophic Level and Size – Each
player may change the diet and size of his genotypes.
Stage E. Population Expansion – Each player may
add one population tent in every biome or triangle
where each genotype already has one or more tents.
Stage F. Herbivore Migrations – Each herbivore may
move up to its maximum range.
Stage G. Carnivore Migrations and Final Size –
Each predator may move up to its maximum range,
and then change its size.
Stage H. Herbivore Cull – Reduce herbivore
population, if necessary.
Stage I. Carnivore Cull – Reduce carnivore
population, if necessary.
Note: If all players agree, Stages B through I can be
skipped. This can occur if the new card does not
change the ecology and all populations are at
maximum; in that case there may be no reason to go
through each sequence.
6
End of Turn Checks
Players should check their opponent's game pieces
occasionally at the end of turn for the following:
a. Remove extra herbivores tents if there are more
than the biomass of the biome.
b. Remove any predator unable to consume its prey
due to roadrunner DNA or size.
c. Reduce the biomass of the lesser climax
25
biome if
the hex capacity is exceeded.
d. Recess any DNA cards outside their size range
per Stage D2b.
STAGE A. REVEAL EPOCH CARD
Turn over the topmost epoch card of the earliest deck
26 27
on the Timeline. It will be a Biome, DNA,
28 29 30
Genotype, Immigrant, or Catastrophe.
Note: If playing with 4 or 5 players, draw two cards
instead of one, resolving the first before drawing the
second. (This gives on average one adaptation per
player in the first four turns.) Important: Ignore
"Genetic Drift" if it appears on the second card.
A1. BIOME CARD
A biome card genetically enriches each player plus
introduces a new environment onto the map. The four
kinds of biomes are terrestrial (tan), marine (blue),
orogeny (dark brown), and ice-sheets (white).
Biomass. The biomass of a biome is the number on
the card edge oriented to read upright. Each biome
can support a maximum number of herbivore tents
equal to its biomass.
Climate Preference. The climate specialization of a
biome card, which raises or lowers its biomass during
Milankovich changes. A biome is in its preferred
latitude if its preference matches the icon of its
latitude; see the map west edge.
Climax. All biomes are rated on a climax scale from 1
to 99, i.e., from the least to the most stable.
 31
Ice-Sheets. An ice biome card is restricted to advantage to having more than one sex card or
biomass of four, and thus dominates the entire hex. It more than one genotype with sex.
causes migration and displacement limitations.
b. Placement Latitude. Place the biome card in a
Marine. A type of sea-life biome identified by a blue slot on the map. It may only be placed in a slot
card. Marine biomes cannot be placed or displaced (not borderland) in the latitude indicated on its
into a mountain-building slot. Note: Certain marine card. Biomes marked "any" are cosmopolitan and
biomes start the game in orogeny slots. This is an can go into any latitude.
allowable exception to the normal rules; see P5e.
c. Relief. Orogeny biomes (dark brown) can only be
Mast. Biomes that have the acorn icon behind each put in mountain-building slots. Marine biomes
biomass number contain mast, available to those with (blue) cannot be placed in mountain-building slots.
H DNA. Mast biomass does not count towards the
general hex capacity of four.
d. Lowest Climax. If several destination slots exist,
the new biome replaces the existing biome having
Niche. The DNA or size, as listed in all four corners of the lowest climax. Empty slots count as zero
a biome card (in the square after the requirements), climax. The replaced card becomes a displaced
that defines the fittest animal in a competition for that biome (see below).
biome.
Note: Biomes which are at biomass 4 fill both
Preferred Latitude. The latitude having a climate (see slots, thus there is no empty slot in that hex.
the western map edge) matching the climate
preference icon in the lower right corner of the biome
e. Stillborn. If the climax of the new biome is lower
card.
than that of the biomes in all legal slots, then the
new biome is extinct and is removed from the
Requirements. The DNA, as listed in the corners of a game.
biome card, required for a herbivore to exploit that
card. A herbivore needs "MM" DNA to move to the
f. Ties. If there is more than one equally qualifying
biome shown below. Cards marked "NONE" have no
slot, then the slot which is furthest south, and if still
requirements.
tied, furthest west is favored.

g. Hex Capacity. Except for orogeny cards, the new

biome is rotated to fill the remainder of the space
in the hex, i.e., so that the uppermost numbers of
both biomes add up to four.

Displaced Biomes
Move a displaced biome into an empty slot in the
same hex. If none are available, then move it to an
empty slot in an adjacent hex or borderland.

a. Extinction. A displaced biome with no legal slot to

go to is removed from the game.

b. Ties. If there is more than one equally qualifying

slot, then the slot which is furthest south, and if still
tied, furthest west is favored.

c. Biomass. After moving the biome to the empty

a. Genetic Enrichment. When a biome card is slot, rotate it so its biomass fills the remaining hex
turned up, each player receives one gene. capacity up to four.
32
Exception: Players who have sex DNA on at
least one genotype receive two genes. There is no

7
d. Displacement Limitations. Biomes are blocked
from displacement by the following instances:
If a marine biome would displace into a
mountain-building slot.
Orogeny biomes never displace. Biomes
displacing into their slot must compete with
them.
If displacing would exit the map, cross a
flooded bridge, or enter a hex containing an
ice-sheet.
A2. DNA CARD
DNA is coded A, a, B, G, H, I, M, N, P, S, W, X, "sex"
or "wings" in this game; see the DNA Table on the
map's east edge. The dominant DNA in an allele is
33
indicated by the use of a DNA tent. A DNA card
represents new animal characteristics that a player
can add to one of his existing genotypes.
a. Auction. Players interested in acquiring a DNA
card must bid for it in an open auction by placing a
number of gene markers they are willing to spend
on the card. They may increase, but not decrease,
their bid during the auction. The minimum bid is
one gene. Players are not allowed to sell, donate,
or exchange cards or genes. The player with the
highest bid pays his genes to the pool and takes
the card into his hand. Losing bidders spend
nothing. If no one bids on a DNA card, it is
discarded.
b. Resolving Bidding Ties. The player who has
more of the teeth specified on the card tie-break
section wins the bid.
8
Example: The "Trunk" card is labeled "auction tie-
break: m", so that in a bidding war the mmm
player would win over the rrrr player and the rm
player if all three bid only one gene. This reflects a
mammalian superiority in trunk development.
A3. GENOTYPE CARD
A genotype card represents a new animal type that is
being spawned off from one of the player's existing
types, inheriting some of the parent's characteristics.
Amphibian. Animals with exactly one M DNA and thus
able to enter both terrestrial and marine biomes.
Genotypes with no M DNA cannot go into all sea
hexes or the Atlantic, and genotypes with more than
one M DNA cannot leave marine biomes.
Heritage DNA. Each genotype card lists innate DNA
called heritage DNA. Heritage DNA as encoded on the
genotype cards is distinct from that appended by DNA
cards and tents. For instance, primates have "PPW"
as heritage, reflecting their big brains, but may
augment this with wings, humps, spines, etc.
Dynasty. Each genotype card is split into two halves
(flying reptiles and bats in the example shown); see
Stage B2a.
a. Auction. Players interested in acquiring a
genotype card must bid for it in an open auction by
placing a number of gene markers they are willing
to spend on the card. They may increase, but not
decrease, their bid during the auction. The
minimum bid is one gene. Players are not allowed
to sell, donate, or exchange cards or genes. The
player with the highest bid pays his genes to the
 pool and takes the card into his hand. Losing
bidders spend nothing. If no one bids on a
Genotype card, it is discarded.
b. Resolving Bidding Ties. If the Greenhouse Level
is 300 ppm or higher, the player with the most r
dentition always wins auction ties for genotype
cards. If the Greenhouse Level is 200 ppm or
lower, the player with the most m dentition wins
ties instead.
Example: The Beak Lizard and the Two-tusker
players each put a gene on a revealed genotype
card. The greenhouse is 200 ppm, so that if the
auction stops now, the Two-tusker will win. Beak
lizard puts a second gene on it. Then a new
player, Dog-face, decides to put down two genes.
Nobody goes higher, so Dog-face with mmm
dentition wins the card for two genes.
A4. IMMIGRANT CARD
The appearance of an immigrant card causes genetic
34
drift, plus an independent predator or herbivore
invades a biome or triangle.
a. Genetic Drift. All players with card(s) in their hand
select one to discard.
b. Era. Use the immigrant that corresponds to the
era in which it was drawn (see Timeline).
c. Entry. Immigrants start their migration from the
Atlantic Rift, South America, or Asia borderland,
as marked on their card.
d. Passage. Immigrants check hexes and
borderlands from west to east, until a suitable one
9
is found. Immigrants from Asia check the northern
latitudes first, and move south, while immigrants
from South America or the Atlantic check southern
latitudes first. Discard the card if no suitable slots
exist.
Immigrants are subject to all migration limitations
except that their range is infinite. If blocked from
entry by a flooded bridge, then store the card in
the borderland; it will not invade (and is not in
play) until the bridge clears.
Immigrants blocked from entering the map
because of a flooded bridge are stacked so that
the most recent is on the top. When the bridge
clears, find biomes for them from top to bottom.
(This will tend to place the oldest immigrants
farthest from the bridge, simulating the
progressive radiation out from the bridge.)
e. Herbivore. Immigrants with six teeth (rrrrrr or
mmmmmm) are herbivores. They will stop at the
first slot with biome suitability, using their "W" if
required to match the biome requirements. If they
do not need the "W" for requirements, they will
change it to the niche DNA. (Put a DNA tent on
the card to indicate this choice.)
Note: Herbivore immigrants will not stop at a
biome containing other immigrant herbivores. Only
immigrants with H heritage may attempt to
become huskers. The immigrant "W" DNA cannot
be converted into "H" DNA.
Example: Rays [#157] appear. With more than
one M DNA, they are confined to marine biomes.
The southernmost marine biome is primitive fish
[#178], with both a requirement and niche of M.
The ray card goes on the fish, with an M DNA tent
added.
f. Carnivore. Immigrants that have a single letter
dentition (either r or m) are predators. They check
each predator triangle, seeking herbivore slots
only if no triangles on the map have prey
suitability. They will change their "W" to a
roadrunner DNA if required to catch a prey item.
(Put a DNA tent on the card to indicate this
choice.) If the "W" is not needed, it is not used and
cannot be changed later. They continually adopt
the largest size (in their range) that is suitable for
their prey.

Note: Carnivore immigrants may prey on
herbivore immigrants. They will not stop at hexes
with other immigrant predators, however.
g. Migrant Population. The immigrant population
continually becomes the largest that can be
supported in their hex. The presence of this
number of immigrants is shown by either having
their card in that biome, or by using spare
population tents.
Immigrant cards or tents remain (continually
following prey migrations or biome displacements)
until they are culled by competition, or are wiped
out by a catastrophe.
Since immigrant herbivores constantly follow their
biomes, if their biome displaces into a borderland,
immigrants following it automatically arrive first
and select this biome. If more than one immigrant
herbivore follows their biomes into a borderland, a
winner is randomly selected, and the others go
extinct.
A5. CATASTROPHE CARD
The appearance of a catastrophe card causes a
calamity that genetically enriches the survivors.
a. Genetic Enrichment. Each player receives five
genes. Exception: Players who have sex DNA on
at least one genotype receive additional genes. In
a two player game, they receive six genes. In
games with three or more players, they receive 10
genes. There is no advantage to having more than
one sex card or more than one genotype with sex.
b. Era. Use the catastrophe that corresponds to the
era in which it was drawn (see Timeline).
10
35
c. Type. Each catastrophe is a greenhouse,
36
pandemic, bridge, or extraterrestrial event.
Greenhouse
A marker in the chart on the west map edge monitors
the Earth's Greenhouse Level.
a. Plant Growth. If the level reaches 600 ppm, the
highest climax non-orogeny biome in each hex
increases biomass until the hex capacity of four is
reached.
Note: A biome swelling due to a 600 ppm
greenhouse only expands to fill unused hex
capacity. It does not drive its neighboring biome
extinct.
b. Bridge. A change in the level may trigger certain
bridges to clear or flood as indicated.
c. End of Game. If the greenhouse goes over 600
ppm or below 150 ppm, the game ends as a result
of greenhouse levels. Play the rest of the current
game turn (i.e., through Stage I) before ending the
game.
d. Biome Migration. If the greenhouse goes up, all
biomes starting with the ice-sheets displace up
one latitude sliding to the slot or borderland
indicated by the northbound displacement arrow. If
the greenhouse goes down, slide each biome to
the slot or borderland indicated by its southern
arrow. Displacement may be blocked by
displacement limitations (see Stage A1).
Immigrant herbivores displace with their biomes,
while all other animals remain until migration
(Stages F and G).
e. Biome Competition. If more than one biome
displaces into a slot, the highest climax card lives
and the rest are discarded. If more than one biome
displaces into a borderland, they are stacked in
random order until the first herbivore enters the
borderland per Stage F3.
f. Hex Capacity. Check the amount of biomass in
each hex. If any hex has more than four, rotate the
lower climax biome downward until the total
biomass reaches four.
g. Order of Effect: Should a change in greenhouse
result in multiple effects, apply them in this order:
Bridges and hexes flood or clear, biomes displace
 north or south, and biomes swell to fill the hex
capacity.
Pandemic
Organisms require genes to summon the anti-bodies,
etc. needed to fight disease and parasites.
a. Among those having more than one genotype, the
player (or players, if tied) with the fewest gene
markers chooses one of his genotypes to lose all
population and suffer extinction.
b. Pandemic deaths are chosen in player order (see
S1).
Bridge
This event causes a bridge to clear or flood.
Extraterrestrial
An extraterrestrial catastrophe refers to an event
originating outside the earth that kills off
overspecialized animals. An "extinction calculus" is
printed on each extraterrestrial catastrophe card.
Check each animal's DNA, including heritage. If the
number of specified letters, in any combination, is
greater than specified in the formula, it loses all
population; see extinction (Stage H4).
Examples:
1. A comet impact has the extinction calculus ">3
AaBGHMS". An immigrant with BBBa would be
killed, because it has more than three of the fatal
DNA. A genotype with AAPPS is spared.
2. A solar flare has the extinction calculus "size > 4".
A size five sea cow is doomed; a size four
tyrannosaur is safe. It also has the calculus ">2
Aa". This will kill off triple-armored turtles.
STAGE B. EXPRESS CARDS
B1. EXPRESS DNA
Each player may add to the characteristics of their
chosen genotypes by expressing DNA cards held in
their hand.
a. The genotype chosen must have an empty box in
its column to place the DNA card into. Note that
the empty slot must be of the correct location,
either head (circle), guts (triangle), or limbs
(diamond).
11
b. The genotype chosen must be a size that is in the
range specified on the DNA card.
Example: If the stegosaurs are at size five, they
37
are not allowed to get feathers, which have a 1-4
size range.
c. The heritage DNA of the genotype chosen must
be compatible with any special notes on the DNA
card.
Example: The "Saber Tooth" DNA card carries the
legend "recesses all G cards. Not allowed with G
heritage", so it cannot be expressed on genotypes
(such as duckbills or camels) that have "G"
heritage.
d. Once expressed, place DNA tents of the
appropriate letter(s) onto the genotype card in the
size dial.
Example: If a player decides to give feathers
(which are "PP") to his stegosaurs, then two "P"
tents are put on the stegosaur genotype card.
e. Wild Card ("W") DNA. Upon expressing a "W"
DNA card, the player puts the single-letter DNA
tent of his choice upon his genotype card. Once
selected, this DNA is fixed, until it is recessed.
Tip: Later in the game, it may be useful to recess
and express a "W" DNA card to change its
expression.
f. Special Wild Card ("WW"): DNA card #62
("WW") may be changed during Stage D of every
turn to any two chosen DNA letters. It cannot be
expressed unless the "Tool-use" DNA card [#66]
has been expressed first.
B2. EXPRESS GENOTYPES
Each player may diversify his lineages by expressing
genotype cards. For each one played, the player
chooses an existing genotype tent to be the parent for
the new genotype.
Tip: If a player's archetype is extinct, his next
genotype purchase can be expressed in his first
column as a new genotype. This gives him room for
six DNA.
a. Dynasty. Each genotype card has a reptile half
and a mammal half (see Stage A3). The dino-croc,
 beak lizard, and (if using the Expansion) the proto-
croc players must use the reptile side, and the
two-tusker and dog-face must use the mammal
side.
b. Size. Orient the new genotype card on the
Physiology Sheet to the size of its parent
genotype. This must be within the size range
specified on the genotype card. (In other words, if
the genotype is outside this size range, then the
card cannot be played.)
c. Inheritance. The new genotype will inherit all non-
heritage DNA from the existing genotype,
excepting incompatibilities and size limitations as
listed on the DNA card. DNA inherited from one's
ancestor does not count towards the one DNA
card limit on each head, guts, or limbs location.
Some DNA cards have special abilities (such as
wings, sex, care of young, etc.). These abilities are
inherited along with the DNA letter.
upper. Each cycle executes (in the order shown on
the chart) two Milankovich Events (see below).
Example: The primates card is expressed, which
specifies "Milankovich T". If the marker in the T
track is in the lower slot, it is slid to the upper, and
the events referenced ("Erosion" and "Bridges")
occur.
Milankovich Events
a. Land Drier. This event shrinks each terrestrial
biome having the climate preference of "wet".
Rotate each card with the raindrops icon clockwise
by 90 degrees to indicate a biomass one less.
Biomes reduced below a biomass of one go
extinct.
b. Land Wetter. This event shrinks each terrestrial
biome having the climate preference of "dry".
Rotate the card clockwise 90 degrees.

Examples:
1. A genotype diverging from a saber-toothed
trunked archetype receives the DNA from both
these head cards and still has an empty head
slot that can hold an additional future head
DNA card of its own.
38
c. Blooms. This event grows each biome in its
preferred latitude by one in biomass. If this
exceeds the hex capacity, the biome in the
neighboring slot reduces one. If both biomes in a
hex are in their preferred latitude and the hex
capacity is exceeded, the lower climax is reduced
until the biomass is four.

2. A new hamster genotype cannot inherit the

d. Seasonal. This event will cause any biome cards
heritage "NPS" DNA of its feline parent. If the
(land and sea) with the climate preference of
cat had sex, wings, and I DNA cards, these
"seasonal" to increase its biomass by one. If this
tents are inherited and put on the hamster
exceeds the hex capacity, the biome in the
card. If the feline had an S DNA card with a
neighboring slot reduces one. If both biomes in a
size range of 2-6, this tent is not put on a size
hex have a seasonal preference and the hex
one hamster.
capacity is exceeded, lower climax is reduced until
the biomass is four.
d. Tent Choice. Choose a population tent set not in
use to represent the new population. Each player
e. Doldrums. This event will cause all terrestrial
has a maximum of four genotypes that can be
biomes with the climate preference of "seasonal"
expressed.
to shrink by one biomass. This is due to a
decreased difference between summer and winter.
e. Map Placement. Replace one of the parent
genotype tents on the map with a tent of the new
f. Bridges. Each bridge event changes the state of
genotype. Note: if this is the last tent for this
all three bridges. If a marker exists on a bridge,
genotype on the map, the parent goes extinct.
remove it. If it has no marker, one is put on (to
show it is flooded). The state of each bridge
f. Milankovich Cycles. As soon as a genotype card persists until the next bridge event. A cleared
is expressed, a Milankovich Cycle, as listed in the bridge may unleash immigrants; see bridge (P5b).
center of the genotype card, is triggered. A
"Milankovich P", for example, will shift the marker
g. Erosion. This event reduces each orogeny biome
in the P track (see southeastern corner of the
by one biomass (due to the action of rain on the
map) from the upper slot to the lower slot, or (if the
mountains).
marker is already in the lower slot), back to the

12
 39
h. Hypoxia. This event reduces each marine biome
by one biomass (due to lack of oxygen).
i. Continental Drift. The first time a continental drift
occurs, two special starburst orogeny biomes
(Spain #165 and Africa #182) drift to the
borderland indicated. This represents plate
40
tectonics forming the Atlantic Ocean rift. If the
Africa or Spain orogeny biomes are shifted due to
continental drift, any population tents living there
shift automatically as well. Continental drift is
treated as "no event" once the Spain and Africa
cards are located in borderland areas.
Note: A flooded bridge does not stop continental
drift.
STAGE C. RECESS DNA
Through inheritance, a single DNA card may be
shared by multiple genotypes. If a genotype has its
41
shared DNA recessed, it loses the DNA tent, and the
DNA card is moved to any other legal genotype that is
still using it. All genotypes using that DNA retain their
tents.
Each player holds their recessed cards face-up on the
table in front of them. These cards are referred to as
the player's "hand." There is no limit to the number of
cards a player may hold in his hand.
C1. VOLUNTARY RECESSION
A player may withdraw any number of DNA Cards
from his Physiology Sheet to his hand. This removes
the associated DNA tents from all genotypes using the
recessed card.
Note: If a recessed DNA card is later re-expressed, it
may be applied to the genotype of the player's choice
per Stage B1.
C2. FORCED RECESSION
Some DNA cards contain a statement that if they are
expressed, they recess other DNA cards that genotype
may have. (Other genotypes of a player are
unaffected.) Recessed cards are returned to one's
hand, and the associated DNA counters (on the
genotype card) are removed.
STAGE D. ADJUST TROPHIC LEVEL AND
SIZE
42
D1. TROPHIC LEVEL
Each player may change the diet of his genotypes.
13
a. Plant-eaters become Meat-eaters. To change a
herbivore into a predator, shift its tents from the
biome card or the husker triangle to the predator
triangle in the same hex or borderland. (If there is
no suitable prey in the hex, the carnivore must
migrate or die this turn.)
b. Meat-eaters become Plant-eaters. Predators that
switch their trophic level to herbivory shift their
population from the predator triangle to either of
the two slots in the hex or either of the two husker
triangles. (Again, if there are no suitable biomes in
the hex, the tent must migrate or die this turn.)
Note: Herbivores suffer no ill effects from being
preyed upon, but see Stage H3.
43
c. Omnivores. If any player except the dog-face
player makes a trophic change, he must shift
every population tent of the changing genotype
into either carnivory or herbivory. Only the dog-
faces (mmm) have the omnivore ability, which
permits leaving part of a genotype population in a
predator triangle, and part on biome cards or
husker triangles.
Omnivore tents (dog-face player) are disallowed
from preying upon herbivore members of the same
genotype. (Cannibalism is thus prohibited,
although there is nothing wrong with any player
having one of his genotypes eating another of his
genotypes.)
D2. SIZE
Each player may change the size of each of his
genotypes one step larger or smaller by rotating its
card on the size dial.
a. Limits. The size may not go beyond the size
range listed on each genotype card.
b. DNA recession. If the size goes beyond the range
listed on a DNA card used by that genotype,
remove the DNA tent from the genotype card. If
the card is being used by another genotype, move
the card to that genotype's column even if the slot
is already full. If no other genotype is using the
card, it is recessed per Stage C2.
STAGE E. POPULATION EXPANSION
In every biome or triangle where each genotype
already has one or more tents, a player may add one
more population tent of that genotype. Each genotype
is limited to the 14 tents provided. Tents may be added
to slots in excess of biomass capacity; culling of
excess population will not occur until Stage H.
Example: The dog-face player has two archetype
tents in the predator triangle of the Sierra Madre, plus
two squirrels in the east biome, plus a moose and a
squirrel in the west biome. He adds another tent to
each of these four populations.
STAGE F. HERBIVORE MIGRATIONS44
F1. HERBIVORE MIGRATION
Each herbivore may move to the neighboring slot in its
hex, or a number of hexes or borderlands no greater
than its range to reach a new biome. A herbivore can
occupy either biome slot when it enters a hex.
Migration Limitations
a. The range of a size 1 or 2 animal is one hex or
borderland (or more if equipped with special DNA).
Size 3 or larger animals range up to two hexes or
borderlands.
b. Wings permit a range of three hexes or
borderlands.
c. Animals with more than one M DNA may only
enter hexes containing at least one flooded slot or
marine biome.
d. Wings or at least one M DNA (amphibians) are
required to enter a hex when both slots are marine
or flooded. Wings or more than one M DNA are
required to cross a flooded bridge. (Animals with
exactly one M DNA are termed amphibians, and
are able to enter both terrestrial and marine
biomes. Genotypes with no M DNA cannot go into
all sea hexes or the Atlantic, and genotypes with
more than one M DNA cannot leave marine
biomes.)
e. Animals must have wings or at least two P DNA to
move through or fly over hexes containing ice-
sheets.
f. Displacement arrows are used for biome
displacement, and for all movement in and out of
borderlands. Animal migrations from one hex to
another are NOT limited by displacement arrows.
F2. BIOME SUITABILITY
A herbivore may not end its move on a biome unless it
meets the all the DNA requirements listed on the
biome card. Herbivores may move to slots in excess of
14
biomass capacity; culling of excess population will not
occur until Stage H. Multiple genotypes will peacefully
coexist in a biome or triangle as long as the biomass
can support all the animals.
F3. BORDERLAND BIOMES
Herbivores may only enter borderlands along
displacement arrows. A herbivore entering a
borderland that contains no other herbivores can
select any suitable biome to move to the top of the
stack (if more than one is present). The top biome is
the only one active, the others are kept beneath.
Immigrant herbivores that follow their biome into a
borderland lock their biome on top. Should more than
one immigrant end up in a borderland, the higher
climax biome goes on top, other immigrants go extinct.
Example: After a "Greenhouse down" event, two
biomes displace south into the Atlantic rift. Beak lizard,
migrating first, moves a herbivore tent there, and
chooses his favorite (snails, yum!) to be on top.
F4. HUSKERS
Each hex may have one or two husker triangles,
beneath any biome with the mast acorn icon. Huskers
may migrate to these areas as new biome slots with a
requirement of H and a niche as stated on the biome
card they are underneath. Any genotype moving to a
husker triangle during herbivore migrations (Stage F)
is a husker.
Example: An oak biome at biomass three can support
three herbivores plus three huskers, plus up to six
predators eating the plant eaters. Note: mast biomass
does not count towards the general hex capacity of
four.
STAGE G. CARNIVORE MIGRATIONS AND
FINAL SIZE
G1. PREDATOR MIGRATION
Predators move a number of hexes or borderlands no
greater than their range to reach a new predator
triangle. The migration limitations shown in Stage F1
apply to predator migration.
Tip (predator's dilemma): It is advised that predators
go only to places where all the herbivores have prey
suitability. If predators move to an overpopulated hex
with a mix of roadrunners and non-roadrunners, the
non-roadrunners will be culled during Stage H2, and
the predators will starve during Stage I.
G2. FINAL PREDATOR SIZE ADJUST
Predators may change their size45 by one step.

Example: A predator may wish to migrate two hexes
while at size three, then shrink to size two to match the
size two herbivore population there.
Note: Due to the omnivore rules, a genotype of the
dog-faced cynodont player may have both carnivore
and herbivore representatives. However, a dog-faced
genotype may change size during Phase G only if all
its members are carnivores (no herbivores).
STAGE H. HERBIVORE CULL
Each biome can support a maximum number of
herbivore tents equal to its biomass. If a biome has
more herbivore tents than its biomass, apply the rules
below to identify the losers. Remove losers one at a
time until the excess are gone. In case of a tie, go to
the next rule.
H1. NICHE
Each biome card has niche DNA listed in each of its
corners. The herbivores with the least amount of niche
DNA lose. If the niche is "SIZE", the smallest
herbivores lose.
H2. ROADRUNNER
Herbivores edible by any predator in the triangle lose.
Use prey suitability (below) to determine this.
Prey Suitability. Each herbivore tent may support one
carnivore tent. In order to be able to utilize an intended
prey, a predator must:
a. Size. Be at the same size or not more than two
levels smaller than its intended prey. (If the
predator is smaller than its prey, it is assumed to
be eating eggs or young. Therefore, "Child Care"
DNA limits predators to being only the same size
as the prey.)
b. Speed. Have the same number or more "S" DNA
than its intended prey.
c. Nocturnal. Have the same number or more "N"
DNA than its intended prey.
d. Armor. Have the same number or more "A" DNA
than its intended prey has "a" DNA.
e. Omnivore cannibalism. Not prey on members of
its own genotype.
15
46
H3. GAME WARDEN
If there is only one predator type in the predator
triangle which is able to prey on all the herbivores
present in both slots plus both husker triangles, then
that predator chooses who loses.
Note (Shore Feeding): Predators do not need any 'M'
DNA to feed upon herbivores in a marine biome
(unless the predators are blocked from entering the
hex by migration limitations). Predators with more than
one M DNA may feed upon herbivores in a terrestrial
biome (again, unless the predators are blocked from
entering the hex by migration limitations).
H4. DENTITION
Herbivores with the fewest teeth lose. Thus, mmrrr
wins over mmm. In case of ties in dentition, the
owning player chooses the losers. If all population of
one genotype is lost, see extinction (below). If a player
loses all his genotypes, see hopeful monster below.
Example: A prairie has a biomass of one but has two
herbivores, a moose and an ostrich. In prairies with
niche "S" it is the fastest animal that wins, so that an
ostrich with two "S" DNA would remain and a moose
with only one or none would be removed. If neither
have any "S" DNA, go to the next tie-breaker
(roadrunner). A lion predator able to eat both moose
and ostriches may decide to kill off the ostrich and
leave the moose.
Extinction. The death of the last population tent of a
genotype is termed "extinction". Its genotype card is
discarded, along with any DNA cards in its column on
the Physiology Sheet. If any of its DNA is being used
by genotypes that inherited it from the now extinct
parent, transfer the DNA card to the existing genotype.
This is permitted even if there is no room on the
Physiology Sheet for the transferring DNA card. If the
player's archetype goes extinct, he may designate
another of his genotypes to be the new archetype by
swapping tents.
Hopeful Monster. Any evolutionary freak unable to
compete unless an extraterrestrial disaster smites the
dominant population. A player's whose last genotype
dies may still play on, hoping for an opportunity to
purchase a genotype or immigrant epoch card. (A
remnant "Lazarus" population is assumed to exist.)
a. Such players pay one gene at the end of each turn
(due to a kind of genetic drift). Players cease
paying one gene per turn the turn that they are
able to re-establish themselves by purchasing a
genotype or immigrant card.

b. If such a player buys and expresses a genotype
card, he may place a single tent anywhere on the
map.
c. Such players are eligible to bid on an immigrant
card and express it as if it were a genotype. If
expressed, treat the first tent as if it was an
invading immigrant, but the player can choose
what DNA to select for his "W". A player who re-
enters the game in this manner may never bid on
any other genotype or immigrant later in the game;
he may only bid on a DNA for his genotype. The
immigrant uses all genotype rules for the
remainder of the game with a 14 tent limit. Players
who purchase an immigrant card use the dentition
printed on its card for all purposes except if they
are tied during herbivore or carnivore cull. This
can happen if they are competing against another
immigrant, for instance. It such cases, the player's
original dentition is used to break the tie.
STAGE I. CARNIVORE CULL
Each predator tent chooses a suitable prey tent.
Predators without prey are removed. Order of choice is
by:
I1. SIZE
Larger predators choose before smaller predators.
I2. DENTITION
Predators with fewer teeth choose before those with
more teeth.
Note: Prey suitability (H2), extinction (H4) and hopeful
monster rules (H4) also apply to this stage.
ENDING THE GAME
The game ends at the end of the turn during which one
of the following happens:
a. The last epoch card is played (i.e.; the
Pleistocene/Holocene card).
b. All players agree to halt.
c. Only one player (or none) has population tents on
the map.
d. A predetermined time limit is reached.
e. The Greenhouse goes over 600 ppm or under 150
ppm.
16
47
f. Blitzkrieg (optional): If immigrant Hominids
[#140] enter the game during the Cenozoic, and
are not held up by a closed bridge from Asia.
Determining the Winner. The winner is the player
with the highest cumulative population (counting the
tents of all genotypes on the map). Count the
population:
a. At the end of the last Mesozoic Era turn (not
counted if playing the 12-turn game)
b. At the end of the game (see above).
The player with the highest total wins. If tied, the
player with the greatest number of genes wins.
OPTIONAL GAMES
a. Classroom Game. Students are divided into teams;
each team has one archetype. As each archetype
speciates into new forms, individual team members
are assigned control of these orders.
Note: Permission is granted to photocopy additional
Physiology Sheets for classroom use. Smaller copies
of the map are available from Sierra Madre Games for
classroom use, so that each team may have their own
map.
b. Darwinian Game. Predators lose the ability to be
game wardens. Instead dentition resolves such
herbivore ties. In addition, if there are three or four
players, the mmm and rrrr starting archetypes receive
a "P" and an "A" DNA respectively. Players should put
these DNA tents sideways to show they are heritage
and thus not inheritable by future genotypes.
c. Poikilothermic Reptiles. Both reptile players are
assumed to start cold blooded. The following rules
apply to all "cold blooded" players:
Cold-bloods cannot express N, S, wings, or sex
DNA, and ignore N, S, or wings heritage DNA.
Double biome biomass capacity for cold-blood
herbivores. Thus, each point of biomass may
support two cold-bloods. (Size 1 cold-bloods have
one-fifth the calorie requirements of
homoiotherms. )
48
Allow two cold-blood predators per herbivore tent.
Maximum migration range of 1 regardless of size.
Not allowed adjacent to a hex with an ice-sheet.
 All reptile and insect genotypes and immigrants
are cold-blooded until they attain more than one P
DNA.
EXAMPLE OF PLAY
Two-Player Advanced Game
This example shows the first few game turns of a
game of American Megafauna. The reptile player the
dino-croc (rm) and the mammal player is the dog-face
(mmm). Numbers in [ ] are card numbers.
Setup. The dino-croc puts a population tent in the
ginkgoes of Laurentian Shield, and so does the dog-
face.
Card One [#54]. First card is number 54, DNA MM.
Since this card restricts its user to marine biomes,
neither player bids on it. (Had a player expressed this
card, he would have had to move to the Epeiric and
eat primitive fish.) Both players grow to size two,
multiply their population to two apiece, and scatter
from the Laurentian ginkgoes to adjacent hexes
(Greenland, Spain, Appalachia).
Card Two [#111]. Turtle genotype. Each player bids
one gene, then escalates to three apiece. The reptile
wins this tie (having more r teeth per the Greenhouse
Level). He expresses it: a turtle replaces a dino-croc in
Spain, and Milankovich P causes a drought and a
bloom. All of the vegetation in the tropics, plus the
rainforest in the shield, shrink to one as the Earth dries
out. The bloom raises the tropical plants back up to
two, plus expands the sand dunes to three. The cloud
forest in Appalachia shrinks to one as the dunes
expand. The dog-face now has tour tents; the reptile
also has four, half dino-croc and half tortoises. All
populations are herbivorous and size three.
Card Three [#66]. Tool Use W DNA. Neither player is
interested in this card, as it cannot be expressed
without first acquiring other cards, which may never
come up. It seems likely that, if bought, this card will
fall to genetic drift, yet the reptile decides it may be
worth one gene and the mammal fatally lets him have
it. During Stage D, the dino-croc archetypes switch to
carnivore. The turtles, with 'laa' DNA, will soon crowd
out the dog-faces in the sites that have a "Niche 'I'
(cloud forest, the rainforest, and Spanish bog.)
Card Four [#73]. Antlers 'sex' DNA! Obviously both
players lust after this card, so the mammal puts one
gene on it instantly. Since the reptile has but one gene
left and ties on antlers go to the mammal, the dog-face
is quickly adorned with a proud rack. It seems that the
17
game is lost for the reptile. However, his turtles spread
into ginkgoes and Greenland ferns. The turtles win
because they are double-armored roadrunners
inedible to the local dino-croc predators, who can only
eat dog-faces. In desperation, dog-face grows to size
five and moves to the two biomes with "Niche: size".
These two biomes, seed ferns [#168] in Talkeetna,
and lycopod meadows [#171] in the Sierra Madre, are
havens for the dog-face, since the rival turtles are
limited to size four.
Card Five [#144]. Choristoderans invade over the
Cocos bridge. These enigmatic lizard-like predators
have DNA of MW, and a size range of 1-4. They first
try to eat the size five dog-faces in the meadows of the
Sierra Madre. The native dino-croc predators are still
at size 3, but they can grow twice during the turn to
size five. This is big enough to crush the size four
invader godzillas. Size matters!
Card Six [#99]. Thumb Spike 'Ia' DNA. Disaster for
the mammal as he has no genes and the reptile picks
this up for a gene. Not only does the thumb spike have
great DNA, but it also happens to be the card allowing
him to express the tool-use (W) card in his hand. The
reptile gives his predators thumbs, but is too heavy to
express his tool-use just yet. He hopes his clever
predators will drive the dog-faces extinct before they
can exploit their sex advantage. Population at this
point: Dog-face: 4 (eating seed ferns and lycopod
meadows); dino-crocs: 4 (eating dog-faces), and ninja
turtles: 8. The Triassic is now over; the Jurassic
begins.
Card Seven [#158]. Digging claws NI DNA. The
mammals buy this, and the dog-faces go nocturnal,
hoping to drive the last two predators extinct. But the
dino-croc cheerfully announces that he is inventing the
torch, expressing his tool use W DNA as "N".
Card Eight [#47]. Two bridges flood, a mild
"catastrophe". The mammal gets ten genes, the reptile
but five. The mammal is rich but close to extinction,
only four population tents on the two "Niche: size"
biomes. But they are at size five and have more teeth.
His opponent decides to go for broke to kill off these
last four, growing to size four, and switches to
vegetarianism. He displaces turtles so his newly
herbivorous dinosaurs have a home. His daring plan is
to grow big enough to knock the mammal herbivores
out of their size-niche biomes and out of the game. His
tool-use must stay recessed because the dino-crocs
are now too big, so his plan risks losing it to genetic
drift!
Card Nine [#114]. The mammal desperately buys the
dolphin genotype, eating primitive fish in the Epeiric
seaway (which induces the reptile to abandon his risky
extirpation effort).
By the end of the Jurassic, the mammal gets deer and
camels, which turn out to be poor investments. On turn
23 (mid-Cretaceous), the dinosaurs get technology (!!),
and invent fishing poles (fishing for both dolphins and
rays in the Gulf). The techno-predators, now with bows
and arrows, kill off the dolphins and camels. The dog-
49
faces barely hang on as huge generalized predators
feeding on generalized prey, and the deer are forced
into Europe and survive only by being triple speed and
nocturnal. The turtles remain inedible, even to the now
humanoid dinosaurs. Toothed birds and
Pachycephalosaurs come but don't live long.
Final Populations (Sum of K/T and Quaternary
Stages):
Reptile: turtles: 28, techno-dinosauroids: 18,
brontosaurs: 18
Mammal: dog-face: 8, swift nightdeer: 6, giant
tillodont rats: 8
Victory: Ruling reptiles!
ECOLOGICAL LESSONS
Tips on How to Play and Win
Grow a Nice Tree
Think as your archetype as the root to a nicely
rounded tree that you want to build, and buy cards
accordingly. Genotypes are like main branches, DNA
are like leaves. Buy some DNA early so that other
genotypes have something to inherit, but don't overdo
it or you'll over-specialize (see next tip). Genotypes
are more valuable than DNA cards because they offer
the most flexibility and DNA. But don't buy only
genotypes or else you'll have tree limbs without leaves
and it will cost you more to fit them all out with DNA
without free inheritance. Ideally, by the end of the
game, you should have four creatures with some
minimum shared DNA, but all looking substantially
different and none over-specialized.
Don't Get Greedy (or, the "Bolide Bash")
An over-specialized creature is one which is so loaded
with DNA that you can barely read the card. Such a
creature has a lot of ability to survive, but the penalty
for such super-specialization is the ultimate one -
outright termination! - if the proper Catastrophe should
drop in. There is an 18% chance that sometime during
18
the Mesozoic any creature with heritage AND
purchased DNA of more than three of any of A, a, B,
G, H, M, or S and/or triple S dies from "comet smite"!
During the Cenozoic, an asteroid kills anything with
more than two of A, a, M, or S and, or triple B (the
"Roadrunner Crusher"). Another Cenozoic catastrophe
50
(supernova ) kills those having more than four of A, a,
G, H, I, N, and S and/or having triple I. Yet another
(solar flare) kills anything bigger than size 4, or with
more than two A or a. Horned dinosaurs are
vulnerable to comets and the brontosaurs will die in
either an asteroid or a solar flare. You may choose to
live dangerously, but we recommend waiting until the
Cenozoic when the chances of catastrophe decrease
(to a 15% risk of flare or asteroid).
Don't Overspend
Just like super-specialization, the penalties for
overspending can be severe. If you have the fewest
genes, there are three pandemics (one in the
Mesozoic and two in the Cenozoic) which force you to
kill off a genotype. Even worse, having few genes
means your opponent can pick up cards for next to
nothing. When bidding you should always examine the
card not only from your point of view, but from that of
the other player. What will he do with such a card and
how much will that be worth to him? Will it let him add
just two tents or is it more like 10? How high is the
climax of the biomes in question? Knowing this should
tell you something about how much he intends to bid
and you can bid up accordingly. If he doesn't see it
and you don't need the card, you may want to point
out its value to him! Even if you don't need the card,
you need to make sure your opponent pays full value
or else buy it yourself and just hold it.
The "Roadrunner Effect"
Roadrunner cards hurt predators but only temporarily
hurt your herbivore competitors (see next tip). In the
meantime you have wasted precious genes perhaps
better spent on another B or an H which will help you
survive fluctuating conditions. What DNA cards should
herbivores buy? The approximate value of DNA early
in the game are H, wings, and sex (8 genes), B and G
(7 genes), M (6), I (3), and N and P (2). By the
Cenozoic, it is likely that flowers, grasses, and
deciduous trees will have appeared, making G, H, and
P DNA more valuable.
Predator's Dilemma
The top predator controls the game (in "game warden"
fashion), and as such he should try to buy roadrunner
DNA and genotypes that come up. But what if a
herbivore gets one, say a turtle genotype, which the
carnivore cannot eat? Suddenly, wherever the turtle
goes, there is a metastable situation: if the predator
stays, the animal he cannot eat proliferates, and if he
goes away, the native herbivore that he can eat wins
(only to disappear if the predator returns and turtles
are still around). Unlike the cartoons, a carnivore must
retreat from a roadrunner, in order to isolate its spread.
If there is a refuge (like a biome where an edible
herbivore has a niche that the turtle does not have),
the carnivore should go there. Barring this, he may
have to switch to being a herbivore.
The 60 Ton Wiener Dog
Gratuitous size changes may inconvenience a
predator, but you may find yourself unable to adapt in
time to a changing situation. For example, suppose
your biome changes out from under you. You need to
play a new DNA card to adapt, but you can't because
it is limited to sizes 2-4 and you're at size 6. It takes 2
turns to change size, but you have only one, so you're
dead (or at least at risk to losing your investment to
genetic drift, which has a 14% chance of occurring
every turn). Size three is about ideal for migration
range, and expression of DNA.
The Streak
An interesting technique is to buy Speed for your
archetype then spawn off a genotype which may well
be the only creature which can predate on it. As long
as you can keep the most S on your herbivore and
predator, or keep all the S out of other player's hands,
you can double your population. This tip is much
easier to accomplish with Speed or Nocturnal than
with Armor/Anti-armor. Warning: See "Don't Get
Greedy" for the dangers of being a super-roadrunner.
Sex and Death
It you can get it early enough (during the Early
Cretaceous at the latest), the Sex DNA is worth about
eight genes, but probably no more. In general, it is
more important to watch the ratios between gene pool
totals than the subtractive difference. For example, the
difference between your having 11 genes and the
other player having 16 (ratio of 16:11 or about 1.45) is
a lot less serious than your having one and his having
six (ratio 6:1). Unless something happens, in the latter
case you automatically lose the next four auctions
whereas in the former, after one or two auctions, parity
will return.
Lost World
Keep an archetype in Spain in case it floats out to sea
and becomes a haven from the continental lifeforms.
Dinosaur Mysteries
Perhaps while playing this game, you can figure out
the three fundamental dinosaur mysteries:
19
a. Dinosaurs are big. Reptiles, birds, and mammals
developed tiny species, but never dinosaurs.
b. Dinosaurs are terrestrial. Reptiles, birds, and
mammals have had marine and flying forms. Not
dinosaurs.
c. Dinosaurs are dead. Reptiles, birds, and mammals
all had survivors. Dinosaurs didn't.
MILIEU
The Game of Big Game
51
a. The Big Phenotypes. I am not talking lions and
tigers and bears big. A Manchurian Tiger weighs
in at 325 kg; that's only size two in this game.
Hippos, at 1300 kg, are only size three. America
has seen far bigger animals than this.
Brachiosaurs mass 70 tons, perhaps twice that for
the Ultrasaurus species.
b. Size Matters. Studies have shown that
52
megafauna gain a disproportionate share of the
resources in an area. Large animals are often
faster, migrate further, and can catch bigger prey
than small ones. Weight per weight, megafauna
need less food than small animals and do not
need a high metabolism for the same activity level.
Finally, large animals have smaller populations
than small ones, given a constant resource.
Smaller populations exhibit more speciation, at the
price of greater genetic drift.
c. Big Warm-bloods. Another advantage of being
huge is having a surface area to volume ratio
favorable to high metabolism warm-bloodedness.
One can visualize this principle by observing how
fast a given amount of ice melts in cubes
compared to if it is in one big block. Tiny
homoiotherms like shrews and hummingbirds
must eat continuously to maintain their body heat.
d. No American Megafauna? In all the world,
America has had the most and the biggest
dinosaurs by far. Yet although the conifer forests
are still here, Brachiosaurs no longer roam in
them. This continent is impoverished in big game,
compared both to its past and to modern Africa.
e. Leaves. By far the most abundant terrestrial food
is low-energy leaves, watery and full of fiber. Only
30 to 70% of the contained energy of leaves is
usable, compared to 70 to 90% for high energy
foods (fruit, rodents, insects, fish, and seeds). The
smallest leaf eating warm-bloods are the rabbits
and sage grouses (these uncommon American
 birds have a diet that is 71% leaves and flowers of
the sagebrush). Smaller homoiotherms will eat
some leaves, but would starve without high energy
insects, seeds, or meat.
f. Guts. Most of the energy of a leaf is locked up in
cellulose, the most common component of fiber.
No known animal can digest fiber by itself; leaf-
eating animals must employ long digestive tracts
filled with special bacteria in order to extract
energy from cellulose. Vegetation may be
processed mainly in the foregut (stomach or crop)
or hindgut (colon or intestine). In today's biomes,
midsize herbivores tend to be foregut digesters
like ruminants, while the larger herbivores
(elephants, rhinos, hippos, horses, and extinct
sloths, ankylosaurs, and pachycephalosaurs ) use
hindgut fermentation. A large amount of foliage
can be processed rapidly in the hindgut, but the
droppings will contain must undigested food.
Elephants spend 77% of their time eating because
of digestive inefficiency.
g. Grass. The warm, wet forests were largely
replaced by the cool, dry grasslands during the
Miocene. This cooling was the result of the rise of
the Tibetan plateau leaching greenhouse gases on
a planetary scale. Grass is particularly hard to
digest. Cattle, deer, and other ruminants are
today's most advanced grazers; such cud-chewers
are currently driving the larger hindgut digesters
out. Rhinos, elephants, and horses will be extinct
in a million years or so unless man gives them
sanctuary.
h. Predator Size. Africa statistics show that mammal
predators (wild dogs, cheetah, leopards, lions)
rarely catch prey more than twice their mass.
Although a pride of lions (150 kg each) can bring
down a 420 kg buffalo, herbivores over a ton
(elephants, rhinos, hippos, giraffes) are immune to
predators.
i. Flight. Wings are perhaps the strongest card in
the game. I allow their use on size two animals
(80-400 kg). Debatable, since the heaviest known
flyers are two American animals: the pterodactyl
(Quetzalcoatlus) and birds (Teratorns, and
Argentavis, a condor). These New World flyers
span from 7 to 11 meters, and mass perhaps 85
kg. Bustards, today's heaviest flyers, mass 23 kg.
The Prehistoric Contest
a. Permian Period. The two-tusked dicynodont, a
53
therapsid, was the only known proto-mammal
(Tartarian) survivor of the Permian extinctions.
20
During the post-holocaust Synthian radiation,
another therapsid emerged, the carnivorous
cynodont with a dog-like face. These pre-
mammals were quickly threatened as top
54
carnivores by archosaurs such as the
55
pseudosuchian thecodonts. Also on the rise
were the beaked rhynchosaurs, close to the
origins of modern lizards and snakes.
b. Triassic Period. The Triassic was a mighty clash
of two nascent dynasties. The first, archosaurs,
would rule the Mesozoic, and the second,
mammals, would rule the Cenozoic. But in the
Triassic, at the dawn of the Mesozoic, both
dynasties began on equal footing. This is where
our game begins.
c. Jurassic Period. Coastlines are similar to today's.
The Triassic extinctions killed the two-tuskers and
rhynchosaurs, and the dog-faced cynodonts will
not survive the Jurassic. However, one cynodont
group evolved into the first true mammal, a small
egg-laying shrewish critter. The archosaurs remain
supreme, radiating into fantastic forms: dinosaurs,
pterosaurs, crocodiles, and birds.
d. Cretaceous Period. A seaway full of giant marine
reptiles divides America into East and West
islands, and the world is warmer and cloudier than
any age since. The dinosaurs evolve to
spectacular heights, then die off under suspicious
circumstances. The tiny mammals, reptiles, and
birds survive.
e. Tertiary Period. Mammals rule and dinosaurs
drool! Was it inevitable? Had the dinosaurs
become so senescent that the first comet to come
by would take them out, and leave the mice to
rule? I think not, or I would not have designed this
game.
f. Quaternary Period. The contest is not yet over.
The archosaurs live on as birds, whose scaly
bipedal feet belie their dinosaurian past, eager for
any chance to regain their status as terrestrial
superlative.
IMPLICATIONS OF AMERICAN
MEGAFAUNA56
Like all Sierra Madre games, American Megafauna is
marketed as an educational game, worthy of didactic
exercises in biology classrooms. And so I have had
occasion to explain its premises to faith-bound
teachers and parents. Most acknowledge a place for
evolution, at least as an explanation for the
development of the various human races from
postulated original Adam and Eve archetypes, for
instance. Most will admit that, if placed on a jury in a
paternity trial, they would accept DNA evidence as
"proof beyond a reasonable doubt" that a deadbeat
dad was related to a child. Given that chimpanzees
share 95% of their DNA with their human relatives, the
idea of humans as just another type of animal is
beyond controversy. Within the context of current
knowledge, evolution is a fact.
Irreconcilable differences
The differences between science and religion are not
over evidence, but are rather epistemological. I find
these differences irreconcilable. Science asserts that
all knowledge comes from observations and reason,
and all phenomena are causal and natural (and thus
knowable), while the deists assert that knowledge is
faith-based, and hold out for supernatural (and thus
unknowable) portions of existence. There is no room
for compromise between these two views, despite
many claims to the contrary. One can either have a
natural universe run by natural "knowable" laws, or
one can have a universe run by a willful supernatural
agency whose nature and intentions are, by definition
of the word "supernatural", both unknown and
unknowable. A lawful universe that contains even a
single "lawless" poltergeist is, in principle,
indistinguishable from an utterly chaotic Byronic
universe. How can one tell if any observation or
experiment was the result of principle or poltergeist? If
the supernatural exists in any degree, then the
57
efficaciousness of science is utterly illusionary.
The nature of proof
My rant is not so much against the deists, but against
the would-be defenders of science that seek
compromise between science and religion, often by
softening the definition of "proof". As an adherent of
the Objectivist philosophy, I find such elasticity to be
fatal to the very nature of objectivity. Any hypothesis is
asserted within a context that may be strengthened or
weakened as new evidence comes in. If favorable
evidence continues to be discovered, with no
contraries, a cognitive climax is reached. The
conclusion ceases to be a hypothesis, and becomes
knowledge. Certain knowledge. Despite the assertions
of modern philosophers such as Karl Popper, certainty
and proof are possible, within the context of one’s
knowledge.
Evolution’s metronome
The evolutionary scale of this game encompasses
animal orders, rather than species. The pace of
change of families, genera, and species is too frenetic
to simulate in a 6 My (million year) game turn. Fossils
indicate that the mean duration of a genus is about 20
21
My, and that of a species is just 4 My. There are many
examples of vertebrate populations that have, in the
course of human lifetimes, been formed with
characteristics distinctive enough that they no longer
interbreed. Speciation evolution has been observed
directly, in Darwinian finches, sockeye salmon
(stream-bred versus lake-bred varieties), Australian
rabbit immigrants, scarlet honeycreepers (shorter
beaks in response to loss of its favorite flower in
Hawaii), littorine snails (armor in response to crab
predation), and novel species of mosquitofish. During
the Triassic, when the world was one big
Gondwanaland, the pace of change was stale. Today,
the intermingling of species from seven continents
may constitute the greatest speciation event since the
Cambrian explosion.
58
Die Achterbahn
Players of American Megafauna get a sense of a
white-knuckle ride in a planetary Achterbahn (the
German word for roller coaster). The actual pace of
events is even faster than the simulation provides.
During a single game turn of 6 million years (6 My),
target Earth can expect to be pelted with a rock big
enough to leave a scar 50 km in diameter, sufficient to
extinguish 20% of the species. The last 6 My has seen
59
about 100 Ice Ages and as many interglacials.
Imagine Canada alternately white with glacial ice and
60
green with tropical forests. The survivors of such
turmoil are resilient and adaptable, and not the frail
things depicted commonly by environmental mystics.
61
Ground Zero at the K-T Catastrophe
A giant bolide 10 km in diameter can be expected to
smite the Earth every 200 million years (My). The last
one left a scar 170 km in diameter in the Yucatán
peninsula. The rebounding crust registered an
estimated 13 on the Richter scale, and generated
world-wide tsunamis a hundred meters tall. The re-
entry rain of ejecta literally ignited the lower
atmosphere, burning everything combustible. A curtain
of nitrogen oxide smog and soot shut down
photosynthesis for months, and destroyed the ozone
layer. The gloom plunged Earth into a decades-long
impact winter, with average temperatures below
freezing. Since ground zero happened to be rich in
sulfur, acid rain sulfates pelted the world for decades.
The surviving plants and animals seemed to be acid-
tolerating or else living on acid-buffering soils. And the
already high greenhouse was elevated for at least a
millennium. Of the three "mass-extinction" calamities
that have occurred during the 250 My game period,
this was the mildest. Another mass extinction ended
62
the Triassic, killing 76% of the species. But the worst
was the Permian event, which killed of 96% of the
world’s plants and animals. Mercifully, the four or five
catastrophes expected during a typical American
Megafauna game only kill off 15% or less of the player
genotypes.
63
The mother of all extinctions
It is now known that the biggest event ever, the
Permian disaster that is the occasion for the start of
the game, was as sudden as it was apocalyptic. Both
land and sea were affected. The Mesozoic life that
populated the post-holocaust world was so utterly
different from the Paleozoic oceans that some early
paleontologists had wondered if life had entirely died
out and been reborn. The deep oceans became
hypoxic, a sign of high global temperatures, and sea
levels fluctuated. Sedimentology records show that
rivers worldwide became braided as the denuded land
choked them with sediment. Photosynthesis shut
down. Coal formation abruptly stopped, replaced by
"redbeds", sandstone deposits indicative of warm arid
regions. In many ways, the signature is similar to the
K-T event, known to be impact-caused. But where are
the blankets of debris, or the notorious tell-tale layer of
iridium? Another difference is that the Permian event
dumped enormous amounts of organic carbon into the
atmosphere and oceans, far more than can be
explained by the death of all the biota on the planet.
This huge spike in the carbon cycle might be explained
by massive methane releases from the continental
shelves in the face of dropping sea levels. The sudden
appearance of titanic flood basalts in a geologically
quiet region of Siberia is also suggestive. There are no
64
indications that the Siberian traps were impact-
65
related, and so the mystery lingers.
A painful recovery
Life rebounded rapidly, within a geologically-brief
hundred thousand years, for most of the mass
extinctions. Not so the mother of all extinctions.
Compared to the riotous diversity of the late Permian
rocks, the sandstones of the Early Triassic are
monotonously barren the world over. For several
million years marine fossils show nothing but a
22
smattering of cosmopolitan weed species, especially
small scallops or brachiopods adapted for low oxygen
waters. Terrestrial plants were also exclusively
sporadic weedy opportunists, consisting of spiky
quillworts, shrubby lycopods, a seed fern, horsetails,
and some small conifers. There are no signs of trees
until newly-evolved conifer forests make an
appearance 5 My after the event. At about this time,
more or less the game’s starting point, the first
66
megafauna appear: an array of hopeful monsters.
However, even 15 My after the event, megafauna
populations were still depauperate, consisting mainly
of a few scattered species of world-wide distribution,
notably the two-tusker Lystrosaurus.
67
Biodiversity trends
Despite such gyrations of the Achterbahn, or rather
because of them, biodiversity on the planet is at an all
time high. The number of marine families seems to
have plateaued during the Paleozoic at about 500,
before the Permian crash. But after the painful
recovery, biodiversity steadily rose during the
Mesozoic to 700 families, with a hiccup at the K-T
boundary of a hundred families or so, before resuming
the climb to 900 families today. The number of
terrestrial families vacillated greatly around 200
families through the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras, but
exploded after the K-T event to the 800 families in
68
recent fossil records.
69
Two recent invasions of America
America has seen two extinction events in the last 6
million year game turn. Both were paleozoogeographic
invasions. The most recent was the megafauna
extinctions of the late Pleistocene, 11,000 years ago.
About 35 genera were extirpated, including all the
proboscideans (mastodons, gomphotheres,
mammoths), seven genera of giant ground sloths, two
genera of xenothera (a glyptodont and an armadillo),
three genera of horses (at least 10 species), two
species of tapirs, two genera of peccaries, a camel
and two llamas, a mountain deer, the elk-moose, three
types of pronghorns, the saiga, three oxen (yak, shrub,
and musk), three cats (sabertooth, scimitartooth, and
cheetah), three bears (spectacled, short-faced, and
cave), two skunks, the giant beaver, the dire wolf, and
the last of the litopterns and notoungulates. Perhaps
73% of the megafauna died off or were driven to
refuges elsewhere. According to Dr. Paul Martin’s
blitzkrieg hypothesis, these unfortunate creatures were
inexperienced in the ways of men and their spears
coming over the Kula Bridge. These megafauna losses
are comparable to the losses (46 genera) that
occurred during another bridge invasion three million
years earlier. The long-flooded Cocos Bridge opened
in Panama, allowing mammal invasions both north and
south. The southbound invaders, placental mammals,
were the most destructive, and South America lost
most of her neotropical marsupials and unique
ungulates in this exchange, formally called the Great
American Interchange.
Western Civilization arrives
Compared with these invasions, the arrival of
Columbus and the Industrial Revolution has had scant
ecological impact. No genera have gone extinct, and
the known species of plants and animals that have
died off are under a dozen. From the mammal
megadynasty, one Mexican rabbit is gone from the
continent, as well as the Stellar’s Sea Cow offshore.
From the dinosaur megadynasty, out of 750 extant
70
nearctic bird species, the casualties include the
Passenger pigeon, Carolina parakeet, the Labrador
duck, and the Great auk. This death rate is well below
the expected "natural" rate of vertebrate extinctions.
71
Modern mass extinction?
It is often alleged that we are in the middle of a mass
extinction event today. Balderdash. World-wide, about
113 bird and 83 mammal species known to have gone
extinct since 1600, and almost all these are marginal
island species such as the dodo. Such species, having
evolved in the absence of predators, are complacent
and naïve, doomed the moment a piece of driftwood or
continental drift brings the first predator ashore.
Subtract the island species, and the subspecies, and
the observed extinction rate is just about zero. Far
from disappearing, the 9800 bird and 4600 mammal
species appear to be radiating into new species at
many times faster than they are going extinct.
Compare this to a real mass extinction, such as the
aftermath of the K-T rockfall. Some 70% of the globe’s
species, including the dinosaurs, were suddenly
snuffed out. Given the fecundity of life, where a single
gravid female can repopulate a species, it is estimated
that this event would have had to have killed 99.99%
of all individuals of all species to end the legacy of
three quarters of the species. In contrast, the biomass
of today’s planet is more or less stable.
72
Man as Game Warden
Unlike other species, humans tend to conserve
73
species and environments they find desirable. For
example, many hindgut-digesting megafauna, such as
Indian elephants and horses, have long been in
decline from competition from more advanced
74
ruminant mammals such as deer and cattle. These
animals would likely be extinct today, if it were not for
man’s intervention. Other critters that have benefited
from man’s domestication efforts are cheetahs,
camels, oxen, donkeys, hamsters, guinea pigs, and
ginkgo trees. DNA studies suggest that every "wild"
representative of these species today is descended
from domesticated captives of several thousand years
23
ago. Ancient "bio-engineering" has also increased
biodiversity by producing hundreds of new varieties of
plants and animals, from maize to cattle. Human
habitat modification, from the creation of fields and
open woodlands to the erection of cities, usually
increase rather than decrease both the numbers and
types of wildlife in a given region. One reason is that
animals like open woodlands better than closed
forests. Another reason is the human introduction of
exotic immigrants, both deliberate introductions and
75
accidental hitchhikers. The introduction of a
developed area into a wilderness increases diversity
about 10% in the long run (40% in island
communities). Such human-caused increases in
biodiversity and biome-diversity also increase the
conditions for speciation events.
76
Climate changes as natural cycles
The impact of man upon the Achterbahn has been
insignificant so far. Contrary to the headlines, the role
of nature is far larger than man. A single large volcano
or hurricane delivers more chlorine compounds to the
atmosphere than man’s entire history of CFC
production. The eruptions of acidic volcanoes such as
El Chicón in Mexico have been linked to most of the
world’s acid rain. Most sulfur dioxide emissions are
also volcanic, 147 million tons from the Laki volcanic
eruption in Iceland alone. Most methane comes from
wetlands, ruminants, and termites. Forests produce
more than six times more hydrocarbons than all man-
77
made sources. Carbon dioxide levels today, 380ppm,
are 99% from natural sources and are far less than
they were in the Eocene and Cretaceous (over 1125
ppm). The forests of North America, which have been
expanding for a century, absorb more CO2 than the
continent’s industry produces, making America a net
greenhouse sink. Today’s global warming is part of a
natural cycle, one of a dozen interglacial episodes in
the last million years. The world warmed rapidly
starting 18,000 years ago, 7°C per century at its peak,
and slowing irregularly to today’s half degree per
millennium. I mention these vignettes to give an idea
of the scale of the catastrophe cards, compared with
the influences of modern humans.
Agriculture as the biggest human impact on land
use
When speaking of ecological impact, sometimes
measured as an ecological "footprint", many imagine
cities, highways, and sprawl. However, developed
land, where 75% of Americans live, takes up only 27
million hectares (Mha), less than 3% of the land
78
area. The biggest footprint associated with humanity
for the last 10,000 years has been agriculture.
Cropland in the U.S. takes up some 141 Mha, more
than three quarters of it to produce fodder for cattle.
(For comparison, a hex in American Megafauna is
about 180 Mha.) This agricultural footprint is about a
quarter of the area of flood basalt volcanism and
glacial incursions that America has endured the last 6
million years.
79
Technology decreases one’s ecological footprint
It requires 2800 hectares (Ha) to support each person
of hunter-gatherer technology. The American continent
could support less than a million such persons, and yet
their impact was sufficient to devastate the
megafauna. "Given their technology, the Indians had
probably reached the numbers that represented the
carrying capacity of the land. All of the area of the
present United States that was habitable at all was
occupied by some tribe or tribes; there were no empty
80
lands." The technology of animal domestication
shrank this footprint by a factor of 50; in other words, it
requires only 56 Ha to support each wandering
herdsman. Slash-burn technology requires only 11 Ha
per person, and short-fallow agriculture is down to 2
Ha. The Industrial Revolution halved this so that by
1866 half the population of the United States was
freed up for non-agricultural purposes. It required 1.35
Ha to produce a tonne of wheat, comparable to sub-
Saharan Africa today. The Green revolution reduced
the footprint by another factor of four, down to 0.22 Ha
per person. Replacing draft animals with tractors also
drastically reduced the amount of land needed,
because of the fodder acreage saved. Moreover, the
number of man-hours to produce this tonne of wheat
has improved five thousand times since 1866, such
that less than 1% of the population now makes the
U.S. the world’s greatest food exporter. The resulting
food glut from high yield farms has caused the
abandonment of many former croplands, which are
often reclaimed by forests. Indeed, the woodlands of
America have been expanding consistently for a
century, to an area today twice that of croplands. The
technology of best practices in the U.S., such as
phytofarms, hydroponics, and aquaculture, has
footprints at least 2000 times smaller still. Innovations
have reduced the per capita environmental impact at a
rate many times that of the population growth rate.
81
Technology increases resources
Like all creatures, man alters its environment to suit its
needs. But whereas animals only consume resources
that nature provides, only man can create new
resources, through the miracle called ideas and
technology. Coincident is the increase of wealth and
abundance. For example, the amount of living space
per person has increased as the technology of house-
building has improved, and as housing prices
(compared to wages) have fallen. The last few
centuries have seen a steady decrease in the prices
(again compared to wages) of metals and all other raw
materials as new ideas for locating, extracting, and
24
conserving them have been realized. The worldwide
amount of food per capita is also at an all time high for
the same reasons. The poorest persons today enjoy
sanitation, health, communication, and other benefits
denied to the richest pharaoh, the grandest czar, or to
the sun king of France. The key idea is that resources
are not analogous to a pie baked by mother nature,
that one must grab before one’s greedy brethren do.
Resources are the marriage of sweat and ideas, and
American entrepreneurs are creating more resources
than any other society in recorded history.
82
Technology reduces pollution
A high tech person has less impact on the
environment than a low tech one. The richest and
most industrialized countries are also the cleanest,
since anything that retards economic growth also
retards environmental cleanup. Pollution was worse in
pre-Columbian America than it is today. The
technology of Native Americans was insufficient to
give them living areas better than unsanitary and
overcrowded smoke-filled rooms, to stop the
salinization of their fields, or to prevent their teeth from
83
being worn away by grit in their stone-ground foods.
Even today the greatest air pollution health problems
are the indoor emissions due to third-world heating
and cooking with wood, coal, and dung. Technology
reduces waste. An average American household
produces a couple of kilos of waste today, less than
half that of a century ago (in 1900 homes produced
two kilos per day of coal ash alone), and less than in
developing nations such as Mexico. Moving outside,
pollution and health in the streets of New York
improved dramatically when it changed from horses to
cars. (As did the smell.) The emissions per capita of
carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and particulates
th
increased during the first half of the 20 century, but
are today less than half what they were 50 years ago
and dropping, and are no longer a health issue in
developed nations. Pollution is an old problem,
solvable only through technology.
Proper human goals
These observations are not to foster complacency, but
to illustrate how the "deep time" of American
Megafauna can give perspective to the real problems
facing us today. Warning, another game element, the
population and culling rules, should not be applied to
humanity. These rules are patterned after the Laws of
Malthus, which apply only to non-technological beings.
Of all the animals, only humans have the capacity to
conceptualize changes, and work towards that vision.
The "masses" are commonly held to be stupid ignoble
creatures, who would destroy themselves without
benevolent paternal oversight. I see zero evidence for
this patronizing view, held both by theologians and
political leaders left and right. It is true that a proper
philosophy is needed to intelligently guide man’s
emerging control over his surroundings. Beneficial
human goals are not those that maintain equilibrium,
since this is not possible on the Achterbahn. They are
also not those that punish industrialists for the creation
of resources and wealth. Modern problems, the exact
opposite of those predicted by Malthus, include
84
crippling underpopulation, obesity, statist politics,
and mental health issues associated with our new-
found longevity. And naturally Ludditism, the fear of
technology.
REFERENCES
Alexander, R. McNeill. 1989; Dynamics of Dinosaurs
and Other Extinct Giants. Columbia University
Press.
Bakker, Robert T. 1986; The Dinosaur Heresies.
William Morrow.
Benton, Michael. 1996; The Historical Atlas of the
Dinosaurs. Penguin Books Ltd.
Dixon, Dougal et al. 1988; The Macmillan Illustrated
Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric
Animals. American Museum of Natural History.
Farlow, James and M.K. Brett-Surman. 1997; The
Complete Dinosaur. University of Indiana Press.
Fastovsky, David and David Weishamel. 1996; The
Evolution and Extinction of the Dinosaurs.
Cambridge University Press.
Lunine, Jonathan. 1999; Earth: Evolution of a
Habitable World. Cambridge University Press.
McGowan, Christopher. 1991; Dinosaurs, Spitfires,
and Sea Dragons. Harvard University Press.
NASA Ames Research Center. 1985; The Evolution of
Complex and Higher Organisms.
Paul, Gregory S. 1988; Predatory Dinosaurs of the
World. Simon and Schuster.
Tudge, Colin. 1997; The Time Before History. First
Touchstone edition.
25
CREDITS
Game Design, Layout, and Art: Phil Eklund
(phileklund@aol.com), (520) 324-0523
2525 E. Prince #72, Tucson, AZ 85716
(www.sierramadregames.com)
Rules Editing: Rick Heli, Phil Vogt, Graham Wills.
Map: Phil Eklund, Suzanne Wills.
Animal Classifications: Based upon the scheme
given by Dougal Dixon et al.
Clip Art: Some artwork modified from IMSI's
Masterclips Premium Image Collection, 1895
Francisco Blvd. East, San Rafael, CA 94901-5506.
Special Consultants: Bob Butler of the University of
Arizona (tectonics), Jonathan Lunine of the University
of Arizona (Earth), Paul Martin of the University of
Arizona (blitzkrieg), Neal Sofge of Fat Messiah
(dinosaurs).
Playtesting: Mark Buckley, Cedric Chin, Dustin Crowl,
Matthew Eklund, Alex Hazlett, Jim Kirkland (discoverer
of Utahraptor), Derek Long, Robert McCord of the
Mesa Southwest Museum, Phillip McGregor, Maureen
Nichols, Debbie Paetz, Mike Wasson.
Contributors to the Expansion set DNA Cards:
Steve and Arthur Hammond, Adam Johnstone, Chris
Carter, Jeff Fisher, Brian Leet, Steve Adamski, Max
Parsonage, and James Sterrett.
Special thanks to the Megafauna devotees: Manuel
Suffo, Rick Heli, Wilhelm Fitzpatrick, Franco Momoli,
and James Sterrett. Ich muss sonderlich die deutsche
Madchen bedanken: Patti, Annabelle, Kathrin, und
besonders Nici.
American Megafauna online discussion:
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/Megafauna/
"In any non-self running simulation, there must be
Lamarckian appeals." Mike Wasson
Endnotes
1
PERMIAN EXTINCTION, the most severe mass
extinction known, in which 96% of species went
extinct. This catastrophe swept land and sea, plants
and animals. The game starts in the aftermath of this
holocaust, and allows the proto-mammals to setup last
since they had the initial upper hand, particularly as
herbivores. Possible causes of the Permian extinctions
include an asteroid strike, or the Siberian Traps.
2
PANGEA During the Triassic, at the dawn of this
game, all the major continents are locked into a super-
continent called Pangea. At 210 million years ago
(Ma), rifts appeared as North America and Europe
("Laurasia") split from South American and Africa. Sea
water poured into the spreading zones of the Atlantic
Rift. At 85 Ma, an extension of the Atlantic would
temporarily open between North America and Europe.
3 d. The mmrrr is the archetype of the monotremes
DINOSAURS, an archosaur vertebrate group close
to crocodiles but showing birdlike features in the hips
and hind legs. This allowed a more vertical limb
alignment capable of sprints and gallops compared to
the splayed-out limbs typical of reptiles. Dinosaurs
likely inherited a warm-blooded oxidative metabolism,
free of the lactic acid build-up that bedevils the
fermentive metabolism of reptiles. (This may explain
why there are no dinosaurs as small as lizards.)
Dinosaurs arose from a pseudosuchian thecodont in
the Mid to Late Triassic, and went extinct during the
K/T event.
4
THE K/T EVENT, a massive extinction at or near the
Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary (abbreviated K/T) some
66 million years ago. On the land, the dinosaurs and
pterosaurs died. In the oceans, the rudistids (coral-like
oysters), great sea reptiles and lizards, ammonites,
and much plankton went extinct. Small and
generalized cold-bloods, like fish, turtles, insects,
crocodiles, seemed totally unaffected, as did plants
(even the recently evolved angiosperms). Small warm-
blooded animals like mammals and birds not only
survived but radiated spectacularly. This upheaval,
which seemed to plummet the unusually high
greenhouse that prevailed through the Late
Cretaceous, has been associated with the Chicxulub
impact crater in Yucatan. Thus ended the Mesozoic
Era.
5
ARCHETYPES, the original forerunner of a group of
animals or plants. In this game, there are two ruling
reptile archetypes (three with the expansion) and two
mammal archetypes. All four are high-metabolism
homoiotherms with unspecialized five clawed toes,
suitable for catching prey, digging, and running.
26
Locomotion is plantigrade (walking on soles), with an
up and down back bone flexure, contrasting with the
side to side flexure and sprawling posture of the
ancestral cold-blooded reptiles like lizards or sail-
backed pelycosaurs. The digestion plumbing is
relatively unspecialized. The archetypes in this game
differ mainly in their dentition.
a. The rm dentition is the archetype of crocodiles,
dinosaurs, and birds.
b. The mmm corresponds to the placental mammals
and perhaps the marsupials.
c. The rrrr is the archetype of snakes, lizards, and
tuaturas, also perhaps the pterodactyls and
marine reptiles.
such as the echidna and the duck-bill platypus.
e. The rr 1/2m is the archetype of the crocodile.
6
ARTHROPODS, a phylum comprised of all creeping
and flying invertebrates, such as insects and
crustaceans, which dominate the terrestrial animal
biomass.
7
ENDNOTES contain much interesting background
information, such as:
Angiosperms. Plants that form seeds that develop
from flowers, including deciduous broadleaf trees,
flowering shrubs, grasses, palms. These are the most
complex of the plants and their appearance in western
Gondwanaland during the Cretaceous rapidly spread
to global dominance. Angiosperms have a distinctive
love-hate relationship with animals: depending upon
birds and mammals for seed dispersal, and upon
pollinators (mainly insects) for fertilization. Symbiotic
flowers and fruits were developed to attract animals,
while the edible leaves became armed with
insecticides, spines, etc.
Coral Reefs. Animal structures confined to within 30°
latitude of the equator; their fossil presence in present
polar regions suggested the existence of plate
tectonics.
Deccan Traps. A cataclysmic basaltic eruption in India
believed to have contributed to the K/T event.
Digitigrade. Walking on the tips of the toes, in the
manner of dogs, cats, and carnosaurs, rather than on
the "flat" of the hand/foot (plantigrade, like bears or
humans). Some swift digitigrade animals bear a
thickened hoof and reduced number of toes; this is
called unguligrade. Ungulates include land crocodiles,
ornithischian dinosaurs, and ruminants. Camels have
modified this pattern by dropping back down to walk
on the entire underside of their splayed digits,
cushioned by a pad. This assists traversing sandy
deserts.
Gaia. The theory that life biological feedback
mechanisms keep the planet habitable in the teeth of
hostile and astrophysical catastrophes.
Gymnosperms. Non-flowering seed plants, such as
conifers and cycads, which dominated the Mesozoic
plantlife. As the game starts, gymnosperms are rapidly
displacing the pteriphytes in the tree and shrub
biomes, and the age of dinosaurs is also called the
age of cycads as a result. (Cycads resemble palms,
but are related to the archetype of pine trees.)
Intelligence. A measure of the sophistication of
appraisal of one surroundings, as measured (in this
game) by P heritage. Mammals and birds have the
advantage over dinosaurs and reptiles, and predators
tend to be more clever than herbivores.
Locomotion. Pre-Triassic quadrupeds undulated from
side to side as they walked like their fish ancestors.
Such motion interrupts breathing; lizards "hold their
breath" as they run and depend upon anaerobic
energy. Thecodonts and therapsids developed a gait
with legs held vertically rather than sprawled from side
to side. The up and down flexure of the spine assisted
rather than hindered breathing, and aerobic stamina
was born.
The Vindelischisch Islands marine card (#192 in the
Expansion) represents an egg-laying sanctuary for
some early marine reptile, much like boobies or marine
turtles do today. Although it requires no DNA to feast
on the eggs, wings or marine DNA is needed to get
there since its borderland slot is totally marine.
8
PROTO-CROC, technically a mid-Triassic
ctenosauriscid poposaur (a type of derived rauisuchid),
but it looks like a latter day dimetrodon! It has a
dentition code of rr 1/2m, which is to say, it has double
reptile-style teeth, and a half of a mammal-style tooth.
This dentition makes Arizonasaurus more of a reptile
than the rm dino-croc, and more of a mammal than the
rrrr beak lizard. The Arizonasaurus Proto-Croc
27
(rauisuchid), along with the Beak Lizard (rynchosaur)
and the Dino-Croc (pseudosuchid) were archetype
thecodontians (primitive ruling reptiles) that somehow
survived the Permian catastrophe to radiate into many
carnivorous and plant-eating forms found world-wide in
Triassic rocks. All these forms died out during the
great extinction that ended the Triassic, but the
surviving descendants included lizards, crocodiles,
pterosaurs, plesiosaurs, and dinosaurs. The
Arizonasaurus was rediscovered in 2002 by a pair of
students working under Arizona State Museum and
the Arizona Department of Land permits obtained by
Dr. Robert McCord, curator of the Mesa Southwest
Museum of Natural History. I am indebted to fellow
gamer Dr. McCord for his help in this project.
9
TECHNOLOGY CARDS represent the most ancient
of old world tools and techniques: hand-axes (3 million
years ago), fire-bearing (one half million years ago),
and Mousterian thrusting spears and Levallois blade
spears (one quarter million years ago). Technology
cards follow the ideas of Julian Jaynes that technology
preceded consciousness, and that Technology and
Ideas (Card #62) ignited as a result of the technology
of language rather than to brain evolution. The timing
of Jayne’s proposed "breakdown" is controversially
recent. I prefer a timing that makes hand-axes tools,
instinctively used rather like the cactus spines in the
beaks of Darwinian finches, whereas hafted spears
were technology, envisioned prior to their assemblage
in a functional mind-space composed of lingual
metaphors. Check out Jaynes’ remarkable book: The
Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the
Bicameral Mind. Boston, Mass: Houghton Mifflin Co.,
1976.
10
DENTITION Reptile teeth are generalized, uniform,
and continuously replaced as they are lost. Mammals
have two sets of teeth: milk teeth and permanent
teeth. Both sets are sculpted to fit together precisely,
compared to the reptile's rather sloppy bite with
replaceable arrays. The life span of mammals is
limited by tooth wear, consequently most of them
plateau at a maximum adult size. Reptiles, with ever-
growing teeth, grow throughout their lives, up to the
biggest land beasts ever.
a. Carnosaurs with rm dentition have semi-
specialized teeth that are curved, flattened, and
serrated teeth for cutting off chunks rather than
grabbing. (Animals with minimal dental formulae
are favored for the "snatch and gulp" or "slashing
cookie-cutter" predatory methods.)
b. Mammals with mmm dentition have four kinds of
teeth: incisors for biting and cropping, canines for

holding prey, pre-molars for crushing, and molars
for chewing. (In most mammal herbivores, the
canines are absent, leaving a gap called the
diastema between their biting and chewing teeth.)
c. Rhynchosaurs (rrrr) have beaks, tusks, and a
deep lower jaw that bears two rows of teeth, one
on the crest, and one further down on the inside.
The lower jaw clamped into a groove in the upper.
d. The two-tuskers (mmrrr) have beaks, tusks, and
extra palates to process low-energy high-fiber
vegetation.
e. The “proto-croc” pseudosuchids (rr 1/2m) are
much closer to modern day crocodiles than to any
dinosaur. Cladistically ranked as crurotarsians,
they have a row of large conical teeth with
denticulated shelves (analogous to the
mammalian cingulum) that gave rise to the bizarre
bipedal plant-eating crocodiles of Arizona such as
Revueltosaurus.
11
BROWSE (Arbivorous). This game distinguishes
between animals that graze shrubs and grasses and
those that browse on trees. Low plants have made
themselves more and more indigestible, while the high
tree foliage remains more succulent. Browsing
requires a long neck, arms, tongue, or trunk to reach
these high leaves. Or strength: elephants will knock a
tree over to get a few leaves at the top. Browsers,
such as elephants and rhinos, often exhibit higher
intelligence than grazers.
12
GRAZE refers to the consumption of shrubs or,
during the Cenozoic, grass. Grass, a wind-pollinated
angiosperm, appeared during the Oligocene after the
age of dinosaurs. Grass contains spicules, and these
needles of glass discourage grazers. Even so, grass
still thrives when continuously cropped. In order to
obtain an adequate diet, grazers must repetitively
munch and grind the grass, and all this mind-numbing
mastication dominates their daily routines.
13
HUSKERS are animals adapted to crack the husk of
mast and obtain the high energy contents inside. The
high nutrition value of seeds is needed to germinate
and nurture until its solar-powered processes are
initiated. Today, the dominant huskers are songbirds
and rodents.
14
MAST, fallen seeds edible only by huskers, animals
such as sparrows and mice specialized in seed-
cracking.
28
15
LEK, a sexual arena where males peacefully
congregate to perform their courtship displays, and
females make their choice. This system works well for
monogamous species whose offspring need a lot of
parental effort, like birds and humans.
16
ROADRUNNER, a term inspired by the Warner
cartoons whereby a certain mammal just can't catch
his feathered dinosaur prey. (Alas for cartoonish
authenticity, real roadrunners are ferocious and utterly
dinosaurian predators.)
17
MAP, the diagram of the North American continent
during the Early Jurassic (200 Ma). High mountains
(the Hercynians) and a rift valley (the nascent Atlantic
Ocean) separate the American East Coast from the
rest of Pangea (Africa, South America, and Eurasia).
The interior is dry sand dunes, stirred by easterly
winds desiccated by passage over the Hercynians.
The east slope of the Hercynians is lush and verdant
with rain-forests, all the way north to Greenland, which
actually lives up to its name. An arm of the Great
Tethys Ocean (the Zechstein Sea; see below) reaches
the area where present day Spain and Maine are
starting to split apart. Another shallow sea, the Epeiric,
resides in the center of America. Salt deposits today
mark where this sea repeatedly dried up in the arid
conditions.
At the start of the game, marine elevations were close
to present levels, covering a shallow continental shelf
off Pangean shores. Sea levels rose dramatically
during the Jurassic, reaching a peak in the Cretaceous
and flooding the Midwest. They dropped again during
the Tertiary, and during each of the dozens of
Pleistocene ice ages plummeted the oceans 150
meters below present. The seas rebounded at each
retreat of the ice-sheets during the Pleistocene
interglacial warmings.
The Zechstein sea is a shallow sea which repeatedly
covered parts of Europe. It starts the game as an arm
of the Western Tethys Sea. By the Jurassic, a great
spreading rift between Europe and North America
joined the Zechstein to become the North Atlantic
Ocean, splitting Pangea. By the Cretaceous, a
spreading zone from the Zechstein would temporarily
separate Greenland and Europe from the rest of North
America.
18
HORSE LATITUDES are the latitudes at 30° have
high stationary air pressure, due to the descending
desiccated air of the circum-global Hadley cell. This
prevents prevailing winds from carrying rainwater from
the oceans, and indeed most of today's great deserts
are located in the horse latitudes in both hemispheres.
19
BRIDGES allowed, for example, Cebid monkeys,
porcupines, anteaters, armadillos, and glyptodonts to
migrate north through Panama during the Great
American Interchange during the Pliocene.
20
KULA is Athapaskan for "all gone".
21
MILANKOVICH CYCLES describe how the Earth's
climate is affected by periodic oscillations in its orbit, in
three grand cycles.
a. In the Milankovich E cycle, gravitational nudges
from other planets modulate the eccentricity of the
Earth's orbit on 100,000 and 450,000 year periods.
This reapportions the annual solar energy to
different parts of the year.
b. The closest approach to the sun currently happens
to occur when the northern hemisphere is tilted
away from the sun, that is, during the northern
winter. During the P cycle, every 21,700 years, the
Earth precesses its tilt about a fixed point like a toy
gyroscope. This affects the equator more than the
poles, and affects the seasonality (difference in
temperature between poles and equator) that
drives the world's winds and weather.
c. The Earth is currently tilted 23° from a line
perpendicular to the plane of its orbit about the
sun. Tugs from other planets change the Earth's
tilt (from 21° to 25°) on 41,000 year periods; this is
the T cycle. A greater tilt affects the poles more
than the equator, increasing both the midnight sun
and the seasonability.
22
NICHE defines the role of a species within the
community in terms of its resource requirements. The
overarching rule in ecology is that niches are
exclusive. No two species can long exploit the same
resource at the same time, as the more efficient
exploiter will eventually prevail. In this game, it refers
to the DNA or size, as listed in all four corners of a
biome card (in the square after the requirements), that
defines the fittest animal in a competition for that
biome.
23
OROGENY slots mark where the Earth's crust is
prone to deformation, also called diastrophism.
Mountain building processes are colorfully referred to
as "episodes" or "revolutions" by geologists. American
orogeny occurs both east and west coast:
29
a. Hercynian Orogeny. At the beginning of the game,
a collision between the world's continents has
formed Pangea, raising mountains from Spain to
Africa. This tall range blocked the trade easterlies
from reaching the interior of the American
continent. In the "rain-shadow", desert sandstone
formed as the hypersaline central seaway
repeatedly evaporated.
b. Cordilleran Orogeny. A series of disturbances
resulting in the up-lift of the Rocky Mountains and
the formation of the Sierra Nevada and Coastal
Ranges.
24
BERINGIA, site of the Kula land bridge between
Alaska and Siberia that formed and flooded during the
late Cretaceous (to Eurasia), Eocene, and
Pleistocene. It was by this bridge that Asian dinosaurs
and mammals of many kinds, including humans, have
emigrated to America, and vice versa. Beringia
remained ice-free during the ice ages. Today, Beringia
(Alaska) has America's largest megafauna, like polar
bears, whales, and walrus. Small animals have
excessive heat loss due to an unfavorable surface
area to volume ratio.
25
CLIMAX, a mature plant community as a culmination
of an ecological or evolutionary succession.
26
BIOME, a major ecological community or
environment characterized by distinctive geology,
vegetation, invertebrates, or fish that can be exploited
by animals that meet certain DNA requirements.
27
DNA is deoxyribonucleic acid, the helical material in
the nuclei of cells that contains the genetic code.
28
GENOTYPE, a population of individuals sharing a
specified genetic makeup (in this game, an order or
suborder of related animals). Each population tent
represents an entire assemblage of related species, at
30 megatons of biomass each. Genotypes maintain
heritage characteristics even as they alter their form in
response to a habitat. "Classic" ecomorph solutions
that have arisen again and again include tank-like
grazers with facial armor and giraffe-like browsers.
Such ecomorphs have arisen independently in
American ornithischian dinosaurs, camels, and rhinos,
and South American litopterns and marsupials. Giant
"ground sloth" browsers, where a big animal stands on
two feet and hooks branches with claws, is another
common reoccurring ecomorph (alas, without living
examples today).
29
IMMIGRANTS, foreign invaders who often find that
native plants and prey are unadapted and naive to
their specific attack modes. America, an isolated area,
has suffers mass extinctions on those infrequent
occasions when visitors arrive. Immigrants can also be
disease vectors, such as what occurred when
cosmopolitan Europeans, harboring anti-bodies and
pathogens from around the world, first met the
sheltered "native" Americans.
30
CATASTROPHE, a sudden environmental change
as caused by the appearance of special cards.
Controversy continues whether the major factors in the
survival or extinction of life are catastrophic or
gradualist. Equally controversial is whether survival or
extinction is due to opportunism or evolutionary
competition. Life seems to be at maximum risk when
at equilibrium.
31
ICE-SHEETS, widespread ice that moves because
of the weight of buildup rather than moving down hill.
32
SEX is the intermingling of genetic material like
DNA, and the activities that enhance this. The sex
DNA cards represent a variety of sexual intimidations,
advertisements, leks, and displays.
33
ALLELE, any of the different forms of a gene that
occupies a particular locus (fixed position on a
chromosome).
34
GENETIC DRIFT is the loss of variability when
unused DNA in an allele is not passed on. Despite
this, small in-bred populations exhibit enhanced
variations. This is the engine of change, adaptively
guided by natural selection.
35
GREENHOUSE LEVEL This map table lists the
parts per million (ppm) of atmospheric greenhouse
gases. High levels create high sea levels and high
temperatures. Solar radiation travels through space as
short-wave radiation. After it strikes the Earth, heated
objects cool by reradiating this energy as long-wave
radiation. The balance between the light energy
intercepted, and that lost by radiation back into space,
gives the ambient temperature. The interior of an
automobile is an example: its windshield admits the
sunlight, but traps the long-wave IR. Greenhouse
gases, especially water, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide,
and methane, let short-wave radiation in, but trap the
long-wave radiation from escaping out. Heat enters but
can't get out, and eventually the ice-caps melt and
flood bridges and lowlands.
30
36
PANDEMIC, a widespread disease of species-killing
potential.
37
FEATHERS are merely scales modified to insulate
an animal's body by trapping a layer of air (air is a
superior insulating material). Feathers are more
efficient than fur for insulation and solar radiation
shielding, and only later were adapted for flight
purposes. Compared to fur, feathers are high
maintenance, requiring bathing, preening, and periodic
replacement to keep from getting matted or infested
with parasites. They also preclude the use of sweat
glands, which is why birds pant rather than sweat.
38
BLOOMS are a proliferation of plant life in either the
land or in the oceans.
39
HYPOXIA refers to a lack of oxygen.
40
PLATE TECHTONICS The world's surface is
divided into plates of lithosphere that creep about,
surfing the circulating plastic lower mantle. The
continents such as Laurentia (ancient America) are
froths of low density granite that collect at the treadmill
fringes of thin dense plates of oceanic basalt. A Pacific
subduction zone wrinkles Laurentia's western
cordillera as it sutures island arcs onto shores from
Baja and Beringia. This zone overran the Pacific
spreading center about 30 Ma, creating the San
Andreas slip fault and causing the western U.S. to
"decompress" into the Basin and Range extentional
orogeny.
41
RECESSED DNA Genes (or latent genotypes) that
produce no observable effect on the organism's
phenotype. All recessive cards are kept in a player's
hand (i.e., face up on the table), and are not
inheritable (in this game).
42
TROPHIC LEVEL, a nutritional hierarchy of life with
top carnivores occupying the apex (in the predator
triangle). They feed on the next trophic level, the
herbivores. The lowest trophic level contains the
energy-producing biomes. The passage of energy
between each trophic level determines its biomass.
Note that insectivores and sea-food eaters are treated
just like herbivores in this game.
43
OMNIVORES Defined in this game as an animal
order containing both predators and herbivores, but
can be conveniently thought of as a species that eats
both leaves and flesh. Because the mammal's tooth
repertoire contains both canines and molars, and
given their non-specialized history, only the mmm
player is permitted omnivorous genotypes. Even the
most carnivorous of the mammals (the order
Carnivora, including dogs, cats, bears), will happily eat
vegetable matter if needed. Reptiles and birds are less
versatile in their trophic choices. Leaf-eating birds or
lizards are unusual, bird-hipped dinosaurs won't touch
meat, and the lizard-hipped dinosaurs won't eat a leaf
(sauropods are the exception here). Note that,
because of the specializations required in digesting
plants, it is much easier for plant-eaters to evolve into
meat-eaters than vice-versa.
44
MIGRATIONS are the movement of organisms from
one location to another. This may be periodic or
seasonal (as in birds) or may be a displacement in
response to climatic change or hardship (as in plants).
The American Megafauna migration rate is based
upon the annual migrations of size three American
animals like bison and caribou, which travel 2500 km
annually.
45
SIZE Many players have trouble visualizing the rule
that predators cannot be bigger than their prey.
Studies of trophic dynamics on the Serengeti show
that megafaunal predators usually tackle prey their
own size. Similar dynamics apply to cougars and deer,
and tyrannosaurs and triceratops. No terrestrial
megafauna predator lives exclusively off prey only a
quarter or less its weight, because there are
insufficient calories to replenish those lost in pursuit.
Ocean megafauna follow similar rules as long as krill is
lumped in with algal plankton as the most basic trophic
level.
46
GAME WARDEN The concept of a carnivore as the
overlord of animal husbandry. Assuming none of his
prey are roadrunners, he chooses who lives and who
dies. The predator's best chance of winning the game
is to keep as many varieties of herbivore prey alive as
possible, thus the analogy to human game wardens.
47
BLITZKRIEG, a theory proposing that primitive
humans with stone spears were more responsible than
climate changes for the recent (Holocene) mass
extinctions of American megafauna. Humans invaded
13,400 years ago, and within a thousand years the
giant armadillos, glyptodonts, camels, horses,
mammoths, mastodons, cave bears, giant ground
sloths, dire wolves, saber-toothed cats, giant tapirs,
and woolly bison were gone. Caribou and bison were
spared by having irregular migration patterns to
confound the hunters. Even more recently, the bison
suffered a precipitous decline, from predation from
both Asian (misnamed "native" Americans) and
European immigrants. The African megafauna
survived perhaps by co-evolving with humanity, but the
31
animals on other continents (such as Australia) were
taken by surprise, hence the "blitzkrieg".
48
HOMOIOTHERMS are animals that maintain a
constant body temperature despite ambient
temperatures. The genotypes in this game are
assumed to be big enough to exhibit homoiothermy by
virtue of their thermal mass alone. A high body
temperature (~38°C), and an elevated metabolism are
also presumed, although some big reptiles like turtles
and crocodiles are low metabolism homoiotherms.
Elevated body temperatures require more energy but
speed up chemical reactions (including digestion and
Krebs cycles) and seem to enhance muscle
performance. A 50kg cougar eats five times that of a
50kg alligator.
49
GENERALIZED Organisms which few specific
adaptations to the niche. A generalized beast
resembles its archetype, and, in game terms, has few
DNA tents. More conservative animals seem to fare
better in mass extinctions than rapidly speciating
(possibly over-specialized) ones.
50
SUPERNOVA On an average of every two turns a
gigantic nearby star explodes and pours X-rays and
UV onto the Earth, only to be blocked by the Earth's
magnetic field. At unpredictable times, however, the
magnetic field collapses while the north pole switches
to the south pole, or vice versa. The simultaneous
occurrence of both accidents can result in "starburn",
particularly for plants and animals without protective
fur or feathers.
51
PHENOTYPE The distinguishing features of a
genotype resulting from its interaction with its
environment.
52
MEGAFAUNA, vertebrate animals of 100 kg (220
lb.) or more.
53
THERAPSID An order of loosely-related synapsid
beasts. Therapsids dominated for 40 million years until
the rise of the dinosaurs in the late Triassic, and
included the dicynodonts (two-tuskers) and cynodonts
(dog-faces). The archetype of placental mammals was
a cynodont therapsid.
54
ARCHOSAURS "Ruling Reptiles", a subclass which
includes thecodonts, crocodiles, pterosaurs, dinosaurs
and birds.
55
THECODONTS Early archosaurian reptiles, rather
like crocodiles, having dentition set in jaw sockets.

One of the thecodonts was the archetype of the
dinosaurs. Thecodonts include the pseudosuchians
(dino-crocs), erythrosuchians (crimson-crocs),
aetosaurs, phytosaurs, rauisuchians, and
ornithosuchians (bird-crocs).
56
My thanks to the affable Tasmanian biologist Beth
Fulton for her unflinching preproduction critical review
of this commentary. Beth agrees with the basic facts
presented herein, but completely disagrees with the
conclusions I drew from them.
57
Every scientific experiment ever performed supports
the thesis that we live in a lawful universe, and that
science is valid. It follows that faith-based or
superstitious institutions can have no authority over
the truth or falsehood of evolution, or indeed on any
aspect of existence, from morality to the Big Bang.
Faith (the blind acceptance of something outside of
reason or evidence) has no place in science. For a
remarkable treatment of this subject (including the
axiomatic basis for science and morality), see chapter
5 of Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand,
Leonard Peikoff, New York: Dutton, 1991.
58
Jonathan Lunine. Earth, Evolution of a Habitable
World. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press,
1999. I take pride in the small role I had editing and
illustrating this textbook. The author, Dr. Lunine, also
kindly reviewed the preproduction text of this
commentary.
59
ICE AGES Global periods with extensive ice-sheets,
the first of which was recorded during the Permian. By
the Triassic, global temperatures, sea levels, and
rainfall were similar to today's levels. Further into the
Mesozoic, the world got hot and wet, and greenhouse,
photosynthesis, and sea levels climbed to an all time
high by the Cretaceous. Equatorial temperatures were
slightly higher than today, but polar temperatures were
40-60° C higher, too warm for ice-caps. Large-eyed
dinosaurs plied polar podocarp forests within the Arctic
and Antarctic circles. During the Tertiary, by the end of
the Eocene, the climate remained warm but got much
wetter. During the Quaternary the climate fluctuated
rapidly between cool interglacials and ice. Humans
now live in one of these transitory interglacial periods.
60
Experienced players know that a downward
Greenhouse shift creates an ice wall that divides
Beringia from the rest of the continent. It is known from
pollen studies that white pine habitats survived in the
refugia of Alaska throughout the worst of the last ice
age.
32
61
The Alvarez hypothesis, that the dinosaurs died as a
result of a bolide strike, has reached the status of
proven. But since Luis Alvarez was a Nobel prize-
winning physicist, the academic field of paleontologists
did not exactly welcome revelations from outsiders.
This book describes how those who have invested
heavily in a field of study react when new evidence
arrives from outside their peers. See James Powell.
Night Comes to the Cretaceous. New York, NY: W.H.
Freeman & Co., 1998.
62
At the dawn of the Jurassic 200 Ma, the ecology
convulsed. One proposed culprit was a 10 km asteroid
strike in Quebec. Among the victims, therapsids
including the dog-faces and two-tuskers, the
rhychosaurs plus the seed ferns they specialized on,
and the thecodonts. All extinct. In the ocean, the
ammonites (nocturnal shelled squid) and early
ichthyosaurs also lost most of their families. Yet even
while the proto-mammals were clobbered into ratberts,
the dinosaurs soared into titans. Very curious.
63
Douglas Erwin. Extinction, How Life on Earth Nearly
Ended 250 Million Years Ago. Princeton, NJ: Princeton
University Press, 2006. This readable text does a
great job of showing a careful handling of contradictory
evidence and the implications of various results
to ongoing research.
64
SIBERIAN TRAPS The millions of cubic kilometers
of molten basalt formed during the formation of the
Urals when Europe crashed into Angaraland at the
beginning of this game. The carbon dioxide released
over the next 600,000 years raised the greenhouse
and reduced the temperature differential between
poles and equator. This made the ocean currents
sluggish and reduced the rate which the oceans
absorb and circulate oxygen into the depths. Hypoxia,
a mass killer of fish today, may have caused the
Permian extinctions.
65
Indeed, all three mass extinctions during the past
galactic year have been marked by major flood basalt
episodes: the Siberian traps at the end of the Permian,
the Central Atlantic Magmatic Providence at the end of
the Triassic, and the Deccan traps at the end of the
Cretaceous.
66
In this case the hopeful monsters are examples of
the so-called "Lazurus taxa", creatures missing from
the fossil records for many millions of years before
mysteriously "rising from the dead".
67
These compilations of Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and
Cenozoic families are the life work of the late Jack
Sepkoski of the University of Chicago.
68
The highest biodiversity is in the tropics, although
nobody knows why. A Panama rainforest may yield 70
mammal species, compared to 35 in a similar
Appalachian forest and 17 in Alaskan tundra.
According to the Haffer "species-pump" hypothesis,
changes wrought by Milankovitch cycles and glaciation
repeatedly pumped forest biomes into tropical patchy
areas (refugia) where speciation could occur.
Moreover, today’s climate since the Pleistocene has
been a dry chill, relatively unusual in earth’s history,
and this big chill could have crowded most of the
world’s plants and animals into the last places on the
globe that are warm and wet. There have been
actually only two periods of polar ice and Ice Ages in
the last billion years, an episode during the Permian,
and the one we are in today. Had the post-Permian
world remained cold, life would have had a quarter
billion years to evolve on the ice-caps. The poles today
would be a verdant green, alive with warm-blooded
plants and a diverse assemblage of megafauna.
69
My thanks to Dr. Paul Martin for his consultation. It
is not every neighbor that advocates the reintroduction
of wild elephants and camels into the Arizona deserts.
70
NEARCTIC refers to all North American species
exclusive of Central American tropical species.
71
The Ivory-billed woodpecker, never a common bird,
may or may not still survive in Alabama or Cuba.
72
Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel, The
Fates of Human Societies. New York, NY: W.W.
Norton & Co., 1997. I disagree with Diamond’s central
thesis that geography is the primary shaper of human
societies. But every chapter has fascinating ideas
nevertheless. For instance, Diamond investigates how
the loss of the megafauna in the Americas negatively
impacted the subsequent development of native
American civilizations.
74
RUMINANTS, herbivorous mammals having a
system of foregut digestion adapted to increase the
efficiency of extracting protein from low food-value
vegetation. Ruminants chew food ("the cud") partly
digested in the foregut before swallowing it again for
more digestion. Ruminants have a complicated multi-
vat stomach, three chambered in camels and four
chambered in deer, cattle, and bison. Chewing the cud
improves efficiency, but cannot digest as much food at
a time as non-ruminants with a simple single large
stomach, such as horses and pigs.
75
Not all invaders into America are human-facilitated;
the Fieldfare and Cattle Egret are flourishing here after
having immigrated on their own two wings.
76
Edmund Contoski, Makers and Takers. Minneapolis,
MN: American Liberty Publishers, 1997.
77
CARBON DIOXIDE The atmosphere gas (CO2)
forms a minor part compared to oxygen and nitrogen.
Nevertheless, this percentage is vital for plant growth,
and for regulation of the planet's temperature through
the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide scrubbed from
the atmosphere by rainfall produces carbonic acid,
which may turn into carbonates given the proper rocks.
This effect chills the planet. But carbon dioxide thus
sequestered in the rocks is eventually subducted into
the Earth and released into the atmosphere by
volcanoes, thus completing the CO2 cycle. The
elevated parts per million (ppm) of CO2 during high
Greenhouse is favorable for plant growth, particularly
those with wet preferences.
78
HECTARE (Ha), a square hectometer, or a square
100 meters to a side. A megahectare (Mha) is an area
containing a million of those squares.
79
Julian Simon, The Ultimate Resource. Princeton,
NJ: Princeton University Press, 1981.
80
Marion Clawson, America’s land & Its Uses.
Baltimore: The John Hopkins Press, 1972, p. 16.

73
This generalization, while true, is not necessarily
enough to save charismatic megafauna such as
pandas or tigers living in low tech third-world arenas.
This is particularly true in political regimes that favor
public lands. If nobody owns a region, than the
motivation to conserve is replaced by a race to exploit
before the other members of the public do so. Fishing
on the world’s oceans is an example of this effect,
called the "tragedy of the commons".

33
81
RESOURCES are defined as things valuable to the
welfare of an individual creature, produced by
ingenuity and industry. In other words, resources
require resourcefulness! Although raw materials for
resources are conserved by a law of physics (water,
energy, metals, etc. never get "used up"), the actual
availability of a resource depends upon the instinctual
or technological capacity of the being involved. Oil in
the ground, or metals locked in ores are naturally not
resources without the technology to find and extract
them, and the hard work to make it happen. The
evolution of brains or technology tends to produce and
create resources.
82
Indur M. Goklany. "Richer is Cleaner", The True
State of the Planet, edited by Ronald Bailey, New
York, NY: The Free Press, 1995.
34
83
As a member of the cliff-dwelling restoration project
in the Sierra Anchas here in Arizona, I can personally
attest to the squalor of cliff-dweller life.
84
UNDERPOPULATION Referred to in the media as
"Gray Dawn", "Agequake", or "Baby Bust",
underpopulation cripples a region’s vibrancy and
dynamism, as well as devastating the economy
(particularly for nations unwilling to undergo drastic
social security reform). Underpopulation also
negatively affects the standard of living and pollution
control. Whether or not a region is underpopulated
depends almost entirely on the tech level of the
inhabitants, rather than incidental factors such as land
area or natural resources. Today Europe has the
greatest underpopulation problems (the German term
is Servicewüste, or "service desert"), but in twenty
years time China will be the world’s most rapidly aging
society.

Sequence of Play
A. REVEAL EPOCH CARD
Biome: Receive additional genes (sex DNA = 2, otherwise 1). The biome
card is placed on map in the legal slot with the lowest climax. Biome is
rotated so that the total hex biomass is four. Displaced biomes move to an
empty slot one hex away if one exists, preferring southern and western
directions.
DNA: Auctioned, ties to genotype with most r or m teeth as stated on card.
Genotype: Auctioned, ties to genotype with most r or m teeth as per
greenhouse level.
Immigrant: If drift specified, each player loses one recessed card. If a bridge
is flooded, immigrant waits until the bridge clears, otherwise its card is placed
on the first suitable biome/triangle, scanning from the south (north for Asian
immigrants), then along each row west to east.
Catastrophe: Receive additional genes (sex DNA/2-player game = 6; sex
DNA/3 or more player game = 10; otherwise 5), then follow instructions on
card. If the greenhouse level changes, migrate biomes. If more than one
biome moves into a slot, the lower climax dies. If the hex capacity of four is
exceeded, the lower climax reduces biomass. If a bridge clears with
immigrants trapped behind it, place them on the map as described above.
B. EXPRESS CARDS
DNA: May add your DNA cards in hand to available genotype slots.
Genotypes: Trigger a Malankovich Cycle, then derive new genotype from
parents, replacing a single parent tent and copying all legal DNA from parent
to young (respecting size restrictions and incompatibilities).
C. RECESS DNA
Decide to move DNA cards from your sheet to your hand. This removes DNA
tents from genotype cards using them.
D. ADJUST TROPHIC LEVEL AND SIZE
Decide whether to be herbivore or predator.
Then may change size by one step.
Choose any two DNA if WW is expressed.
E. POPULATION EXPANSION
To your groups of similar tents in each biome or triangle, add a tent.
F. HERBIVORE MIGRATIONS
Move your herbivore tents to a suitable biome.
G. CARNIVORE MIGRATIONS AND FINAL SIZE
May move your carnivore tents to a triangle with suitable prey.
May adjust each carnivore size by one level.
H. HERBIVORE CULL
In each over-capacity biome, keep applying culling rules (listed in order of
importance) until the population equals biomass:
Nice: Niche winners beat others.
Roadrunner: Herbivore in hex inedible to all predators in the hex beat
others.
Game Warden: If there is only one type of predator and that predator can
predate all herbivores in the hex, then the predator decides who survives.
Dentition: Herbivores with the most teeth survive.
I. CARNIVORE CULL
Predators without suitable prey die. If more predator tents then prey, larger
predators beat smaller. If tied, fewer teeth beat more teeth.
35
PLAYER ORDER
Any player may request that any phase (map
setup, move, trophic) be done in the player order
from the most r teeth to the least r teeth (i.e.,
mmm last).
BIOME CARD PLACEMENT
Latitude: Biomes go into latitude row listed.
Orogeny: Must go into mountain-building slot.
Marine: Cannot go into mountain-building slot.
Stillborn: If new climax is lower than that of all
legal slots, the new biome is discarded as
extinct.
Ties: If there is more than one empty legal slot,
place biome in the farthest south or west.
IMMIGRANT CARD PLACEMENT
W DNA: Immigrants will change W to any DNA
(except H) as required for suitability or niche.
Trophic: Six-tooth immigrants = herbivores.
Single-tooth = predators. Herbivores will check
all biomes for suitability, checking triangles only
if no suitable biomes exist. Predators will check
triangles first, then biomes.
No competition: Immigrants will bypass biomes
or triangles containing other immigrants.
BIOME SUITABILITY
A herbivore cannot utilize a biome unless it has
all the DNA requirements listed.
PREY SUITABILITY
Size: The predator cannot be larger than its
prey, nor be more than two smaller.
Speed: The prey must not be faster than the
predator (i.e., have more S DNA).
Nocturnal: The prey must not be more nocturnal
than the predator (i.e., have more N DNA).
Armor: The prey must not have more armor (a
DNA) than the predator has armor-piercing (A
DNA).
ANIMAL MIGRATION LIMITATIONS
Range: Genotypes may migrate one hex, or two
if size three or more.
Wings: Migrate up to three hexes.
Sea: Hexes with both slots marine or flooded
can be entered only by using M DNA or wings.
Animals with more than one M DNA are
restricted to marine or flooded slots.
Ice: Hexes with ice-sheets can be entered only
by animals with PP DNA or wings.
Bridge: If flooded, need MM DNA or wings.
ANIMAL EXTINCTION
Genotypes with no population discard the
genotype and non-shared DNA cards. Shared
DNA cards are moved to the columns of a
genotype using them, even if this slot is full.
VICTORY
At the end of the Mesozoic (K-T), and after the
last turn of the game, each player sums
population. The player with the highest total
wins.
 Setup Table
Triassic Jurassic Cretaceous Tertiary
Region
(41 turn game) (35 turn game) (25 turn game) (12 turn game)
Polar Caps, Asia, and Europe
Asia Empty Empty Empty Empty
Kolyma Ice (183) Ice (183) Polar Forest (5) Ice (183)
Angaraland Ice (184) Ice (184) Ice (184), (183) Ice (184)
Baltica Ice (185) Ice (185) Larch (12) Ice (185)
Europe Ice (186) Ice (186) Ice (185), (186) Ice (186)
Arctic Circle
Beringia West Lobster (191)* Lobster (191)* Salmon (34) Salmon (34)
Beringia East Lichen Tundra (177) Lichen Tundra (177) Lichen Tundra (177) Lichen Tundra (177)
Greenland West Cycad Trees (175) Cycad Trees (175) Cycad Trees (175) Taiga (10)
Greenland East Ferns (166) Ferns (166) Ferns (166) Ferns (166)
Jet Stream
Talkeetna West Seed Fern (168) Seed Fern (168) Seed Fern (168) Spruce (9)
Talkeetna East Cycad (176) Cycad (176) Lobster (191)* Redwood (11)
Laurentian West Rainforest (172) Rainforest (172) Belemnite (32) Maple (15)
Laurentian East Gingko (167) Gingko (167) Gingko (167) Gingko (167)
Zechstein West Ammonite (180) Tree Fern (8) Ammonite (180) Squid (31)
Zechstein East Spain (165) Plankton (28) Plankton (28) Plankton (28)
Iberia Empty Spain (165) Spain (165) Spain (165)
Horse Latitudes
Laramidia West Podocarp (224)* Podocarp (224)* Podocarp (224)* Podocarp (224)*
Laramidia East Araucarites (173) Bristlecone (35) Bristlecone (35) Bristlecone (35)
Epeiric Seaway W Early Fish (178) Araucarites (173) Ammonites (29) Cactus (4)
Epeiric Seaway E Snails (179) Cycadoid (6) Snails (179) Creosote (19)
Appalachia West Sand Dunes (187) Sand Dunes (187) Cycadoid (6) Herbaceous (17)
Appalachia East Cloud Forest (169) Cloud Forest (169) Cloud Forest (169) Oak (3)
Tethys Ocean Reptile Eggs (192)* Reptile Eggs (192)* Reptile Eggs (192)* Lobster (191)*
Tropical
Sierra Madre West Horsetail (170) Horsetail (170) Pine Cypress (14) Dry Season Rainforest (1)
Sierra Madre East Lycopod Meadow (171) Lycopod Meadow (171) Palisades (7) Palisades (7)
Gulf of Mexico W Lampshell (181) Lampshell (181) Lampshell (181) Teleost Fish (30)
Gulf of Mexico E Africa (82) Clam Beds (27) Clam Beds (27) Clam Beds (27)
Panama West Quillworts (231)* Quillworts (231)* Rainforest (172) Rainforest (172)
Panama East Lycopod Swamp (174) Myriapods (22) Termites (24) Mangroves (13)
Atlantic Rift Empty Empty Empty Empty
Gondwanaland Empty Africa (182) Sponge Reef (26) Sponge Reef (26)
South America Empty Aspido Reef (25) Aspido Reef (25) Rainforest (2)
Land Bridges
All Bridges Clear Flooded Flooded Flooded
Milankovich Cycles
Milankovich E Start Start Start Start
Milankovich T Start Start Start Start
Milankovich P Start Start Start Start
Greenhouse Level
300 ppm 300 ppm 450 ppm 200 ppm

* These starting biomes are included in the Expansion. If not playing with the Expansion, these slots begin the game empty.
Note: Certain marine biomes start in orogeny slots. This is an allowable exception to the normal rules; see P5e.
Italicized names are borderlands.

36
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