Post Impact Survival

The **Post Impact Survival** scenario is a game mode that will be added after the base release of the *Saurian* game. Archived upon the game developers, after reaching the goal of $100K on the game's Kickstarter page, this mode takes place during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event in the aftermath of the asteroid that struck Earth 66 million years ago. In this game mode, Hell Creek will be much more difficult to survive in the fallout and the ash cloud formed from the impact which will eventually kill most animals that are larger than a cat. Resources like edible plants, suitable prey, and fresh water will become more scarce, driving animals in the ecosystem to progressively become more desperate to survive as a result.

## Survivors of the K-Pg

Despite being one of the most tragic extinction events that ever occured in the history of life on Earth, plenty of creatures have survived past this event. All dinosaurs went extinct with the K-Pg, with the exception of ornithurans, due to their faster growth rate, omnivorous diet, small size, endurance in cold environments and, in general, though not always, close ties to the water. The DePalma's ornithuran and *"Styginetta lofgreni"* are examples of dinosaurs that may have survived the extinction, living in rivers, swamps, lakes and estuaries, feeding on seeds, invertebrates, plants and other varied sources of food, laying their eggs under the plants or under rock crevices. All pterosaurs went extinct with this event. Crocodylomorphs were a very diverse clade and many species went extinct worldwide, but the eusuchians, the group that includes crocodilians and other, now extinct, close relatives, survived easily past the extinction, being able to slow their metabolism and spend months without food. *Borealosuchus*, *Brachychampsa* and *Thoracosaurus* are all known to have survived past the extinction. Their close ties to freshwater and brackish waters allowed them to survive with the food they needed. The choristoderan *Champsosaurus* also survived past the extinction. Most testudinatan groups survived past the extinction event, with extinctions happening at the family level, mostly. Genera, such as *Axestemys*, *Cedrobaena* and *Compsemys* are directly known to be alive after the extinction. Lizards suffered some severe extinctions, but most groups managed to survive. Many polyglyphanodontians, for example, and mosasaurs, were among the most notable casualties, but several species of lizards, with notable groups like varanoids and snakes, survived. *Chamops* itself is the one of the few polyglyphanodontian to have survived past the K-Pg extinction, up until the early Eocene. Mammaliaformes suffered some casualties, but in general, various groups survived the extinction, due to their small size and warm-blooded metabolism. Amphibians were largely not affected by the extinction, and survived for the most part. Most species of fish survived the extinction, but some groups perished for good, such as many vidalamiines, a subfamily of amiid fish, and the hybodonts. Arthropods were also largely not affected by the extinction.

## Notes and references

1. ↑ (June 1, 2016) Update #9 - Post Impact Survival Unlocked: Putting the 'hell' in Hell Creek and other updates. *Kickstarter*.