Crucispascensia

**Crucispascensians** are a clade of celernantids that are alive today.

## Evolution and taxonomy

Crucispascensians are the basalmost clade to Crucissymbiotica. Crucissymbioticans are a totally aquatic clade of the larger clade Causadentia, informally called the "crown celernantids", for including all the members initially regarded as being celernantids in the beginnings of Wallacian phylogeny. Causadentians are fairly recent, having originated in the Tenerian, 268 million years ago, splitting from the celeramontians 303 million years ago, before the Tenerian. Eventually the crown members of the modern two splits started to diversify after the Tenerian-Accomodatian extinction event. Crucissymbiotica is a sister clade to Brevinomadia, the latter includes other aquatic clades and the "second wave of terrestrial celernantids". They both evolved in the early Accomodatian, with the first crucissymbiotican arriving 239 million years ago, while brevinomadians arrived 231 million years ago, but the two clades diverged from each other in the Tenerian. Crucissymbiotica eventually splits in two modern clades: Crucispascensia and a larger one, Alcyoneudontia. True crucipascensians arrive 180 million years ago in the Scelusian, while the true alcyoneudontians arrive 210 million years ago in the late Accomodatian. Crucispascensians eventually started out as small bottom dwellers throughout the Scelusian, while the alcyoneudontians thrived in the aftermath of the Tenerian-Accomodatian extinction event. With the Scelusian-Variagene extinction event, crucispascensians started to become more varied. In the Variagene, 121 million years ago, the crucispteroids evolved, that included some large species, but the common characteristic is that they did not had more than two limbs. In the Compsogene, a branch of crucispteroids arrive, the cetecimexians, largely filter feeders or bottom feeders or just eating relatively soft food.

Crucissymbiotica (239-0)

* Crucispascensia (180-0)
	+ Causaurinatus symbiosis
	+ Crucispteroidea (121-0)
		- Crosswing
		- Cetecimexia (62-0)
			* Cetecimex
			* Imo pascens
* Alcyoneudontia (210-0)

## Characteristics

Crucispascensians are very basal and remind us of the typical ancestral celernantid shape. They have two simple compound eyes, some have evolved some abbility to focus into predators or prey, specially in derived eyes of some crucispteroids. They have 0-6 limbs. Those who have limbs have them as little flexible and hardened, mostly bony. Causaurinatus symbiosis has six bony fins, that serve some purpose in motion, but are instead more used to attract mates and even are used as deterrents to avoid other creatures from swallowing it whole, as the spikes block it from going down the predator's throat. Crucispteroids are known for having no more than two limbs. Crosswings have large wings, that are stiff like those of an airplane, that they use to glide out of the water. Cetecimex also just has two stiffened limbs under the body, which usually just serve to orientate the creature in underwater locomotion. Imo pascens has no limbs at all, though vestigial bony stumps can be observed in their internal skeleton. Instead, most of their locomotion is based on their tail and general body ondulation. Causaurinatus has a flat body that allows it to move like a flat fish. It has an horizontal tail fluke for that purpose. Cetecimexians, in general, move with a vertical tail fluke. Imo pascens is an exception, moving by ondulating up and down, like Causaurinatus, even using its flat head as an orientation device to move across the shallow water. Their proboscis are also varied in their use. Causaurinatus, seemingly, has lost its proboscis, feeding only through the main oral orifice. The reason is likely because the proboscis created drag while moving around in the water. Crosswings also have reduced proboscis, that are held inside the cranial orifice. Instead, to hunt its prey, it has two long "daggers" protruding from its skull, that are rammed against the prey and pierce it, killing it in the proccess. The proboscis then come out to feed on the deceased prey. Cetecimexians are the only ones to have proboscis generally exposed. Cetecimex has one central proboscis that is used to eat small dispeculates, with three branches used to hold and proccess the food before being swallowed. Two lateral proboscises, instead, are hairy, and are used for filter feeding, in the absence of decently sized prey to feed on. Imo pascens has a simillar proboscis arrangement, but they are reduced to avoid drag while swimming. For their locomotion, the crucispascensians usually use their lateral breathing orifices as propellers, liberating jets of water, with moderation, to create a general acceleration. Causaurinatus uses this, when it wants to sprint away from a predator. The titanic crosswing, whose size is deceiving to its paper-like weight, does use small orifices that are located more at the front of the body to propel its body when wanting to reach fast speeds, of course aided by their long tail. Speed is important for the crosswing to both hunt underwater and leap out of the water and glide, using its reduced weight to take flight with the strong winds and therefore hunt flying creatures. Cetecimexians also have their orifices located more at the front of their body as an aid to their locomotion, though Imo pascens uses it more.

The size of crucispascensians is variable. The smallest, like Causaurinatus and Imo, measure 10 cm in length. The crosswing is very huge, yet very light-weight, sporting a wingspan of around 10 meters. Cetecimex is also a large creature and the largest crucispascensian, with males being 7,6 meters long and females reaching 8,3 meters long.

## Distribution and habitat

Crucispascensians are all aquatic and marine, just like the basal celernantid ancestors. They are largely found in tropical and temperate waters. Their distribution, however, is patchy. Causaurinatus is a very abundant creature in the shallow Vadum Mare sea. The crosswing inhabits the depths of some portions of Mare Orientalem and Plagam Maris, as well as the eastern coasts of Occidentis, not venturing too further into Medio Mari. In Medio Mari, the Isla Inferno harbours a lot of unique marine taxa, and that's where the Imo pascens lives. Cetecimex lives in the southern temperate and even cold waters, that mostly bathe the Auth continent.

## Diet

Crucispascensians are ancestrally bottom feeders, until some species eventually evolved to perform "higher" forms of life styles. Imo pascens is a bottom feeder, filter feeding in the bottom of the sea. Causaurinatus is also a bottom/filter feeder, using its oral orifice to suck small debris. However, most of its nutrition derives from the very small photosynthetic polyspeculates that gather in its bony dorsal plates, that release nutrients and sugars to the Causaurinatus, resulting in 90% of the creature's nutrition. Crosswings are active predatory carnivores, They pursue their prey at high speeds, both on water and on the air, ramming into prey with its sharp dagger-like tips in the rostrum, that pierce the prey's flesh. In the air they pursue flying creatures, such as caedifuremians to feast on during the day. As night approaches, the crosswings return to rest in the water. Crosswings do not spend all their daily time in the water, they can only spend long enough until they fall back in the water or require to breath again in the liquid world below. Cetecimex is a carnivore as well, but it is adapted to eat small prey that it can swallow whole in its central proboscis. They are also filter feeders, using their lateral proboscis, full of hair, to trap plankton that it then procceeds to feed on, in the absence of proper macroscopic prey.

## Behaviour and sociality

Despite their basal-looking appearance, crucispascensians are actually very simillar in terms of social displays and actually all species live in groups and communities. Causaurinatus lives in schools of 5-50 individuals. Cetecimex lives in groups of 15 individuals, which can, with less frequency, reach to 20, or even rarer, 30 individuals. Crosswings also live in groups where they swim and hunt in community. They are not pack hunters but they benefit from the mutual protection and are actually highly social. Imo pascens also live in medium-sized schools of usually 15 individuals, benefiting from the mutual protection. Crucispascensians are usually diurnal, being less active during the night, therefore benefiting from the presence of numbers of their kind to create a mutual protection when resting in the dark ocean. They have pretty long lifespans. Cetecimex can live up to 101 years old.

## Reproduction

Like almost all celernantids, crucispascensians lay eggs. Unlike basal celernantids, like phytovorans and some basal celeramontians, they go through internal fertilization, instead of external. Their mating rituals are also fairly interesting. Causaurinatus males, during the mating season, start to turn their fins into a red color, unlike the otherwise yellow color, where they are extended and retracted like an accordeon to impress females. Eventually they mate, mutually meeting their ventral sides to look for predators above and below the water while mating. This behaviour is present in all crucispascensians, where the male and the female mate with their bellies touching each other, with one of them being upside down during the mating proccess. Crucispteroid males attract females in other ways, usually by displaying their dorsal structures. Imo pascens has a weird slit in their back, that the males use to display to females, by swimming upside down so that the female can see from below. Crosswings display their dorsal fine by swimming side by side to the female and making interesting and complex swimming stunts. Cetecimex males, just like in Imo pascens, are smaller than the females. Cetecimex display their dorsal fin, which is somewhat larger. Males are bright pink in contrast to the blue females. Crucispascensians eventually lay their eggs in somewhere secluded and non-exposed in the bottom of the oceans or in a floating piece of debris, that both parents can look after. When the babies hatch they are accepted by the group and protected mutually by the whole group, though more heavily by their true parents. The babies will be protected by the group until they reach adulthood, and usually that means they will have to leave the group and migrate to another.