Bios: Megafauna Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• 1.0 Introduction
  • 1.1 Bios Series
  • 1.2 Overview of Play
  • 1.3 Game Scale
• 2.0 Components
  • 2.1 Components List
  • 2.2 Dentition Code and Dynasty
  • 2.3 Cards and Tiles with DNA
  • 2.4 Era Tiles (Immigrants & Biomes)
  • 2.5 Map Tracks
  • 2.6 Map
  • 2.7 Placeholders
  • 2.8 Animals
• 3.0 Set-Up
  • 3.1 Each player is randomly assigned a Color
  • 3.2 Receive Starting Genes
  • 3.3 Start with 5 inheritance tiles
  • 3.4 Start the Mesozoic and Cenozoic Era pools
  • 3.5 Place random biomes on the map
  • 3.6 Place your placeholder cards and animals
  • 3.7 Place your size animal, map animal, and homeland
  • 3.8 Start the four Period Decks and the two Displays
  • 3.9 Place the Atlantic Rift, Era, and Greenhouse Disks
• 4.0 Sequence of Play
  • 4.1 Player Order
  • 4.2 Choose an action to perform
  • 4.3 Herbivore & carnivore contests, and final culling
  • 4.4 Scoring Rounds
  • 4.5 Experimental 2-Action Variant
• 5.0 Purchase a Card
• 6.0 Resolve the Event
  • 6.1 New Era Tiles event
  • 6.2 Catastrophe event
  • 6.3 Milankovich event
  • 6.4 Erosion event
• 7.0 Play a Card
  • 7.1 Playing a Mutation Card
  • 7.2 Mutation Size Limits
  • 7.3 Adding Roadrunner DNA
  • 7.4 Playing a Genotype Card (Speciation)
  • 7.5 Playing a Genotype Card (Fossil Record)
• 8.0 Resize One of Your Species
• 9.0 Acculturate One of Your Species
  • 9.1 Instinct Icons (found on some mutation cards)
  • 9.2 Benefits of Acculturation
• 10.0 Expand an Animal
  • 10.1 Choose Parent
  • 10.2 Choose Child Silhouette
  • 10.3 Inheritance
  • 10.4 Choose Destination
• 11.0 Migration Range
  • 11.1 Migration Obstacles
• 12.0 Rooter Biomes
• 13.0 Herbivore Contests
  • 13.1 Biome Habitability
  • 13.2 Niche Contest
  • 13.3 Predator-Defense Contest
  • 13.4 Herbivore Dentition Contest
  • 13.5 Competition with Immigrants
  • 13.6 Losing a Contest
• 14.0 Carnivore Contests
  • 14.1 Prey Suitability
  • 14.2 Physiology Contest
  • 14.3 Carnivore Dentition Contest
  • 14.4 Competition with Immigrants
• 15.0 Greenhouse
  • 15.1 Greenhouse Habitat Displacement
  • 15.2 Empty Slots
• 16.0 Extinctions
  • 16.1 Extinction of Biomes or Immigrants
  • 16.2 Extinction of Player Species
  • 16.3 Lazarus Player
• 17.0 Episodes
  • 17.1 Atlantic Rift
  • 17.2 Current Era
• 18.0 Ending the Game
  • 18.1 Determining the Winner
  • 18.2 Flowing this game into an Origins Game
• 19.0 Solitaire Game
  • 19.1 When Two-Tuskers Ruled the World (Solitaire)
  • 19.2 Paul Harford Version of the Solitaire Game (recommended)
• 20.0 Example of Play
• 21.0 Tips on Winning
  • 21.1 Grab valuable DNA
  • 21.2 Size roadrunners
  • 21.3 Overspecialization
  • 21.4 Predatory child
  • 21.5 Crossing the Atlantic
• 22.0 Milieu
• 23.0 References
• 24.0 Credits
• 25.0 Player Resources
• Player Aid Reference

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Bios Series

Bios Megafauna is the successor to American Megafauna, which has been for 20 years the definitive evolution game. The Bios series is a set of natural history games spanning all of Earth's history. The first one published was Origins, the only civilization game covering the last 125,000 years. Future publications: Bios Genesis (Earth's first 4 billion years); Bios Insecta, and Bios Technium (the evolution of technology).

1.2 Overview of Play

From 1 to 4 players start as a small unspecialized species of proto-dinosaurs (red or green figures) or proto-mammals (white or orange figures). These creatures are distinguished by dentition; some have long batteries of teeth better suited for masticating plants, while others have fewer teeth better suited for meat-eating. Each player starts with genes used to purchase mutation and genotype cards. Stacks of cards and inheritance tiles indicate the dietary DNA of your species, giving it adaptations such as long necks for browsing treetops. Markers on tracks record roadrunner DNA, attributes that help your species catch prey or avoid being prey, such as swiftness or aggressiveness. Tiles that have gone extinct are collected in an area on the map called the "tarpits." These tiles are distributed among the most populous players as victory points during four scoring rounds.

1.3 Game Scale

Each turn is 2 million years; each card draw is 10 million years. Each habitat represents a physiographic region 1000 km across, supporting 4000 megatons of vegetation, arthropod, or seafood biomass. Each animal represents 60 megatons if herbivorous, or 2 megatons if predatory. (A "megaton" is a million tons, where each ton is about 1000 kg.)

2.0 Components

2.1 Components List

• 1 Rulebook
• 1 Mounted Map
• 108 Mutation, Genotype, & Placeholder Cards
• 144 Era and Inheritance Tiles
• 128 Wooden Animals (64 dinosaur, 64 mammals)
• 15 white gene chips, 3 red marker chips

Note: This game uses no dice.

Important: This game is deliberately limited to the components provided. If during play the Era tile pool runs empty, see Ending the Game (18.0).

2.2 Dentition Code and Dynasty

Your dentition code defines how many teeth all of your animals have. This is listed on each of your four placeholder cards, and is a permanent value for all your species. The more teeth you have, the better your animals are at being a herbivore. The fewer teeth you have, the better your animals are at being carnivores.

Note: The paleontologist silhouette on the placeholder cards indicates the size of a 6-foot tall human in scale to the animal shown.

• a. Least-Teeth Order. The Least-Teeth order is: 2-teeth (Red), 3-teeth (Orange), 4-teeth (Green), and 5-teeth (White). This order is used to see who goes first (4.1) and during scoring ties (4.4b).
• b. Dynasty. Players are either Dinosaurian or Mammalian. This distinction is used when generating genotypes (7.4).
• c. Player colors, dynasties, and dentition codes.

Color (least-teeth order)	Dynasty	Dentition Code	Today's Survivors
1. Red — Dino-croc archosaur	Dinosaurian	2-teeth	Dinosaurs (crocodiles & birds)
2. Orange — Dog-face cynodont	Mammalian	3-teeth	Placental Mammals (primates, ungulates, carnivora, rodents, etc.)
3. Green — Chisel lizard diapsid	Dinosaurian	4-teeth	Rhynchosaurs (snakes & lizards)
4. White — Two-tusker synapsid	Mammalian	5-teeth	Extinct Mammal relatives

2.3 Cards and Tiles with DNA

Cards come in three types: placeholder (2.7), mutation (7.1), and genotype (7.4). Tiles come in two types: era (2.4) and inheritance (10.3c).

• a. DNA Code. DNA is encoded on cards and tiles by upper-case letters of the alphabet. Each letter records one attribute. The two kinds of DNA are Dietary and Roadrunner. Dietary DNA is in dark blue letters, and roadrunner DNA is in red letters.
• b. Dietary DNA Codes.
  • B = Browser (ability to eat trees)
  • G = Grazer (ability to digest grass and shrubs)
  • H = Husker (ability to shell nuts)
  • I = Insectivore (ability to eat small invertebrates)
  • P = Physiology (behavior and climate adaptations)
• c. Roadrunner DNA Codes. Roadrunner DNA describes adaptations to catch prey, or to avoid becoming prey. Roadrunner DNA (the term is inspired by the Warner Brothers cartoon) comes in four kinds:
  • A = Aggressive or Armored
  • M = Marine
  • N = Nocturnal or Burrowing
  • S = Speedy
• d. Species Genome. The mutations of a species are encoded by a string of DNA letters called a genome. The dietary genome of a species is recorded on the cards and tiles in its stack. The roadrunner genome of a species is recorded by animals in four roadrunner tracks (2.5b).
• e. Multiple Specializations. If a species has more than one copy of a DNA type, the results are cumulative. Example: An animal with SS is speedier than an animal with just S.
• f. Stack. A species' dietary DNA is defined by its stack, composed of mutation cards (7.1), genotype cards (7.4) and/or inheritance tiles (10.3c) stacked on a placeholder card (2.7). It's possible for a stack to be active with only the placeholder card, as long as it has animals on the map.

2.4 Era Tiles (Immigrants & Biomes)

• a. Colors. Era tiles are divided into two groups: those with blue backs and pink frames (drawn during the Mesozoic Era), and those with white backs and white frames (the Cenozoic Era). The faces are also color-coded: orange = orogeny (mountain-building) biome, green = terrestrial biome, blue = sea biome, yellow = land immigrant, and light blue = sea immigrant. Orange and green biomes are collectively called land biomes.
• b. Requirements. DNA is required to eat all biomes (except for homelands, 2.4f). These required adaptations are shown on the top of the tile, as a DNA code (2.3a). Example: A plankton tile with requirements "MM" means an herbivore needs at least two "marine" DNA to eat it.
• c. Niche. All biomes have a niche listed in the small white square in the top right corner. It is not part of the requirements, but rather is used during herbivore culls (13.2). Example: A plankton tile might have a niche of "size," see 13.2b.
• d. Latitude and Climax. Each biome lists a latitude icon: a snowflake, leaf, sun, raincloud, or triangle. This indicates the row of habitats that the biome starts in. A climax number is listed within the latitude icon, on a scale of 1 to 99. The lower the climax, the more likely the biome is to go extinct.
• e. Orogeny Biome. These biomes are orange with a triangular latitude icon. An orogeny biome may be volcanic (6.1e) with a climax as marked. Orogeny biomes only occupy mountain ranges and do not displace during greenhouse level changes (15.1a).
• f. Homeland Biomes. Four biomes represent the starting homelands of the players. They are unique in four ways: (1) They start in a specific slot on the map. (2) They have no requirements (2.4b), so any herbivore may eat them. (3) They have a color niche (13.2c). (4) The player Color is shown on their reverse.
• g. Immigrant Era Tiles. Some era tiles represent foreign invading animals. They are labeled as "herbivore" or "predator" plus a dentition code. In the lower left corner is a latitude icon, the row of habitats it enters. The immigrant's size is as marked if it's a herbivore. Predator immigrants are always the same size as their prey. Immigrant Era Tiles have no climax numbers.

2.5 Map Tracks

• a. Size Track. Each species uses an animal in this track to show its size. The sizes are abstracted from one (22 kg) to six (40 tons).
• b. Roadrunner Tracks. Four tracks show levels of roadrunner DNA (2.3c): speedy (S), marine (M), nocturnal (N) and aggressive (A).
• c. Cultures. Six areas indicate species tools and techniques, see 9.2.
• d. Tarpit. This area stores dead plants and immigrants, see 16.1a.
• e. Greenhouse Level. This scale tracks global climate, see 15.0.
• f. Ammonite and sunflower. Removal of disks from these spots trigger episodes per 17.0.

2.6 Map

The map shows North America as it was in the early Mesozoic Era.

• a. Habitats. The map is divided into 26 habitats, each with a square slot and two triangles. Each slot contains a climax number on the same scale as those on biomes (2.4d).
• b. Predator and Rooter Triangles. Each habitat contains an upper and lower triangle. The upper one is called the predator triangle, and the lower one is called the rooter triangle. Animals placed into the upper triangle are carnivores. They eat animals in the biome and rooter triangle called herbivores. Animals placed into the lower triangle are rooter herbivores that are eating nuts or roots (12.0b).
• c. Mountain Ranges. There are two north-south mountain ranges marked in orange on the map. Each range has three slots, bordered in red. Mountain-building tiles called orogeny biomes (2.4e) will appear in these two ranges during the game. Either orogeny or non-orogeny tiles can occupy a mountain range slot, however.
• d. Latitudes. Each row of habitats is called a latitude. These are labeled "arctic," "jet stream," "horse latitude," and "tropical" latitudes. Note there are two rows of tropics.
• e. Empty Habitats. Habitats that don't contain a biome are sea if the greenhouse level is very high (top two spots), and land otherwise (see 15.2). This is significant during migration (11.1). Empty habitats are barren and uninhabitable.

2.7 Placeholders

Sixteen cards in the deck act as placeholders for the player's species stacks. Each player gets four of his Color, each with a different silhouette (animal token shape).

2.8 Animals

Each player Color has 32 wooden animals. These are in four shapes, representing the four species that each player is allowed.

3.0 Set-Up

3.1 Each player is randomly assigned a Color

The player gets the 32 animals and the 4 placeholder cards of this color.

3.2 Receive Starting Genes

The player with the least-teeth (2.2a) gets 3 genes (white disks simulating genetic variation). The remaining players get 4 genes each.

3.3 Start with 5 inheritance tiles

Each player takes the five inheritance tiles (10.3c) marked with his Color.

Note: Your stacks and genes are open and can be freely examined.

Optional: The 16 roadrunner tiles may optionally be used by any player to help keep track of his species' roadrunner DNA, but they have no effect on gameplay.

3.4 Start the Mesozoic and Cenozoic Era pools

Divide the era tiles into two face-down pools according to the color on their reverse side: blue (Mesozoic) and white (Cenozoic). Set aside the four homeland tiles (2.4f).

3.5 Place random biomes on the map

Draw 22 Mesozoic Era Tiles at random and put each on the map as follows:

• a. Non-orogeny Biomes. If a terrestrial or sea biome is drawn, put it into the latitude indicated by its latitude icon (2.4d). Choose the slot in this latitude having the lowest-climax per 3.5c. If this slot is occupied, replace it with the new biome. Put the old biome in the tarpit (16.1a).
• b. Orogeny Biomes. An orogeny biome is always put into one of the six slots in a mountain range (2.6c). For the set-up only, choose the lowest-climax slot in the eastern (Hercynian) mountain range. Again, if this slot is occupied, replace it with the new biome.
• c. Determining the Climax of a Slot. If a slot is empty, its climax is as printed on the map (2.6a). If a slot is occupied (by a previously-placed biome), the climax is as printed on the biome tile occupying the slot (2.4d).
• d. Immigrants. Tiles with no listed climax are immigrants, see 2.4g. Each one drawn is discarded out of the game without being replaced.

Note: Ignore the greenhouse shifts of volcanos that appear during set-up.

e. Scythian Set-up Variant (Experimental, courtesy Steve Carey): When setting up the game, discard out of the game the first 6 revealed immigrant tiles without replacing them. Upon revealing the 7th (and any subsequent) immigrant tiles, set them off to the side in a separate pile and redraw a new Mesozoic Era Tile to replace it. If another immigrant, redraw again until a biome is drawn. Continue this process until 16 biomes and 6 immigrants complete the 22 Mesozoic Era Tiles specified for set-up (3.5). Then mix the 7th (and any subsequent) immigrant tiles back into the Mesozoic Era Tile pool before beginning play.

Note: This variant does not guarantee that 16 Biomes will begin on the map as some may be displaced to the tarpit as latitudes potentially fill up, per the normal set-up rules (3.5a).

3.6 Place your placeholder cards and animals

Place your four placeholder cards (2.7) in a row in front of you. These cards are permanent, and indicate where your four species stacks will go. Put all the animals of your Color on or near the placeholder card with the matching silhouette. Each card should have 8 animals.

3.7 Place your size animal, map animal, and homeland

Your starting species is the placeholder card labeled archetype.

• a. Place Size Animal. Archetypes start at size one. Place one of your archetype animals in the size one block of the size track (2.5a).
• b. Place Homeland and Population. Place your homeland biome (2.4f) face-up in the biome slot identified with the silhouette of your color. Remove any biome already occupying the homeland slot and put it into the tarpit (16.1a). Place one archetype animal on top of your homeland.

Note: Do not use homelands for players not in the game.

3.8 Start the four Period Decks and the two Displays

Shuffle the deck and place cards face-down into four side-by-side decks as indicated below. You may store these in the box lid, which has indicators for these decks.

• a. Triassic Period Deck — A number of cards = 3 times the number of players.
• b. Jurassic Period Deck — 5 cards.
• c. Cretaceous Period Deck — 8 cards.
• d. Tertiary Period Deck — 7 cards.
• e. Display. Draw 10 random cards from the general deck and lay them face-up side-by-side in two rows of five, one above another. The lower row is the Lower Display, and the upper row is the Upper Display. Note: In the two-player game the use of the Upper Display is optional. For instance, the example (20.0) does not use the Upper Display.

Beginner's Game: Remove all the Genotype Cards (see 7.4 & 7.5) before starting the decks.

3.9 Place the Atlantic Rift, Era, and Greenhouse Disks

• a. Atlantic Rift and Era. Place a clear red disk in the "ammonite" (Atlantic Rift, 5.2d) and "sunflower" (Era Disk, 5.2d) spots.
• b. Greenhouse Level. Place a clear red disk on the Greenhouse track on the map, in the 800 ppm "start" spot. See Greenhouse (15.0).

4.0 Sequence of Play

4.1 Player Order

The player with the least-teeth (2.2a) goes first, thereafter play goes in clockwise order.

4.2 Choose an action to perform

The current player chooses one of the following four (optional: five or six) actions to perform:

• a. Purchase and play/discard a card. Purchase one card in either of the displays per 5.0, and play it per 7.0. Then draw a new card. If it is in the lower Display, resolve its event per 6.0, and finally use it to replenish the display.
• b. Resize one of your species. Move a size animal one spot per 8.0.
• c. Acculturate one of your species. If you have the two requirements, add an animal from your reserves to a culture per 9.0.
• d. Expand an animal. Add an animal from your reserves to a habitable habitat within its migration range (11.0) from a chosen parent per 10.0. You may expand with the same silhouette as the parent, or a new one. Your destination can be any habitable triangle or biome.
• e. Roadrunner Action (optional). Place 2 genes on the leftmost card in the Lower Display, and adjust the roadrunner of one of your animals by a step. If this animal has predator(s), they may similarly adjust a step (for free).
• f. Genetic Drift (optional). Steal one gene from the player who has the most genes, or is tied for the most genes.

Important: Because one animal is dedicated to tracking the size of a species, all species are limited to seven animals on the map, cultures, and roadrunner tracks. If you run out, you can't acculturate, expand, or mutate new roadrunner with that species.

4.3 Herbivore & carnivore contests, and final culling

To end your turn, perform herbivore contests per 13.0, and then carnivore contests per 14.0. Cull (remove from the map) any animals or immigrants that have lost contests or have no food. Check the game pieces at the end of the turn for the following:

• a. Habitats. Every biome and triangle should have no more than one animal. (Exception: a predator triangle above a rooter biome with both an herbivore and a rooter might contain 2 animals).
• b. Food. Cull any carnivore unable to eat its prey due to roadrunner or size (14.1), and any herbivore not adapted to eat the biome it is on.
• c. Stacks. Discard any card or return to your reserves any tile outside its size-range (7.2).
• d. Display. Per 5.0e, each display should have 5 cards.

4.4 Scoring Rounds

A scoring round occurs at the end of a turn that the last card of each Period Deck (3.8) is drawn. During each scoring round, tiles from the tarpit (16.1a) are awarded to the most populous players.

• a. Count Population. Your population is the sum of all animals on the map for all your species. Animals in super-fern habitat (6.1f) count triple. Example: A rooter habitat contains two herbivores (one is a rooter) feeding on it, and two carnivores in its triangle. Each of these animals scores one population.
• b. Determine the Leader. The leader is the player with the most population (4.4a). Ties go to the player with the most genes. If there is still a tie, go in least-teeth order (2.2a).
• c. Determine the Second, Third, and Fourth Place. These players are determined by the same method as for the leader.
• d. Award the Tarpit Tiles. The leader draws half of the tarpit tiles, rounding up fractions. Thus, if there is one tile in the tarpit, he gets it. If there are three tiles, he gets two. If there are tiles remaining, the second place player takes half of the remaining in the same way. And the third, and finally the fourth place players take their share.
• e. Fossil Record. Keep your tarpit tiles as a permanent fossil record. Each is worth a victory point at the end of the game (18.1).

Important (Lazarus Players): You must have map animals to be awarded tiles from the tarpit.

Example: There are 10 tiles in the tarpit when the scoring occurs. Red and Orange have three map animals and no genes, White has one map animal, and Green is a "Lazarus" with no map animals. Red gets 5 tiles, Orange gets 3, White gets one, and one remains in the tarpit unclaimed.

Note: Unlike many Sierra Madre Games, players are not allowed to sell, donate, or exchange cards, tiles, or genes.

4.5 Experimental 2-Action Variant

You may perform up to 2 actions instead of 1 during your turn BUT not the same one twice. You may pass one or both actions.

Note: The roadrunner action (4.2e) requires both actions (and 2 genes) to perform.

5.0 Purchase a Card

If you have enough genes, you may purchase one of the five cards in one of the displays. The ones to the right are the most expensive.

• a. Cost. The cost of each card in a display is determined by its position in the row. The card furthest to the left is free. The cost of each of the other cards costs one additional gene as you move to the right. You pay this cost by dropping one gene on each of the cards situated to the left of the card you are purchasing.
• b. Genetic Enrichment. If the card you select contains genes (dropped by players who previously passed up this card), you acquire these genes (only after you pay for the card, however). Example: A player wishes to buy the genotype card that is the third from the left, which has one gene sitting on it. First he puts one gene on each of the two cards to the left of it. Then he takes the card and plays or discards it, and pockets the gene that was on it.
• c. Play Card. The card you purchased must be played immediately per 7.0, or else discarded out of the game. There is no hand. Note: You may purchase a card just to discard it and get the genes that were on it.
• d. Draw New Card. After purchasing a card from the Lower Display (3.8e), draw a new one from the top of the current Period Deck (3.8) and resolve its event per 6.0. This impacts all players. After purchasing a card from the Upper Display, draw a new one from the general deck, but ignore its event.
• e. Replenish Display to 5 Cards. After the event is resolved, then place the new card into the rightmost position in the display row. This brings the display back to 5 cards in a row. Shift cards to the left to fill the gap left by the card removed.
• f. Scoring Round. If this was the last card of the Period Deck, perform a scoring round per 4.4 to end the turn.

6.0 Resolve the Event

Events are listed in the dark blue band of every card. There are 4 types: New Era Tiles, Catastrophes, Milankovich, and Erosion.

6.1 New Era Tiles event

Pick and place two new era tiles on the map. After placing the first, resolve its effects (including Greenhouse shifts) before drawing and resolving the second.

• a. Era. Era tiles come in two eras: Mesozoic (blue back) and Cenozoic (white back). Draw the two tiles at random from the current era (17.2).

• b. Biome Map Placement. If the tile drawn is a biome, put it in the lowest-climax slot (3.5c). An Orogeny tile is placed in lowest-climax slot in either of the two mountain ranges (2.6c). A non-orogeny tile is placed in the latitude corresponding to their latitude icon (2.4d). Note: A non-orogeny biome can be placed in a mountain range.

• c. Replacement of Previous Biome. If the lowest-climax slot is occupied, that biome goes extinct and is replaced by the new biome. The old biome goes extinct even if its climax is higher than the biome replacing it.

• d. Seas and Ice. If the greenhouse is at 3200 ppm, a new biome with a blue star enters flipped over. It is treated as an uninhabitable sea biome (15.1e). If the greenhouse is at 200 ppm, a new biome with a white star enters flipped over. It is treated as an uninhabitable and impassible land biome (11.1d).

• e. Volcanos. If the tile drawn is an orogeny biome marked with the volcano icon and the "greenhouse rises" arrow, raise the greenhouse level a step (displacing non-orogeny biomes north, etc. per 15.1).

• f. Azolla Event. If the tile drawn is marked with the "super-fern" and the "greenhouse down" icons, drop the greenhouse level a step per 15.1. Note: This biome doesn't displace during Greenhouse events, and animals there score triple population (4.4a).

• g. Immigrants. A yellow or light blue tile indicates a land or sea immigrant has invaded over a bridge from another continent. This invader often has the upper hand until the locals evolve defenses against it. It enters in the latitude specified on its tile, stopping on the lowest-climax biome (not slot) that it is adapted to eat. For an herbivore immigrant, this is any biome or rooter triangle it has the DNA for (13.1). For a predator immigrant, this is any habitat containing prey animals it has prey suitability for (14.1). If no habitat in the latitude is habitable, move the immigrant to the tarpit.

  Note: Sea immigrants (light blue) skip land habitats. Land immigrants (yellow) skip sea habitats. Amphibians (half blue/half yellow) can go to either.

  Important: An immigrant will not enter a triangle or biome occupied by another immigrant. It will only enter a place that is unoccupied or occupied by player species. It competes with player animals during all culling phases per 13.5 and 14.4.

6.2 Catastrophe event

A catastrophic event kills off overspecialized animals, then shifts the greenhouse up or down per 15.1. The first catastrophe splits the continent; the second advances the game into the Cenozoic Era.

• a. Catastrophe Level. A catastrophe level, from 4 to 7 as printed on each catastrophe, describes the amount of DNA in a species' genome (2.3d) that will drive it extinct. Count the number of DNA letters in a species' genome, including the dietary DNA listed on its cards and tiles, and the roadrunner DNA listed on its roadrunner tracks. If the number of letters is greater than or equal to that specified by the catastrophe level, that species becomes extinct (16.0). Note: Catastrophe level extinctions impact both immigrants and player stacks. Example: An asteroid hits the Earth. The card states "Extinct if ≥ 5 DNA." An animal with BGGAN would be killed, because it has five DNA. An animal with PPAM is spared.
• b. Episode Trigger. The first and second Catastrophe event of the game triggers an episode (17.0), after all other catastrophe effects are resolved.

6.3 Milankovich event

Earth goes through periodic oscillations in its orbit that change its climate. Each Milankovich event specifies one or two latitudes, and the lowest-climax biome in each latitude specified goes extinct (16.1). Example: A Milankovich P event alters the arctic and horse latitudes. The lowest-climax in the arctic are gingkoes, and in the horse latitudes are horsetails. These go to the tarpit. Any herbivores eating these biomes, plus any carnivores eating the herbivores, are culled.

6.4 Erosion event

This lowers the greenhouse as well as mountains, but shuts down during an ice age. If the greenhouse level is 800 ppm or more, lower it one step per 15.1, and remove as extinct the highest-climax orogeny biome.

7.0 Play a Card

The two kinds of cards in the playing deck are Mutation and Genotype.

7.1 Playing a Mutation Card

Mutate a living species by playing the mutation card you just purchased into its stack. This gives it the DNA attributes and instinct icons encoded in the upper right corner of the card. Important: Inheritance tiles cannot be used for mutating.

7.2 Mutation Size Limits

You may only mutate a species that has a size within the size-range listed on the card used to mutate. Example: A species at size 5 is not allowed to get feathers, which have a 1-4 size-range.

7.3 Adding Roadrunner DNA

If you mutate using a card with roadrunner DNA, your new roadrunner genome is reflected by adjusting the appropriate roadrunner tracks (2.5b). Your marker remains at three even if you have more of that roadrunner type.

• a. New Roadrunner Animal. If the card used to mutate contains roadrunner DNA that you do not yet have, add an animal to that roadrunner track (S, M, N, and/or A) to reflect the amount of roadrunner acquired. This animal is called a roadrunner animal. If you are out of animals, you must discard the card instead of mutating with it. Note: Each species can have only one animal in each roadrunner track.
• b. Wings. To move the roadrunner animal from SS to SSS, the species must be size 1, allowing flight (11.0a). Even if you have more than two S's in your stack, your roadrunner animal remains at SS until you meet the size requirement.
• c. Subterranean Colony. If you have three or more N DNA, and you are size 1, then you become a subterranean colony with the social skills instinct (9.1c). Example: Your species, starting with an NN roadrunner animal, is mutated using an IN echolocation card. Assuming you are size 1, move your NN animal to the NNN position. You are now a subterranean colonial animal.
• d. Whale pods. A species at MMM automatically has the language instinct (9.1d).
• e. Fire-Bearing. A species at AAA automatically has the natural history instinct (9.1b). It may also prevent its homeland from being inverted at 200 ppm (15.1d).
• f. Amphibian. If a species with one M DNA (11.1c) gains more, it becomes a sea animal and all its animals in land habitats will die. If instead it loses its M, all its animals in sea habitats will die.

7.4 Playing a Genotype Card (Speciation)

Play a Genotype card to start a new species stack with a silhouette matching the one on the card. You must choose a parent species which has a size within the range specified on the card, and which has at least half the DNA specified on the card (rounding up). For instance, if the genotype card has DNA HSSS, the parent must have either HS or SS DNA in its genome. Replace one map animal of the parent with a map animal of the child species per 7.5. The child gains only the attributes listed on the genotype card (i.e. no inheritance per 10.3c).

• a. Child's Dynasty. The Red and Green are proto-dinosaurs, and must play the dinosaur side of the genotype card. White and Orange are proto-mammals, and must play the mammal side of the card. Apologia: Sometimes the dinosaur side will include creatures that are related to the dinosaurs, but not actually dinosaurs.
• b. Child's Map Animal. You must replace one map animal of the parent with a map animal of the child. This must be in a place where the child can survive. Note that this replacement may drive the parent extinct.
• c. Child's Size and Roadrunner Animals. Place a size animal at the same size as the parent. Place roadrunner animal(s) according to the roadrunner DNA (if any) on the genotype card.

7.5 Playing a Genotype Card (Fossil Record)

If you purchase a genotype card for a species that is already in use, then instead of creating a new species, you add the card to your fossil record (4.4e), where it will count victory points at the end of the game per 18.1a.

• a. Parental Requirements. Under this option, the parent species must match the silhouette, size-range, and at least half the DNA of the genotype card. The parent species does not change as a result of this play.

8.0 Resize One of Your Species

You may grow or shrink your species by one step on the size track (2.5a).

• a. DNA Recession. If your species size goes beyond the range listed on a mutation card, that card is discarded out of the game. If your size goes beyond the range listed on a genotype card, put it into your fossil record (4.4e). If your size goes beyond the range listed on an inheritance tile, return that tile to your reserves. Note: You may not voluntarily recess DNA from a stack. Reminder: Adjust the roadrunner track if you lose roadrunner DNA. Loss of a mutation card doesn't recess tiles inherited from it by the species' children (10.3c).
• b. Extra Predator Size Adjust (important). If your herbivore changes size, all predator species of that herbivore (both yours and your opponent's) may immediately adjust their size by one as well.

9.0 Acculturate One of Your Species

Acculturate a species by playing one animal from your reserves into one of the culture areas on the map. The species must have mutation cards containing the two instinct icons listed on the map as requirements.

9.1 Instinct Icons (found on some mutation cards)

• a. Manual dexterity (ability to manipulate objects) is a requirement for cultures 9.2a, b, c.
• b. Natural history (conceptual memory of natural phenomena) is a requirement for cultures 9.2b, e, f.
• c. Social skills (the ability to specialize in a cooperative effort, and recognize individuals) is a requirement for cultures 9.2a, d, f.
• d. Language (the ability to mentally store verbal concepts, and thus primarily used for communicating with yourself rather than others) is a requirement for cultures 9.2c, d, e.

Note: Instincts are not inherited (10.3). However, subterranean colony, whale pod, and fire-bearing DNA can be inherited, which confers instinct icons (7.3c, d, e). Instincts can be worth victory points, see 18.1b.

9.2 Benefits of Acculturation

Each culture animal awards the benefits listed below.

Important: Each species may have only one culture animal in each culture area. It is removed only if the species goes extinct. In particular, the loss of a card with the instinct icon will not change the cultural advancement. Culture is not inheritable.

• a. Tool Use Culture. Requires manual dexterity and social skills. Special: This species ignores size limitations on all mutation cards and tiles. It must still be at size 1 for flight or subterranean colonies.
• b. Bone-Cracking Culture. Requires manual dexterity and natural history. Special (hand-axe scavenging of bone marrow): Carnivorous animals of this species ignore all size characteristics of its prey (14.1a).
• c. Projectile-Hunting Culture. Requires manual dexterity and language. Special (atlatl): Carnivorous animals of this species ignore one roadrunner type possessed by its prey (14.1b-e). This may be a different type for each prey animal. (Projectile-hunters still need M DNA to enter sea habitats, however.)
• d. Division of Labor Culture. Requires social skills and language. Special: Animals of this species always win dentition contests against those without Division of Labor.
• e. Agricultural Culture. Requires natural history and language. Special: Herbivorous animals of this species treat empty slots next to your homeland (to the north, south, east, and west) as habitable habitats called farms (even if the homeland is inverted). This assumes you have the adaptations to enter them per 11.1a or b. Homelands being farmed are immune to extinction.
• f. Male Contests Culture. Requires natural history and social skills. Special: Children of this species are not limited in their inheritance by 10.3b and c. They may inherit multiple types of roadrunner and dietary DNA.

10.0 Expand an Animal

You may expand by adding an animal from your reserves to a habitable habitat on the map within its migration range (11.0) from a chosen parent.

10.1 Choose Parent

The expanded animal is called a child. Choose one map unit to be its parent.

10.2 Choose Child Silhouette

The child may have the same silhouette as its parent, or may be a new unused silhouette of your Color. If the child uses a new silhouette, it forms a new species stack that may inherit attributes from its parent per the next paragraph.

10.3 Inheritance

If expanding by creating a new species, the child inherits the size of its parent, and may also inherit one roadrunner and one dietary DNA type.

• a. Size Inheritance. Place a size animal of this new child silhouette on the size track (2.5a), matching the size of the parent.
• b. Roadrunner Inheritance. The child may inherit some or all of the parent's roadrunner DNA from one roadrunner track. Adjust the roadrunner animal per 7.3. Example: Your archetypes are cat-eyed hoofed animals, with a NSS genome. Your child species can inherit the N, one or both S, or nothing.
• c. Dietary Inheritance. The child may also inherit one or more dietary DNA owned by the parent, using a maximum of one inheritance tile from your reserves. Pick a tile that matches the DNA to be inherited and put it on the child's stack. Each tile may be inherited either on its front or reverse side. (The reverse side of B, G, and P DNA is BB, GG, and PP respectively. The reverse side of H is B, and of I is G). Important: Use inheritance tiles to show what dietary DNA a child has inherited from a parent who already has that DNA. Never use them to mutate a species! Cards or tiles in the stack of the parent may not be donated to its child. Note: All inheritance tiles list a size-range. A child may not inherit a tile if it is outside the size-range specified.

10.4 Choose Destination

The child may enter a habitat no further from its parent than the child's migration range (11.0). If the destination is a biome or rooter triangle, the child must have the DNA to eat it. If the destination is a predator triangle, the prey there must be suitable for the child to eat per 14.1.

Note (omnivorous): It is possible for a species to have both carnivores and herbivores. It is even possible that a species can be a predator of another species in one biome, yet be predated by that same species in another biome. However cannibalism is disallowed; a predator may not feed on an herbivore of the same species.

Note: An animal may be placed in an overcrowded habitat, but if it loses the contest, it will be culled at the end of its turn.

11.0 Migration Range

A species' range is a maximum number of habitats it is allowed to spread while expanding to a new habitable habitat. This range is a path moving from habitat to habitat, moving directly north, south, east, or west. You may not move diagonally. The range is equal to the species size, as shown on the map size track (2.5a).

• a. Flying Animals. Any animal or immigrant with SSS roadrunner DNA has wings (7.3b) with a range of 7 habitats, and the ability to enter land, sea, or ice habitats.
• b. Physiology. An animal increases its migration range by one for each P DNA it has.

11.1 Migration Obstacles

The S and M roadrunner tracks list limitations on the habitats that animals may enter while tracing the migration path.

• a. Land animals. Animals (including immigrants) with no M DNA may not enter sea biomes or slots (2.4a and 2.6e), unless they can fly. Note: Animals are allowed both S and M DNA at the same time.
• b. Sea animals. Animals with two or more M DNA may not enter land habitats or slots (2.4a and 2.6e), unless they can fly.
• c. Amphibians. Animals with exactly one M DNA are called amphibians. They can enter land and sea biomes and slots, but their migration range is one less, as marked on the roadrunner track. Example: A size one seal may only migrate within its habitat. It may, for instance, switch from the predator triangle to the biome.
• d. Ice Habitats. Only flying animals are allowed to enter ice habitats (biomes inverted per 15.1d during a 200 ppm greenhouse).

12.0 Rooter Biomes

Rooter biomes have 2 rows of requirements (2.4b). The upper row is for herbivores that eat leaves, and the lower row is for rooters that shell nuts/seed-cones (H husker DNA) or dig for tubers/rhizomes (N burrowing DNA). Thus, a rooter biome is effectively two biomes, able to support four animals: one eating foliage (on the biome), one eating nuts/roots (in the rooter triangle, 2.6b), and two carnivores (in the predator triangle).

• a. Niche. Regardless of whether foliage or nuts/roots are eaten, the niche is the same (listed in the white square).
• b. Rooters. An animal in the rooter triangle, called a rooter, is herbivorous and generally follows all the rules for herbivores.

13.0 Herbivore Contests

Each biome can support one herbivore, plus (if a rooter biome, 12.0) one rooter. For each overcrowded biome (in any order), perform an herbivore contest by following steps 13.1 through 13.4 below to identify the losers. In case of a tie, go to the next step, until only one animal is left.

13.1 Biome Habitability

Herbivores not meeting the biome requirements (2.4b) lose.

13.2 Niche Contest

Each biome tile has a niche listed in the white box in the corner. The herbivores with the least amount of the niche attribute lose.

• a. DNA Niche. If the niche is a DNA code (2.3a), the herbivore species with the least amount of that DNA in their genome lose.
• b. Size Niche. If the niche is "SIZE," the smallest herbivores lose.
• c. Color Niche. For the homelands, the niche is the player color. However, farms associated with homelands have no niche (9.2e).

13.3 Predator-Defense Contest

Herbivores edible by one or more carnivores in the habitat lose. See prey suitability (14.1) to see if a carnivore can eat an herbivore.

13.4 Herbivore Dentition Contest

Herbivores with fewer teeth lose against those with more. Thus, 5-teeth wins over 3-teeth. Note: If you have more than one adapted herbivore species of your color in a habitat, and neither has an advantage in niche or predator-defense, you choose which ones are removed.

13.5 Competition with Immigrants

An herbivore immigrant tile is treated exactly as an animal, using the DNA and dentition code shown on its tile. Since all immigrant herbivores have 6-teeth, they win dentition contests (except per 9.2d). If after a greenhouse shift two immigrants are in competition, the one that is in the habitat first is the winner.

13.6 Losing a Contest

Any animal or immigrant losing a contest is culled (returned to its owner or the tarpit respectively). Exception: If in the same habitat, there is an unoccupied biome or triangle that is habitable, the animal or immigrant moves there instead of being culled.

14.0 Carnivore Contests

Each predator triangle can support one carnivore (or two if there are two prey animals, possible only in a rooter habitat, 12.0). For each overcrowded triangle (in any order), perform a carnivore contest by applying rules 14.1 through 14.3 below to identify the losers. In case of a tie, go to the next rule, until only one carnivore per prey animal is left standing. If an animal or immigrant loses a contest, move it to an unoccupied biome slot or rooter triangle in the same habitat, if it has the DNA to live there. Otherwise, it goes extinct.

Important (circle of life): Herbivores are never removed from the map just because they are being preyed upon (but see 13.3).

14.1 Prey Suitability

Carnivores can only eat herbivores, either player animals or immigrants. Carnivores not suited to eat their prey because of size or roadrunner die.

• a. Size. Must be no more than one size different from its prey. For instance, if the prey is size 2, the predator can be size 1, 2, or 3.
• b. Speed. Must have the same number or more "S" DNA than its prey. For instance, if the prey is SS, the predator must also be SS or faster.
• c. Nocturnal. Must have the same number or more "N" DNA than its prey.
• d. Armor/Aggressive. Must have the same number or more "A" DNA than its prey.
• e. Marine. Must have the same number or more "M" DNA than its prey.

Note (cannibalism): A carnivore cannot eat its own kind.

14.2 Physiology Contest

Carnivores lose against competitors having more P DNA.

14.3 Carnivore Dentition Contest

Carnivores with more teeth lose against those with fewer teeth. (The fewer the teeth, the better the carnivore!) Note: In a carnivore dentition contest with more than one species of your color in a triangle, you choose which ones are removed.

14.4 Competition with Immigrants

A predator immigrant tile is treated exactly as a carnivore animal, using the DNA and dentition code shown on its tile.

• a. Size. Immigrant predators are automatically the same size as their prey.
• b. Immigrant Dentition. The dentition code of immigrant predators is only one-tooth.

15.0 Greenhouse

A red disk in the chart on the west map edge monitors the Earth's Greenhouse Level. The higher the level, the hotter the climate. The Greenhouse can end the game, see 18.0c.

15.1 Greenhouse Habitat Displacement

During global warming, the greenhouse level disk goes up one step, and the habitats displace north to stay cool. During global cooling, the disk goes down and the habitats move south to stay warm.

• a. Habitat Displacement. If the greenhouse rises, move every habitat (including its biome, and all its animals and immigrants) north to the slot directly above. (It's best to start with the most northerly biomes.) If the greenhouse falls, move every habitat south to the slot directly below. If it cannot move because it is at the map's edge, it remains where it is. Exceptions: Orogeny biomes (2.4e) and super-ferns (6.1f) do not displace during greenhouse events. The habitat directly north or south will displace into its slot, and then the lower-climax biome goes extinct. Note: Farms (9.2e) displace with their homeland.
• b. Biome Competition. If after the habitats are displaced, two biomes are stacked together, the lower climax biome goes to the tarpit. The animals on the extinct biome also are lost, unless they can live in the winning biome. If there are multiple animals each may pick his biome or triangle to survive, with former rooters choosing last.
• c. Melting of the Ice-Caps. If the Greenhouse moves into the 3200-ppm spot, each biome marked with a blue star is flipped after it is displaced, now representing a barren sea biome. If the greenhouse drops from 3200 ppm, flip each back to its face-up side.
• d. Ice-Cap Formation. If the Greenhouse moves into the 200 ppm spot, each biome marked with a white star is flipped after it is displaced, now representing an ice habitat (11.1d). If the greenhouse rises from 200 ppm, flip each back to its face-up side.
• e. Inverted Biomes. A biome inverted by a high or low Greenhouse is uninhabitable (and, in the case of low Greenhouse, impassible to flightless animals as well). It is considered to have a climax of 100 plus its original climax. For instance, climax 63 goes to 163.

15.2 Empty Slots

• a. Archipelago. If the Greenhouse disk is at 1600 ppm or higher, then empty biome slots are seas (because of flooding from ice-cap melting).
• b. Continent. If the Greenhouse disk is at 800 ppm or lower, then empty biome slots are land.

16.0 Extinctions

Note: Voluntary extinction is not allowed.

16.1 Extinction of Biomes or Immigrants

a. Tarpits. If a biome or immigrant is removed from the map (as a result of a catastrophe or culling), put its tile into the tarpit area of the map.

16.2 Extinction of Player Species

• a. Stack Cards and Tiles of Extinct Species. Any species without map animals is extinct. Discard the mutation cards in its stack out of the game. If there are any genotype cards in its stack, put them into your fossil record. Return its inheritance tiles to your reserves. If all species of a Color are extinct, see 16.3.
• b. Animals of Extinct Species. Return all map, size, roadrunner, and culture animals to your reserves.

16.3 Lazarus Player

Whenever your last species goes extinct, so you have no map or size animals, continue to play as a "Lazarus" player. If you purchase a card, you must either use it for resurrection (see below) or discard it. Furthermore, you cannot collect tarpit tiles during scoring (4.4d).

• a. Raising from the Dead. As a Lazarus player, you may perform a special resurrection action by buying a mutation card per 5.0, using it to mutate any of your four species per 7.1, and placing a map animal of that species anywhere on the map where it can survive. Set your size animal at any desired size within the limits of the card, and set a roadrunner animal if the mutation card includes roadrunner DNA. Once resurrected, you are no longer a Lazarus.
• b. Roadrunner Resurrection. If using the optional Roadrunner Action (4.2e), you may purchase roadrunner DNA for 2 genes to get back onto the map.

17.0 Episodes

17.1 Atlantic Rift

Right after the first Catastrophe event of the game is resolved (6.2), remove the Atlantic Rift Disk (3.9a) on the ammonite to indicate the creation of the Atlantic Ocean. This ocean, shown as a dark blue valley on the map, forms a barrier that can't be crossed except by sea animals (those having 2 or 3 marine (M) DNA). Not even amphibians (only 1 M DNA) or flying animals (SSS DNA) can cross. This barrier is treated as the edge of the map during Greenhouse shifts (15.1a).

Note (currents): A sea animal pays no extra movement cost to cross the Atlantic.

17.2 Current Era

Right after the second Catastrophe event of the game is resolved (6.2), remove the Era Disk (3.9a) from the sunflower, changing the era from Mesozoic to Cenozoic. The remainder of the game will introduce Cenozoic rather than Mesozoic era tiles (see 6.1a and 6.2b).

18.0 Ending the Game

The game ends at the end of the turn during which one of the following happens:

• a. The last Period Deck (the Tertiary, see 3.8) runs out of cards.
• b. Either the Mesozoic or Cenozoic Era Pool runs out of era tiles. This triggers a final scoring round (4.4). Optional: If the Mesozoic Era Pool runs out, start drawing from the Cenozoic.
• c. The Greenhouse goes to Snowball Earth or Hothouse Earth (see map). Everything dies, and the final scores are whatever remains in the players' fossil records (18.1a).

Note: The game continues even if all players have lost their populations.

18.1 Determining the Winner

After the final scoring round (4.4), each player counts the tiles in his accumulated fossil record (4.4e). Each is worth one victory point (VP). Additional VP are awarded as follows:

• a. Genotype cards. Genotype cards in your fossil record count as a number of VP equal to the length of the DNA attributes on the card. For instance, a GAA genotype is worth three VP.
• b. Ending Population and Culture Animals. Each map animal and culture animal (9.2) is worth 1 VP.
• c. Tiebreaker. The most number of genes.

18.2 Flowing this game into an Origins Game

At the end of the game, you may decide to start an Origins game (Sierra Madre Games, 2007). Use one of your species and its acquired instinct icons (9.1) as your starting hominid in the game.

• a. Purchasing Instincts. After the Bios Megafauna game has concluded, you may buy additional instincts by paying 4 genes each.
• b. Brain Map Assignment. Then, the player with the most instincts is awarded first choice of brain maps; the second most has second choice, etc. (The tiebreaker is victory points).
• c. Starting Encephalization. All brain maps start with the instinct icons uncovered that your best surviving species has acquired in Bios Megafauna. Extra cubes needed to cover icons come from population, and excess cubes not needed on the brain map go into the innovation track. Note: Players without instincts are disqualified from entering the Origins game.
• d. Greenhouse. The Origins Game starts in an Ice Age if the Megafauna Greenhouse ended at 400 ppm or less, and in a Tropical Age otherwise.

19.0 Solitaire Game

19.1 When Two-Tuskers Ruled the World (Solitaire)

The Triassic was a time of struggle between dynasties. Shortly after the holocaust, one species of two-tuskers represented 90% of megafaunal populations world-wide. By the end of the Triassic, the two-tuskers (along with the chisel lizards and dog-faces) went extinct or almost extinct, leaving the dino-crocs supreme.

Your Opponent is the two-tusker. Its animals are always size 3 herbivores of its archetype species. All 24 of its white animals are considered this species, so ignore their silhouette. It collects tarpit tiles normally during scoring rounds. If it goes extinct, it is out of the game (but you continue playing).

Set-up. The two-tusker starts the game at size 3 with 10 genes, while you start with zero. The rest of the Set-up is per 3.0.

On your Opponent's turn. On every two-tusker turn, consult this list and perform the first one possible, if the two-tusker has the genes for it.

1. Acculturate (if it has the requirements).
2. Expand into the lowest-climax habitable biome in range. If it has a choice in a given habitat, it will expand into the rooter triangle first (if suited), then the herbivore slot.
3. Buy the cheapest mutation card allowing expansion into a biome where it can survive. However, the two-tusker will never purchase a card that would cause it to become a sea animal if played.
4. Buy the cheapest card, and play it if it can, and discard it if it can't.

Note: The two-tusker will not buy genotype cards, or mutation cards that would cause it to become a sea animal (more than one M DNA). It will skip its turn if this is its only option.

Victory. You win if at the end of the game you have at least 10 victory tiles and you beat the two-tusker score.

19.2 Paul Harford Version of the Solitaire Game (recommended)

Same as 19.1 except as noted. Using Living rules 3.5d, 9.2e, 11.0, 4.1e, 4.1f, 18.0b.

Additional Set up: Set aside eight silhouettes, and one placeholder of one type of two-tusker, for a potential MM species. Remove genotype cards from the deck that do not bear G, B, or I, or are less than size 3 for a mammal.

How the Two-tusker Plays. On your Opponent's turn, consult this list and perform the first one possible, if the two-tusker has the genes for it.

1. Acculturate either species (if it has the requirements).
2. Expand into the lowest-climax habitable biome in range.
   • If it has a choice in a given habitat, it will expand into the rooter triangle first (if suited), then the herbivore slot, then the predator slot.
   • If it has a choice of species, it will expand the one with the lowest population.
3. Buy the cheapest gene-code (roadrunner, or card) allowing expansion of either species (giving preference to one with the lowest population) into a biome where it can survive, or that develops it towards being able to expand, giving preference to genes which reduce current predation. This may mean genes allowing it to predate, or win culling contests. If there is a choice of genes, it will take for preference from the display and then whichever roadrunner gene most reduces current predation. If things are still a tie, it will choose whichever gene the player would rather it didn't.
4. If the only gene available that would allow expansion is an M gene that would give MM, and if the two-tusker has at least two map animals and only one species, the two-tusker will buy that gene and generate a new species. One map animal, the parent, is replaced with a silhouette of the new child species. This map animal must be in the lowest climax sea biome from which it is possible to migrate to the intended MM biome. The new species inherits the MM genes, and any other genes required to survive in the biome of its parent animal, adding map, roadrunner and size animals as appropriate.
5. Either buy the cheapest card, and play it if it can (giving preference to the species with the shortest genome, or a species which would achieve acculturation requirements) and discard it if it can't, OR steal a gene from the player if they have the most, whichever gains most genes. In case of a tie, buy the cheapest card.

Additional Special Rules:

• Lazarus. Once extinct, the two-tusker player may Lazarus in the same way as the player. If neither the player nor two-tusker can afford to Lazarus from available display cards, alternate turns buying the free card until sufficient genes have been collected and/or viable DNA appears. If necessary, the two-tusker will resize if the only viable DNA requires a size less than 3. It is then fixed at this size (at least until its next extinction!). After the first catastrophe the two-tusker will Lazarus only onto the main continent, and to the lowest climax viable biome.
• Genotype cards. These may be used in 2 ways: (1) By the player, as per normal rules. (2) By either the player or two-tusker as crossbreeding. To crossbreed it is necessary for the target species to match the silhouette and size range on the genotype card (for two-tusker this means one of three silhouettes for the main species, or the silhouette set aside for the MM species). In crossbreeding the target species inherits up to half the genes from the genotype-card species (player's choice) — these genes are added to the species genome, and must be supplied by available inheritance markers — if no markers are available, then no inheritance! The genotype card is then discarded from the game rather than added to the fossil record.

20.0 Example of Play

This example shows the first 21 turns (stopping in the mid-Jurassic) of a two-player game of Bios Megafauna. The dinosaur player is the dino-croc (2-teeth, Red) and the mammal player is the dog-face (3-teeth, Orange).

Set-up. This example does not use the optional Upper Display. Dino-croc starts with 3 genes and goes first; dog-face starts with 4 genes.

Turn 1: Resize a Species. As his action, dino-croc moves his size animal from one to two.

Turn 2: Purchase a Card. Dog-face purchases (for free) the anteater tongue card with II DNA, and plays it under his archetype.

• a. Reveal the next card. It's the biped card.
• b. New Era Tiles event. The card's event brings two new era tiles onto the map.
• c. Replenish the Display. The biped card is added to the rightmost position in the display.

Turn 3: Purchase a Card. Dino-croc mutates his gators by purchasing the digging claw NI DNA for 3 genes. He places an archetype roadrunner animal in the N slot. They are now burrowing gators.

• a. Event & Display. The new card is a Duckbill genotype, which triggers the new era tiles event before being added to the display.

Turn 4: Expand an Animal. Dog-face expands a child (of the same archetype species) from his homeland, which travels to the meadow directly south. This meadow needs insect-eating DNA to enter, which dog-face has.

Turn 5: Expand an Animal. Dino-croc expands a child (of the same species), and moves it two spaces east, into the predator triangle of the meadow. The digging-gator now eats the anteaters.

Turn 6: Resize a Species. Dog-face moves his size animal from one to two.

Turn 7: Expand an Animal. In the meadow, dino-croc expands from the predator triangle to the meadow biome. This new herbivore is competing with the anteaters. The niche is N, and so the digging gators win the niche contest, and the anteaters die. The predatory gator-parent in the meadow also dies, since cannibalism is not allowed.

Turn 8: Purchase a Card. Dog-face buys the bloodhound N DNA card. He plays it into his archetype stack and places an N roadrunner animal.

Turn 9: Expand an Animal (new species). Dino-croc expands a new species of the "sailback" silhouette into the predator triangle of his opponent's cloud forest homeland. It inherits N DNA so as to be able to eat the nocturnal anteaters. Size-2 and N roadrunner animals are placed.

Turn 10: Expand an Animal. Dog-face expands an anteater child (of the same species) from his homeland, to compete with the gators in the meadow. During culling, both competitors have the niche, and there is no carnivore so predator-defense is not relevant. But dog-face has more teeth, so it wins the dentition contest. However the digging-gator is not dead; it moves to the predator triangle of the same habitat and becomes a predator of the anteater.

Turn 11: Resize a Species. Dino-croc shrinks his size animal from two to one for his archetype species.

Turn 12: Purchase a Card. Dog-face mutates his bloodhounds by buying and playing the biped (B) card.

Turn 13: Purchase a Card. Dino-croc buys for free the spines (AA) card (and gets the 3 genes that are on the card). He mutates his archetype into spiny digging-gators.

Turn 14: Expand an animal. Dog-face expands his bipedal anteaters by moving a child of the same species to the adjacent calamites thicket biome.

Turn 15: Purchase a Card. Dino-croc buys the Carnosaur (AA) genotype card. His spiny-gators have the correct size, and over half the DNA, to be the parents. Because the parents have the same silhouette as the genotype, the card goes into his fossil record per 7.5.

• a. Scoring for the Triassic. There are 5 tiles in the tarpit. The two players are tied in population at 3 each. But dino-croc has more genes, so he takes 3 victory tiles, and dog-face takes one.

Turn 16: Resize a Species. Dog-face anteaters move to size 3. This is beyond the size-range of their anteater tongues, which are discarded. The gators, since they are predators of the anteaters, are allowed to adjust their size. Since otherwise the anteaters would be too large to eat, the gators move to size 2. Their spines, which are a size-one only card, are discarded.

• a. Culling. Since the bipedal bloodhound is no longer insectivorous, it dies off in the meadow. Its predator switches to plant-eating and moves into the biome.

Turn 17: Expand an Animal. Dino-croc expands to the calamites thicket as a predator.

Turn 18: Acculturation. Since the biped bloodhounds have the acorn and manual dexterity instincts, dog-face is able to place one of his archetype animals into the bone-cracking culture.

Turn 19: Purchase a Card. Dino-croc purchases and discards the duckbills/swine card.

• a. New Era Tile Event. Immigrant titanosaurs (armored brontosaurs) from South America! They enter the lowest-climax biome in the tropics, namely the calamites.
• b. Culling. At the end of the turn, the titanosaurs win the predator-defense contest, since they are too big and too well armored for the burrowing gators to eat. Normally, the gators would die, as would the bloodhounds. But both are adapted for rooting, and the biome has a rooter triangle (requirement N). Both animals enter this triangle, but the digging-gators enjoy the niche (I). So the bloodhounds switch to the predator triangle, eating the now-spineless gators!

Turn 20: Expand an Animal (new species). Dog-face buys and plays the chalicothere genotype (a horse that wants to be a gorilla!). The biped bloodhounds, at size 3 with BN DNA, become the parents. He replaces his homeland animal with a "rhino" animal, and also places "rhino" animals in size 3 and the A roadrunner positions.

• a. Culling. The "sailback" nocturnal predator in the dog-face homeland, unable to eat the aggressive new horse-gorillas, goes extinct.
• b. Erosion Event. The dog-face homeland is the only mountain on the map, so it erodes away. The short-lived horse-gorillas go extinct; its card goes into the dog-face fossil record. Then the greenhouse drops, displacing the dino-croc homeland and the calamites habitat south.

At this point (mid-Jurassic), both players are down to one species. Dog-face has 1 population, no genes, and 3 fossil record (including two for the BA genotype). Dino-croc has 3 population, 4 genes, and 5 fossil record (including two for the AA descendant).

21.0 Tips on Winning

21.1 Grab valuable DNA

The goal is to play DNA from which you can establish four species with robust (but preferably short) genomes before each scoring round.

• a. Amphibious Predators. Red and Orange, whose dentition favors predation, should buy P and useful roadrunner DNA. Perhaps the most valuable roadrunner is marine. Your first amphibian can be a seafood-eating "herbivore." Then you are free to speciate an amphibian predator to eat your herbivores.
• b. Dietary DNA. Perhaps the most valuable dietary DNA is BB in the Mesozoic, and G and H in the Cenozoic, followed by M and I. P DNA is valuable for predators, but less so for herbivores until the flowers, grasses, and deciduous trees start arriving later.

21.2 Size roadrunners

If your opponent has more teeth than you and equally adapted for the biomes, your herbivores can survive by becoming "size roadrunners": species too big or too small for the local predators to eat.

• a. Tiny "Size-Roadrunners." If the local predators are size 3+, then going to size one gives you the roadrunner advantage, as well as positioning you for expressing valuable husking, insect eating, and flight DNA. Watch out for the very limited range, however.
• b. Big "Size-Roadrunners." Large herbivores additionally dominate in "size" niches, and are able to migrate farther.
• c. Predator's Dilemma. Predators should avoid habitats with edible herbivores that are accessible to inedible herbivores. Otherwise the herbivore enjoying the roadrunner advantage could invade and drive you and your prey extinct.

21.3 Overspecialization

Keep expanding your animals into new species to keep them from being overspecialized. For 5 card draws (50 million years), a species with a genome length of 4 DNA has about a one in ten chance of going extinct from a catastrophe. For a length of 7+, the odds increase to one in three. Such "comet bait" species may be useful as a sacrificial master race from which you spawn as many less-specialized derivatives as possible.

21.4 Predatory child

A good time to create a new species is right after your first roadrunner. This new species can inherit the roadrunner and choose to be a carnivore on its parents.

21.5 Crossing the Atlantic

Suppose you have a land animal that wants to expand into nearby sea biomes. Or worse, wants to reach biomes across the Atlantic, which requires MM to cross. Invading the water from land, and vice versa, is tricky because you must become an amphibian first.

• a. The Migration of Frogs. The first step is to become an amphibian by playing a marine mutation. Remember that this cuts your migration range by one. In fact, if you are a size one amphibian, you may only migrate between the biome and triangles of the same habitat!
• b. Learning to Swim. Because the rules do not allow you to migrate the same turn that you mutate, adding a second M DNA to a species living on land would kill it off before it could enter the water. The lesson: learn to swim in a pond before you attempt the Atlantic! In other words, expand your amphibian to a sea biome with no more than one M requirement. From here, you can safely adopt a second M card, so as to be able to cross the Atlantic.
• c. Tail Fin. If you mutate with the caudal fin (MM) card, your species becomes a sea animal instantly. All its animals living on land would die that same turn. So obviously you must be living in a sea biome with at least one animal before trying to purchase this card. Note that after you play the caudal fin, you will have an MMM whale pod species!

22.0 Milieu

Catastrophe Species. This game starts in the aftermath of the biggest disaster ever recorded, the Permian extinctions. The rock layers before this incident record wet forested jungles and coals. Afterwards are the sandstones of the Early Triassic, monotonously barren the world over. For a game turn (10 million years) the plant record shows only a few "disaster species," cosmopolitan weeds such as spiky quillworts, shrubby lycopods, a seed fern, horsetails, and dwarf conifers. The marine fossils are also opportunists: small scallops or brachiopods adapted for low oxygen waters. The first trees and conifer forests appear halfway through the turn, populated by small unspecialized archetypes such as those in the game. Biodiversity and biota were still recovering through game turn two. It is estimated that over 90% of the animals worldwide were a single species of two-tusker.

The Struggle of Dynasties. The Triassic Period, a time of struggles for megafaunal world domination, lasted for 5 game turns. The two-tuskers, the top herbivores, were edged out by the chisel lizards and dog-faces. The top carnivores were also dog-faces. But at the end of the Triassic, Pangea split along the Atlantic Rift, erupting huge flood basalts and skyrocketing the Greenhouse. In the resulting mass extinction, dog-faces, chisel lizards, and two-tuskers died out, and a previously obscure group gained the field, the dinosaurs.

American Megafauna. The north-south orientation of the two American mountain ranges act as a "climatic trumpet," magnifying the effects of Greenhouse levels. America's ice-sheets were the most extensive in the world, and its Eocene tropics were the balmiest in the world. The collision of funneled arctic blasts with tropical air spawns most of the world's tornados. These extremes have forged America into a kind of megafaunal evolutionary superpower. It has spawned the biggest and the most dinosaurs, and appears to be the origins for the ruminants (cud-chewers such as cows, sheep, deer), camels, and perissodactyls (horse, rhinos, tapirs). (However, few if any bird orders originated in America for some reason.) Mammal diversity peaked 15 million years ago in the Miocene, with American savannas resembling the Serengeti. America lost its megafauna during the Pleistocene ice ages, likely because of human invasions over Beringia.

Vegetable Emperors. During the Cretaceous, an organism developed more fearsome than all the dinosaurs stomping around. The first flower bloomed. Angiosperms use flowers to employ legions of insects to handle their pollination, and use fruits and nuts to employ animals for seed dispersion. At 50 million years ago, and again 38 million years ago, the greenhouse fell dramatically. As usual, the climatic effects were magnified in America. The rainforests opened up as things got drier. As seasonality increased (i.e. greater differences between summer and winter), the first angiosperm weeds developed, annuals that die off every winter to be reborn. And the first wind-pollinated grasses bloomed, the most successful and advanced of the angiosperms, which actually tamed fire before the animals did. The increased seasonality also gave angiosperm deciduous trees the edge over conifers. By dropping leaves in the winter, a deciduous tree can handle winter drought better. And it can recoup much of the nutrients expended to make the lost leaf when the leaf rots the next spring. In regions where tropical summers follow arctic winters, deciduous trees have the edge. Where the summers are not quite so balmy, evergreens have the advantage. And where the winters are not quite so frigid, angiosperm evergreen broadleafs have the advantage.

Dinosaur Mysteries. Perhaps while playing this game, you can figure out the three fundamental dinosaur mysteries: (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.

Size Matters. This is a game about megafauna, animals 100 kg (220 lb) or more. In the history of life, animals this size were rare until the Mesozoic Era began a quarter billion years ago. Why be big? 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.

Warm-blood vs. Cold-blood. Large creatures can maintain their temperature at metabolic optimums easier than small ones. 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. Creatures with a relatively constant body temperature are called homoiotherms. Some megafauna, such as crocodiles and big turtles, are low metabolism homoiotherms and maintain their body temperature through thermal mass. Other animals, with higher metabolisms, must expend energy to maintain a higher body temperature. A body temperature of ~38°C is optimal for chemical reactions (including digestion and Krebs cycles) and muscle performance. Tiny homoiotherms like shrews and hummingbirds must eat continuously to maintain this temperature.

Foregut vs. Hindgut Digesters. Most of the energy of a leaf is locked up in cellulose, the most common component of fiber. No known animal can digest cellulose without lengthy digestive tracts filled with special bacteria. These tracts include the foregut (stomach or crop) or hindgut (colon or intestine). The hindgut fermentation digesters include elephants, rhinos, hippos, horses, and extinct sloths, ankylosaurs, and pachycephalosaurs. A large amount of foliage can be processed rapidly in the hindgut, but the droppings will contain much undigested food. Elephants spend 77% of their time eating because of digestive inefficiency. Foregut digesters, such as ruminants, are more efficient because the vegetation in the crop can be regurgitated forward for additional processing and mastication. Deer, giraffe, camels, goats, bison, and cattle are today's foregut digesters.

23.0 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.

Erwin, Douglas. (2006). Extinction, How life on Earth nearly ended 250 million years ago. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

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.

Flannery, Tim. (2001). The eternal frontier. The Text Publishing Co.

Lunine, Jonathan. (1999). Earth: Evolution of a habitable world. Cambridge University Press.

McGowan, Christopher. (1991). Dinosaurs, Spitfires, and Sea Dragons. Harvard University Press.

Paul, Gregory S. (1988). Predatory dinosaurs of the world. Simon and Schuster.

Powell, James. (1988). Night comes to the Cretaceous. W. H. Freeman and Company.

Ridley, Matt (1993). The Red Queen. Penguin Books Ltd.

24.0 Credits

Designer: Phil Eklund, Sierra Madre Games (www.sierramadregames.com)

Art, Map, Layout: Phil Eklund

Cover: Jenny Dolfen. Bios Logo & Map Art: Tim Park

Rules Editing: Rick Heli, James Sterrett, Brian Leet, Bill Su.

Playtesters: Mark Buckley, Cedric Chin, Dustin Crowl, Matthew Eklund, Alex Hazlett, Derek Long, Phillip McGregor, James Scheiderich, Thomas Blaine, Alan Bargender and the Bargender family, Donald Acker, Kristina Stipetic, Brittany Sturdevant, Nicole Morper, Andy Graham, Jim Gutt, Andro Hsu, Zack Mensinger, Dave House, Joe Delaney, David Morneau, Ryan Frans, Lucas Wan, Ross Mortell, Rick Taylor, Marc Williams, G. Thomas Wells, Chris Peters, Martin Vallance, David Ells, Eric Cochenet. In memory of slain playtester Gabe Zimmerman.

Special Consultants: Rick Heli of Spotlight on Games, Manuel Suffo, Wilhelm Fitzpatrick, Franco Momoli, Bob Butler of the University of Arizona (tectonics), Dr. Jonathan Lunine of the University of Arizona (Earth), Dr. Paul Martin of the University of Arizona (blitzkrieg), Neal Sofge of Fat Messiah (dinosaurs), Dr. Jim Kirkland (discoverer of Utahraptor), Dr. Robert McCord of the Mesa Southwest Museum (immigrants), Dr. Darin Croft, anatomy professor at Case Western Reserve University (notoungulates), Dr. Patrick Ross, Professor of Biology at Southwestern College, Dr. Andro Hsu, Product Manager at NextBio, Dr. John Douglass (erosion).

25.0 Player Resources

Megafauna online discussion: http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/Megafauna/

Sierra Madre Games homepage: http://www.sierramadregames.com

Rick Heli's Spotlight on Games: http://spotlightongames.com/summary/amf.html

BoardGameGeek: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/97915/bios-megafauna

Odds for a catastrophe not happening (courtesy Bill Su), by number of card draws: 1 draw = 92.39%, 2 = 85.28%, 3 = 78.65%, 4 = 72.47%, 5 = 66.70%, 6 = 61.33%, 7 = 56.34%, 8 = 51.70%, 9 = 47.39%, 10 = 43.40%, 11 = 39.69%, 12 = 36.26%, 13 = 33.09%, 14 = 30.16%, 15 = 27.45%, 16 = 24.95%, 17 = 22.66%, 18 = 20.54%, 19 = 18.60%, 20 = 16.82%, 21 = 15.18%, 22 = 13.68%, 23 = 12.32%, 24 = 11.07%, 25 = 9.93%.

Player Aid Reference

A condensed summary of the turn structure and culling rules, as printed on the player aid card:

On your turn, perform one action:

1. Purchase and play/discard a card. Purchase a card of your choice by dropping one gene on each card to the left of it in the display. Either play it on one of your species or discard it; you may not hold cards. Then draw a new card and (if it goes into the Lower Display) resolve its event. Finally replenish the display with the drawn card, putting it into the rightmost position in the display row.
2. Resize one of your species. Move a size animal up or down one spot. If you grow outside the size-range of a mutation card, discard it. If you grow outside the size-range of an inheritance tile, return it to your reserves.
3. Acculturate one of your species. If your species has the necessary two instincts, add a species animal from your reserves to the appropriate culture area on the map. This gives the species the special power listed.
4. Expand an animal. Choose a parent, then add an animal from your reserves to a habitable habitat within the migration range of that parent. You may expand with the same silhouette as the parent, or a new one. Your destination can be any habitable triangle or biome.
5. Roadrunner action (opt). Pay 2 genes, adjust one roadrunner DNA.
6. Genetic drift (opt). Steal a gene from the player with the most genes.

After your turn, cull any animals that have been adversely impacted by your turn, starting with the herbivores.

There are 4 kinds of events:

1. New Era Tile: Draw two Era tiles at random from the current Era pool. If an Orogeny Biome Tile, place into lowest-climax biome or slot in one of the mountain ranges (a replaced biome goes into the tarpit). If a Non-orogeny Biome Tile, place into lowest-climax biome or slot in the latitude specified on the tile. If an Immigrant Tile, place into lowest-climax habitable habitat in the latitude specified on the tile.
2. Catastrophe: Perform extinctions — the Catastrophe level drives animals and immigrants extinct that have that much DNA or more. Move the Greenhouse Disk one higher or lower, as specified (a rising level displaces all non-orogeny biomes north, along with the animals in them; a falling level displaces them south; if 2 biomes end up in the same habitat, the lower-climax one goes to the tarpit; at the highest Greenhouse level, all biomes with a blue star are inverted, and at the lowest level, all biomes with a white star are inverted). Episodes: right after the 1st catastrophe of the game, the Atlantic opens up (you need MM DNA to cross the dark blue line); right after the 2nd catastrophe of the game, the Era changes to the Cenozoic, and thereafter new era tiles come from the modern era.
3. Erosion: If the Greenhouse is 800 ppm or higher, send the highest-climax orogeny biome to the tarpit, and then lower the greenhouse.
4. Milankovich: Put the lowest-climax biome of the latitude(s) specified into the tarpit.

Migration limitations. Range: during expansion, a newly-created animal may migrate up to a number of habitats equal to its size plus its number of P DNA (diagonal movement is not allowed). Wings may migrate up to seven habitats (but not over oceans). Amphibians (one M DNA) migrate 1 less. Land habitats may not be entered by animals with 2+ M DNA. Sea habitats may be entered by species with flight or at least one M DNA. Ice habitats may be entered only with wings. Migration must end in a habitable triangle or biome.

Herbivore culling rules. In each overcrowded biome or rooter triangle, keep applying culling rules (in the order listed) until there is one animal left: (1) Suitable — those without the DNA required to eat the biome die. (2) Niche — those with less of the Niche DNA die. (3) Predator-Defense — if (and only if) there are one or more predators present, then those inedible to all the predators survive, the others die. (4) Dentition — herbivores with the most teeth survive.

Carnivore culling rules. In each overcrowded predator triangle, keep applying culling rules (in the order listed) until there is one animal left: (1) Suitable — a predator must be within one size of its prey, and have at least as much roadrunner in all 4 categories as its prey. (2) Physiology — those with more P DNA survive. (3) Dentition — those with fewer teeth survive.

Extinction. A species with no population discards all its cards and returns all its tiles to reserves. Extinct era tiles go to the tarpit.

Lazarus player. A player with all 4 species extinct can resurrect by buying and playing a mutation card, and starting a map and size animal.

The four Period Decks. The number of cards in each deck is 3N, 5, 8, and 7, where 3N = three times the number of players. Both displays have 5 cards each. Scoring occurs at the end of the last turn of each period. The game ends at the end of the last period; it can also end if the pool runs out of Era Tiles, or the greenhouse goes high or low. If a deck runs out, perform scoring: the player with the most map animals takes half the tiles in the tarpit, rounding up, then the next most populous, etc. Players with no population do not take any tarpit tiles.

Habitat. Animals trying to be predators move to the upper triangle, rooters to the lower triangle. Other herbivores are placed on the biome tile. A species within range can freely expand into any of these areas, as long as it is habitable.

Play cards. Mutation Cards play on a species stack that is in the card's size-range. A Genotype Card requires a parent matching the size and at least half the DNA (rounding up) on the card; play it to start a new species stack, or (if the parent is already using the genotype's silhouette) play it into your fossil record for endgame victory points.

Inheritance. If expanding a new species, the child starts as the size of the parent, and may inherit Dietary DNA (maximum of 1 inheritance tile) and Roadrunner DNA (maximum of 1 roadrunner track value).

Easily missed rules:

• You may not use your inheritance tiles to specialize a species. You may only use it to show dietary DNA inherited from its parent.
• Any expanded animal can migrate into a predator triangle if it is within one size of its prey and matches its prey's roadrunner DNA.
• If you have a predator, and its prey changes size, you are allowed a free and immediate one-step size change with that predator species.
• The number of genes in the game is constant.
• Once you place an animal, it cannot move to a new habitat.