'Nijin-Konai' Explained | Speculative Biology

Beneath the waves of a planet where mass extinctions occur like clockwork, what species will rise to the challenge? An exploration of Lorenzo Battilani’s speculative biology project ‘Nijin-Konai.’
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Picture a version of Earth where mass extinction events occur like clockwork. Where every fifty-million years, solar storms wipe out the majority of life, and the survivors must start again. From such a relentless cycle of destruction and renewal, what sorts of species might rise to the challenge?

Nijin-Konai is a speculative biology project set on a planet where periods of intense solar radiation constantly reset the timeline on evolution. As a result, the lifeforms that now populate this world are true survivors, the product of countless generations of mass extinction and rebirth. Brought to life by the talented artist and creator Lorenzo Battilani, the world is rich in biological detail. Indeed, this might be one of the most ambitious speculative biology projects I’ve ever covered — comprising hundreds of species, with thousands of details about each one. The first volume Battilani is creating focuses on the aquatic life, so for this entry into the archive, we’ll explore the seas of this incredible world.

So, let’s submerge ourselves in the waters of Nijin-Konai, staying alert to what lurks in the depths as we discover a world beneath the waves. . .

0:00 World of Nijin-Konai
1:30 Spotted Snake-Jetter
2:35 Purple Pillowhead
3:21 Butterfly Chichi
4:03 Rainbow Rockhead
4:43 Doublejaw Kugawa
5:28 The Sandmaker
6:19 Frisbeefish Radation
6:58 Azure Frisbeefish
7:34 Freshwater Pebble-Bug
8:32 Grappling Shieldback
9:32 Four-Jawed Irobian Ripper
10:19 Phantom Sea Twinfish
11:21 Southern Sandlurker
12:24 Arctic Windmillworm
13:22 Dusky Traptongue
14:08 Crimson Knifefish
14:56 Grim Walker
15:58 Ghostface
16:25 Painted Krillnet
17:16 More to See...

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#CuriousArchive #SpeculativeBiology #NijinKonai

[theitalianpaleogirl]

I want to give my biggest thanks to @CuriousArchive for featuring my brainchild on his channel, it means a lot to me seeing even just a fraction of the creatures from my world in video format.

I really hoped everyone in here enjoyed a little dive onto the planet! ^^
Also hope that, going forward I'll get the chance to work again with Curious Archive, he was a darling to work with <3

[MeekCrayon]

I love the similarities between the "Sandmaker" and earth Parrot fish. You can see what the creator may have been inspired by, while still keeping his creative liberties.

[ErebusTheDragonn]

I personally know the guy who made this, hes a really fun dude and there’s a *alot* more to his world than just this

[ryanjones]

This channel is fascinating and every video you drop I'm immediately enraptured and always left wanting more. Keep up the amazing work and please never stop with the speculative biology videos please! Thank you for all the hard work.

[Cloud.S]

Don't know if I'm the only person who would be interested but I'd love to see a you do a in depth view of Pandora from the Avatar movie just think it would be cool

[xydya]

This barely scratches the surface of the Nijin project. Definitely do another!

[dragonhat]

Have you ever considered making a speculative world? I reckon you have a lot more experience or ideas than most, and id like to see what you come up with

[xiphactinusaudax]

I always like the setting for spec biology projects. An extinction event every 100M years is a great premise. I like it when the worlds where this biosphere is is cool

[therdradiotower]

Fun fact: 10:45 Wobbegong actually means long beard. Learned that one from an aquarist while feeding a carpet of the things with tongs.

[christiana]

Great work as always, it’s a joy learning new speculative projects from so many creative minds

[purpleblah]

You’d think the most prolific species would be deep-sea animals, as they’d be best situated to survive solar storms, being shielded from solar radiation, and would therefore have changed the least, as all other species would split off from them as they’d evolve to re-fill the niches left by the last mass extinction.

[richardnzekwue]

I love your contents so much, imagine what the world will be like if it existed in far harsher conditions

[thylaconical]

So happy to see Nijin-Konai here!! Huge fan of this spec.

[theblackpearl]

''But unlike the sea turtles, the shield back is a predator"
Jellyfish: 'AM I A JOKE TO YOU?!'

[GuywithaTrexskullonhishead]

This is an amazing example of speculative biology, and I like the fact that it takes inspiration from real world animals. Some of them even look like real animals from earth.

[ayzekpie]

I really love in Nijin Konai that you can see the anatomical features common to all species on the planet and trace the evolution

[GreatAukEntertainment]

man I love aquatic speculative projects, adds so much more creativity and weirdness to the pot

[loweexpectations]

I've been waiting for a channel like this for years. I'm so glad spec evo has gotten the attention it deserves and your videos are really entertaining to watch. Thanks and keep up the good work man:)

[dialog_box]

13:06 i remember watching a video a long time ago on why wheels have never been evolved by any species, when they're such an efficient mode of transportation. Basically, a wheel has to be able to freely rotate around its axel, meaning that there can't be any internal connections between the wheel and the rest of the organism.

With that in mind, I wonder if Battilani addressed this issue with the windmill worm. Or did he just dodge the problem by making the whole worm rotate as one body?

[poset]

Funfact: creator of this project (italian paleogirl) is in core team of a minecraft mod called "Prehistoric Nature"