My positioning was extremely unfortunate regarding independents, and a few bad events knocked me out down there in the corner. Goofy map, ultimately. My little roleplaying attempts at diplomacy to make people aware of your excellent position and easy expansion went unheralded. You've a good shot of overwhelming Pangea which is the only threat in the area, as the apes there to the South were more or less set to AI, or at least acting like it. (?) Have fun.