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Plant world; A world without animals
Topic Started: Aug 5 2009, 04:07 PM (2,576 Views)
SSJRaptog
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I came with another speculative world.

What if plants became the dominant group of organisms because animals would have somehow never evolved or have gotten extinct in a very early stage of evolution.

Would it in this case be possible for plants to evolve a nervous system and even evolve animal-like forms?
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colddigger
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plants are already the dominate life on earth...

but yeah they could develop many characteristics associated with animals, although what is more likely in my opinion are a phylum of parasitic plants that move about by sticking tough tendrils into the ground and growing them quickly to push themselves along, possibly lift them into the air to take root into some helpless plants vascular system.
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The Dodo
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Maybe bacteria and other micro-organisms could become the main herbivores, or maybe it could be some plant like the one mentioned above. Or it could just be a parasitic plant which grows and feeds on another.
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ATEK Azul
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I think a form of lichen like group maybe with bacteria, plants, fungi and ediacarans all working as one organism could become animal like eventually.
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Ànraich
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I imagine that some of the plants would become very animal like, as there is no way the niche of eating something that can't move or defend itself won't be filled by something. Plant eating plants, perhaps a kind of pitcher like plant that grows in the ground around trees and goes dormant until autumn. Then, as the leaves fall from the tree, they fall into the pitcher, where they are digested.

And have you ever seen weeds that grow on other plants to out-compete them for sunlight? Imagine something similar, but instead it just "sucks" the sugar from the plant instead of making sugar of its own. Perhaps even plants that steal chlorophyll from other plants instead of producing it themselves.
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SIngemeister
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A rather wacky idea I had was plants using roots for locomotion. These roots have 'muscles' that are expanded and contracted via rapid active transport. Of course, such plants would require adaptations to keep the water in.
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Ànraich
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What about slime molds? They're pretty simple and, although fungi, very plant like. And yet they can move by oozing.
We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar.

"The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming

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T.Neo
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Parasky
Aug 25 2009, 08:29 AM
What about slime molds? They're pretty simple and, although fungi, very plant like. And yet they can move by oozing.
AFAIK, slime molds are in their own kingdom, and although were once thought to be fungi, that classification is antiquated now.
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ashwinder
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How about aquatic motile forms? Maybe a highly evolved group of plants similar to bladderworts that uses its bladder-triggers as propulsion instead of for catching prey.
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sam999
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All plants would have turned all the carbon dioxide in the air and water into oxigen and died.
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colddigger
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not really, you would likely end up with whole... what the word, phylum? whole phylums of parasitic plants that would pretty much stop performing photosynthesis and just burn sugars that they take form other plants, meaning that the atmosphere would still be good.

indian pipe.
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Ànraich
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Anything that digests will produce non-oxygen gases. Anything that can will adapt to devour other plants, even if they themselves are plants. Perhaps some kind of reverse plants will develop, that take in oxygen and use it as fuel and produce carbon dioxide as a result? Like great green furnaces. Or even better; ROCKET PLANTS
We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar.

"The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming

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colddigger
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well plants already burn sugar like us and produce carbondioxide and water, if you remove the photosynthesis then you get the same crap that an animal does so no need to figure out how to make a reverse plant.
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ashwinder
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A t'nalp if you will... :)
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Oceaniis
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I would say that angyosperms wouldn't exist since thay had developed with the help of animals.

I don't think that palnts could develop muscules, the closing mecanism of carnivorous plants need the death of cells and just can be realized 3 times per leaf...

Would be easier to an animal to become plant like that a plant became animal like..
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