Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Speculative biology is simultaneously a science and form of art in which one speculates on the possibilities of life and evolution. What could the world look like if dinosaurs had never gone extinct? What could alien lifeforms look like? What kinds of plants and animals might exist in the far future? These questions and more are tackled by speculative biologists, and the Speculative Evolution welcomes all relevant ideas, inquiries, and world-building projects alike. With a member base comprising users from across the world, our community is the largest and longest-running place of gathering for speculative biologists on the web.

While unregistered users are able to browse the forum on a basic level, registering an account provides additional forum access not visible to guests as well as the ability to join in discussions and contribute yourself! Registration is free and instantaneous.

Join our community today!

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Plant world; A world without animals
Topic Started: Aug 5 2009, 04:07 PM (2,580 Views)
SSJRaptog
Adolescent
 *  *  *  *  *
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?
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Replies:
Canis Lupis
Member Avatar
Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.

Don't know. But it would still be interesting to see a world of sessile animals, growing at rapid rates and competing for light.


Maybe plants could evolve needle-like bark they could shoot at other trees to prevent them from photosynthesizing?



Or maybe, in response to plants spreading roots all over the ground, some plants evolve mobile larva (like what has been proposed with Snaiad) to directly move into unoccupied ground. Maybe that could evolve into something mobile.






Come to think of it: Slithersuckers. That could work, only if they digested plants instead of flish that would never evolve.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Carlos
Member Avatar
Adveho in me Lucifero
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
Iowanic
Sep 13 2009, 03:05 PM
At what point in the 'tree of life' did plants stop being plants and become something of a higher order? What was the feature that made animals animals?

The thing about cladistics is that there's no ranks; everything is classified in clades. Based on this system, for example, tetrapods are just land dweeling fish, and fish in turn are derived lamprey like things. There is no distinction point, and that is quite usefull; for example, you don't need to debate to what point does a feathered dinosaur stop being a reptile and becomes a bird, because on cladistics birds are dinosaurs and dinosaurs are in turn sauropsids
Lemuria:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5724950/

Terra Alternativa:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/forum/460637/

My Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/Carliro

Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
colddigger
Member Avatar
Joke's over! Love, Parasky
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
trees that develop spines that shoot out and puncture other trees, inject them with hormones or poisons that cause them to lose their leaves or even kill their branches so that the poison tree can get sunlight would be interesting...
Oh Fine.

Oh hi you! Why don't you go check out the finery that is SGP??

v Don't click v
Spoiler: click to toggle

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Iowanic
Adult
 *  *  *  *  *  *
Black walnut trees(I believe) release a chemical that's a bit rough on nearby plants.

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Canis Lupis
Member Avatar
Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.

So it could work.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
sam999
Member Avatar
Adult
 *  *  *  *  *  *
colddigger
Sep 13 2009, 02:32 PM
of course that's overly simplistic, you would have an arms race of poison and immunity between fungi and plants, and you would have plants and fungi that are symbiotic, and you would have plants so large that all they would need to do is shed a part of their body to remove the fungus threat, and you would have plants that consume fungi... growing runners to spread might become more popular than it is now (which is already pretty popular) to get away from fungal clumps...
In other wourds an eacosystom of plants that eat fungus and fungus that eat plants. However as I said before the plants would take all the carbon dioxide in the air, turn it into oxagen and die.
I am not suffering from insanaty. I truely enjoy being mad.
Posted Image
Posted Image
Posted Image
Comeon, thy dragons need YOU! Visit them here please...
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Canis Lupis
Member Avatar
Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.

And as colddigger said before: plants use oxygen! As do fungi.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Iowanic
Adult
 *  *  *  *  *  *
Well; I don't know if it would take all the CO2: but the oxigen level could climb.

Couple thoughts:

As mentioned before, forest fires would have to be dealt with. this isn't in itself a show-stopper: grass generally deals with fire rather well.

The other thing to think of would be how a decline in CO2 will effect climate.
I recall reading somewhere that one of the early ice-ages might have be caused by the CO2 dropping so sudden(Gelogically speaking, anyway)

Plant-world have to find someway to stabzlise the temp. Perhaps by changing the amount of reflected light from the sun? The plants could be dark and if they pretty much cover near all the land(and ocean?)

Plants that drift in the air might assist by coloring clouds, as well.

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Canis Lupis
Member Avatar
Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.

Hmmm. Well, I'm sure that if fungi became numerous (they would), then the oxygen problem would largely be dealt with.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Iowanic
Adult
 *  *  *  *  *  *
That's a lot of fungus! (Or fungus that's very effective at what it does)

As a 'oversight'; what kept fungus from preforming this role on earth in the past? Why couldn't fungus take over that niche?

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
sam999
Member Avatar
Adult
 *  *  *  *  *  *
colddigger
Sep 13 2009, 05:45 PM
trees that develop spines that shoot out and puncture other trees, inject them with hormones or poisons that cause them to lose their leaves or even kill their branches so that the poison tree can get sunlight would be interesting...
How does it poison tree shoot it spines?
I am not suffering from insanaty. I truely enjoy being mad.
Posted Image
Posted Image
Posted Image
Comeon, thy dragons need YOU! Visit them here please...
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
colddigger
Member Avatar
Joke's over! Love, Parasky
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
it can make a biological bow-and-arrow or sling, it doesn't have to go deep, just under the bark...
Oh Fine.

Oh hi you! Why don't you go check out the finery that is SGP??

v Don't click v
Spoiler: click to toggle

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Iowanic
Adult
 *  *  *  *  *  *
Perhaps a symbiotic relation with another species; that does the defence work?

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
ATEK Azul
Member Avatar
Transhuman
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
Other major groups would be Bacteria and other microbe based growths along with maybe Ediacarans which are not true animals some even looked like Plants.

Though moving slime molds would be the top predators of plants at least at first any way.
I am dyslexic, please ignore the typo's!
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
colddigger
Member Avatar
Joke's over! Love, Parasky
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
or possibly even true molds? i would imagine being infected with a true mold would be devastating to a clump of green slime
Oh Fine.

Oh hi you! Why don't you go check out the finery that is SGP??

v Don't click v
Spoiler: click to toggle

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · Alternative Evolution · Next Topic »
Add Reply