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Insectoids!
Topic Started: Oct 21 2009, 03:58 PM (1,186 Views)
Ànraich
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L'évolution Spéculative est moi

All of us here know that insects are some of the simplest, most versatile, and most widespread types of organisms on the planet. They were some of the first things to even evolve, let along come onto land. Before the dinosaurs, the insects ruled the world, growing to enormous sizes due to higher oxygen content in Earth's early atmosphere (there were dragonflies and millipedes longer than city buses). Unfortunately that oxygen content decreased and the insects, with their limited size, simply could not compete with the new amphibians and reptiles sporting such evolutionary luxuries as "skin" and "lungs" and the like.

But what if they hadn't? What if insects had remained dominant and had gone through hundreds of millions of years of evolution with no other kind of organism competing with them?

I place this here in the Habitable Zone because I intend to have a scenario to go along with it. The insectoid body, being so simple, is surely to develop on other life-bearing worlds; if not all of them. In this thread come up with a world with an ecosystem build entirely (or at least mostly) by insect-like creatures; or their descendants.




Though the world I thought up is not named, it is rich in variety. From a simple crab-like creature living in the surf of a sea filled with molluscoids, three major groups of organisms have come to dominate the planet. First are the Exoderms, they are the smaller, more insect like beings found on the planet (the largest known Exoderm is no larger than a human being, and the smallest known is no larger than a gnat). They are characterized by their hard, metal-like exoskeletons which both support and protect their body. They are not insects, they are far more complex and advanced, but they have retained the insectoid look. They are mostly all predators, with a few omnivores and an awkward herbivore here and there. They can be solitary or social, though most of them live in small hunting packs like wolves. Most of them are very cricket like, having powerful hind legs used to jump onto prey, and all predators are liquivores, like a spider. There are also Exoderms resembling large spiders (though they only have four legs), ants, and scorpions, though those aren't the only types.

The second group is the Endoderms, and they're very different from anything we've ever seen before. They have no exoskeleton, instead they have developed a spongy flesh not unlike rubber. The skin protects their body from drying out, as well as allowing them to grow to larger size and regulate their temperature better. To support their body they have developed a kind of internal skeleton made of a kind of hardened foam; it's much more flexible and easier to repair than our bones, and much easier for them to produce than elements of solid calcium. Most Endoderms are herbivores, with a few scavengers; no direct predators. Most Endoderm species are herd grazers that live on the vast plains that cover the planet.

The third group is the Fliers, and as the name implies they're the ones that fly. They don't get much larger than Earth birds and are usually very wasp-like or mosquito-like. Not much to say about them, there's a good mix of herbivores and carnivores in there, both hunters and "grazers."


What can you all come up with? Also, I can draw a picture of two of these things to give you an idea as to what they look like, if you want.
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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I don't see why you need high O2 levels for insectoids to exist. Why couldn't they posess more efficient respiratory systems (i.e. like the lungs of tetrapods)?

They could also posess closed vascular systems. Or different means of shedding the exoskeleton, as to avoid collapsing under gravity.
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lamna
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How exactly would they shed then? Perhaps they could return to water.
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T.Neo
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Well, I'd imagine them shedding the exoskeleton one part at a time.

That or they're actually supported by an internal skeleton and the exoskeleton is merely a hard skin or shell.
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lamna
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I'm not sure if it would work one part at a time. I would almost certainly not work for earth insects.

Perhaps the insects could keep themselves pressurized until they hardened?
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Are nipples or genitals necessary, lamna?
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Are you plausible?

I'm kind of liking lamna's idea of returning to water. Amphibious insectoids... or would they be crustaceanoids? Live on land except for the time where you must shed your exoskeleton and live deep in the water.
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T.Neo
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Well, couldn't the segments grow like vertebrate bones? They'd be covered by some skin but would for all intensive purposes be an exoskeleton.

I think arthropleura retreated to water when moulting.
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lamna
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I have always wondered if that would work. Anyone know a reason for it not too?
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Are nipples or genitals necessary, lamna?
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Ànraich
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Actually the endoderms and exoderms I came up with here I incorporated into my Priapus Prime project. Of course you know them now as Dinoentomos (Mollosoma and Sclerasoma). But since I decided I wouldn't really elaborate on the Dinoentomos much in the P. Prime thread I'll do so here, when I get the chance.

Essentially it's like this; mollosoma are herbivores, sclerasoma are predators, and the fliers can be either (I'm thinking of simply grouping them into sclerasoma, since they'll all likely fit that description anyways). The mollosoma can grow fairly large, and they can be fast. The sclerasoma have adapted to become various types of predators; some ambush their prey (like a big crab-like thing that has a niche similar to a crocodile), some jump on their prey (like a giant carnivorous grasshopper), and some will capture their prey in unusual ways (perhaps something like a scorpion that captures its prey by releasing a stream of sticky spider-silk like substance from glands on the end of its tail?). I'll elaborate a bit more later.

EDIT: I imagine there would be a variety of different strategies for shedding exoskeletons. Some might do it a little at a time, some might return to the water, some might simply find a safe spot and shed it there, some may build a sort of cocoon or burrow and seal the exit, some might grow an exoskeleton on top of an exoskeleton and somehow recycle the previous one for energy, and some may not shed their exoskeleton at all (perhaps it somehow expands?).
Edited by Ànraich, Dec 3 2009, 07:42 PM.
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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Kamidio
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What about a transluscent slug-like parasite that uses gases to float in the air? Its main hunting method would be to use 4 "claws" 2 small ones in the front, 2 large ones at the sides, and use the "claws" to attach to its prey and then sucks out the nutreints, Metroid-style.
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Those Slugs sound interesting though maybe not plausible.
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Slug-like, not slugs. I also think it would be interesting to see Spinosaurus/Scorpion combo thing walking around on this planet.
Edited by Kamidio, Dec 4 2009, 06:22 PM.
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Interesting, definatly. Plausible...? Anyway, from what Parasky said, there doesn't seem to be large preditors on this planet.
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Ànraich
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No, an exoskeleton would limit size. The biggest one is a giant semi-aquatic crab-like creature that fills a niche similar to a crocodile. It hides in the water and uses its long stalk-eyes to watch for prey to come near the water's edge and let its guard down. Then it quickly grabs hold of it with its over-sized claw and drags it into the water, using the smaller claw to asphyxiate its prey. It's a bit larger than a Volkswagen bug (and weighs about as much).
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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I meant it looked like Spinosaurus/Scorpion cross, I never said how big it was.
Edited by Kamidio, Dec 5 2009, 12:23 AM.
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