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The Moon, Pandora, from the film "Avatar"
Topic Started: Dec 20 2009, 02:13 PM (8,063 Views)
Yorick
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I took someone's suggestion and created another topic to speculate on the moon's inhabitants' evolution.

So...speculate!
"I believe, that whatever doesn't kill you, simply makes you...stranger"

-The Dark Knight (2008)
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The Dodo
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Just on a side note, Tetrapod Zoology has done an article on Avatar for whatever reason.
http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2010/01/creatures_of_avatar.php
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lamna
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The more I think about it, the more cyberpunk Pandora becomes what with being able to go into other bodies and diving into cyberspace. But it's biological, so I suppose it's Biopunk
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34 MYH, 4 tonne dinosaur.
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Are nipples or genitals necessary, lamna?
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Holben
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Maybe the planet Pandora was absorbed into the Galactic Empire for a while? It would explain the 'great sorrow'- but then again, there would probably be spatial disturbances in the upper atmosphere.
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

"It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."
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lamna
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Which Empire? Andermani? Manticoran? British Space? Ghast? The Race?
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Fósseis Vibos: Reserva Natural


34 MYH, 4 tonne dinosaur.
T.Neo
 
Are nipples or genitals necessary, lamna?
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Holben
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The Galactic Empire of Terithias, actually. ;)
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

"It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."
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Practically Uninformed
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Well, the way I saw the ecosystem as a whole, it was almost totalitarian,the way the plants ruled. If you notice, there are absolutely no witnessed leaf-eaters; just nectivores and frugivores. Every creature seems to possess these antennae, which I assume are for interaction with the potentially dangerous plant ecosystem.
Perhaps the entirety of the botanical system on Pandora is the result of an invasive species?
You may be a king or a lil' street sweeper, but sooner or later, you'll dance with the reaper!
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Rhob
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Feb 21 2010, 09:53 PM
Well, the way I saw the ecosystem as a whole, it was almost totalitarian,the way the plants ruled. If you notice, there are absolutely no witnessed leaf-eaters; just nectivores and frugivores. Every creature seems to possess these antennae, which I assume are for interaction with the potentially dangerous plant ecosystem.
Perhaps the entirety of the botanical system on Pandora is the result of an invasive species?
One word: nanoplague.
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lamna
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Or a created species. The plants are functioning as a computer, and it's probably programed to protect the Na'vi and itself so leaf eaters are not needed.
Living Fossils

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34 MYH, 4 tonne dinosaur.
T.Neo
 
Are nipples or genitals necessary, lamna?
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T.Neo
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The Na'vi probably also pose a risk to the plant life- they have to cut wood to make tools etc.
A hard mathematical figure provides a sort of enlightenment to one's understanding of an idea that is never matched by mere guesswork.
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Empyreon
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Are you plausible?

IIRC, according to the survival guide the Na'vi build their tools and weapons from fallen plant material and animal bones. I'll have to double check on that, though.
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food for thought
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Ddraig Goch
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After the Uniltaron ceremony, a Na'vi earns the right to carve his bow from a branch cut from Hometree. And Hexapede's, the book says, feed directly on the plants, as do the Sturmbeest and the Hammerhead Titanothere's. So there are browsers on Pandora, and the Na'vi do have to cut down trees every now and then.
Save the Blibbering Humdinger from extinction!
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Are you plausible?

I stand corrected.
Take a look at my exobiology subforum of the planet Nereus!

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food for thought
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Practically Uninformed
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Perhaps the plants are sado-masochists?
Either that, or the plants aren't so capable of defending themselves from the herbivores.
You may be a king or a lil' street sweeper, but sooner or later, you'll dance with the reaper!
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Are you plausible?

Or the plants have no sense of individual loss. A few plants, leaves, or blades of grass just aren't enough to concern them, especially when new growth will spring up in its place with time. It can sacrifice a part of itself for the good of ecological balance, just as easily as we can sacrifice body hair and toenails for the sake of hygiene.

Now, if a C-21 Dragon Assault Ship comes and levels a hometree, then regroups with a Valkyrie laden with explosives intended for a major neurological hub, "Eywa" is going to raise a virtual eyebrow...

How many of us worry about the damage done to our own bodies or minds through malnutrition, alcohol consumption, or even the effects of aging? "I will consume this beer and pizza for the greater goal of... um... so that Earth may... er... I will consume this beer and pizza!!!" ;)
Take a look at my exobiology subforum of the planet Nereus!

COM Contributions


food for thought
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Ddraig Goch
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Ar hyd y nos

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Now, if a C-21 Dragon Assault Ship comes and levels a hometree, then regroups with a Valkyrie laden with explosives intended for a major neurological hub, "Eywa" is going to raise a virtual eyebrow...
Lol! :lol:

I agree, though. If Eywa, to quote Neyteri, "preserves only the balance of life itself", then therefore letting herbivores starve to death (and subsequently collapsing the entire foodweb) wouldn't be "balancing" anything. Besides, the plants get their own back - the Banshee of Paradise shoots poisonous barbs at herbivores that come to close, the Baja Tickler regularly squirts out boiling hot liquid, and the Popsicle is mildly radioactive.
Edited by Ddraig Goch, Feb 22 2010, 04:39 PM.
Save the Blibbering Humdinger from extinction!
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