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| Dragonriders of Pern; Anne McCaffrey gets speced | |
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| Topic Started: Feb 25 2010, 05:23 PM (2,521 Views) | |
| sam999 | Feb 25 2010, 05:23 PM Post #1 |
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Adult
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Could thread work from a biologic standpont? How about fire-lizards and their larger relatives the dragons as well as the small, cave-dwelling whers. All in all, what do you think of the ideas. More links to more pern-native life comeing whenever I find them. |
I am not suffering from insanaty. I truely enjoy being mad.![]() ![]() ![]() Comeon, thy dragons need YOU! Visit them here please... | |
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| Holben | Feb 27 2010, 06:22 AM Post #2 |
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Rumbo a la Victoria
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Having read one of the books, i know that all th ecreatures are GM. Perhaps this should combine with another GM topic? |
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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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| Iowanic | Mar 9 2010, 04:37 PM Post #3 |
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Adult
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Oh; we did have a thread on the dragon-riders. |
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| Tamara LH | Mar 28 2010, 04:58 PM Post #4 |
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Newborn
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Having read all the books I can say that not ALL Pernese animals are genetically modified. Indeed I have often wondered what Pern would be like several million years in the future after humanity becomes extinct on the planet. First: there would be no Thread, the Red Star was blown out of orbit in The Skies Of Pern. With no Thread the animal life of Pern will be free to evolve larger sizes and adapt to new habitats. Second: there will be no dragons. Dragons were genetically modified to bond with humans, if no humans are available during hatching than the dragonet will suicide. If humans become extinct than so will dragons. So no dragons. These are the available species as mentioned in the books that will be the basic stock of "future Pern", all are fromthe books and all are temperate or tropical species as Pern's arctic animals were never mentioned. There are no native herbivores as they became extinct when Thread first fell several thousand years in the past, instead all pern animals are carnivorous or omnivorous. Imported Animals These animals were brought to pern from Earth. They were genetically modified to eat te native vegitation but are basically the same as their Terran equivalents. Herdbeasts This is a collective term for domestic livestock. It includes Cattle, Sheep, Goats, Llamas, and Pigs. Runnerbeasts domestic Horses and Donkeys. Canines domestic dogs, some have become feral dingo-like predators. Felines There are domestic cats, some of which have gone feral. Southern Felines found only in the Southern Continent these big cats were genetically enginerred by a rouge scientist when Pern was colinized. The books are inconsistant in identifying them, Dragonsdawn calls them cheetahs, Dragonseye claims they were lions and Skies of Pern has mixed prides of spotted cats with striped limbs and maned cats together. I assume that they are a hybrid species created from king cheetah and lion DNA. Native Animals These are the "vertebrate" animals native to te planet Pern, all are warm blooded hexapods with fauceted eyes and green copper based blood. Various other native animals includin insects, shellfish, and fish are mentioned but not described in detail so will not be in the list below... Tunnel Snakes six legged elongated lizard-like animals. They range in size from the 6 inch gecko-like crawlie to the elephant-sized flippered sea snake. they have smooth skin or scaled hides. Some are venomous. Wheries bird-like animals with four limbs and two wings. Unlike tunnel snakes wherries are covered in fur-like proto feathers (like that in some dinosaurs). Two types are mentioned in the books - a flightless ostich-sized form similar in shape to a turkey and a flying eagle-like scavenger/hunter. other 'native avians" are mentioned but not described. Whersports an omnivorous species confined to the Southern Continent that resembles a small hairless wherry. It can fly about as well as a chicken. Fire Lizards animals that look like tiny (2-3 foot long) dragons. They do not have scales but instead are covered in a suade-like hide. By chewing the mineral Apatite (Fire Stone) they can breathe fire. (for more on Firestone see http://forums.srellim.org/showthread.php?s=177108b9a130ac7d09f99cf1c9c82fa4&t=3082) Whers These animals are pony sized fire-lizard relatives with vestiginal wings. Unlike fire lizards (or the genetically engineered watch wher) the wild wher cannot fly, teleport or breathe fire. There we are. Now imagine how they will fill pern empty niches in say 20 million years. |
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| Tamara LH | Apr 23 2010, 02:51 PM Post #5 |
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Newborn
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So nobody wants to speculate? Come on this is a brand new environment that just got over a major mass extinction - one on league with the Permian on Earth - in which several animals of Terran origin have been imported. The dragons, as a GM lifeform dependent on man are irrelevant as no doubt they would go extinct when humanity does if not sooner now that the Red Star is gone. Whers (or rather their descendants) might survive and firelizards were natural not GM creatures. There is a lot of room to speculate on what could develop far in Pern's future. Personally I think the tunnel snakes have the makings to become superpredators. Imagine a long-necked Tyrannosaurus-type carnivore with two sets of slashing talons chasing a brontosaur-like cow descendant. The wherries also have a lot of potential as can be seen here Public Art Gallery: Holly Huthison at Kadanzer Weyr which also has several Pdfs of describing Pern's fauna. There is also an entire post on Pernese science and biology at The Science of Pern that could use some people knowledgeable in zoology as the majority of its members are astronomers and physicists. I even have a cladogram on the thread on scientific names for dragons that mentions most of the major clades of native Pern organisms. It can also be found here... ![]() So come on lets speculate! ::) |
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| janlor | Apr 29 2010, 01:00 PM Post #6 |
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Adolescent
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the dragons may develope bound to new spicies |
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my projects: Romeo 5 http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3108148/1/ 2 creatures presented! alien-like earth http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3223527/1/ The New Humans http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3253024/1/ Feliearth Feliearth Few jokes: addition to fashion: fasism why two Stiupid SNAIADIAN CHILDS WAS KISSING Because they observed they pet kahydrons and wants to have baby | |
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| Tamara LH | Apr 30 2010, 07:02 PM Post #7 |
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Newborn
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I doubt it. The dragons were programed to die if they did not Impress with a human partner.So if humans go extinct on Pern so will the dragons. On the other hand there is nothing stopping the fire lizards or whersports from evolving further. The Dragonlovers Guide mentioned that the fossil record of Pern included elephant sized hexapodal flyers similar to the dragons. These died out but the smaller fire lizards survived, possibly because they could teleport or were simply small enough to hide in caves during threadfall. Maybe they can evolve into a new dragon species? |
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| Holben | May 1 2010, 02:52 PM Post #8 |
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Rumbo a la Victoria
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Perhaps that machine-computer-station thing could GE dragons into a more evolutionary acceptable species? |
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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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