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
Knowing when to let it end?; I has no sense of it, ideas please?
Topic Started: Mar 29 2010, 12:55 PM (520 Views)
KayKay
Adult
 *  *  *  *  *  *
...................

..................
Edited by KayKay, May 16 2010, 04:39 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
T.Neo
Member Avatar
Translunar injection: TLI
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
I think the introduction into the world stage of any sophont would drastically change things. If not an ecological catastrophe, it would certainly change the facde of our modern day fauna and flora.

Considering that this is the oligocene, human ancestors are probably not that advanced, so we probably wouldn't be in the predicament great apes are today. If humans do eventually evolve though, we probably won't do at the same time nor will we be exactly the same.

As for their development as a species, finding and colonising other continents will be the first. After that, the more advanced they get the more of an impact they have on the environment.

Sophonts are exceedinly extinction resistant, so I doubt they'll "just die out", and certainly not shortly after coming onto the world stage.

So they'll likely either stay on Earth and trash it, or reduce their presence on Earth (via space colonisation) and have a reduced (but still existant) ecological impact, or they could forget Earth entirely (and perhaps rediscover it later. A cliche in SF, but a fun one nontheless).

But the Earth in our present day would be markedly different either way.



A hard mathematical figure provides a sort of enlightenment to one's understanding of an idea that is never matched by mere guesswork.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
KayKay
Adult
 *  *  *  *  *  *
Hm, so you're saying that even just having these creatures in the project at all would probably effect the world enough? I see what you mean. I would probably have to erase the intelligent dicynomole species and pretend I never made that part if I want humans on here.

Which I kind of do.

If I really wanted to make it ridiculous I could make it that humans discover a new portal opened to another dimension in the middle of the Pacific, and it leads to this continent.

If the intelligent dicynomoles had lasted long enough, they maybe even created it.

Maybe not though, it would be getting too much like that Primeval my grandma used to watch. I couldn't stand that program.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
T.Neo
Member Avatar
Translunar injection: TLI
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
Quote:
 
Which I kind of do.


Then either erase them, or get rid of them before they make landfall anywhere else? (Or at least not landfall in Africa)

The surviving for millions of years by going into space thing would work, btw. Hybodus survived from the late Permian to the early Cretaceous, and they were not nearly as adaptable as sophonts, and they were limited to Earth.
A hard mathematical figure provides a sort of enlightenment to one's understanding of an idea that is never matched by mere guesswork.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
KayKay
Adult
 *  *  *  *  *  *
I'll bear that in mind. It would probably have to depend on how soon they'd get into space though, and I can't imagine that there wouldn't be some staying behind at 'home'.

Anybody have any other ideas? I'm leaning more and more towards the portal idea even though it does sound far-fetched.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Margaret Pye
Member Avatar
Adult
 *  *  *  *  *  *
The portal may be a rather obvious case of "a wizard did it!", but it's the only way I can think of to have dicynosapients meet humans. Even if they did all go into space, you'd assume that'd be after they'd trashed the planet.

Although they wouldn't necessarily trash the planet badly enough to wipe out apes...
My speculative dinosaur project. With lots of fluff, parental care and mammalian-level intelligence, and the odd sophont.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
KayKay
Adult
 *  *  *  *  *  *
Not necessarily no, but even a slight change in environment could alter evolutionary history. Again, something like humans could evolve, but the chances of it actually being humans as we know humans to be are slim.

Well, I wouldn't just like to say "a wizard did it". In this fictional universe, if alternate realities exist it could be that they have learned to see into other realities parallel to their own, and investigate. They might have portals that lead to hundreds of alternate realities, most of which are closed and opened like doors but one or two of them could have been left open for some reason.

Maybe an incentive could have been that they were searching for more useful genes to implement into their own genome. Like... to allow them to walk upright for example. Or see better.

But in 25 million years, they might already have solved that. But that still works for an abandoned portal. Maybe they were looking, found nothing useful (because humans had not evolved yet) and somehow accidentally left the portal open.

Another problem with that - organisms would have been exchanging between the portals for 25 million years. Disaster effects would have leaked out into our own world through the portal.

Oh, I just don't know I think I'm even more confused than before!
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
XxVENATOURxX
Member Avatar
I am the predator -o_O
 *  *  *  *  *
The chance of it being humans evolution after are extremely slim. How would organisms keep coming through the portal cause devastation to our world
Posted Image


Mae hen wlad fyn ghadau yn anwyl I mi
Gwlad beirdd a chantorion enwogion o fri
Ei gwrol ryfelwyr gwlad garwyr tra mad
Dros ryddid collasant ei gwaed

Gwlad,Gwlad
Pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad
Tra mor yn fyr i'r byr hoff bau
O byddedd i'r heniaeth barhau



Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
KayKay
Adult
 *  *  *  *  *  *
I didn't say it could cause devastation. It would just change things, even weather/climatic effects because weather or disaster effects would leak through to this side from the other end of the portal.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
ZetaBoards - Free Forum Hosting
Fully Featured & Customizable Free Forums
« Previous Topic · Alternative Evolution · Next Topic »
Add Reply