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
Intelligent Ants?; What would life have been like for them?
Topic Started: Mar 29 2010, 03:56 PM (2,563 Views)
Practically Uninformed
Member Avatar
Informed enough to care
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *
Ants have sometimes been called "the perfect society". In many ways, they behave like humans; they "domesticate" other bugs, they use problem-solving and teamwork to overcome obstacles, they wage war, they have complex systems of organization, and they have huge complexes where they all live. However, most ants (and most eusocial insects, for that matter) rely on instinct rather than intellect to solve their problems and keep their society afloat.

So what if, in some small part of the world (presumably, any part of the world), ants developed a sense of knowldge, emotion, and willpower to match our own? Would their civilization be any different? Would they conquer their brothers and claim the world as their own?
You may be a king or a lil' street sweeper, but sooner or later, you'll dance with the reaper!
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Replies:
Practically Uninformed
Member Avatar
Informed enough to care
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *
Thorax is mostly muscle. Their heads would be very skinny, and from the side, the super-neuron would create a "crest".

So it'd be the "Rat King" of the ants?
Edited by Practically Uninformed, Apr 8 2010, 01:25 PM.
You may be a king or a lil' street sweeper, but sooner or later, you'll dance with the reaper!
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Holben
Member Avatar
Rumbo a la Victoria

Maybe.

Yeah- a crest. I should have thought of that, but sometimes someone clever needs to tell me these things. :lol:
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."
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
SIngemeister
Member Avatar
Hive Tyrant of the Essee Swarm

Practically Uninformed
Mar 30 2010, 05:12 PM
A whole world of intelligent eusocials? ...strangely compelling. Like...a tiny Lord of the Rings...or something of that sort. :D
Story potential, right there,
My Deviantart

RRRAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHH!!!!!
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Practically Uninformed
Member Avatar
Informed enough to care
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *
...TAKEN. Sorry, taken. No stealing tiny Lord of the Rings, please.
For serious, too. I've been outlining about 10 years worth of their history.
You may be a king or a lil' street sweeper, but sooner or later, you'll dance with the reaper!
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Holben
Member Avatar
Rumbo a la Victoria

Well, someone can do a Silmarantlion.
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."
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Practically Uninformed
Member Avatar
Informed enough to care
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *
Not much room for one, though. Unless, of course, the praying mantids had an ancient civilization before the eusocials.
You may be a king or a lil' street sweeper, but sooner or later, you'll dance with the reaper!
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
ATEK Azul
Member Avatar
Transhuman
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
Can I ask why this sapient super hive can't be made of several species each with their own castes? The presence of multiple species of the hive along with the domestication processes already imployed by hive insects could make a complex hivemind that is also a sub habitat/ecosystem.
I am dyslexic, please ignore the typo's!
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Practically Uninformed
Member Avatar
Informed enough to care
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *
For a hive mind to work, they would have to be either ants or eusocials, and those other species might try to kill each other in the preliminary stages. Last time I checked, eusocial insects rarely integrate.
You may be a king or a lil' street sweeper, but sooner or later, you'll dance with the reaper!
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Toad of Spades
Member Avatar
Clorothod
 *  *  *  *  *  *
Maybe ants could form something like a civilization without being self-aware. Not individual intelligence, but sort of like a basic computer. The colony is constantly trying to find ways to improve survival rates and to expand with little effort. The colony could use new materials and find new ways of making them (metalworking and some kind of circuitry). In time, the colony could assemble high technology based totally on instinct.
Sorry Link, I don't give credit. Come back when you're a little...MMMMMM...Richer.

Bread is an animal and humans are %90 aluminum.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
ATEK Azul
Member Avatar
Transhuman
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
Well for my idea to work the different species would either start as eusocial species, demesticated species, symbiotes/parasites or mimics.
I am dyslexic, please ignore the typo's!
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Practically Uninformed
Member Avatar
Informed enough to care
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *
But all of the domesticated, symbiotic, and mimicing creatures don't possess any of the brainpower the eusocials have. That'd be like us and cows uniting as a super-organism.
You may be a king or a lil' street sweeper, but sooner or later, you'll dance with the reaper!
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
dialforthedevil
Member Avatar
Frumentarii Administrator

well #for ant society domesticating flies would be pretty cool like they farm the maggots for food and the largest are permitted to become flies and are used as aircraft :D
Please come visit A Scientfic Fantasy http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3433014/1/

ALSO!!! JOIN THE NEW RPG SITE!!! FOR ALL MEMBERS!!! IM GOING TO RUN MA GLOBAL SIMULATORS THERE!!! http://s4.zetaboards.com/jasonguppy/index/

Join the Campaign to save minotaurs from extinction!!! (include this in your signature to show your support!)
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Holben
Member Avatar
Rumbo a la Victoria

Although riding on a fly could be problematic...
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."
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
dialforthedevil
Member Avatar
Frumentarii Administrator

i know just an idea not very plausible but oh well
Please come visit A Scientfic Fantasy http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3433014/1/

ALSO!!! JOIN THE NEW RPG SITE!!! FOR ALL MEMBERS!!! IM GOING TO RUN MA GLOBAL SIMULATORS THERE!!! http://s4.zetaboards.com/jasonguppy/index/

Join the Campaign to save minotaurs from extinction!!! (include this in your signature to show your support!)
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Practically Uninformed
Member Avatar
Informed enough to care
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *
I myself have toyed with the idea of riding flies (for Fornicia, which I really should update), and the only major issue is control. Unlike horses or ostriches, flies possess one-track minds, so they would have to be heavily controlled and secured to prevent their escape.
You may be a king or a lil' street sweeper, but sooner or later, you'll dance with the reaper!
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
« Previous Topic · Alternative Evolution · Next Topic »
Add Reply