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| "Terrarised" alien worlds.; what happens when various alien worlds are introduced with Earth life. | |
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| Topic Started: Apr 3 2010, 09:05 AM (1,589 Views) | |
| Forbiddenparadise64 | Apr 3 2010, 09:05 AM Post #1 |
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ok i had an idea similar to Canis Lupus's future of the kinds idea, with multiple projects. i have decided to do several different planets populated by Earth organisms. I know this has been done before, and im still not sure whether this should be placed in the habitable zone, but i have already come up with ideas for it. Here we go: ARTHROPODA: This, as the name suggests, is a world dominated by introduced arthropods. There are also cnidarians, sponges, nematoid worms, tardigrades and flatworms too. It holds most of the arthropods of Earth, except those dependant on other phylums (ie parasites). Arthropoda's environment is different to Earth's. at the time humans introduce the animals after the plants, it has a gravity of 79%, but has an atmospheric density of 1090 millibars (compared to Earth's 1013) and an (current) atmosphere consisting of 72% nitrogen, 26% oxygen (although eventually it will get considerably higher), <2% argon and 0.1% carbon dioxide (which allows plants to grow more prolifically). I will cover the later time periods of 60, 120 and 250 million years after the first colonists are introduced. I hope this is plausible enough for you. HEAVY METAL: No this isnt a fantasy world tributed to my favourite genre of music, but a world consisting of heavy elements such as iron, copper, aluminium ore and other metals. It is 1.94 times Earth's mass and has a diameter of 10,982 kilometres, with an average global temperature of 18 degrees celsius. The atmosphere has 17% oxygen and a pressure of 1800 millibars. The main groups are mollusks, woodlice, cockroaches, termites, ants, earwigs and a single tetrapod: the common house gecko. This might not be the most plausible of my projects, but im going to do it anyway. NITROGUS: This is one of my most bizarre projects- a world populated almost entirely by bacteria and certain (probably GM) protozoa which respirate using nitrogen. Yes, nitrogen isn't as efficient as oxygen respiration, but it can be done. I dont expect any large multicellular organisms myself. This world has about 94% of Earth's mass and a density of 1020 millibars. Im gonna think up another 7 worlds later in my own spare time, but good luck commenting and suggesting ideas. |
Prepare for the Future Walking with the future: Allozoic (pts 4-6)http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3252142/14/#new 
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| Forbiddenparadise64 | Apr 5 2010, 01:40 PM Post #16 |
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Basically yeah, you can suggest comments and later creatures for my habitats. But we have to fill that list of 20 first. |
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Prepare for the Future Walking with the future: Allozoic (pts 4-6)http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3252142/14/#new
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| Forbiddenparadise64 | Apr 5 2010, 01:44 PM Post #17 |
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did you ever read the book man after man. Its about a world ravaged environmentally and repopulated by GM humans which later evolve ridiculously quickly into various forms, essentially. This is the same kind of thing but on an alien world, and "metahumans" as the only tetrapods. I dont have much other ideas for new worlds. |
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Prepare for the Future Walking with the future: Allozoic (pts 4-6)http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3252142/14/#new
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| Forbiddenparadise64 | Apr 5 2010, 03:05 PM Post #18 |
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So, I'm gonna start with the tardigrade project. Humans come to a mars massed world and terraform it to the following conditions: 1100 millibar atmospheric pressure 18% oxygen (will get higher in future)-well above critical limit explained later 1% carbon dioxide Average global tempreature 17 degrees Celcius. They introduce bacteria, protozoa, algae, lichen and seaweed in the ocean and moss, liverwort, tumbleweed, hardy grasses, ferns and a single species of conifer tree. And than they introduce the only animal, the tardigrade. I don't know the reproductive cycles of tardigrades-everyone knows their adaptability, so I won't start the project at 10 million years after introduction because of the limited time for new species (although if you prove me wrong I'll add it) so I'll start with the date 70 million years after introduction, than at some later point do 100 million, but I will focus mainly on 70 million. That critical level of oxygen I was talking about 15% is, according to fossil records and theories on snowball earth, believing it was responsible for creating animal life, for animals to grow over 1 inch. see you soon. |
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Prepare for the Future Walking with the future: Allozoic (pts 4-6)http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3252142/14/#new
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| Ook | Apr 5 2010, 03:25 PM Post #19 |
not a Transhuman
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there could be world,where is from mammals only metatherians(marsupials) from south america and australia and all main species of monotremes(platypus,long beaked echidna,short beaked echidna) |
   
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| colddigger | Apr 5 2010, 07:34 PM Post #20 |
Joke's over! Love, Parasky
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So people place other genetically modified humans onto a planet and let them evolve? |
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Oh Fine. Oh hi you! Why don't you go check out the finery that is SGP?? v Don't click v Spoiler: click to toggle | |
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| Forbiddenparadise64 | Apr 6 2010, 03:51 PM Post #21 |
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yeah, thats what I was planning. I won't start on it though until I work more on my tardigrade world. |
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Prepare for the Future Walking with the future: Allozoic (pts 4-6)http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3252142/14/#new
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| Holben | Apr 7 2010, 01:33 AM Post #22 |
Rumbo a la Victoria
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HAve they copnsidered the ethics of modifying humans? When is this set again? I like your idea, but this terraforming seems to be the wewak link. Unless you're taking the materials from the oxidised rocks and core. |
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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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| Pando | Apr 7 2010, 01:12 PM Post #23 |
Obey or I'll send you to the moon
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What kind of skeletons could the tartigrades have so that we can have fur-less 8 legged bears? |
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| Holben | Apr 7 2010, 02:08 PM Post #24 |
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Rumbo a la Victoria
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EXoskeletons should be fine for low gravity, but they can't be bear sized or even cat sized if they want to move within a millenium. |
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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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| Forbiddenparadise64 | Apr 8 2010, 03:39 PM Post #25 |
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Depends which linaeges there will be. Many will develop arthropod and brachiopod like forms. Some will follow the niches of molluscs, jellyfish (dont know if its possible), echinoderms and other groups. Eventually some will develop a skeleton similar to that of vertabrates, but with 8 legs. And over time, with plants, obviously the current oxygen levels will get considerably higher, allowing larger organisms in all groups. How many generations do you guys think that tardigrades could have in 70 million years (this is based on modern tardigrade breeding systems, obviously as they get more complex it will decrease- some groups may actually get even smaller in physical size)? I'd like to see how the current plants would evolve in that time, particularly as for the first few millions of years of years they'd have no animals eating them. The results must be awesome. |
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Prepare for the Future Walking with the future: Allozoic (pts 4-6)http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3252142/14/#new
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| Forbiddenparadise64 | Apr 14 2010, 03:48 PM Post #26 |
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I will describe the first chapter of the tardigrade world: It is set 70 million years after the introduction of the tardigrade and all the flora. Oxygen levels have rose from 18% to 23% with the plant life now. The tardigrades are no longer the miniscule creatures we know of. They have evolved into spectacular and bizzarre new linaeges. I will explain that soon. With no corals, descendants of algae and seaweeds cover the oceans. On land the plants are even stranger. Mosses have evolved into bush like plants up to 3 metres tall in some species. Grasses and ferns have filled niches of medium sized trees, some species up to 35 metres tall. The conifers, with low gravity and high carbon dioxide levels, have taken most other tree niches, and some are huge: the largest species, nicknamed "the atlas tree" can be up to 185 metres tall as an adult! Now for the animal groups: Cnitardus: This strange group have degenerated into primitive creatures bearing similarities to jellyfish. They possess tentacles evolved from their legs and mandibles. They do not see normally- their eyes have been reduced to light sensing organs. Species range in size from less than 1mm to up to 4 metres (including tentacles). They are free floaters, thriving in warm weather and in relatively oxygen rich seas. Most species are filter feeders although some will prey on live food as well. They attract mates by producing high frequency rumbles in the water, too high for other creatures to hear. Abnormalids : These are equally bizzare compared to their ancestors. They retain their manouverability, but look completely different. They look a cross between a cuttlefish and an anomalocarid. They have cephalopod like niches in the ecosystem. Their body design has a long torpedo like body, with the four pairs of limbs evolved into large flippers for locomotion. Species range greatly in size from a 5 cm to the largest species of 6 metres- the largest animal so far to evolve on tardigradus (the planets current name, if anyone can think a better one, id be fine to accept) They include some large predators, the tetragnathids (misleading because all abnormalids have 4 jaws), but all species above 1.5 metres in size are filter feeders. In the largest species, the jaw can be up to a metre long. (edit) Anneligrades: The worm analogues of tardigradus. They have evolved elongated worm like bodies and a borrowing lifestyle. Many have lost all their limbs, although some retain the front pair into claws to help their digging abilities or even to catch prey such as smaller species. Species range from 2mm to 3m depending on environment. Many are aquatic, but some use hydroskeletons, evolving into a niche similar to earthworms. Some large forms have developed eel like niches as ambush predators, particularly of chordigades. Many have lost their eyes as well. Some feed on bacteria and have started to populate the planets hydrothermal vents. Here they have no competitors, so far. (edit) Minisculids: The tiniest creatures on Tardigradus, including some of the smallest animals that have ever existed. The largest is only 2-3 times as big as the largest modern tardigrades. The smallest, minisculus, is a tiny 0.04mm in lenth, making it the smallest animal (with the exception of protozoa) that have ever existed. They form some of Tardigradus's plankton, feeding on algae and other species of minisculid. There is however, one species, formicomimus, is a colonial predator with workers (0.8mm) soldiers (2.1mm) and a queen (3mm). They attack larger organisms in organised squads like ants, and they are good at what they do. There have even been cases where a colony can kill small crustaceagrades! But overall, most are gentle filter feeding herbivores. arthrogades: the most common group. These are divided into: Gigantogrades: These herbivores resemble scaled up versions of their ancestors, trilobites and some crabs. The low gravity and relatively oxygen levels allow them to vary greatly in size, ranging from 1 cm to a huge 1.6 metres long- larger than a sheep. They are the only entirely herbivorous group, and include some amphibious in swamps created by descendants of ferns. Crustacagrades: These are a mainly carnivorous group of predators, resembling eurypterids and lobsters. They range in size from 10 cm to 2.1 metres, with the largest species being apex predators. Some amphibious species also exist. They walk on the back 3 pairs of legs, with the front pair being used as arms, which in many have evolved into deadly spiked weapons like spears and maces. Triopides: The only truly terrestrial animals on tardigradus. They are a relatively new group, with limited niches. They resemble a cross between a tadpole shrimp, a terrestrial crab and a woodlouse. Species include herbivores, carnivores and omnivores. Species are relatively small, ranging from less than a millimetre to the largest species being 22 centimetres long. They thrive and have formed a primitive balanced terrestrial ecosystem. They are surprisingly fast for their size, and some have even evolved a gliding gait mechanism derived from gill extensions (i think you know their this will go). Chordigades: A new, but very intersting group. They use only 3 pairs of fins while swimming, while the last are simply to grab on while mating. They have a side to side motion, unique among tardigrade descendants. But what is far more remarkable for this group is that they possess a notochord, or even in some species, a primitive backbone, rather than an exoskeleton. They possess two pairs of eyes typically. The current diversity in species and form is relatively low compared to the more spectacular groups. Species range from 2 to 12 cm in length. Males in many species are very brightly coloured. So, tell me what do you think? By the way, the next project I will move onto will be either arthropoda or Avia. Its up to you guys, personally. See you next update, and I will answer any of your questions. 
Edited by Forbiddenparadise64, Apr 15 2010, 01:19 PM.
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Prepare for the Future Walking with the future: Allozoic (pts 4-6)http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3252142/14/#new
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| Pando | Apr 14 2010, 04:51 PM Post #27 |
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Obey or I'll send you to the moon
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I think the animals resemble too much real animals, even filling the same niches and having the same habitat of them. But I like the creativity and imagination 
Edited by Pando, Apr 14 2010, 04:54 PM.
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| Forbiddenparadise64 | Apr 14 2010, 04:56 PM Post #28 |
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At one point I was going to do coral and sponge like tardigrades, but I decided that would be implausible, so i replaced them with plants. I wanted to make them Earth-like because they have Earth like ancestors and I did'nt want to be too implausible. Any ideas for the next time epoch, 150 million years after introduction? And anyone want to help design the next project after this one? |
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Prepare for the Future Walking with the future: Allozoic (pts 4-6)http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3252142/14/#new
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| Holben | Apr 15 2010, 12:12 PM Post #29 |
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Rumbo a la Victoria
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Just by luck, i have created an SECW article on Convergent Evolution. Link here. I would have expected many worm-like creatures across this world, more burrowing organisms, though... 
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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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| Forbiddenparadise64 | Apr 15 2010, 01:24 PM Post #30 |
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Don't worry, I've edited the post to include a worm like group of organisms. |
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Prepare for the Future Walking with the future: Allozoic (pts 4-6)http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3252142/14/#new
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