| 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! |
| Tardigrade world remake.; An extentsion to that terrarised world post ages ago, but with more imagination. | |
|---|---|
| Topic Started: Jun 2 2010, 02:02 PM (2,712 Views) | |
| Forbiddenparadise64 | Jun 2 2010, 02:02 PM Post #1 |
Adult
|
I decided to remake my old project, and focus on the tardigrade world. I have updated it a bit now, and have new ideas buzzing through my head now. If you remember reading it, It was about humans terraforming an alien planet the size of mars (with 38% of Earths mass and 1/3 of its gravity) in the far future and introducing some Earth life to it. Among them, were various bacteria, archea, protozoa, small fungi, algae and lichen, as well as the planets only animal: the highly adaptable tardigrade. There are many species of tardigrade, so the species bought here is a modified creature which has had all the best genes and genetic variability of all species fused into one. The population is a few thousand, to increase the starting genepool. With lots of algae (teh world was terraformed over a few millenia, but had naturally high levels of oxygen and CO2 as well. The planets conditions at the point of introduction are: AVerage temperature: 20 degrees C Oxygen levels: 25% carbon dioxide levels: 5% The time periods given be 6periods, starting with 110 million, alhtough im not sure about the rest, or the event in between each ones in terms of extinctions. Expect new strange tardigrade descendants, , enourmous colonies of bacteria and protozoa and even bizzare terrestrial flora from lichens. Give suggestions for the new project if possible. The old project (terrarised alien worlds) is now long dead, so this one will hopefully be its more specific successor. Can't wait for the next post 
|
Prepare for the Future Walking with the future: Allozoic (pts 4-6)http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3252142/14/#new 
| |
 |
 
|
| Holben | Jun 2 2010, 02:15 PM Post #2 |
Rumbo a la Victoria
|
(although alien worlds should probably be in The Habitable Zone  )One of the main reasons tardigrades is so hardy is their ability to induce a stasis. A large organism in a hostile environment, ie. the early stages of terraforming, would suffer. That said, given a late planetfall they should radiate slowly due to their reproductive cycle. Maybe a boost is needed... |
|
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." | |
|
|
|
| Toad of Spades | Jun 2 2010, 02:22 PM Post #3 |
Clorothod
|
Tardigrades will evolve and radiate wildly, but I'm sure the original tardigrade will keep on surviving because of their adaptability. It would be intersting to come back in 200 million years to a bizzare planet of macroscopic highly evolved tardigrade descendants, yet still being to find the tiny original form in pond scum.
Edited by Toad of Spades, Jun 2 2010, 02:23 PM.
|
|
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. | |
|
|
|
| Holben | Jun 2 2010, 02:23 PM Post #4 |
|
Rumbo a la Victoria
|
Widely maybe, but quickly no. |
|
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." | |
|
|
|
| Toad of Spades | Jun 2 2010, 02:24 PM Post #5 |
|
Clorothod
|
Quickly? |
|
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. | |
|
|
|
| Holben | Jun 2 2010, 02:25 PM Post #6 |
|
Rumbo a la Victoria
|
They will not adapt quickly to new environments, see tardigrade reproduction and anti-mutation shielding. |
|
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." | |
|
|
|
| Forbiddenparadise64 | Jun 2 2010, 05:31 PM Post #7 |
|
Adult
|
The tardigrades are introduced AFTER the terraforming, you know. Also, you'd think that because they are small, they can reproduce much faster than any vertabrate right? And given they are so adaptable, they would probably spread all over the planet within not that much time. |
|
Prepare for the Future Walking with the future: Allozoic (pts 4-6)http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3252142/14/#new
| |
|
|
|
| Forbiddenparadise64 | Jun 2 2010, 05:36 PM Post #8 |
|
Adult
|
The project seems quite similar in ways to anthropomundus. I wasn't sure that a human embryo like thing about the size of a tardigrade could evolve into a 45cm eel like creature in as little as 30 million years though. Given the tardigrades amazing adaptability though, and the fact there is a huge amount of food available before it is even introduced, they would evolve pretty quickly, with no predators or competition. But 110 million years would be a more suitable date for the kind of evolution i hope for. Expect various specialised branches, some resembling arthropods, others molluscs, others still echinoderms and even primitive chordates, to appear next, or at least at some later time. BTW, can anyone suggest dates for the other 5 periods i have in mind? |
|
Prepare for the Future Walking with the future: Allozoic (pts 4-6)http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3252142/14/#new
| |
|
|
|
| Toad of Spades | Jun 2 2010, 05:48 PM Post #9 |
|
Clorothod
|
How about the periods dated by 100 hundred million years at a time. Either that or do it like Earth, by major events in the evolution of life. |
|
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. | |
|
|
|
| Holben | Jun 3 2010, 03:02 PM Post #10 |
|
Rumbo a la Victoria
|
Late planetfall i said, i should have emphasised that.
Ah, the small =fast breeding. While this may be true for most animals, it is not for tardigrades.The biggest may reach only 1.5mm, yet the egg-maturation phase alone takes fourteen days. If a mite reproduced that slowly... |
|
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." | |
|
|
|
| Forbiddenparadise64 | Jun 4 2010, 06:56 AM Post #11 |
|
Adult
|
OH ok... The scientists have decided that to increase the maximum evolutionary potential further, they had to get past the reproductive cycle of the tardigrade. They change the tardigrades way of reproduction (which is to expand existing cells rather than create new ones) to create new cells to accelerate the process. This is more energy demanding, but in an environment with tonnes of algae throughout the tardigradus's new found oceans (which cover 75% of the surface), there is plenty to go around. Their new growing system allows them to gestate (im not sure its this, but i mean the process from fertilisation to hatching) much quicker (less than 2 days), and grow to sexual maturity in less than 3 weeks. Also, the genome has been altered so that mutations are significantly easier to occur, as well as being a genetic combination of different species, they have much more varied genetic flexibility than they normally would. Biodiversity is also proven to increase with oxygen levels, which are currently 25% at the time of introduction. The gravity on a mars sized world is only 1/3 of Earth's. This could mean that an organism could mutate to be 3 times as massive as its Earth predoccessor without having to change its body plan, making it easier to grow large. And given 110 million years, as well as the later phases, their is a lot that can possibly happen. Edited by Forbiddenparadise64, Jun 6 2010, 10:48 AM.
|
|
Prepare for the Future Walking with the future: Allozoic (pts 4-6)http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3252142/14/#new
| |
|
|
|
| Forbiddenparadise64 | Jun 4 2010, 08:08 AM Post #12 |
|
Adult
|
Both ideas are interesting. If we do the periods in 100 million years apart, than we'd end up with 110, 210, 310, 410, 510 and 610 million years. Now that is a hell of a long time. The Cambrian explosion was 542 million years ago, and the (somewhat controversial) first bilatarians existed 580 million years ago (the oldest confirmed ones are 560 million i think). So theres plenty of time for these tiny, adaptable and now fast changing mutants. The time interval between fertilisation and sexual maturity is just 20 days, so 610 million Earth years would be equivalent to over 9 billion generations for the mutant tardigrades. It would be very interesting to study. I think the second suggestion seems more managable. I can think of events though, eg when the tardigrade descendants (or even a vertabrate- like descandant if someone insists ;)) or a certain extinction event. I'm even considering (but by no means confirming) to do a sapient life form for 610 million years. Lol. Of course its not proven yet, and there may be problems. Some descendants become arthropod like, as tardigrades are pretty arthropod like in a number of ways. But others go to more extreme forms, such as free swimming cephalopod like forms, floating filter feeders, echinoderm like forms, and even forms like vertabrates and tetrapods at some point. Of course, they will look completely different physically to all these creatures on Earth, even thought the tardigrades come from Earth, as the conditions are so different (ie much lower gravity, slightly denser atmosphere, slightly more oxygen, a lot more carbon dioxide, and deeper oceans, in some places more than 15 km deep (the world is geologically active, but i don't know how to show continents changing as i don't have a scanner, and i can't imagine continents very well unless they are on Earth). I could mix both ideas, although i think its unlikely the dates would coincide with major events in real life. Oh well, I'll let other people help me to decide probably. 
Edited by Forbiddenparadise64, Jun 6 2010, 10:50 AM.
|
|
Prepare for the Future Walking with the future: Allozoic (pts 4-6)http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3252142/14/#new
| |
|
|
|
| Forbiddenparadise64 | Jun 4 2010, 04:57 PM Post #13 |
|
Adult
|
I've started to design fauna for 110 million AP (after population). I will describe the plant life first though. Instead of coral reefs, strange forms of algae dominate the reefs. In the warm climate, they cover much of tardigradus's new life-abundant oceans. They are home to various small tardigrades, and protozoa. As well as these, there are giant mounds of bacteria across much of the worlds coasts, like stromatolites, but much larger in the lower gravity and carbon rich atmosphere, up to 4-5 m tall. Some tardigrades have adapted to browse from these structures. On land, Lichen have evolved into various bizzare plants. Low gravity, abundant carbon dioxide and evolutionary pressures have turned this algae-fungus symbiote into erect structures, covering large areas of the surface, creating more oxygen for the animals to breathe. The plant part of them needs to climb higher to gain more light, and give nutrients, and the fungi needs a nutrient rich environment as well, and needs to expand to protect the plant. The fungi forms a hard layer on the outside, harder than bark, which is a perfect support system. The fungus also controls the root systems, where it will absorb minerals, nutrients from dead plants, water and some may even have traps to attack microbes, small animals or trapping nutrients from smaller plants. Many live around warm, swamp like environments, but some form independant forests, and some even live in deserts and mountains alongside regular lichen. Can someone please help me to design new groups and species for the tardigrades? I expect some cool creatures to evolve from them, considering they've been genetically "beefed up" by scientists for mutation. See you next post!:) |
|
Prepare for the Future Walking with the future: Allozoic (pts 4-6)http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3252142/14/#new
| |
|
|
|
| Forbiddenparadise64 | Jun 6 2010, 11:44 AM Post #14 |
|
Adult
|
Ok, I have now designed several new groups of animal for tardigradus: Tardilids: A strange group of long bodied tardigrades. There are 3 classes within it. The first the limbless false-worms, consisting of mostly borrowers and hydrothermal vent survivors, although a few free swimming filter feeders exist. Species sizes range from nanigradus, at 0.02mm long (the smallest animal ever to exist, at less than a sixth of the size of Earth's smallest known animal, the fairy fly) to the largest , the 3-3.5 metre long Tardilidus, a free swimming filter feeder. The second class are known as sea centipedes. These are an all carnivorous group with up to 40 pairs of legs and 3 pairs of eyes depending on the species. The species range from 2cm to 1.2m in length. Many live at the bottom, and are ambush predators. The third, and least diverse group are sea millipedes, similar to sea centipedes, but all herbivourous and possessing more legs, up to 450 in some species. They range from 6cm to 65cm in different species. Collectors: A diverse class resembling crustaceans. Many species have long legs, but range little in the number; the majority of species range from 5-7 pairs. They have up to 5 pairs of eyes in some species, but most have poor vision. Some are tiny plankton like organisms, others are bottom feeders, resembling crabs or lobsters or eurypterids. Many feed on either the shelled ceratokaids (animals which have shells like brachiopods), or smaller species of abnormalids, or on other collectors. Species range from 0.8mm to 95cm in length, and 4mm to 4.5m in legspan. The largest are planktonivores, resembling scaled up spider crabs with mouthparts like spec's baleen squid's. Tardibites: These strange creatures bear a great resemblance to the ancient trilobites and woodlice. They come in a huge number of forms, all heavily armoured and powerful. They have 3 pairs of eyes in most, those that don't won't have eyes at all. Collectors and tardibites are not as limited as arthropods by their exoskeletons; rather than shedding all at once with a vulnerable larger skin below, the young are born with the second skeleton forming below, so the larger skin is fully formed before the shedding occurs, and the smaller, old skin is slowly absorbed into the body to give nutrients or even eaten directly. It is only because of the limited time frame that they do not grow so huge already. Even so, tardibites can be quite big. Species range greatly from less than 1cm, to as much as 1.2m in length, resembling a giant trilobite mixed with an armidillo. Many are bottom feeders but some are predators, some free swimming filter feeders, some herbivores eating the algae reefs, and some even feed on bacteria. Abnormalids are a varied group of animals. They are propelled by 5 pairs of flippers and 2 pairs of eyes, and have a jet like shape to swiftly move through the water like a squid or cuttlefish. They have 3 pairs of jaws, an upper pair and lower pair, both of which can be either very short and robust to crack hard prey or plants, or very long and thin with bristles to filter feed, or long and powerful to hunt and kill other animals, and a third internal pair at the back of the mouth, which chews the food before swallowing. The smallest are part of the plankton, others peaceful herbivores, like small fish. The medium sized stock tend can be herbivores, carnivores or omnivores. The largest are top predators. The biggest of them all is the mighty Hadegnathus- a huge fierce beast, over 4.2 metres long in the females (and 3m in the males)- slightly larger than a bottlenose dolphin.It is the largest predator, and as a matter of fact the largest animal on tardigradus currently. Some species have a chord in their back like a lancelet or cuttlefish. Chordacus. The chords in the back are not as advanced as in this creature. It possesses a unique jointed backbone, just like the first vertabrates on Earth.Somewhat related to the abnormalids, it is far smaller than them however, at about the size of a lemon. It has a teardrop like shape with 3 pairs of fins for swimming and a forth trailing behind it, hosting sails up to 20 cm long in some species for sexual display. This genus has 7 species, each with different fins of different colours or shapes. They have two pairs of eyes, and a mouth and digestive system similar to the abnormalids, but with only one external pair of jaws, as chordacus feeds on mainly distritus, plankton,algae or the corpses of larger beasts. Slow-pokes: An echinoderm like phylum, that often has more than two lines of symmetry, just like the starfishes. Unlike starfishes, some species are free swimmers, resembling jellyfish, filter feeding or ambushing small animals into their venomous tentacles. These species contain a massively potent venom created by feeding on certain corals, twice as deadly as cyanide. This is perfect to kill organims only a couple of inches or so in length, although the animals themselves range from 10cm to 3m long including the tentacles. But again, the majority live on the ocean floor, like starfish. They range in width from 5mm to 55cm. They have mouthparts on the underside to crack open their ceratokaid prey. Ceratokaids:A brachipod like group, which has a shell surrounding it. More primitive forms are actually more like gastropods with 1 or 2 pairs of legs. The brachiopod like forms form shells, so the beaches are decorated by their colourful extentions. Most are filter feeders, but some are herbivores, feeding on the algae reefs which are essential for this new field of evolution. Species range from 1mm to 1.5m in size, with the largest being like giant clams, which ambush smaller animals in deeper waters. The inside of ceratokaids, beneath the shell, has a tardigrade like face, with powerful mandibles, but a squishy and fragile body, which is why it is kept in the shell. A few species are like dog whelks, and will ambush small tardibites and slowly rip through their shells and eat them alive. I'm still not sure on a date for the next era, will someone please suggest at any time before next post? if not i will stick with toadofspades suggestions of every 100 million years. Ok? See you next post! Edited by Forbiddenparadise64, Jun 7 2010, 12:30 PM.
|
|
Prepare for the Future Walking with the future: Allozoic (pts 4-6)http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3252142/14/#new
| |
|
|
|
| Holben | Jun 6 2010, 11:47 AM Post #15 |
|
Rumbo a la Victoria
|
Good that many are burrowing. That's right and good. Can you do a cladogram or something to help me link them all together? |
|
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." | |
|
|
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
| Go to Next Page | |
| « Previous Topic · Evolutionary Continuum · Next Topic » |
7:37 PM Jul 13