Hothouse

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Hothouse; Fall of animals, rise of plants
Topic Started: Jun 11 2010, 06:57 PM (2,028 Views)
Scrublord	Jun 11 2010, 06:57 PM Post #1
Father Pellegrini Posts: 4,423 Group: Members Member #169 Joined: May 5, 2009 Gender: Male Area of expertise: Future Evolution Nationality: American (unfortunately) Favorite Quote: Life can seem a challenge. Life can seem impossible. It's never easy when there's so much on the line.	This was an odd little novel written in 1962 that may actually have been one of the first real works of speculative biology out there. Basically, the premise is that millions of years in the future, plants have somehow evolved the ability to move around like animals, and are competing with them. There are only a few species of mammals left, including a very tiny posthuman. Here's a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hothouse_(novel) Edited by Pandorasaurus, Jun 11 2010, 09:25 PM.
	My Projects: The Neozoic Redux Valhalla--Take Three! The Big One Deviantart Account: http://elsqiubbonator.deviantart.com In the end, the best advice I could give you would be to do your project in a way that feels natural to you, rather than trying to imitate some geek with a laptop in Colorado. --Heteromorph

Replies:
Ammonite	Jun 14 2010, 03:36 PM Post #31
Adolescent Posts: 253 Group: Members Member #317 Joined: May 27, 2010 Nationality: Canadian Favorite Quote: "The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can't be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it." - Harry Emerson Fosdick.	Yes, I know that. But all plants do photosynthesize. And I never said anything about fungi diverging from plants before animals. I am aware that animals and fungi are both heterotrophs and share a more recent ancestry. It might be useful to look at the differences between unikont and bikont eukaryotes for a better idea of what I mean. EDIT: Repeated myself. Edited by Ammonite, Jun 14 2010, 03:38 PM.



ATEK Azul	Jun 15 2010, 07:41 PM Post #32
Transhuman Posts: 2,416 Group: Members Member #81 Joined: Sep 20, 2008 Gender: Private Nationality: usa	If you start early in the history of life and its planet you could potentialy create a new kingdom of animals capable of photosynthesis or other similar processes. I normally create a group of arthropod like creatures that use cellulose and chittin to create an exoskeleton supported by internal rods and other structures. I do use Calcium and Silicon though to reinforce the structures.
	I am dyslexic, please ignore the typo's!


Pando	Jun 15 2010, 08:08 PM Post #33
Obey or I'll send you to the moon Posts: 5,648 Group: Members Member #275 Joined: Feb 24, 2010 Area of expertise: Future Evolution	What about animal-like photosynthesizing fungi? After all, fungi are Animalias closest relatives.



Ammonite	Jun 16 2010, 02:59 AM Post #34
Adolescent Posts: 253 Group: Members Member #317 Joined: May 27, 2010 Nationality: Canadian Favorite Quote: "The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can't be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it." - Harry Emerson Fosdick.	ATEK Azul If you start early in the history of life and its planet you could potentialy create a new kingdom of animals capable of photosynthesis or other similar processes. I normally create a group of arthropod like creatures that use cellulose and chittin to create an exoskeleton supported by internal rods and other structures. I do use Calcium and Silicon though to reinforce the structures. Hmmm..... Interesting ideas..... I may need you sometime in the very near future..... Pandorica What about animal-like photosynthesizing fungi? After all, fungi are Animalias closest relatives. No can do. Fungi are heterotrophs. They can't make their own energy via photosynthesis or chemosynthesis so they need organic matter. If you wanted to, I suppose you could have some sort of union between plant and fungus the way lichens do. Or even better, a union between plant and animal. Some worms have this but I forget what they are called.



Pando	Jun 16 2010, 03:01 AM Post #35
Obey or I'll send you to the moon Posts: 5,648 Group: Members Member #275 Joined: Feb 24, 2010 Area of expertise: Future Evolution	Or the fungi can start moving and eating, and steal genes like the photosynthesizing slug.



Ammonite	Jun 16 2010, 03:07 AM Post #36
Adolescent Posts: 253 Group: Members Member #317 Joined: May 27, 2010 Nationality: Canadian Favorite Quote: "The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can't be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it." - Harry Emerson Fosdick.	Wha...? There is a photosynthesizing slug? Ammonite goes off to re-read thread. Even if this thing does exist, how do you steal another macroscopic animal's genes and then use them to alter your own genome?



MitchBeard	Jun 16 2010, 08:57 AM Post #37
proud gondwanan Posts: 431 Group: Members Member #281 Joined: Mar 10, 2010 Gender: Male Nationality: Australian	The sea slug is called Elysia chloriata and it doesn't steal genes, it steals chloroplasts. Or endomycorhizal (keep forgetting how to spell that) fungus could just turn really mean and move up the plant and steal chloroplasts.



Ammonite	Jun 16 2010, 09:02 AM Post #38
Adolescent Posts: 253 Group: Members Member #317 Joined: May 27, 2010 Nationality: Canadian Favorite Quote: "The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can't be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it." - Harry Emerson Fosdick.	OK..... That makes more sense. But how do you absorb chloroplasts into your own body without ingesting them?



MitchBeard	Jun 16 2010, 09:12 AM Post #39
proud gondwanan Posts: 431 Group: Members Member #281 Joined: Mar 10, 2010 Gender: Male Nationality: Australian	They feed mostly on intertidal algae, but instead of eating it they puncture the cell walls with their radula and suck out all the chloroplasts and embed them in their massive highly branched gut lining. If they get absorbed into the actual gut cells the chloroplasts can last up to 10 months. The slugs also seem to have acquired a couple of genes important for photosynthesis through horizontal gene transfer from the algae.



Ammonite	Jun 16 2010, 09:31 AM Post #40
Adolescent Posts: 253 Group: Members Member #317 Joined: May 27, 2010 Nationality: Canadian Favorite Quote: "The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can't be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it." - Harry Emerson Fosdick.	That is cool. I had heard of some microscopic animals being able to absorb genes via gene transfer but not macroscopic animals. How are the chloroplats able to transfer energy into the slug? And what does the slug's body do to assist in photosynthesis? Do they have translucent skin or something like that?



MitchBeard	Jun 16 2010, 10:26 AM Post #41
proud gondwanan Posts: 431 Group: Members Member #281 Joined: Mar 10, 2010 Gender: Male Nationality: Australian	The slug just absorbs the sugars that the chloroplasts produce. Tasty delicious sugars. The slugs gut is highly branched and flattened out just under the skin of its dorsal surface, so they look like they're just green.



Ammonite	Jun 16 2010, 11:07 AM Post #42
Adolescent Posts: 253 Group: Members Member #317 Joined: May 27, 2010 Nationality: Canadian Favorite Quote: "The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can't be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it." - Harry Emerson Fosdick.	That is so cool! Thanks for sharing that



Toad of Spades	Jun 16 2010, 11:09 AM Post #43
Clorothod Posts: 624 Group: Members Member #114 Joined: Dec 27, 2008 Nationality: United States Favorite Quote: Street smart is just an excuse for dumb people to use the word smart to describe themselves.	That's incredible! How common are they?
	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 16 2010, 02:08 PM Post #44
Rumbo a la Victoria Posts: 14,335 Group: Admin Member #220 Joined: Sep 18, 2009 Area of expertise: Xenobiology	..not very, they were a relatively recent discovery.
	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 16 2010, 03:50 PM Post #45
Clorothod Posts: 624 Group: Members Member #114 Joined: Dec 27, 2008 Nationality: United States Favorite Quote: Street smart is just an excuse for dumb people to use the word smart to describe themselves.	They would evolve into some extremely interesting life-forms if they specialized towards photosynthesis only.
	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.


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