Symbiosis between Animals and Plants in the future.

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Symbiosis between Animals and Plants in the future.
Topic Started: Aug 20 2010, 02:49 PM (1,005 Views)
TheCoon	Aug 20 2010, 02:49 PM Post #1
Happy merry Jesusmas inhabitants of the Spec Forums! Posts: 646 Group: Members Member #241 Joined: Oct 20, 2009 Nationality: Mexican Favorite Quote: I have not told half of what I saw, for I knew I wouldn't be belived -Marco Polo	After reading the article related to the new discovery of algae solar-powering a species of salamander, I started to think about how relationships beween animals and plants can evolve in the future. I'm not saying that we will have Bulbasaur-like animals, but I would like to read what other types of animal-plant symbiosis can occur in said near future. More solar powered animals like the salamander? Maybe a crocodile like this. Maybe sea slugs. Discuss!
	Greetings young life form! Procyon Lotor at your service.


Holben	Aug 20 2010, 02:53 PM Post #2
Rumbo a la Victoria Posts: 14,335 Group: Admin Member #220 Joined: Sep 18, 2009 Area of expertise: Xenobiology	http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/01/green-sea-slug/ http://www.thefutureiswild.com/index.asp?level1id=3&level2id=8&level3id=9&level4id=29 Stuff.
	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."


TheCoon	Aug 20 2010, 02:56 PM Post #3
Happy merry Jesusmas inhabitants of the Spec Forums! Posts: 646 Group: Members Member #241 Joined: Oct 20, 2009 Nationality: Mexican Favorite Quote: I have not told half of what I saw, for I knew I wouldn't be belived -Marco Polo	I like the idea of the Garden Worm. It is in fact one of the few Future is Wild ideas I like. I was also thinking about some sort of tiny crocodile with algae in the back, for the same purpose.
	Greetings young life form! Procyon Lotor at your service.


Scrublord	Aug 20 2010, 06:27 PM Post #4
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.	a crocodile would be the lest likely animal to evolve this sort of adaptation; their skin is too thick for algae photosynthesis to take place through.
	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


MitchBeard	Aug 20 2010, 07:15 PM Post #5
proud gondwanan Posts: 431 Group: Members Member #281 Joined: Mar 10, 2010 Gender: Male Nationality: Australian	I loved the idea that unhatched salamanders where using the oxygen that the algae produced, just as much as the carbohydrate. Some weird lungless amphibian monster that lived in the water breathing with gills until the sun comes out so it can breathe on land using its algae.



Toad of Spades	Aug 20 2010, 09:39 PM Post #6
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.	Corals depend on photosynthetic algae within their bodies. Maybe they could take the relationship further until they are pretty much the same organism, similar to how mitochondria and chloroplasts fused with eukaryotic cells. Some could move onto land, holding a niche similar to a combination of plants, sessile animals, and fungi. They could produce nutrients with photosynthesis, while sending tendrils into the ground that have tiny tentacles all over them that capture detritus and tiny organisms. Besides the basic type, some could specialize to be more plant-like, others more fungi-like, or others becoming something like the equivalent of a land anemone. Edited by Toad of Spades, Aug 20 2010, 09:42 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.


Sliver Slave	Aug 21 2010, 12:22 PM Post #7
I'm going back to basics. Posts: 1,857 Group: Away Staff Member #30 Joined: Jul 6, 2008 Gender: Male Nationality: Canadian. Just like Phasey!	But those niches are already held by plants/fungi. What advantages would be significant enough to overcome that?
	Something is upsetting the ostriches. Spoiler: click to toggle Awesome sigatar by MethosHazara on the Giant in the Playground forums.


Toad of Spades	Aug 21 2010, 12:52 PM Post #8
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.	Even if they specialize toward one niche, they can still occupy multiple niches at once. Besides advanced forms, the basic form functions like an animal, a plant, and a fungi. Edited by Toad of Spades, Aug 21 2010, 12:55 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.


Pando	Aug 24 2010, 07:29 PM Post #9
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	How about reef building photosynthetic and filter feeding slugs?



irbaboon	Sep 23 2010, 06:25 PM Post #10
Adolescent Posts: 345 Group: Members Member #73 Joined: Sep 5, 2008	In the Novel Fire Time by Poul Anderson the Ishtarians like all animals of their world existed in bodily symbiosis with plants from wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishtarians " A striking feature of Ishtarians is that they have a "mane" of red vinelike leaves covering their heads, and the back of the neck and most of the upper torso. They even have "eyebrows" made of a smaller version of these leaves. This is because they are highly symbiotic with plant and microbial life in their bodies. The leaf-mane serves to remove carbon dioxide and other wastes from the body and giving oxygen and certain nutrients in return. This makes for a more efficient metabolism, and the leaves in the leaf-mane can also act as a last-resort food supply."



Practically Uninformed	Sep 23 2010, 07:03 PM Post #11
Informed enough to care Posts: 1,570 Group: Members Member #274 Joined: Feb 20, 2010 Nationality: Born in DC, bred in SC, now in NJ. A partial citizen of Tartarus Favorite Quote: "Ya gotta put the soup-drinker in the flute-lips, and shake it all up!"	Personally, I actually like the idea of future sloths becoming symbiotic with some sort of moss. They already have it growing in their fur.
	You may be a king or a lil' street sweeper, but sooner or later, you'll dance with the reaper!


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