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
Questions that don't need their own topics vol.2; New and fresh
Topic Started: Jan 4 2018, 11:18 AM (26,882 Views)
Rodlox
Superhuman
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
ZoologicalBotanist
Feb 14 2018, 12:09 AM
So then would black leaves be the most efficient, as black absorbs all light?
technically, yes...or a dark-green or dark-turquoise. however, plants that live in low-light conditions (forest understories, for example) are often silver from pigments and-or leaf fuzz, because they have to protect against sunburns -- when one of the taller plants dies & the sunlight floods the understory.

so "grab all light" isn't always what a plant wants to do...contrary to most initial thoughts.
.---------------------------------------------.
Parts of the Cluster Worlds:
"Marsupialless Australia" (what-if) & "Out on a Branch" (future evolution) & "The Earth under a still sun" (WIP)
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
ZoologicalBotanist
Member Avatar
Mixotrophic Sea Slug
 *  *  *  *  *
Okay. Also, plant mobility. could a plant possibly move on its own, by pulling itself along with vines? I have an idea for a plant that sneaks up on animals, and then explodes, covering them with spores.


My Projects
Active

On Hold

Coming Soon


Posted Image My DeviantArt Nature and Wildlife Discord
Random Quotes and Stuff


--Windblown--
I do not know where I will go.
I travel where the breeze will blow.
For I know, deep in my soul,
I am windblown.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Strychnos
Member Avatar
Fetus
 *  *
ZoologicalBotanist
Feb 13 2018, 11:46 PM
Other than increasing leaf size, what ways could a plant evolve to maximize captured sunlight in low light conditions?
Some plants, instead of having broad leaves to increase surface area, have "windows" in their leaves (Hawthornia truncata is one). This lets the plant use the inside of the leaf for photosynthesis as well as the outside. This strategy is mostly used by plants from arid regions to reduce surface area that water could be lost through, but could hypothetically be useful in low light.

Quote:
 
Okay. Also, plant mobility. could a plant possibly move on its own, by pulling itself along with vines? I have an idea for a plant that sneaks up on animals, and then explodes, covering them with spores.


Depends on the plant? If it is an alien plant, almost anything is fair game. But if it is an Earth derived plant, this would be more unlikely. It would be a longer evolutionary pathway to evolve pursuit tactics than to just cover an animal with spores if it brushes up against a stationary plant (plants already do this with pollen).
My Deviantart
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Tartarus
Member Avatar
Prime Specimen
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *
Rebirth
Feb 14 2018, 12:51 AM
Yeah, I was basically thinking of an animal (probably a reptile) with gold in its skin, scales, teeth and bones. Fossils of these animals are well-preserved like Borealopelta, with their skin and scales still there, and their bone agatized. Upon discovery, the gold is still there and combined with the gembone and well-preserved fossils their remains basically become treasure.
One issue with that is that the reason gold is considered valuable here on Earth is because it is rare. If your hypothetical creature can obtain enough gold to have it in its body in the amounts you are implying that would also imply that it comes from a world where gold is far more common and thus would not be all that valuable. If gold was that common its doubtful it would even be seen as treasure.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
WaterWitch
Member Avatar
Might manage to hold down a project some day
 *  *  *  *  *
Tartarus
Feb 14 2018, 06:06 PM
Rebirth
Feb 14 2018, 12:51 AM
Yeah, I was basically thinking of an animal (probably a reptile) with gold in its skin, scales, teeth and bones. Fossils of these animals are well-preserved like Borealopelta, with their skin and scales still there, and their bone agatized. Upon discovery, the gold is still there and combined with the gembone and well-preserved fossils their remains basically become treasure.
One issue with that is that the reason gold is considered valuable here on Earth is because it is rare. If your hypothetical creature can obtain enough gold to have it in its body in the amounts you are implying that would also imply that it comes from a world where gold is far more common and thus would not be all that valuable. If gold was that common its doubtful it would even be seen as treasure.
They may have gotten it from river sediments, much like we did when panning for gold, so there's a (more) reliable source for a precious metal then just stumbling across it. Though why would still need to be a thing to consider. I'd figure a kind of mating display where it's like "I have enough energy to go and find this hard to find shiny stuff, I'm obviously the one with the best genes" is the most plausible, though it would be interesting to learn how they evolved the ability to adapt gold into their biochemistry like that, rather than just making pigments that do the same thing.

As for the concept of incorporation in general, there are bloodworms, which have copper teeth.
Current Projects
Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
LittleLazyLass
Member Avatar
Proud quilt in a bag

Tartarus
Feb 14 2018, 06:06 PM
Rebirth
Feb 14 2018, 12:51 AM
Yeah, I was basically thinking of an animal (probably a reptile) with gold in its skin, scales, teeth and bones. Fossils of these animals are well-preserved like Borealopelta, with their skin and scales still there, and their bone agatized. Upon discovery, the gold is still there and combined with the gembone and well-preserved fossils their remains basically become treasure.
One issue with that is that the reason gold is considered valuable here on Earth is because it is rare. If your hypothetical creature can obtain enough gold to have it in its body in the amounts you are implying that would also imply that it comes from a world where gold is far more common and thus would not be all that valuable. If gold was that common its doubtful it would even be seen as treasure.
Perhaps accessible gold was far more common during the time the creature lived?
totally not British, b-baka!
Posted Image You like me (Unlike)
I don't even really like this song that much but the title is pretty relatable sometimes, I guess.
Me
What, you want me to tell you what these mean?
Read First
Words Maybe
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Bob-The-Seagull-King
Member Avatar
Bob, king of the seagulls
 *  *  *  *  *  *
Tartarus
Feb 14 2018, 06:06 PM
Rebirth
Feb 14 2018, 12:51 AM
Yeah, I was basically thinking of an animal (probably a reptile) with gold in its skin, scales, teeth and bones. Fossils of these animals are well-preserved like Borealopelta, with their skin and scales still there, and their bone agatized. Upon discovery, the gold is still there and combined with the gembone and well-preserved fossils their remains basically become treasure.
One issue with that is that the reason gold is considered valuable here on Earth is because it is rare. If your hypothetical creature can obtain enough gold to have it in its body in the amounts you are implying that would also imply that it comes from a world where gold is far more common and thus would not be all that valuable. If gold was that common its doubtful it would even be seen as treasure.
One possible explanation is that maybe in the region these lizards lived there was large gold deposits, but they existed in a place deadly to humans but perfectly safe for these lizards (or perhaps the access was through very very small tunnels) maybe because there wasn't enough oxygen to safely support life at a human size but well enough for a lizard? idk exactly.
“The search for truth takes us to dangerous places,” said Old Woman Josie. “Often it takes us to that most dangerous place: the library. You know who said that? No? George Washington did. Minutes before librarians ate him.”
― Joseph Fink, Welcome to Night Vale
“Librarians are hideous creatures of unimaginable power. And even if you could imagine their power, it would be illegal. It is absolutely illegal to even try to picture what such a being would be like.”
― Joseph Fink, Welcome to Night Vale
"Blep"
― Diglett, My Blue Tonge
Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Rodlox
Superhuman
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
ZoologicalBotanist
Feb 14 2018, 10:16 AM
Okay. Also, plant mobility. could a plant possibly move on its own, by pulling itself along with vines? I have an idea for a plant that sneaks up on animals, and then explodes, covering them with spores.
pulling itself along, like a seal on a beach, moving its entire body - no.

pulling itself along, as in it grips rocks and whatnot as it grows longer and longer, one end following a chemical/? trail to its prey - sure.
.---------------------------------------------.
Parts of the Cluster Worlds:
"Marsupialless Australia" (what-if) & "Out on a Branch" (future evolution) & "The Earth under a still sun" (WIP)
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
ZoologicalBotanist
Member Avatar
Mixotrophic Sea Slug
 *  *  *  *  *
So then it wold need to be able to grow rather fast, as I plan to put it in an area where animals are scarce, hence the reason it needs to hunt, as spores need the fresh carcass for the nutrients and moisture it contains, hence why it "hunts". The roots and main body of the plant would also need to be well protected, to keep herbivores from munching on it. That, or as it grows towards its prey, the parts behind it die off. this would protect the plant, and keep the planet in question from being covered in so much foliage from one plant it looks like a kudzu invasion.
Edited by ZoologicalBotanist, Feb 15 2018, 09:42 AM.


My Projects
Active

On Hold

Coming Soon


Posted Image My DeviantArt Nature and Wildlife Discord
Random Quotes and Stuff


--Windblown--
I do not know where I will go.
I travel where the breeze will blow.
For I know, deep in my soul,
I am windblown.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Lowry
Member Avatar
ARH-WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
 *  *  *  *  *
ZoologicalBotanist
Feb 15 2018, 09:10 AM
So then it wold need to be able to grow rather fast, as I plan to put it in an area where animals are scarce, hence the reason it needs to hunt, as spores need the fresh carcass for the nutrients and moisture it contains, hence why it "hunts". The roots and main body of the plant would also need to be well protected, to keep herbivores from munching on it. That, or as it grows towards its prey, the parts behind it die off. this would protect the plant, and keep the planet in question from being covered in so much foliage from one plant it looks like a kudzu invasion.
If animal matter is scarce and these are regular old 'plants', meaning they have the same energy-producing capabilities of a simple Earth plant, then I don't expect them to be walking around much at all. Besides if they need a corpse producing tonnes of spore-young being pumped out to disperse over the air is far more efficient and far more plausible than some walking plant.
Projects Currently Being Worked Upon:

Karkinos: Where faith meets myth on a world of the strangely familiar.
Under New Suns: The forums own colonisation race! Steep yourself in my lore....

Projects in suspension (for when inspiration hits):

- Galapagaia
- Rich Man's Ark (nice little bit of community spec :P)
- Ichor

Projects for a latter day:




Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
ZoologicalBotanist
Member Avatar
Mixotrophic Sea Slug
 *  *  *  *  *
Response to Lowry
Spoiler: click to toggle


Also, i am going to make this its own topic so we can go more in depth and allow other questions to get answered, as well as to allow others with the same question to find answers easier.
Edited by ZoologicalBotanist, Feb 15 2018, 01:47 PM.


My Projects
Active

On Hold

Coming Soon


Posted Image My DeviantArt Nature and Wildlife Discord
Random Quotes and Stuff


--Windblown--
I do not know where I will go.
I travel where the breeze will blow.
For I know, deep in my soul,
I am windblown.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Cool_Hippo43
Member Avatar
Hippo
 *  *  *  *
about something with a super organism, like Darwin iv amoeba sea (but not so big, just the size of a lake or something)
what are the biological limitations on this.
something like a much smaller version of the amoebic sea and the emperor sea strider (something that feeds on that thing)
Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
IIGSY
Member Avatar
A huntsman spider that wastes time on the internet because it has nothing better to do
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
Would it be possible for two eusocial species to live in the same colony? I don't mean one domesticating or enslaving the other, I mean both living in a mutual relationship. Like, the queens for both species may either live in the same chamber or different ones, but the two "societies" become integrated in all their affairs, so to speak. Like, they hunt together, defend the nest together, forage together, and all that stuff.

Could such an arrangement work?
Projects
Punga: A terraformed world with no vertebrates
Last one crawling: The last arthropod

ARTH-6810: A world without vertebrates (It's ded, but you can still read I guess)

Potential ideas-
Swamp world: A world covered in lakes, with the largest being caspian sized.
Nematozoic: After a mass extinction of ultimate proportions, a single species of nematode is the only surviving animal.
Tri-devonian: A devonian like ecosystem with holocene species on three different continents.

Quotes


Phylogeny of the arthropods and some related groups


In honor of the greatest clade of all time


More pictures


Other cool things


All African countries can fit into Brazil
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Rodlox
Superhuman
 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
IIGSY
Feb 18 2018, 12:34 PM
Would it be possible for two eusocial species to live in the same colony? I don't mean one domesticating or enslaving the other, I mean both living in a mutual relationship. Like, the queens for both species may either live in the same chamber or different ones, but the two "societies" become integrated in all their affairs, so to speak. Like, they hunt together, defend the nest together, forage together, and all that stuff.

Could such an arrangement work?
I don't see why not...eusocial wasps can of the same species can live in neighboring nests (one sister and her tiny hive, beside another sister and her tiny hive)...it should be possible to be neighboring species cohabiting one location - perhaps what keeps them separate is what they eat or when they breed?
.---------------------------------------------.
Parts of the Cluster Worlds:
"Marsupialless Australia" (what-if) & "Out on a Branch" (future evolution) & "The Earth under a still sun" (WIP)
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
GreatAuk
Member Avatar
Northern Penguin
 *  *  *  *  *
Why can't Archosaurs give live birth?
Let us dance together.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
2 users reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
Members: Icthyander
ZetaBoards - Free Forum Hosting
Create your own social network with a free forum.
Learn More · Register Now
Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · General Spec · Next Topic »
Add Reply