| 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! |
| Questions that don't need their own topics vol.2; New and fresh | |
|---|---|
| Topic Started: Jan 4 2018, 11:18 AM (26,864 Views) | |
| Akurian452 | May 3 2018, 06:28 PM Post #511 |
|
Adult
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
On a water world, would large icebergs be a viable substitute for dry land in terms of a habitable surface and creating the geochemical and elemental cycles necessary for life? |
![]() |
|
| ZoologicalBotanist | May 4 2018, 11:39 AM Post #512 |
|
Mixotrophic Sea Slug
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
I am trying to calculate a few things for a planet, but can't quite figure out the air density and air pressure. The planet is 65% larger than Earth, but my problems are compounded by the fact that it is a gas planet. (Given this, all of my other calculations are probably off anyway.) Does anyone know how I can figure these numbers out? What I have found so far refers to terrestrial planets, seeing as things like surface gravity require an actual surface!
Edited by ZoologicalBotanist, May 4 2018, 11:45 AM.
|
|
My Projects Active On Hold Coming Soon My DeviantArt Nature and Wildlife DiscordRandom 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. | |
![]() |
|
| Russwallac | May 4 2018, 02:56 PM Post #513 |
![]()
"Ta-da!"
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Air pressure on a gas giant is difficult to calculate since it varies depending on depth; there's no surface to use as a basis. The upper atmosphere will have a significantly lower pressure than the deeper layers, which eventually become compressed liquid towards the core. |
"We've started a cult about a guy's liver, of course we're going to demand that you give us an incredibly scientific zombie apocalypse." -Nanotyranus
| |
![]() |
|
| Archeoraptor | May 5 2018, 04:21 AM Post #514 |
|
"A living paradox"
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
I would say maybe some of the south american tapirs if they are very lucky depends of how bad you made the human extinction |
|
Astarte an alt eocene world,now on long hiatus but you never know Fanauraa; The rebirth of Aotearoa future evo set in new zealand after a mass extinction coming soon......a world that was seeded with earth´s weridest and who knows what is coming next........... " I have to know what the world will be looking throw a future beyond us I have to know what could have been if fate acted in another way I have to know what lies on the unknown universe I have to know that the laws of thee universe can be broken throw The Spec I gain strength to the inner peace the is not good of evil only nature and change,the evolution of all livings beings" " Spoiler: click to toggle | |
![]() |
|
| lamna | May 6 2018, 06:03 PM Post #515 |
![]() ![]()
|
Why, in Britain, did bears die out hundreds of years before wolves did, while in Japan bears continue to survive long after wolves have died out? Similarly wolves have be exterminated across most of the USA, but black bears are still doing well. Bears seem like more of a threat to human life, and also more obvious. Is it just wolves have more of an economic impact? And why was it reversed in Britain? |
|
Living Fossils Fósseis Vibos: Reserva Natural 34 MYH, 4 tonne dinosaur. [flash=500,450] Video Magic! [/flash] | |
![]() |
|
| Cool_Hippo43 | May 6 2018, 08:22 PM Post #516 |
|
Hippo
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
What causes an animal to become eusocial? what leads one to adopt this style of behavior? One any right statement, any clade can actually have an eusocial species? |
| |
![]() |
|
| Russwallac | May 6 2018, 09:28 PM Post #517 |
![]()
"Ta-da!"
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Wolves are more predatory than bears are and attack livestock far more often, hence the deliberate attempts to wipe them out. I'm not sure why wolves survived longer than bears did in Britain though. I would assume it's because they had a higher starting population and the relatively small size of the island meant that bears came into contact with humans more commonly than elsewhere. |
"We've started a cult about a guy's liver, of course we're going to demand that you give us an incredibly scientific zombie apocalypse." -Nanotyranus
| |
![]() |
|
| Flisch | May 7 2018, 06:58 AM Post #518 |
|
Superhuman
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Apparently shared broodcare is a major contender for "necessary pre-adaption for eusociality". But it's still largely shrouded in mystery.
Water worlds are tricky. The rpoblem is that water is an excellent heat conductor. This means that a planet that mostly consists on water (or at least 25% like several of the moons in our solar system) would have a more even distribution of temperature across the surface. So you'd either have no ice at all (except snow) or you'd have the entire surface frozen, like with Europa, Titan and so on. You wouldn't have "continents" or "islands" of ice, like you have on continental worlds. This problem might be able to be mitigated a little bit with a technically rocky world with enough water to cover the entire surface, but even then I'd wager a guess that the heat distribution is in full effect as once you pass a certain depth the water gets cold anyway, so there would not be much difference for whether your world is 25% water or just 1%. Edited by Flisch, May 7 2018, 07:06 AM.
|
| We have a discord. If you want to join, simply message me, Icthyander or Sphenodon. | |
![]() |
|
| Russwallac | May 7 2018, 08:52 AM Post #519 |
![]()
"Ta-da!"
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
There's also the issue that ice is, well, ice. It doesn't really provide a good substrate for organisms to grow in, and the cold would seriously inhibit the chemical reactions necessary for abiogenesis. |
"We've started a cult about a guy's liver, of course we're going to demand that you give us an incredibly scientific zombie apocalypse." -Nanotyranus
| |
![]() |
|
| CaledonianWarrior96 | May 7 2018, 09:06 AM Post #520 |
![]()
An Awesome Reptile
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
I don't think the surface side of the ice could support an ecosystem but the underside might. In Future Planet I had grass-like algae that grows on the underside of antarctic ice and relies on nutrients washed up from upwellings like detritus the algae feeds on. There's algae that grows on the underside of ice there today which is how I got the idea. So maybe you can base an iceberg-inhabiting ecosystem with that type of algae/photosynthetic life growing on the underside. You can even zonify the environment by having different photosynthetic species that rely on different wavelengths of light growing at different depths of the iceberg |
|
Come check out and subscribe to my projects on the following subforums; Future Planet (V.2): the Future Evolution of Life on Earth (Evolutionary Continuum) The Meuse Legacy: An Alternative Outcome of the Mosasaur (Alternative Evolution) Terra Cascus: The Last Refuge of the Dinosaurs (Alternative Evolution) - Official Project - Foundation The Beryoni Galaxy: The Biologically Rich and Politically Complex State of our Galaxy (Habitational Zone) - Beryoni Critique Thread (formerly: Aliens of Beryoni) The Ecology of Skull Island: An Open Project for the Home of King Kong (Alternative Universe) The Ecology of Wakanda: An Open Project for the Home of Marvel's Black Panther (Alternative Universe) (Click bold titles to go to page. To subscribe click on a project, scroll to the bottom of the page and click "track topic" on the bottom right corner) And now, for something completely different
| |
![]() |
|
| Flisch | May 7 2018, 10:24 AM Post #521 |
|
Superhuman
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
I mean, in a sufficiently cold environment ice would act like any other solid substrate. Just how early land was only bare rocks and soil had to form over the ages through various waves of pioneer plants (and lichen!), a similar thing could happen with continental ice floes. The problem is actually getting these as the thermodynamics of water worlds is not very conductive of having both ice and liquid water on the surface. (Unless we're talking about subsurface oceans, but that's clearly not what Akurian was going for. Edited by Flisch, May 7 2018, 10:25 AM.
|
| We have a discord. If you want to join, simply message me, Icthyander or Sphenodon. | |
![]() |
|
| Talenkauen | May 7 2018, 11:38 AM Post #522 |
|
Perpetually paranoid iguanodont
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Is there any way of theorizing what an ancestral basal xenarthran would look like? Furthermore, why do so many bird and mammal groups only seem to appear after the KT entinction, when they should realistically be far older? Edited by Talenkauen, May 7 2018, 11:41 AM.
|
|
PLEASE NOTE: If I come off as harsh or demanding whilst talking to you, please tell me. I apologize in advance..... UPCOMING PROJECTS: Projects here
| |
![]() |
|
| Akurian452 | May 7 2018, 11:43 AM Post #523 |
|
Adult
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
I was going for a world that's possibly tidally locked as that may be the case for the Trappist-1 worlds. Apparently recent research suggests that the innermost worlds (b & c) may have less than 15% water mass and the outermost worlds (f & g) over 50% compared to Earth only having 0.02 percent (they didn't say what percentage d & e could have). I was hypothesizing that if there was no dry land on any of these worlds that some organisms could adapt to (temporarily) live on the ice like some animals in Antarctica do. I actually just thought of another question. If water worlds are tidally locked would a large portion of their water mass be frozen on the night side thus exposing some dry land? |
![]() |
|
| Flisch | May 7 2018, 04:06 PM Post #524 |
|
Superhuman
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Molecular studies suggest that xenarthrans split from wherever they came from around 100 million years ago during the cretaceous. The first anteaters were found 55 million years ago, armadillos 45 mya and sloths 20 mya. Considering there's (allegedly) a gap of ~50 million years between the shared ancestor and when anteaters and armadillos had already split, it's hard to say. Personally I entertain the idea that the shared ancestor was arboreal or semi-arboreal and an insectivore/omnivore. I'm thinking of a coati. That to me sounds like the most sensible thing to assume.
I assume this has something to do with the fact that mammals at least tended to be relatively small compared to the sizes they frequently reached after the KT. Sure there were sheep-sized mammals during the cretaceous as well, but they weren't nearly as common as afterwards. Remember that most fossils of cenocoic mammals we find are either teeth, because the skeletons are too fragile and don't fossilize or of bigger animals. OR we get lucky and find something like messel pit which conserves even bats. But that is relatively rare. Still, messel pit is probably skewing our perception of the fossil record. Take that away and we'd find as many "small" animals of the cenocoic as of the mesozoic. To be fair, I'm not that knowledgeable about how complete our fossil record of the cenocoic is compared to the cretaceous, so take what I just said with a grain of salt.
I think this largely depends on the depth of the water. (Or rather the percentage of the planet mass being water) Say, you had an europa-like planet, with like 25% water mass, then the heat distribution would be too efficient to elt ice form on the cold side. The cold water would sink down and the warm water would well up, causing an enormous vertical gyre between the day and the night side. On planets with less water and oceans about as deep as earth, I could see ice actually forming as water wouldn't be able to flow as freely. But even then I remain sceptical. Still, I'm not that knowledgeable about thermodynamics in such detail, so I'm not sure. |
| We have a discord. If you want to join, simply message me, Icthyander or Sphenodon. | |
![]() |
|
| beingsneaky | May 7 2018, 04:18 PM Post #525 |
|
Adolescent
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
hey uh can anyone give me the link to the spec evolution discord server because i have heard about it but i can't seem to find it |
|
user quotes: "pee is stored in the balls" - Ebervalius "Young ciliaurrg grow on the rear of the parent and look like small slurrg." - ZoologicalBotanist active projects: R.T.K.L(Rotifer Tardigrade Kinorhyncha Loriciferans) | |
![]() |
|
| 2 users reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
Members: Icthyander
|
|
| Go to Next Page | |
| « Previous Topic · General Spec · Next Topic » |


















7:46 PM Jul 10