Do we have animals and plants left over from earth?

[Zakalwe]

Here's a problem I've encountered while cooking: the components.

We do not have any direct relics from Earth, we do not have any information about earth etc, but do we have animals and plants left over from earth?

Are there Herring in the lakes of Yamatai? Sea Bass on Nepleslia? Cows and sheep grazing the fields etc?

This is confusing me no end, and I think some stand needs to be taken on it.

 

[Tyler]

Because it's easier than trying to go through and create all new flora and fauna my british friend.

 

[DocTomoe]

Hmm, it could be explained in many methods...

there could be equivalents of Earth animal life that came to be on other planets, and they were given familar names by the colonists.

Colonists could have brought animal life to new worlds as a means of introducing a human friendly food supply, much like the spanish and wild hogs.

Another explaination is that the animals could have been introduced in a terraforming project, and simply cloned on the spot and introduced into the enviroment.

Or, its just a matter of being lazy.

 

[Cora]

I vote for the last option.

 

[Wes]

For simplicity purposes, let's assume Yamatai has a lot of Earth animals hanging around and puts them on most suitable planets it colonizes. It's fine to make up something new, though (but get it approved in the contributions forum first ^_^ ),

 

[Zakalwe]

Oh this is going to be fun! Creative lease for the creation of new animals for some of the planets! Indigenous species that have yet to be detailed! Fine new cuisine!

I'm certainly going to make some. Starting with Yamatai ... watch the contribution board people.

 

[Rei]

We demand little salamanders that taste like spicy cheese dip. No really though, this is a great way to expand the lexicon of unique Yamatai flora and fauna~ I might toss a few things too.

 

[Vesper]

This certainly does sound most interesting, but those of you planning new fauna, please think through what you are going to make. Don't just smack 6 legs onto a cow like creature, tweak its looks and call it good. Consider why the creature developed the way it did, why its changes gave it a advantage over its competitors. In the above example there isn't a real reason for a large herbivore to have 6 legs, it would hinder it (Nature has weeded out six-legged creatures that are not very small [such as insects] over several hundred million years, as the 2 extra legs cause a drain in terms of both resources and energy on the creature far beyond any advantages they may provide [which would be minimal, btw]).

Also keep in mind that many of the really crazy things are not likely to be natural products of evolution, especially on the worlds being colonized. Evolution only cares if something work, not if it is the best at what it does (for example, tropical plants use a different leaf structure so they do not loose too much moisture in the hot regions. More temperate plants never developed this, despite it being much better, since it was not needed for survival). The only places the crazy, ultra lethal shit you see in sci-fi (the creatures from Aliens, etc.) is likely to develop are on hellish worlds where every creature must be extremely good at either killing its prey or preventing itself from becoming prey to survive. Given the apparent number and habitability of planets within the SARPs region of space it seems extremely unlikely these sorts of planets would receive much attention, beyond botany and zoology.

Lastly, consider how the introduction of non-native creatures would effect your new creation. Keep in mind that many of the creatures brought by the colonists where probably chosen specifically for the heartiness and adaptability, most likely further augmented by genetic or cybernetic modifications. This means that the new creatures being introduced where selected because they where amongst the best at what they did on Earth, which does not bode well for the native flora and fauna.

 

[Cannonball]

Actually, I can see the colonists brining every living plant and animal they could think of into space. Not necessarily in stasis because that would just require too much work, but possibly in a genetic database with enough information to start a healthy population. Something like this would happen - not because it was particularly needed for survival - but because the colonists wanted it.

Afterall, you can get homesick by moving to the next nearest town and at least the sky, grass, trees, and squirrels will be the same. Move to a different planet and nearly everything you've ever know gets chucked into space. For example, I can see cherry trees in the imperial palace for no other reason than it's a japanese themed imperial palace and they happen to like cherry trees because in the end we don't want to live on a new planet - we want to live on the same planet but better - and this behaviour has been demonstrated time and again by historical explorers who've just moved country and I don't see setting off into space as any different.

 

[Vesper]

I don't doubt they would have a large number of creature samples, but in this situation I am sure the engineers, xeno-, and earth biologists would have the final say in what would be carried, what would be deposited in the environment and at what time.

Those that decided to join the colony mission (or if they had no other choice; asteroid strike, nuclear war, etc.; since I am not sure on the early history of SARP) would have been conditioned for such "homesicknessâ€

 

[Ametheliana]

Reminds myself to go to the pets page and add all of the Iromakuanhe fauna, many of which is edible.