Now, considering that the Ancients have been around for a LONG time (at least several million years), it is highly unlikely that they wouldn't have taken some of their native animal lifeforms with them when they went out into space. Also, when they arrived on Earth, there were plenty of animals they could have taken back home for study or as pets. And who knows what kinds of animals and creatures could have evolved on the thousands, possibly even millions of worlds out there all by themselves, or were brought there from Earth several million years ago.
So, basically, I'm asking my fellow biology, paleontology, and botany fans to imagine the flora and fauna that could have evolved all over the galaxies in the Stargate universe. Not just giant, invisible bugs and crystal-creatures. Consider the incredible diversity of life on our own planet: A kind of life that has vanished everywhere else, the marsupials, dominating the ecosystem in Australia. Proto-simians developing into lemurs on Madagascar instead of becoming extinct as monkeys and apes take over in Africa and Asia. The millions of different fish species, from sharks and rays to tangs and clownfish. The hundreds of millions of insect species, from tiny ants to gigantic beetles, from beautiful butterflies to chirping crickets. And all the creepy, disgusting crawlie things lurking in the swamps, caves, and jungle floors of our world.
Now, obviously, I don't expect anyone to type down all the various scientific orders and phylums your animal/plant/fungi/etc. belong to. All I ask is the creature's given name, the basic scientific name (purely optional), the size, and a description of the lifeform. What planet does it live on? What kind of lifeform is it? What does it eat? What kind of environment does it inhabit? Is it a social animal, or solitary, or something else? What unique attributes does it possess that set it apart from similar lifeforms? Where is it on the food chain? Has it been domesticated? (Domesticated can include plants)
And so on. Try to make these lifeforms as serious and realistic as possible, within the bounds of physics and their environment, but still unique and different from Earth lifeforms. And if you're artistically gifted, feel free to draw the living things you create.
I'll provide a template, and the first lifeform:
~ (Name)
~ Scientific name
~ (Planet of origin)
~ (Size)
~ (Description)
****************
~Mafdet lion
~Mafdet mafdet
~ Chulak
~ 14-16 feet long
~ One of the earliest, but less noticeable, proofs that the Gou'ald did not build the Stargates uncovered by the SGC was the Mafdet lion. It is a large carnivore of Chulak's forests that is apparently descended from the Dinofelis genus of sabre-tooth cats, that died out in the early Pleistocene epoch on Earth. The animal has been a large part of Jaffa culture, annual hunts of the Mafdet being organized by local Jaffa leaders for well over five thousand years.
The Mafdet lion is a fierce, powerful predator. The females average 800 pounds when fully mature, and the males can reach 1,000 or more pounds. These big cats are ambush hunters, resembling their long-dead ancestors back on Earth in many respects. But, the different flora and fauna of Chulak made it adapt in a few unusual ways.
Firstly, the Mafdet lions have developed several mobile joints, such as the hips and shoulders. This allows the big cat a lot more agility and flexibility, being able to drag it's belly along the ground and still pounce with fantastic speed. This adaptation lets the Mafdet hide much more easily in the underbrush, letting it squeeze into extremely tight spaces and wait for unsuspecting prey to walk past, before attacking.
Secondly, the Mafdet lion's whiskers have grown into what amounts to moveable antenna, some over three feet long. Native Jaffa have allowed the SGC biologists the opportunity to dissect a few specimens, revealing that the whiskers are connected to a network of small muscle tendons and nerve clusters, turning them into extremely sensitive and mobile "sensor arrays". Like the feelers on an insect's head, the Mafdet's whiskers can be run all over an object, granting significant sensory information to the big cat. They also serve to enhance it's sense of hearing and touch, like a normal cat's whiskers.
The Mafdet lions hunt alone, but live in loose groups, sometimes mates together, but other times siblings, related females, and even unrelated males. This may be due to the Mafdet lion's unusual birth cycle. One female apparently can bear the children of several males, all at the same time. Her eggs, once fertilized with a specific genetic code of a specific male, can apparently "shut out" more sperm with that same signature. Ergo, every male that mates with a female gets at least one offspring. This keeps the animals from fighting amongst themselves, and also allows for a much more diverse gene pool. Possibly, this adaptation was a measure against diseases wiping out the entire species, but more research is required.
The Gou'ald did not do a great deal of hunting of the Mafdet lion. Apparently, the big cats had developed an instinctive fear of them and Jaffa, and as such were able to live and breed in relative peace. One theory is that they could sense the prescence of the symbiotes the Gou'ald and the Jaffa carried, and potentially to avoid becoming hosts (as they were big enough for it) they passed down an instinctive warning to future generations. ANother theory is that they simply do not like naquada, as they have fled from normal humans who were carrying the element at the time.
So, basically, I'm asking my fellow biology, paleontology, and botany fans to imagine the flora and fauna that could have evolved all over the galaxies in the Stargate universe. Not just giant, invisible bugs and crystal-creatures. Consider the incredible diversity of life on our own planet: A kind of life that has vanished everywhere else, the marsupials, dominating the ecosystem in Australia. Proto-simians developing into lemurs on Madagascar instead of becoming extinct as monkeys and apes take over in Africa and Asia. The millions of different fish species, from sharks and rays to tangs and clownfish. The hundreds of millions of insect species, from tiny ants to gigantic beetles, from beautiful butterflies to chirping crickets. And all the creepy, disgusting crawlie things lurking in the swamps, caves, and jungle floors of our world.
Now, obviously, I don't expect anyone to type down all the various scientific orders and phylums your animal/plant/fungi/etc. belong to. All I ask is the creature's given name, the basic scientific name (purely optional), the size, and a description of the lifeform. What planet does it live on? What kind of lifeform is it? What does it eat? What kind of environment does it inhabit? Is it a social animal, or solitary, or something else? What unique attributes does it possess that set it apart from similar lifeforms? Where is it on the food chain? Has it been domesticated? (Domesticated can include plants)
And so on. Try to make these lifeforms as serious and realistic as possible, within the bounds of physics and their environment, but still unique and different from Earth lifeforms. And if you're artistically gifted, feel free to draw the living things you create.
I'll provide a template, and the first lifeform:
~ (Name)
~ Scientific name
~ (Planet of origin)
~ (Size)
~ (Description)
****************
~Mafdet lion
~Mafdet mafdet
~ Chulak
~ 14-16 feet long
~ One of the earliest, but less noticeable, proofs that the Gou'ald did not build the Stargates uncovered by the SGC was the Mafdet lion. It is a large carnivore of Chulak's forests that is apparently descended from the Dinofelis genus of sabre-tooth cats, that died out in the early Pleistocene epoch on Earth. The animal has been a large part of Jaffa culture, annual hunts of the Mafdet being organized by local Jaffa leaders for well over five thousand years.
The Mafdet lion is a fierce, powerful predator. The females average 800 pounds when fully mature, and the males can reach 1,000 or more pounds. These big cats are ambush hunters, resembling their long-dead ancestors back on Earth in many respects. But, the different flora and fauna of Chulak made it adapt in a few unusual ways.
Firstly, the Mafdet lions have developed several mobile joints, such as the hips and shoulders. This allows the big cat a lot more agility and flexibility, being able to drag it's belly along the ground and still pounce with fantastic speed. This adaptation lets the Mafdet hide much more easily in the underbrush, letting it squeeze into extremely tight spaces and wait for unsuspecting prey to walk past, before attacking.
Secondly, the Mafdet lion's whiskers have grown into what amounts to moveable antenna, some over three feet long. Native Jaffa have allowed the SGC biologists the opportunity to dissect a few specimens, revealing that the whiskers are connected to a network of small muscle tendons and nerve clusters, turning them into extremely sensitive and mobile "sensor arrays". Like the feelers on an insect's head, the Mafdet's whiskers can be run all over an object, granting significant sensory information to the big cat. They also serve to enhance it's sense of hearing and touch, like a normal cat's whiskers.
The Mafdet lions hunt alone, but live in loose groups, sometimes mates together, but other times siblings, related females, and even unrelated males. This may be due to the Mafdet lion's unusual birth cycle. One female apparently can bear the children of several males, all at the same time. Her eggs, once fertilized with a specific genetic code of a specific male, can apparently "shut out" more sperm with that same signature. Ergo, every male that mates with a female gets at least one offspring. This keeps the animals from fighting amongst themselves, and also allows for a much more diverse gene pool. Possibly, this adaptation was a measure against diseases wiping out the entire species, but more research is required.
The Gou'ald did not do a great deal of hunting of the Mafdet lion. Apparently, the big cats had developed an instinctive fear of them and Jaffa, and as such were able to live and breed in relative peace. One theory is that they could sense the prescence of the symbiotes the Gou'ald and the Jaffa carried, and potentially to avoid becoming hosts (as they were big enough for it) they passed down an instinctive warning to future generations. ANother theory is that they simply do not like naquada, as they have fled from normal humans who were carrying the element at the time.
Comment