The (not really) Official Endgame Summon Thread!

[Lingchih]

MaxWilson said:
I think if you had said "heterotroph" instead of "animal" you would not have gotten the "Hunh??!!" reaction. Rather you would have gotten, "Well, duh."

"Animal" is pretty well-defined as belonging to the kingdom animalia, which excludes bacteria, for instance. If there were fungi which were genetically closer to humans than some animals, even very simple ones, it would mean there was probably something very strange going on with transgenic migration. That would be interesting, but apparently it's not what you meant.

-Max

Well, I haven't really been following this post for a while, but yes, there are fungi which are closer genetically to animals than plants, in the same way that corals, although appearing plantlike, are actually animals.

I'm an experienced, although technically amateur, Mycologist. I can look up the scientific papers on this, if you like, though I would rather spend my time playing Dominions.

[llamabeast]

I think HB's claim that we weren't sure about wasn't that some fungi are closer to animals than plants are, but rather that there are some fungi that are closer to humans than some animals are. I'm fairly sure that, using conventional definitions, this falls into the classification of "non-true".

[TheMenacer]

This is getting pretty far off topic folks, biology's pretty cool but until the developers integrate genetics, I doubt any of this is going to come up in Dominions 3.

[JimMorrison]

TheMenacer said:
This is getting pretty far off topic folks, biology's pretty cool but until the developers integrate genetics, I doubt any of this is going to come up in Dominions 3.

Dammit, don't burst my bubble!? Anyone remember Sim Life? I want a Sim Pretender who -sometimes- does what I want, as I guide his efforts to develop powerful magic and breed his race of super mutants out of Hoburgs.

Forget the summons, whatcha gonna do when the HOBURGS come for you???

[MaxWilson]

Point and laugh.

-Max

[HoneyBadger]

Actually, that was Lingchih's claim. I'm not the one that started this whole mess but I have heard-and generally accept-that certain species of plants aren't all that removed from animals. I could also accept that fungi are even closer to animals than other types of plants, because they have some animal-like qualities-for instance not requiring sunlight as their direct and primary source of fuel. That would therefore suggest-should it all be biologically correct-that yes, some fungi *are* closer to humans than other plants, and allow the possibility of some animals-having split off before plants, or what have you, to be further removed from humans than other animals.

The horseshoe crab, I would think, would make a likely candidate. Someone ought to do something with horseshoe crabs for Dominions-they really are quite strange creatures. Trichordates might be fun too.

[Wrana]

About a trichordates I can agree. As well as for many other creatures... Unfortunately, currently there are no biologists among developers of the game in question...
About animal and plants I can only add to what Llamabeast said that there are some groups which could be named both plants and animals - these are monocellular green algae/ Flagellata. Of these, some species carry chloroplasts and are autotrophic, while others aren't. This can change even before our eyes. On the other hand, Fungi are quite removed from both plants & animals (using, of course, classic definitions), though less so than bacteria. It IS possible that plants appeared before fungi, but it's also possible that fungi group was removed from plant-animal line before the latter split.
Considering appearance of autotrophy the most accepted currently point of view is that the first living beings were heterotropic and used for food organic substances which were accidentially synthetized in conditions of ancient Earth. Later some procariots "learned" to make their own organic substances: some of them used chemical energy, but others used an energy of solar light - which in some cases have given an output of oxygen that's toxic for most anaerobic bacteria. Later some of them learned to not only survive, but thrive in oxygen-rich conditions, using oxygen for more full destruction of components of their food, giving in turn more energy. And still later some lifeforms began to "cooperate" with others, including smaller organisms in their cells as symbionts - such as chloroplasts contained in many cells of modern plants (this is the most accepted currently point of view). Of course, this is very telegraph-style...