Alien, I mean really Alien.

[Parasite]

Originally posted by Randallw:
What sort of real Aliens are there in Fiction. ... What I want to read of is real Aliens.

Please try Jack L. Chalker's "Well of Souls" books. There is a planet sectioned off. Each section has it's own race of aliens. They are alien and act alien. He was my favorite author for a long time because of the alien viewpoints he creates.

JLC's web page

[ March 25, 2004, 15:57: Message edited by: Parasite ]

[Loser]

The platypus sits well as a mammal, as it has mammaries. It's not a 'placental' mammal, it is instead a 'monotreme', and is only one of three known species of monotremes.

hmm... shouldn't talk science without a spellcheck, but I will anyway.

[Baron Munchausen]

Originally posted by dogscoff:

quote:

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Animal, Plant, or Fungi

I'm pretty sure there are a number of microscopic squidgies that fit into none of the above, kind of the way a duck billed platypus doesn't sit happily as either mammal, bird or reptile. I think amoebas and protozoa are somewhere between fungus and animal, for instance. Bacteria and virii might be others. It's a long time since i had to know these things...

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They are constantly tinkering with the system, but currently (I think) there are five 'kingdoms'.

Animals, Plants, Fungi, Prokaryotes, and Protists

Yes, the Last two are microscopic organisms only.

[Fyron]

Actually... I think the consensus amongst the biological community is that there are at least 7 kingdoms now, one of which is halobacterium. The stuff that lives in moisture on top of really high salt content salt flats and such.

[Baron Munchausen]

Originally posted by Loser:
The platypus sits well as a mammal, as it has mammaries. It's not a 'placental' mammal, it is instead a 'monotreme', and is only one of three known species of monotremes.

hmm... shouldn't talk science without a spellcheck, but I will anyway.

I thought it was only two known species of monotremes? The platypus and the echidna are the only known survivors of this primitive class of mammals. Are there multiple species of either? I thought each was unique? Barring some 'great discovery' in a hidden pocket of Australian wilderness, all other monotremes are apparently extinct.

And the platypus does not have mammaries, which is one of the characteristics that makes it a monotreme. It simply 'sweats' milk out on its belly and the baby laps it up. The distinct mammary gland comes later with 'true' mammals.

[Baron Munchausen]

Originally posted by Randallw:

quote:

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Originally posted by PvK:


Aliens from another evolutionary history might think in extremely different ways.

PvK

I may be getting OT, but I started this thread so I get to bring up new stuff.
Does anyone know of the dicovery where fossils from a billion years were found. Now we are one "form" in so far as we have a Skeletal system AND a backbone AND symetry (2 arms, 2 legs, 1 on each side). I am no expert so I will say in my example there are 5 forms of animal still living, we mammals and 4 others (such as worms, with no backbone or skeleton etc). Anyway in the example I mentioned there were 20 "forms" of animal found. Thats the 5 current ones, and 15 "types" that are extinct. basically 1 billion years ago there were 20 possible templates for the creatures that would occupy the earth but 15 got covered with a landslide and only the other 5 survived (I am simplifying this a lot, and my numbers might be wrong, but I am trying to point out something). So what if instead of the 5 that survived, 5 others survived. The earth might be populated by animals with no backbone and 3 legs and a head with an extendable mouth.

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You need to get the details and 'unsimplify' so we can figure out what is being said. I gather that some very old fossils showed variant types of animals but the details would be important. Were some of them NOT symmetrical?

[PvK]

Randallw, have you seen some of the ocean-bottom life forms that have been discovered fairly recently using submersibles? (The Blue Planet series has a spectacular episode on them, for example.) Lots of ancient and bizarre stuff there.

PvK