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Zoology

Zoology is the scientific study of Terragen or Terragen-derived animal life, or of xenobiont animal analogues.

Zoology embraces a diverse range of topics, including the ecology, ethology and behaviour, evolution, genetics, life cycles, morphology, physiology, taxonomy, and interrelationships of animals. For the most part zoology deals with naturally evolved species or with descendants of these species modified through gengineering, although Applied Botany and Neogenics may deal with completely artificial organisms.

In addition to thematic subfields there are many specialized fields of study within zoology according to the particular taxon or ecological function or place of origin, including mammals (mammalogy), birds (ornithology), amphibians and reptiles (herpetology), fish (ichthyology), insects (entomology), spiders and mites (arachnology), molluscs (malacology), nematodes (nematology), parasites (parasitology), extinct animals (palaeozoology), neogenic animals (neogenology), and non-terragen animal-like forms (xenozoology).

 
Articles
  • Aerophants  - Text by Todd Drashner
    Elephant-derived species/clade gengineered for life in a free-fall environment.
  • African Grey Parrot  - Text by Kirran Lochhead Strang
    An intelligent, talkative bird originally from rainforests in Western and Central Africa. Successfully provolved during the early Interplanetary Age, it became the first non-mammalian provolve
  • Allosaurus (animal)  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Large (8 to 14 meters; weight 1.5 to 5 tonnes) Old Earth Jurassic carnivorous dinosaur
  • Ammonite  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    A type of formerly extinct marine Terragen cephalopod mollusk, distinguished by an elaborately coiled and chambered shell.
  • Animadvert  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Any of a number of corporate organic life forms, mostly subsapient, which have slogans, logos, and even freebies and consumer liteware incorporated into their genetic structure, and hence expressed in their phenotype and/or secreted or excreted.
  • Animal  - Text by Stephen Inniss
    Strictly speaking, any member of a major group of related Old Earth organisms that are multicellular, eukaryotic, motile at some or all stages of life, and digest their food internally. More broadly, any similar biological organism, Terragen or otherwise, and natural or otherwise.
  • Annelid  - Text by Stephen Inniss
    A phylum of animals from Old Earth, originally with about 17,000 species. Examples are earthworms, ragworms, fanworms, and leeches.
  • Anomalocaris  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Aquatic Cambrian animal of uncertain affinities, the earliest known Terragen predator of its time.
  • Ant  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Common cosmopolitan foraging terragen social insects of the family Formicidae, order Hymenoptera. Some 2,500 baseline terragen species were known on Old Earth.
  • Ape  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev and Stephen Inniss
    Terragen primates that anatomically resemble, and are closely related to, humans.
  • Arachnid  - Text by Stephen Inniss
    A class of Old Earth arthropods. Arachnids include spiders, scorpions, mites, ticks, and whip scorpions.
  • Architeuthis  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    The baseline Architeuthis harveyi (Order Teuthoida, Family Architeuthidae) is the giant squid of Earth. It is the largest post-Mesozoic baseline invertebrate, and inhabits a bathypelagic environment. It has the largest eyes of any Cenozoic animal (only some ichthyosaurs had bigger eyes), reaching up to 25 cm in diameter. Specimens may reach 17.5 meters in length (including the tentacles), and weigh 900 kg or more. It is preyed on by sperm whales. Even more so that other terragen life, there is a lack of information on the current status of Architeuthis on Earth, due to the species deep ocean habitat.
  • Arthropleura  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Huge but harmless uniramous terrestrial terragen arthropod of the Carboniferous period of Old Earth, it favoured moist swampy forests, where it fed on decaying vegetation and leaf litter, and attained a length of 2 meters. Their great size has made them a popular subject for lazurogenic projects.
  • Arthropod  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Any of a very large and diverse phylum of Terragen or Terragen-derived metazoa with segmented bodies, jointed limbs, and exoskeletons made of chitin.
  • Bat  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Order of terragen flying mammals (Chiroptera), include both small nocturnal sonar-flying insect-eating forms, and larger diurnal fruit eaters (fruitbats), and splices and provolves thereof.
  • Bilateral Symmetry  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev and Stephen Inniss
    Any organism or device having symmetry along only a single axis (left and right), in contrast to radial or spherical symmetry.
  • Bird  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Class of feathered, warm-blooded, egg-laying Terragen flying vertebrates (Aves), present in most terrestrial ecosystems. Many species are known for bright markings or musical voices.
  • Blue Whale  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Balaenoptera musculus musculus - the largest animal that lived on Old Earth, the baseline blue whale was, like all the Mysticeti, a gentle plankton feeder that fed on krill and small fish and attained a length of over 30 meters and a weights of around 150,000 kg. They were hunted to extinction by the whaling nations during the Atomic and early Information Age. A wealth of evidence suggests that the species has been lazurogened by GAIA, certainly there must have been baseline blue whales to serve as a template for the provolve species.
  • Bonobo  - Text by Stephen Inniss
    Along with chimpanzees, bonobos were the most closely related of the apes to Homo sapiens. They became extinct in the wild due to poaching and habitat destruction during the early Information Age, but were maintained in breeding colonies and were successfully provolved during the late Information Age.
  • Bovid  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Diverse family of terragen ungulate herbivores that includes buffalo, cattle, antelopes, and other related forms.
  • Brachiosaur  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    A type of giant terragen sauropod dinosaur - originally Jurassic to Middle Cretaceous periods of Old Earth. Average length 18 to 30 meters, average weight 15 to 50 tonnes. Distinguished by their long forelimbs, giraffe-like neck and back, and high dome-like nostrils.
  • Cat, Domestic  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Terragen quadruped mammalian carnivore (family Felidae), domesticated by humans since the time of the ancient Egyptians. A popular pet and companion animal from the industrial age onwards, cats accompanied man into space from the information age onwards. They were also, along with dogs, apes, and dolphins, among the first animals to be augmented, provolved, rianthophiled, and in other ways incorporated into Terragen civilization not just as subsapients but as sophonts.
  • Cephalopod  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    The Cephalopoda, a class of intelligent predatory mollusks with eight or more tentacles and a large well-developed head. All surviving species and several extinct ones have been successful provolved, some several times in parallel by different patrons.
  • Cetacea  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Clade of highly intelligent marine Terragen mammals from Old Earth that includes dolphins, and porpoises and baleen whales.
  • Chimpanzee  - Text by Stephen Inniss
    Chimpanzees are a species of ape originally indigenous to Africa, Old Earth, where they lived in equatorial rainforests. Closely related to humans, and to bonobos.
  • Click Train - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Series of low-frequency clicks produced by some aquatic animals (especially cetaceans), merpeople, and bioborgs during echolocation. This train passes through a sound-focusing organ (usually a fat-filled organ in the head - e.g. the "melon" of the toothed whale). The train of clicks is focused into a beam that bounces off objects and reflects (echoes) back to the receiver.
  • Complete Metamorphosis - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    The complete reorganization of the tissues of an animal during its life cycle from larva to adult, usually involving the addition of legs and wings. For example, the larval stage of butterflies and moths (the caterpillar) metamorphoses into a winged, flying adult.
  • Complex Life Cycle - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    A life cycle that consists of several distinct stages (e.g., larva and adult) (see also complete metamorphosis).
  • Conformer - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    An individual, organism, or virtual, whose physiological, informational, or memetic state (e.g., body temperature, data protocol, belief structure, fashion-statements) are identical to, and varies identically with, that of eir surrounding environment.
  • Copepod - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Tiny shrimp-like crustaceans; some types such as krill are an important food-source for many baleen whales and other marine animals. They are a a major constituent of Terragen zooplankton, and an important source of protein for the whale provolves of Oro Mistral and Pacifica.
  • Coral - Text by M. Alan Kazlev and Stephen Inniss
    Terragen marine metazoan animals, class Anthozoa, phylum Cnidaria. Though some are solitary, a typical coral is a colony of genetically identical polyps, each of which secretes calcium carbonate at its base to create a common skeleton with a characteristic structure. They are often brightly colored when alive, but after death of the polyp the color fades and becomes a bleached white. The best known and most numerous types of corals derive much of their sustenance from symbiotic photosynthetic algae. Because of this these are limited to regions of sunny shallow water and low nutrient flow, where bright light reaches the ocean floor. Such corals are an important element of many phototrophic tropical ocean biospheres.
  • Coral Reef - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Aquatic Terragen community of organisms, wave-resistant biological structure resulting from cementation processes and the skeletal construction of hermatypic corals, calcareous algae, and other calcium carbonate-secreting organisms. Forms a rich habitat for many types of marine organisms. Coral reefs are popular in many large Terragen habitats with a strong aquatic component and tropical or semi-tropical climate. Some coral reefs have been provolved to sapience.
  • Countershading  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev and Stephen Inniss
    Body coloration in aquatic, aerial or microgravity animals in which the top and bottom sides are colored differently, serving to camouflage the animal from multiple perspectives. Generally, the top or lightward portion is much darker than the belly. Also seen in some bots or vehicles.
  • Crab  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev and Stephen Inniss
    Any of a clade of Terragen decapod crustaceans characterized by a short broad flattened cephalothorax and a reduced abdomen that is typically folded underneath it. More broadly, a member of some other decapod group with a similar morphotype. More broadly still, unrelated life forms that also have a crab-like morphotype or even artificial non-biological forms that are crab-like. Baseline crabs are common subjects of provolution projects.
  • Croc, Crocodile - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Baseline crocodiles constitute an order of large tropical terragen semi-aquatic carnivorous reptile. Crocodile splices are common, although not as common as lizard splices. There are a few species crocodilian provolves, but, as with sa-theropod dinosaurs, social engineering is not easy for these large aggressive animals. Most croc provolves live away from the main thoroughfares of civilization, where they form their own subcultures.
  • Crustacean  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    An exceedingly diverse, mostly marine, subphylum of arthropods, distinguished by chewing mandibles and two pairs of antennae. Baseline species range in size from microscopic to the Japanese Spider Crab, with a leg-span of 3 meters. Most terragen biospheres include crustacea of some form or another. Amphipods, barnacles, copepods, isopods (woodlice), and decapods (shrimp, lobsters, crayfish, crabs) are among the many groups of crustaceans.
  • Cymbium - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Genus of large, mostly tropical, Terragen marine snails, family Volutidae (Cymbiola, Melo, etc are similar). See also Cymbium sapiens.
  • Deciduous - Text by M. Alan Kazlev and Stephen Inniss
    The property of losing some body parts (such as leaves, in the case of plants, or horns or antlers in the case of some Terragen ungulates) at the end of a season or when conditions change such that they are a liability. The deciduous habit has evolved independently on a number of natural biospheres and among many different phyla and kingdoms of organisms, indicating it is an adaptive evolutionary attractor.
  • Detritivore - Text by Stephen Inniss; original by Alan M. Kazlev
    A detritus feeder; an animal that ingests the decaying remains, feces, or cast off parts of other organisms. Examples from Old Earth include earthworms, many crabs, dung flies, sea cucumbers, woodlice, and so on. Analogous species are common wherever multicellular animal life has arisen. In some circumstances, such as at the bottom of earth's oceans or the bottom of To'ul'h Prime's atmosphere they are the predominant class of animal.
  • Dinosaur  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Terragen formerly extinct Mesozoic archosaurian reptile. Most of the well-known species have been lazurogened with a greater or lesser faithfulness to paleontological authenticity; some of these have also been provolved. A large number of dinosaurs and other mesozoic species can be found on the surface of the terraformed and mesozoiformed planet Owen.
  • Dragonfly  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Terragen paleopteran carnivorous insect (order Odonata) that hunts on the wing, can hover in mid-air, and feeds on smaller insects, grasping them with their spiny legs.
  • Ecdysis - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Molting or shedding a hard skin or exoskeleton to make way for new one. Old Earth arthropods are well known for this, as do a number of less well known phyla, as do xenobionts of similar morphotype. Terran caterpillars molt four to five times during their development. Limners molt at least 25 times during growth from egg to adult.
  • Echolocation - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Using sound waves as an adjunct or an alternative to vision. On Old Earth, cetaceans and bats are the best known echolocators. A number of blind, poor-sighted, nocturnal, or aquatic species on a number of different worlds have evolved various forms of echolocation. Some neogens are also able to navigate via echolocation, and several tweak clades have been modified in this way. To'ul'hs are the best known example of an echolocating xenosophont.
  • Ectotherm - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Organisms - e.g. animals, neogens, etc - whose internal temperature changes with the environment. They rely upon behavior (e.g. lying in a sunny area) and sometimes bodily structures (heat-regulatory sails, etc) to control their body temperature.
  • Electrogenic Fish  - Text by Stephen Inniss
    Any of several species of Old Earth fish, particularly members of the chondricthyes (sharks and rays) and the teleosts (bony fish), that had an electrical sense, usually for navigation or the detection of prey or predators.
  • Elephant  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Large Terragen mammals, now extensively provolved.
  • Endoskeleton   - Text by M. Alan Kazlev

  • Endotherm - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Organism that generates its own body temperature to maintain a relatively constant internal temperature, which is usually higher than (but may in some xenoecologies be lower than) that of the surroundings. In terragen birds and mammals heat from the bloodstream circulates through the body in order to maintain the animal's temperature. Limners use a similar system but circulate paralymph rather than blood. To'u'ls use a cooling rather than a warming circulation, but again the principle is similar.
  • Ethology  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev, from the original by Robert J. Hall
    Originally the study of animal behavior and psychology, especially in the wild; later came to mean the study of the behaviour of any sentient creature of at least one toposophic node below the level of the observer.
  • Exoskeleton  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    An external skeleton as found in arthropods, or a suit of protective sealed powered armour worn as clothing, or similarly protective modifications or augments of the body.
  • Fish - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    [1] Polyphyletic taxon; aquatic non-tetrapod Terragen vertebrates, usually though not necessarily with paired fins and with scales. An important component of most Terragen aquatic ecosystems. There have been several successful fish provolves, especially since the Age of Consolidation. However most fishes are subsapient sentient animals.
    [2] More generally, alifes, bioships, and xenobiota of fish-like morphotype.
  • Frog - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Monophyletic taxon; small tailless terragen amphibian with long legs adapted for leaping, Order Anura. Important component of a number of terragen wetland and pond-based ecosystems. Distinctive croaking mating call. They start out as gilled, swimming tadpoles, but grow to be air-breathing, hopping adults. There have been a number of successful frog provolves , especially since the early Age of Consolidation. Among the most important frog clades are the Bufos and the Turo-ro Singers. However, most frogs remain today as subsapient sentient animal life forms.
  • Fruit Bat - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Also known as Flying Foxes, these are large bats that eat fruits and flowers. They form an important part of some rainforest ecologies, as many seeds can only germinate after passing through their digestive tract. Affectionate and intelligent mammals, widely found in many Earth-type orbital biospheres, they are popular subjects for provolve . Even so, the majority of fruit bats today are at the subsapient level.
  • Gastropod  - Text by Stephen Inniss
    Any of the members of the class Gastropoda on Old Earth. This group included many thousands of species of marine snails and sea slugs, as well as freshwater snails and limpets, and the terrestrial snails and slugs.
  • Gibbon and Siamang  - Text by Stephen Inniss
    One of 11 species of "lesser apes", all members of the genus Hylobates, sole member of the Hylobatidae; native to Asia, Old Earth, where they lived exclusively in tropical rainforests. The species have been reconstituted by GAIA and others since their extinction in the wild, and some provolve clades dating as far back as the Information Age have gibbon or siamang ancestry.
  • Gigantopithecus  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Genus of extinct ape of southern Asia, existing during the late Miocene, Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs; originally known only from very large fossil jaws and teeth, but believed to be the largest naturally evolved hominoid that ever lived (height up to 3 meters).
  • Gorilla  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev and Stephen Inniss
    Originally the largest (135-240 kg in males; half that in females) species of ape; indigenous to Africa, Old Earth, where they lived on the forest floor of the tropical rainforest.
  • Hominid - Text by M. Alan Kazlev; additions by Stephen Inniss
    An informal term for the most human-like primates, the bipedal apes, as opposed to apes in general. They are similar to other advanced primates in terms of their genetic makeup and are distinguished culturally (most markedly in Homo sapiens) by their more extensive creation of technology, including art and language. They also have certain common physiological traits such as hairlessness, erect posture, and fine manipulation (precision grip). Human baselines were the only surviving members of this group on Old Earth prior to various lazurogenic efforts.
  • Insect  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Terragen invertebrate of the phylum Arthropoda, characterized by six legs, chewing mouth-parts, one pair of antennae, and trachea for breathing.
  • Insectomorph, Insectomorphic - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Having insect-like form; distributed nervous system, exoskeleton, insectoidal or insectbot-like control systems, etc.
  • Invertebrate  - Text by Stephen Inniss
    Generic term of convenience for animals that do not have a vertebral column. The vast majority of Terragen animals, including such important phyla as the arthropods, annelids, nematodes, echinoderms and molluscs are invertebrate.
  • Labyrinthodont  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Any of a diverse subclass of small to large extinct Terragen amphibia, Devonian to Cretaceous period (most common during the Carboniferous and early Permian).
  • Lagomorph  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Order of Terragen small herbivorous running and hopping mammals including rabbits and hares; a part of many terrestrial ecosystems. Several lagomorph species have been provolved; but the most successful forms are the Lepusans, or rabbit-splices.Flera
  • Lepidoptera - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Butterflies and moths, an important order of terragen insects. Includes several prominent provolved species.
  • Leviathan (Animal)  - Text by Todd Drashner
    Very large sea-going animal native to New Poseidon.
  • Mammal  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Warm-blooded, furry (or secondarily hairless) Terragen animals that suckle their young. Together with birds they have been the most successful form of Terragen land vertebrate life during the Cenozoic era, though they had a long prior history in the preceding Mesozoic as well. The clade includes hominids, apes, bats, cats, dogs, dolphins and whales, rodents, ungulates, and many other well known groups. Baseline or gengineered subsophont mammals are particularly easy and popular to provolve because of their often sociable nature, their long nurturing period, and their large brains.
  • Mamster - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Small, short-haired rodent, originally a modified mouse-hamster zoosplice that was a popular pet during the middle Federation period, and since established wild colonies on a number of planets and habitats. Averaging 10 cm in length, these tailless animals are prolific breeders, producing litters of ten to twenty young in as little as 4 weeks under ideal situations. Notorious for their voracious appetites, mamsters can do appreciable damage to warehoused foodstuffs and agriculture on ludd and medium tech worlds and habitats. They are much less of a nuisance in high tech environments. When bioborged or augmented they are also usefully employed on ships as maintenance crew.
  • Marsupial  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Infraclass of terragen mammal indigenous to Australia and South America on Old Earth. In marsupials the young spends much of its development in the mother's pouch. There are a number of splice, rianth, and provolve species, including the Roo, the Siberoo splice and the Marsupial Lion
  • Micromastodon   - Text by John B
    Micromastodons, aka M&M's were a pet/food creature generated for use in cold oxygen-atmosphere environments. They had a distinct similarity to their legendary predecessors from ancient Terra's ice ages. They were heavily furred, with prehensile trunks and columnar legs. Unlike their forebears, they were typically between a half-meter and meter high at the withers and lacked tusks. They had been designed as a high-efficiency ice-plankton feeder, and their wastes had been engineered to be highly beneficial to ice plankton.
  • Mite  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Major terragen arachnid group. Most species are microscopic.
  • Mollusca, Mollusc  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Diverse phylum of soft-bodied Terragen organisms.
  • Monkey  - Text by Stephen Inniss
    A primate, a member of one of two major primate groups that are neither apes nor prosimians.
  • Monster, The - Text by Michael Beck
    Not so much a creature as a piece of somewhat mobile geography, the Monster is the largest animal that can exist. Larger ones have been built, but they're considered less impressive because they have things like organic fusion reactors inside them and AIs that monitor the internal processes. The Monster operates solely on biochemistry and instinct - granted very carefully designed biochemistry and instinct that took over six centuries to fully bioengineer, but still it's a living creature. The Monster is located on Novigti II.
  • Mormyrid  - Text by Stephen Inniss
    Originally, a group of Teleost fishes from the rivers and lakes of Old Earth's Africa, later provolved, gengineered, or reintroduced into various habitats.
  • Nematode, Nematoda  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Major terragen invertebrate phylum. Nematodes are unsegmented pseudocoelomic (false body cavity) round worms with tapering ends. They inhabit virtually all habitats, both free living and parasitic. Usually microscopic, but the largest species may be up to 8 meters in length.
  • Nois  - Text by John B
    A common insectoid pest.
  • Orangutan  - Text by Stephen Inniss
    Orangutans were originally an arboreal species of apes indigenous to Asia, Old Earth, where they lived in the trees of rainforests.
  • Orca  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Large terragen toothed-whale. Intelligent and sociable, orcas were, along with the great apes and the dolphins, among the first animals to be provolved.
  • Physeteridae (Sperm Whales)  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Terragen family of large-headed toothed whales (Suborder Odontoceti), including both baseline and modified species.
  • Plankton  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev and Stephen Inniss
    Organisms that live in in the water column or in a suitable atmosphere and drift or float in that environment, being incapable of swimming against the current or wind. Most garden worlds have planktonic organisms. Where larger or more actively moving organisms are present they depend on plankton for food. Analogues to biological plankton are found in some nanecologies and mechosystems.
  • Pod - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    A social group of baseline whales. Among cetacean provolves (enhanced dolphins, gaian whales, etc.), pod has various meanings, ranging from a small family or social group to a community, a ship's crew, a polity, or (rarely and usually poetically) an entire clade.
  • Pspyder  - Text by Todd Drashner
    Colony life form native to the planet Trees.
  • Pterosaur - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Flying archosaurian reptile, native to the Mesozoic era of Old Earth. A number of actual and neogenous species have been lazurogened. The so-called "Pteranodon People" are actually pterosaur-human neogens, rather than true lazurogenic pterosaurs.
  • Radial Symmetry  - Text by Stephen Inniss
    Symmetry around a central axis; organisms with radial symmetry have a dorsal and ventral surface but are roughly similar on every side, though they may show fourfold, fivefold, sixfold, or eightfold symmetry.
  • Rat - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Any of several species of adaptable, intelligent terragen rodent. All through history rats have proved adaptable and were one of the few types of animals to thrive with the ascendence of baseline hu. Easily kept and bred, they are popular with geneers and spacers, and it is estimated that several million species have been created, hybridized, or have evolved naturally, in the period since mindkind first ventured into space. Rat splices, rat tweaks, and ratborgs have proved their worth on ships, especially relativistic and pioneer vessels, many time, and often develop into unique and indigenous ecosystems. Rat provolves are also common, although not as common as cat or dog provolves.
  • Relanimal - Text by Jorge Ditchkenberg
    A relifed animal.
  • Relifing  - Text by Jorge Ditchkenberg
    Any being or device in the "real world" (RL) that has been created or designed by virtuals.
  • Rodent  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Order of usually small Terragen gnawing mammals, mostly herbivorous, distinguished by enlarged front incisors and a lack of canine teeth.
  • Sabre-Tooth Cat  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Any large extinct terragen feline of the sub-family Machairodontinae.
  • Saqmiya Lice - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    So named after the region where the first outbreak occurred (Saqmiya-5 hab, STC volume). Hypermutational body lice with symbiotic bionano. They tend to prefer moist body surfaces.
  • Sauropod  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Successful dinosaurian herbivore group native to the Mesozoic Era of Old Earth. Distinguished by a uniform trend to gigantism (up to 80 tonnes in several species - the maximum for terrestrial earth-normal gravity physiology), elephantine quadrupedal posture, huge necks and long tails, and tiny head.
  • Space Spiders  - Text by Steve Bowers
    Vacuum and zero gee adapted, sentient or semisentient spidersplices, from micro-scale to giant; usually capable of producing buckyfibre silk. Contribute to many megascale building projects, sometimes controlled directly by transcended postspiders.
  • Ungulate - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    General term for terragen hoofed, herbivorous, placental mammals. The hoof is made of the protein keratin. Representative baseline ungulates include horses, sheep, pigs, deer, camels, bovids, and many other species. Many ungulate species have been provolved, others have been raised to presophonce, or geneered or adapted in various ways.
  • Vertebrate  - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Phylum Chordata, Subphylum Vertebrata. Terragen animals that have a backbone, and usually an endoskeleton.
  • Volutidae - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Family of mostly tropical or subtropical Terragen marine snails often characterized by graceful peach coloured shells with striped or mottled or zigzag markings. The animal is the same colour of the shell, and feeds on small invertebrates living in the sand or mud. A number of species were provolved by the Malacologists of New Duibbiyat. See also Cymbium, Cymbium sapiens.
  • Worm - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Generic term for any morphologically unspecialized, limbless, elongate animal (usually invertebrate), whether terragen or xenobiont. A very common animal morphotype.
  • Zinfal  - Text by John B
    A moderate-sized (~50 kg) subsophont with no aggressive tendencies. Their primary claim to fame is their extremely potent and broad-applicability hallucinogenic and opiate-like perspirations. Most Terragen biont beings, sophont or subsophont, coming into physical contact with Zinfal tend to become massively addicted in very short periods of time. Many small clades have 'gained' one or more Zinfal and rapidly converted their economy to the production and protection of their herd.
  • Zooplankton - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
    Animals that float passively in the water as part of the plankton. Zooplankton feed on other plankton (phytoplankton, bacterioplankton or other zooplankton) and are in turn food for larger aquatic organisms. An important part of the aquatic ecology of any terragen and terragen-type ecosystem.
 
Development Notes
Text by M. Alan Kazlev and Stephen Inniss
from the original write-up by Robert J. Hall
Initially published on 15 December 2001.