Xenobiology is the study of non-Terragen life. This field includes the study of exotic and extremely non-terragen biospheres such as those that gave rise to the Muuh or the Soft Ones, and completely inorganic naturally evolved forms such as the Rheolithoids, as well as the descendants of xenobiological forms known to be partially or entirely of artificial origin, such as the life forms produced by the Halogenics, or the various Cybyotan worlds. Even the evolved mechosphere at Stanislaw has received attention from xenobiologists. Though only a few worlds rival the wealth of life forms present on Old Earth before the Great Dying, a single biosphere is still an entire field in itself from the point of view of ordinary sophonts, though comparative xenobiology is a rich field as well.
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.
Barkbat - Text by Todd Drashner A large predator, the barkbat clings to the trunks of the skywracks and uses its wings in a gliding flight to hunt other creatures that live in the canopy.
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.
Chlorine Worlds - Text by Stephen Inniss Chlorine worlds are like typical Eugaian worlds, with one important difference: the planet has an unusually high proportion of chlorine, and the process of photosynthesis releases free chlorine in significant quantities.
Conchsquid - Text by Steve Bowers An apparently naturally evolved species of space-dwelling lifeform, confined to a single gas giant's ring system.
Cookie Fiend - Text by John B A subsophont predatory lifeform native to the planet Elmo resembling a giant chocolate chip cookie with legs.
Cosmoamoeba, Giant Space Amoeba - Text by M. Alan Kazlev and Oliver Cosmoamoeba gigas lagoonensis, one of the curious phenomena discovered in the Lagoon Nebula (and later in the Trifid Nebula) are a population of amorphous blobs that vary in size from 500 meters when contracted to several tens of kilometers when extended.
Cybyota - Text by Steve Bowers Mechanical/biological world-seeding and terraforming agents of non-Terragen origin that have apparently evolved into independent life forms since their origin.
Deepwood - Text by Todd Drashner Deep space orwood species of probable alien origin.
Duxed - Text by Everything4404 Garden World, a moon with an extreme tidal range.
Eden Institute of Xenoscience - Text by M. Alan Kazlev A successful, respected, highly formalized and highly conservative Institute and academocracy, located at Niu Mynti. The Institute specializes in xenobiology, xenology, xenopsychology, xenodiplomacy and xenolinguistics, although it also covers many related disciplines. It collects information from all known alien biospheres and cultures, sending out expeditions to study new alien species and acting as consultants on all forms of Terragen-alien interactions.
Elmo - Text by Steve Bowers Garden World in Monoceros, 1071 ly from Sol.
Exobiology - Text by M. Alan Kazlev Also Xenobiology, Astrobiology. During the Atomic, Information and Interplanetary periods this was the speculative study of biology, biochemistry, and life forms on worlds other than Earth (at that time no non-Terragen life was known through direct contact). The termed was coined by atomic age scientist Carl Sagan. It is now very rarely used.
Exotic Biochemistry, Alien - Text by Anders Sandberg Although Non-Terragen biochemistries are rarer than terrestrial ecologies, they are not uncommon. Cold ammonia or methane ecologies are rarer, while chlorine, neutron star, free space or plasma ecologies are very rare.
Extremophile - Text by M. Alan Kazlev A rather chauvinistic term for any biological organism, whether terragen or xenobiont, natural or tweaked, that requires extreme (non-Earthlike) environments for growth or metabolism.
Felis Minoris II - Text by M. Alan Kazlev A cold planet altered by the unnamed species HIE236PPE (an extinct xenosophont race) so that it supports an ecology of cold-adapted lifeforms. These lifeforms share a common ancestry with those found on 13 other worlds.
Grabgrass - Text by Todd Drashner, Ryan B, and Mark Ryherd Carnivorous plant-form native to most of the temperate and sub-tropical regions of Ridgewell.
Hamilton Institute of Exopaleontology - Text by Aaron Hamilton, M. Alan Kazlev, John M. Dollan One of the great scientific Houses of the Integration, the Institute was founded on the new University planet of Upali C/D II during the golden age of the 6th millennium, when relativistic exploration ships were increasingly encountering ancient and enigmatic ruins and relict tech of lost civilizations.
Hellswarm - Text by Todd Drashner A creature that combines all the less pleasant traits or aspects of terragen Africanized 'killer' bees, army ants, and locusts. On its homeworld, a hellswarm can strip a region of life as effectively as a major forest fire. The only defense is to either run away or burrow deep underground. Fortunately, the swarm is a short lived phenomenon, living only long enough to swarm, feed, breed, lay eggs in the soil, and die. The entire life cycle of the creature is only about 3 Terran days. The eggs may lie dormant in the ground for many years until environmental conditions (usually a warm, wet summer) triggers a mass hatching and a new hellswarm.
Jovibiota - Text by M. Alan Kazlev Generic term for large aerial xenobiota (sometimes called "gasbags") that have evolved on a number of Jovian Class worlds. Although vaguely similar in form, genetic and biochemical analysis reveals that nearly all evolved independently, hence the Jovibiotic set of morphotypes is an attractor that has appeared a number of times on different worlds.
Khowagong - Text by M. Alan Kazlev Large aquatic animals not unlike a Terragen sea slug crossed with a dugong, native to the Pelagic planet Tamarinde (Phoebus Prefecture, Solar Dominion).
Life-zone - Text by M. Alan Kazlev The region around a star within which a planet can have a temperature allowing liquid water on the surface. Also known as bio-zone.
Palaeoxenology - Text by M. Alan Kazlev The study of ancient or extinct non-Terragen sentient life.
Papercutters - Text by Banelord, Salty, TSSL, Martine, Worldtree, Schwefel Kamm, & DocViviLeandra Tiny organisms which cut vegetative matter to feed the symbiotic "molds" they cultivate. Papercutters live in communities of hundreds to thousands of individuals. Since their discovery on the garden world of Macrystis, they and numerous variants have been spread across the Terragen Sphere to millions of worlds and orbitals.
Puffer Patch - Text by Todd Drashner A small predator native to Ridgewell, that spends most of its life in a sessile state, but is capable of using metamorphosis to change to a mobile form when environmental conditions require it.
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.
Ran (Epsilon Eridani) - Text by Updated by The Astronomer 2021 Inner Sphere system; the birthplace of the Eridanus League, Terragens' first known interstellar polity.
Rollerox - Text by Todd Drashner Plains dwelling, herbivorous creature indigenous to Nui Spiridonia. of their world, using their sonar to navigate.
Ruach Singers - Text by Anders Sandberg Tube-like predators from Ruach, able to swim like sea snakes in gas giant atmospheres. They get their name for their extremely powerful sound, which they use for navigation, internal signaling, mating displays and as a sonic weapon. Mirrored Owl hosts.
Ruach Toroids - Text by Anders Sandberg Natural inhabitants of Ruach. Symbiotic autotrophs-heterotrophs shaped like translucent toroids, covered with brightly colored photosynthetic symbionts. They filter nutrients through the central hole, which they can also use as a jet to move away from danger and steer. Mirrored Owl hosts.
Sailfin - Text by Todd Drashner Aquatic crustacean-like lifeform that is a natural sailboat. Native to the planet Trees.
Shona - Text by Radtech497 Outer Volumes moon with an unusual indigenous biosphere orbiting a resonant MesoJovian world
Stiltwalker - Text by M. Alan Kazlev Large tetrapodal terrestrial herbivore indigenous to the savannas of the northern continent of Calinder's World (Lacustric Subtype. Cygexpa middle region, near the Zoeific Biopolity border. Eden Institute Scientific Reserve).
Terralife - Text by John B (credit to Jonathan Burns) Any form of life which developed naturally on Terra (Old Earth). Specifically excludes any mods to the base lifeform.
Thiogen Plant Life - Text by Liam Jones In many of the biospheres of the 158 known Thiogen-colonized worlds, Terragen explorers have categorized two main kingdoms of photosynthesising multicellular life: the ribbon plants and the bubble plants, each of which appear to have evolved multicellularity separately. Both kinds have a dark red photosynthetic pigment characteristic of Thiogen biospheres.
Tho'rahl'shothan - Text by James Rogers A landsponge native to the planet To'ul'h Prime, commonly used as a recreational drug.
Trees (Garden World) - Text by Anders Sandberg A self-sufficient Garden World with a spectacular vertical ecosystem; the planet is named after the gigantic trees that grow there.
Whisper - Text by Todd Drashner Planet covered in a sophont grassland xenoecology, perhaps of artificial origin.
Xenobacter Mirabilis - Text by M. Alan Kazlev Derived bacterium found on Mykropht III - easily gengineered to form symbiotic upregulated DNA repair systems used by soft radnads in the Radiation Nation and elsewhere.
Xenobiochemistry - Text by Stephen Inniss Xenobiochemistry is the study of the comparative biochemistry of Terragen, neogen, and xenobiont organisms. This includes alternatives to water as a solvent, alternative photosynthetic processes (xenophotosynthesis), and many other topics.
Xenobiont - Text by M. Alan Kazlev Generic term for alien (non-terragen) lifeform. May be animal-like, plant-like, protistan, exotic chemistry, or any other possibility. Does not have to be sophont. In fact just as on Earth, very few alien species ever evolve any measure of cognitive intelligence.
Xenobiota - Text by M. Alan Kazlev The totality of non-terragen life on a specific planet or non-terragen ecosystem.
Xenophotosynthesis - Text by Stephen Inniss On Old Earth the dominant photosynthetic organisms split water to release oxygen. This is the most common sort of photosynthesis on inner system gardenworlds. However, water is not the only source, and oxygen is not the only possible result.