Races, Clades, and Species
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Races, Clades, and Species |
Terragen civilization derives ultimately from a single species of hominid, Homo sapiens, remained after its ancestors had eliminated its erectus and neanderthalensis competitors (whether directly or simply through ecological competition is still disputed) to emerge supreme during the late Pleistocene epoch. With the ameliorating of the climate and the development of agricultural communities came urbanization, division of labour, and finally (first in Mesopotamia) civilization. Over the next six thousand years of rampant development the planetary gene-pool was greatly and tragically reduced, until the birth of ecological politics in the early to middle Information Age.
By the middle of the 2nd century AT, the biotech and nanotech driven evolutionary radiation of the human species was well underway. Just as during the the Cambrian explosion of Earth 540 million years ago a single worm became the ancestor of all major groups (phyla) of animal life in sudden dramatic evolutionary radiation, so, propelled by DIY geneering, bionics, cyborgisation, software evolution, and deliberate planned adaptation, the same thing happened to humanity and to humanity's "mind children" the simms, constructs, bots, vecs, and AIs. Non-sophont organic life did not escape either - some species were geneered into new forms, crossed with human genomes, and a few enhanced, augmented and provolved into human-grade intelligence.
As early as the 3rd and 4th century AT unfolded the four basic divisions of hominid, animal, cyborg, and ai produced further ramifications, a process known as cladization. In addition to convergence and blurring of boundaries the opposite process occurred.
These two tendencies - cladization on the one hand, and hybridization on the other, gave rise within a few short centuries to an astonishing diversity of humanoid types. And unfortunately, to a rise in racist and extremist militant factions among the baseline normals, and equally nasty reactions among the other groups.
By the middle Interplanetary age the Sol System was dotted with biospheres, many of which contained landforms already cladising into new species. Many of these were to be tragically lost during the dark ages of rampant nanoswarms, but many others were to survive, flourish, and spread throughout the universe. By the middle First Federation period sentient life alone had already claded into innumerable forms, a process that continues until the present time with no sign of abating.
As civilization expanded throughout the solar system, and eventually the universe, the organics, virtuals, vecs and AIs came to spread throughout the galaxy. Isolated in ships hurtling through space at relativistic velocities, or on asteroids or biospheres or planets in the Solar System and other star systems, and with evolution accelerated to hundred thousand-fold through gengineering, bionics, and bionanotech, they underwent tremendous cladization. Each little colony and ship and population and virtuality becoming essentially a distinct species. By the time the Second Federation was established there were already well in excess of two hundred thousand species of hominid races, and many others who were no longer even the slightest bit humanoid!
The following are links to individual clades:
Acties - Ray-Finned Fish Provolves
Adumbrans - intelligent utility fog species which specialises in weather control
Affines - Sentient virus affecting transapient behaviour
The Alchemists - enigmatic bioborg clade, today found in only a few scattered habitats, but around whom a web of myths and tales has grown, reinforced by their peculiar, often bizarre appearance and manners.
Alseid - the first successful sophont plant provolves
Amphisapiens - semiaquatic human-derived clade
Anakim - common type of tweak that is adapted for higher than earth-normal gravity. There are many variants but all are similar in appearance and capabilities. They were originally designed to settle mineral-rich worlds with unusually deep atmospheres
Anttechians - a form of ant that is sophont, not at the level of individual ants, but at the level of their nest as a whole.
Aroostai - Avianoid provolve species based on the Terran ostrich
Asimos / Asimovecs are sophont server vecs whose only duty is to serve others, provided that they are taken care of.
Astomi - among the more unusual bioborg clades, they stand as a dual example of the creativity of genetic engineers and the danger of overspecialization.
Backgrounders - cryocyborg hider clade/phyle
Baselines - the original species of humanity, now very rare.
Bitenic Squid - squid provolve clade that give cephalopods a bad reputation
Brain Kelp - seaweed with intelligence
Carnivorettes A
virch clade descended from net spying software who inhabit data and
grammar spaces, perceiving desired search items and the links between
them.
Chimp and Bonobo Provolves - chimp and bonobo races raised to sophonce, and sometimes beyond
Computer Elves - Computer viruses torturing those spending too much time in virches or the Net; late information age to present.
Clade Cromag, aka Clade Neander - pseudolazurogenic prim clade created by the vec Dimimimon4 in the mid 5th millennium AT.
Clade Cyborn - fundamentally an organic brain tissue meat matrix cultured on an inorganic scaffolding. The brain tissue is heavily genemodded for optimal performance, rendering its original genotype irrelevant. The inorganic scaffolding is almost always modular, to accommodate subsequent expansion
Cymbium sapiens - provolved mollusc clade
Clade Darwin - transapient biotech clade
Cryovecs -Cold temperature vec phyle
Denathi Adepts - a
human Superior
clade that has powers based on highly developed personal utility fog.
Dotties - Gerontomorphic beamrider / Deeper clade that originated on Yang during the nanoswarm dark age
Dungg- non-sophont gengineered pet, created from highly modified dog DNA
Echir-{n} - Alife civilization in the Feinstein 1 cluster
Clade Eja - a clade of provolved bonobos
Enhanced Dolphins - large and important dolphin provolve clade
Environmental Vecs - intelligent robots who maintain habitat and planetary environments
Envomes - A form of sophont ecosystem, which has been provolved into a single sophont entity
Erotogini - life forms designed for one one thing - to give maximum pleasure
Europans - neogen
aquatic race from Europa
Clade Faber - vec clade found most frequently near the periphery of the Terragen sphere, where they are first-in colonization specialists
Clade Fedhed - Pseudo-historical nearbaseline biont clade created by the vec Dimimimon4 in the mid 5th millennium AT.
Fullminders - human clade modified to have both male and female mental characteristics in each individual
Five Morph - martial arts / warrior clade based around five morphotypes
Fouriers - A clade whose vision includes a Fourier transform analysis of everything they see.
Fractaroni Spaghetti Worms - transapient clade
The Fran - splice-tweak clade
Freegems - Former Diamond Belt sophont starship clade
Gaian Whales - whales provolved by the caretaker god GAIA
Genen - bioaugmented traditionalist superclade and House
Genetekkers - early su-tweak clade that dominated much of the interplanetary age
Ghasts - diplomatic clade of vec robots designed to have an uncanny appearance
Clade Gikk - Pseudo-archaic neb (nearbaseline) clade with sacrementalised quirks and flaws, created by Dimimimon4 around the 4600s
Goliaths - large-bodied hominid clade
Grays - Subculture/Clade that modified their form to duplicate the alleged appearance of the so-call 'grays', hypothetical alien beings
HaRoNa - Neogenic centauroid species created by the Power Manteos in 2587 to be: 'Keepers of songs, tellers of tales, guardians of art and culture'.
Hectonitheres - The 'hundred handed ones' are a clade of multi-instance bioborgs. That is, each 'individual' is made up of between 30 and 100 biological and nanotic bodies.
Hian Dao - A hybrid clade, with features in common with animal, plant, and robotic/vec phyles
Hidim - A clade whose members are able to visualize and think in higher numbers of spatial dimensions as easily as baselines do in three dimensions.
Highbrows - Early tweak-su human clade with increased cranial capacity
HonKken - aggressive splice-neogen-syborg clade
House Hyperborg - Clade-based posthuman House.
Imtonasi - a clade of human-arachnid rianths
Iniliak - A clade of provolved sophont polyps which are rather like a cross between coral and sponge, created around 4500 AT. by a Pan-Sophontist group on the ocean world of Vanora in the Pan-Sophontist League.
Ireaders - modification - later clade - with increased linguistic ability, extending it to give an instinctive childhood ability to learn not only spoken but also written language, as easily as an unmodified baseline human learns to speak.
Jaguar-Bear Tribe - early rianth clade
Clade Kanuma - successful splice/provolve clade, with large proportion of their genome is derived from Mormyrus kannume, an "electrical" fish species from Old Earth's Africa.
Keelan - provolve
clade
Krutarians - a clade of rianths created to serve an transapient derived from a bitenic squid
Kriavuks - sapient war-dogs
Labela - nearbaseline human clade notable for their beauty
Clade Lauro - a race of humanoid neogen superiors
The Laylaron - interstellar trader House/Clade
Lucjordanians - Clade/House of augmented baselines (some later superiors) descended from Lucas Jordan.
Luckies - highly successful neural modification clade skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities to which they could respond positively
Machina Babbagensii - The Machina Babbagensii are a clade of entirely mechanical sophont vecs, based on forms of macroscopic Babbage-engine-type processing.
The Marians - lotech haloist civilization/clade
Clade Mawas - a clade of provolved orang-utans
Merpeople - early aquatic tweak human clade
Methuselahs - early human clade designed for maximum lifespan even without medical nano
Mirrored Owls - nanocyborg clade that favours gas giants
Naurinumes - Centauri neumann clade
Neo-Dogs - the early history of the Neo-Dog provolves
NeoPigs - important and influential porcine provolve species
Neotens and Soneotens - clade of neotenous humans, the Neotens were originally engineered during the twelfth century A.T. as an early form of pet human. Soneotens (Sophont Neotens) date from the late fourteenth century A.T.
Clade Ngagi - a clade of provolved gorillas
Clade Nisse - a miniaturised human clade, with several associated subclades of various kinds
Notees (Zerotees) - Clades that experience no time perception and have a constant mindstate throughout all time.
Clade Octogen - A clade
noted for its nano-dependent physiology and for its resulting skill in
the nanotech design and construction
Optimals
- biont clades or individuals superficially similar to their ancestors
but radically optimized for maximum efficiency in existing traits
Pet Humans - what it says
Picopixies - The picopixies were originally an attempt to create a baseline picotech mind by the earliest femtolect AIs
Plebhu - common mongrel nearbaselines, the most common species of hu
Plebvecs - the predominant vec type, and are found spread across all of Terragen space and are ubiquitous in all vec-friendly polities of every empire and metaempire
Polypedal Pots - a design of mobile pot or carrier for plants or sessile animals; often sophont
Protectors - A product of several centuries of germline genetic enhancement, eugenic refinement and memetic indoctrination, Protectors are biological baselines/nebs bred to guard baseline/neb individuals of high political status from such unpredictable events as accident, assassination, etc.
Putorians, Neputons, and Nanputons - provolved ferret clades
Radiation Nation - Synclade of radiation-resistant human derived bionts
Rainbow Bubbles - Neogen species consisting of distinct spheres constituting a group mind.
Relayers - virtual clade dedicated to the management of communal mind networks for other sophonts
Replicants - bio-vec clade
Sailors of the Ebon Sea - advanced vacuum-adapted clade
Savirs - Sapient Viruses or Savirs are descended both from designed computer viruses and from uploaded baselines and virtual beings
Clade Scrabo Prior - Nearbaseline human clade from Arkab Prior, who favour traditional nanotattoos for moodomorphic, displays, advertising, animation and graphic games
The Sagittarius Preservers - a clade of intelligent mobile habitats dedicated to preserving and dissemination a wide variety of lifeforms
Seedfolk - provolved plant clade
Shepbra - intelligent clade derived from Geckos
Siberoos - Zoosplice/Provolve sapient based on synthesis of Siberian tiger and red kangaroo.
Silicon Generation - powerful vec House and clade
Simico - One of, if not the, earliest of the hive-mind clades, made up of self-modified cyborgs
Slearners modification - later clade - similar to Slinguists, but augmented in all the learning abilities of the sophont, allowing the acquisition of all kinds of skill, major and minor, physical and mental, with the same ease as a very young child.
Slinguists - modification - later clade - more advanced than Ireaders, having not just an instinctive childhood ability to learn written communications, but made that highly efficient childhood learning process a permanent second 'layer' of ability when learning to communicate.
Smilers - human superclade who have had their mental processes modified to always be happy (includes Vidikiddies - Smiler clade that has adopted a form of hyperdependent infantilism, living in small parkland communities)
Sosimevs - A form of sophont virch world or environment, in which software has become, or has been constructed or created to be a single sophont entity in its own right.
Space Adapted Humans / Space People - early microgravity-adapted tweaks
The Starhand - A clade of space-going vecs descended from space construction robots.
House Stevens - important clone-based su-nearbaseline House and clade
Streyas - early provolve echinoderm clade originally designed for underwater construction work.
Sufants - Proboscidian Terragen mammals (that is, elephants), or derivatives thereof, who have been provolved to full sophonce
Synthetics - A fully synanoborg clade dedicated to the propagation of sytech.
Clade Tavi - provolve/splice group of terragen mammalian stock. Genetic analysis shows that the clade is derived primarily from the meerkats of Old Earth, but with significant additions of genetic material from other species
Toh Chi Lok - tweaked superbright deinonychus provolves; the dominant species of the Toh Chi Lok-Nar
Ton-e-mites -termite derived clade evolved by Dixolutionist techniques
Tetsujin - a
type of
Asimovec, autonomous robots. Their lineage is very old; the earliest
descriptions that are provably Tetsujin date back to the Interplanetary
Age. Their origin was in the Pacific Rim area of Old Earth
Tilonians
- vecs/uploads whose bodies are yachts
Troels - a clade of cold adapted humans living on ice moons
Tvekna - A race of tree provolves created on the Zoeific Biopolity world of Sanobar, they first achieved sophonce in roughly 6500 A.T.
Unluckies - ex-experiment nearbaseline clade gengineered to be "unlucky"
V Fliers - flying clade
Vacuum Adapted
Humans - vacuum-adapted clade
Vampires
- a human-derived clade based on human legends
Vedokiklek - insect provolve-neogen clade
Vehvecs - independent-minded sophont vehicles
VirchMon - virtual/alife phylum/superclade created in the Information Age, now found almost everywhere in the Known Net
Virtual Haven - virch clade and phyle
Willosophs - a flexible and long-lived human clade
Yas Om - a human-like synano cyborg clade
Yssa'arah - lizard provolve from the Interplanetary age onwardsZeon - aggressive cyborg warrior clade
Zexxii - Distinctive self-replicating biowar, dating back to the Conver Wars.
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