It is often said that love of provolving is a purely terragen trait,
although it is known that extinct xenosophonts like the Builders of the
Black Acropolis also
practiced provolve enthusiastically. In any case, humanity, AIs, and
even xenosophont races that have come in contact with terragen
civilization, have all shown themselves to be prolific provolvers. No
less than 138,000 indigenous terragen species - representing all major
metazoan phyla, and in some cases even plantae, fungi, protists, and
colonial prokaryotes, have been provolved, some with more success than
others, and some, like human domestic companion animals (felids,
canids, etc) many times. This number does not include sophont species
that evolved or gengineered emselves from already provolved ancestors.
An equal diversity of xenobiota have been provolved as well (leading to
the odd fact that the majority of xenosophont citizens of the
terragen galaxy are actually provolves). Lazurogened animals are
another popular choice of provolve; as some assert that it is not just
necessary to restore these long-extinct species to life; one should
also maximise their intelligence as well. Dinosaurs, therapsida,
paleogene mammalia, ammonites, trilobites, there is no limit to the
type and diversity of prehistoric animals that have been provolved.
Today, provolves number in the many trillions, and many have gone on to
establish their own polities, cultures, and religions, to radiate into
daughter species and clades, and to provolve other species in turn.
Acties -
Ray-Finned Fish Provolves
Alseid - the
first successful sophont plant provolves
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 -
avian provolve species based on the Terran ostrich
Bitenic Squid
- an important squid provolve superclade with a rather unfortunate
reputation
Enhanced Dolphins
- an important superclade; superb astrogators and businessbeings
Envomes - A
form of sophont ecosystem, which has been provolved into a single
sophont entity
Gaian whales
- lazurogened whales raised to sophonce by GAIA following the Great
Expulsion of hu from Earth
Iniliak - A
clade of provolved sophont polyps which are rather like a cross between
coral and sponge, created around 4500 A.T. by a Pan-Sophontist group on
the ocean world of Vanora in the Pan-Sophontist League.
The Institute for Primate
Provolution
- A small but extremely ancient and widespread organization, dedicated
to the provolution of all primate species, including humans. Its
influence on Terragen history is subtle, but possibly quite large
Clade Kanuma -
The Kanumae are one of the strangest and at the same time one of the
most successful of the many splice/provolve clades of Acties. The largest proportion of
their genome is derived from Mormyrus kannume, an
"electrical" fish species from Old
Earth's Africa.
Kriavuks -
sapient war-dogs
Neo-Dogs -
the early history of the Neo-Dog provolves
NeoPigs -
sapient pigs, the 3rd major provolve species
Pan-Sophontism and
the Pan-Sophontist Movement
- provolve movement that says that as it is possible for subsapient
life to be raised up to sophonts, it is only ethical that they should be
Putorians, Neputons and
Nanputons - provolved ferret clades
Sapientchimps and
Bonobos - the two primary sapient ape clades; apes were
the first animals to be fully provolved
Siberoo -
provolved hybrid tiger-kangaroo species
Streyas -
early provolve echinoderm clade originally designed for underwater
construction work.
Sufants -
Proboscidan Terragen mammals (that is, elephants), or derivatives
thereof, who have been provolved to full sophonce
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
- provolved dinosaur superclade and empire
Tvekna - A race
of tree provolves created on the Zoeific Biopolity world of Sanobar,
they first achieved sophonce in roughly 6500 A.T.
Vedokiklek
- Genen hobby project that became an important space-faring clade of
sophont insects
Provolves A-Z
Design Notes and Acknowledgements:
while there have been earlier formulations and precursors, the concept
of
provolves as represented here (and in much of popular
science fiction) is inspired by both
David Brin's "
Uplift"
saga, and Brian Stableford and David Langford,
The
Third Millenium,
(under the chapter - "The birth of a new race" - see Chimpmen) 1985,
Sidgwick and Jackson Ltd, London, to each of which we are indebted.
The "Provolve" concept in OA, although inspired by, is also distinct
from, the concept of Uplift as presented in Mr Brin's works. All
variations on "uplift" - including the theme without the name - are
copyrighted © David Brin
