On Earth, it is observed that on average, life has been getting smarter over time. In the Mesozoic, the smartest animals were comparable to chickens in intelligence, yet now in the Cenozoic that's well below the average and multiple different groups of animals have independently evolved high intelligence and even sapience. One species, humanity, developed sophonce, becoming so smart that it started to build cities.
And Sagan 4, here in its Alpha timeline, is tens of millions of years ahead and has already had three different species reach that same exceptional level of intelligence.
In theory, high intelligence should be all over the place within Sagan 4's biosphere. I myself took note of the odd lack of explicitly smart creatures, which led to submissions such as the Seashrog and the Loafpick, which are each smart in their own ways. However, as I have familiarized myself more and more with the life that already exists in this timeline I have become increasingly convinced that there are also many lineages that already have high intelligence without it being stated directly.
One in particular that comes to mind is tasertongues. Out of all the lineages to produce a sophont, they are the only one that proceeded to also survive the extinction event that followed (roamers and triwalkers both got nuked with their sophont members). More specifically, modern tasertongues came from the same direct ancestor as the Sagon only a few million years prior; when comparing them to human evolution, this means that they are as close to the Sagon as non-human apes are to humanity, if not closer. Assuming evolution is occurring at Earth-like speeds, the ancestors of all living tasertongues therefore must have at the very least been self-aware, and they were probably capable of simple tool use. And this is far from unreflected in living species--though self-awareness is never specified, the Boomcracker in particular has tool use in the form of clubs.
What other lineages are there that must have unstated high intelligence, or have potential to gain it?
And Sagan 4, here in its Alpha timeline, is tens of millions of years ahead and has already had three different species reach that same exceptional level of intelligence.
In theory, high intelligence should be all over the place within Sagan 4's biosphere. I myself took note of the odd lack of explicitly smart creatures, which led to submissions such as the Seashrog and the Loafpick, which are each smart in their own ways. However, as I have familiarized myself more and more with the life that already exists in this timeline I have become increasingly convinced that there are also many lineages that already have high intelligence without it being stated directly.
One in particular that comes to mind is tasertongues. Out of all the lineages to produce a sophont, they are the only one that proceeded to also survive the extinction event that followed (roamers and triwalkers both got nuked with their sophont members). More specifically, modern tasertongues came from the same direct ancestor as the Sagon only a few million years prior; when comparing them to human evolution, this means that they are as close to the Sagon as non-human apes are to humanity, if not closer. Assuming evolution is occurring at Earth-like speeds, the ancestors of all living tasertongues therefore must have at the very least been self-aware, and they were probably capable of simple tool use. And this is far from unreflected in living species--though self-awareness is never specified, the Boomcracker in particular has tool use in the form of clubs.
What other lineages are there that must have unstated high intelligence, or have potential to gain it?
I decided to do a quick tally by entering the keyword "intelligent" into the wiki.
Fisticoats, a relative of the Boomcracker (shared immediate ancestor) is also likened to an elephant. The description says:
"Despite their near-elephantine, lengthy and (apparently) loving parental behavior, fisticoats are not quite gentle giants."
It's also mentioned they can be taught "tricks" based on their natural behavior of limited "speech":
"As trivia, it is fairly easy to teach young fisticoats to punch colleagues when that colleague says a particular phrase. This is because mother fisticoats, when around food, may indicate that food to their offspring with a particular tooting sound. The young fisticoat then responds by shattering the indicated food. Though it's easier to teach a young fisticoat this trick, it's not impossible to teach an adult. "
Their tongues are also similar to human hands in thick gloves, with three "fingers" and a thumb. Although having fingers is surely not related to humanlike intelligence, it should help with tool use. Interestingly, both the Boomcracker and Fisticoat are in the same genus and share the Ramul Temperate Beach (originally Coolsteph Temperate Beach) environment. It's not out of the question they could hybridize, especially since plents' method of mating probably wouldn't make it dangerous for a 50 cm-long (Fisticoat) and 80-cm long (Boomcracker) fauna to mate.
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The Hairy Gossalizard is noted to have increased intelligence relative to its ancestor, and some behaviors which might reflect that:
"he hairy gossalizard's intelligence has increased somewhat and it can weave small nets out of the silk using its hands to fix them. When small prey passes by it, the hairy gossalizard will toss the net onto its prey, shoot an extra shot of silk, and wrap it up to make sure it does not escape. They can even save it for later."
While the Hairy Gossalizard itself is extinct, it has several descendants: the Warf Gossalizard, Desert Gossalizard, and Gracing Gossalizard. None have been noted to have lost intelligence. Two out of three mention being "slightly warm-blooded", and this is surely true for the Grazing Gossalizard as well. The Grazing Gossalizard itself, while not gregarious, does congregate in big numbers where the food supply is abundant. The ancestor to the Hairy Gossalizard itself, the Gossamer Lizardworm, is noted to be somewhat intelligent.
Of the Gossamer Lizardworm's other descendant, the Eerie Gossalizard, has four living descendants: the Rainforest Gossalizard, Woodland Gossalizard, Digging Gossalizard, and Tyrant Gossalizard. The Woodland Gossalizard mentions "males are only social when trying to attract a mate", which could mean the males are the most social (if only in a breeding context) or that the females have unspecified sociality, but the males have much less sociality. It's likely some of them have lost intelligence for lack of need in their hunting methods, though.
The Festive Uktank has notable intelligence. Its descendant, the Green Uktank, doesn't mention any intelligence increases, but they have begun living in herds.
Varants are somewhat intelligent, too.
The Shockscooter and Kyutescoot are pretty intelligent.
Dualist Bandersnatches can throw rocks and debris. Several of its ancestors used tools, too, although one of the Dualist Bandersnatch's decendants is specifically noted to no longer use tools.
Fisticoats, a relative of the Boomcracker (shared immediate ancestor) is also likened to an elephant. The description says:
"Despite their near-elephantine, lengthy and (apparently) loving parental behavior, fisticoats are not quite gentle giants."
It's also mentioned they can be taught "tricks" based on their natural behavior of limited "speech":
"As trivia, it is fairly easy to teach young fisticoats to punch colleagues when that colleague says a particular phrase. This is because mother fisticoats, when around food, may indicate that food to their offspring with a particular tooting sound. The young fisticoat then responds by shattering the indicated food. Though it's easier to teach a young fisticoat this trick, it's not impossible to teach an adult. "
Their tongues are also similar to human hands in thick gloves, with three "fingers" and a thumb. Although having fingers is surely not related to humanlike intelligence, it should help with tool use. Interestingly, both the Boomcracker and Fisticoat are in the same genus and share the Ramul Temperate Beach (originally Coolsteph Temperate Beach) environment. It's not out of the question they could hybridize, especially since plents' method of mating probably wouldn't make it dangerous for a 50 cm-long (Fisticoat) and 80-cm long (Boomcracker) fauna to mate.
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The Hairy Gossalizard is noted to have increased intelligence relative to its ancestor, and some behaviors which might reflect that:
"he hairy gossalizard's intelligence has increased somewhat and it can weave small nets out of the silk using its hands to fix them. When small prey passes by it, the hairy gossalizard will toss the net onto its prey, shoot an extra shot of silk, and wrap it up to make sure it does not escape. They can even save it for later."
While the Hairy Gossalizard itself is extinct, it has several descendants: the Warf Gossalizard, Desert Gossalizard, and Gracing Gossalizard. None have been noted to have lost intelligence. Two out of three mention being "slightly warm-blooded", and this is surely true for the Grazing Gossalizard as well. The Grazing Gossalizard itself, while not gregarious, does congregate in big numbers where the food supply is abundant. The ancestor to the Hairy Gossalizard itself, the Gossamer Lizardworm, is noted to be somewhat intelligent.
Of the Gossamer Lizardworm's other descendant, the Eerie Gossalizard, has four living descendants: the Rainforest Gossalizard, Woodland Gossalizard, Digging Gossalizard, and Tyrant Gossalizard. The Woodland Gossalizard mentions "males are only social when trying to attract a mate", which could mean the males are the most social (if only in a breeding context) or that the females have unspecified sociality, but the males have much less sociality. It's likely some of them have lost intelligence for lack of need in their hunting methods, though.
The Festive Uktank has notable intelligence. Its descendant, the Green Uktank, doesn't mention any intelligence increases, but they have begun living in herds.
Varants are somewhat intelligent, too.
The Shockscooter and Kyutescoot are pretty intelligent.
Dualist Bandersnatches can throw rocks and debris. Several of its ancestors used tools, too, although one of the Dualist Bandersnatch's decendants is specifically noted to no longer use tools.
| QUOTE (Coolsteph @ Sep 29 2020, 06:03 PM) |
| Interestingly, both the Boomcracker and Fisticoat are in the same genus and share the Ramul Temperate Beach (originally Coolsteph Temperate Beach) environment. It's not out of the question they could hybridize, especially since plents' method of mating probably wouldn't make it dangerous for a 50 cm-long (Fisticoat) and 80-cm long (Boomcracker) fauna to mate. |
I like that hybrid idea, can I use it?
Sure. I brought up the potential for hybridization because it might make things neater than having two closely-related species in the same habitat with similar levels of intelligence.
More to the point of the topic...Harnessbacks are also mentioned as being "smart".
More to the point of the topic...Harnessbacks are also mentioned as being "smart".
I'm a little late to this, but I would offer the Velocidohve as a brainy fauna as well, with this line:
"Their presence is causing a noticeable shift in species populations within the regions they inhabit. Their quick nature, combined with their pack hunting and larger brains, allows them to more easily outmaneuver and outsmart the local thornbacks. Taking turns, some members of a pack will distract the adults, while the rest will go on to gorge themselves on the cryobowl-bound offspring. Because of this, thornback species that still perform this style of breeding are becoming increasingly rare. If they do not adapt in time, there is little doubt that extinction lies in their futures."
They utilize pack tactics and tricks to distract thornbacks away from their nests.
"Their presence is causing a noticeable shift in species populations within the regions they inhabit. Their quick nature, combined with their pack hunting and larger brains, allows them to more easily outmaneuver and outsmart the local thornbacks. Taking turns, some members of a pack will distract the adults, while the rest will go on to gorge themselves on the cryobowl-bound offspring. Because of this, thornback species that still perform this style of breeding are becoming increasingly rare. If they do not adapt in time, there is little doubt that extinction lies in their futures."
They utilize pack tactics and tricks to distract thornbacks away from their nests.
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