Looking for comments on some SF species

[Cycloneman]

Basic info on the setting: Human interstellar authority is the International Economic Union (IEU). Current date is 2157. Human society in the setting could be quickly described as "disgustingly capitalistic quangocracy." The following documents are written from an in-universe perspective.

Irai
The Irai are the sapient natives of Ozto. First contact with the Irai occurred on October 26th, 2137 and was conducted by a group of separatist colonists who quickly brought in weapons several millenia in advance of the local technology. The existing social order was completely shattered as a consequence. On April 12th, 2139, the IEU sent an expeditionary force under the auspices of the Initiative for Continued Peace to examine the vastly increased demand for weaponry on Ozto, and quickly realized the extent of the damage. A large-scale military campaign of unification and pacification began on March 3rd, 2139, and the campaign was finally completed with the Kingdom of Niri's entrance into the IEU on May 1st, 2148.

Although first-contact with the Irai suggested a much younger civilization than humanity, since their technological development was on par with that humanity during the bronze age, this initial belief has since been proven incorrect by physical evidence. The first signs of agriculture and civilization date back to over 25,000 years ago, making Irai agriculture more than twice as old as humanity's. The reasons for their slow technological development in comparison to humanity is currently hotly debated; various theories include their unique biology, their environment, and simple luck. It is worth noting that the Irai originate from a mineral-poor island named Takano approximately the size of Madagascar and that they reached a level of astronavigation necessary to reach the Ozto supercontinent only 294 years ago.

Physiology: The Irai are a taxonomic family of sapient bipedal omnivores, descended from brachiating omnivores, with two extant species, the Etachi and Mazkai. The males are, on average, larger and stronger than females of the same species. Females give birth to live young after a period of gestation of approximately 7 months, and the young are almost completely helpless for over two years, and reach physical maturity after 9-14 years. The females do not breastfeed, but rather regurgitate partially-digested food for those Irai that are too small to properly digest food on their own.

Irai biochemistry is startlingly similar to humans, and many foods can be safely digested by both species. Its most distinguishing feature is the unique brain chemistry of the Irai, which relies on a steady influx of Irin B, a chemical that is naturally produced by the Etachi, but not by the Mazkai. Because all other sources of Irin B were hunted to extinction tens of thousands of years ago by the Mazkai, the Mazkai would need to regularly eat the body of an Etachi, or their brain and body would shut down. Six months after the discovery of Ozto and the Irai by the IEU at large, an artificial source of Irin B was produced by genetic engineering.

The Irai have an elongated, horselike skull with one eye on each side, providing a larger field of vision than humans but reduced depth perception. A large protective frill, similar to that of a triceratops, defends their unusually long necks. Their three-jointed legs end with a structure similar to a horse's hooves, but with four largely vestigial toes. Their hands have three fingers and a thumb. Their skin is chalk white and has a rough, thick texture.

Psychology: Irai psychology is difficult to characterize, as the Etach and Mazkai have a truly vast gulf in terms of mental acuity and social behavior. Although the original shape of Irai society was almost certainly quite different, over a million years it has shifted and today the natural social structure of the species is hunter-gatherer bands of about three hundred Etachi and a family unit of Mazkai. Regardless of whether it is a cultural or psychological trait, almost all Irai expect a social structure roughly corresponding to this shape, albeit possibly adjusted for the particulars of modern society.

Etachi
The Etachi are the smaller, less aggressive variant of the Irai. They are the only living natural producers of Irin B, and have been effectively domesticated by the Mazkai as a consequence. The Etachi species dates back several hundred thousand years, although they have genetically changed significantly over that period.

Physiology: Etachi are the smaller Irai; when standing with their backs straight, their height averages 1.8 meters. They have a similar posture to humans, and their short frills provide very limited protection as a consequence. Etachi take approximately 9 years to grow to complete physical and mental maturity, which are achieved roughly simultaneously. Etachi also reach old age at a much more rapid rate, with a life expectancy after age five of 40 years.

Psychology: In terms of mental development, Etachi lag significantly behind humans. Though they have effective language and tool using skills, their capacity for critical thinking and independent thought have been gradually ground down by millenia of domestication by the Mazkai. As a corollary, almost all Etachi feel much more comfortable following orders than giving them. Exceptions to the general domestication of Etachi do exist, but are treated very poorly by Irai society as a whole. Like humans, they prefer to live in fairly large groups, generally of around three hundred Etachi.

Mazkai
The Mazkai are the larger, more intelligent variant of the Irai. In their modern form, the Mazkai date back about two hundred thousand years.

Physiology: Mazkai are the larger Irai; when standing with their backs straight, their height averages 3 meters. Their typical posture, however, is low to the ground, with their torso hunched over the ground and their palms being occasionally used to support their bulky weight; like this, they average 1.6 meters in height. Their frill is especially long, protecting their neck much better than it does for the Etachi, and a larger frill is considered a sign of virility. Mazkai take approximately 14 years to grow to complete physical maturity, and 16 to grow to complete mental maturity. Mazkai have a life expectancy after age five of 60 years.

Mazkai brain chemistry requires a regular supplementation of Irin B. Although in the modern era, genetic engineering has provided genetically engineered plants capable of producing Irin B, in the past this was not possible. As a consequence, the Mazkai would eat the bodies of Etachi in order to survive. They needed to eat an adult Etachi every eight months or a newborn Etachi every two months.

Psychology: Mazkai are roughly equivalent in intelligence to humans. Socially, they tend to be heavily domineering over almost all sapient non-Mazkai, as a consequence of their unique evolutionary history. They also have a much smaller natural social grouping, living in small family units.

Libids
Libids are the sapient natives of the planet Armab. The Colonization and Reclamation Initiative (CRI) encountered the Libids on June 2nd, 2152, when a scouting probe detected complex multicellular organic life on Armab and an expeditionary force was sent in response. Until first contact with the CRI, the Libids had never previously encountered humanity, and their society was organized along purely tribal grounds. Because of this, traits typically associated with tribal societies - lack of understanding of, or respect for, a law and order society, extreme variation of religion and language, distrust of modern technology - are prevalent among modern Libids.

Despite being the oldest known sapient species, dating back over ten million years, the Libids have existed as tribal hunter-gatherer nomads for their entire known history. Interestingly, the birth and spread of Libids did not coincide with any mass extinction events, unlike the rise of humans and Irai on Earth and Ozto. Libids have also never suffered a near extinction event, unlike humans (e.g. the Toba event) or Irai (e.g. the Schmidt-Najjar Bottleneck).

Physiology: Libids are a single species of bipedal omnivores, but have a far greater level of genetic versatility than humans and Irai alike. Pigmentation, shape, body mass and even certain biological functions vary wildly across Libid subspecies (informally, they are often referred to as races or breeds). Because of this, it is difficult to generalize Libid biology.

Libids are hermaphrodites with internal genitalia that emerge only during sex. Shortly after mating, one or both partners will lay a small clutch of 5-8 eggs, which are then buried and left behind by the tribe. After a period of approximately 4 months, the eggs hatch, and the children claw their way out of the ground. These young Libids, generally around the size of a small dog, are self-sufficient and capable of hunting like a pack until their tribe returns or another tribe stumbles upon them. These "packs" typically form a bare-bones language until they can make contact with adult Libids and acquire a more complex one. Unlike humans, Libids retain the ability to learn languages rapidly and without any frame of reference for life, so Libids do not require early parenting. After approximately seven years, a Libid reaches full mental and physical maturity. Average age of death after age five varies wildly (on Armab, it is 120 years) but there are living specimens who are suspected to be more than one thousand years old. It is suspected that Libids are biologically immortal, but this is currently unconfirmed.

Libid biology combines traits of both plants and animals. They use photosynthesis to help process their food, and as such spend the daylight hours inactive, simply basking in the sun. They also cannot maintain consciousness for long spans of time: medical testing suggests that after an average of eight hours of consciousness, they begin to hallucinate and lose their grasp on reality. Their natural sleep cycle consists of approximately two and a half hours consciousness followed by forty-five minutes of sleep during the night, and sleeping straight through the day.

The Libid form is basically similar to the human form. They have two arms, two legs, and a protrusion from the torso containing the sensory organs, brain and mouth. They have two hands which are similar to those of a humans, but their fingers end in sharpened points which are made of a material similar to bone. They have three "fingers" and a thumb. Their "feet" are best described as adjustable stumps, similar to those of an elephant.

Unlike humans, Libids have no neck; they are capable of rotating their head thirty degrees to the left or right without causing any pain or damage. Their ears are simply slits in the side of their head, and instead of eyes they have a large sensory patch. Although it covers much of their face and is much larger than a human eye, it is also far less vulnerable to damage, with recorded cases of Libids who have suffered significant permanent damage to the area still being able to clearly distinguish between objects at long distances. Their sensory patch can detect light, heat and movement with depth perception, and is significantly more precise than the human eye when detecting light.

Psychology: Like humans, Libids naturally live in nomadic hunter-gatherer bands of about two hundred individuals. No recorded Libid society has any real concept of parents, siblings, spouses or children in the same way that human societies do. Libids care for their children as a community and do not generally identify which ones are their offspring. Instead of placing themselves within a tight family unit or a larger extended family, Libids tend to place themselves within larger groups, typically their tribe or, more recently, their subspecies. Studies have also shown that Libids have a significantly more powerful categorization instinct than humans. These two traits mean that Libids have a tendency to be significantly more racist than humans, both towards other Libids and towards non-Libids.

Because Libids are native to a planet with no tilt and no moons, and they live exceptionally long lives, they do not have a long-term sense of time in the way that humans do, nor did any Libid society develop a calendar. The idea of measuring minutes, hours or days makes intuitive sense to them, but measuring months and years does not. They do have exceptionally good long-term memories as a consequence of their biological immortality, however.



Okay, that's them. Evolutionarily implausible? Nightmares for integration? Notes on how certain aspects of each species would effect other aspects?

[TOSDOC]

On the Irai: Did humanity handle the genetic engineering of the plants for Irin B? How did the natives take to that? Were the Etachi praising the ground the humans walked on for delivering them from servitude and the dinner table? Were the Mazkai taking offense after over 25,000 years of socially acceptible cannibalism?

On the Libids: The main problem that struck me right away was a race that dated over 10 million years old that was also "biologically immortal". I have no idea what that means when they also have an average lifespan of 120 years, but it suggests at the very least cycles of population pressure, which would also affect their culture in significant ways. I'm also wondering how a bipedal animal develops the traits for photosynthesis when the energy requirements may be inadequate for a hunter-gatherer in the first place, even if they are sleeping nearly all the time. Finally, does their planet experience seasonal weather patterns over the year?

[Cycloneman]

On the Irai: Did humanity handle the genetic engineering of the plants for Irin B? How did the natives take to that? Were the Etachi praising the ground the humans walked on for delivering them from servitude and the dinner table? Were the Mazkai taking offense after over 25,000 years of socially acceptible cannibalism?

Yes, humanity did the genetic engineering. Everybody took offense at the human cultural imperialism. After tens of thousands of years of it, cannibalism was not just socially acceptable but socially ideal. Humans landing on Ozto and saying, "okay, no more sacrifice cannibalism" would be equivalent to aliens landing on Earth and saying "okay, no more marriage." Every religion covered it and treated it as a high honor; young Etachi dreamed of being worthy of being cannibalized. Since then, the people of Ozto have basically adapted to the new conditions, though they don't particularly like them (and there a few low-level insurgencies ongoing).

On the Libids: The main problem that struck me right away was a race that dated over 10 million years old that was also "biologically immortal". I have no idea what that means when they also have an average lifespan of 120 years, but it suggests at the very least cycles of population pressure, which would also affect their culture in significant ways.

After some thought I've decided they aren't actually biologically immortal, but age very slowly and (because of population pressures, predators, etc) never get a chance to get to the point where they could be identified as equivalent to, say, an octogenarian. The equivalent to the rough "maximum age" of humans (~120) would be somewhere in the thousands. Nobody ever hits that, though.

Doing some basic probability assessment, I'm noticing that a constant mortality rate with a life expectancy after age five of 120 years doesn't make it that rare for someone to hit 1,000; even allowing for a slight reduction in survivability by that stage, you're still going to see a decent number of thousanders. A 1.2% mortality rate seems a decent number; it gives life expectancy after age 5 of 58 (63 years total).

I'm also wondering how a bipedal animal develops the traits for photosynthesis when the energy requirements may be inadequate for a hunter-gatherer in the first place, even if they are sleeping nearly all the time.

They basically use photosynthesis to help digest food they've eaten - it has a supplementary effect. It's not their primary method of energy gain, just a slight improvement on efficiency. It's also a pretty widespread adaptation on their whole planet. I don't know if that makes it more or less plausible.

Finally, does their planet experience seasonal weather patterns over the year?

No.