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So beyond the supreme primate that is man, are there other primate type xenos that have risen up in the galaxy?
And what of the great apes? are they still around in the grimdark?
This is something I have zero knowledge on, but really curious to know. I would hate to find out they became servitors, or shock troops (unless they wanted to be)
I'm wondering if there is any lore on earthly species being taken/seeded on other worlds.
There is a race of literal Orang-Utans that are weird tech-savants and renowned constructors of miniature weaponry and gadgets called the Jokaero. Sometimes they can be found in inquisitorial retinues, but they are fickle, bordering on non-sapient and don't like being confined or trapped, and due to their techno-savantry are quite hard to contain.
It is rumored that some of their genetics were incorporated into the Alpha Legion and Ravenguard. Both are masters of gorilla warfare and throwing monkey wrenches into their opponents’ plans…
JK, I have no idea, but can’t resist a good dad-joke.
And what of the great apes? are they still around in the grimdark?
We're struggling to keep them alive now. After 38,000 years when earth is a dry rock built over with grimdark architecture, I'd say they'd be long since toast.
I'm wondering if there is any lore on earthly species being taken/seeded on other worlds.
Horses...?
I seem to remember one of Dan Abnett's Inquisitor novels took a trip to an abbatoir world where some kind of ox was culturally significant, but I'd need to check if that was actually the case.
They were all extinct long before the HH. Arkhan Land attempted to recreate one:
Sapien was a Psyber-Monkey, or Artificimian, built by Arkhan Land on the basis of historical ledgers. It often rode on Land's shoulders when it accompanied him.[1a]
Land opted not to give it any method of binaric cant or human communication as this would have been a diversion from the descriptions of monkeys provided by the ledgers (although he did build picters into its eyes[1b]). Several scholars argued against the veracity of the archives used by Land, one in particular claiming that monkeys could hang from trees by their tails. Land deemed this ridiculous, Sapien's scorpion-like tail the result of his own theory that monkeys used their tails as lashes and puncturing weapons for delivering venom.[1a]
Ah shame, was thinking there'd be a planet of the apes out there other than Terra.
I figured horses were out there due to the Krieg, been thinking about the Age of Technology and what might have been brought forth into the galaxy during colonization.
Also later in Old Night when things dissolved, what might have come about with techno-barbs running wild.
Eldar seem to be primate like, we could apply it to them. Also what are the Chaos entities? They're essentially mutated primates, unlike the old ones who are reptilian?
The C'tan are primate like elementals?
The Necrons were once primate-like?
Seems like the primacy of the primates.
Edit: but then again I once heard a documentary some time ago say some scientist were thinking about calling Elephants primates.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2023/03/12 01:56:36
In terms of other non-primate Terran critters, I am pretty sure rats have survived. Necromunda has rats, for example, and these are probably based on Terran rats not some alien critter suspiciously similar to rats.
Likewise for dogs and eagles, as we see versions of these.
ChargerIIC wrote: If algae farm paste with a little bit of your grandfather in it isn't Grimdark I don't know what is.
Haighus wrote: In terms of other non-primate Terran critters, I am pretty sure rats have survived. Necromunda has rats, for example, and these are probably based on Terran rats not some alien critter suspiciously similar to rats.
Likewise for dogs and eagles, as we see versions of these.
Also ravens on Fenris, but i think most avians we see are actually constructs or cloned.
So, my knowledge of the initial spread of humanity through the galaxy is pretty limited, but there's actually a better chance you'd think of a wide range of animals surviving into the stars, including primates. Two words: animal testing.
Assuming we stocked the labs of colonies with the tools they needed for research, they would almost certainly exist in some form, along with mice, rats, fruit flies, rabbits, etc.
Eldar seem to be primate like, we could apply it to them. Also what are the Chaos entities? They're essentially mutated primates, unlike the old ones who are reptilian?
The C'tan are primate like elementals?
The Necrons were once primate-like?
Seems like the primacy of the primates.
The chaos gods and their daemons aren't really primates. The gods themselves don't really have physical forms. They don't look like apes because they don't look like anything. Daemons' forms are generally shaped by the thoughts of mortals. Lots of daemons are humanoid because lots of sapient creatures are humanoid.
Lots of sapient species in 40k are humanoid, but it's implied that this is due to Old Ones seeding life all over the place (thus why the galaxy has so much life in the setting) and/or convergent evolution.
C'tan "bodies" are just necrodermises created by the necronstyr. So they look humanoid because the necrontyr were humanoid.
As for all the species in the setting that are similar to but different from Earth species, that's convergent evolution again, plus some species being carried to various worlds. Dinosaurs are surprisingly widespread because eldar like them and took them with when creating maiden worlds. Humanity is implied to have brought genetic material from various species with them when they spread out across the stars (thus the weird "there are no wolves on Fenris" thing). Etc.
ATTENTION. Psychic tests are unfluffy. Your longing for AV is understandable but misguided. Your chapter doesn't need a separate codex. Doctrines should go away. Being a "troop" means nothing. This has been a cranky service announcement. You may now resume your regularly scheduled arguing.
Polonius wrote: So, my knowledge of the initial spread of humanity through the galaxy is pretty limited, but there's actually a better chance you'd think of a wide range of animals surviving into the stars, including primates. Two words: animal testing.
Assuming we stocked the labs of colonies with the tools they needed for research, they would almost certainly exist in some form, along with mice, rats, fruit flies, rabbits, etc.
This is vaguely relevant to the conversation, and also a good grimdark read
Yeah, I realized after I posted it that it went dark. I even wondered if the response would be "well, they'd simply use humans for that kind of testing in 40k" which I suppose might be true, but I sitll think colonies would use primates, who can breed quickly and cost less.
Overall, i think that while the overwhelming majority of earth's species would go extinct, many of the animals that are domesticated or or at least both useful and breedable in captivity would survive.
If you want a real hot take, the animal that seems super common in iconography and myth but is unlikely to survive are eagles and other birds.
Polonius wrote: Yeah, I realized after I posted it that it went dark. I even wondered if the response would be "well, they'd simply use humans for that kind of testing in 40k" which I suppose might be true, but I sitll think colonies would use primates, who can breed quickly and cost less.
Overall, i think that while the overwhelming majority of earth's species would go extinct, many of the animals that are domesticated or or at least both useful and breedable in captivity would survive.
If you want a real hot take, the animal that seems super common in iconography and myth but is unlikely to survive are eagles and other birds.
Stuff that would definitely survive are either vermin like rats, cockroaches, house flys and their various parasites and symbiotes, or commercially viable animals like pigs, cows, donkeys, horses, sheep and especially goats, as well as easy-to-keep protein producers: chicken, tilapia, probably some sort of mussel or clam. If you look at island ecosystems today, you have to go to considerable lengths to avoid contamination especially with rodents, but goats and pigs are also hyper-adaptive an can raze whole ecosystems in a very short amount of time if there are no or few natural predators present. In space colonization, sufficiently ruthless colonists would do what the e.g. British or French did in the Carribean: let some of these animals lose on suitable islands to 'seed' them with a self-replenishing source of fresh food for passing ships.
Also now I just want to pronounce primates in the same way as primaris
So prim ah teeez it is
and Auh-STAR-Teez, is this Auspex Tactics vibes? or am I thinking of someone else who really draws that out
*Correction, as I was back on youtube the other day, not AT, but "40k Theories" is who I was thinking of, and I do prefer the -teez over tez
Anyway I got to thinking about Bullgryns, would their evolution have been rather different than going from rodent like, squirrelish, monkey, ape, and then hominid-like, modern human, then heavy version of a modern human?
This is a bit problematic to imagine on a heavy gravity world, where muscle and bone structure must play a bigger and must require more energy consumption however they're getting it. This would involve the same environment factors that lead an ancestor into the trees (problematic) and then back down again to the savanna as the environment changed. All the while evolving upright which might be problematic as well.
Now if we assume this would could produce a Gorilla then that makes more sense to me than a Bullgryn, but I think we'd be looking at stocky dwarves having backwards folding kees with strong hips and thighs would we not?
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2023/04/16 22:10:46
It is unclear whether Ogryn evolved naturally on high-gravity worlds, or were selectively bred/genetically modified. Given they have become an ideal labourer subspecies in most cases (strong, tough, loyal, and unquestioning of orders) it is likely their evolution was guided by human intervention. Having them able to carry objects and operate tools in the same manner as bipedal humans would be an advantage that would probably be desirable traits to the group overseeing breeding.
ChargerIIC wrote: If algae farm paste with a little bit of your grandfather in it isn't Grimdark I don't know what is.
Waiting for my shill money from Spiral Arm Studios
It is likely that there are primates out there on many worlds that were terraformed using Terran fauna, though they would have been changed by both humanity deliberately tinkering and via natural forces.
While Terra's biosphere is long since destroyed, it was still viable when humanity colonized the stars and they would have brought animals with them. Not just domesticated or ones useful in testing and such, they would have brought everything to create functioning biospheres. Primates would most certainly have been included in these terraforming efforts.
So really it is likely that a bit of everything that lives today on Terra survives somewhere in the galaxy. Of course, the humans of 40k won't necessarily care or even be able to tell what originates on Terra and what animals were picked up by humans on alien worlds. It has been 38 thousand years since humans left Earth, multiple dark ages, and civilizations have come and gone.
Self-proclaimed evil Cat-person. Dues Ex Felines
Cato Sicarius, after force feeding Captain Ventris a copy of the Codex Astartes for having the audacity to play Deathwatch, chokes to death on his own D-baggery after finding Calgar assembling his new Eldar army.
That's great, that there might be gardens of Eden unscathed by the 41st.
Might be too soon for drastic evolutionary changes, but perhaps in some places, and definitely with any genetic engineering on the part of past colonists.
I'm not looking to field an army of King Kong's ...or am I?