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Post by Dividavi on Sept 19, 2023 20:23:31 GMT
As I understand it, crustacean creatures were the ancestors of today's insects. They got on land about 400 million years ago in the Devonian period. The original insects were flightless (as are today's Silverfish) but some developed winged flight in the mid Devonian. Insects are ubiquitous, they're everywhere. Most insects nowadays Pterygotes (winged) and this includes those wingless Hexapods who are descended from winged forbears, e.g. ants, termites, fleas. Again, it appears that some ancient winged form is the ancestor of all modern winged insects; it only happened once. In contrast, Vertebrates have developed flight several times as shown by birds, bats, pterodactyls and bat-winged flyers found in China. Insects have played a role in defining the developments of life on Earth. But what would have happened if some stray mutation had never occurred and there were no flying insects. Could other invertebrates develop flight. Denmark based designer Vladimir Stankovic thinks that Mollusks, particularly Cephalopods (octopuses, squids) could take the place of insects to some degree. What do you think?
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Post by Dividavi on Sept 19, 2023 21:43:23 GMT
I really doubt that Mollusks, particularly Cephalopods, could ever evolve into anything similar to insects. What else could fill the niches of insects in this world where Pterygotes never evolved. My answer would be Chordates, creatures like Penguins, Pangolins and people. Almost all Chordates are Vertebrates, but not all. You may wish to investigate Tunicates and Lancelets for examples of such. Anyway, if we assume that some ancient Chordate (non-vertebrate) was able to develop, its descendants could evolve into insect-like critters, kind of, sort of. Here are some ideas about what they might look like.
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Post by Flying Monkeys on Sept 25, 2023 2:08:17 GMT
What if there had been no flying monkeys???
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Post by PaulsLaugh on Sept 25, 2023 3:22:39 GMT
Japanese flying squid
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Post by PaulsLaugh on Sept 25, 2023 3:25:13 GMT
I really doubt that Mollusks, particularly Cephalopods, could ever evolve into anything similar to insects. What else could fill the niches of insects in this world where Pterygotes never evolved. My answer would be Chordates, creatures like Penguins, Pangolins and people. Almost all Chordates are Vertebrates, but not all. You may wish to investigate Tunicates and Lancelets for examples of such. Anyway, if we assume that some ancient Chordate (non-vertebrate) was able to develop, its descendants could evolve into insect-like critters, kind of, sort of. Here are some ideas about what they might look like. I guess hummingbirds could get even smaller, but without the tiny insects to pollinate the flowering planets, the fauna on Earth would be different too. And that in turn, would have affected any future animal evolution in the existing plant ecology.
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Post by Catman on Sept 25, 2023 3:43:23 GMT
Flying pigs and cows.
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Post by Prince Myshkin on Sept 25, 2023 5:02:31 GMT
The world needs a class of small creatures which can mass produce and fill up every available niche of the environment. I mean you wouldn't even have arachnids aka spiders if they had nothing to eat.
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Post by Dividavi on Sept 25, 2023 7:04:50 GMT
What if there had been no flying monkeys??? I don't think their absence from the world would have had much effect. They're not that important in the ecology. The Southeast Asian natives call them Colugos. They are arboreal gliding mammals that are native to Southeast Asia. Their closest evolutionary relatives are primates. There are just two living species of colugos: the Sunda flying lemur (Galeopterus variegatus) and the Philippine flying lemur (Cynocephalus volans). These two species make up the entire family Cynocephalidae and order Dermoptera (not to be confused with Dermaptera, an order of insects known as earwigs). In English, Colugos are generally referred to as Flying Lemurs although they can not fly and are not lemurs. Interesting video on phylogeny of Colugos
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Post by cinemachinery on Sept 30, 2023 15:24:24 GMT
Maybe we wouldn’t see the prevalence of spread by pollination we do now. Maybe it would have moved more along a fungus-esque spore model.
Or maybe certain mammals would have evolved to spread pollen and benefit from it.
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Post by Earthlings on Jan 9, 2024 18:16:46 GMT
Many birds would not survive. These bird mainly eat just flying insects. Swallows, swifts, nighthawks, flycatchers, some warblers, and Cedar Waxwings.
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Post by ShadowSouL Likes This on Jan 9, 2024 22:36:03 GMT
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Post by SixOfTheRichest on Jan 10, 2024 23:24:18 GMT
Evolution of creatures is fascinating. The sea life holds many wonders. That is why sea creatures need be left alone and not caught for human consumption. Humans can devour land vegetation instead if they want to evolve.
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Post by ShadowSouL Likes This on Jan 11, 2024 4:29:19 GMT
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Post by PaulsLaugh on Jan 11, 2024 4:35:02 GMT
Without the insects to pollinate plants, then our flora would be different, probably still more coniferous. I can see spiders evolving using their web spinning as a means to take flight. Overtime the silks webs take on an aerodynamic design.
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Post by PaulsLaugh on Jan 11, 2024 4:42:56 GMT
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