Floran Physiology?

How are Florans able to move like they do? Plants don't have the right systems to make quick movement, the way mammals or bugs do. Are they 100% plant? What "organs" do they have that enable them to act like an animal?
I can only assume they became carnivorous to take in proteins that they must not be able to make on their own. The "Meet the Florans" page says that they eat each other during reproduction, but doesn't say anything about other times, so it may be able to be discounted as a part of their "diet". It could be a requirement to take in something specific for the process itself. Like "red" is the Floran that actually breeds, while "blue" has some kind of growth hormone required for the growth of young, and is eaten so "red" can get it. Even though the Floran don't have a gender, the different plant parts they can have means there would be some kind of species difference, wouldn't it? One type of plant doesn't grow multiple types of flower.
Please add your ideas or arguments for or against mine... I would like to see the answers I get.

 

Plants have genders, most plants can switch at will or are both genders at the same time.

I would imagine that they started out as normal plants where proper nutrients could only found through digestion of other life forms.

Other life forms gained more speed

Florans has to evolve a way to catch up

Other lifeforms gained defenses

Florans gain ways to universally bypass defenses, hands and the ability to use tools.

Of course I would imagine this process took a very long time but thats how I see it happened. In a way florans and plant life where the dominating life form so non plant life had to evolve which only made plant life do the same! Horrid cycle of change and destruction.

Also space plants are space plants.

 

Ofc there's a few greek and islamic theories saying that plants aren't like animals because they don't move, don't have to feed, etc. But these theories are old, innacurate and based on non-scientific observations
IMO, the misconception of plants not moving comes from the fact that they are rooted to gather nutrients from the soil, and from the fact that some plants actually move, like sunflowers when they turn to seek light, but the movement is genrally waaay slower than what most animals can do.

Now let's think about some specific plants and animals:
The sponge is an animal, but it stays stationary it's whole life in the same place!
On the other hand, the dionaea muscipula is a plant that can move as fast as an animal to capture insects, and she feeds on their nutrients!

But if there's animals that don't move and plants that do, what makes them different?!
Plants are different from animals because their cells are different. For instance; plant cells have a wall, they have chloroplasts, they are rectangular-shaped instead of round blob-like cells, and a few other things.
wouldn't be possible, in a few billion years, that a plant like the dionaea could evolve to be able to feed entirelly on nutrients gathered from insects and photosynthesis, and don't need to be rooted anymore?
It is scientifically possible for an animal-like plant to exist! It's the magic of evolution

(sorry for my english... )

 

Yes, plants have gender... except the Floran. It's specifically stated that they don't. I guess it's possible that they have both sets, like flowers? But if so, there would be no need for a second to reproduce. I also wanted to add in the animal element.
Also, I understand evolution is amazing (look at human systems), I was just talking about the specific systems that would have to be changed to enable the kind of bipedal movement the Florans have. And why bipedal? Humans are amazingly complex, but we're pretty far down the rung in survival oriented evolution. We've only done so because we thought our way out of situations by creating tools. A plant that evolved to eat prey shouldn't be bipedal.

 

Space magic.

Or maybe they were plants, but copied other beings they see. There were probably many human explorers on the original Floran planet, but then Florans evolved to impersonate the humans and ate them because humans were constantly looking for food to eat, so Florans think every other living thing are animals and must be eaten, like how humans eat animals.

 

Funnily enough, I posted an idea about a "slime" race that became sentient through absorbing a humanoid on their planet, enabling them to evolve a firmer structure not unlike bones to support a bipedal body. It lowered their inherent indestructibility, but enabled them to think and create a means to explore. But why humans? Apparently, there are a lot of humanoid races in the Starbound universe, no matter how improbable the chances to recreate that particular body type through evolution.

 

Maybe the apex mutated some plants they escaped any became the Floran?

 

Unless they did it a long time ago, I don't think so. They actually have a culture, even if it is primitive and/or tribal... That takes time.

 

Could of been mutated by early apex or human depending on how far back the timeline goes.

 

Genius !!

 

You capture them, Cut them in half, and count the rings...

 

Or just step one and step two - skip step three and straight to Profit!

 

(This is totally fanon before anyone asks where the information came from. I made it up myself.)

The physiological structure of the floran species begins with their neurology. They have a mass of electrically charged and insulated roots that work similarly to a mammalian brain. These roots have the capability to process and store data that the individual floran has experienced in their life. Connected to this 'central nervous system' are vine like roots that travel the length of the body. These roots serve the dual function of muscles and bones, keeping structure and facilitating at least the beginnings of movement. These vines are surrounded by a protective leaf shell, which makes up much of the floran's 'skin'. The head is more rigid than layered leaves can achieve, due to the importance of the root system. Instead, it is protected by a hard wood-keratin mixture, which is strengthened and formed from nutrients taken from the mammal races. This same substance forms their teeth, which, as many the unwary traveler have discovered, are perfectly capable of tearing flesh.

The rest of their body is mostly just for show, but three parts deserve attention. First of which is their eyes. Similar to an insects in construction, each individual section is a specialized photosensor. They act like the rods and cones of the mammal eye. They are all processed together to create a similar image to what every other race in the universe sees. There is also a level of redundancy to prevent loss of sight due to direct eye damage.

Second is the stomach. Much of their torso is composed of this organ, which is similar to a pitcher plant in shape and general function. The enzymes within are generally much stronger than what is seen in said plants, so as to allow quick digestion of vital food prey. The floran body uses most if not all material consumed. That which cannot be processed is later regurgitated, as they have no traditional bowel system. This includes hard bone (but marrow is completely digestible).

Third and finally is their heart. By the scientific definition, is is exactly like a mammal's heart. However the fact that a plant evolved a similar organ has been a matter of some controversy. The common theory is that it evolved from the standard plant vasculatory system, in order to provide enough of a push that the rest of the system can pull their 'blood' along. It became more powerful when they became two-legged creatures. The bipedal form is energy efficient for traveling long distances, which hints that early floran's had to travel far in order to find food, possibly the origin of their cannibalistic diet. As such, their vascular system had to strengthen to support running, which consumes a lot of energy to begin with.

 

They are not made out of wood though 0.0

 

Mm, before I forget, to address something in the first post, it is not stated that they eat each other during reproduction. Only during wars and funeral rites.

 

Easy.
Because our understanding of the differences between animals and plants within an enclosed environment does not have to apply to every faucet of an infinite universe.

From my understanding, Florans technological advancement was tied with an ability to assimilate. For all we know thier evolution may have branched (lol) from a predatory plant that began to absorb attributes from other native species as it fed on them.

 

This was very interesting, and nicely thought out. I only used the first part of it because quoting a wall of text is rude, in my opinion The biggest issue I have is why is it bipedal? I can't think of a single reason for it to evolve that way. I disagree with the "copying of apex/human" because Apex only recently left their planet, and we have no human back story yet (other than "something attacked and they ran). It would take a huge amount of time to evolve into intelligent life, so their time constraints aren't plausible.

 

Plants can't move quickly?

 

OMG THIS. I subscribe to this fanon theory. *subscribes* May I expand a little more? I've been thinking about this all day, and your theory is awesome.
See, I was wondering how, when it comes to Floran bipedal physiology as you've explained it, a brain-like organ would develop in the head if the original roots were in the ground when they were plants??? And then my brain did things:

So given your theory, I'd say the Floran evolved from a predatory plant that grew upside down from thick clumps of roots, called a bulb. Like the mimosa pudica plant and its ilk, its leaves were capable of movement and over time developed full movement of its vines, and hunted with its hanging 'limbs' pulling strangulated food into it's pitcher plant-like stomach. At this stage, they had primitive sensory cells capable of detecting light from dark, in order to distinguish night from day and approaching prey. With time, its ability to move grew stronger through natural selection, to the point that eventually its 'muscled' vines were capable of handling prey larger prey than the bulb's roots could hold. The bulbs would fall to the ground, and the plant 'learned' that it could drag itself over the ground (i.e. instinctually sought food and ended up moving towards it). Thus it became mobile, and took the first steps towards the bipedal creature we know today.

Because of constant contact with the ground and herbivorous critters, the bulb became enclosed in thicker leaves to protect the roots and the stomach, and grew spines to ward off biting animals (if it didn't already have them, a la venus fly trap). With time, the plant's increasingly sensitive primitive nervous system also became centralized inside the bulb to keep it safe and allow communication between all 'limbs.' The vines grew more systematically complex, allowing the plant to walk for short durations before requiring rest to 'recharge.' Likewise, its digestive capability got better. This species became widespread and it gained the ability to increase its speed when exposed to ample sunlight (it was probably an ectotherm at this time, and Florans might still be 'cold-blooded'?). This eventually brought the most successful populations of the species out onto plains and other sun exposed terrain. The heat allowed faster metabolism, and more photosynthesizing fuel, resulting in more physical activity for longer periods of time.

This accelerated their development tenfold. In a relatively short amount of time, the strongest of the species were capable of full movement during the day. The beginnings of a circulatory system had evolved from the plant's need to push fluids to carry carbon dioxide (and oxygen, as it was better for increased activity) to the mobile roots. The photosensitive cells began to move towards the front of the bulb and grow in complexity. Its prey got bigger, smarter, quicker, and the plant developed the mobility and instincts to keep up. At first, stealth tactics were favored, lying in wait in the dirt until the vines could grip prey and strangle it just like their ancestors did, but in turn prey became deadlier, and learned to destroy the bulb to stop them. Populations of this species that favored stealth eventually died out.

That leaves the ones that developed other methods - specifically, chasing and biting. Their spines were used as teeth, certain vine 'muscles' specializing into jaws. With these teeth came more advanced eyes, which grew towards the front of the bulb, and with eyes and a more sensitive sense of touch, the more complex the 'brain' grew. It got smarter, and this combination of teeth, eyes, and mobile strength became a diurnal ground crawling predator. Think 'octopus' but actually able to move on land. >_>

Then they did something surprising: They skipped the quadrupedal stage entirely. There was no need for it. With multiple limbs, they could easily stand erect, and the position was even favored - the bulb had grown too large, small lungs allowed more efficient exchange of gases and needed to be housed somewhere safe too, and the stomach was in a second bulb entirely, connected by tubes to the jaws. Standing upright increased exposure to light to the whole body, and gave a few advantages in hunting. The upright posture did expose most of the creature's weak spots, though, so over the centuries, the multiple limbs were 'wrapped' in leaves to protect them from harm and prevent certain fungi and insects from nesting along the vine-like muscles and getting inside the bulbs. This resulted in the minimum number of limbs necessary for the most efficient movement - two arms, two legs. The more compact build of the limbs made them even stronger, and with more sensitivity, they developed fine motor skills in what would become hands and feet. The jaw became smaller and more specialized for ripping smaller chunks of meat.

As each evolutionary milestone was reached, they came faster and faster, eventually resulting in a highly intelligent species with more brains than their developing cultures knew what to do with. They developed primitive values and tribes based on instincts they hadn't questioned yet, and have only just begun discovering what it means to be 'I' rather than a vague 'we.' Many Floran, even after they again skipped thousands of years of development to reach their Space Age, are still confused when they realize they can do more than what they think they're built to do.

It's only in recent years that increasing numbers of Floran individuals have begun to question their existence and transcend their 'natural state' to pursue new perspectives of themselves and the world around them. It is only recently that the Floran have begun to develop the social capacity for civilization!

 

Some of it is described by Deepclaw here.

I love your expansion of my theory, by the way! It makes me smile, a lot.

To further explain the bipedal form, it comes from the energy expended. Bipedal travel is efficient for long distance traveling. If you think about it, it makes sense that they became such. If any given area had an abundance of primordial florans, the animals that they preyed on would learn to avoid that area. As they gained mobility, they had to go longer and longer distances to find prey. Plus, as Deepclaw said above, it allows for more of the photosynthesizing leaves that supplements their diet to receive light.