01-22-2018, 03:29 AM | #381 | |
Join Date: Jun 2006
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Re: [IW] Ordinary Worlds with valuables!
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Domestication has little or nothing to do with being "smart", it has to do with having a social structure people can exploit. Things that live in groups (packs, herds, flocks, colonies whatever) are likely candidates. Things that live solo are terrible ones.
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01-22-2018, 06:46 AM | #382 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Re: [IW] Ordinary Worlds with valuables!
Crocodiles can be tamed ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocho_(crocodile) ), it is just that people rarely make the attempt because of the fact that the grow into large carnivores. In fact, the majority of animals above the intelligence of insects can be tamed and trained, it is just that few people make the effort, though groundhogs seem to be terrible candidates by all reports.
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01-23-2018, 08:30 AM | #383 | |
Join Date: Jun 2006
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Re: [IW] Ordinary Worlds with valuables!
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Of course many agents who operated on that timeline are not so fond of them, thanks to their traumatic memories of dealing with guard crocodiles.
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-- MA Lloyd Last edited by malloyd; 01-23-2018 at 08:34 AM. |
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01-23-2018, 03:08 PM | #384 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Re: [IW] Ordinary Worlds with valuables!
Domesticated crocodiles (as opposed to tame wild crocodiles) would be an interesting export. Saltwater Crocodiles can live up to 100 years, so you could have multiple generations within a human family partnering with a domesticated Saltwater Crocodile. Wild saltwater crocodiles have IQ 3, so a domesticated subspecies could have IQ 4 after hundreds of years of selective breeding (along with increase ST and other traits), with some individuals within the domesticated subspecies reaching IQ 5 or even IQ 6.
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01-23-2018, 03:14 PM | #385 |
Join Date: Mar 2008
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Re: [IW] Ordinary Worlds with valuables!
There were once dwarf elephant species on the Mediterranean islands and in Indonesia. Given how well the large ones domesticate and the dwarf ones were often only waist high to a adult person they might make a new pet. Has to be some worlds where they haven't died out. Or dwarf mastodons from the Channel Islands off California.
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01-23-2018, 03:14 PM | #386 | |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
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Re: [IW] Ordinary Worlds with valuables!
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I assumed they meant domesticated like a riding animal which requires intelligence on par with a mammal. (I have been extra scatter-brained lately.)
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Beware, poor communication skills. No offense intended. If offended, it just means that I failed my writing skill check. Last edited by Flyndaran; 01-23-2018 at 03:20 PM. |
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01-23-2018, 03:20 PM | #387 | |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
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Re: [IW] Ordinary Worlds with valuables!
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Extinct crocodilians were FAR more varied than the few modern ones. It's not hard to imagine a smarter even warm blooded relative on a parallel amenable to training. Saltwater crocs don't mature fast and generation length is what's important for selective breeding, not number of years spent doing so. 15 years minimum per generation is slow. I wonder if there's a reptilian version of the mammalian and avian domestication syndrome.
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01-23-2018, 03:29 PM | #388 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Re: [IW] Ordinary Worlds with valuables!
I agree, but they have created domesticated foxes in only a dozen fox generations, which would translate to a couple hundred years for saltwater crocodiles (or some extinct relative). You just have to ruthlessly throw out any unsuitable candidates during the process.
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01-23-2018, 03:34 PM | #389 |
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Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
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Re: [IW] Ordinary Worlds with valuables!
Canines and their relatives are unusually domesticatable.
Many have attempted to domesticate all sorts of animals with only a low percentage working. Horses worked, but zebras, not so much. Given enough time, effort, and some understanding of heredity, I wouldn't say any particular animal is impossible to domesticate if not necessarily make trainable or much smarter.
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01-23-2018, 04:10 PM | #390 | |
Join Date: Nov 2004
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Re: [IW] Ordinary Worlds with valuables!
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