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Average Life Form

Create a model of a creature based on average dimensions of all life on Earth
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Take the idea of morphing two pictures of different animals together into a third to the next step. Morph three dimensional representation of all living things on Earth to see what the "average" life form looks like.

Complex multi-cellular creatures are probably outnumbered by the various kinds of single celled organisms so you might have to weigh the numbers so you don't just get a boring looking amoeba thing.

An offshoot of this would be something where you had a series of sliders, each one representing a particular animal and you could add or subtract for instance, the "rabbitness" and "lizardness" to your creature.

Not sure if you'd put plants in there. Yea, sure. Why not.

doctorremulac3, May 24 2016

Mix this thing... https://i.kinja-img...xq7boogqnxbvnsq.jpg
[doctorremulac3, May 24 2016]

...with this... http://www.freaking...el-Rhino--16459.jpg
[doctorremulac3, May 24 2016]

...little bit of this guy here... https://pbs.twimg.c...BNUFBreCEAAQcfs.jpg
[doctorremulac3, May 24 2016]

This one's a trip. https://s-media-cac...c32586c1da4d566.jpg
[doctorremulac3, May 24 2016]

Ooo, my favorite! http://stampsy-eu-1...0ca051b4d64b9b3.jpg
[doctorremulac3, May 24 2016]

These too.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wuzzles
The Wuzzles! [neutrinos_shadow, May 24 2016]

Spore http://www.spore.com/what/spore
[Ling, May 25 2016]

Average human face http://www.dailymai...ld-Chinese-man.html
Actually not, the video explains. [doctorremulac3, May 25 2016]

[link]






       sooo....   

       Ignoring the m-f-d bait, this belongs in a :graphics category, not :biology, yes ?   

       Or you mean a "DNA resequencer", as touted in many SF stories.
FlyingToaster, May 24 2016
  

       //three dimensional representation of all living things on Earth to see what the "average" life form looks like// Baked - the Welsh.
MaxwellBuchanan, May 24 2016
  

       Or geometric. Which would produce a sort of long- necked Great White Giraffelephant.
MaxwellBuchanan, May 24 2016
  

       //Mean, median or mode?//
I think all methods would result in a bacteria of some sort.
neutrinos_shadow, May 24 2016
  

       For certain a single cell, but what other features? Do we get a small flagella? Green? Which shape is most common?
WcW, May 24 2016
  

       Most animal species are beetles so if it looked like any animal it would be slightly beetle-ey.
hippo, May 25 2016
  

       Most animal species are parasites.
MaxwellBuchanan, May 25 2016
  

       Anyone remember "Spore" by Electronics Arts? I think it also had sliders.
Ling, May 25 2016
  

       Ok, these are the numbers:   

       Vertebrates Amphibians 6,199 Birds 9,956 Fish 30,000 Mammals 5,416 Reptiles 8,240 Subtotal 59,811   

       Invertebrates Insects 950,000 Molluscs 81,000 Crustaceans 40,000 Corals 2,175 Others 130,200 Subtotal 1,203,375   

       Plants Mosses 15,000 Ferns and allies 13,025 Gymnosperms 980 Dicotyledons 199,350 Monocotyledons 59,300 Green Algae 3,715 Red Algae 5,956 Subtotal 297,326   

       Others Lichens 10,000 Mushrooms 16,000 Brown Algae 2,849 Subtotal 28,849   

       Total 1,589,361   

       So basically you'd have to consider taking insects out of the mix or you'd just get some insecty looking thing.
doctorremulac3, May 25 2016
  

       Hmm. Good question.   

       Well, those are currently living things I assume. Supposedly the great majority of things that have lived are extinct. Is that everything? Dunno.   

       I was just thinking it would be interesting to mash the visual profiles of all life together to see what they looked like on average but to kick out any one group that's outnumbered every other group in their representation like single celled organisms or insects.   

       Just glancing at the numbers I'm thinking legs would be barely represented in the final "average Earthling", maybe little bumps at best.   

       Probably best to draw the average bird, fish, mammal, reptile and them average them together. I don't think the average plant would be terribly interesting. The average lichen would most definitely not be worth your time.   

       Not that that creating a picture of the average quadruped or bird would. Eh, just an idea.
doctorremulac3, May 25 2016
  

       // how many actual individual living instances there are (today)? //   

       <THWACK>   

       Well, you can knock one off the total for "insects".
8th of 7, May 25 2016
  

       By the way, the average human is asian. See link.   

       Actually, scratch that. After watching the associated video they just picked the most numerous group of people on the planet and averaged out that group's features.   

       Not seeing an average human face. I'm sure there's something on the web out there. Maybe I'll look later.
doctorremulac3, May 25 2016
  

       // Plants Mosses 15,000 Ferns and allies 13,025 Gymnosperms 980 Dicotyledons 199,350 Monocotyledons 59,300 Green Algae 3,715 Red Algae 5,956 Subtotal 297,326   

       Others Lichens 10,000 Mushrooms 16,000 Brown Algae 2,849 Subtotal 28,849   

       Total 1,589,361 //   

       I am Groot...   

       ^^ worse than the US electoral college. We have to use # of individuals or biomass to be even remotely representative.
WcW, May 25 2016
  

       Hmm. Plants, 1 celled organisms and insects are going to over weigh the profile with their numbers.   

       Maybe just an all "fish+birds+mammals" hybrid.   

       I mean, it's got to be interesting looking. A greenish brown splat would be pretty anticlimactic.   

       Ladies and gentlemen! The average Earthling is... envelope please.... brownish booger looking thing!
doctorremulac3, May 25 2016
  

       "They lichen me."
"They really lichen me!"
  

       I can't see that we've talked about individuals or species more. Nematodes are way more numerous than insects in that sense, but haven't got so many species and aren't very varied, so ignoring unicellular organisms, the average life form would look like a worm with a few bumps on it, I think, maybe a green one.
nineteenthly, May 27 2016
  

       Wouldn't the average life form for any particular group look more or less like its evolutionary progenitor at the point of divergence from other classes, but before it diverged into subspecies, itself ?
FlyingToaster, May 27 2016
  

       I'm thinking yes to both of those comments.   

       Perhaps a better variant of this idea would be to grind a blend of as many VISUALLY INTERESTING animals together as you could to see what you could come up with.   

       So basically if we get a request from Andromeda that says "Please send us an averaged out image of what you Earthlings look like." we'd put only the best looking of us life forms together to make something visually pleasing to the 16 eyes of the aliens posting the request. Leave the nematodes, bugs and germs out of it.
doctorremulac3, May 27 2016
  

       Well, if DNA usage is a constant across the universe, then we just send them that, so they know what spices to bring.
FlyingToaster, May 27 2016
  

       //Nematodes are way more numerous than insects in that sense, but haven't got so many species//   

       Actually, there are believed to be about as many species of nematode are there are species of insect. This is the least-interesting fact that I know.
MaxwellBuchanan, May 27 2016
  

       No, it's a fact that it is believed. I believe it, for instance.
MaxwellBuchanan, May 27 2016
  

       //This is the least-interesting fact that I know.//   

       Which is, ironically, sort of interesting.
doctorremulac3, May 27 2016
  

       //Can you prove you believe it?// Why, I believe I can.
MaxwellBuchanan, May 27 2016
  

       Somewhere far off, an epistemologist rolls over in her sleep, muttering uneasily.
pertinax, May 30 2016
  

       Actually it was too bright and I didn't sleep well.
nineteenthly, May 30 2016
  

       //Leave the nematodes, bugs and germs out of it//
Averaging all life is the only way to do it. Once you start picking and choosing, things become subjective and open to argument. And if you let a large group of people do the choosing (say, on an internet forum) you will end up with a fluffy kitten, guaranteed.
neutrinos_shadow, May 30 2016
  

       Yes, but I think we can all agree that if we do that we can expect it to be a microscopic round thing with a few bumps on it, no?   

       Although I guess to some extent that's interesting in itself. I'm going to go out on a limb and make a wild guess as to what the averaged Earth creature looks like.   

       "The averaged Earthling is about 1/10th of an inch long, ovoid with several bumps all over its body. It has no measurable intelligence and its sole purpose in life is to eat, reproduce and die."   

       I think that's a pretty safe bet.
doctorremulac3, May 30 2016
  

       so... jellyfish?   

       I'm gonna saaayyyy... yes.   

       Which could cause frustration when, at the intergalactic meeting of life forms the consul general from Andromeda calls on the human representative from Earth by saying: "You, the large jellyfish from the Sol star system with the long articulated appendages."
doctorremulac3, May 31 2016
  

       Actually, if you consider viruses to be living, then basically all terrestrial life is viruses. There are a few major families of bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria), and the average would look like one of them.
MaxwellBuchanan, May 31 2016
  

       //what would be the average information?//
These days? A Facebook selfie...
neutrinos_shadow, May 31 2016
  

       //If information is the dominant life form on Earth, what would be the average information?//   

       Adhunno. 42?
doctorremulac3, May 31 2016
  

       A whole number between 0 and 1.
FlyingToaster, May 31 2016
  

       // The averaged Earthling is about 1/10th of an inch long, ovoid with several bumps all over its body. It has no measurable intelligence and its sole purpose in life is to eat, reproduce and die." //   

       Ahh, Belgians....
8th of 7, Jun 01 2016
  

       Hmmm... how do you feel about mitochondria? many per cyte, (many cytes per organism, occasionally) and they have their own DNA
beanangel, Jun 04 2016
  

       Whoa, Beany! Long time no see!   

       As usual I have no idea what you're talking about but nice to hear from you. Where you been bro?
doctorremulac3, Jun 04 2016
  

       //Hmmm... how do you feel about mitochondria?//   

       Very carefully.   

       If we weighted by volume, I think the average colour would be green, with many limbs that waved about. Sort of like big green men without the men part.
Ling, Jun 05 2016
  

       I quite like averages of anything.... Have this croissant morsel to improve your own average. [+]
xenzag, Jun 05 2016
  

       You're awesome Xenny, thank you! :)
doctorremulac3, Jun 05 2016
  
      
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