Humans, after hundreds of years of constant effort, have successfully polluted all bodies of water on Earth. As a result, almost all previously known species of plant, animal, and other life have become extinct. Through natural selection, genetic engineering, and selective breeding programs, a portion of the Earth has been successfully repopulated. The following organisms are all that remain.
1. Photosynthetic humanoids with green, chlorophyll-containing hair.
2. Chemosynthetic dolphins who derive energy for food production from the contaminants in the water.
3. Aquatic humanoids who work on the dolphins' aquaculture farms. Heterotrophic.
4. Aqua-wheat. A heterotrophic crop grown by the dolphins. Feeds off bacteria or anything autotrophic.
5. Legless photosynthetic humanoid space travelers with arm-like tentacles. Visit the Earth approximately every six weeks.
6. Anaerobic humanoids designed for space living; when in Earth training programs, they must wear deoxygenated Earth suits. Heterotrophic.
7. Cockroaches that feed on humanoid and dolphin excrement. Decomposers.
8. Heterotrophic bacteria that feed on aquaculture crops or any autotrophic organisms. Used in genetic engineering factories, but found elsewhere also. Decomposers.
9. Green skinned photosynthetic rats.
10. Mosquitoes. Parasitic. Feed off of any humanoid organism.
Assignment
1. As an alien taxonomist, it is your responsibility to classify these existing organism types.
a. Create Latinoid descriptive names for each organism. Remember, these will be scientific and will include the genus and species classification, written as Genus species.b. Create a taxonomic scheme using only kingdom, phylum, genus, and species. The intermediate categories have been eliminated since the total number of species has been drastically reduced. Two kingdoms are recommended.
2. Illustrate your interpretation of each organism's appearance.
3. Construct three possible food chains with at least four links each. Remember to begin with an autotroph (producer) and end with a decomposer. The same organism(s) may appear in more than one food chain.
4. Prepare a dichotomous key for these organisms so that your fellow aliens can identify them when they come to Earth for their summer vacations.