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Expedition (book)

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+#REDIRECT [[Expedition (book)]]
-'''Darwin IV''' is a fictional [[planet]] that was the subject of [[Wayne Barlowe]]'s book ''[[Expedition (book)|Expedition]]'' and the [[television]] special, ''[[Alien Planet]]'', based on ''Expedition''. Although the details of the discovery and exploration of Darwin IV differ in the two presentations, both are essentially the same in their depiction of the planetary environment and its [[Extraterrestrial life|native lifeforms]], whose abundance and variety prompt the name [[Charles Darwin|Darwin]].
-''Expedition'' describes Darwin IV as the fourth of six planets orbiting a binary star system approximately 6.5 [[light year|light years]] from the [[Sol]] system. Darwin IV is discovered by a benevolent and technologically superior alien race known as the Yma. The Yma also provide suitable transportation to the planet for a number of human observers by means of an unspecified [[faster-than-light]] drive system. This technology reduces the travel time to a much more manageable 2 year journey, during which the explorers inhabit "[[Sleeper ship|sleep-pods]]." Barlowe notes that the Darwinian day lasts 26.7 hours and that its gravity is 0.6 times that of the Earth. Darwin IV's most notable surface feature is "Mare Amoebicus," the Amoebic Sea.
-In ''Alien Planet'' a less fantastic scenario is presented where a ship called the ''[[Von Braun]]'' is sent to explore an alien world outside the [[solar system]]. The ''Von Braun'' is sent to a binary star system about six and half light years from Earth.  At 20% of the speed of light (.2c), it takes over 40 years to travel to this system.  Upon arrival it goes into orbit around Darwin IV, the Von Braun deployed the Darwin Reconnaissance Orbiter to scan the planet from orbit. The Von Braun also dispatches three identically shaped [[lighter-than-air]] probes to the planet surface. These three probes are:
-*''[[Leonardo da Vinci]]'' (nicknamed "Leo" and colored blue).
-*''[[Isaac Newton]]'' (nicknamed "Ike" and colored yellow).
-*''[[Balboa]]'' (named after ''[[Vasco Nuñez de Balboa]]'' and colored red). Balboa did not survive entry into the Darwin IV atmosphere. (Balboa was evidently doomed from the start--the screenwriters of ''Alien Planet'' never proposed a nickname for it.)
-In both stories, the low [[gravity]] and dense [[atmosphere]] allow aerial organisms that would be impossible on [[Earth]].
-==List of species==
-Below is a list of the species found on Darwin IV. NOTE: Species marked with a "&dagger;" are featured in both the ''[[Alien Planet]]'' TV special and the book ''Expedition''. Unmarked species are found exclusively in the book.
-===Animals===
-* '''Arctic Sedge-slider''' - Around ten feet tall, the arctic sedge slider is perfectly adapted for life in the cold. The arctic sedge slider's name comes from the furrows it leaves in its wake. This creature has an ingenious adaption for the cold. When temperatures drop low, or a fierce arctic storm comes, the sedge slider has the ability to retract it's head deep into its warm body cavity. When conditions are favorable again, its head reemerges again and it resumes its activities. The arctic sedge slider has what may be the biggest sonar bulge of any animal on Darwin IV. This massive organ produces sonar pings in, not one, but multiple frequencies. And, since the bulge is on the sedge slider's back, it gives the animal to "see" in 360 degrees. It takes quite a clever predator to catch an arctic sedge slider by suprise. See a pair of sedge sliders [http://ampersand.no-ip.com/scifi/display/3820.jpg here.]
-* '''Arrowtongue'''&dagger;  - Averaging about eight feet tall, an arrowtongue impales its prey with a 26-foot-long flicking, serrated, arrow-tipped appendage. Like many spiders on Earth (and like most predators on Darwin IV), arrowtongues are liquivores, injecting digestive juices into their prey and then sucking out the food. They also are fierce, solitary hunters found across the planet.
-* '''Bladderhorn'''&dagger;  - It is bipedal and bright blue, with two antlers extending out of the sides of its head. Bladderhorns use bellows for communication, which, in ''Alien Planet'', makes Leo think it is intelligent, and he shows the Bladderhorn a symbol puzzle. This spooks the Bladderhorn into running away. Then the mystery creature attacks and deactivates Leo. Ike sees Bladderhorns near the conclusion of the exploration. Bladderhorns fight with their antlers, too, using light shows to scare enemies. Image of a Bladderhorn [http://ampersand.no-ip.com/scifi/display/3800.jpg here.]
-* '''Bolt tongue''' - Though it resembles a small arrowtongue, the bolt tongue has some key features that distinguish it from its larger relative. Its skull is longer and narrower than the arrowtongue's, and it lacks the small fleshy spines of its savannah counterpart. Its back lacks biolights and has a large patch of grey running from the tip of its skull to the end of its tail. The bolt tongue inhabits sub-polar regions of the northern icecap, where it preys upon several species of arctic herbivores. Image of a bolt tongue [http://ampersand.no-ip.com/scifi/display/3808.jpg here.]
-* '''Butchertree'''&dagger;  - Many species prey on the numerous, fast breeding prismalope, but the butchertree is the only species that has the prismalope come to it. Dotting the plains of the northern hemisphere, the butchertree kills just about anything unfortunate enough to come within attack range. It is unknown just how this species reproduces. One possibility is that the small flyer it associates with transfers eggs and sperm between individuals. Another possibility is that the flyer itself is the second gender of the species, a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_dimorphism sexually dimorphic] extreme. Either way, young butchertrees are found close to their "parent", and are connected to them through a umbilical cord similar to that of the "growths" that mimic the flyers. The "cord" disappears once the young are capable of nurishing themselves. See the butchertree, as well as the unamed flyer and prismalope [http://ampersand.no-ip.com/scifi/display/3805.jpg here.]
-* '''Daggerwrist'''&dagger;
-* '''Diskflyer''' - Diskflyers live in the Amoebic sea and operate within very distinct four square kilometer territories. It is not known whether young diskflyers stay within the territories in which they were born or if they leave to establish new territories of their own. Diskflyers are [[hermaphroditic]], and mating impregnates both partners. It is not known whether diskflyers give birth to live young or eggs, but it is probably the latter.
-* '''Ebony Blister-wing'''
-* '''Emperor Sea Strider'''&dagger;  - The emperor sea strider is the one of the largest known creatures on Darwin IV. In ''[[Alien Planet]]'', the Sea strider is around 80 feet tall, but in the book Expedition, it is more than 500 feet tall! Sea striders walk on the surface of the Amoebic sea with their two massive feet. Sea striders are found only on the Amoebic Sea for two reasons: the sea's gelatinous surface is the only material that can support the striders' great weight, and the sea is the only source of nutrients big enough to support such creatures. When sea striders are born they are capable of flight, but as adults they are bipedal.
-* '''Eosapien'''&dagger;
-* '''Fin Leg'''
-* '''Finned Snapper'''
-* '''Flipstick'''
-* '''Follow-wing'''
-* '''Forest Gulper'''
-* '''Forest Slider'''
-* '''Gelsucker''' - The gelsucker is a [[quadruped]], but also has a pair of clawed arms, giving it a total of six appendages. Gelsuckers are so called because they feast on the flesh of the jelly bladder plant, which grows in small groves on the outskirts of  pocket forests. They use their clawed arms to rip the "bladders" open, and then use their extendable [[proboscis]] to suck down the semi-solid flesh.
-* '''Grove-back'''&dagger;  - The groveback is the largest of the creatures of Darwin IV, with the possible exception, depending on definition, of the Ameobic Sea. Fully mature they are large enough that entire stands of trees grow on their backs during the long periods of dormancy they spend burried in the ground. Once mobile they travel on two large front legs and a rear appendage shape much like a [[sledge]] or runner. The feeding habits of the grove back differ between the book and the film. In the tv special ''[[Alien Planet]]'', the grove-back feeds by absorbing nutrients from the soil through the skin of its underbody. But, in the book Expedition, the grove-back is a filter feeder, feeding on the microscopic plants and animals that number in the thousands in Darwin IV's air currents. Considering the grove-back's size and speed, the former lifestyle is probably more realistic.
-* '''Gyrosprinter'''&dagger;
-* '''Hopper Cone'''
-* '''Icecrawler'''
-* '''Jetdarter'''&dagger;
-* '''Keeled Slider'''
-* '''Littoralope'''&dagger;
-* '''Mummy-nest Flyer'''
-* '''Praire-ram'''
-* '''Prismalope'''
-* '''Rayback'''
-* '''Rimerunner'''
-* '''Rugose Floater'''
-* '''Sac-back''' - The sacback lives at the edge of the Amoebic Sea, where it feeds on the sea's gelatanous covering. The sacback gets its name from the sac on the males back. The sac is used to store pre-digested "sea" material which is later fed to the females. Male and female sacbacks live completely different lives. Males live on the surface, walking around on their three legs. Female sacbacks dig "tombs" in which they bury themselves. Once buried, the only part of the female that sees the light of day is her mouth and tentacle. Image of mating sacbacks [http://ampersand.no-ip.com/scifi/display/3797.jpg here.]
-* '''Scavenge-wing'''
-* '''Skewer'''&dagger;
-* '''Springwing'''
-* '''Stripewing'''
-* '''Symet'''
-* '''Thornback'''
-* '''Tundra-plow'''
-* '''Unth'''&dagger;  - The Unth is a [[mountain]] creature that resembles a [[warthog]] somewhat. It is first encountered by Leo, but Ike meets up with this peaceful herbivore near the end of his journey. The Unth is so named because of the sound it makes when it exhales- uuuuuunnnth!!!! Unths live in herds. The Unth herd was apparently spooked by either the Bladderhorn duel nearby, or a mystery creature, which deactivated Leo. Its tusks are asymmetrical, which means they look different.
-* '''Unamed Flyer''' - As of yet, this species has no common name. This flying creature is the main food source of the prismalope in the northern plains. This species has developed an intriuging reltionship with the butchertree. Within a 15 ft or so radius of a butchertree are a dozen or so small growths. The growths are actually part of the butchertree, connected to it by underground tentacles. These growths are physically identical in appearance to the small unamed flyers, and should a flyer land next to one, it would be virtually impossible to tell which was which. This camouflage is often so good it can decieve prismalopes into coming inside the butchertree's attack range, where they then find themsleves skewered and drained of fluids. See the unamed flyer, prismalope, and butchertree [http://ampersand.no-ip.com/scifi/display/3805.jpg here.]
-===Plants===
-* '''Plaque-bark tree'''&dagger;
-* '''Tube grass'''
-* '''Aerophyte'''
-* '''Fodderball weed'''
-* '''Jelly-bladder plant'''
-* '''Float ball'''
-* '''Beachfinger'''
-* '''Hillvine'''
-* '''Cliff-polyp'''
-* '''Red mountain-spike'''
-* '''Arctic polar-vane'''
-* '''Snow-bulb'''
-[[Category:Fictional planets]]