Biont

The wide range of sizes and forms that humanoid bionts can take in the Terragen Sphere

Biont : Any organic life form, Terragen or otherwise, whether natural or engineered. Most offten this term is used exclusively for organic beings of sophont-grade intelligence, since the root of the word is "biological sophont". Among Terragens, many bionts are of humanoid form derived from the original human baseline shape, either by descent or imitation, although there are many other body-plans.

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• Bioborg
• Bioism
• Biomod - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
  A biotech or bioborg augment or mod, especially one that can be easily or relatively easily applied to any biont, bioborg, cyborg, biovec.
• Biontogenics - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
  The science and art of creating biont clades, usually from scratch. Such bionts do not necessarily have to look unusual, they may be typical nearbaseline in appearance for example.
• Biontogenist - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
  Term given to sophonts - usually transapients but may be superbright/superturing - who create for business, pleasure, or other motives entire biont clades. Biontogenists may be biological ((nano/synano-)bioborg), cyborg, ai, or even virtuals (assuming the latter have the appropriate physical interfaces).
• Biophysics
• Biotic Analogy Theories
• Biotics
• Citizens (Zars)
• Clade (sophontology)
• Cladism (provolutionist) - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
  A preference for or tendency towards evolving into clades and sub-clades.
• Dogmen, Dog-men
• Enhanced Dolphins
• Gaian Whale
• Goliaths
• Grays
• Homo sapiens - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
  Large-brained hominid species that emerged perhaps 400,000 years ago (Heidelberg Man, etc.). Homo sapiens evolved from Homo erectus and eventually replaced Homo neanderthalensis to become the sole hominid species and subspecies. Includes thousands of subspecies, almost all of which date from post-Interplanetary period.
• Homo sapiens species group - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
  A large and diverse group of hominid species that include Homo sapiens and many similar forms. See also Near-Baseline.
• Homorph, Alien - Text by Steve Bowers
  Xenosophonts who deliberately adopt human (or general terragen hominid) form, morphology, or biochemistry. While homomorphism is fairly popular among some alien races and clades, many alien societies are under embargo to avoid cross-cultural pollution, so the homorph is often illegal. See also Toulhuman.
• Keruing, Clade
• Kobolds
• Lauro, Clade
• Mammal
• Manimal - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
  A male humanimal.
• Martian Tweaks
• Merpeople
• Methuselahs
• Monkey
• Nauri
• Neb - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
  Colloquial term for a human nearbaseline.
• Neo-Pigs
• Nephilim, The
• Nisse, Clade
• Parthene, Clade
• Pet Humans
• Phenotype - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
  The appearance of an organism with respect to a particular group of physical, biochemical, and physiologic characteristics, as a result of the interaction of its genotype and its environment.
• Phenotypic Augmentation - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
  Biological or genetic modification or augmentation that effects the phenotype only. It alters the characteristics of the user, and sometimes also that of clones from the user's somatic cells, but it does not modify the user's offspring. Contrast with genotypic augmentation.
• Plebhu
  An ordinary, undistinguished human, usually a nearbaseline; the average citizen (Zar). Typically there is an implication of mediocrity, of an individual who has no notable achievements or talents. According to local usage this may simply be a descriptive term, especially as applied to populations (for instance, the most common variety of human nearbaseline is designated H. sapiens plebus). Often, though, as used by nonhumans or by Hider, colonist, or other "independent" humans it may be intended as an insult, implying that the target of the slight shows a lack of intelligence and initiative, and has general low status as some archailect's lightly valued sophontstock.
• Putorians, Neputons, and Nanputons
• Relanimal - Text by Jorge Ditchkenberg
  A relifed animal.
• Rise of Homo Superior, The
• Rodent - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
  Order of usually small Terragen gnawing mammals, mostly herbivorous, distinguished by enlarged front incisors and a lack of canine teeth. Includes rats, mice, hamsters, squirrels, voles, beavers and many other species. The most diverse of all Terragen mammals, some rodents have proved extremely adaptable and accompanied baseline humans into space during the Interplanetary period. Others however are very vulnerable to new conditions and require biohabitats that reproduce their original environment. Rodents are a popular subject for gengineeers and rodent variants often prove to be popular pets.
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• Sentients Overview
• Siberoo
• Space People - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
  [1] (archaic) A common early term for Space Adapted Humans, still used by some descendants of the original clade.
  [2] (Second Federation Era) A term for vacuum adapted tweaks, now rarely used.
• Space Spiders - Text by Steve Bowers
  Vacuum and zero gee adapted, sentient or semisentient spidersplices, from micro-scale to giant; usually capable of producing buckyfibre silk. Contribute to many megascale building projects, sometimes controlled directly by transcended postspiders.
• Subsophont - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
  A being - whether biological or aioidal, that may be sentient but has not developed true sophonce.
• Sufants
• Supersophonts
• Tavi, Clade
• Tiger Splices
• To'ul'human - Text by Steve Bowers
  Homorph To'ul'h who have been given or adopted human shape by advanced biotech. They also can take To'ul'h form in earthlike environments or adapted human form in toulovenusian environments.
• Toy Humans
• Tro'el, Clade
• Twin Clades
• Ungulate - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
  General term for terragen hoofed, herbivorous, placental mammals. The hoof is made of the protein keratin. Representative baseline ungulates include horses, sheep, pigs, deer, camels, bovids, and many other species. Many ungulate species have been provolved, others have been raised to presophonce, or geneered or adapted in various ways.
• Vampires
• Werewolves
• Xenobiont
• Zooplankton - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
  Animals that float passively in the water as part of the plankton. Zooplankton feed on other plankton (phytoplankton, bacterioplankton or other zooplankton) and are in turn food for larger aquatic organisms. An important part of the aquatic ecology of any terragen and terragen-type ecosystem.
• Zoosplice - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
  Gengineered terragen animal neospecies made from integration of two or more species.