posted
Andrew, I don't think that means what you think it means.
Omega: Well, yeah, but how would they come by it in the first place? Symbiotic evolution, perhaps. But what did the proto-Goa'uld get out of taking over land animals? It would need to be something complicated, since if they were just hitching a ride there are easier ways to do it.
(Yes, I realize that biology is the unpopular stepchild in science fiction, TV science fiction especially.)
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posted
Well, in terms of evolution, a water creature (read: Goa'uld) being able to latch on to land animals for transportations helps said creature go farther, spread its genes to other bodies of water that it would ordinarily be cut off from. The ability to burrow into the host's body could've developed as a means to leech off the resources of the host for longer trips away from water (since the Goa'uld wouldn't be able to easily eat while sitting on the shoulder of some prehistoric Unas). As for the ability to totally control the host's neurological functions, well, that makes the need to remain around water completely unnecessary.
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
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quote:As I said, there are much easier ways to hitch a ride, and you don't have to be sapient to take advantage of them.
Sorry, I meant to address that too. For the sake of argument, you could also say that early on, the primordial Unas didn't object to the early Goa'uld hitching a ride on their shoulders, and so they might've just inched their way up or something. But as the Goa'uld became sentient, and parasitic, they would've needed to develop a quicker means to attack and latch onto their hosts.
On a related note, why the frell didn't they ever make such a big deal of discovering the original homeworld of the Goa'uld? It could've been a huge breakthrough to capture some specimens (that probably were separated from the System Lords for a few thousand years, but genetically still mostly identical). But we never went back to or even heard a mention of P3X-888 again!
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted
Yes we did, once or twice, though it was not the object of the episode. Though I agree, it was disappointingly not exploited as it should have been. Still a pretty dangerous place, though.
posted
Maybe life between the Goa'uld and the Unas started off as symbiotic and as the Goa'uld evolved it became more parasitic. As we've seen the Tok'ra are symbiotic relationship - maybe it was a genetic throw-back that lead to the Tok'ra.
-------------------- "Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica." - Jim Halpert. (The Office)
posted
The Tok'ra are symbiotic because they choose to be. The only real difference between the Goa'uld and the Tok'ra is that the Tok'ra do not suppress the mind of the host. Physically, though, they're the same.
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posted
Maybe someone tweaked the Goa'uld for symbiosis to take advantage of their healing abilities and the parasite developed intelligence slowly from that point...returning to the homeworld as a spawning ground?
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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posted
The concept of genetic memory might affect the evolution of intelligence in unusual ways. If a dog was born with thousands of years of doggie experience, it'd probably be one smart dog. And then there's the fact that queens seem to have some control over the development of their children.
Though I'm still liking the idea of the Goa'uld as an artificial species...
Registered: Mar 1999
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quote:Originally posted by TSN: The Tok'ra are symbiotic because they choose to be. The only real difference between the Goa'uld and the Tok'ra is that the Tok'ra do not suppress the mind of the host. Physically, though, they're the same.
MAYBE though this is the true form of the Goa'uld - i.e. they originally existed as a symbiotic relationship with the Unas until some parasites realised they could forceably control their host.
-------------------- "Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica." - Jim Halpert. (The Office)
posted
That's a very interesting theory... dunno how reasonable it is, but it's very interesting nonetheless.
Remember, the Ancients already had their own healing powers, and they were already very long-lived (to the tune of millions of years, right?). So why would they need the Goa'uld? The only answer I can think of is that, if they WERE artificial, then they were created not for the Ancients themselves, but for the Humans instead.
It's possible that the Goa'uld were actually the result of some kind of genetic experimentation (maybe the Asgard?), but that doesn't exactly make sense either. What would they be used for? They could've been created or sent by the Ori, but the Ori didn't know that the Milky Way was inhabited with Humans.
No, I think that the Goa'uld probably evolved naturally, as was originally proposed. There just don't seem to be any likely candidates for creators.
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
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