PLANET ALTOID

by Drew Dinsmore and Brendan Wilson
Biol 3, 1998

Altoid is a small, lush planet orbiting the star Wiggin. It rotates twice as slowly as earth, of course making each day and night twice as long. It is covered mostly in swampy wetland terrain similiar to the Florida Everglades. Despite Wiggin's heat, which is somewhat greater than that of our Sun's, the long nights allow temperatures to cool suffieciantly to keep the planet from rarely heating over 110 degrees Fahrenheit. There is also high humidity and frequent rain, which, though torrential, does not last long and is quickly followed by sunshine. Thus plants of all sorts flourish, most especially tall grass, which grows in shallow water and usually protrudes a foot or so above the surface, providing various essential services for almost every organism in the ecosystem.

 

Typical Wetlands Ecosystem on Altoid

 

Look confusing? This is actually an extremely simplified diagram tracing the interractions of some of the major organisms in an average Altoidian ecosystem. The red arrows represent predation while the grey denotes transfer of energy in the form of light and heat.

Species

Some of Altoid's Swamp-dwelling Organisms*

*To avoid confusion, we will use descriptive names istead of the organisms actual appellations, which would not mean anything to an earthling.

Plants Alligator Snakes Fish Flying Frogs
Vampire  Beatles
 
 Rodents Swimming Birds
Microbes CarnivorousPlants
Six-legged bears ShaggyDeer Wiggin

For more information on actual wetlands, click here:

Wetlands or National Geographic

Credits

Biol 3 Home Page