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Table of Contents
Points of Divergence : Biology and Evolution
Points of divergence concerning alternate biological properties, alternate evolutionary routes and extinctions of life and lifeforms on Earth.
General musings
Why are there no two-legged predators ?
WI recent large animal extinctions were averted ?
Discussion on the possible survival of some species of extinct megafauna
Which extinctions could have been prevented ?
Extinct animal species alternate outcomes
AH Challenge: Prevent an extinction (1)
AH Challenge: Prevent an extinction (2)
WI recent large animal extinctions were averted ?
PODs about various extinct animal species
Saving Holocene animals from extinction
If these animals hadn't gone extinct, how would they fare today ?
WI Non-human animal with language (possibly coexisting with humans)
Alternate introduced fauna in Australia
Life on Europa: What would it be like ?
Know of any PODs or POD discussions ? Feel free to add them.
Plants
Tropical polar regions, polar tropics
Challenge: Keep the Sahara green
A temperate deciduous monster - too big ?
Know of any PODs or POD discussions ? Feel free to add them.
Insects
WI: Flies and other pests disappear ?
Rocky Mountain Locust doesn't go extinct
Know of any PODs or POD discussions ? Feel free to add them.
Fish and amphibians
WI the Placodermi didn't go extinct and form the majority in the oceans
Know of any PODs or POD discussions ? Feel free to add them.
Reptiles
WI: A different Permian extinction
No Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction event: No dinosaur dominance ?
If dinosaurs hadn't gone extinct ? (1)
If dinosaurs hadn't gone extinct ? (2)
Plausibility check: Dinosaurs surviving in the New World
Velociraptors survive and fill the role of domesticated dogs
Challenge: Troodons evolving sapience and inhabiting Earth in human times
WI a "lost world" was found in central Africa ?
Kerguelen Plateau as a "lost world" continent in the Southern Indian Ocean ?
Know of any PODs or POD discussions ? Feel free to add them.
Birds
WI: Terror Bird doesn't go extinct
A bird species evolving into a horse-like animal
WI: Late survival of the dodo in India
Save the ivory-billed woodpecker !
Know of any PODs or POD discussions ? Feel free to add them.
Mammals
Discussion on different evolution or possible domestication of North American megafauna
Discussion on the possible survival of some species of extinct megafauna
WI: Horses go extinct during the Middle Miocene Disruption
WI all horses were as small as ponies ?
Horses surviving in America (1)
Horses surviving in America (2)
Horses surviving in America (3)
Horses surviving in America (4)
Horses surviving in America (5)
Horses or camels surviving in America
Giant camels survive in the Middle East
Australian sabre tooth cat survives
Australian marsupials that could have evolved into domesticable horse-like animals ?
WI: The human race never came into existence and some other intelligent mammal did
If not from primates, then from what other line ?
Challenge: Make wolves and bears survive as domestic wild species on the British Isles
Challenge: Prevent the extinction of the jaguar in the US
Dire wolves, sabertooths and mammoths in the Americas instead of native men
Introducing cheetahs to the Americas
Know of any PODs or POD discussions ? Feel free to add them.
Anthropology and human evolution
A Bad Day Off East Africa, Around 3 Million Yrs Ago - A short scenario and discussion by DaleCoz.
Human evolution on an Earth orbiting a red dwarf star
If Homo sapiens were not the only sentient hominids ?
WI: Big foot was real/well-documented ?
Challenge: Neanderthals survive, humans go extinct
Descendants of homo floriensis inhabiting the New World instead of modern humans
How long until it will be difficult to reconstruct what humans even looked like ?
WI more of our genus survives ?
Contact with other species of humans
WI humans had the tapetum lucidum, allowing for greater natural night vision ?
WI: Fatherhood doesn't evolve with humans ?
WI skin color had different genetic coding ?
Plausibility check: More diverse eye colours in humans ?
Plausibility check: Humanoids with wings ?
WI: All humans prone to Celiac Disease
WI the situation from Crighton's novel "Eaters of the Dead" was real ?
Human running speed multiplies by three
Greater Amerindian immunity to Old World diseases ?
How would the world really react to "mutant powers" ?
WI: Human average lifespan was 450 years
A virus that turns humans into hobbits
WI Neanderthals revived in the future ?
Know of any PODs or POD discussions ? Feel free to add them.
See Also
Points of Divergence : Agriculture
Points of Divergence : Natural Disasters
Points of Divergence : Biological Sciences
Useful Resources on Biology and Ecology