What about the elephants?

[Spinward Scout]

So I was watching a funny video with elephants and a thought occurred to me. Why does Science Fiction always talk about uplifting the simians and the cetaceans, but never the elephants? Some scientists think that elephants have a perfect memory. How better to use that memory than with a higher intelligence?

 

[Enoki]

Jerry Pournelle's Footfall Alien elephants invade Earth....

 

[aramis]

So I was watching a funny video with elephants and a thought occurred to me. Why does Science Fiction always talk about uplifting the simians and the cetaceans, but never the elephants? Some scientists think that elephants have a perfect memory. How better to use that memory than with a higher intelligence?

Simians can use our tools and living spaces. Makes them cheap to outfit for.

Cetaceans can go places we can't.

Elephants have neither advantage.

 

[sabredog]

Jerry Pournelle's Footfall Alien elephants invade Earth....

Yeah, I read that - elephants are evil...if they get uplifted then we better get some lions uplifted too to protect us. Oh, too late...Aslan. :devil:

 

[nats]

Can you imagine how large a ship would have to be to be crewed by elephants? Not to mention how large the freshers would have to be.

 

[Rraurgrimm]

Looks like You might want to read Howard Taylers' Schlock Mercenary, uplifted elephants are part of his universe since about 2000: http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2000-12-17 First comic I found, I faintly remember having read a brief paragraph about dolphins, elephants and gorillas as well as apes having been uplifted but cannot seem to find it. They do appear in the comic, though.

When reading the comic, please bear in mind that it took some time to develop the distinct style and storylines.

and *edit:*
At least according to canon sources, the fteirle/Aslan did develop naturally on their homeworld without outside interference. Well, apart from obtaining the jumpdrive from the humans right before they were up to start their own nuclear destruction, that is.

 

[G. Kashkanun Anderson]

GURPS: ISW has uplifted elephants, known as 'miniphants'. I'm not anywhere near my book at the moment, so I can't check up as to what more (if anything) it says about them.

Generally, and as alluded to above, the main problem with smarted-up pachyderms would be how resource-intensive they would be relative to their utility. From that perspective some of the smaller mammals might be more useful. Humans might be about as big as you want to get for sentient land animals; you don't want to create uplifts that are forced to try to outcompete you for resources.

 

[McPerth]

Can you imagine how large a ship would have to be to be crewed by elephants? Not to mention how large the freshers would have to be.

Much larger than those for Orcinus Orca Sapiens?.

There' a reference to Orcas being uplifted (as dophins were) in the Suffren description in Astrogators' Guide to Diaspora (MT). I don't know if they are refered elsewhere in Traveller.

 

[rancke]

GURPS: ISW has uplifted elephants, known as 'miniphants'. I'm not anywhere near my book at the moment, so I can't check up as to what more (if anything) it says about them.

The Traveller wiki is your friend:

http://traveller.wikia.com/wiki/Miniphants


Hans

 

[BytePro]

Well, those are non-sapient...

Try - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babar_the_Elephant

I seem to recall these stories as a child - and at least one in which there was a spaceship and a city in the sky or some such...

Could see them retaining a relatively large head, sans tusks (or mostly), and a reduced, modified body structure allowing upright stature (maybe a bulky tail), and, of course, some way of holding things with the uplifted fore-legs (trunk could work for fine motor skills...).

 

[samuelvss]

Barbar in the Marches

Oh, the horror....:rofl:

 

[HiverLord]

Can you imagine how large a ship would have to be to be crewed by elephants? Not to mention how large the freshers would have to be.

Talk about your overloaded life support systems...

 

[Rigel Stardin]

Hivers are not exactly small creatures...

How many bails of hay can you store onboard one of those ships?

 

[aramis]

Hivers are not exactly small creatures...

How many bails of hay can you store onboard one of those ships?

Hivers require no more space than humans... it's just laid out differently.

K'kree, however, use 25 ton staterooms (but kids don't need one).