Allow us to fill in the blanks of the animorphs universe.

[Blazing Angel]

But life has been shown to grow without interference literally thousands of other times. The Ellemist Chronicles proves that.

[RYTX]

This isn't the thread for this, and I've tried squashing this elsewhere, but it seems the only thing I can do is jump it wherever it appears:
What is it in the context of this series that makes you think the Ellimist did anything relevant to developing the ENTIRE andalite world?
He joined a tribe. He thought-spoke by accident once, and then went to using signs. He used his beam weapon on two occasions when the the tribe-enter tribe, not species- encounter a "monster"

And I quote
I lived with them, and refused to teach, refused to interfere. -TEC page 176.

Beyond putting Elfangor back, we know nothing of him willfully modifying the Andalite world.



Now, in the context of the story, for humans it may just be our time- but given what little we are, I'd maintain Earth is something special.
A million and more species currently deck the planet, and it's been on the rise for eons. And what's constituted it has changed a great extent in that time- radiations of reptiles, birds, mammals, types of plants.
The Yeerks only have an interest in the humans. If we are winding our way to a dieback, only time will will tell.
Though I must point out, a dieback is almost certainly not the case for Yeerks, who it seems may not, or would just barely be saturated with 6 billion host

That leads me to reflect on how Earth remains a great source of diversity and has for eons, something that may not be the case on other worlds (Kets acid surface, Iskoort swamps, acid rain on the Yeerk world the Arn's change in atmosphere). It may be there entire world has only been suited for a particular way of live all this time

[Blazing Angel]

I think the real development that the ellemist caused were that his children carried his ability of biological telepathy, and through the process of natural selection eventually the entire population had it.

[Morilore]

Let me put it this way: there have been several mass-extinction events in the history of the Earth, and we are in the middle of one right now, and have been since the dawn of human history.

[SkyMorpher]

I thought it was said he did leave some kind of legacy behind, I just can't recall what. I like NewBlazingAngel's comment though.

[RYTX]

I'm not saying extinctions haven't happened, but I'm saying Earth has never suffered a permanent one, an unrecoverable one, one where diversity drops and then stays low
The permian extinction may have cut the the numbers of different things on earth immensely, but overall it recovered. Certain groups never did, but over all divergence began again and exceeds what it was before the extinction. And even following extinctions, the absolute number of species is still more than a few.

What nBA said did give me pause. I can't support it, nor can I shot it down entirely

The thoughspeak thing, pg 174 went "I could sense quite clearly their emotional states. It wasn't just the body language. They seemed capable of projecting a sort of basic emotional language by some means I could not discern.
<I'm not an enemy,> I said. I said it without thinking, automatically accessing my communications system — a system that was part of my other body, no part of this form.
And yet, I saw a subtle relaxation on the part of the creatures. They had "heard" me. Or had at least heard the emotional tone.
I tried again. <I wish to be a friend. I am here to . . .> I was about to say that I was there to help. But no, that wasn't it anymore. <I am here to learn from you.>"

The way this is written the "emotional language" seems like a primitive thought-speak they already have.
What the Ellimist does he says he does through his other body, not the Andalite one, which is confusing. Is it then biological? Because if it's not through his andalite body, and not biological, then his kids couldn't get it.
And depending on how prolific his children where, it's a mute point. We get no indication it's genetic, nor that his kids use it; no indication it's adaptive. No way to deny that, but no way to confirm either.

The only undeniable legacy he leaves the Andalites is the name

So, new questions,  where does thought speak come from and how does it really work?
Ellimist-Andalites aside, we also it used by, at least, iskoort, mercorra, helmacron, and understood enough be used/detected by Pemalites, and Nesk (or something) presumably all independently

[Blazing Angel]

Well since they project emotion, I would assume that their is something in the andalite brain that is similar to a radio reciever and transmitter. I again bring up the point of natural selection. The andalites who's transmitters and recievers were naturally stronger, could communicate better, and were more likely to survive.

Imagine that giant tree monster was attacking a single andalite, and he tries to call for help. Instead of the others simply knowing that somebody is scared out of their mind, the one being attacked can say. "I am north of the village."

[RYTX]

cha-ha,
I meant the mechanisms-the chemistry, biology and physics selection has to act upon. How does your radio function? Is it the same for each species?
How do you project emotion to another without a visual, chemical or mechanical stimulus?
I've no real world comparisons

[Blazing Angel]

Real world comparison: Twin telepathy. twins are connected in someway that allows weak links like emotions or feelings of pain to come through. My personal theory is that in some way, they have the same brain so when a twins brain lets out a signal, his twin who has an identical brain is the only one who is capable of hearing it since he's on the right "frequency."

[Andalite_Shorm]

I would imagine the Gedds might eat underground plants or bugs as someone said above... After all, we know the Gedds can't see well, but who said they can't smell or hear well? :3

[yunyun]

Real world comparison: Twin telepathy. twins are connected in someway that allows weak links like emotions or feelings of pain to come through. My personal theory is that in some way, they have the same brain so when a twins brain lets out a signal, his twin who has an identical brain is the only one who is capable of hearing it since he's on the right "frequency."

But some people don't believe in twin telepathy. And also, with 7 billion people, shouldn't there be more of that then? Or is there like an infinite number of your 'frequencies'?

[Blazing Angel]

In theory, yes.

[Snakie]

I loved the Ellimist at the time of reading them, but looking back I really don't see why the whole Animorphs storyline had to be placed in the larger context of a "game" between two very powerful beings.

Isn't fighting for the survival of the human race and freedom for the galaxy high enough stakes?  What was the point, really, from a storytelling perspective, to add that whole additional level to it?

[Gafrash]

Has someone somewhere already done a hypothesis on the morphing process in itself...?

I've always wondered about some of its factors;

Was there a limit to the amount of morphs?
Since there was a power limit, it's safe to assume that there was also a number limit to the morphs relative to the subject.

HOW does morphing INCLUDE foreign-genetic material (ref. to a yeerk within the subject's skull), as well as non-genetic material (ref. skin-tight clothing, or even loose wear)?
Furthermore, I can fill in the gap for things such as age, hormones and such during the morphing process, but what about things such as proteins, body fat, water, which are all relative to environmental factors of the subject to start with? (Take Marco morph the overweight office dude..)

I can't remember whether the morphing technology was developed DURING the war, or prior to it. The scientists could have done it for military or medical purposes, but the truth is, it was new around the time the Yeerks invaded the Hork-Bajir planet, which was shortly after Prince Seerow had done his 'kindness', when the war began.
HOW would the Andalites have come across + developed this technology?
I suspect the Andalites were thinking of morphing BEFORE the Yeerk X Andalite war. At that stage, they were already exploring the galaxy, its planets and meeting other sentient alien species. I imagine that they would have felt like studying/researching any/all of those species, too.
They may well have been inspired by a species that metamorphs during its lifecycle, much like the good old caterpillar here on Earth, and emulated the process to beat some of the limitations they had in their exploration of the galaxy.
The Andalites don't have much for wear, and they would have come across extreme landscapes of, say, heavy-gravity or low-temperatures. To beat this, I reckon their scientists would have gone beyond just protective suits and wear... The thought of 'becoming a local' in order to more closely interact with the planet, seems more in tune with them, then conjuring some outer gear.
The technology wouldn't have been further refined until the military demand.

I think Kadrona is a very weak form of radiation, that over thousands of years, is imbedded into the soil itself.

Whoa! I like this hypothesizing.

Real world comparison: Twin telepathy. twins are connected in someway that allows weak links like emotions or feelings of pain to come through. My personal theory is that in some way, they have the same brain so when a twins brain lets out a signal, his twin who has an identical brain is the only one who is capable of hearing it since he's on the right "frequency."

The Andalites have a natural understanding and advanced handle of these telepathic things, beyond the human capacity.
Since the Anis got the thought-speech ability when they received the morphing power, I’m guessing it’s as simple as an Andalite genetic attribute, one of which has been technologically copied by their scientists. Much like the internal sense of time and direction the military also whipped up.

[TobiasMasonPark]

I loved the Ellimist at the time of reading them, but looking back I really don't see why the whole Animorphs storyline had to be placed in the larger context of a "game" between two very powerful beings.
Isn't fighting for the survival of the human race and freedom for the galaxy high enough stakes?  What was the point, really, from a storytelling perspective, to add that whole additional level to it?

     I think it's appropriate from a story telling perspective, actually. The themes of free will and determinism/fate are prevalent in the Animorphs universe, and even the Ellimist and, presumably, Crayak are subject to what we would call fate or a higher power. Are the Animorphs free in their decision making when they have two quasi-omnipotent powers casually pulling the strings--no matter how small a move? From day one--the Invasion-- the Animorphs haven't REALLY made a choice in fighting the Yeerks, did they? We see in Back to Before that, even if they "chose" to not pass through the construction site, they would have been involved in the war anyway. Why? Because, like it or not, the Ellimist "stacked the deck."*

     Back to the topic, though. I don't know if I have much else to add to the questions posed by Gafrash--nice ones, by the way-- so I'll keep this going by posing some more.

     1) How does Andalite language work?

     I get that there's something about an Andalite's emotions that factors in to it all, but the Andalites DO have a language. Humans have many languages. We also have mouths. These diverse languages have dialects, and require certain pronunciations, inflections, and working your throat and such to say a certain word properly.** How does this work for a species that a) doesn't have--as far as we know-- dialects or other languages, or b) mouths to make noises at all. Body language can say a lot, but could the Andalites convey a whole lot in their body movements and still be as "advanced" as they claim?

     Let's take the word Hirac Delest. I always imagined that it sounded like the "rac" would come from the throat. But could they make that noise without having the mouth parts to do it? I don't know. I have a limited--non-existent-- knowledge on mouths and languages; other than the fact that I have one and use the other...or both...

     2) Why are the Taxxons so darn hungry?

     This is what I got from the wiki page for Taxxons:***

   "Taxxon hunger comes from a built-in eating disorder; when morphing a Taxxon, Tobias notes that its hunger instinct is exaggerated by its sentience. The Taxxons are literally mad with hunger, out of an irrational fear of starvation. This may be because their planet, while apparently host to very large bodies of water (hence their mobility in aquatic environments - see below) is largely devoid of life; this may have resulted in the Taxxon hunger developing as an evolutionary advantage, taking the opportunity of any and all food the moment it becomes available."   
     
     I read a fic--most likely called Taxxon Chronicles-- where the author states that the Taxxon planet was once lush with life, but a comet drove it to its present state. I can buy that--or something like it. But as I'm not well versed enough in biology and evolution, I can't really speculate.

     3) Do the Gedds have names?

     They're said to be "barely" sentient, and their mobility and capability of speech is limited. So maybe they don't.

     4) Where are the other species the Yeerks apparently have infested/conquered?

     Yea, there's already a thread talking about this, but I'd really like to hear everyone's thoughts on that. I have a few theory as to where the Mak, Sstram, and Nahara are:

     Their bodies are not able to leave their home planets for what ever reason (maybe they can't breath the stuff other atmospheres are made of; that sounds pretty logical to me) or are only capable of carrying on the most basic of tasks (like Gedds and Taxxons); essentially they're a class two species.

     Or, their bodies are decent enough, but would be better suited on the other worlds they're supposedly invading?

     Or, when Temrash said "conquered" he meant, wiped out?

     Or, as some believe, Temrash either lied or exaggerated when he bragged to Jake?****

     5) What was done with the now morph capable former hosts?

     6) Was the morphing technology offered to the sick and disabled?

     7) What do you think happened to Esplin 9466 lesser?

      What effects would the nothlit Yeerks on Earth have on the ecosystem?

     Especially the ones that morphed animals? I mean, there were a lot of Yeerks on earth--in California alone. Throw in the Taxxons in the Amazon and you have a significantly larger number of Animals that may have been endangered at one point--or even Animals that were in no danger of extinction at all!
         

     * Except for poor Rachel, and maybe David.
     ** Look at me, pretending like I know what the hell I'm talking about
     *** Yea, I know--not the greatest source. But it's speculative, so no harm, no foul.
     **** The Capture