Species of the week: Vulcans

[Captain Seafort]

Yeah, I can't think of anything more illogical than that.

Hmm, except maybe for the Ocampans. Now that was just stupid writing.

That was beyond stupid to displaying a lack of Maths skills a five-year old should have. If two big Ocampa produce, on average, one little Ocampa, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that they should be extinct.

[Sionnach Glic]

Particularly if every female can only reproduce once in their life. And the fact that they're stuck together for three days isn't helpfull either.

Screw the Kazon, these guys were f****d long before Voyager turned up...

[Blackstar the Chakat]

Maybe multiple births were common. Kes did say she had an uncle I believe, when the Doctor got offended when Kes suggested her father's name for Wildman's baby. I think she mentioned an uncle's name which means that multiple births are at least possible. We also have no evidence to prove Kes was an only child.

[Sionnach Glic]

True, they may be ablet to have twins, triplets, etc.
But only being able to reproduce once is incredibly stupid.

[Captain Seafort]

They may be capable of multiple births, but in the one when Kes was jumping backwards through time from her death (can't remember the title) both her and her daughter had one child each, whereas you'd expect Ocampa, given their short lifespan and brief fertility, to give birth to litters.

[Sionnach Glic]

Good point.

Logic: 1
Writers: -29

[Blackstar the Chakat]

Well, I don't remember anything from that episode that would disprove the possibility of another child being born before or after the brief scene, and it's possible that alternate future Kes had another child but it was killed or assimilated. Voyager was far from being the safest place to live.

Or maybe they give birth a different way, like a few eggs are fertilized but they only mature one at a time. It would be far from the weirdist thing we've seen from a species.

[Sionnach Glic]

True, but Kes specificaly stated that Ocampan females (not sure about males) can only reproduce once.

[Blackstar the Chakat]

But she never said how they produce or how much.

[Thorin]

True, but Kes specificaly stated that Ocampan females (not sure about males) can only reproduce once.

Doesn't that mean that they'd realistically decrease in population very, very fast?

[Sionnach Glic]

I'll have to look up the dialogue again, but we know that they reproduce in a human-like way (ie, one bit goes into the other), although the actual mechanics of it are mostly unknown.

[Mikey]

Logic: 1
Writers: -29

I think you're being VERY generous to the writers.

[Sionnach Glic]

Doesn't that mean that they'd realistically decrease in population very, very fast?

That's my point. They were f****d long before the cartaker died.

I think you're being VERY generous to the writers

Well, I was only talking about the Ocampans. I don't think there's a number that quantifies how many times the Trek writers have done something stupid.

[Captain Seafort]

Ocampa mating apparently involves the female producing large amounts of arildite(sp?), the two stick to each other for several days, the female develops a sack on her back, and a few months later a sticky pops out of it. There's no space for a litter, and they certainly don't have delay timers on fertilised eggs.

[Blackstar the Chakat]

Then how about instead of a mid-life crisis they change genders? I even got an excuse for why they evolved that way: Overpopulation. Then the Caretaker shows up and accidentally wipes out their ecosystem and their biology doesn't have time to adapt.