If they breathe methane they must eat oxidizer.
Breathing = "buring". You will always need a chemical reaction which is exothermic ("energy positive") to "run" your organisms. For Earth-based life, this is basically (but not literally):CH2O (i.e., some sugar) + O2 <=> CO2 + H2OCO2 + H2O have less chemical energy than "CH2O" and O2, so reacting the latter will release some energy which the organisms can use. If you want to "breathe" methane (CH4), you need to react it with something - if that should result in the release of oxygen, whatever that "food" is will have to contain a lot of O. And the whole process should make sense in terms of energy. There are bacteria on Earth which do not breathe methane, but they produce it as a waste product, the so-called "methanogens". They react CO2 + 4 H2 to CH4 + 2 H2O. In this case, the H2 is found in hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean. The goal of photosynthesis is exactly the opposite of the reaction above: take water and CO2, produce sugars (used to build up the plant) and release waste oxygen. To make that "energy negative" work, plants have learned to use sunlight to provide the necessary energy. Photosynthesis only makes sense if it yields material which the plant can use to grow, like sugars. So for your plants you would have to find an energy-negative reaction which produces sugars AND releases methane.At a nearly 1 bar CO2 atmosphere, make sure your planet is far enough from its star, otherwise you might end up with quite a bit of greenhouse warming... In a CO2 + methane atmosphere, you cannot have fires. You would need oxygen (or another gas you can react the methane or CO2 with) for that.
So I think I got it. The methane breathers will breathe and eat as follows: sugar + carbon + methane + perchlorates (found in swamp water of the planet) = O2The plant photosynthesis in this world will be as follows: H2 (from anoxic water) + O2 (from animals) + C (sugars) + sunlight (photosynthesis) = methane.I hope I got this right. Alternatively I could just go with earthlike plants that produce oxygen, and just have large amounts of methanogen bacteria present in the water to produce methane. But then that would create a problem as to what point would the plants be doing in an ecology that has no use for them.
Quote from: Triptych on 01/18/2017 03:59 pmSo I think I got it. The methane breathers will breathe and eat as follows: sugar + carbon + methane + perchlorates (found in swamp water of the planet) = O2The plant photosynthesis in this world will be as follows: H2 (from anoxic water) + O2 (from animals) + C (sugars) + sunlight (photosynthesis) = methane.I hope I got this right. Alternatively I could just go with earthlike plants that produce oxygen, and just have large amounts of methanogen bacteria present in the water to produce methane. But then that would create a problem as to what point would the plants be doing in an ecology that has no use for them. The "flora" on their world could create hydrogen peroxide instead of perchlorates through a reverse nitrogen cycle! Then there'd be lots of oxidizer in the biomass, but not in the soil. That would allow "fauna" evolution to take place without constantly fighting against an ever-present oxidizer. They'd eat the hydrogen peroxide, but not be swimming around in it.
Quote from: sghill on 01/19/2017 01:08 pmQuote from: Triptych on 01/18/2017 03:59 pmSo I think I got it. The methane breathers will breathe and eat as follows: sugar + carbon + methane + perchlorates (found in swamp water of the planet) = O2The plant photosynthesis in this world will be as follows: H2 (from anoxic water) + O2 (from animals) + C (sugars) + sunlight (photosynthesis) = methane.I hope I got this right. Alternatively I could just go with earthlike plants that produce oxygen, and just have large amounts of methanogen bacteria present in the water to produce methane. But then that would create a problem as to what point would the plants be doing in an ecology that has no use for them. The "flora" on their world could create hydrogen peroxide instead of perchlorates through a reverse nitrogen cycle! Then there'd be lots of oxidizer in the biomass, but not in the soil. That would allow "fauna" evolution to take place without constantly fighting against an ever-present oxidizer. They'd eat the hydrogen peroxide, but not be swimming around in it.Awesome idea! I guess I can make the plants spew out hydrogen peroxide and methane. Thanks.
They'd eat the plants for the oxidizer (H2O2) and breathe the methane (for fuel). We do the reverse.The plants would spew methane and contain the H2O2 within themselves. You need to come up with a chemical formula for why.
