Mariposan

			Intelligent Lifeform Index

Mariposan
Four Letter Code	MARI
Federation Status	Neutral
Planet of Origin	Mariposa
Encountered	TNG: "Up The Long Ladder"
T/E Rating	T0/E0
Current Tech Level	L
List of Named Mariposans
Full ILI Gallery • Permitted Species Gallery

"We survived due to science and our own intellectual possibilities."

a Mariposan proverb.

The Mariposans are a cloned race of human scientists descended entirely from the five survivors of a colony ship in the 22nd Century. They abandoned sexual reproduction due to their limited gene pool and found it repugnant being reunited with the lusty Bringloidi, their original shipmates, in 2365 to avoid the 15-generation limit of replicative fading.

Home System

• Quadrant: Beta
• Location: Ficus Sector (coordinates B25-0002-1301)
• Proper Name: Mariposa system
• Star: It orbits a class F (Yellow/White) star
• Distance from Star: its orbit is approximately 41 million km
• Companions: It is the 4th of 9 planets in the system
• Moons: it has 3 moons

Home World

• Proper Name: Mariposa
• Diameter: 20,984 km (13,039 miles)
• Gravity: 0.98 standard gravity with a density of 3.3
• Axial Tilt: 12.6%, with normal seasonal changes
• Orbital Period: 347 days
• Rotational Period: 22.9 hours
• Classification: M
• Surface Water: 61%
• Atmosphere: 0.96% is a standard pressure with 72% nitrogen, 27% oxygen, 1% trace chemicals
• Climate: Mainly a temperate planet
• Terrain: It has numerous mountain ranges and swamps.
• Population: Just over 2 thousand Mariposans and Bringloidi live on this world

History

The original Mariposans were a collection of geneticists, molecular biologists, neurologists and other scientists, who left Earth in 2123 aboard the SS Mariposa, along with another group known as the Bringloidi. Both colonies were subsequently forgotten in the chaos of the period as all records were lost in the chaos of the early 22nd century.

After leaving these others on a planet that would eventually be named Bringloid V, the rest of the colonist continued on to look for another world to settle on. When they finally found it their ship crash landed. As a result the ship’s hull breached, killing 289 and leaving only five survivors, two females and three males.

Because the survivors were technologically-savvy scientists, the Mariposans turned to cloning in order to build their colony and society. As a result the original 5 survivors are called the "Progenitors".

Over the following centuries, the Mariposans prospered, though they struggled with the problem of DNA replicative fading, which would render any further cloning impossible.

The existence of the Mariposans was revealed to the Federation in 2365 by the nearby Bringloidi, who were also descended from the original Mariposa colonists and had recently been evacuated from their world by the USS Enterprise-D.

When USS Enterprise-D arrived with the Bringloidi refugees the Mariposans had begun to suffer from replicative fading and were facing extinction, unless new genetic material could be obtained. As a result the Mariposan Prime Minister, Wilson Granger, appealed to the Enterprise crew to donate DNA which they could use to produce additional clones, but was refused.

The Prime Minister then attempted to steal cellular samples from the crewmembers, but when discovered, the Enterprise crew destroyed the samples and the clones being grown from them as they considered this a breach of their personal rights.

As a solution, Captain Jean-Luc Picard proposed merging the Mariposan population with the Bringloidi. Initially the Mariposans, who after centuries of non-sexual reproduction had begun to consider physical contact abhorrent, refused. However, once it became clear that such a compromise might be the only hope for their survival, the Mariposan Prime Minister Wilson Granger agreed. To be viable, both groups gave up monogamous marriage, requiring that each female bear three children by three men.

In 2367 the Dieghanists, a sub-group of diehard fundamentalist separated and established their own community. They have limited contact with the other Bringloidi and tend to completely avoid any contact with the Mariposans.

In late 2376, the Alliance for Mariposan Primacy, led by James Hammond, launched a brief coup d'état, following an unrelated release of a genetically engineered virus in the colony's Life Sciences Center. The coup was put down with the assistance of the USS da Vinci.

Over the 25 plus years since then they have slowly started to accept that in order to survive they have no choice but to mate with members of the Bringloidi. As a result most of their young adults are now the product of intermarriage between their two cultures.

Government

In 2365 the Mariposan government was restructured to formally become the United Ficus Colony, headed by both a Mariposan and a Bringloidi Prime Minister. However, the two groups remained distinct from one another, and endured a significant degree of strain during the first decade following reunion.

Since then they have learned to live together in harmony but still maintain separate governments. This is more so due to the fact that the majority of Bringloidi still adhere to their pre-technological agricultural way of life while the Mariposans and most of their off spring tend to be highly motivated engineers and scientists.

Alliance for Mariposan Primacy

The Alliance for Mariposan Primacy was a political group on Mariposa which arose following the introduction of Bringloidi refugees into the population. The AMP believed Mariposa had prospered because of the Mariposans' genetic superiority, and were opposed to the dilution of their genetic base by the newcomers.

Since their attempt to overthrow the government in 2376 they have slowly dwindled in numbers until only a handful of them remain. For the most part these fanatics have been able to keep their identity secret from the government.

Description

They appear to be typical humans but they started out with only five different clones, two females and three males. Now that they have been forced to mate with the Bringloidi refugees, or to borrow DNA from them to correct the medical problem that was the result of cloning there are many more physical versions of them.

Physiology

Since they were originally colonists from the planet Earth who were forced to resort to cloning in order to survive as a colony they have the same complex system with specialized organs, and unique hormones, chemicals and enzymes as humans.

They are typical humans who have had their DNA cloned and genetically tampered with and as a result may have most of the physical, mental and biological medical problems that seem to plague most other humans. However in their case they have the added problem of trying to avoid the 15-generation limit of replicative fading.

To be viable genetically, both groups gave up monogamous marriage, requiring that each female bear three children by three men. It is in this way that they hope to not only increase their overall population but reduce the possibility of genetic degradation while improving the genetic DNA pool.

Psychology

While they may be descended from human colonists from Earth their mental thought processes were those of intellectuals and have been shaped over the years by their need to clone themselves in order to survive.

As a result the thought of normal sexual reproduction had become repugnant to them by 2365, however since then they have slowly adjusted to accept this unavoidable necessity of survival.

Other than this they seem to have to deal with a lot more stress and mental health issues than the Bringloidi. Fortunately they have an excellent mental health treatment system in place to deal with these issues.

Religion

They have completely abandoned any and all forms of religion as they have no use for it or interest in wasting any time on such illogical past times.

Mythology

They have completely abandoned any and all forms of mythological data as they have no use for it or interest in wasting any time on such illogical past times.

Society

They have a very regimented society with the maximum of technological conveniences available to as many of them as want it. Their infrastructure is extremely well planned, efficient and their communities have abundant recreational facilities as well as health care and other amenities.

Culture

While they do have an appreciation for most forms of artistic expression not that many members of their population have ever taken the time to create any new works of art. They have either saved or reproduced most of what they have based on the surviving data storage information that was available to them.

Customs

All of their customs have evolved slightly from those that they brought with them from Earth. These customs originated with in the intellectually enlightened minority of the Earth society that would have been considered nerds.

Technology

While the majority of the Mariposans are involved in some form of science, engineering or medical profession they do not have a large enough population as of yet for them to be able to diversify the limited number of researchers they have available to them. As a result they are only able to work on a limited number of research programs at any one time.

Economy

It is only in the last 15 years or so that they have been able to establish trade with other species and worlds. For the most part this involves them making deals with merchants, traders and freighter captains from these other species as they have not yet built any freighters of their own.

Military

They have no military but since the attempted coup d'état by the Alliance for Mariposan Primacy in 2376 they have formed a joint police force that serves to maintain order and protect the colonists from both groups. This police force uses a partnership system where every Mariposan officer is paired off with a Bringloidi officer.

Federation Intelligence Files

The Mariposans were a Human culture which developed on the colony world of Mariposa beginning in the early 22nd century after their ship the SS Mariposa crash landed on their world.

The Mariposan government formally became the United Ficus Colony, headed by both a Mariposan and a Bringloidi Prime Minister. However, the two groups remained distinct from one another, and endured a significant degree of strain during the first decade following reunion.

United Ficus Colony

The United Ficus Colony was the name of the joined society created when the Bringloidi refugees from Bringloid V were resettled on planet Mariposa among the Mariposan population. The United Ficus Colony was led by two Prime Ministers, one a Bringloidi and one a Mariposan. As of 2376, those leaders were, respectively, Brenna Odell and Wilson Granger.

Prime Minister Wilson Granger

Wilson Granger was the Prime Minister of the Mariposa colony in 2365 and a clone of Captain Walter Granger, the commanding officer of the SS Mariposa and founder of the colony.

In 2365, he and several Mariposans were experiencing replicative fading due to being cloned several times over. After a brief attempt at stealing DNA from the USS Enterprise-D's crew, the Mariposans were reunited with the Bringloidi of the Bringloid V colony who were transported by the SS Mariposa to their colony in 2123. The Bringloidi had enough of a genetic base to create a stable society.

Kevin Hammond

Kevin Hammond was a male Human from the planet Mariposa in the mid-24th, and a clone of original Mariposan colonist John Hammond. As of 2376, he served as Minister of Security for the United Ficus Colony, and that year, was instrumental in ending a coup d'état by the Alliance for Mariposan Primacy, led by another Hammond clone, James. Shortly after, Hammond contracted symptoms of a dangerous pathogen that plagued the Mariposan inhabitants of Mariposa.

Sources

Both Memory Alpha and Memory Beta were used as references as well as the following TV episode, TNG: Up The Long Ladder.

Also used as a reference was the SCE eBook: Out of the Cocoon.

Content from this article may have
come partially, or entirely from
 Memory Alpha

		SPECIES PROFILE UPDATED This profile was revised by the Species Development Committee.		REV 240108.17
		Please add any new information discovered during the course of a mission or shore leave.
SB118-SDC