Life Forms of the Twelve Colonies

This article is a list of fictional and actual animals and plants mentioned in the Re-imagined Series as existing on the Twelve Colonies. For the most part, the Colonies appear to have the same organisms as present-day earth, with some exceptions.
In keeping with the naturalistic science fiction concepts that Ron D. Moore used to model the series, it is unlikely that we may see any life forms outside of those found on any of the Earth-like planets of the Twelve Colonies.
Ron D. Moore initially chose to avoid addressing the issue of the types of live animals planned to appear. In the commentary for the Miniseries, Moore elaborates:
:..."David and I, we had discussed, at an early point; well, do they have dogs and cats and things like that? And we said, "No, no, no," let's not go there, 'cause that locks us into a whole Terrestrial-kind of like thing. We'll just avoid any mention of it. Nobody will even, like, register that we had "Chicken pie" the whole time, and in retrospect "Oh, I guess there are chickens"."
Over the course of the series, however, not only have the terrestrial names of flora and fauna been used extensively, but two live dogs and a cat have also appeared somewhat prominently. Rats and bats can briefly be seen in "Bastille Day" and "Litmus" respectively.
==Fictional==
===Plants===
*Chamalla
:Roslin: "I would like to explore alternative treatment. [...] Have you ever heard of Chamalla extract?" 
:Resembles (somewhat) herbal cannabinoids and opioids in its pain-killing and hallucinogenic effects, which are found in the plant cannabis and the opium poppy, respectively.
*Fumarella leaf
:Baltar: "A parting gift: hand-rolled from some of the finest Fumarella leaf on Caprica. It's also one of the last left in the universe." 
:An homage to the original series, in which 's cigars are referred to as "fumarellos". This plant may be similar or identical to tobacco.
==Real==
===Animals===
====Mammals====
*Bat
:Seen flying out of an abandoned warehouse in "Litmus".
*Bovinae
: Given the presence of meat in the fleet, it is likely that the Colonials get meat from such animals.
*Camel
:Baltar has a statuette of a camel on his desk while president .
*Cat
**Adama: "...then grab your gun and bring in the cat." 
**Romo Lampkin carries a cat around with him .
*Dog 
**Cally: "She said the engine power-up sequence began by squeezing something that looks like a red ligament with blue veins on the right side coming out of a sack of gooey fluid, shaped like a... dog." 
**Baltar: "I will be the President, all right, but without the military support, I might as well be an anointed dog catcher." 
**Roslin: "I need you to send my ID code on the exact same frequency: D, as in dog [...]" 
**Cain: "Madam President, you look like I just shot your dog." (TRS: "Pegasus," Quote of the day)
**Billy: "...dog takes 20 pills a day." - Roslin: "I didn't know you had a dog." - Billy: "Yeah, big shaggy thing, Jake." (TRS: "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I," deleted scene)
**A dog named Jake appears on New Caprica, whose water bowl is flipped by Felix Gaeta to notify Galen Tyrol of an intelligence drop . Jake, a Landseer Newfoundland, is the first live animal to play a significant role in the series, with a cat to follow in a later season 3 episode.
**Daniel Novacek's callsign "Bulldog" implies the possible existence of Earth's bulldog breed.
**A dog named Caesar is kept at the Graystone Estate 58 years before the Fall of the Colonies (CAP: Caprica pilot, "The Imperfections of Memory," "Ghosts in the Machine").
*
**A traditional Picon engagement necklace sold by CSN depicts two dolphins .
*Elephant
**Hallucination-Baltar: "Start with the elephants..." 
**William Adama has a tapestry depicting two elephants hanging in his quarters.
**The Fleet copy of John Cavil uses a carved wooden elephant to activate the Cylon sleeper personality within Sharon Valerii .
*Goat
:Starbuck: "A horse. Why not a goat? I mean, that's good, right? Think of it as a goat." 
*Gorilla
:Starbuck: "I'm gonna need some of those gorillas you call Marines." 
*Horse
**Tyrol: "Take it for a ride. Treat it like a horse." 
**Helo and Sharon are in what looks like horse stables in "The Hand of God"
**A horse can be seen on a picture on the memorial wall behind Kara Thrace in "Maelstrom"
**Daniel and Amanda Graystone and Sam Adama ride horses in an altered New Cap City. (CAP: "The Heavens Will Rise," "Here Be Dragons."
*Jackrabbit
:Starbuck: "This is the Viper Mark II. It's as maneuverable as a jackrabbit and can flip end for end in .35 seconds." 
*Monkey
:Cliff Hooper's friend: "He's a real-deal war hero, Hoop. Can't be seen drinkin' with a bunch of low-life freight monkeys." (TRS: "Scattered," deleted scene)
*Otter
**An otter can be seen on a picture on the memorial wall behind Baltar in "Taking a Break From All Your Worries"
*Panther
:Adama: "I'm a Picon Panthers fan myself." 
*Pig
:Phelan: "Fisk was a pig. He tried to force us to renegotiate."
*
**Helo: Frakkin' rats! 
**:Rats actually appear on screen in this episode. 
**Another rat can be seen in "Litmus"
*Squirrel
:In the episode "Dirty Hands," Xeno Fenner describes Cabott as "squirrelly." This might simply be a figure of speech.
*Tiger
:Gaeta reveals a tattoo of a tiger on his upper right chest in the episode "Final Cut".
*Weasel
:The Raptor in Blood and Chrome is named "Wild Weasel."
====Birds====
*Birds of Prey
**While the animals have never been specifically mentioned, it's reasonable to assume the Raptor is named after them.
**Possibly a bird of prey is heard and mentioned by Tyrol and Socinus on Kobol .
*Blackbird
:The creature for which the Blackbird experimental stealth fighter was named .
*Chicken
**Cami: "We're going out for dinner, and I'm having chicken pie, and then we're going home, and then Daddy's going to read to me, and then I'm going to bed." 
**Colonel Tigh imitates a chicken when mocking Starbuck's nickname, "Starbuck-buck-buck." 
*Ducks
**Palacios: "Wouldn't we be like ducks in a Cylon shooting gallery?" 
**"Duck" is the callsign of Lieutenant Tucker Clellan (TRS: "Flight of the Phoenix," "Scar," "The Resistance" webisodes)
*Geese
:Colonel Tigh: "They're coming up with big goose eggs" 
*Parakeet
:Jammer: "I don't care if they put a giant parakeet in here. If the colonel says build a cell, we build a cell." 
*Pigeons
: chases a pigeon in his apartment after meeting Kara Thrace .
*Sparrow
:Colonial pilot jargon for a Cylon Raider .
*Swallow
:The creature for which the Colonial drone weapon the Swallow was named .
*Turkey
:Colonial pilot jargon for a Cylon Heavy Raider .
*Vulture
:In a deleted scene from "Downloaded," calls D'Anna Biers a "stupid frakking vulture" after being notified of Hera's alleged death.
====Reptiles====
*Python
:Adama: "Betrayal has such a powerful grip on the mind. It's almost like a python. You can squeeze out the thought, suffocate all other emotion until everything is dead except for the rage." 
*Viper
:Laura Roslin has a vision of "serpents two and ten" as prophesied, which she and Elosha associate with the Viper fighter craft .
====Fish====
*Salmon
:Baltar: "There was an off-road bridge, over the Euclid river. I used to go there, when I was a boy. Watch the fish try and swim upstream. They were mesmerizing." 
:What Baltar describes, without naming, are anadromous fish - almost certainly a type of salmon.
*Shark
:ECO Lyla "Shark" Ellway presumably took her call-sign from these creatures.
*Betta or Guppy
:When Six comes "home" to Baltar's house carrying the metal suitcase, one can see three different glasses on a table in the front of the scene. They contain only water and one living, small, long-finned, black fish each, a way aggressive Siamese fighting fish are kept .
====Invertebrates====
*Ant
:Crashdown: "Someone else feel like they have ants crawling behind their frakking eyeballs?" 
*Cockroach
:Starbuck: "...even a cockroach needs to breathe..." 
*Oyster
:Caprica-Sharon: "I remember the first day I met you, Starbuck. You were puking your guts out in the head after you ate some bad oysters." 
===Plants===
*Algae
*Apple
:Roslin: "I need you to send my ID code on the exact same frequency: D, as in dog, dash, 456, dash, 345, dash, A as in apple." 
:In the commentary for the Miniseries, Ron Moore stated that the officer at Armistice Station was originally supposed to take out an apple and eat it while studying his notes; in keeping with the new series's emphasis on naturalism.
:In one of the last scenes from "The Plan" Cavil cuts an apple for the little boy. 
*Beans
*Blueberry
:Starbuck: "You look like a blueberry." 
*Burdock
:Used by Sagittarons as a calmative .
*Carrot
:Baltar: "Simply put, Admiral, you have already used the stick. It's time to use a carrot." 
:Daniel Graystone can be seen cutting carrots. 
*Celery 
*Chili pepper
**In the episode "Sacrifice," Lee Adama's drink is decorated with a chili pepper.
*Cocoa
:In "The Eye of Jupiter," Tyrol says, referring to the algae, "It's breakfast, lunch and dinner until someone finds a hot fudge planet."
*Coffee plant
:Gaeta: "Seven other container ships are refusing to release their supplies. Food, medicine, even coffee." 
:Evelyn: "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Coffee. Why do you ask?" 
thumb|A bowl of virtual grapes 
*Grape
:Amanda-A in Daniel Graystone's holoband simulation sets down a bowl of grapes. 
*Maize
*Lemon
:Col. Tigh: "A couple of lemons, we could make lemonade". 
*Licorice
:Roslin: "Chamalla and licorice. Would you like some?" 
*Orange
:In "False Labor," the Adama family can be seen having orange juice.
*Peanut
:Helo: You hungry? I don't know, what do we got? Peanut butter... baked beans, corn. How about some chili? 
::Helo is probably referring to the common Haricot bean
*Potato
:In "Razor," Kara Thrace asks Kendra Shaw if she wants to be demoted back to peeling potatoes in the ship's galley.
*Walnut
:Adama cracks walnuts while going over potential CAGs in the episode "Home, Part I".
==Official Statements==
*In an interview with BattlestarGalactica.com on December 28th, 2005 RDM was asked about the possibility of animals actually appearing in future episodes:
:"Q: Boxey's been more or less written out of the series, but there's always a chance that we might one day see the return of Muffit, or some other form of Man's Best Friend. Might we see the introduction of animals (including Cylon animals) into Galactica universe? Where would Cylon animals fit in with the Cylon plan (especially in light of "The Farm")? Can Cylon animals reproduce? 
:RDM: The presence of animals in the rag-tag fleet was something that came up in early discussions, but we kinda dropped it from the conversation as the year went on. I don't know if we'll ever get around to doing something in this area or not. It mostly depends on finding a story that supports it in some interesting fashion other than Gaeta finds a kitty. I don't think the Cylons are creating animals as we would define them, but they certainly see the Raiders and other craft as animals vis a vis their relationship with the humanoid Cylons."
In a curious footnote to Moore's comment, eventually the character of Felix Gaeta finds not a kitty, but a dog and his water dish.
*
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