Klingon and Human seem to top out at about 100 years and the Vulcans make it to about 200. Is there a UFP member species who last longer?
-
@Ganesh What does someone's recommendation of Star Trek viewing order for young children have to do with, 'What is the longest lived species in the Federation?'? Nothing there remotely answers the question.– MorganCommented Apr 4, 2014 at 6:11
-
The UFP is a federation of planets, not species, as its name tells us. So what is a "member species"? Since the earth is a member of the Federation, does that make all earthly species "member species"? Some species can live for tens of thousands or maybe a million years, but maybe those have all gone extinct by Star Trek time?– user14111Commented Apr 4, 2014 at 7:18
-
Not asking about all species in the Star Trek universe, just member species in the Federation.– MorganCommented Apr 4, 2014 at 7:28
-
Did I miss a deleted comment here or something?– James SheridanCommented Apr 4, 2014 at 9:44
-
3@Xantec Fair enough. They're not official members but they're always hanging around; kind of like that crazy uncle who keeps getting you into trouble.– MorganCommented Apr 4, 2014 at 16:46
|
Show 6 more comments
2 Answers
For a species that is definitely part of the Federation and is TV-Canon, I submit to you The Trill.
Though this depends on what you mean by 'longest lived'. Individual hosts certainly seem to have a limit on their lifespan, and non-joined Trill presumably also die within the same span, but judging by how frequently their symbiote can join, their effective lifetime of a joined Trill could be considered 'infinite' (there is no solid canonical lifespan established for the symbiote, but they seem to live at least as long as 500 years or more under ideal host conditions).
-
1You mean joined Trills, actually. The majority of Trills are not joined. Commented Apr 4, 2014 at 18:52
-
@MrLister I did say that it was their symbiotes specifically that could be considered to ahve an infinite lifespan, but I'll make that more clear.– ZibbobzCommented Apr 4, 2014 at 19:03
-
1Well, we know for sure they can live at least a rough 550 years, The Dax symbiont apparently was born in the year 2018, and in Children of Time it had been on the planet for over 200 years.– XantecCommented Apr 4, 2014 at 19:23
-
@Zibbobz Of course - Trills. Forgot about them. After poking around online a bit, it seems that Trill Symbiotes can live an estimated 500-1000+ years. This is speculative though. There's also speculation that the symbiote will eventually grow too large to be joined with a Humanoid Trill host and therefore limit lifespan somewhat. I can't find a definitive lifespan expectation.– MorganCommented Apr 5, 2014 at 0:15
-
I had not thought of the Trill, but even they don't live as long as the Horta. There are definitely species which do, but none that I know of who are members of the Federation. Commented Apr 5, 2014 at 2:00
The Horta, who join the Federation after the events of The Devil in the Dark can live for up to 50,000 years. They are only listed as Federation members in novels, but from their only onscreen appearance it is a fair assumption they joined. I know of no other Federation species that can live that long, though certain species like the Douwd, which live in the Federation in secret, can live longer.
answered Apr 4, 2014 at 5:52
-
If I can remember that TOS episode correctly, they didn't look like such sentient to join Federation..– Dr. DoomCommented Apr 4, 2014 at 7:20
-
1@SachinShekhar: Whaaa? They form an alliance with Human colonists for a joint mining operation at the end of the episode. There were also plans to have a Horta Ambassador on Earth during The Voyage Home, but the costume couldn't be prepared on time. Where are you getting that they're not sentient? Or that they wouldn't join the Federation? Commented Apr 4, 2014 at 9:43
-
-
5
-
1@SachinShekhar: I fail to see how being a "rocky bug" would disqualify a species from Federation membership. Commented Apr 4, 2014 at 23:47