A lifeform, organism, or life-energy force was a disctinct entity generally considered to exhibit signs of "life".
Not all criteria for life are universally applicable in defining lifeforms, as organic, inorganic, artificial, and non-corporeal entities have all been considered lifeforms. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture; TNG: "Datalore", "Home Soil", "Elementary, Dear Data", "The Measure Of A Man")
In 2267, Spock noted that "life as we know it is universally based on some combination of carbon compounds, but what if life exists based on another element? For instance, silicon." This while theorizing what would eventually be determined to be the Mother Horta. (TOS: "The Devil in the Dark")
Later, when the Organians revealed their true form, the same year, Spock observed: "Fascinating. Pure energy. Pure thought. Totally incorporeal. Not life as we know it at all." (TOS: "Errand of Mercy")
In 2269, Spock noted, in addition to the crew of the USS Enterprise and their Klingon guests that "[t]here appear to be more life-energy units on board than can be accounted for by the presence of [both crews]," something he considered to be "a considerable discrepancy", and in fact was the first indication of the non-corporeal Beta XII-A entity aboard the ship. (TOS: "Day of the Dove")
Most spacefaring civilizations built devices to remotely detect and locate known lifeforms. Starship sensors and tricorders were the primary instruments used, as they could identify or localize blood type, heart rate, or metabolic setup. Typically, only organic lifeforms were detected. (TNG: "Home Soil")
There are incredible similarities between the lifeforms on different worlds in the Star Trek universe. A probable explanation for this may be the existence of the ancient humanoids DNA during evolution.
According to Captain Jonathan Archer, over seventy percent of the organisms on Earth are bacteria. (ENT: "The Andorian Incident")
Types[]
- Artificial lifeform
- Biomimetic lifeform
- Carbon-based lifeform
- Cyborg
- Dark matter lifeform
- Metallic lifeform
- Non-corporeal lifeform
- Silicon-based lifeform
- Solanogen-based lifeform
- Spaceborne species
- Sporocystian lifeform
- Virus
- Xenon-based lifeform
Starfleet lifeform classification[]
- Classification R-3 lifeforms (Sheliak)
- Class-5 lifeforms (Vhnori)
The class-5 type lifeform may refer to humanoids.
- Order 480-G anthropoids (Taurus II natives)
See also[]
- Anatomy
- Lifeform identification