Is Lt. Fuchida a member of the Vhnori species?

[Extrocomp]

I'm trying to make a list of every alien species in Star Trek. One of the problems that I've run into is re-used make-ups.

Lieutenant Fuchida from the Deep Space Nine episode Prodigal Daughter has the exact same make-up as the Vhnori from the Voyager episode Emanations, but the Vhnori seemed to be unfamiliar with the Federation. Should I list them as the same species or separate species?

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Fuchida
http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Vhnori

Another example, is Abdon's species from the Deep Space NIne episode The Assignment and the Kobali from the Voyager episode Ashes To Ashes. The make-up is very similar, but I'm not sure if it's exactly the same.

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Abdon
http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Kobali

 

[Christopher]

^Look at how many species in Trek look exactly or almost exactly like humans. Why should we be the only ones who get doubles?

There are ways to explain different species having the same appearance. They could both be colony worlds of some ancient ancestral species, like how Sargon's people settled worlds throughout the galaxy. They could be two branches of a species that colonized space far more recently, like the Vulcans and the Romulans. They could've been transplanted by the Preservers or Vians or some equivalent group (personally I think the Preservers are the Vians, since they have the same MO). And all humanoids evolved from the programmed DNA planted by the Progenitors from "The Chase." Maybe there are certain recurring phenotypes built into that coding that crop up on various worlds, ours being just one of them.

 

[Longinus]

Actually, nose makeup on Fuchida and Vhnori seem to be slightly different.

But it is safe to say that in the both cases these are different species. The distance is just too great, Voyager species do not hang around in the Federation.

 

[Extrocomp]

Good point. Humans are not the only species with doubles.

Halanans, Ramurans and Terrellians looks identical. So do Brekkians and Tandarans. So do Kriosians and Trill. So do Mintakans and Romulans. So do Antarians and Kohl.

And I just found an article on StarTrek.com, which says the Vhnori are "not yet advanced to spaceflight", so Fuchida couldn't be one of them.

 

[Christopher]

But it is safe to say that in the both cases these are different species. The distance is just too great, Voyager species do not hang around in the Federation.

Not really. Sure, the distance is too great if you're thinking in terms of a journey of months or years, but interstellar colonization is a process that can span millennia. A warp-capable species can migrate between quadrants in a matter of decades. We've seen that with the El-Aurians, refugees from the Delta Quadrant who ended up making their way to the Federation. And of course Voyager's journey across 3/4 the galaxy's width was projected to take 70 years. So it's entirely reasonable that a colonization wave could make it from one quadrant to another within a few generations. Maybe sooner, depending on how eager the colonists are to get far away from their home society.

 

[The Wormhole]

So do Mintakans and Romulans.

Wasn't it actually established that Vulcans and Romulans shared Vulcan ancestry?

 

[Christopher]

Wasn't it actually established that Vulcans and Romulans shared Vulcan ancestry?

Rather, that the Romulans are an offshoot population of Vulcans that left Vulcan about 2000 years ago during the wars that led to the Surakian reforms. In the novels, they're basically the "Puritans" who refused to give up their traditional warrior ways while the rest of Vulcan embraced logic. Enterprise seems to agree -- "The Forge" established that Surak lived and died during the last great war with "those who marched beneath the raptor's wings -- those who wanted to return to the savage ways."

This is why Spock and many Romulans were so keen on reunification -- because they're the same people, divided by politics and ideology. (And maybe a little genetic drift and/or engineering, given many Romulans' different appearance.)

 

[The Wormhole]

Sorry, I mistyped when I wrote that post. I meant to say the Mintakans and Romulans shared common Vulcan ancestry.

 

[Christopher]

Sorry, I mistyped when I wrote that post. I meant to say the Mintakans and Romulans shared common Vulcan ancestry.

Well, not exactly. The Mintakans are not a Vulcan colony settled within the past 2000 years, they're a separate "proto-Vulcan" species that's only in the early stages of civilization. It was never actually specified whether their Vulcan-like quality was the result of common ancestry or parallel evolution. Although I think it stands to reason that they could be descended from Sargon's people from "Return to Tomorrow," who were hinted as being possible ancestors of the Vulcans. Although it would be hard to explain why Arretian colonists lost their civilization and had to re-develop it from scratch.

Honestly, I don't think it was a good idea to make the Mintakans Vulcanoid. It seemed to be meant to reflect their intrinsic tendency toward logical thinking, but that's overlooking that Vulcan logic is learned rather than innate, that they adopted it because their passions were so dangerously intense.