- You may also be looking for the mirror universe Terrans.
Humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) are the native sentient humanoid species of Earth, and one of the founding races of the United Federation of Planets. As a collective group, they are sometimes called humanity.
Humans may also be called Terrans (derived from the Latin terra, meaning Earth), although use of the term in this sense is rare. It more popularly applies to humans of the mirror universe, as in Terran Empire.
Some species also use the term "Earther" in a derogatory sense when referring to humans or human-hybrids.
The Caine have the same DNA as humanity, but most of them appear dissimilar outwardly when compared to humans. (Dimensional Prophecy of Zohar)
History
Over the years of human history, humans have evolved as a society. Starting as a tribal and sometimes nomadic race, these tribes grew into kingdoms and nations, and some of them empires.
Two global conflicts, World War I and World War II, rocked the planet in the early to mid-20th century. This set the stage for the United Nations (the first failed attempt being called the League of Nations), which helped unify humans on Earth and attempt to bring mankind together. Even though the Cold War threatened world peace on the post-World War II Earth, the fall of Communism in many Eastern European and Soviet Union countries saw a new era ushered in on Earth. Europe grew from separate nation-states into a European Union over the later part of the 20th and first part of the 21st centuries.
Another global conflict, the Eugenics Wars in the late 20th century, grew into World War III in the mid-21st century. Hundreds of millions of humans perished in the wars, and humanity's development was set back many years in the resulting nuclear winter. (TOS: "Space Seed"; TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint"; Star Trek: First Contact)
In 2063, Zefram Cochrane invented warp drive, launching the Phoenix into space, and, as a result, setting into motion first contact with the Vulcans. This launched humanity into a new renaissance. (Star Trek: First Contact) Humanity started to explore the stars after that.
Humans created a United Earth government by 2150 when the last country to hold out, Australia, joined the union. United Earth still existed as of the 24th century. (TNG: "The Price", "Conundrum", "Attached"; VOY: "Imperfection") This United Earth also created an Earth Starfleet, launching humanity's first warp 5 starship, the Enterprise (NX-01) in 2151. (ENT: "Broken Bow")
Humanity started to branch out into new colonies in the Sol system, and, by 2069, New Berlin on the Moon, Utopia Planitia on Mars and a few asteroid bases were settled. Humans also started to settle new worlds outside the Sol system as early as 2078 with the Terra Nova colony. (ENT: "Terra Nova")
By 2161, humans helped form the United Federation of Planets out of its precursor, the Coalition of Planets: a membership humanity remained affiliated to until at least the 24th century. (TNG: "The Price"; ENT: "These Are The Voyages...")
By the 24th century, humanity had wiped out war, hunger, disease, famine and poverty: a stark difference from humans' earlier history. The need to gain material wealth was gone, as replicators could supply almost everything humans needed and a non-monetary society was set in place. Instead, humans were expected to use their lives to better humanity as a whole as well as enrich their own lives and the lives of those around them. (DS9: "Necessary Evil", "In The Cards"; Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home; Star Trek: First Contact) While this appears Communist or Socialist in nature, the system is very much different. In Star Trek: The Cantabrian Expeditions, this type of system is called utopianism.
Biology
Humans fit into the classification mammalian humanoid as bilaterally symmetrical bipedal primates (basically meaning they stand upright and walk on two feet). By the 24th century, a typical human's average lifespan was around 120 years, although, in some cases, this could be much higher. (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint")
They require Class M environmental conditions, and breathe oxygen through two lungs, to survive. The range of temperatures the typical human body can withstand is a lot wider than many other species, including bearing colder temperatures better than Klingons and Cardassians and higher temperatures better than Andorians. The typical human's physical strength tends to be less than a Vulcan's or a Klingon's, but humans tend to be more resilient than the other two. (DS9: "Distant Voices")
Like many species, humans have some redundancies in their anatomy. Humans could function with only one lung or one kidney for example. With the body's ability to store and use both water and fat, they could survive for days or weeks without water or food, respectively.
Unlike many species, humans have no facial or body bony ridges, but are still diverse with different skin tones and colors, eye colors, facial shapes, hair colors and so on, giving each one an individual appearance (the exceptions being multiple-baby births where the babies are identical).
Human blood is iron-based, and each human has one blood type based around three antigens being present or absent, with the most common blood types being A+ and O+.
The species has two sexes: male and female. After fertilization, a female carries a baby or babies for approximately nine months before giving birth. With humans being very genetically compatible with some other races, cross-breeding is not uncommon, especially with Vulcans, Klingons and Betazoids. (TOS: "Babel", et al; TNG: "The Emissary"; VOY: "Caretaker", et al; TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint", et al)
Genetic modification and evolution of the species
The term metahumanity is often used for any evolved types of humanity, e.g. the New Humans.(Dragon Ball Z vs. Star Trek: The Beginning of Infinity)
The M'Tar and Na'arbi are experts at genetic engineering, and modified several humans (as well as other races) to enhance their latent abilities. Examples include giving Scott Fack telepathic and telekinetic abilities, as well as superhuman strength and stamina and Garrett advanced mathematical processing skills. (Star Trek: The Prospect Chronicles: "Lady Lazarus")
In general, transhumanist practices such as genetic engineering and elective bioengineering were frowned upon. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, DS9: "Doctor Bashir, I Presume", although some exceptions were made, like for emergency replacement of an heart with an artificial heart. TNG: " Tapestry".
External links
- Human article at Memory Alpha, the canon Star Trek wiki.
- Human article at Memory Beta, the non-canon Star Trek wiki.
- Human article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.