Tribble
Scientific names Tribleustes ventricosus and Polygeminus grex.
Tribbles are small, non-intelligent lifeforms originating from the planet Iota Geminorum IV.
Known for their prodigious reproductive rate, these round, furry creatures emitted cooing sounds while touched, which has a tranquilizing effect on the Human nervous system.
On their own, tribbles are quite incapable of directly harming sentient beings. They are slow-moving, although are able to scale and cling to vertical surfaces. However, left unchecked, they could rapidly multiply and devastate entire ecosystems on a planetary scale.
Tribbles are born pregnant: An entire half of a tribble's metabolism is solely devoted to reproduction. A single tribble with sufficient food could quickly increase its number exponentially through asexual reproduction, bearing an average litter of ten, and producing a new generation every twelve hours. Over a period of three days, that single tribble could account for 1,771,561 progeny.
On their homeworld, the tribble populations was kept in check by a large number of reptilian predators.
Encounters
- Tribbles were first encountered by Humans in the early 2150s when Denobulan doctor Phlox brought a small number aboard Enterprise, NX-01 as an easily sustainable food source for his pets.
- In 2268, a small number of tribbles were brought to Deep Space Station K-7 for purposes of trade. Nyota Uhura came in possession of one, and brought it aboard the USS Enterprise, where it quickly multiplied.
- Tribbles were an ecological menace for the Klingons, to whom a tribble would react violently. The Klingons attempted to breed a predator to eliminate the threat, but was only used once in 2269.
- The Klingons' solution to the tribble menace was to wipe the species out entirely. Klingon warriors were sent to hunt them down, and the tribble homeworld was obliterated in the late 23rd century.
- Though their original homeworld has been destroyed, there have still been sightings of tribbles throughout the galaxy.
