Divergent Species

A Divergent Species is a species of creature which has fractioned into noticeably different variants. While this term is used in evolutionary science, it is being used in this context to describe a bug in the No Man's Sky universe which creates a similar effect.

Identifying Divergent Species

While it is currently unknown what creates a divergent species in No Man's Sky, they can be easily identified as two or more creatures on the same world which have identical appearances, descriptions, and statistics, yet different scientific names. They will often additionally have one subtle difference, usually in the form of preferring a different bait.

Important observations of divergent creatures.

• When discovering a new variant, the Discoveries Fauna count will not rise. In other words only the original species counts towards discovering all species on any given world; none of the variants count towards reaching that total. This can be used to know which variant is the original species if close attention is paid to which one increased the creature count for a world.
• Divergent creatures will sometimes list a different gender and/or slightly different heights and weights. This is merely due to gender differences, as when each species is discovered, the gender shown under Discoveries seems to be selected at random, even for variants of the same species.
• Divergent creature variants can often be found mixed in the same herds.
• Each variant can be named and uploaded separately.
• Occasionally divergent creature variants will have different appearances in the Discoveries menu. This is caused when the different variants are displaying opposite genders than each other. Please be aware that the gender name displayed for any creature does not necessarily match which gender is displayed for an entry.
• Sometimes after a large game patch or version update, a previously discovered normal species can start displaying a new variant, thus becoming a divergent species.
• Multiplayer sessions seem to magnify both the chances of encountering a divergent species, as well as the number of variants discovered. The highest variant count yet discovered at once was six. When discovered in this manner, returning to single player results in only the original variant remaining and all differing variants disappearing.
• In some examples, usually found after a game update, the originally discovered species will vanish and be replaced by a new variant.
• In rare examples, some divergent creature variants will be different in an alternative or additional way, such as by having a slightly different color or a different head ornamentation. Despite this additional difference, their overall appearance, descriptions, and statistics will still be mostly identical. This stronger variation is found less often in cases of Divergent Species and more often with Lazarus Species, where a creature went extinct from a game update and reappeared later after another update. It is unknown if these bugs are related, but they do have similar attributes.

Documenting Divergent Species

Despite the difference in their scientific names, it is important to remember this phenomena is caused by a bug and for all game purposes they are still considered the same creature. For this reason, any divergent species encountered should be cataloged as a single entry with one considered the primary species and any others listed as variants or subspecies. The primary species should be documented as a single page like any normal creature, and any variants listed lower on the same page. If unsure which variant is the primary/original species, it is acceptable to select one arbitrarily, as they are virtually the same.

For an example, please see J. Bestsillum which had six variants which were discovered during the same survey session.

  This creature is a Divergent Species.

Gallery

• 
  Sandr-Mani Storrbjorr, a divergent species with two variants.