#non-native memes

Conservation status: Least Concern

Classification: Non-native, non-invasive

This meme population has persisted in the pre-internet ecosystem since 44 BC, but for over a millennium the meme remained at very low population levels. Introduction to the theater habitats of England in approximately 1599 by an early meme ecologist (also notable for the introduction of such memes as Damned Spot and To Be Or Not To Be) caused a population boom that has led to the continued stable population of Ides of March despite the extinction or near extinction of the Ides of other months and all known Nones and Kalends.

There Is No Queen Of England

Conservation Status: Near Threatened

Classification: Non-native, non-invasive

There Is No Queen Of England is a meme that requires a highly specific ecological niche. While the queen of England was dying, the meme enjoyed a relatively stable environment and was able to spread into a wide variety of habitats. However, the life cycle of There Is No Queen Of England ends when, spurred by the death of the queen, the memes flower suddenly, presenting their full image instead of the cropped version that has spread prior to September 2022.

The reason we have listed the memes as Near Threatened is because, after flowering, the future of the memes is uncertain. Can the meme find a suitable germination site and habitat in an environment where the lack of a queen of England is simply a fact? We predict that it may face endangerment or extinction in such an environment.

Someone Accidentally Invents Homestuck Again

Conservation Status: Least Concern

Classification: Non-native, non-invasive

Someone Accidentally Invents Homestuck Again is a non-native meme originating from the Twitter ecosystem. However, since its introduction to tumblr, the meme is found in abundance in a wide variety of habitats, able to survive practically anywhere in tumblr.

Why is Someone Accidentally Invents Homestuck so prevalent? Experts believe there are two main causes.

First, the meme is able to feed in any environment where anything that resembles Homestuck is available. This includes, notably, anything that resembles a wide variety of other works of fiction in any medium; the feed need not specifically resemble homestuck by any means. Since Homestuck is a large body of work, there is much, both unusual and mundane, that can be considered to replicate it. This effect is extended by the lifecycle of a possibly related meme, Boss Baby Vibes, in which an internet user whose focus is solely on one singular piece of media finds what appear to be references to it everywhere. The tumblr environment is rich with such instances and the Someone Accidentally Invents Homestuck meme thrives.

The second cause is common to several other memes. Like Loss, The Game, or the Rickroll, Someone Accidentally Invents Homestuck is often viewed with hostility by internet users and considered a noxious meme, which paradoxically increases its reproduction rate due to the enthusiasm with which other internet users attempt to combat the efforts to eradicate it.

Delenda Carthago Est

Conservation status: Conservation Dependent

Classification: Non-native, Sometimes Invasive

This meme originated in the second century BCE in Rome. Since that time, it has spread worldwide and exists in low populations throughout many ecosystems.

The meme is kept thriving primarily due to its historical notability; the fact that it has been a meme in active use for so long encourages conservationists to maintain viable populations despite its low reproductive rate.

Get Stick Bugged Lol

Conservation status: Threatened

Classification: Non-Native, Non-Invasive

Get Stick Bugged Lol has significantly declined in population since its origin in 2020. These memes initially relied on camouflage and video or hyperlink parasitism to reproduce, but they have subsequently adapted to simply exist in plain sight due to many tumblr users sharing the asker's fondness for the "funky lil guy" in question.

The Rickroll

Conservation status: Least Concern

Classification: non-native, non-invasive

The Rickroll is an unusual meme with a very complex life cycle. It is perhaps because of this complex life cycle that it remains one of the most robust meme populations year after year.

The Rickroll's early life cycle is characterized by mimicry, as you suggest. The larval Rickroll will imitate the calls of other links in order to induce a click. This has allowed Rickrolls to reproduce for some time.

However, the life cycle of the Rickroll has a secondary stage induced by ecological saturation. When the environment becomes too full of Rickrolls, bloggers begin to assume that any link clicked is going to be a Rickroll rather than the promised content. The Rickroll's unique evolutionary strategy here is to induce the belief that a link Is a Rickroll. Curious bloggers will click to see if they are right, and even if the link is NOT a Rickroll, the Rickroll meme is able to reproduce successfully.

You Know I Had To Do It To Em

Conservation Status: Unknown

Classification: Non-native, non-invasive

You Know I Had To Do It To Em memes were first introduced to the tumblr ecosystem in 2017, with limited environmental impact. However, over the ensuing year, natural selection led the memes to diminish in size, and the resulting capacity for camouflage caused a dramatic increase in the ecological success of You Know I Had To Do It To Ems in the wilds of tumblr. The extreme miniaturization allowed these memes to spread into a wide variety of other habitats, including virtually any post that contained an image. They also developed a unique reproductive strategy, wherein any apparent duplication of an image led tumblr users to assume they were present, encouraging their further spread into other posts.

I'm In This Photo And I Don't Like It

Conservation Status: Near Threatened

Classification: Non-native, non-invasive

This meme, originating from the facebook ecosystem, originally existed only in a photo habitat. However, its intoduction to the more nutrient-rich tumblr ecosystem has allowed it to spread to a wide variety of habitats, including those with no photo at all.

I'm In This Photo And I Don't Like It primarily subsists on a diet of unfortunately relatable content, greatly differing from its original diet of candid photography.