Phineas_RageSmug Viruses
Oh, they’re can spend long periods of time being inert, and then resume activity when conditions change to be more favorable?
… Like a tardigrade? Or a seed?
Oh, they cannot reproduce themselves on their own or within their own species?
… Like a obligate parasite wasp? Or a plant species that relies on a pollinator?
Oh, they do not reach a stable equilibrium within their ecosystem?
… Like humans?
I’ll give you that viruses never metabolize and are not capable of homeostasis… but they do not lack ‘any’ of the characteristics of life, they have some big ones.
They reproduce, evolve, and respond to stimuli.
Not only do they evolve, they evolve more rapidly than any other creatures we’re aware of. A virus can mutate almost immediately, whereas other animals require millions of years to display those sorts of dramatic changes.
Tlaloc_TemporalComplex organisms can also drastically change from point mutations, although such changes are more likely to kill the organism as they grow more complex. Viruses are so incredibly simple and make so many copies that this doesn’t matter.
Many organisms can hybridize, which can make drastic changes with much less chance of fatal errors. Plants especially like this; see farmed maize vs wild maize or the entire brassica genus.
Viruses also hybridize though, and can do so much more drastically. Most of the critical genes are in the host, so virus genomes are free to do whatever, and because they highjack other genomes a very small change can radically alter their behavior.