I’ve been toying with this idea for a while now, and inspired by the “8 Meals Forever / No Repeating Meals” thread, I figured I would post it.
You [alone] are on a desert island. Assume that sand makes up the entirety of your island, and that the water is drinkable. You get to populate your island with 8 other non-primate species. You have an endless supply of these 8 species, water and sand. That is literally it.
What 8 non-primate species do you pick?
Hi, Meeko. That’s my female Siamese cats name. 
My 2 cats. My Beagle. A milk cow. 4 laying hens.
That’s 8.
It’s going to be a big heap of dead animals shortly since there are no plants in this scenario. If indeed there are no plants, I’m not sure how I won’t have scurvy soon.
OP doesn’t say that you can’t pick plants.
A species is any living thing, which includes plants, fungi, and bacteria. What’s your staple of choice? Wheat? Rice? Potatoes? Any or all of those should qualify.
To make a chicken sandwich, you’ll need at least chicken, wheat, and yeast. That’s three. Throw in lettuce, tomato, and onions to make six. You’ve got two more of your choice. I’d add cattle and coconut.
It’s ‘deserted island’, fuck what you’d bring to a desert Island because two days later it wouldn’t matter.
Chickens - for meat and eggs
sheep - for meat and milk
maize
peas
potatoes
grapes
coconut trees - for wood and coconuts. Need wood for cooking. And you can’t have a desert island without coconut trees.
Bananas
I hope there’s enough different vitamins in the vegetables to prevent any major deficiency. And also that the chickens and sheep can thrive on them.
True, I interpreted “non-primate” to imply animals rather than plants. Still,
What would a chicken, for example, eat? Must I spend my species on bugs and worms? What would a cow eat? Must I choose grass, which I can’t eat? What will Beck’s pets eat? If I choose plants, which can grow in sand and salt water? I like kelp as much as the next person, but unless these are magic self-sustaining living things, 8 isn’t a lot of species to build an ecosystem from that will feed me and itself. Unless the point is not to sustain life but to die entertainingly, in which case I choose black widows, polar bears, hooded cobras, poison ivy, murder hornets, corpse flower, leeches, and amanita muscaria.
A big suitcase of multivitamins. And socks. I need socks.
Yeah I was immediately wondering that too.
Not bad list. Maybe sub the black widow for a kimodo dragon, and I think (well, male) swimmers would have a tougher time with the candiru thingie than a polar bear, which you can just throw a magically-appearing fish or two at, and just sub leeches for the bubonic plague.
Speaking of magically-appearing things, if the sand-only island can provide sustenance for the following, my eight would be:
caviar
iceburg lettuce
a nice caper bush vineyard
plentitude of gooey ducks washing ashore
kale
dulce
parsley
ferrets
My cats and dogs would live a long time on chicken, eggs and milk.
Hey even Maryanne figured out how to make pie on an Island. I like to think I could do just as well.
You have to have milk for Coconut cream pie.
So, cow. She’ll give milk til she can’t. We’ll eat her and order up a new one.
A lot of you are missing that you get an unlimited supply of your eight species! No need to waste species on sustenance for the rest.
Hmmm… Potatoes, dairy cows, sugar cane, cacao, chickens, coconut palm, wheat… And scallops. Might as well have my favorite food handy.
[Moderating]
This is really more of an IMHO than a CS. Moving.
This.
I very much doubt that it’s possible to have an ecosystem with only eight species that will support a human.
And if they’re supposed to be magically self-replenishing, the question isn’t really ‘which 8 species’, but ‘which 8 things do you want to have to eat, wear, and make shelter out of?’ Aside from companions, you might as well be ordering the products from a catalog.
This appears to be true from the OP. What’s less clear to me is with this…
…what are we thinking about how we turn a sheep into a mutton chop? Peter included wood, which gives us some options, but OP was pretty clear “…water and sand. That is literally it”, so setting up an abattoir seems challenging. Even dealing with a chicken is going to be hard work without a knife.
Don’t fight the hypothetical. I took the OP to mean there is nothing in the ecosystem save the 8 species you bring. I’m assuming she allows us some basic tools to harvest or slaughter and cook them.
I quoted the hypothetical. Again:
I’d only use one of my 8 on a source of protein; probably a fish that can be eaten raw like tuna. Then a plant that’s high in vitamin C and sugar; an orange tree maybe. Another plant high in carbs and fat - peanuts? Then a source of shelter and warmth; some sort of straw-like grass that can be used for bedding and weaved into primitive clothing and hats to protect me from the sun. The other 4 species are luxuries.
I think avocado is a good contender. Contains almost all nutrients, and tasty. The only question is whether to use up a few more species for guacamole.
Yes! I’ll replace my peanuts for avocados.