So I land on a world with the following statistics.

Weather - Snow
Sentinels - Limited
Flora - Nonexistent
Fauna - Bountiful

I land and exit my ship (or get booted out as that seems more the case) and the sheer number of creatures around me are indeed (Bountiful) I was really amazed at just how many different species I was finding, my favorites were the ones who had the statistic DIET - VEGETATION.....

Let me tell you of all the planets I have visited this one had some of the largest critters I had seen to date and so many of then were plant eaters on a planet that had Nonexistent flora.

Have you found a planet that contradicts the description similar to this ? This was not my first but it was the first that had giant plant eaters and teenie tiny widdle carnivores that would at best leave a creamy little spot on the bottom of one of these giants feet.

Microscopic soil plants, maybe? Nah.

How large a checklist is "bountiful"?

I don't know if it counts as impossible, but my second planet had no flora or fauna, but did have mushrooms that could be cataloged.

A different sort of impossible, which is what I thought you were talking about at first: On my first planet I cataloged three more animals than were on the list and *still* have one on the list I haven't been able to get. On the planet I'm on now, I've cataloged six animals but only three have been checked off the list. I'm beginning to think of them as plants with legs, tails, and teeth, but they were marked with red dots and I get paid for them as animals....

There doesn't seem to be a milestone series for discovering previously unsuspected lifeforms. There ought to be!

After giving it some thought as to a explanation I came up with this Maybe the statistics for a planet are only there to give you a idea of what there needs to be done for a full scan report of all that can be found.

With that in mind I did notice for a planet with nonexistent flora there were the usual tiny ankle high eye clutter you seem to find on all planets, they were spread out quite a bit so maybe these giant critters just eat those and have very slow metabolism's combined with efficient use of whatever they find to eat.

Well that is my comic book explanation for it anyway.

I landed on a "Jungle Planet".
It was at least 80% water, and barren islands with lonely trees and everything pink.
I flew around, to make sure I'm not missing anything. But I didn't.

Yep, came across a couple of those planets as well. I really think they should have tweaked the procedural algorithm much more in order to make the universe more plausible. But I guess if you finish the path of the Atlas, it becomes clear why these things are there. ;)

That happens all the time since you can get different scans from different specimens belonging to the same species - only the first of those scans will count towards the checklist though.

i have found the planet description has little relevance to whats actually on the planet. well, except for the temperment of the sentinels...that always seems right.

ive been on planets where it tells me there are no life forms at all...only to see it full of life.

It seems to me that the fauna type refers to the number of creatures that will be nearby. When scarce I am lucky to see one critter nearby and they're often solo. Bountiful is the opposite, lots of critters in packs around you. A theory only but I've been noticing this. Also this is sci-fi, anything can happen, we don't need no stinking logic, we have metachlorians and Vulcan deathgrips!

I saw a predator sea monster, and its diet is insects and there were only fish in the ocean. It sure liked to attack me, and I am certainly not an insect. It's temperament was called stalker.

Well in a world where the only prey are insects, it`s reasonable to think a predator would assume you must be a strange kind of insect and attack you. Only when it starts eating your body would it realise you tasted nothing like an insect and leave your remains.

But rest assured your sacrfice would teach it not to bother with any more Humans that happen to arrive.