For questions about the physical structure of an organism.
13
votes
7answers
3k views
Given immortality can animals become intelligent?
The animal in question starts off with reptile like intelligence, classic gecko and is a singularity, the only individual of his species to be immortal.
It can die and be killed but for the sake of ...
5
votes
6answers
233 views
What would be the physique of a damage immune teenager?
I have this protagonist who has has the ability to magically nullify newtons of force when they would harm him. Functionally speaking, this makes the character immune from most forms of damage, both ...
4
votes
2answers
124 views
What would the size constraints on my creature be?
Context
This creature right here is one of the decedents of placoderms that that transitioned from rivers to land. The got onto land during the Middle Devonian and remained isolated from all other ...
5
votes
5answers
273 views
Why would a biped evolve into a monoped?
Say that you have a medium-sized, bipedal, vertebrate-like creature. It no longer has the need to have arms, so they atrophied until they disappeared entirely.
Now imagine an animal that shares ...
15
votes
9answers
4k views
How does a mimic move?
Alright, so take your basic (not DnD or any other universe specific) mimic: an unassuming treasure chest that turns out to secretly be a monster as soon as you open it. This particular creature is one ...
2
votes
2answers
138 views
How many shots would it take to sever a limb? [closed]
Modern (or near future, 10-20 years) setting. Mostly regular humans. Regular firearms.
The scene goes like this: the Big Bad Villain of the story fought the Big Good Hero in hand-to-hand combat and ...
12
votes
2answers
155 views
What would a hexapodal skeleton look like?
Having looked at some of the questions regarding creatures with more than four limbs, I've found some useful info, like the idea that additional limbs increase stability while requiring more brain ...
2
votes
2answers
95 views
Secondarily Plantigrade Limbs
So, this came about when I was attempting to construct create a unified Kaiju universe, and wondering about a hypothetical evolutionary path of Godzilla. However, I figured that it could also open up ...
2
votes
5answers
337 views
Avian Crocodylomorph
Today, dinosaurs, alligators, crocodiles, gharials and caimen are all that remains of a special group of reptiles called the archosaurs. Recently, it has been accepted by the public that birds did ...
8
votes
3answers
326 views
Asymmetrical Limbs
So, I've been designing an alien species, actually a redesign of something from childhood. However, I've recently come into an issue with its limbs.
The creature possesses two arms. The right arm is ...
-3
votes
3answers
99 views
If a human's lungs stretched to the lower abdomen, what would it feel like? [closed]
I was considering a human-like race of aliens, where their lungs are huge. Their lungs would reach to the lower abdomen. Due to the science-magic of the setting, they can survive just fine with ...
7
votes
2answers
207 views
What type of acid could burn through skin and any type of metal?
This is my first time using this site and i'm excited to get answers to roadblocks that have prevented me from finishing my writing in the past. However, you may have to excuse some mistakes I make ...
56
votes
12answers
7k views
Justifying why a troll's skin would turn to stone in sunlight
It's a fairly common legend that trolls turn to stone when exposed to daylight, and I was thinking about using such a creature in a story. I'm searching for a plausible way of justifying such a ...
12
votes
5answers
2k views
Plausibility Check: Armored Birds
How plausible, or implausible, would it be for a lineage of birds' feathers to evolve into sharp, hardened plate-like scale armor (and/or blades), comparable to that of pangolins? And if it is ...
6
votes
1answer
275 views
What Would a Reptile with Facial Muscles look like?
I have been wanting to make a carnivorous reptilian creature with the ability to speak fluently using its speech muscles and its vocal tract, it can also perform facial expressions just like how ...
3
votes
2answers
141 views
Anatomically correct snallygaster
The snallygaster is a cryptid from Maryland. It is often described as resembling a half bird/half reptile like creature with large wings, a metal beak, tentacles like an octopus (sometimes depicted as ...
3
votes
1answer
92 views
boron based life- blood
I've been working on the anatomy of my boron based life using alternative biochemistry. But I've recently came across a problem that I can't solve on my own. In oxygen breathing life on earth, the ...
6
votes
4answers
317 views
Anatomically Correct Zombie
As requested by JBH, I edited this question to fit the Anatomically Correct Series.
The classic zombie is no mystery to anyone: undead, eats people and multiplies by biting humans. Could they ever ...
5
votes
8answers
604 views
How long could a human being survive after being swallowed by a whale?
In the short story, a man is swallowed by a giant, fictional fish. In fact, he is swallowed whole along with his log cabin and a bunch of hand-crafted tools. In a "The Martian"-like narrative, he ...
47
votes
2answers
6k views
How tall can a humanoid creature be without alerting the rest of the planet with earthquakes?
Planet is earth sized. Fantasy medieval setting that takes place on Continent A, which is on the other side of the planet from Continent B - about as far as South America is from Asia. Continent B ...
12
votes
2answers
213 views
Designing venom glands for an elephant: misting
Laugh all you like, you won't be laughing when it sprays you with its jade trunk of death.
Info
I figured out that I wanted an elephant that sprays poison (not acid) out of its trunk a while ago (...
17
votes
8answers
3k views
Designing a creature with jaws to crush iron bones
In my most recent question, I asked for a material other than calcium and collagen that could form skeletons in alien creatures. My favourite answer was bio-steel; "Iron with a small percentage of ...
5
votes
1answer
116 views
Metal-Feathered Macaw Viability Part 2: Best Wing Shape?
More posts from this thread are here:
Metal-Feathered Macaw Viability Part 1: How Can It Fly?
Info
See this previous question to learn about the premise.
We now know, via this amazing answer, ...
11
votes
4answers
1k views
Are reproductive and excretory systems inherently linked? Could life evolve differently?
As far as I have been able to determine, the majority of life reuses the same plumbing for reproductive and digestive/excretory systems. In fact, the anus is believed to be derived from the male ...
11
votes
3answers
397 views
How could an acid-cow make a barrier against acidic milk by synthesizing PTFE, and what would it line?
Info
I'm designing a breed of cow that produces acid instead of milk. Part of the reason this is useful for my story is that the cows produce as much acid as a dairy cow would milk (through ...
6
votes
4answers
229 views
Would my lizardmen be good at throwing things?
Okay, so I was creating a cold-blooded humanoid species (for a story, I'm no scientist) and ran into a problem with some of my logic.
Because of their obvious issues with overheating, these ...
16
votes
6answers
3k views
Metal-Feathered Macaw Viability Part 1: How Can It Fly?
More posts from this thread will be linked here:
Metal-Feathered Macaw Viability Part 2: Best Wing Shape?
Info
I'm designing a macaw that has metal feathers, claws, and a metal beak--to be ...
4
votes
2answers
109 views
What would be the physiological/anatomical adaptations of a 50 metre sea serpent?
In my last question, How large could my sea serpents be?, I asked what length would be a) possible and b) necessary for a whale-eating sea serpent. My sea serpent is a constricting predator* in a ...
0
votes
3answers
129 views
Would a wheeled creature be a plausible development of evolution? [duplicate]
So, as I understand it, wheels are almost completely absent in nature, in terms of a method of mobility. Would it be possible, or reasonable for such a creature to be made along the lines of evolution?...
0
votes
1answer
149 views
Anatomically Correct Opticoid
Description
An Opticoid is an alien species from the tv series Ben 10 and is named and known for having green eyes with slits all over its body except for its head where there are two large bat-like ...
9
votes
5answers
3k views
Humanoid that has a low terminal velocity
How can a humanoid creature achieve the lowest possible terminal velocity with its own body?
What kind of anatomy would decrease its terminal velocity?
0
votes
2answers
79 views
Species/Race lifespans [duplicate]
What are all the factors of a species' or race's lifespan, scientifically? Know that I am not asking for life expectancy, which can obviously be handled by the worldbuilder him/herself, but rather ...
2
votes
3answers
186 views
How could a shapeshifting species look zoomorphic and human at the same time?
For my a story I'm writing, I have 3 species that are from the same evolution line; Kitsune's, Tanuki's, and Bakeneko/Nekomatas. All three are familiar in the lines of shapeshifiting animals.
Their ...
0
votes
1answer
250 views
What's the safest way to catch a bullet in your body? [duplicate]
I am building a fictional world at the moment.
"Gladiators" are naked men who have to complete in a continuous olympics-style event. Following the first event, they must participate in a variety of ...
6
votes
2answers
315 views
Anatomically Correct Oni
This is a submission for the Anatomically Correct Series.
Originating from Japan, the majority of depictions of Oni (Kijo to refer female Oni/demons) are hideous, gigantic (taller than the tallest ...
4
votes
4answers
1k views
How can a teleporter stop a bullet? [closed]
A character is able to watch bullets in flight, predict where they'll land and so on, and he is also able to teleport himself (but not other people) and move his body parts extremely quickly.
It's ...
3
votes
1answer
119 views
Anatomically correct bulborb
Another videogame monster, this time the bulborbs from the Pikmin series. Throughout the series, there have been multiple types of bulborbs, but for the sake of simplicity, I’ll be asking about the ...
0
votes
2answers
117 views
Explanation for an organism that feeds off the life of others
A character of legendary status has the ability to bleed the life out of the objects around him. He was born with the ability on a lesser scale, but now it’s progressed to the point where he is able ...
0
votes
2answers
99 views
Creating a Scientifically Semi-Valid Pseudo-Arthropod Primate Part 2: Exoskeleton Mimicking Amour plating
Other questions from this thread:
Question 1
Question 3
Oh my that title is a mouthful, but as a parody of the super solider questions and as an efficient way of organizing these questions I will ...
5
votes
1answer
280 views
Creating a Scientifically Semi-Valid Pseudo-Arthropod Primate Part 1: Pseudo-Dragonfly Wing Rib Muscles
Background
As a parody of the super soldier questions and as an efficient way of organizing these questions I will now start this series of questions about Pseudo-Arthropod Primates.
Questions from ...
1
vote
1answer
62 views
Pancreas Chitin
Okay so I am making these arthropod looking humanoid mammalian species, so think of a human with armadillo armor and jointed sloth arms. And I have heard that the pancreas produces Chitin so my ...
3
votes
2answers
535 views
Anatomically Correct Demons
Demons have been a staple of multiple religions for thousands of years, just like angels. While some of the points brought up in the Anatomically Correct Angels post (and other posts on flying ...
1
vote
0answers
144 views
Anatomically Correct Orcs [closed]
Orcs have been a staple fantasy enemy race for decades, but what could cause such a species to exist in real life? What would cause them to develop green skin like they're often depicted as having? ...
18
votes
3answers
2k views
The effects of tearing the wings off an angel
The backstory for a key character in my story involves him receiving a harsh punishment for becoming corrupt. The tearing off of the wings themselves is easy to write. It's the state he's left in ...
1
vote
1answer
75 views
Avoiding muscle atrophy from muscle injury
My Keplerians are humanoids but they have a special organ and special hormones for protein storage. Not only that but they don't get muscle atrophy from injury. Take the abdominal muscles for example. ...
7
votes
5answers
532 views
Would it be possible for a humanoid organism to have bones made of a crystal like quartz or diamond rather than apatite?
Starting at the most basic of theoretical questions, is it chemically possible for these minerals to be deposited by an organic enzyme? I'm particularly interested in diamond because it's pure carbon, ...
6
votes
2answers
243 views
Human Dragonfly Wings
So dragonflies are the sky’s perfect predator, and while their are many adaptations that make this one big one is their wings. And one character in my story has these along with other mammalian ...
4
votes
2answers
184 views
Anatomically correct Penanggalan
The Penanggalan is a vampire found in Southeast Asia. It is described as a flying woman’s head with a cluster of exposed entrails flowing behind her (which apparently twinkle like fireflies). Each ...
5
votes
2answers
244 views
Anatomically correct ghouls
While researching ghouls, I came across two varieties:
The traditional ghoul: a grotesque humanoid commonly featured in fantasy settings that may or may not be undead https://vignette.wikia.nocookie....
1
vote
0answers
92 views
Can the level of pain be measured? [closed]
Because of a recent question I ended up reading through the Painkill-discussion on meta and in the linked question the_OTHER_DJMethaneMan wrote in a comment
Is there a way to "rate" the "level" of ...
