Questions tagged [creature-design]
For questions regarding the viability of a life-form design. These questions should focus on biologically plausible creatures.
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How could I redesign my dragons to have 6 limbs and still be able to fly?
In a previous post, I asked about dragons in my stories and how I could make it plausible for them to fly while also meeting the criteria of having 6 limbs and being 15 to 20 feet long when fully ...
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Are Liquid Brains Possible or Viable?
I'm designing an alien species roughly based on starfish. Starfish in the real world don't have brains or blood, they just let seawater run their nervous and circulatory systems, but I figure a ...
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Where should an electric organ go in a human
In my story with magic based around the manipulation of electromagnetism, I need the characters to have a hand-wave electric organ. This electric organ is about 10 cm per organ with the capacity to ...
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How would future humans be able to evolve large heads? [duplicate]
In my story there are future humans that managed to build a time machine and for research purposes decided to travel back in time to change past events from taking place. These future humans have a ...
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Could a creature which evolved in space using sunlight and gas for energy and propulsion, glide in our atmosphere?
I'm imagining roughly human-sized creatures which have 'sails' that they use to absorb solar energy and steer themselves around the solar system. I'm trying to think of a feasible way such a being ...
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How would a naga swim underwater? [closed]
Naga is a mix of a human torso and the lower body of a serpent. With this combination, how would they move when they swim?
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Alien mobile plant life
I'm inquiring about the possibility of plants on other worlds developing the ability to move over land on their own (they need not be sapient, but I wouldn't rule the possibility of sapience out ...
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How would a balloon-like plant function?
I've been thinking about a floating and photosynthesizing plant, which would either float due to trapped light gasses, or something else that has a very low density. I'm thinking of a plant roughly in ...
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How reasonable is my hypothesis regarding ring-tailed orthostatic bipeds?
So, in my process of designing humanoid/humanesque sapient aliens, I often find myself wanting to have a species which are orthostatic (upright) bipeds like humans but which nonetheless have long ...
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Is my alien foot design viable for a compromise between arboreality and cursoriality?
I keep trying to design humanoid and humanesque sapient aliens, but I often run into issues with the feet; In an orthostatic biped, an enlarged first toe (big toe) is probably essential to maintain ...
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Biped species with trunk evolved to use for locomotion
So currently in my speculative evolution scenario, I have a creature with an elongated trunk that it uses for rock climbing. This species transitions to a savannah like lifestyle and I was wondering ...
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How are sapient crows utilized if there are phones for communicating?
A shaman society secret to normal humans, in the late 2000s era where phones and the internet exist: why and how would they still put to work their black feathery friends?
They were crucial before all ...
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requirements for spatial manipulation [closed]
In my story, I have a power system that allows humans to control certain universal forces. For example, chronomasters could control time and electromancers could control electromagnetism. Some spatial ...
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How could a quadrupedal human evolve?
The creature is an ape-like quadruped very similar to humans. Their intelligence and feelings are the same as in regular humans. The head and torso are indistinguishable from a regular human. The arms ...
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Could Aluminum-Based Placoderm-like Tooth Structure Break a Human Skull?
I have a monster in mind, but a major part of its introduction to the story is that I want to have it bite a human soldier's skull clean off. Its teeth are similar in structure to a Placoderm's, but ...
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Muons as an Energy Source for Life
I had an idea of making a bacterium use muons from cosmic rays for energy storage purposes.
Muons are heavier versions of electrons, but unlike electrons, they aren't very stable and last only for 2.2 ...
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How will the genetic mechanism of reproduction work in a species with four sexes, where there are two types of men and two types of women? [closed]
I am writing a story about a certain population of people who were artificially settled on a terraformed planet. The main feature of this civilization is that they have four sexes:
Man-man
Man-woman
...
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Anatomically Correct Sea Serpents
This is a submission for the Anatomically Correct Series.
Sea serpents appear in various mythologies. Mesopotamians have Tiamat, Greeks have Hydras,Jews have Leviathan, the Norse have Jormungandr....
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Explosive Plant/Chemotrophs [duplicate]
I'm looking for an autotroph that produces an explosive compound for either reproductive or defensive purposes that an intellegent alien could harvest and domesticate for the purposes of producing ...
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Anatomically Correct Pegasus
This is part of the Anatomically Correct Series. I've been wondering how an anatomically correct pegasus could evolve.
Pegasus characteristics
They are pretty obvious, but just in case:
Horse size ...
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What would a planet where giant creatures live be like? (gravity, weather, etc.)
I am thinking about a planet on which gorilla-like people live in. Gorilla-shaped, walking on their knuckles, but with the capability of complex speech and a slightly more humanoid face (possessing a ...
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How to make electro kinetic immune to electricity
In my hard science world there is a character that can output electrons around 30000 volts and around 50,000 amps.The problem is that they would instantly die every time they use their ability. So I ...
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Eyes that aren’t spheres: possibilities? [duplicate]
I have a sci-fi-like universe and one of the species has long, vertical eyes.
But would this be anatomically possible without a sphere-like structure? I know that compound eyes are a thing, but how &...
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Anatomically Correct Gods
This question may seem like an impossible challenge. What I'm talking about here is a biological explanation for limited (or, for bonus marks, unlimited) form shifting, immortality (at least in age) ...
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How can a moon-sized creature evolve? [duplicate]
I wanted to write the evolutionary history of one of the creatures in my story based on scientific principles. This creature is the size of the moon and can live in space. I initially used the limited ...
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How to support the evolution of a giant creature across generations [closed]
In my story, in which I want to rely on scientific logic as much as possible, I want a creature to evolve to become at least the size of a country and you can live in space.
The means of evolution for ...
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How would a species with intangibility-powers deal with war and violence? [closed]
I've got an idea for an alien species with intangibility powers, similar to Kitty Pryde from the X-men or Mira Nova and the Tangeans from "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command". They are capable ...
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Could a species be highly apathetic to their brethren yet have a strong pack/herd mentality?
This species comes from a world 1.7x the mass of Earth that is about 75% water.
I would like them to be very apathetic so that when a space-faring species contacts then there is a definite difference ...
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What explanations can be used for how a humanoid's body is able to spontaneously combust as a natural part of its early stage decomposition?
Some form of chemical reaction interacting with the digestive system for a start?
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Brain to body mass ratio vs general brain mass
On my fictitious planet, a 1/2 pound mammal has a brain to body mass ratio similar to that of a human, could they have human-level intelligence, or would the brain be too small to develop that level ...
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Would graphene be an effective substitute for collagen in skin?
For my group of alien tetrapods, I would like to have them evolve a sort of built in protection against the elements and other organisms. While researching, I came across information on graphene, and ...
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How horny can humans get before it's too horny
Trying to create horns which are both ornamental and defensive, I've read somewhere that beards evolved in humans because we punch each other so much that even just a minuscule amount of hair cushion ...
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Do I need magic to change the colors I see?
Basically, I have creatures that are supposed to see all wavelengths of light which are hypothetically visible to biological life, but the way they do this is by changing the photo-receptors in their ...
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High Gravity Giant Shell
I am designing a genus of eusocial, high-temperature, extraterrestrials from the planet 61 Virginis b. They are based on tungsten chloride and use sodium chloride as a solvent. This species has ...
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How big can my giant killer-eel grow?
In my fantasy world, Mainspring, the top of the oceans' food chain is the maculatum, a species of giant eel which originated on another plane/dimension. Maculatum reproduce asexually and wthout any ...
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How to serve the gods
TL;DR: How can a mortal become worthy of being listened to by the gods?
I'm seeking a logical framework to establish a specific relationship between gods and mortals.
The Relationship:
Mortals can ...
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Would a trait that's genetics have "circular dominance" be plausible?
Okay, so based on some quick research, there don't appear to be any real-life cases in genetics of "circular dominance" where, for example, allele A is dominant to allele B, B is dominant to ...
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How would a 4-armed, blind species,use firearms?
My blind, intelligent species has advanced technologically to the stage of space exploration through the usage of FTL travel. The reason for their blindness is evolving underground, after the surface ...
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Body plan of a 4D human-analog?
I am attempting to design aliens that live in a universe with a 4+1 space-time--i.e., a universe with four orthogonal spatial dimensions, rather than three, in addition to a fifth time dimension. In ...
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How would life, that thrives on the magic of trees, survive in an area with limited trees?
In my fantasy world, there's 'magic' which is produced by trees; flowing from the roots up to the branches, which send out the magic into the atmosphere, allowing it to flow through all life. Humans ...
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Non-liquid fuel produced biologically in a carbon-based lifeform
I have a creature that was bio-engineered by an extremely capable society, and I need it to "produce" an explosive* fuel that is contained within the outer layer of flesh/fur. This fuel ...
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Can a plant or fruit evolve or be made to look as if it evolved to produce blood?
My question is Can a plant or fruit evolve or be made to look as if it evolved to produce blood? I want to have a story well a benevolent super being not a god a being with powerful tech; transplanted ...
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Ideal weapons and combat gear for prehensile feet
What weapons and combat gear would suit a race of creatures with prehensile hands and feet?
I'm designing a high fantasy warrior who comes from a bipedal race of creatures with prehensile hands and ...
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Is it realistic/plausible to have iron plated scales on an animal? [duplicate]
I've been drafting a fantasy world with dragons, obviously becuase it's a fantasy world. I was thinking about the science behind flying animals and how reptiles and birds are sort of related, yadda ...
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Could a bird respiratory system fit in this humanoidish body?
I have a creature that has a humanoid torso and abdomen except for it being larger to accommodate air sacs. It has a flexible spine; not rigid like birds. The pelvic bones are like a human's(except ...
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Would it be possible for a creature to change to be able to live in most extreme environments
My world of Find out is somewhat like earth having all the same environments in addition to many more of the extreme ones. For example: bigger temperature differences during seasons, more underwater ...
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Elastic alien humanoids?
How could you explain an alien race having the power of elasticity? By that I mean able to stretch out its limbs as if made of rubber. Think Mr. Fantastic or Elastigirl, but an entire species can do ...
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What could be an alternative for chlorophyll for cyanobacteria that use five micron infrared to make energy?
What would be a viable chlorophyll like protein be for a cyanobacterium that absorbs infrared light at the 5-20 micron range to produce energy in the form of ATP?
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More energy dense alternative for glucose for vampires
I'm making a vampire human subspecies that is hundreds of times stronger than humans and also is immortal, but I can't seem to find a suitable energy source.
First, vampires are humans infected by a ...
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How could a radiowave controlled cyborg-mutant be possible?
The cells of certain gene edited superhumans were changed to make them produce molecular radiowave receiver inside the cell to allow the superhuman to coordinate the movements and even change genetic ...
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