Worldbuilding

Questions tagged [xenobiology]

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Use this tag to mark questions related to creating plausible alien biologies that may be close to or far removed from Earthly biology but within the realms of hard science.

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1answer
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What are the risks and consequences of colonizing an inhabited Earth-like planet?

The planet I have in mind has an abundance of plants and animals, but no sapient species or civilizations (think Earth before humans came along). Wouldn't Earth micro-organisms wreak havoc on alien ...
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2answers
72 views

obsidian/flint like substance of organic origin

Could a species that naturally produces an obsidian/flint like material exist ? Or to put it more accurately could an obsidian/flint like material that is purely of biological origin (and not the ...
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2answers
119 views

how do I design an alien planet without deep speculative evolution?

I've been wanting to make an alien planet for a while, and though I don't want it to just be an 'earth but everything is wacky colored' type thing, I honestly do not have the patience to simulate ...
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3answers
138 views

What kind of organs, anatomy or modifications are needed for my alpha creature to control its kin?

I want to make a biological group of creatures where there is an absolute alpha creature that their lower kin cannot ever harm due to a mental prohibition. This would be equivalent to Asimov's first ...
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6answers
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Organism that can produce water on its own (possibly from air?) not requiring a water source. Is it plausible and if how?

I have thought of a sort of desert planet that has a atmosphere pretty similar to earth and with gravity a little lower which has little to no water source and most of it is empty dry wastelands. I ...
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6answers
2k views

Grappling hook which attaches to almost any surface and is actually alive, is it feasible?

wondering the mechanism of how a grappling hook would be able grip onto most surfaces without missing the hit or sliding off. in video games grappling hooks are ropes or chains which when thrown onto ...
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1answer
91 views

Anatomically Correct Glebsig

A Glebsig (plural Glebsigi) is an intelligent alien species from the game Stellaris. They look like this: Glebsigi can float in mid-air with their tentacles hanging below. Glebsigi manipulate things ...
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2answers
102 views

An organic “mecha” or “krang”. Possible or unreasonable?

In my world, one of my creatures is a 100kg, 2 meters long flying alien. It has a durable yet relatively light endoskeleton which allows it to have proper anchoring for its flight muscles and its ...
4
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2answers
250 views

Are Saturn's rings a safe place for adolescent space-hoppers?

Are Saturn's rings a safe place for adolescent space-hoppers? As you know, space-hopper toys are based on the real-life creature. These are roughly balloon shaped and have two "horns". The ...
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1answer
46 views

can a unicellular algae-like organism evolve into a predatory multicellular organism that eats said algae like organisms?

this is an odd question, but in simpler terms; can a non-predatory organism evolve into a predatory one? can it also evolve to consume other species which came from this proto-species?
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6answers
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How can blue blooded shapeshifter blush like a normal human?

An intelligent race of shapeshifter came to settle on present day Earth, they managed to clear the custom and are placed on 24hr monitoring by MiB agents. It is illegal for them to expose their kind ...
9
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3answers
154 views

Can various human-like aliens live together on a space station with a common atmosphere?

My idea is to build a universe with various alien species. There are dozens of different species and every species evolved differently on a different planet. The problem arises when they want to meet ...
11
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6answers
3k views

Horn placement on humans/humanoids

Let's say that in a different world, humans evolved to have horns (e.g. Demons in many fantasy stories). Where would those horns be placed on the head, in regards to actual creatures with horns? I've ...
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4answers
148 views

A wing that can switch into a leg posture

I thought of a flying winged animal that when lands switches into a leg posture when landing I know that vampire bats can walk but i want a animal that can run at high speeds when its wings switch ...
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3answers
295 views

A biological tourniquet

Is a biological tourniquet plausible and in what scenario would a creature evolve this? I got an idea for an organism that evolved biological tourniquets. The way it works is that they are basically ...
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1answer
116 views

On a planet with a large amount of water vapor (steam) would senses evolve

So imagine a planet with large amounts of subsurface liquid water. Geysers appear in big groups, and pools of warm water are common. So the planet is now covered in water vapor (steam) in the forms of ...
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2answers
90 views

Genetic trait success tracking--is it possible?

Elf genetics works differently than the standard Darwinian model. Rather than success being determined by the gene-holder surviving and reproducing, genes are "tagged" with success levels at ...
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2answers
108 views

What would mammalian dinosaurs look like? [closed]

Here's a crazy idea: What if there were mammals that were designed similarly to dinosaurs? Similar proportions, similar accessories, maybe even similar size... I was thinking of species to add to my ...
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3answers
381 views

Are retractable ears plausible?

My alien species is mostly "diurnal", but relies a lot on echolocation to find its way around. Although it has eyes and lives in places in which light availability isn't a problem, it's main ...
3
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1answer
123 views

The chosen one is destined to defeat the devil [closed]

Legend says the chosen one will be able to defeat the devil without fighting it. Over the years many brave adventurers have tried and miserably failed taking down the devil with various plans and ...
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3answers
310 views

Most effective form of biological communication for long distance?

I have got a idea of a eusocial species that creates huge And wide colonies that can go through different environments from underground tunnels, to a island a few miles offshore, to miles away farther ...
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2answers
119 views

Digitigrade vs. true backwards knee

So on real-life Earth, tetrapods have either plantigrade or digitigrade legs. In both cases, the knee bends forward, but in digitgrades the ankle joint can give the illusion of a "backwards knee&...
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5answers
205 views

Saving the world by saving an entity

The world is at danger because the death of one singular entity called heart of the world is dying. Copyright 2014-2020 PeteMohrbacher The question is how do I link the death of the heart of world to ...
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2answers
80 views

Kinetically powered plant

This contributor to Deviantart had this idea that on eyeball Earths some plants might grow in the shadow of bigger plants and get energy from the wind, like a naturally occurring wind turbine. My ...
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3answers
2k views

Anatomy of men with beards

Lest anyone think I am making fun of men with beards, I should point out that I am a man with a beard. A space-exploration team land on a new planet. They are surprised to discover that the local ...
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4answers
121 views

Life points to live again

Life points are creatures spawning in random places around the world, they grow to the size of an apple and resemble hearts made of crystal of various colours. They get their names from the ability ...
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4answers
106 views

How do hardy flowering plants that thrive in low 'g' and thin atmosphere disseminate their seeds?

Imagine a type of flowering plant capable of growing on terrestrial planet with surface gravity a tenth of Earth and it has a thin atmosphere with composition similar to Earth's but as thick as ...
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3answers
187 views

What Would a Deep-Sea Diving Humanoid Look Like

I'm wondering what adaptions would be needed for an air-breathing, land-worthy homonid to be able to do deep-sea diving of at least 3,000 feet deep and for at least one hour. What changes need to be ...
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4answers
139 views

High energy, low temperature?

Alien spacecraft have entered orbit around Earth. They have launched a few probes for closer observations, but made no attempt to land. Figuring out meaningful communication is an ongoing process, but ...
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3answers
148 views

Biology of a fragile pain intolerant alien race?

So I'm working on this alien race that is very similar to humans with some minor changes and one major change. The biggest change is that they are very pain intolerant. This pain intolerance is ...
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2answers
137 views

Can you combine chromatophores with exoskeleton

I've got an idea of an alien organism that is a powerful predator that shares its environment with extremely intelligent, strong, and dangerous apex predators, and so it evolved an exoskeleton. Its ...
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6answers
239 views

Can a creature have a strong, but flexible neck?

I'm working on a creature that uses predominantly its clawed arms and sharp teeth to hunt down prey. The creature is bipedal, is around the size of a large lion and has similar strength, but greater ...
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7answers
888 views

How to decimate enemy armies without mutilating them? [closed]

Everyone could agree that smashing a sword or shooting an arrow onto your plate of food is not the brightest idea, but vampires are even more extreme. Vampires eat like spiders, they inject a ...
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6answers
878 views

Darkest hour, the beast which brings madness [closed]

Darkest hour is a flying creature who usually lives in the depths of the ocean. Once a year we see the darkest hour exits the waters and fly into the sky which will turn foggy and dark. The Darkest ...
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1answer
174 views

Can the dunkleosteus jaw model work on a land predator?

Dunkleosteus terreli might be the most well known species of placoderm by general media. Having inhabited the devonian seas, this impressive predator possessed an unique four bar linkage jaw mechanism,...
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4answers
141 views

Hand mouths evolution

You can skip to TL:DR down below Arms are strong, stronger than jaws. People can break each others arms just by playing. Grip strength can easily reach a point of crushing 75 kilograms and holding a ...
4
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2answers
136 views

Healing by harming others

No one heals themselves by harming one another, except the lykorthios of course! They are fierce creatures of the night shaped with the semblance of primates but with a mixture of canine features. ...
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14answers
5k views

How would predation work in an empathic universe?

In my world, there is a plane of existence whose laws of reality work differently than ours. In this plane, thoughts are not private. The boundaries between the mind and reality are slim, and thus ...
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13answers
5k views

Why would evil minions raise humans to be their leaders?

Evil minions also known as goblins are creatures who steal or raise children of humans to be their leaders and to guide them on evil deeds. Humans raised by goblins are intelligent and good in the art ...
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6answers
3k views

Mcguffins, everyone wants them

A mcguffin is a creature who is wanted by many organizations on earth, wars were waged through history to obtain a mcguffin and to this day they still are. People sacrifice their lives seeking or ...
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11answers
3k views

Fauna evolved to use portals

Random portals of spherical shape are found on the surface of the planet, they are pitch black and have a diameter of 3 meters. Once something enters any of the many random portals, they are "...
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3answers
152 views

Reason for one sex to develop a hammerhead

I'm looking for a reason to explain why a species of fictional creatures resembling vaguely a shark has evolved this form of sexual dimorphism where one sex has an hammerhead and the other doesn't. ...
3
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2answers
183 views

A flying animal that would experience little to no drag?

I wanted to design a huge alien organism that resembles something like a jet. It lives on a low gravity planet that has 60% earthā€™s gravity and a similar atmosphere to earth. It would fly by ...
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2answers
94 views

“Domesticating” microbes

I wanna know more about the plausibility of a creature having the ability to "domesticate" foreign cells. For example: a lizard with mouth infections bites my leg and the creature manages to run ...
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4answers
171 views

Water mimicry : ability to turn into liquid

I want a creature capable of going from a solid structure capable of walking to a liquid or slimy substance clear as water or ocean blue. How can this be accomplished?
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1answer
105 views

Biological explosives

I want an organism to be capable of producing Diethylzinc or any other similar substance which on contact with external air explodes or ignites. The creature can be as complex as an animal or it can ...
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3answers
589 views

Ability to harden skin at will

How can one explain the ability of a creature to harden their skin to a solid strong enough to fend off predator bites? The skin must go from being elastic and flexible to being a biological shield ...
3
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1answer
105 views

Could a creature discard its skeletal system to function like an octopus?

For a long time now I tried to make my creature work. Being from an alien planet, I wished it to be humanoid and capable of flight, while also making it able to slip into small crevices, however, as ...
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3answers
150 views

Biome favoring extreme sexual dimorphism

Sexual dimorphism, that is the difference is size between the male and a female of the same specie, is common yet normally not extreme. There are however species where the difference is extreme: I ...
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3answers
196 views

What Is The Best Wing Design For A Giant Flying Animal

What wing design is best-suited for gigantic flying vertebrates, and why? The wing designs I'm considering are Bat Wings, Bird Wings, and Pterosaur Wings. I'm leaning towards Pterosaur simply because ...

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