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First of all, it’s worth noting that there is probably no practical reason for a human-like creature to evolve deer-like antlers. Humans are too fragile and don’t have enough mass to “charge” and use them as weapons, and bulky antlers would probably hinder humans’ ability to climb trees (by getting tangled in the branches) and hide in small crevices.
That ...
13
It might be pretty nice.
https://weatherspark.com/y/3513/Average-Weather-in-Taos-New-Mexico-United-States-Year-Round
Taos New Mexico is a great place to visit. It is beautiful high desert and stays at 0% humidity. Maybe your woods are the woods outside Taos?
Very low humidity also is a frequent occurrence when the temperature is below freezing because air ...
11
(1) The effects would be rather unpleasant, and at extremely close distance possibly fatal - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blank_(cartridge)#Fatal_accidents The major source of damage would be the shockwave, especially with a large calibre to the head, think of it as a strong punch. For some info on blasts from very large calibres (in this case tank guns)...
11
Hair horns
A rhinoceros's horn is distinctive, and the name "rhinoceros" actually comes from the Greek words for "nose" and "horn." But despite its size and strength, the horn is composed primarily of a protein called keratin--the same substance that makes up human hair and nails.
https://sciencing.com/horn-rhino-made-7499547....
answered Jul 13 at 10:02
chasly - reinstate Monica
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9
Curling from the back of the head to protect the nape of the neck.
Leopard are predators of primates and still attack people to this day. Horns that protect the back of the neck would protect against a leopard's favored attack.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopard_attack
... This fossil evidence, along with modern studies of primate–leopard
interaction, ...
8
It's definitely plausible, because both of the things you're asking for already exist. All you need is a prey animal who evolved limb or skin loss as an emergency escape mechanism when attacked by predators.
For the biological tourniquet: vasoconstriction. Vasoconstriction is the narrowing of blood vessels through muscle constrictions, and is an important ...
8
Hairs are not only for protection against cold, especially for such "naked" creatures like humans.
It is also
Signal. Sexual mostly. Telling female from male is a must for creatures with less than 100 offsprings per female. But it is also used to tell young from adult and adult from old. This allows to prevent many one-sided conflicts, and keeps ...
7
You don't need bullets; anything inside the barrel will be accelerated with potentially lethal effect. Shot, scrap metal, pebbles etc. In early firearms, soldiers in the heat of battle sometimes accidentally fired their ramrod at the enemy. (Very short range, but deadly at point-blank).
Blank rounds can indeed kill. Often the problem is metal fragments from ...
6
Short permanence in dry air gives immediate discomfort, I speak out of personal experience.
I once was naïve enough to use the dehumidifier for drying up the laundry while I was in the room. Ten minutes after switching it on (so still far from 0% humidity) were enough to have irritated eyes, itchy nose and difficult to breath.
Moreover I am sometimes ...
answered Jul 10 at 11:29
5
Only a species that lives MUCH longer than another can witness its evolution. For example, some microbial organisms reproduce as quickly as once every 20 minutes. In this case, humans can observe thousands of generations of the microbe in a single human life time and collect enough data to make observations about its evolution.
The thing about microbial ...
5
The Same Scenario Where It Evolved in Real Life
Lizards have muscles that cut off blood flow after they lose their tail.
The only reason a creature would evolve this is if they expect to lose the extremity, as a means of defense against predators. For creatures which can't regenerate lost limbs and who would be permanently rendered less viable in a ...
5
If I remember correctly, the common ancestor of mammals during the times of dinosaurs extinction was something small similar to a rodent.
It looks like you are in a similar situation: rats, lacking predators, will proliferate and occupy all available niches, then, to mitigate food competition, they will start specializing on a certain diet, which in the long ...
answered Jul 13 at 6:47
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Predators are sorely lacking
Without predators keeping them in check, anything that rats can eat, they will eat into extinction. Then the rats will starve. Canines - i.e. wolves - are the big exception here. Basically any mostly wild area will be full of wolves, living off of mostly rats, or no animals at all.
People, who regard rats as pests, will keep ...
4
If we're talking about true horns — protrusions of bone covered by keratin — then the two most natural positions on the human skull would be out from the temporal bone or as an extension of the brow ridge.
The temporal bone, which lies behind the ear, is already the hardest bone in the human body, and it's well positioned to absorb shocks, redirecting energy ...
4
This already exists. Its the primary way for the body to distribute blood around to where it needs to by constricting and dilating bloodvessles. Most of the larger bloodvessles wont close completely for most people, but it is possible. I spoke to a man who had his hands cut off because he refused to kill other members of his village in a grisly recruitment ...
4
I worry that existing freshwater fish are not prey enough.
Pike are fish catching specialists. Occasionally they grab a small mammal or bird. They swallow prey whole.
There are killer whales that are the size you describe; in general these are the smaller ones and they are fish specialists. Larger killer whales are a different group and seals can tell the ...
4
Unsaturated fats can spontaneously burst into flame.
This is why you need to be careful about leaving oily rags crammed in a bucket.
Some oils and fats spontaneously oxidize. That propensity to oxidize is dependent on iodine value which measures how many unsaturated double bonds are in the oil. Higher iodine value = more iodine can get soaked up by those ...
3
Apes do not have hairs for cold climates, apes have hairs to avoid freaking skin burns....my brother cut his hair bald and now his skin is falling in flakes mixed with blood because he got burned by the sun.
Modern humans are less hairy than other species of apes because we do not stand in the sun all day long. Most of the time, some people who enjoy skin ...
3
Can be uncomfortable but definitely not deadly
Apartment Therapy summarizes the effects of extremely low humidity:
Low humidity causes static electricity, dry skin and hair, increased
susceptibility to colds and respiratory illness, and can allow viruses
and germs to thrive. Wood floors, furniture and millwork will split
and crack, paint will chip, and ...
3
When I lived in Phoenix, AZ the humidity would hit 7% on occasion. You would generate static electricity like in the winter in the northern climates. But other than that it made the higher temperatures more tolerable as your sweat evaporates almost instantly. At around 20% humidity I could feel it as between my fingers would feel sticky. I didn't live there ...
3
If your firearms can only be used at point blank range, you need a
Captive bolt gun.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captive_bolt_pistol
The bolt consists of a heavy rod made of corrosion-resistant alloys,
such as stainless steel. It is held in position inside the barrel of
the stunner by means of rubber washers. The bolt is usually not
visible in a stunner ...
2
Useful? Sure!
The biggest, most obvious use of electricity is defense and attack, but a lot of species use electricity in detecting food (bees can sense if flowers have been drained of nectar, and some species can tell if something is alive or dead) or direction. Electricity helps spider webs be sticky and geckos hold on to walls. And just because your land ...
2
If you have absolutely nothing in the barrel apart from black powder, then, if is tamped down, you will simply blow a lot of the powder out, un-ignited. This will be followed by a short-lived flame containing sparks of still burning powder. The flame will travel a few feet, depending on the bore of the barrel and the amount of the charge.
Don't stand within ...
2
You'd need a reasonable population size for these fish to maintain genetic health/diversity which means you also need and a large volume of fresh water (and hence a large prey base) to support that population. So that would mean a continent with large, interconnected fresh water lake systems and or river systems. At least as far as adults go.
Juveniles might ...
2
It’s certainly possible for hypergolic components to evolve as in the case of the Bombardier beetle. Many other hypergolic combinations are known and there a probably a multitude waiting to be discovered for example diethylenetriamine and hydrogen peroxide
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0094576517300267
Hydrogen peroxide is already ...
2
The temperature receptors are located in the skin, if I recall correctly, therefore larger fat reserves would protect internal organs from extreme cold (they would theoretically survive a bit longer), but it would still inflict pain and frostbites. Therefore I believe the hair is still necessary, regardless of body mass.
2
Back in the Jurassic era of computers, Accolade made a videogame called Deadlock. It is from a time when game documentation meant a printed booklet rather than webpages or PDF's... I have tried to find this stuff online but all I could find relevant to the question was this image:
The Re'Lu are a faction composed of two species that live in symbiosis. The ...
2
Future humans
In millions of years, humans will be so dependent on robots that they will evolve to become blobs with residual limbs inside. Even mating will be done by VR combined with artificial insemination.
Eventually Earth becomes so depleted of fuel and metals etc., that robots are no longer able to make or repair other robots to care for the humans (...
answered Jul 13 at 12:58
chasly - reinstate Monica
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2
First of all let's stress the fact that we are talking about black powder (also named in America gunpowder) which has different properties from modern smokeless powder. Aside from smoke black powder yields much lower pressure. Bullets from this guns are subsonic while bullets from modern ammunition are often super sonic (with some being sub sonic by design).
...
2
Humans already don't need to wear clothing at all. We can get along in very warm (SE Asia) as well as very cold (Tierra del Fuego) climates without a stitch on us. Apart from protective gear, decoration, and cultural considerations, it's just not needed.
Your fourteen stone Dwarves won't need clothing either. Just need to evolve some cold adaptive traits. We ...
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