85
votes
Accepted
What could a reptilian race tell by candling their eggs?
Developing comments between @AlexP and me into an answer...
As other answers have said, candling of reptilian eggs is possible. For in ovo testing of chicken sex, if the male and female have ...
- 21.1k
26
votes
Would a lizard-mounted cavalry be effective against pikes?
What you describe is how a boar charges, and it doesn't make pike ineffective against them.
Also, don't forget that while pikes can be kept raised before the impact, they can also be raised with a ...
- 296k
23
votes
Accepted
Scientific feasibility of reptilian overlords and humanoid slaves
First and foremost, you need a world with two sentient species. On Earth, mankind is the top predator in most environments. We might not be able to wrestle a bear, but hands to grab pointed sticks and ...
- 119k
23
votes
Accepted
Would a lizard-mounted cavalry be effective against pikes?
This application of cavalry is suicidal
It doesn't matter whether you have horses, lizards, or elephants. You do not charge into pike formations head-on unless you can out-range them with your own ...
- 8,249
21
votes
What could a reptilian race tell by candling their eggs?
This is pretty much a let me google that for you kind of Q&A:
Reptile eggs can be candled, just like bird eggs. (Probably because, you know, birds are dinosaurs, etc.)
Reptile keepers can ...
- 40.9k
20
votes
Accepted
If a species keeps growing throughout their 200-300 year life, what "growth curve" would be most reasonable/realistic?
Animals that continue to grow through their lives grow quickly at first and slower and slower as they age. this is true for lizards, crocodiles, sharks, and turtles. The main reason is a body shape ...
- 81.9k
19
votes
Accepted
Are humanoid hind legs compatible with reptilian tails?
Like a Frilled Lizard Baby
Frilled lizards have reptilian musculature. I know because they are reptiles. And they can run upright. Check it out.
This is not exactly what you want. I don't believe ...
- 66.2k
17
votes
Is a reptile with diamond scales possible?
Maybe yes, but not through that mechanism.
You don't necessarily need heat and pressure to make diamonds, and those are not usually things that we biological squidgey things use to grow things like ...
- 10.4k
13
votes
What is the most plausible ancestor for tool-using, sentient, bipedal reptilians?
Modern reptiles are too specialized in their reptilian roles, and their metabolism is too slow to make them serious contenders for the role of a civilized species.
A serviceable solution would be to ...
- 93.9k
13
votes
How to separate male and female members of a "lizard like" species
Would it make sense that the females of the species would exhibit colored or oddly shaped scales around the body?
In most species, it is the reverse. The females and young are rather drab and the ...
- 25.3k
13
votes
Accepted
Reptilian beauty standards
If we assume they lay relatively small eggs like most normal reptiles, then hips and breasts are irrelevant, but all the other stuff is. Basically, anything that shows the reptile's good health will ...
- 101k
13
votes
Would a lizard-mounted cavalry be effective against pikes?
A pike is still good to hit the rider
A cavalry unit consists of a rider and a mount, hitting either would destroy at least a part of that unit. In real world, pikes were used to target the horse, ...
- 8,493
12
votes
Scientific feasibility of reptilian overlords and humanoid slaves
Harry Harrison actually already wrote that story. You might want to raid the books for ideas. Or not.
In any case, you specify that the reptilians are cold blooded. This is problematic as brains ...
- 43.3k
12
votes
Are humanoid hind legs compatible with reptilian tails?
There is nothing that exists, but there is no reason it can't exist.
Upright bipedalism is unbelievably rare, even more so with downward facing femurs, so no actual examples exist.
the closest match ...
- 81.9k
11
votes
Accepted
How plausible would it be for a Reptilian race to have settlements in cold regions without hibernation?
I agree that the concept is not very practical for the level of technological advancement you have described, but if you absolutely must have winter reptiles there is some very limited biological ...
- 572
11
votes
Could a Hoop snake actually roll like a wheel?
Snakebots roll.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghOZWTrc9_s
The video does not show the snakebot rolling down a hill, in traditional hoopsnake fashion. Here it is actually rolling up the hill. It ...
- 305k
11
votes
Accepted
Plausible reason why my reptilian humanoids would get rid of their acid spit reflex?
Like human wisdom teeth and the human appendix, the acid glands are obsoleted by "modern lizard." They now represent more of a threat/liability due to infection, atrophy and other ailments than they ...
- 128k
11
votes
Plausible reason why my reptilian humanoids would get rid of their acid spit reflex?
Having the glands could make their breath mildly acidic, even when they are not spitting. Not enough to hurt themselves, especially since they are organic and heal minor injuries. But the passive ...
- 6,972
10
votes
What is the most plausible ancestor for tool-using, sentient, bipedal reptilians?
Troodons or Hypsilophodon
Troodon are already bipedal, warm-blooded, partially scaled, have grasping forearms, and there are plenty in the right size range. They were the most intelligent dinosaurs (...
- 81.9k
10
votes
Accepted
How to determine whose child is which?
They don't
Humans are mammals. We have (mostly) one child at a time. We put a great deal of effort into each child to keep it alive. This includes years of rearing even after the child is old ...
- 25.3k
10
votes
Accepted
Would a monster size aquatic lizard be possible?
Nature did it first.
Mosasaurs were fully aquatic lizards, most closely related to modern monitors (such as the Komodo dragon), which swam Earth's seas for much of the Cretaceous period.
These were ...
- 14.9k
10
votes
Accepted
How large could a giant turtle get?
Not bigger as they were (up to couple of meters in diameter). Or they will stop being turtles:
Hollow, honeycombed bones (including shell) are the worst armor - they can be easily pierced or crushed. ...
- 9,923
10
votes
Accepted
Can a species with the ZW sex determination system be viviparous?
Some real-world reptiles are viviparous, so it is entirely reasonable that the ZW sex determination system does not preclude viviparity.
In fact, the Anguimorpha sub-order already contains viviparous ...
- 64.8k
9
votes
Is the evolution of my aliens realistic?
Not really, but it doesn't matter
First of all, 500 million years of evolution would change the appearance of your creatures so drastically that they would almost certainly look nothing like a ...
- 14.9k
9
votes
Helmet for a humanoid lizard
Tusks.
https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/07/23/boars-tusk-helmets-highly-decorative-worn-by-warriors-in-the-mycenaean-era-1600-bc/
Meriones found a bow and quiver for Ulysses, and on his head he ...
- 305k
9
votes
Accepted
recreational drug specifically for reptile?
2,4 dinitrophenol and chemical endothermy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2,4-Dinitrophenol
In living cells, DNP acts as a proton ionophore, an
agent that can shuttle protons (hydrogen cations) ...
- 305k
8
votes
How plausible would it be for a Reptilian race to have settlements in cold regions without hibernation?
With intelligence comes the ability to modify your environment.
Insulation. Your reptiles will have a much higher interest in thermal insulation than humans. Huts will exhibit better caulking, ...
- 128k
8
votes
How to have a reptilian species survive in cold environments?
Same way humans survive in space. Spacesuits. Heated clothing would do the trick, anything that creates a microclimate next to the skin/scales. There are many heavily inhabited places on Earth humans ...
- 27k
8
votes
Plausible reason why my reptilian humanoids would get rid of their acid spit reflex?
There's a theory in biology called the Handicap Hypothesis ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handicap_principle ). Under this theory, a member of a species will do something to deliberately harm ...
- 26k
8
votes
Accepted
Helmet for a humanoid lizard
Let's see what resources of note that should be available for us to work with:
Reeds
Vines
Roots
Bones
Hide
Shell
Now since spears are being used, that means these helmets would have to be ...
- 1,570
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