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The Biology and Culture of the Olfacteffor
Topic Started: Jun 15 2009, 04:22 PM (1,077 Views)
Giant Blue Anteater
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I have spent so much time and effort on this piece that it gave Flash a headache. I'm quite proud of this piece, and I want suggestions and ideas.

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This strange, two meter-long creature has its own name of which it 'speaks', but to vocal sophonts on Earth, this creature is called an Olfacteffor (Olfacteffor sapiens, Latin for "smell speaker that knows"). The reason why it is called a "smell speaker" is because it does not communicate via vocalizations, it does so via strong, complex pheromones secreted from the slits on top of its neck. They 'speak' a wide variety of unique pheromonal languages, combined with gestural communication, and writes under many unique writing systems and alphabets.

Some Information about Anatomy (more information to be covered later)
Olfacteffor are strange creatures indeed. They have six limbs, the anterior pair being the manipulators and the rest being locomotors.

Their digits are arranged radially, but the front three toes on the front legs are elongated to push upon the ground and providing thrust while moving. The back feet are more digitigrade. In both pairs of feet the back toe is atrophied. The hands are homodigital, but very dextrous and flexible.

The mouth of an Olfacteffor resembles the second head of a Snaiadi "vertebrate", but this similarity is merely superficial. The proboscis is actually like a strange lip. The actual mouth inside is rather toothy, and can chop up any meal the flexible prboscis swallows. The digestive tract follows into the corpus, and terminates in an anus located at the chest.

On its face is a pair of eyes and a central vertical slit that houses olfactory sensors and the passageway to the lungs. The trachea, however lacks a larynx.

The slits on top of the neck are pheromone secretors. They emit different pheromones during communication.

The body is primarily covered in scales, but there is hair on the rear end in males.

Diet
Oflacteffor are omnivorous, just like humans. They eat both animal and plant matter. The proboscis described earlier is extremely flexible and extensible, and can swallow anything up to the size of a football. But anything bigger than that needs to be cut up into smaller, more swallowable bits. After swallowed, the food is subsequentially chopped up, crunched, and churned in the pharynx, or the actual mouth in the sense that it prepares food for digestion. There are chemoreceptors on the proboscis and within the pharynx.

Reproduction
Olfacteffor have two genders. The reproductive system is on the most posterior region. In males, the rump is covered in hairs that attract mates. Females lack these hairs.

As you see in the illustration, this individual is a male. The penis in males come out of a sphincter protected by scale-derived pads. It does not pump with blood like in Earth mammals, but rather, it is heavily muscled. The more sexually excited a male gets, the more nerve impulses are sent to the penis, thus allowing it to be moved. But when sexual excitement is lost, the penis loses control and retracts back into the sphincter.

In females, the reproductive system consists of a short vagina and an egg-carrying uterus. Oflacteffor are oviviviparous, and retain a single egg within their uteri until the fetus has matured enough to survive in the extrauterine world. To feed their young, females have an interesting adaptation. Soft, highly nutritious scales start forming on the mother's belly. These are easy to digest, and will provide the baby with enough sustenence until it grows his pharyngeal teeth and begin consuming solid food.

Evolutionary Background
*coming soon*

Culture
*coming soon*

Language
*coming soon*

Civilizations
*coming soon*
Edited by Giant Blue Anteater, Jun 15 2009, 05:59 PM.
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cdk007
 
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A map of their planet, which I am quite pleased with it, but I am not uploading it to deviantART quite yet. It has yet to be named.
Ichthyostega

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cdk007
 
Intelligence is awareness of ignorance. Stupidity is ignorance of ignorance. Think about it.
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Are you plausible?

Yay, new stuff!

So, it looks like there's only a couple of major landmasses. One large island continent in the south, and a gigantic band ringing the north pole. I'm curious to know what force(s) caused the circular arctic sea. Impact crater? Coincidence?
Take a look at my exobiology subforum of the planet Nereus!

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food for thought
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Now with labels!

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Some interesting geographical features not labeled:

  • The lake with the tiny islands surrounded by mountain ranges is Lacus Mundus.
  • The peninsula north of Mare Hemorbis is Peninsula Aeroplanum, due to its resemblance to an airplane dropping bombs.
  • The polar lake is called Lacus Polaris.


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I'm curious to know what force(s) caused the circular arctic sea. Impact crater? Coincidence?


The polar lake has its own plate. The other plates are pushing on this plate. If it was hit by a huge asteroid, then it would be knocked out of orbit and eventually become uninhabitable as it drifts away from the habitable zone.
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cdk007
 
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Are you plausible?

Ah, and I'm guessing that it's subducting under all the surrounding plates. Cool!
Take a look at my exobiology subforum of the planet Nereus!

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