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| Rocket Beetles | |
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| Topic Started: Dec 6 2010, 02:54 AM (1,111 Views) | |
| Spugpow | Dec 6 2010, 02:54 AM Post #1 |
Prime Specimen
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I expect this to be a short topic, but I just want to get the idea out there... Imagine in the future the descendants of bombardier beetles have taken to the air in earnest once more, soaring on fixed wing cases and propelled at high speed by the explosive reaction of hydroquinones and hydrogen peroxide in rear-pointing glands. These aerial hunters oust dragonflies as the dominant consumers of insects on the wing, and undergo an adaptive radiation; By (say) 20 million years in the future, "rocket beetles" range from tiny northern gnat-catchers to bird-hunting juggernauts from the tropics. There are problems to be worked out in this concept, I know. Would the beetles be propelled by chemical reactions all the time, or just use them for bursts of speed? It would definitely be more interesting (and cooler  ) if the former were true, but it might be implausible. Also, would greater speed give the beetles an edge when it came to hunting flying insects? Manuverability might be more important. Higher speed would definitely give rocket beetles an edge when escaping birds, and might allow them to migrate long distances in search of food.
Edited by Spugpow, Dec 6 2010, 02:55 AM.
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| Adman | Dec 7 2010, 05:29 AM Post #16 |
Totally not lamna
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That's what I'm trying to say! The beetle climbs up the tree and waits a couple of feet from the prey and it climbs closer until... Bam! It uses it's rockets to catch up with it's prey and grabs it with it's forearms and tears at it with it's mandibles. |
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Projects and concepts that I have stewing around Extended Pleistocene- An alternate future where man died out, and the megafauna would continue to thrive (may or may not include a bit about certain future sapients) Inverted World- An alternate timeline where an asteroid hit during the Barremian, causing an extinction event before the Maastrichtian. Dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and notosuchians make it to the present, along with a host of other animals. Badania- Alien planet that has life at a devonian stage of development, except it exists in the present day. Ido- Alien world where hoppers (derived flightless ballonts) and mouthpart-legged beasts are prevalent. Leto- Life on a moon orbiting a gas giant with an erratic orbit; experiences extremes of hot and cold. The Park- ??? Deeper Impact- a world where the K-Pg extinction wipes out crocodilians, mammals, and birds; squamates, choristoderes, and turtles inherit the earth. World of Equal Opportunity- alternate history where denisovans come across Beringia and interact with native fauna. Much of the Pleistocene fauna survives, and the modern humans that end up crossing into North America do not overhunt the existing animals. 10,000 years later, civilizations exist that are on par with European and Asian societies. The Ditch- Nothing is what if seems.. | |
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7:30 PM Jul 13