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| Plausibility in Mythological critters; yes, cliche..... | |
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| Topic Started: Mar 12 2011, 01:59 AM (1,254 Views) | |
| Cephylus | Mar 12 2011, 01:59 AM Post #1 |
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Torando of Terror
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An alternate world of mythological and legendary creatures- as cliche as it is, here's my new project. There is no clear divergence between our world and this world. The beasts which inhabit this world are different, that's for sure, but there is no clear, distinguishable event which took place in this world which would cause such divergences. Some extinct genera and clades still live; some unfamiliar descendents of familiar creatures exist. Most animals are descendents of familiar Neogene clades. But the striking characteristics of the beasts in this world is that many evolved in a parallel form to mythological/legendary creatures of our own world, the dragons, the gryphons, the sea serpents, the various bizarre chimerical creatures, although in all cases they are rather different from what humans have always imagined them to be. Humans did evolve in this world. In fact, a variety of sapients from the genus Homo exist (it is tricky to claim them all of them as individual species, as it appears that in most cases they can interbreed, a characteristic which has caused the demise or near extinction of some races). Some of them proved to be as destructive as us, shifting the ecological balance and causing various abnormalities and unbalance, mainly due to excessive hunting. But some managed to blend in with the environment before wiping out all large animals in the region. So as a result, the animals also managed to adapt to the erect-walking killer apes, some domesticated, some used as cultural symbols and some even specializing to prey on humans..... That was the introduction. Here are some questions I wanted to ask- Can fire-breathing truly actually evolve? I mean, among tetrapods. Mammals, birds, reptiles.... And poison. Can birds really evolve venom? And bipedal stances in mammals. What possible mammal clades can evolve bipedality? I know kangaroos did it, but any other possible clades, both extinct and living? |
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| Even | Mar 12 2011, 03:07 AM Post #2 |
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Roman Catholic theistic evolutionist
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The pitohui evolved poison in their feathers |
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Currently a part of Specworld's revival and The Dark Phoenix's Dinosaur Spec... Still open for idea exchanges and commentaries GENERATION 26: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment. My Pets
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| Cephylus | Mar 12 2011, 05:41 AM Post #3 |
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Torando of Terror
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That's interesting... I may want to use the idea. Anybody got other suggestions? |
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| Cephylus | Mar 12 2011, 09:17 AM Post #4 |
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Torando of Terror
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And here's what I've got so far: Harpoids: An aberrant descendent of falconiformes, giant (about the size of the Haast Eagle), with vaguely human-like flat faces. Nocturnal predators, they live in the Mediterranean, and since human colonization many island populations have taken a liking to human flesh. Basilisks: Secretary bird-related falconiforme descendent, highly poisonous, can spit poison as well. Almost flightless, common in Northern Africa. Dragons: A highly specialized group of quadrupedal gliding varanids: they are very common in the temperate forests of Europe, with some species being flightless and giant. Scylla: Large sea snakes found in the Mediterranean. Lives in massive swarming groups and venomous, feeds on smallish fish mostly and known to swarm around fishing boats for fish carcasses. Onzas: A large, predatory jaguar-like tayra relative, vicious and powerful. Okay, specific examples coming soon. |
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| Jasonguppy | Mar 12 2011, 10:31 AM Post #5 |
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Cardinal
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YAY i like this project. Yeah, pitohui's have poison in their feathers and skin, so injesting or otherwise allowing the poison to contact the blood stream can paralyze you or injure you brain. |
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I do art sometimes. "if you want green eat a salad" Projects: Amammalia: A strange place where mammals didn't make it and the land is, once again, dominated by archosaurs. Oceanus: An endless sea dotted with islands, reefs, and black holes. Literally endless, literal black holes. ❤️❤️~I'm not a boy~❤️❤️ | |
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| Fungi-Aren't-Plants | Apr 1 2011, 11:57 AM Post #6 |
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Newborn
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As for the fire-breathing, here's my theory: The animal keeps flint rocks in their gizzard, which has a small, open-on-command hatch. Their saliva-producing organ is cut off, and a sponge-like organ sucks up all the saliva--if it produces it at all. Then, the uvula secretes a painkiller substance, and they use muscles in their gizzard to create a spark with the flint rocks. The uvula, which is dry and currently numb, serves as fire wood where the spark can burst into flame. Then, they simply blow flames out of their mouth, breathing fire. As for any possible burns, they could have a fast-healing chemical in their blood. |
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| dialforthedevil | Apr 1 2011, 12:54 PM Post #7 |
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Frumentarii Administrator
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Hmm perhaps... an interesting theory
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Please come visit A Scientfic Fantasy http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3433014/1/ ALSO!!! JOIN THE NEW RPG SITE!!! FOR ALL MEMBERS!!! IM GOING TO RUN MA GLOBAL SIMULATORS THERE!!! http://s4.zetaboards.com/jasonguppy/index/ Join the Campaign to save minotaurs from extinction!!! (include this in your signature to show your support!) | |
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| Kamidio | Apr 1 2011, 02:10 PM Post #8 |
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The Game Master of the SSU:NC
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I prefer it when the animals use tools for fire-breathing or use a different method as oppsed to actual fire. Type 1: The animal lives in an area where fire is common, and has evolved a chemical in its stomach acid that burns at a specific temperature when dried. Another chemical makes the vomit dry on contact with the air, and fwoosh. Big fire. Type 2: The animal has organs like a bombadier beetle and stores these chemicals seperately, but when threatened or hunting, the animal can release the chemicals into a mixing chamber where an explosion occurs, sending the mixtures at prey. Seriously guys, stop making animals do something thet could easily kill them.
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SSU:NC - Finding a new home. Quotes WAA
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| Cephylus | Apr 7 2011, 03:38 AM Post #9 |
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Torando of Terror
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The Haarpy is a large diurnal bird of prey which is the apex predator of the Mediterranean islands. Its closest relatives seem to be the sagittarid falconiformes, although it is more likely that the Haarpy and its relatives are descended from a seperate, more basal stock. It is perhaps the biggest raptor in the world, with wingspans reaching up to 4 meters in just males, and in the case of females the wingspan reaches and amazing length of 5 meters. Given their size and immense strength, Haarpies are capable of taking down the largest flightless birds and will occasionally even hunt humans and their livestock. They resemble the typical diurnal birds of prey such as Harriers and Golden Eagles, except that they are much larger, and their strangely humanoid faces. Overall, they are black, white spots dotting their bodies. Their faces are flat, in a similar manner to that of owls, and with downy black feathers which resemble flowing hair and a hooked nose-like beak, it's no wonder that they were considered a bad omen by the natives, known as the Hag-Faced Falcon or the Masked Terror on Wings. Haarpies are also known for their strange calls, cries which is something between hoots and barks, and their mating calls a loud canine bark echoing in the middle of the night. Haarpies are extremely powerful creatures. Using their weight, the swooping momentum, the beating of muscular wings and the grasping claws, they knock down the target in one dive, pressing down on the prey and soon kills. Unlike most smaller diurnal birds of prey, the Haarpies do not rely on speed when hunting; instead, they are rather slow flyers, capable of only making short bursts of speed when swooping down, and just before collision they slow down to avoid getting knocked down themselves. When humans first came to the island and wiped out the local megafauna in some islands such as Crete, these predators started preying on humans and livestock, and soon the whole population in the particular islands became accustomed to eating human flesh, and became habituary man-eaters. In response, the humans started gunning down Haarpies, and up to the year 1954 when Haarpy hunting became illegal, the Cyprus and the Crete Haarpy population was nearly wiped out, and terror still continues to this day in the region due to the Haarpies still largely having nothing to prey on but human children, despite the efforts of re-introducing megafauna into the islands. Edited by Cephylus, Apr 13 2011, 07:09 AM.
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| SabrWolf | Apr 7 2011, 11:51 AM Post #10 |
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Pup
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There was a television show (cannot for the life of me remember what it was called though) that aired not long ago that addressed possible ways for a creature to breath fire. Here's what I recall: Large reptilian with a gland designed to filter and hold methane produced from the animal's gastrointestinal tract. The gland was positioned at the back of the throat and was able to contract to eject the methane at high velocity. The front two teeth of the animal were capable of creating a spark of electricity to ignite the expelled methane producing a large burst of fire (probably about 10 to 15 feet). I'm not exactly sure how the evolution for such a trait would have worked itself out but I can give examples of the organs/mechanisms this process uses in nature. - Filtration of waste is handled by organs such as kidneys and livers common to all animals (unless my science is wrong). - The expulsion of chemicals is something that we see in insects (as we see in bombardier beetles) and the ejection of venom in spitting cobras (like Naja pallida) is a similar example in reptiles. - The spark is seen in marine species like the electric eel (Electrophorus electricus). Biggest objection I could see in the discussion was about injury to the animal from it's own defense mechanism. The process above would reduce or eliminate injury from the animal's own defense since the ignition of the fire takes place outside of the mouth. |
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| dialforthedevil | Apr 9 2011, 07:16 AM Post #11 |
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Love the ideas for harpies
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Please come visit A Scientfic Fantasy http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3433014/1/ ALSO!!! JOIN THE NEW RPG SITE!!! FOR ALL MEMBERS!!! IM GOING TO RUN MA GLOBAL SIMULATORS THERE!!! http://s4.zetaboards.com/jasonguppy/index/ Join the Campaign to save minotaurs from extinction!!! (include this in your signature to show your support!) | |
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| Fungi-Aren't-Plants | Apr 10 2011, 08:42 AM Post #12 |
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Newborn
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I agree with dial. Also, may I post some fanart for the Harpy and what I think some others will look like? |
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| Cephylus | Apr 14 2011, 09:43 AM Post #13 |
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Torando of Terror
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Yes, of course Thanks for both of you.Perhaps the strangest and the most frightening, not to mention appalling, animal in the world is the Mabansa, the vampiric fish endemic to China. Most common in the two Chinese great rivers, the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, as well as various smaller river systems and other large freshwater bodies. Mabansas most prefer slow-moving rivers, swamps and marshes, especially in deep, murky water, good conditions for lurking for an ambush attack. The Mabansa is a primitive chordate, not exactly fish but not exactly invertebrate as well, classified along with their close relatives the Hagfish and Lampreys. Indeed, they share a lot in common with their relatives, especially lampreys. The body of the Mabansa is long, slender and flexible, much like that of eels or lampreys, and they move in a slithering motion on both land and water. Indeed, the Mabansa, though primarily aquatic, they can breathe through their skin as with amphibians, but needing a sufficient amount of moisture, they do not crawl far out from water, the only situations these creatures venture out of water is either to make an ambush attack on its prey or migrating to a nearby freshwater body when its current habitat dries up. The Mabansa is an ambush predator. It is also the biggest vampiric creature in the world, feeding soley on blood. The creature preys on both terrestrial and aquatic animals, either ambushing a drinking animal or attacking large fish. When launching an ambush attack, the Mabansa lurks at the water's edge, for hours, sometimes even for days, until something comes by to drink. Then it propels itself out of the water, thrashing in a whip-like fashion with its muscular trunk, coils around the prey animal and attatches its suction-cup like mouth to the skin. It then rips the skin with its probing, serrated tounge and inward-curved teeth, sucking and lapping away, using secretions to prevent the blood for clotting. They prey usually dies from extreme blood loss. The Chinese have been appalled by the creature, as with the first Europeans who arrived in China, seeing a gigantic leech-like creature kill a human by sucking all his blood. Naturally, the Mabansa was thought of as a bad omen and for centries, the appearance of a large number of Mabansa was thought to signify the dying of a nation, and they were also depicted in local folklore as morphing into seducive, vampiric women. Despite centries of trying to rid the creatures, they still flourish in China and have recently been introduced to the Great Lakes, wreaking the local ecosystems. |
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| Cephylus | Apr 15 2011, 09:54 AM Post #14 |
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Torando of Terror
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The mountains and prairies of North America is inhabited by a bizarre flying mammal, the Pamola. The animal's ancestry dates well back into late Cretaceous or Paleocene, when a group of small, arboreal placentals evolved flight which became known as the Cynopterids, developed forms similar to modern megachiropterans, and steadily increased in size, producing some of the biggest aerial creatures in the world. The Pamola is one of latest members of this lineage, and by far the most advanced and most bizarre. The creature, in overall appearance, resembles a moose with a hunched back, giraffe-like neck and bat-like membranous wings, and four parts of the patagium also much like bats. When on land, the creature has a quadrupedal stance, similar to the extinct azhdarchids, with plantigrade feet and lanky legs. They aren't the best of flyers; a moose-sized animal with a 5~6 meter wingspan, indicates a creature rather clumsy at flying. Still, it soars rather well than expected on thermals, able to fly for a long period of time, but in most cases they prefer a more terrestrial lifestyle. Pamolas are omnivores. They feed on a wide variety of food, including fruits, plant roots, various invertebrates and sometimes small animals like frogs or rodents, and they are often seen in plains and open woodlands stalking around arrogantly searching for something to eat. Because of its size and strength, it does not have much predators, but a pack of hungry Shunka Warakins will occasionally attack these proud creatures, so will a Wampus Cat or a Snallygaster. Pamolas have been known to attack and kill humans, mostly out of self-defense or in defense of the calves but males in mating season may actively chase down and kill humans. Because of its strength and impressive appearance, the natives of North America worshipped the Pamolas as a representation of the thunder god in traditional folklore. Pamolas, for now, are quite common. Their numbers decreased rapidly for some time during the late 1800s, but they have been recovering ever since under conservation laws and are listed currently as 'Least Concern' in the IUCN Red List. |
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| Cephylus | Apr 21 2011, 05:34 AM Post #15 |
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Torando of Terror
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Another strange denizen of the Americas is the Underwater Panther, a mammalian version of a semi-aquatic ambush predator. Underwater Panthers are widely distributed across North America, Central America and South America, but the biggest population is located in Florida and the Amazon River. Underwater Panthers prefer slow-moving riverine habitats and various swamps/marshes, and like the Mabansa and like modern crocodilians, the prefer murky water and lots of aquatic vegetation. Underwater Panthers are not panthers. They are not even felines or felids, but are descended from a seperate carnivoran lineage altogether, evolved from a basal stock of unspecialized carnivorans. Their ancestor was probably a civet-like omnivore which took to a piscivorous lifestyle in marshland habitats, which became adapted more and more to an aquatic lifestyle, at last producing freshwater ambush predators sharing the niche with local crocodiles and alligators. By this time, the freshwater ecosystems of the region were packed with a variety of freshwater fish species, some reaching enormous sizes as well as a large population of aquatic mammals and reptiles, sirenians, aquatic xenarthrans, marine iguanids, a variety of otters and such, as well as a diversity of alligatorids. Underwater Panthers first began as fast chaser feeders, largely piscivorous or molluscivorous, and began to get larger as they started to prey on the plentiful large marine fauna, at last evolving to prey on large land mammals as well. A number of forms evolved during the Miocene~Pliocene, each developing specific feeding techniques and making adaptions according to their lifestyle, ranging from species no bigger than otters to platypi-like mud shifters to monstrous forms like aquatic smilodonts weighing hundreds of killograms. Underwater Panthers expanded their range into South America during the Blancan Faunal Stages, killing off several local metatherian species. The Ice Ages reduced their diversity somewhat, but they still rule as supreme freshwater predators in the Americas. Currently the most common and widespread species are the Sabre Otters, resembling a gigantic otter/leopard seal cross in apperance. The Sabre Otters are one of the monstrous sabre-toothed forms mentioned above, weighing 100~500 killograms, a hypercarnivore and apex predator with a massive head, blade-like carnassials and an impresive smilodontian sabre-fangs able to penetrate the thickest of hides. Sabre Otters are cooperative predators, hunting in groups of two or three, ambushing large mammals by the riverside. Their muscular tail provides propulsion when leaping out of the water, and chevrons also allow the animal to partially balance itself on its tail while it bites a chunk out of the unfortunate prey. Sabre Otters live in harems, much like seals, a group consisting mostly of females and a dominant male. Usually it's the females that do most of the hunting. Males are much larger in size, and are distinguished by a 'mane' of thick fur, and in most cases their sabre teeth are bigger, for display against enemy males. |
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1:44 PM Jul 11