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Questions that don't need their own topics vol.2; New and fresh
Topic Started: Jan 4 2018, 11:18 AM (26,860 Views)
HangingThief
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ghoulish
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whachamacallit2
May 13 2018, 11:56 AM
Does anyone know how termite castes are determined? I understand that the caste is determined after the nymph stage, but I can't find anything on what exactly determines their caste designation
It seems to be mainly environmental, depending on what castes are needed by the colony at the time.

What makes termites interesting is that the worker and soldier castes include males and females, so all termites are essentially born equal with a chance of developing into any caste.

Even more interesting, in some termites such Reticulitermes workers are capable of undergoing regressive molts to revert to the nymph stage, then transforming into reproductives. Reproductives are also capable of reverting to workers, though for termites that have developed into soldiers the change is permanent.
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Terraraptor411
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I'm sorry to repost a question but I got nothing last time and that was 6 pages ago. If 90% of earths seawater was permanently removed, how would this change the Earths hydrosphere and water cycle? I should specify the 90% is entirely removed, not converted to ice or water vapor.
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Tartarus
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Terraraptor411
May 14 2018, 09:58 PM
If 90% of earths seawater was permanently removed, how would this change the Earths hydrosphere and water cycle? I should specify the 90% is entirely removed, not converted to ice or water vapor.
It would cause a pretty enormous mass extinction. As well as the fact that most life on Earth lives in the seas and oceans there's also the fact that there would be a lot less water to evaporate to form clouds and rain. So a lot more land would be formed, a lot of land would dry out (including, quite likely, the drying up of many rivers and lakes) and a very large number of life forms, both aquatic and terrestrial, would go extinct.
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Ceratosauridslover89
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Would it be possible in any time period to have any animal except Felines (Such as Tigers, Lynxes, etc, etc), birds and reptiles be killed off and have some cats evolve into herbivores to fill their evolutionary niche?
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lamna
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That specific extinction sounds unlikely.

But there is nothing stopping cats evolving into herbivores alongside other herbivorous animals. After all, Pandas evolved alongside deer, rhinoceros, horses, goats, bovids, elephants, rodents, primates etc.
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Akurian452
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Do efficient gliding animals require tails? I'm trying to design a gliding animal for one of my projects and it's anatomy is similar to a sugar glider or a flying squirrel except it lacks a tail.
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CaledonianWarrior96
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Akurian452
May 15 2018, 04:12 PM
Do efficient gliding animals require tails? I'm trying to design a gliding animal for one of my projects and it's anatomy is similar to a sugar glider or a flying squirrel except it lacks a tail.
Well tails are generally good at allowing an animal to turn when gliding and balance themselves as well as shifting the shape of their wing membranes. I suppose it might be possible but they would have to compensate it with something else to help guide them in their flight (possibly longer back legs?)
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beingsneaky
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if deer somehow became carnivores what physical changes would they need on their body and what would happen to their antlers
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HangingThief
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beingsneaky
May 15 2018, 06:27 PM
if deer somehow became carnivores what physical changes would they need on their body and what would happen to their antlers

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(As for the actual question, they would likely first become a more generalist pig- like animal before becoming predominantly carnivorous, which would involve simplifying the digestive tract and gaining more versatile dentition. They would probably just lose their antlers. For a predator antlers would just get in the way and pose a risk of causing injury during hunting.)
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IIGSY
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HangingThief
May 14 2018, 08:34 PM
Even more interesting, in some termites such Reticulitermes workers are capable of undergoing regressive molts to revert to the nymph stage, then transforming into reproductives. Reproductives are also capable of reverting to workers, though for termites that have developed into soldiers the change is permanent.
What, what, W H A T. Hold on. How does that work?
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Terraraptor411
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Tartarus
May 15 2018, 01:14 AM
Terraraptor411
May 14 2018, 09:58 PM
If 90% of earths seawater was permanently removed, how would this change the Earths hydrosphere and water cycle? I should specify the 90% is entirely removed, not converted to ice or water vapor.
It would cause a pretty enormous mass extinction. As well as the fact that most life on Earth lives in the seas and oceans there's also the fact that there would be a lot less water to evaporate to form clouds and rain. So a lot more land would be formed, a lot of land would dry out (including, quite likely, the drying up of many rivers and lakes) and a very large number of life forms, both aquatic and terrestrial, would go extinct.
Do you have any suggestions as to what groups of organisms might survive? So far I'm thinking varanids, some pit vipers, naked mole rats and kangaroo rats, falconiformes, and the dominant plant life being Crassulaceae.
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HangingThief
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IIGSY
May 15 2018, 07:42 PM
HangingThief
May 14 2018, 08:34 PM
Even more interesting, in some termites such Reticulitermes workers are capable of undergoing regressive molts to revert to the nymph stage, then transforming into reproductives. Reproductives are also capable of reverting to workers, though for termites that have developed into soldiers the change is permanent.
What, what, W H A T. Hold on. How does that work?
Presumably it's similar to the ability of dermestid beetle larvae to undergo regressive molts when starved. They just grow a new exoskeleton that's smaller and resembles that of the previous stage.
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beingsneaky
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in the call of cthulhu, cthulhu is describe to be 1 mile (1.609 km) tall and i want to know is that how can he support his weight at that height
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Akurian452
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beingsneaky
May 16 2018, 09:58 AM
in the call of cthulhu, cthulhu is describe to be 1 mile (1.609 km) tall and i want to know is that how can he support his weight at that height
Probably with telepathy or something. Keep in mind that Cthulhu and all the other creatures from the Lovecraftian mythos are purely fictional and don't necessarily follow any laws of physics or biology.
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Nyarlathotep
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The issue with that description too is that it could easily be hyperbole or an exaggeration. As nigh-omnipotent as fan-Cthulhu is, the original gets knocked out with a speedboat.
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