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| Questions that don't need their own topics vol.2; New and fresh | |
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| Topic Started: Jan 4 2018, 11:18 AM (26,890 Views) | |
| Strychnos | Jan 18 2018, 06:57 PM Post #121 |
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Fetus
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Ok, thank you! So limbs being duplicated on their own wouldn't have anything to attach to, and duplicating the entire rib cage and shoulder girdle and muscle attachments along with them would take too many individual mutations to produce viable intermediary forms? |
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| Even | Jan 18 2018, 07:53 PM Post #122 |
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Roman Catholic theistic evolutionist
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The shoulder girdle and the muscle attachments would be "all we need" for a new set of limbs (Of course, that is a big order) One can also wonder if the persistence of the Hox genes contribute to this fixation to the tetrapodal bauplan of all vertebrates, as well... (We never have any hexapodal sacropterygians, afaik, for example) |
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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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| IIGSY | Jan 18 2018, 09:55 PM Post #123 |
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A huntsman spider that wastes time on the internet because it has nothing better to do
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This may be nothing more than baseless conjecture on my part, but I think if a terrestrial cephalopod did exist it would just be a small, slug like creature assimilating with the surrounding worms and gastropods. |
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Projects Punga: A terraformed world with no vertebrates Last one crawling: The last arthropod ARTH-6810: A world without vertebrates (It's ded, but you can still read I guess) Potential ideas- Swamp world: A world covered in lakes, with the largest being caspian sized. Nematozoic: After a mass extinction of ultimate proportions, a single species of nematode is the only surviving animal. Tri-devonian: A devonian like ecosystem with holocene species on three different continents. Quotes Phylogeny of the arthropods and some related groups In honor of the greatest clade of all time More pictures Other cool things All African countries can fit into Brazil
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| Setaceous Cetacean | Jan 18 2018, 10:33 PM Post #124 |
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Insert Funny Creative Title Here
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I've thought of the terrestrial cephalopod concept, too. Would it be possible that they could skip the land state entirely, going directly from water to air, a la flish from the Future is Wild (not to say that it's the best example of plausibility)? Another thing I've been pondering: would it be possible for a whale, a large, high-energy endotherm, to somehow develop gills? Obviously a multitude of changes would need to occur, and I was thinking of something similar to a more efficient version of the cloacal gills seen in turtles. Does anyone have any ideas for how such a major shift could occur, and potential evolutionary paths? |
If you like balloons, the color red, or mixotrophic plants derived from photosynthetic vertebrate-analogues, then check out my xenobiology project Solais
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| Rodlox | Jan 19 2018, 01:41 AM Post #125 |
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Superhuman
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sort of like the current flying squid, only a step or two beyond? i like offhand, I'd wonder if it would need to be riverine (like the infamous turtle) initially. whales have to empty their lungs to handle diving...maybe introduce the mutations that way - while the blood is oxygen-rich...perhaps one whale has blood vessels close to the skin (not unlike some dolphins, granted), and this might normally be a disadvantageous development...but it soaks up more O2 when at depth (not much, but even 1% might be a help when hungry and chasing squids where a breath can't be had) |
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.---------------------------------------------. Parts of the Cluster Worlds: "Marsupialless Australia" (what-if) & "Out on a Branch" (future evolution) & "The Earth under a still sun" (WIP) | |
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| Rebirth | Jan 19 2018, 10:37 PM Post #126 |
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Adolescent
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How big could a quadrupedal reptilian predator get on Earth? |
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| Rodlox | Jan 20 2018, 01:57 AM Post #127 |
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Superhuman
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sprawling or upright? if the former, look at Megalania and the croc family. if the latter, look anywhere in the Triassic or Permian. |
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.---------------------------------------------. Parts of the Cluster Worlds: "Marsupialless Australia" (what-if) & "Out on a Branch" (future evolution) & "The Earth under a still sun" (WIP) | |
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| LλmbdaExplosion | Jan 20 2018, 08:20 AM Post #128 |
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Vieja Argentea the oscar cichlid
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How big?Well depends on what you think is big.But not as big as sauropods,because these were basically walking balloons that had hollow bones. |
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When life give you lemons.............Don't make lemonade!Make life to take the lemons back!Get mad and than.........Yell,demand and burn down their homes. Prepare for unforeseen consequences,Mr. Freeman! | |
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| Lowry | Jan 20 2018, 12:18 PM Post #129 |
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ARH-WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
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Forgive me if I'm wrong but I thought the whole 'pneumatic bones are lighter' thing was debunked and it may have been more likely that rather than decrease weight, they increased tensile strength thus allowing for more load bearing to be possible. |
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Projects Currently Being Worked Upon: Karkinos: Where faith meets myth on a world of the strangely familiar. Under New Suns: The forums own colonisation race! Steep yourself in my lore.... Projects in suspension (for when inspiration hits): - Galapagaia - Rich Man's Ark (nice little bit of community spec :P) - Ichor Projects for a latter day: | |
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| Rebirth | Jan 20 2018, 05:26 PM Post #130 |
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Adolescent
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Upright. I guess a 20 meter long varanid isn't possible then? What circumstances could make such a lizard physically possible? EDIT: I suppose pneumatic bones would help. The supposed bird-like breathing of savannah monitors might help too? Edited by Rebirth, Jan 20 2018, 07:58 PM.
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| GreatAuk | Jan 22 2018, 02:33 PM Post #131 |
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Northern Penguin
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Could life survive in a ocean that was somehow full of chlorine like in swimming pools. |
| Let us dance together. | |
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| Empyreon | Jan 22 2018, 05:16 PM Post #132 |
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Are you plausible?
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It would have to be life adapted to that caustic environment. |
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Take a look at my exobiology subforum of the planet Nereus! COM Contributions food for thought
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| Rodlox | Jan 22 2018, 05:51 PM Post #133 |
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Superhuman
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20 meters is fine...how much is tail? |
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.---------------------------------------------. Parts of the Cluster Worlds: "Marsupialless Australia" (what-if) & "Out on a Branch" (future evolution) & "The Earth under a still sun" (WIP) | |
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| CaledonianWarrior96 | Jan 22 2018, 06:04 PM Post #134 |
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An Awesome Reptile
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A fully marine varanid (not unlike the Mosasaurs) would be capable of reaching that size. In fact the highest plausible estimates of giant mosasaur size is 59 feet (18 metres) so in way they've already happened. I'm not sure about land dwelling lizards but pneumatic bones would help due to the tensile strength of the bone structure. I don't know if it's possible but maybe air sacs could develop that are embedded in their skeleton or placed around the body. That was one way sauropods were able to reach such incredible sizes, as well as non-avian theropods. So a 20 metre long varanid would be possible if it's anatomy and physiology were altered so they could achieve such sizes.
One thing I'll say here is that body form will be a factor in tail length. Both sauropods and monitors have impressively long tails but I feel like a modern monitor's body plan wouldn't be effective and this would affect the tail. I'll skip the erect legs and other body changes and say a monitor tail could still be long but would likely be more stiffened so it doesn't drag on the ground. It's fine for monitors now because most of them are small and they don't have heavy tails that would slow them down, but the larger an animal reaches the more problematic issues like a dragging tail become. So yeah what I'm saying is be mindful of considering tail length and what your super sized monitor looks like. If it will maintain the modern design then a short tail would be easier, or at least a much thinner and lighter one. |
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| Bob-The-Seagull-King | Jan 22 2018, 09:03 PM Post #135 |
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Bob, king of the seagulls
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I've heard recently that the Cenozoic marked a rapid increase in the intelligence of animals. While I feel relatively confident in saying that over time things have gotten smarter, does the Cenozoic mark a rapid acceleration in this trend? |
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“The search for truth takes us to dangerous places,” said Old Woman Josie. “Often it takes us to that most dangerous place: the library. You know who said that? No? George Washington did. Minutes before librarians ate him.” ― Joseph Fink, Welcome to Night Vale “Librarians are hideous creatures of unimaginable power. And even if you could imagine their power, it would be illegal. It is absolutely illegal to even try to picture what such a being would be like.” ― Joseph Fink, Welcome to Night Vale "Blep" ― Diglett, My Blue Tonge
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7:46 PM Jul 10