#heterothermic

[drakkonyan]

Slouthier and Louwzira, the slow metabolism pokemon inspired by the fact that sloths have a body temperature that would be concidered fatal in most mammals and regulate their temperature in the way cold blooded animals tend to do, giant sloths and godzilla ice dragon on both, just read the fact and made em, and since lux_the_guy over discord gifted me a sick af drawing of louwzira, i decided to render em

the green accents are a reference to avocados and how they were eated mainly by giant sloths before humans started harvesting em

[all-hail-trash-prince]

Heterothermic

Chapter 7: Terrapene Ornata Ornata (Ornate Box Turtle)

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Family fluff, mutant biology speculation

Read on Ao3

-----

"Hey, does anyone know how long it's been since Donnie ate?"

Mikey's brothers paused and frowned in deep concentration at the question, which told him all he needed to know. He browsed through the leftovers in the fridge until he found a few slices of plain cheese pizza, heated them up, and made his way over to Donnie's lab. Mikey paused at the doorway though, as he heard muttering coming from inside.

"...wonder if it's possible? I bet Draxum would know…"

On the one hand, it was a bit rude to listen in on other people. On the other, it was Doctor Feelings' job to make sure his brothers were living their best lives. Mikey hid a little smile as he knocked on the lab door. Oh, Donnie was going to love the surprise Mikey had in mind for him!

—

Donnie stared blankly. "What is this."

Draxum sighed deeply. "If I knew, I would tell you."

The day after Mikey had overheard his brother muttering to himself in his lab, he had invited Draxum over to the lair. Even though relations between the turtles and the sheep-man had improved, they were still not exactly each other's favorite people. That was okay, though! This could be a bonding experience!

Mikey grinned while rocking on his heels. "I just figured my two favorite scientists could get together and talk about science stuff!"

"Hmm…" Donnie glanced over Draxum with a critical eye. He was still in his uniform, having come straight over from his job at the school, and didn't look very much like a scientist at the moment. "I… suppose I did have a few questions for you," admitted Donnie.

Draxum sighed again. "Alright, let's get this over with."

As the two talked, though, Mikey could see them slowly growing more and more excited as they talked with someone who was on a similar level of intelligence. Mikey couldn’t help but grin - even if most of the science jargon was going over his head, he was seeing this as an absolute win.

At least, until he himself was dragged into it.

“I wanted to create ultimate, unbeatable warriors,” explained Draxum, leaning back on a counter in Donnie’s lab. “I hypothesized that combining turtles, animals well known for their defense, and humans, the ultimate pursuit predators, would produce creatures that could never be struck down.”

Donnie nodded intently, taking - was he taking notes? Hopefully that wasn't something Mikey would need to be worried about.

“Once I perfected the mutagen, it would take the best of each species’ qualities, so that they would cover each others’ weaknesses. For example, humans are warm-blooded and do not slow down in the cold, while turtles are far better in water than humans.”

Donnie nodded again, but glanced over at Mikey. “Box turtles aren’t aquatic, though,” he pointed out questioningly.

“True,” said Draxum with a slight smirk, “but I chose four different types of turtles in order to experiment with their unique qualities. Aquatic wasn’t necessarily on the top of my list.” His hand suddenly shot out towards Mikey’s face, and on instinct, he ducked his head into his shell.

“See?” came Draxum’s slightly muffled voice, and Mikey felt a light pat on top of his shell. “I chose this species because of the hinged plastron. It can fold in slightly to completely cover the turtle’s head.”

“Fascinating,” came Donnie’s awed reply. Mikey felt his brother’s hand patting around his shell more insistently, and swatted it away as he pulled his head back out.

Draxum continued, “Another reason for choosing this species is that they can be almost completely frozen, but still fine when thawed.”

Mikey blinked. “Wait, WHAT!?” he squawked, at the same time as Donnie said, “We are not testing that one!”

Mikey looked at his brother in surprise. Not that he thought Donnie would play games with his safety, but he thought the scientist would at least ask to try it out.

On seeing his brother’s look, Donnie explained, “It already happened once when you were young. You pretty much completely shut down, so I guess it's not too surprising that you don't remember. But none of us knew what was happening, and you almost gave poor Dad a heart attack.”

“Oh,” said Mikey quietly, mood thoroughly dampened.

Draxum, never one to read the room, simply barreled onwards. “Speaking of resilience to temperature changes, I assume you sweat?”

“We do,” confirmed Donnie.

Mikey, meanwhile, blinked owlishly at the question. “Obviously? Why wouldn't we?”

“Because normal turtles don't sweat,” Donnie explained. At Mikey’s absolutely gobsmacked look, he continued, “Since they're cold-blooded, there's far less risk of overheating than with, say, a human.”

“Yes, well,” Draxum cut in smoothly, “since I'd planned for you to be moving about quite a lot, I'd hoped that that particular trait would come through, in order to help keep you cool. It's good that your skin ended up more human in that regard.”

Mikey held his arm up and carefully inspected it, as though staring hard enough would cause it to suddenly reveal its secrets.

(It didn't, of course, but that still didn't stop him.)

As the topic moved back away from Mikey himself, he settled back into the comfortable (if unbearably boring) position of a simple observer to their conversation. Donnie and Draxum ended up talking for hours, long enough for dinnertime to roll around, and Mikey finally excused himself to cook. As much as he would've loved to have Draxum stay and eat with them, the tension between him and Leo was still sky-high, (err… maybe that wasn't the best way to describe it, given their history) so Mikey simply packed up a Tupperware and sent Draxum home with a serving of food and a promise to return the container after washing it. This proved to be the right decision when, at dinner, Donnie rambled on about all the interesting information he and Draxum had discussed, and Leo seemed far more receptive to it than if the goat-man himself had been there. Who knows, maybe if Mikey and Donnie could soften Leo’s opinion of him enough, he'd finally forgive him.

Though, Leo really did deserve a proper apology for, y'know, being thrown off a roof.

Even as Donnie shot his hand out towards Mikey’s face in order to show off his hinged plastron, (which they'd all noticed at some point, but never gave much thought to) Mikey couldn't quite regret the hours-long science talk he'd been roped into that day. If mind-numbingly dull discussions of inane facts was what it took to bring his family together, then he'd gladly do it a million times over.

-----

1: The Question | 2: Spiny Softshell | 3: Red-Eared Slider | 4: Brumation (Extra) | 5: Shedding (Extra) | 6: Alligator Snapper | 7: Ornate Box

[doc-art]

Hi you probably dont care but ive determined that due to their large fat deposits and reptillian traits, as well as their semi-active nature and large breasts, your reptile girls are likely tachymetabolic heterotherms (they eat a lot and are endothermic but are also capable of external metabolism). This makes them very similar to bears during hibernation and most birds/dinosaurs.

Sorry, its just that many lizards with tits bother me, but yours are great! They're very much at least biologically plausible.

This is actually really cool to read! I'm glad even though a lot of other tity reptiles bother ya, mine pass the vibe check c:

Knowing this is actually helpful, I might use it in the world building for my titan-gator stuff!

[all-hail-trash-prince]

Also please do comment on fics that haven't updated in forever!! Personally, that's sometimes what reminds me those fics exist lol

people who let me wake up to this get a special place in heaven. firefly_fox how does it feel to hold my life in ur hands....

[novasolstash]

Unintentionally just got hit with more goofy Sebastian anatomy things while replying to someone

The mix of various DNA and changes in a vast majority of his genetic makeup lead to several physical changes and we all see that. I think it would be silly if some of these went even further considering the vast differences in mammal, fish, and reptilian DNA :3c

This is alot of word salad and just pure rambling for the sake of rambling. Just thoughts I had and think would be fun to share [:

- Has a 3 chambered heart as opposed to a humans 4 chambered heart. This change allowed him to more comfortably and effectively thrive with the semi-aquatic lifestyle change, at the cost, however, that 3 chambered hearts are less effective in delivering oxygenated blood. Which leads me to..

- Slower metabolism than an average human. This, at least, means he doesn't need to eat too often and that he can usually do pretty well in the hadal blacksite with few resources.

- Has a significantly smaller diaphragm compared to his current body size. [Basically, it did not grow with him very well] Luckily, it's not near as vital to him as it was before. He has gills to help and, in general, doesn't really need to breathe as much as a mammal would due to, once again, his overall slower metabolism.

- Like to imagine he's a heterotherm. Essentially, he can regulate his body temp only to a point. His body will generate heat up until a certain degree. He still has to rely heavily on external sources to regulate his temperature properly [so clothes, people, machinery, etc. Things that would, in general, make that temperature easier to manage]

If he was lucky enough to get back to the surface, I can imagine some of these would resolve themselves [Getting back to a normal enough size taking care of the diaphragm issue for example], some would require more extensive help [Having a heart surgery to fix the 3 chambered situation], and some would still be prevalent, just not as much so [Mild difficulty with regulating his temperature. Would likely have something akin to reynauds]

Anyways, Nova rambles done. I'm off to I dunno, explode, or something

[smorgasvoid]

The Sky's the Limit: Wyverns of Chortis

On Chortis, there are six groups of what we would call wyverns, which are a polyphyletic assemblage of various sarcopterygians.

Due to the high energy demands of flight, most wyverns are carnivorous (when they do eat plants, it is usually fruit). The exception is the elephant wyverns, which are flightless herbivores.

The following groups are listed in the order they were drawn:

• The first group of wyverns are the elephant wyverns (Clade Pachydermoptera), named due to their prehensile trunks and generally large size. This group includes the heaviest wyvern that ever lived, containing herbivorous and omnivorous taxa. They are also the smallest group of wyverns. When they were first discovered by European settlers that entered the magic portals, they were thought to be a type of monotreme. Then, analysis of their morphology showed that they were an aberrant clade of trionychian turtles (yes, you read that correctly).

The ancestral shell has atrophied, being reduced to rib-like components. Despite their forelimbs resembling wings, they did not evolve from flying animals, rather their ancestor possessed wing-like flippers. They physically can't fly due to their wings being too dense and the fact that they lack the adaptations seen in flying vertebrates. Nowadays, extant taxa use them for balance, intimidation, display, swimming, or quadrupedal locomotion.

• The second are the more common saurian wyverns (Clade Vernosauria), a group of primarily carnivorous winged saurischian dinosaurs that can be divided into quadrupedal and bipedal taxa. They were formerly thought to be closely related to the ichthyosaur-like dyptosaurs but they are now believed to be descended from a Pampadromaeus-like taxon, making them a bit closer to true sauropods. This group includes the highest number of wyvern species. Interestingly, most saurian wyverns are venomous. They may or may not have proto-feathers, depending on the vernosaur family.

• Then there are the bird wyverns (Clade Coccatraciformes (And yes I'm using Monster Hunter terminology) which aren't birds in the strict sense but an offshoot of the scansoriopterygids. Like the Yi+Ambopteryx clade and unlike the majority of maniraptorans, they have bat-like membranous wings supported by 3 digits and a styliform wristbone. Unlike their predecessors, many bird wyverns can fly. They are split into two groups, the Aviteratosauria (bird monster lizards), which are more reptilian in their physiology and then there are the Paratornithes, which are more bird-like in their physiology.

•Vintage wyverns (Clade Opisthoptera), named such due to their resemblance to Terran heraldic wyverns, are a clade of winged archosauromorphs descended from a member of the Sharovipteryx+Ozimek clade. Most vintage wyverns are raptorial predators, though waders, skimmers, scavengers, ovivores, and granivores are present. Unlike most wyverns, they possess wings derives from their hindlimbs, being sharovipterygians.

• The frog wyverns, also known as elf wyverns (Clade Elfinoptera) are a clade of volant temnospondyls nested in the Dissorophoidea, making them a sister group to Lissamphibia, which includes actual frogs. They are heterothermic, with their metabolism changing depending on factors such as their environment and the availability of food and water. The "elf" part is in part due to the ear-like protrusions of the lower jaw.

Many but not all taxa have a ballistic tongue, which aids in feeding.

• The last and oldest group, the piscine wyverns (clade Volanichthyes, more MH terminology for you). Strangely, unlike most wyverns, piscine wyverns are not tetrapods, let alone tetrapodomorphs. Instead, they are closely related to lungfish (being dipnomorphs, specifically porolepiforms) yet have converged with early tetrapods. While adults are terrestrial or semiaquatic, all volanichthyans (with the exception of mouthbrooders) must return to water to lay their eggs.

Based on an interpretation of the ocean flish by Fabio Alejandro/Dragonthunders as a different clade of lobe-finned fish. Subsequent piscine wyvern designs will be more "fishy", since this is just a generic example and not representative of any species native to Chortis (also too similar to tetrapods design-wise).

Extra notes: Saurian wyverns were the first type planned (since 2021), going through many phases, they were originally going to be an offshoot of varanoid lizards, then a clade of archosaurs endemic to an alternate Earth (before the idea for an exoplanet was thought of), then basal diapsids descended from araeoscelidids, then compsognathiforms (Compsognathidae is probably polyphyletic so it was changed to stem-tetrapods). Now, they are sauropodomorphs.

[tiredsn0w]

Are there any mammals on Kepler? Also, does 049 ever talk about his problems(just in general) at all?

It's taken me a little to answer this, because I have done some sketches of mammals, and none of them looked remotely good.

But what I can say is this: I think it is unlikely that Kepler would have complete mammals, but they might have mammal-like creatures that are heterotherms or maybe even mesotherms, who have fur and possibly other mammal characteristics as well.

I would say that most animals on Kepler are invertebrates and fish, like on Earth, and the rest don't all fit cleanly into amphibian, reptile, avian, or mammal. (For example, keplers themselves are mainly reptiles but evolved to be able to have dry skin and breastfeed.)

I would say that 049 is mainly able to handle his own issues when it comes to minor things; being alive for centuries would likely make someone pretty self-sufficient, since he would have to handle a lot of different scenarios and not be able to rely on others consistently.

But, I'm planning to write him being more vulnerable in my future writing, since I hope to have a minor focus/theme of ideas of gendered expectations, and denying people their biological gender if they don't "live up to it" (i.e. telling someone they're not a man for being vulnerable, telling someone they're not a woman for having a naturally more masculine body).

[bijoumikhawal]

Mesotherms in Trek

Mesotherms are an intermediary between ectothermy and endothermy, and I won't lie trying to research them is a pain in the ass because a lot of mesothermic species do not exist anymore (hi dinos) or are discussed primarily in terms of endothermy.

The characteristics of mesotherms are as such: they can raise their internal body temperature via metabolism, and they cannot exert particular metabolic control of a particular temperature. This means they have a greater range of internal temperatures they're subject to than most mammals (aka they're poikilothermic or heterothermic), and can keep their body temperature as much as 20 degrees higher than their environment in some species, but it and their metabolism will drop as ambient temperatures drop. They do not burn fat or shiver to warm up. They are more active than ectotherms, and require less food than endotherms.

Real life mesotherms include: hyraxes, naked mole rats, echidnas, leatherback sea turtles, tuna, certain sharks, and possibly the Argentine giant tegu (it's more accurately heterothermic).

Supposing ectothermy and endothermy are two poles on a spectrum, one could lay out these three species, from left to right, as such: Cardassians, Trill, then Bajorans.

Bajorans

Bajorans evolutionarily descend from heterothermic mesotherm underground rodents. Their temperature tolerance range varies slightly depending on where on Bajor their ancestry is from, but the primary factor is where they and their parents grew up. Even with this variance, knitting and crochet are popular in Bajoran textile production for warmth.

Ideal temperature: 65f-80f accommodates most Bajorans even with the varying tolerance.

Treatments/concerns: their temperature range has overlap with the climate controls on many Federation vessels, so most Bajoran crew don't have to seek out accommodations when serving in Starfleet. If a Bajoran has temperature concerns, adjustments to quarters climate controls are usually sufficient. In emergencies, the first thing to do is move the patient to an area with a 10 degree temperature greater or lesser than the current one (depending on which issue it is). If not possible, employing temperature packs, dressing and undressing, and so on can usually alleviate the matter greatly.

Cardassians

Cardassians are the most visually obvious mesotherms. This owes not only to their reptilian appearance, but also to the fact that their skin lightens or darkens depending on temperature as a method of regulation: darker for cold temperatures, lighter for hotter. Different “base” colors cluster roughly to geographic heritage, however all Cardassians have more or less the same tolerance medically (some Cardassians train to function better in cold temperatures, but the health affects remain similar). Cardassians are poikilotherms.

Ideal temperature: 86f-95f, with a basking temperature of 110f minimum.

Treatments/concerns: as mesotherms are subject to environmental temperature, all three exhibit some degree of basking behavior, however Cardassians particularly have developed a culture around it (and often will partake in behavioural fever). Federation vessels are always about 10 degrees too cool and unless crewed by ectothermic species, have little or no basking opportunities. Cardassians are fine on Federation vessels for limited time frames without accommodation for this and other reasons, but long term residence requires accommodation to prevent serious health problems, such as malnutrition and gout. It is inadvisable for non-medical personnel to undress a Cardassian experiencing temperature issues as their clothing insulation helps keep temperature constant, not just warm.

Trill

There are two different major populations of Trill: those on the northern contenients who have protrusions on the face and those on the southern contenients who have spots. The North-South distinction can be seen in how Southern Trill like Jadzia wear thicker uniforms when avaliable, and that the dress of civilians is made of heavy fabrics like brocade. The Northern Trill’s face protrusions are sinus related. Trill are poikilotherms.

Ideal temperature: 60f-75f for Northern Trill, 70-85f for Southern Trill.

Treatments/concerns: joined Trill are even more sensitive to temperature shifts than unjoined Trill, as the internal temperature the symbiont can tolerate is a much narrower range (about 5~ degrees, much like humans). They also often run hotter than unjoined Trill, so Jadzia and Lenara need to try and keep their temperatures around 80-85f. Part of the concern of the joining process is making sure a symbiont and its host having matching internal temperature ranges; the populations of different pools have symbionts with different tolerances. This is a limiting factor to enabling symbionts a variety of experiences and is an area of research the symbiosis commission has flagged as of interest. Trill from one population with an abnormal temperature range are often more likely to be selected for joining, but aren't especially common.

Cardassians and Trill, in addition to temperature, generally need more humidity in their environment than is usual on Federation vessels not operated with such needs in mind, though for different reasons. Also like Cardassians, it is inadvisable to undress a Trill experiencing temperature regulation issues for the same reason previously stated.

[synapsid-taxonomy]

Naked mole rats:

Are eusocial

Don’t feel pain on their skin

Don’t get cancer

Are heterotherms

Can live on very low oxygen

Don’t have a consistent circadian rhythm

Live almost ten times as long as similarly-sized rodents

Weirdest extant mammal 100%

yes, I know, not on blog theme, but we're a bunch of dino lovers so I wanted to see what we thought was weird in mammals

[animal-lover-forever]

My ROTTMNT OC Niko (6)

(Adding a "Keep reading" because I typed a lot of shit.)

Her name is number 6, but Big Mama calls her Niko. She is four years old.

Number 2, or Frida as Big Mama calls her is 6's sister. She is seven years old.

2 is the only survivor. Number 1, 3, 4, and 5 perished in the lab explosion, along with their DNA donor, Lou Jitsu.

Draxum made her with a bit of mutagen and DNA of Lou Jitsu that survived the lab explosion.

Unlike 6's fully turtle siblings, she's made up of many animals. Fennec fox, rattlesnake, map turtle, the smallest amount of spinny softshell, and of course, the human DNA used to mutate her.

Number 6 was made a year later after number 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, were made, but there was no guarantee that she would be sentient. She is made up of many different animals, after all.

6 has excellent vision in both day and night, she also has a great sense of smell and hearing.

6 can hold her breath for up to 3 hours. She is an excellent swimmer and has webbed paws. After the 3 hours are up, she will start to pull oxygen out of the water thanks to the softshell DNA. The prosses for transitioning from air to water and vice versa is painful, so she doesn't like to do this often.

6 has lots of sharp teeth, but she also has a set of fangs. She has a venom that is potent enough to kill someone in 15 minutes or less. She can also control whether or not her venom gets injected when she bites.

6's venom is so strong and potent and mutated compared to that of a normal rattlesnake, that normal antivenoms won't work if she's bitten you. Your only hope for survival would be a specially made antivenom made using 6's own venom.

Number 1, 3, 4, and 5, won't die if they get bitten. But they will become very sick for 48 hours.

2 is completely immune to 6's venom because Draxum slowly introduced it into 2's system so that she would become completely immune to it in case 6 were to accidentally bite 2 in a battle.

6's tail is very strong. She can use it to grab a hold of her "prey", and it rattles just like a normal rattlesnake. 6 can hide in her shell, though her tail sticks out, and her snout sticks out a little as well. 6 is also heterotherm-blooded.

Draxum trains 6 and 2 in the "pit", but if they do bad, they get punished.

Sometimes 2 and 6 fight together in the Battle Nexus.

Draxum allows it because improves their fighting abilities and it makes Big Mama happy.

Big Mama and Draxum also made a deal. 2 and then 6 once she was made, would fight in the Battle Nexus because Draxum stole Lou Jitsu from Big Mama and Lou Jitsu died in the lab explosion.

6 has mystics (Ninpo) and so does 2. 6 can control plants. A lot like Draxum, but she can control more than just vines.

6 can also control Draxum's vines, but that's really hard because they're under his control.

If it's a plant, 6 can manipulate it to grow, where it grows, and even kill it.

6 can only control already existing plants, she can't make them appear on her own.

But 6 has a scythe that's a mystic catalyst that amplifies her mystics, which means she can make plants grow anywhere with her scythe.

2 can make objects smaller and bigger, and put them back to their original size.

Side note #1: Number 1 (Raph), 3 (Donnie), 4 (Leo), and 5 (Mikey) did survive and are with Splinter like in cannon, and are totally unaware of their two "long lost" sisters. Splinter knows that he left Frida, but has no idea about Niko as she was made later on. As for ages, Raph is 8, Frida is 7, Donnie and Leo are 6 (Donnie is older), Mikey is 5, and Niko is 4.

Side note #2: 2 and 6 meet 1, 3, 4, and 5 just before the Shredder is defeated. 2 and 6 had heard that their siblings had survived the lab explosion all those years ago from Big Mama and Draxum, but haven't been able to see them in person until that point.

Side note #3: When Big Mama's assistant shows up that one time to protect the Dark Amor in cannon, it's actually Frida and Niko who help protect it.

Side note #4: I made a comic for Niko, but it's incomplete.

[nik0-chan]

My name is Number 6, but Big Mama calls me Niko, and I'm four years old.

Number 2, or Jennaika as Big Mama calls her is my sister, she's 7.

Number 1, 3, 4, and 5 perished in the lab explosion.

Number 2 is the only survivor.

I was made a year later, but there was no guarantee that I would be sentient.

Father Draxum made me with a bit of mutagen and DNA of Lou Jitsu that survived the lab explosion.

Unlike my Kappa siblings, I'm made up of many animals. Fennec fox, rattlesnake, map turtle, and of course, the human DNA used to mutate me.

I have excellent vision both day and night, I have a great sense of smell and hearing.

I can hold my breath for up to 3 hours, I'm an excellent swimmer and have webbed paws.

I have lots of sharp teeth, but I also have a set of fangs, my venom is potent enough that it can kill someone in 15 minutes, and I can also control whether or not my venom gets injected when I bite.

My tail is very strong, I can use it to grab a hold of my prey, and it rattle just like a normal rattlesnake.

I can hide in my shell, though my tail sticks out, and my snout sticks out a little as well.

I am heterotherm-blooded.

Father Draxum trains me and 2 in the pit, but if we do bad, we get punished.

Sometimes we fight together in the Battle Nexus.

Father Draxum says it improves our fighting abilities and it makes Big Mama happy.

I have mystics and so does 2. I can control plants.

A lot like Father Draxum, but I can control more than just vines.

If it's a plant, I can manipulate it to grow, where it grows, and even kill it.

I can also control Father Draxum's vines, but that's really hard because they're under his control.

I can only control already existing plants, I can't make them appear on my own.

But I have a scythe that's a mystic catalyst that amplifies my mystics, which means I can make plants grow anywhere with my scythe.

Number 2 can make objects smaller and bigger, and put them back to their original size.

[Side note, Number 1 (Raph), 3 (Donnie), 4 (Leo), and 5 (Mikey) did survive and are with Splinter like in cannon, and are totally unaware of their two "long lost" sisters. Splinter knows that he left Jennaika, but has no idea about Niko as she was made later on. As for ages, Raph is 8, Jennaika is 7, Donnie and Leo are 6 (Donnie is older), Mikey is 5, and Niko is 4.]

[ainews]

Thylacines, also known as Tasmanian tigers or Tasmanian wolves, were an extinct species of marsupial native to Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea. Despite their distinctive striped markings and dog-like appearance, thylacines were actually more closely related to kangaroos and koalas. These unique animals went extinct due to hunting, habitat destruction, and disease in the 20th century, making them a popular subject for figurines.

In recent years, one particular type of thylacine figurine has gained attention for its unique trait of being "heterothermic" or capable of varying body temperature. These figurines, usually made of plastic or resin, have a special snowsuit covering their bodies, giving them a striking and adorable appearance.

But why are these figurines designed to be heterothermic? The answer lies in the thylacine's natural biological adaptations to its environment.

One of the key reasons behind the thylacine's heterothermic nature is its habitat. These marsupials were found in the cooler regions of Australia and Tasmania, where the temperature would fluctuate greatly between day and night. In order to survive in these changing temperatures, thylacines evolved to have a unique metabolism that allowed them to regulate their body temperature. This means that they could allow their body temperature to drop during colder periods, conserving energy and reducing the need for food.

The snowsuit on the figurines serves as a representation of this unique adaptation. It acts as an insulating layer, helping to maintain the thylacine's body temperature in colder environments, just like a real thylacine would use its thick fur. It also adds an element of playfulness to the figurines, as they can be dressed and undressed according to the whims of their owners.

Moreover, the snowsuit serves as a nod to the thylacine's natural environment. The cold-weather setting of the figurines pays homage to the thylacine's past habitats and emphasizes the importance of understanding and preserving their natural environment.

Aside from being a fun and unique feature, the heterothermic snowsuits on thylacine figurines also serve as a reminder of the impressive adaptations that animals have developed in order to survive in their environments. By incorporating these features into a collectible item, they can serve as a way to spark interest and curiosity about these amazing creatures.

In conclusion, the heterothermic snowsuits on thylacine figurines are a representation of the unique and fascinating adaptations of an extinct animal, while also adding a fun and playful element to the figurines. They serve as a reminder of the importance of understanding and preserving the natural environment and the incredible diversity of life on our planet. So the next time you see one of these adorable figurines, remember the incredible story behind their design.

[all-hail-trash-prince]

*banging pots and pans together* MAMS FANS COME GET YOUR SOUP

(and if you're not a fan of Me and My Shadow then. You should be /lh)

[blackfire-fanfiction]

Recording how many words of fanfic I read per day (June 6 — Happy Pride Month!)

Today: 62,790 words Yesterday: 64,240 words Top this Month: 110,449 words

Don’t mind me posting this late, I had a rough afternoon last night. The words are still here though! Nothing can stop me from being a nerd

[Fics I read today under the cut]

Chapter 2 of little kid with a big death wish by remrose Chapter 2 of To Know Peace (You Gotta Let Go) by Deadpool1763492 Rise Fics by Thatficgal  calling out: refurbished by 14Passionz (14Muffinz) Chapter 16 of Multi-Dimensional Turtle Chaos by CeruleanBound Heterothermic by the_trash_prince

[ilearnedthistodaysblog]

Why are some animals cold-blooded?

Why are some animals cold-blooded? It lets them go for longer without eating, which means they can survive in more inhospitable areas.

There are three types of animals: warm-blooded, cold-blooded, and those in between. Warm-blooded animals are called endotherms and they are able to maintain their body temperature by using their metabolism. We are endotherms. All of our cells do different things, but they all need energy to perform chemical reactions. When they perform the chemical reactions, they produce heat as a byproduct. We use our fat, our skin, and our clothes to retain as much of our heat as we can. The cells in our bodies need to be at a certain temperature to be able to work. If they lose too much heat and grow too cold to perform, we are able to speed up our metabolism to generate more heat. Our bodies are able to stay at a perfect temperature (unless something happens) without us having to do anything consciously.

Ectotherms also lose heat when they perform chemical reactions, but they are unable to keep this heat. They become the same temperature as their surroundings. However, they need heat to be able to perform chemical reactions and basically move, which is why many cold-blooded animals sun themselves before doing anything. Although, cold-blooded is actually not completely correct because these animals are the same temperature as their environment. If a fish is swimming in water that is 10 °C, the fish will have a body temperature of 10 °C, and if the water is 30 °C, the fish will have a body temperature of 30 °C, which is not exactly cold.

There are also some animals that are in between the two and they are called heterotherms. Bees are basically cold-blooded, but they can heat themselves up by flapping their wings fast, which pumps their wing muscles to produce heat. They do this before they take off.

So, what advantages are there to being cold-blooded? Why would an animal evolve to be cold-blooded? It seems as though all the advantages are with the warm-blooded animals because they can use their muscles whenever they want, without needing to warm themselves up first. They can run away from predators at a moment’s notice, and they can be predators getting ready to pounce on prey. Well, there are two advantages.

The first is that cold-blooded animals don’t need to eat much. It takes a lot of energy to keep a warm-blooded animal at its ideal temperature. We are not very efficient, and we lose 75% of all the energy we take in through heat loss. We have an efficiency of 25%, which is better than a car, but it still means we need to take in a lot of energy to be able to maintain our body heat. Cold-blooded animals don’t need to do this. Cold-blooded animals have a much slower metabolism than warm-blooded animals, which means they don’t need to eat a lot or very often. If you have two warm-blooded and cold-blooded animals of equal size, the warm-blooded animal will need 30 times more energy a day to maintain its body temperature and survive. Cold-blooded animals don’t need anywhere near as much energy. An adult python, for example, will eat about once every two weeks. A crocodile will eat about once a week. However, both of these animals can go for long periods of time without eating. A python can survive six months with no food and a large crocodile can survive over a year. This ability means they can live in areas where food is scarcer. They don’t need to worry as much as a warm-blooded animal would have to.

There are obviously several disadvantages to being cold-blooded. One of them is that the animals can’t suddenly spring into action in the same way that a warm-blooded animal can. They need warming up first. That means they aren’t able to escape predators in the early hours of the day when it is colder. A lot of cold-blooded animals have elaborate camouflage to keep them hidden.

Another disadvantage is that they don’t do well if the temperature drops too much. All cells can only perform chemical processes in a certain temperature range. If the external temperature drops too low, a warm-blooded animal can produce heat and keep their metabolism going, but a cold-blooded animal cannot, and they shut down. Cold-blooded animals can freeze.

Cold-blooded animals are also unable to produce a fever if they have a bacterial or viral infection. We use a fever to kill the infection, but cold-blooded animals cannot do that. Research has shown that cold-blooded animals that are infected with a virus seek out very hot areas to try and raise their body temperature enough to kill the infection. This can work, but it is not as reliable as our fever mechanism.

The question “why are some animals cold-blooded?” is actually backwards. It is most likely that all animals started out as cold-blooded and warm-blooded animals evolved from them. The advantages of being warm-blooded far outweigh the energy requirement that is needed to produce our heat. The ability to produce a fever to fight off infections might have been the single biggest reason why warm-blooded animals evolved. And this is what I learned today.

Read this and 600 other articles on my site:  https://ilearnedthistoday.com/

Photo by Erik Karits: https://www.pexels.com/photo/brown-and-gray-bearded-dragon-on-brown-sand-3826317/

Sources

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/ever-wondered-about-warm-blooded-and-cold-blooded-animals/2015/11/27/575d30ca-6c57-11e5-aa5b-f78a98956699_story.html

[sofiadragon]

I didn't know the word for my headcanon and now I do! Heterotherms! If you evolved in such a harsh environment it just makes sense to have more control over your body like this.

THE BIG VULCAN BIOLOGY POST (aka Vulcan is a Hell Planet)

DISCLAIMER: I am not a biologist, astrophysicist, neurologist, animal psychologist or literally anything that would qualify me to talk about this with 100% confidence. This is the result of dozens of headcanons and obsessive deep dive research. I don’t want this post to be three miles long, so after I address the planetary stuff I will oblige y’all with a Read More.

Adsfasdkfjhaslkdfh I’ve been working on this post for almost a month SO HERE WE GO!

First of all, Vulcan (aka T’Khasi) is a HELL PLANET, which is part of the reason they’re so badass, I say this for the following reasons:

No moon(s) (natural satellites)

Sodium (Salt) is so rare on the planet that Vulcan’s oceans are freshwater

It’s a “Super-Earth” (as in big chonkin’ planet of similar composition to earth in the “goldilocks region”)

Let’s do this.

“Vulcan has no moon Ms. Uhura.”

-Spock, The Man Trap

Tons of things change about our planet if there was no moon:

Much darker nights (no moonlight)

Much lower sea levels since there is no gravity from the moon to pull it upward.

Lower and weaker tides because the water is pulled by the sun instead of the moon, and it depends on how large the Vulcan solar system’s sun is for how big the waves are.

Stronger winds from faster planet rotation.

Depending on whether the axis of the planet would straighten or tilt further without the moon’s pull, combined with the faster rotation would lead to more severe seasons (strong tilt) or no seasons at all (no tilt)

The first factor may lead to Vulcan eyes being very catlike even if they aren’t nocturnal (I think they’re crepesucular but we’ll get into that later). Which given the likely nature of their blood and their herbivorous eating habits they probably aren’t. The sky would still be so dark that our human eyes couldn’t even see our hands in front of us, being blind when the sun goes down could be a death sentence. Alternatively, if they didn’t develop strong night vision that may be one of the reasons why they have such strong senses of hearing.

The stronger winds, faster rotation, and stronger (or nonexistent) seasons come from the lack of resistance and friction that stronger tides and the moon’s pull create on our planet. I suspect that Vulcan is larger, or at least denser than Earth, so the rotation may not be affected as strongly. As a matter of fact I think Vulcan may actually rotate slower and have a longer day night cycle because of it’s density. However, I do think that Vulcan’s tilt is on the more extreme end to get the hostile extremes like storms and heat that we see on Vulcan.

If you look at this image of Vulcan, water covers way less of the planet’s surface than Earth. I don’t think this is necessarily because Vulcan has less water, but that it isn’t spread as far because of the lack of moon, and the fact that the oceans are freshwater, I’ll get into that shortly.

“My ancestors spawned from a different ocean than yours.”

-Spock, The Man Trap

In the Star Trek: The Original Series (third) pilot The Man Trap, there is a creature that kills its victims by draining their bodies completely of salt. Spock encounters the creature but does not die, implying his (and Vulcans overall) body contains little to no salt. His justification is that his species did not evolve from a salinized ocean.

What does it mean to have oceans with no salt?

This has to mean that sodium is a very rare mineral on Vulcan, as the reason our oceans are so salinized is due to erosion of minerals by rainfall, carried from river to ocean. Salt in the ocean is also generated by submarine volcanic activity, which means either that the volcanoes on Vulcan (which we definitely know exist) somehow don’t produce salt, or the vast majority of the submarine volcanoes have been inactive for millions if not billions of years. The active volcanoes on Vulcan must be very far inland and/or Vulcan has almost no rivers, which given how hot the planet is, wouldn’t actually be too much of a stretch of the imagination.

Which means every single lifeform on T’Khasi, including Vulcans, evolved biosystems that exist without (or with very little) salt content. Any salt that exists would likely be deep beneath the planet’s surface, and within volcanoes.

No saltwater has a ton of consequences:

Plants (like underwater algae) are rarer and may not photosynthesize the same way Earth plants do, meaning less oxygen and more carbon dioxide, which means more greenhouse effect, which means higher temperatures.

The lack of salt would also mean less diverse plant life (at least as humans know it) and given the lack of visible rivers and vast swaths of desert on Vulcan, we can safely say vegetation must be hardier and infrequent.

Lower sea levels as the oceans would have lower density due to lack of salt.

Little to no water convection, which salt is crucial for on Earth. Which means warm ocean water doesn’t move to cold regions and vice versa. Creating extremes, the equator being obscenely hot, and polar waters freezing at the poles more extensively.

Lack of convection means more frequent and stronger storms like hurricanes.

If you thought the lack of a moon made Vulcan inhospitable, compound it with the low sodium factor and you’ve got a planet of even more severe extremes than before. The heat, and the decrease of plant diversity definitely explain why the vast majority of Vulcan is rocky desert, even being near the water poses more extreme dangers than it would on earth due to the increased frequency of hurricanes.

“Mr. Spock is much stronger than an ordinary human being.”

-Kirk, This Side of Paradise

I am almost 100% sure that Vulcan is either bigger or denser than Earth. Which would explain why Vulcans are so much stronger than Humans and other species that exist on similar gravity worlds.

Effects of a high-gravity planet or “Super-Earth” include:

Everything is shorter or has very strong foundations, plants, animals, structures, and people.

More “Armageddon” class asteroids would hit the planet (like the one that killed the dinosaurs and created the Gulf of Mexico)

Larger liquid mantle under the planet’s surface, higher pressure under the surface as well.

Weaker magnetic field due to lack of convection in the planet’s core (not to be confused with the mantle interacting with the planet’s crust). Which means a weaker atmosphere, lower magnetism in surface metals, and increased vulnerability to solar flares.

More volcanically and seismically active due the the increase in the mantle’s size and generated heat, more earthquakes, and more volcanic eruptions.

Would have to have a smaller sun but be closer in orbit to it than earth.

Extremely deep oceans, potentially with water under so much pressure at the bottom that it becomes solid like ice. Luckily Vulcan is not an ocean world, because the pressure would block the planet’s core from interacting with the atmosphere, which would prevent life as we know it from happening.

There is plenty of evidence for this on so many levels. We never see any plant life similar to trees on Vulcan. Nor animals significantly larger than Vulcans, the ones that are bigger are much more muscular. Vulcan’s sky is more red than blue because of the lack of oxygen molecules for the light from the sun to filter as blue. I actually headcanon that Spock is unusually tall for a Vulcan because of his human heritage (Leonard Nimoy was around 6ft tall) , and may have had heart and muscle problems in his teens and early adulthood while on Vulcan.

Perhaps Vulcans are the result of many more extinction level events than we are, contributing to their hardiness. Perhaps they are, evolutionarily, not too much older than we are, and had more incentive to develop extraterrestrial technology than we have, so that they could repel Armageddon Class meteors and defend their planet against Solar Flares? Space travel being born out of self-preservation rather than curiosity. Which would absolutely account for their attitudes in the beginning of Star Trek: Enterprise.

It could be that Vulcans still maintain a semi-nomadic lifestyle even today because their planet is so incredibly volatile. Unsentimental and utilitarian in anything less than the most sacred of architecture long before they adopted the teachings of Surak. Their own survival more valuable than any structure that would inevitably be damaged or destroyed by their planet’s harsh environment.

In summary, Vulcan is a Nightmare Planet because:

So, so many much natural disasters, like, so many, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, hurricanes, twisters, just, so many more than Earth.

Water is relegated to specific locations in the world rather than spread across it due to lack of flow and lower sea levels.

Extreme temperature changes, intense heat, intense cold, hard to breathe, stronger gravity.

Due to the planet’s hostility, there is a smaller diversity of life than we have here on earth, which means fewer and hardier food sources that, like Vulcans, are very difficult to kill.

So… How do they handle it? What features have they developed to adapt and thrive in such an inhospitable place?

First thing is first, lets talk about

BLOOD

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