#little bit of biology

[shadowpuppetteer]

Hallu, I was just thinking, I know that the gargoyles all have black eyes cause that was the style for the animation at the time, but! Imagine if they had colored irises~

Goliath: Dark brown

Hudson: Hazel

Brooklyn: Amber

Broadway: Dark blue

Lexington: Sepia brown (think 2k12 Donatello)

Angela: Deep green (shared with Demona)

That's a fun thought. For the series it's really hard to see everyone's eye color who is not a gargoyle (especially since the series mostly takes place at night)

I always head cannon it as they have black eyes because they are nocturnal creatures, so their eyes need to catch as much light as possible. And they keep the whites of their eyes because they are social creatures, and the movement of eyes is another form of non-verbal communication. When I was reading "Survival of the Friendliest" by Brian Hare, they touched on our eyes, and I thought about the gargoyles 😆

But it is fun to think about iris color for sure. Especially when they are in human form!

But that's just me. It's always fun to see how other people in the fandom write and draw all these great characters! I just like the black eyes bit because then my special interest for biology gets to peek out and infodump 🤣

[filurig]

SO my old basilisk refs and things felt grossly outdated esp now bcs i have changed some things about them. So now have a new ref and some more extra informations about them. or at least the basilisk community most relevant to pareidolia...

[vonecent]

Manticore

Manticores hunt similarly to Komodo Dragons; they sneak up to prey and stick their venomous quills into it. They then follow their prey until it succumbs to the venom's effects, and finishes it off by crushing the windpipe with their jaws, dragging it up a tree to eat in safety.

A little larger than a house cat, they have quills on their tail and base of the neck, and the oil follicles excrete venom that runs through small grooves on the quill. The venom is a depressant, and causes paralysis and hallucinations. It takes around an hour to take full effect. If you manage to get to safety or the manticore can't find you the venom will wear off in about a day. They are immune to their own venom, but distant subspecies of manticore may or may not be immune to each other's venom.

Manticores eat medium to small animals from deer and insects to foxes and skunks. They rarely attack animals that are likely to attack them or be defended by pack mates, as manticores aren't strong enough to defend themselves or fast enough to run away (their top speed is around 15mph, and they can't maintain that speed for long.) One of their favorite prey items is livestock because they are stuck in a small area, so they don't need to be tracked far. They are easily dissuaded by guard llamas.

Manticores are reverse countershaded and utilize dazzle camouflage to confuse and startle would-be attackers. (their "face" serves a similar function) Their threat display consists of standing sideways to the threat with their back arched up and head directly facing the threat. They sway slowly side to side and curl and lash their tail. They tilt their head side to side so the perspective illusion of their face is slightly noticeable. Their quills stand up and their mane poofs out and they make a sound that's a mix between dry heaving and rasping. They have a slight stink to them like the musk of a fox that intensifies when stressed.

[lockheed-martin-unofficial]

Adding Dreadwing to the Decepticon de-icing headcanons!

Because I wrote the purring headcanon on him and I vibed with the fella ngl. I wanna do him justice.

- The scenes where we see Dreadwing in the Arctic, he doesn’t seem bothered by the cold at all. I’d consider him to be the least spiky decepticon out there, which helps his chances because there less points that extend out and do nothing except dissipate precious heat. He seems streamlined and rounded, as well as having a bigger and bulkier frame.

I’d have to say he’s the best decepticon for retaining heat, but not necessarily the most efficient at warming himself. I still think that’d be Soundwave, due to his heating system literally being within an arm’s reach. (De-icing is stored in the wings, and Soundwave’s wings are his arms.) Dreadwing is a close second though.

- While I can’t really imagine him looking up the unique features of his own altmode and reading manuals like Soundwave, Dreadwing is well traveled. He’s been all around in his ship, probably been to many other planets. It’s safe to assume he’s experienced humidity and knows what it is. So after scanning from a water-having species, he would’ve been able to guess his new altmode would have de-icing countermeasures.

- A human pal or partner would be kept within the climate controlled environment of his cockpit at all times during extreme temperatures. Safest spot in the house.

- I also imagine his engine would run especially hot. After he shuts it down, the intake is a peak nap spot. It stays warm for quite some time. Even if he doesn’t want you in there, for your own safety.

[a-most-beloved-fool]

so... TOS characters were probably famous enough to have little kitschy souvenirs and such made of them & sold in starbases, yeah? novelty candies and the like?

because i'm imagining a crack-fic where spock (pining or feeling heartbroken) gets ahold of kirk-shaped chocolates and gets Very Drunk And Sad by eating them.

[blorbo-blog-bro]

Blorbo experiences grief for the first time as his hopes and dreams are crushed right in front of him

[markscherz]

Oh you like frogs? Name every frog then

Current tally: 90 (1.18% of all described frogs)

[spookygibberish]

I've sort of developed a strange relationship with the concept of "realism" in the things I make.

Something I was very into as like, an eleven year old (im not implying this was immature to be into, just that it was formative for me), was speculative biology specifically for dragons, and now, specifically in the case of dragons I find a lot of attempts to make them biologically plausible fully missing the appeal of dragons at all.

Thinking specifically about the supernatural elements of JoM and where the line is drawn. The dagnyds are made from the remains of godlike entities, and are not entirely earthly animals. They have a supernatural origin. It would be fully justified in giving them magic abilities or making magic an aspect of the setting, but have absolutely zero interest in doing so. It doesn't interest me. I think about shit like healing powers or glowy energy attacks and my reaction is just "what does this even add? Why do I need this? Does this make things more interesting?" And it simply doesn't. Healing is more interesting as a prolonged process, combat is more interesting with teeth and claws and metal and blood. These are options which are more realistic, closer to real life, but the realism isn't what makes them interesting: it's physicality.

When I design a creature for this world, I am not thinking about making it biologically plausible, and yet, I try to design things which look like they could 'move under their own power'. There is a sense of heft and mechanical "soundness" which I value more than realism, but often also aligns with looking 'realistic'.

I would say that it's better to serve a narrative than strive for absolute realism, but I don't actually write stories, although I do have ideas for them occasionally. I guess a version of this which is more relevant and applicable is that i prefer to strive for a particular vibe.

[aeriona]

Thinking about my silly kangaroo people again…

Speculative rambling below the cut

I originally designed Frenators (way back when) to have both mammalian and vaguely reptilian traits, but I've since backpedaled on that and instead made them marsupials because I think it's cool. It also means I had to rethink their body plan to more resemble something you could plausibly classify as kangaroo-like. Thus, big flat feet and pouches it is!

I'm not sure how long they would keep joeys in the pouch for, given their devellopment cycle is slower than a real roo I would probably estimate pouch-time to be around 2-3 years. The pouch would also serve as a good way to keep young warm in the freezing cold Snowfield temperatures, so that'd also probably encourage them to stay in there longer.

The skeleton is a horrible Frankenstein's monster combination between a human and kangaroo skeleton, modified slightly to facilitate quadrupedal walking and running to the best of my knowledge as I'm not an osteologist. The pelvis looks really off to me, but who knows I'm not bothered to fix it right now.

[wolfsbaneandthistle]

Notes on food, fish, and translation errors.

Hán and Ankiusk are good friends, but during the time that they’re getting their medical certifications they’re both still learning the Galactic Standardized language. That combined with Ankiusk’s lack of a jaw to make the click (!) letter, there are a lot of communication issues.

And I mean… what do you call an alien animal in an alien language so that a third alien can relate it to yet another alien animal. Language may be evil but comparative xenobiology is even more so.

[objectbiologist]

because there are about 100,000 tomatoes in the us alone this implies that tomatoes in the oneverse are of least concern conservation status. which makes me think there are object species that are considered more "rare" than others, maybe even some that are endangered

[grimaom]

jool in every episode (5/17) “why should i do your selfish and unnecessary work?”

↳ S03:E07 thanks for sharing

[cl0wn-twn]

something up with that alex basics fellow.....

[anglerflsh]

>reads an article about climate change in late antiquity based on a study of downcore fossil dinoflagellate cyst association >does not undertand a word of the scientific side of said article >picks up next article on a similar topic

>yeah

[okartichoke]

Bird Spotlight!: Magnificent Frigatebird ("man-o-war bird")

These guys are like BIRD PIRATES?!!! ?!??! Basically, they'll grab and hold onto a smaller bird until it regurgitates the fish it caught. Once it does, the frigatebird releases it, and catches the fish midair as it falls!! Video of this in action below! (if you just want to see the moment of the fish falling, skip to 2:15!) (young frigatebirds will practice this with each other with sticks!! so cute omgggg) (this is not the only way they gather food, but it is by far the most interesting way X3)

Another cool fact, the frigatebird is a seabird, but it can't swim. It's feathers aren't waterproof. BUT SOMEHOW, these birds stay out at sea for up to 2 months... how??????

well!! scientists have long theorized that birds can sleep during flight,, and a study with the frigatebird (from less than a decade ago!!!) is actually what proved this theory!!!! These birds slept for 10 second intervals while flying (for a total of about 45 minutes a day). it’s VERY little sleep (they get 12ish hours on land)

Finally, they're one of the very few sea birds that have major male/female differences (notice the big red thing,, that's the male). They can inflate this,, its part of the mating process (but also can be used to regulate body temp,, kinda cool)

[cry-ptidd]

I should give stretch marks to Laura since she went from starved to eating everyone she saw and the rapid addition of fat and muscle would make her skin stretch.

The only problem is THERES SO MUCH ON HER SKIN ALREADY