#uhhhh evolution

[sarahmackattack]

Last night while making a lecture for my class, I learned about these fluffy little nightmares.

Meet the blind mole rat. It spends its life underground, where it eats roots and burrows by chomping the ground with its huge teeth.

Their eyes are super small and covered in a layer of skin (yeesh). Their eyes can't form pictures in the same way ours can, BUT! They are able to detect the magnetic field of the earth- this is called magnetosensation! This is not an x-men skill, just a thing a little burrowing weirdo evolved. Sick.

Pic from Максим Яковлєв on our ol pal wikipedia.

[jayrockin]

I finally (got help) slapping Wordpress into shape and Runaway to the Stars is now releasing as a public webcomic! Thank you so much for your support over the years, and sticking with me while I'm slowly chewing my way through this book. I'm very excited to share this story! It'll be updating every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday thanks to the massive Patreon backlog. Patreon will continue to update as I finish pages, which happens on a sporadic non-schedule.

If you experience bugs with the site report them to me. Some things may occasionally break, as coding problems tend to be a very "whack-a-mole" affair; and I'm still getting used to the interface.

[clannfearrunt]

Hi I'm spitting out biology (and a liiiiitle bit cultural) musings more of them. These guys are actually terrestrial holothurians (sea cucumbers). I'm putting my stonks into echinodermata we have to believe in their Powers to evolve new and exciting shapes.

The people who keep symbiotic fish in their tentacles call themselves Anemones, while the ones that reject the fish as parasites and wear shell-like hats over most of their tentacles call themselves Nautilus. In the modern day there is an increasing population of those who consider themselves neither of these things but due to the history of these two cultures there isn't a widely accepted colloquial name for the species as a whole.

They're not cnidarians so they don't possess stinging cells, but they produce a thick venomous mucous from their tentacles that causes paralysis and inflammation on contact for various other animals. They evolved as social ambush predators that would jump on their prey and slather this mucous over them to subdue them. Their ideal diet is like 60% meat and 30% fruits, with bonus whatever the fuck else they feel like eating as a treat.

The venomous mucous may have been what initially started the Nautiluses' practice of covering most of their tentacles, along with protection from the sun and aerial predators. They have a long history as a multi-species people, and keeping contact venom just exposed around your loved ones without resistance to it is just plain dangerous. These days it's more of a visual identification and religious thing though.

These guys don't have real eyes, but are covered in light sensing cells all across their skin. They have shit visual acuity and can't see very far, but they're usually aware of the general silhouette of large objects a few feet around them, and are sensitive to movement. The Anemones, at least, formed a symbiotic relationship with a species of amphibious fish partially due to them being able to see farther and with higher acuity and warn them of things they might not have picked up on by themselves.

There's a lot of in-universe debate over the exact intelligence of the clownfish, but the average seems to be kind of parrot-like, with occasional exceptionally intelligent, probably sapient individuals. They're hard to study, because they're usually extremely shy towards other people, plus Anemones tend to develop a very strong bond with their clowns that skews their perception of what their own fish is capable of. In the modern day the relationship between Anemones and their fish is largely religious rather than out of any real practical necessity; the Anemone religious hegemony considers these fish as one half of a full person, and places an extreme importance on maintaining this relationship. This is usually fine and what ever, but can place Anemones and clownfish alike into difficult situations when the relationship is unwanted or cannot be maintained properly for whatever reason. It's also the reason Anemones and Nautilus have historically considered themselves separate, often rival species; the presence of the clowns or lackthereof have been considered mutually repulsive and a sign of something being deeply Wrong about the other group.

Most terrestrial holothurians are small, trundling insectivores, but there is one large species these guys share a close evolutionary relationship with. The dropbear are solitary, arboreal ambush predators that used to share much of their range with Anemones, but are currently critically endangered in the wild. Anemones, with their very low visual acuity and poor sense of smell, have a very hard time distinguishing dropbears from members of their own species. It's thought the need to tell friend apart from foe is what drove them to develop complex vocal capabilities.

Side note the Example Anemone here is wearing an extremely hastily designed example of traditional Anemone accessories; they didn't have a nudity taboo and actually prefer to keep most of their skin uncovered so they can see, but they enjoyed wearing accessories with tactile or audible elements built into it. Beads were often placed so they'd click together when moving, and combined with knots in the cords were often arranged according to their traditional system of cord "writing" so that people could read each other's clothing.

These guys support themselves on land through an endoskeleton made up of a network of mesodermal ossicles and catch connective tissue. When threatened, they can dramatically loosen their skin and let a predator or perhaps a guy easily tear off whatever part of their body they've grabbed, allowing for an easy getaway with relatively easy wounds to regenerate. This easily gooped skeletal structure does make them very prone to fatigue though. It was fine, because they're ambush predators. They were just supposed to be sitting there most of the day. Please.

[bunnieswithknives]

hey in ur peri animatic: (https://youtu.be/OCqlRuDaXYU?si=K52WDu_vw9rg7chz) that I have been permanently obsessed over since today and have watched about 20 times by now so much that I have drawn & posted stuff based on it what was that partial bug form peri had?

I haven’t watched either of the show btw so if it’s explained in the show please tell me plsssss

OK, SO the bug thing is not technically canon to the series. It's based on my own headcanons for fairy biology, but i do have justifications for it!! Fairies have very strong shape-shifting abilities, so it would make sense that the form they show to humans isn't necessarily their true form(not to mention extreme that mimicry is very common in insects). And you want to know the visible traits almost every fairy has in common? Being very small with Insect-like wings.

The fact that their humanoid form isn't their true form in actually confirmed in the show! Cosmo and Wanda are revealed to look like biblically accurate pseudo-angels in the museum episode. (I say pseudo angels because the Flaming Sword of Eden is only debatably sentient and I don't think is considered an angel. Ophanim are also debatably not angels because they don't have wings (sorry for the angel tangent I like angels))

So wouldn't their true forms be angelic then? Well, yes. But I like bugs so. Also I have more headcanons to justify myself. I like to think that they have both a true-true form (incomprehensible to the human brain, probably exists mostly in a dimension invisible to us, that looks how we imagine biblically accurate angels), and a fairy form (which is visible to humans but is naturally very insect like and tends to scare people). So, in order to interact with humans, they have to learn to shapeshift into a humanoid form but will occasionally slip if they get too relaxed/aren't careful, hence the mandibles coming out when he yawns!

The reason they struggle so much more with human forms than the animals or objects they typically turn into is that, well, they aren't trying to convince those animals or objects. The more human they try to look, the harder it is to keep up convincingly. If you turn into a really uncanny squirrel, only other squirrels will notice. If you turn into a really uncanny human, they form a lynch mob and burn you at the stake.

[magg0t-king]

Haven't posted in a bit bcuz stuff has been wack.. So heres something from my Snapchat

[velaraffricate]

ok i swear NOW im gonna make a naturalistic conlang i swear bro ill actually stick to it this time im gonna. shudder. learn how to evolve grammar

[goldensunset]

i need to. do more kh x pokémon things

[wolfsbaneandthistle]

Image ID: Drawings of Diaf, an alien with a large crest, short beak-like snout, and thin line-like eyes. The first image is her neutral coloration, which in her language looks a bit like, “we together watch,” with a soft period. The next images show the colorations for the sentences, “you want that fruit?” and, “you want the green fruit?” The subject is denoted with the upper part of the crest, and the action is specified with the lower, wider portion. The object of the sentence is shown with the front of the head, above the beak. The tone and punctuation are denoted with the chin and neck. Diaf can do a wide range of colors, and certain words occasionally have certain colors. Diaf also shows her curiosity by opening her mouth and indicating with her tongue-arms. End image ID.

Wouldn’t it be cool if body language and spoken language were swapped.

[sp1resong]

im trying to solidify my rain world creature anatomy headcanons but caramel lizards are making that REALLY FUCKIN DIFFICULT

[cherrysnax]

Demeter is afraid of bats so their main villian is gonna be this like. mad scientist who prolly created the spiders that bit her who is prolly experimenting on themselves to become some sort of bat creature.. like man-bat and the lizard mixed together but I don’t think this guy is in anyway sympathetic. he’s obsessed with evolution, he’s bored of humanity he’s prolly obsessed with spider-man (whichever spider-man exists in this universe is probably going to die or sumn 😭)

[thedndgoblinwholivesinyourwalls]

josh and adele at weezer concert. they proposed to eachother there. ‘your eyes are weezer blue,’ ‘you’re eyes are weezer blue too!!!’ and then they kissed.

[dannybobany]

IM SO HAPPY TO OBLIGE TEHEHEHEHEH

So I’m not sure if you remember but one time I did go off at you about this fnaf swap au I have where Mrs Afton is the killer instead of William? Well. I like that au a lot but I’m not super interested in fnaf anymore so I’ve been wanting to do something else with that framework, hence … this? Whatever it is?

I only have the barest of details down, like instead of remnant we’re doing vampirism now and the family’s surname is Adams instead of Afton (hence the naming convention for the company)

Cecil gets to keep his name since I came up with that on my own anyway but I’m changing Clara’s since that’s just a popular fanon name- some characters are going to be fused to clean up the cast a bit like… Micheal and Elizabeth, and Betty and Delilah, as a way of removing characters who’s presence only made sense in the context of a fnaf au while still getting to keep elements I like 💖💖💖

Not sure what this new thing is called yet since I do have to take Cheshire out… actually animatronics in general have to be kind of passed out for more traditional robots that are at the very least only vaguely reminiscent of fnaf- Cheshire and Franbear unfortunately have no place anymore- although that doesn’t mean I’m removing Fran, just that she has to play a different role, maybe she’s actually just Cecil’s sister now…

My ass is getting way too into calligraphy right now

[candlefairybb]

I always kinda saw the Bounsweet evolution shiny as a missed opportunity for a miku coloration lol (kinda like Kirlia)

So I got very distracted and did some quick recolors on Steenee and Tsareena (sorry for the quality, I did this on my mobile IbisPaint)

Also Uhhhh sorry for like never posting lol

Well

Anyways

Hope you enjoyed, bye-bye

[vioranhyperfixation]

Damian : #011, it has come to my attention that you are unproductive at the leisure time you are excuse with during the time when I'm unavailable. And that's just improper.

#011 : um.. Then what I'm supposed to do? There's nothing here.

Damian : i have realized that too so I decided to brought upon you this

#011 : ???

Damian : this is doll's, a toy with a shell that have similarity to human that most use to play pretend.

Damian : that would also be the case for you. You shall use this doll's to help develop your productivity and creativity.

#011 : ahhh..

Damian : would you like to play it with me?

#011 : yeah!

Damian : then shall we make a series of stories with those doll? Let me start it, this girl is a star, her name is Khalila. She is a bright star, it just that she has a problem, she has not yet granted a human wish like all other star has done. So she was hoping to find someone to grant wish to, upon that thought she caught a brown girl looking hopefull at the sky and she thought, maybe this would be the day!

#011 :

Damian :

#011 :

#011 : uhhhh,, should I continue it?

Damian : yeah, just said anything you want

011 : "star, if you can hear me, please listen to my plea. My brothen had betrayed me and I'm left with the rubble of my home..

Damian : *nod and nudge him to continue

#011 : "I use to think that they would always stand besides me, I don't know they feel that that they are behind me! I- I just want the best for all of us!

Sometimes in the future at the wayne manor

Bruce : Rafi, is there anything you want to do on the weekend?

Rafi : yeah, I'm going to continue the ten wish

Bruce : is that a show you watch?

Tim : what it is about? I don't think I ever heard of that.

Rafi : of course you don't, because ten wish is not a show. It's my doll's lore on the 34th universe

Bruce : sorry?

Tim : well, that's interesting

Rafi : it is, currently my main character. River, is undergoing a survival competition to secure a position on the Catalyst. But because she is well known on her talent of fighting and intelligence she need to use other way to compete, and that's is by registering herself as a professional mourner

Bruce : what?

Rafi : you know, It is a tradition in South East Asia that a loud funeral will assist the dead as they travel to the afterlife, so professional mourners are hired to cry and weep loudly throughout the service. And she register herself as that. I mean, most of her loved one are dead, so she's pretty good at it. Crying and weeping that is.

Bruce : I don't think that's a good way to deal with having your loved one died.

Rafi : I don't want to hear that from someone going feral when his son died.

Bruce :

Tim :

Tim : yeah, I won't lie. It is pretty bad bruce

Rafi : anyway, it has been going pretty well on river part. On the other hand, things are going pretty badly on Khalila part. Jupiter and Neptunus heve yet to come back after the moon revolution.

Tim : wait- wait- you mean evolution?

Rafi : no, revolution.

Tim : okay- I think we skip a big part here.

Rafi : yeah, obviously. This is part 57, you skip 56 part, you're missing on a lot.

Tim : can't we, start from part one?

Rafi : god no, it's a lot. If we put it into book it can lead from 7 to 9 book! If you want to know about what you're missing at you can ask Jason, he listen from the start since we are at LoA. If you don't feel like asking then just skip it, you will understand later anyway.

Jason *who's putting a criminal body to a trash can : hatchuu-

Roy : bless you man

Jason : is someone talking about me? God I hope it's not Bruce.

[otiksimr]

Thoughts on the totodile line? Or Snivy (they're my 2 fav starters personally) what's your favorite starter?

Totodile is cute.

Croconaw.

Feraligatr is cute.

Snivy line is cute too, the middle evolution is pretty uhhhh, but that's just most pokemon middle evolution. And in terms of favorite starer line it's Poppilos :). I really like Primarina shame the shiny is lack luster, but once again that applies to most pokemon.

[whimsicaltwine]

Gems science skin gives splatoon vibes to me for some reason. You can do something with this you’re the splatoon mutual I believe in you

I did not think about this but you are INCREDIBLY CORRECT. she's an octoling scientist as we've established, but maybe she's specifically a biologist. she got her start in the biology of the inhabitants of the splatoon world and was one of the early academics who noticed that inkling and octoling evolution happened on a really a weird timeline - she just couldn't figure out what caused it until alterna was discovered! she's currently in the middle of publishing a paper about that in a prestigious octoling journal, but in the process, has become fascinated by human biology and culture.

fwhip's ambivalent about this because to him, it's sort of like "ok they've been gone forever though who cares," but he can tell gem finds this stuff interesting, so he lets her ramble about bipedalism in creatures with internal skeletons or whatever. sausage is into it but all the science stuff sorta goes over his head - he keeps trying to get gem to assemble a collection of human music. gem thinks that'd be a fun project, but is trivial compared to what she's working on now.

uhhhh also something something the applications of the alterna dream crystal things in medicine. I can't be bothered to develop this thought that much but know that gem keeps emailing medical researchers en masse trying to get them to pick it up because guyyyysssss think of the possibilities in prosthetics and what if we could regrow organs wouldn't that be cool