Michael BuschScience fiction author: "I have created this extremely alien alien."
Biologists: "We have an insect that does that."
Emily_S@michael_w_busch movie writers need to visit an aquarium before creating aliens.
My post was occasioned by learning about exploding ants: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colobopsis_explodens
I already knew about the bombardier beetle.
Mx Verdahmmm... ok what about 3 sexes, and also how would that work? I'm thinking 2 donors that do the jiggery-poking, then a carrier, then they all raise it / them?
also what about odd number of limbs?
give birth from shoulder / back?
poop chute not near cooch tube?
If you should want complicated systems of reproduction; there are fungi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mating_type
Seiðr@MxVerda @michael_w_busch @emily_s This is the best comment I have ever read provoked by any biology fact, and me being a biologist, I love it. :_)
Katze von Schrott@michael_w_busch @MxVerda @emily_s what the hell did i just read (something very interesting that i am way not smart enough for, that's what)
Alex, the Hearth Fire
Luna Lactea@MxVerda @michael_w_busch @emily_s In Known Space, Pierson's Puppeteers are kind of like this, & in universe their reproductive cycle is compared to parasitoid wasps by humans. They have two males & one female, but the female is actually a different species that they parasitize. I don't know if any books mentioned how they shit, but their body is also kind of their head so I guess it would be like shitting from your shoulder. They have three legs & two prehensile "necks" that end in mouths that are also hands & each have one eye. Other than that they're pretty similar to horses, but have human level or above intelligence, are extremely paranoid of possible danger to the point of deconstructing their sun so it doesn't inflate when it begins fusing helium in a few trillion years, & are extremely manipulative of other civilizations.
@jackemled I just swapped over from a political discussion on bluesky and this was the first post in my notifs.
At first I was wondering whether the context was the explosion of calling everything narcissist from a few years ago (which may or may not be increased by societal expectation to hoard wealth),
name-calling,
wordplay on NSFW or WASPs, and then somehow
about the Mulefa of His Dark Materials.
Ooh! Someone tag the strange biology people from earlier, cuz I wanna know if we have any wheeled / transportation-using creatures!
I know riding is a thing (lol), but examples of those are cool too. Like I saw a cute vid of anteaters -- maybe a family? -- this morning, but also cats on tortoises, dogs on horses, etc.
There are also insects that have biological gears; although not full geared wheels: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Issus_(planthopper)
@jackemled .... ok I feel them on the forward-planning and excessive harm mitigation strategies, possibly indicative of societal anxiety.
But I hate the (non-consenting??) parasitism. @michael_w_busch @emily_s
Mer-fOKxTOwl@MxVerda @michael_w_busch @emily_s
@Tamari has some nice weired 3 sexes things going on in her creatures. (ok, that sounds wrong — trust me it isn't!)
@MxVerda @michael_w_busch @emily_s and gigantic sky whales who propulse with jet like breathing systems...
and those things that first grow in the landscape like plant/insect-cocoon dicks and then at some point just plop detach from the ground and start walking.
and those things that first grow in the landscape like plant/insect-cocoon dicks and then at some point just plop detach from the ground and start walking.
copacetic@michael_w_busch @emily_s In comes another animal ... "hold my beer".
It has a beak like a parrot and is poisonous. Its tongue works like a cheese grater.
It's blood is blue (iron, not copper-based) and it has three hearts to pump it.
Its arms have autonomous brains, can feel, taste, and smell. The central brain is donut-shaped.
Its skin can change color.
It has eight arms and mostly lives under water.
Some octopuses also have detachable limbs that move around on their own.