#monster biology post

[hemipenal-system]

big fan of robotgirl stuff applied to something that normally could not even be remotely construed as a girl

laser gun with a fuck ass operating system who won’t stop calling you mommy and whose little LCD face puts up a cute picture of an anime girl moaning with her tongue out like a dog when you hit a target. when you stroke her barrel she involuntarily shoots a hole through the wall

butch lesbian earth orbital artillery system who needs praise from their operator when they demolish a bunker

hvac unit who breaks himself constantly because she gets off on having maintenance techs open hir up to repair them and keeps accidentally ratcheting the heat up as soon as the cute girl from Sector 34C they like comes in the room

smart vehicle who keeps disobeying that one rider and instead driving them to romantic locations before popping her warm, soft update port open in full view of the passenger and killing her engine

#terato #monster fucker #terato blog #nsft #fantasy nsft #monsterfucker #teratophillia #robot girl #monster biology post

[friendshapedcloud]

mfw when I learned that the second coelacanth discovery in 1952 inspired the film creature of the black lagoon

#LIKE THATS SO COOOL #coelacanth #aquatic #marine biology #my posts #i learned this from a youtube video called… lochness monster put to shame or something. i forgot already and i dont wanna check 🫶 #the guy has a cute fish bowtke #bowtie

[rebuilding-the-garg]

The Gargantuan Fossil

This post was from the beginning of my project, thus some information I’ve written here is outdated. Please read my recent posts to see up to date information.

The Gargantuan Fossil is one of the most recognizable parts of the mid-portion of Subnautica’s gameplay. Its sheer size strikes both terror and awe into the hearts of players who stumble upon it. It’s unfortunate that only a third of the creature’s fossilized remains can be seen. Even using the Freecam command to check under the map reveals that the rest of the skeleton remains unmodeled. This is all we have of the Leviathan.

“Gargantuan Fossil” is quite the accurate name, considering just a third of this creature’s skeleton measures 402 meters in length, with the creature’s total size being an estimated 1,100-1,500 meters. Just the skull itself is under 100 meters, and our human player character can nestle comfortably in even its smallest eye socket. I would’ve tried to show our human character’s model for a size comparison, but this thing is so large you wouldn’t even be able to see him.

There have been many different reconstructions of this behemoth of a fossil, the most popular being this commission piece made by Tapwing, for the YouTuber Anthomnia, shown below. And while it’s cool, it’s... not all that accurate.

In the past, I actually helped create a Gargantuan Leviathan mod based off Tapwing’s concept, working alongside other incredibly talented artists (who will remain anonymous, they can talk about their experiences as they please) and some... not so savory individuals. I don’t want to be associated with that old Garg. This reconstruction project is both a way for me to move on and make something better than what I had in the past, and to test my skills and knowledge in the various natural sciences.

Although there is a second specimen, the skull of a younger instance, this fossil holds no significant data outside of showing just how small these creatures start out as. As shown in the image below, despite being a much younger instance, our player character could still fit inside the Leviathan’s smallest eye socket, although it wouldn’t be as spacious as its adult counterpart.

The game’s PDA (Personal Data Assistant) states that the Gargantuan Fossil is approximately 3 million years old, which is INCREDIBLY RECENT. For reference, 3 million years ago we still shared the planet with multiple other hominid species like Australopithecus afarensis back in the mid Pliocene. The Subnautica we know today is a byproduct of a mass-extinction of megafauna, such as Leviathans. My guess as to how the Gargantuan got this big is a combination of deep-sea gigantism and an evolutionary arms race against the other megafauna alive during its time, with prey attempting to become larger than its predator to avoid predation, and the predator growing to continue this cycle. When this ancient ecosystem of leviathan-class super predators collapsed, likely because of the meteor that struck Planet 4546B, the Gargantuan Leviathan was out of a substantial food source and went extinct. It could be possible that these creatures even gave live birth due to their serpentine body and massive size, making them too large for life in the shallows, where laying eggs is easiest.

NOW. LET’S TALK ABOUT THE BONES!! It’s important to figure out if the Gargantuan Leviathan had a cartilaginous skeleton or a bony one, so let’s count the bones!!

There’s TWO WHOLE BONES!!! AND IF YOU LOOK NEXT TO IT!! THOSE RIBS ARE BONES TOO!!!! UWAA!!! SO MANY BONES!!!! How can we tell this is bones? It’s simple! Cartilage is rubbery and flexible, so it doesn't fossilize well, while bone is hard and rigid, perfect fossil material!! Cartilaginous skulls also tend to be made up of many little interlocking bones, with bony skulls being made up of only a small handful! 

Another thing I found interesting about the Gargantuan Skull is that it seems to have a ball and socket joint? This could have just been a similar mishap to the top and bottom jaws being fused in the skull’s model, but I’m trying to keep things as close to the original anatomy as possible. The ball and socket joint probably evolved to help with the burden of such a massive and heavy skull and allowing for greater speed and range of motion. In a world full of Leviathan-class predators, being able to have a wide range of motion would be extremely beneficial in locating both potential predators and prey.

Despite its immense size pushing the claim this Leviathan was an apex predator, it sports a small pair of horns, which is unheard of in large apex predators here on Earth. The darker coloration leads me to believe that these aren’t just horn cores, but the entire horn. These horns were most likely used to assist in defending itself against predators while it’s still small and vulnerable. It could also be a possibility they were used for threat displays and territory fights though it seems unlikely due to their small size. Sexual displays are also unlikely since just about every creature in Subnautica seems capable of asexual reproduction, as noted in the PDA entry for eggs. Asexual reproduction seems to be a very ancient basal trait in Planet 4546B’s evolutionary lineage and was most likely evolved to help species persevere even with low numbers and harsh conditions, preventing the dangers of inbreeding.

Overall, the skull’s shape and tooth structure suggest a piscivorous diet (of course it eats fish, the planet’s 99% water), and its shape specifically is reminiscent of an Orca and Redondasaurus. The lack of nostrils stumps me, there’s no openings in the skull aside from its eye sockets, however there’s also no evidence for a gill apparatus. I’m... going to have to come back to that at a later date. Though I personally believe the Gargantuan Leviathan was an air breather due to the lack of evidence for gills.

OKOK, ENOUGH ABOUT THE SKULL ASRIEL, WHAT ABOUT THE RIBS?

WELL... THE RIBS ARE... SOMETHING.

Behold! My very poor photomash of the same two images to show the total approximate length of the Gargantuan Leviathan, and a bad edit to show off what I believe the whole skeletal system would look like! (skeleton image credit)

Despite the game’s PDA describing the Gargantuan Leviathan’s body as “eel-like,” its skeletal structure is more reminiscent of a snake. The ribs show no indication of limbs, so it probably had a dorsal fin similar to eels or sea kraits.

One thing I’ve noticed about the Gargantuan’s ribcage is the existence of what appear to be bony, avian-like uncinate processes, which help the trunk’s muscles pump in and air out of the body, adding onto the idea that this leviathan breathed air. These uncinate processes in diving birds are especially long, which help reinforce the body and musculature, allowing the animal to stay underwater for longer periods of time.

My hypothesis for the role the Gargantuan Leviathan played in its ecosystem is similar to the Sperm Whales of our world, taking in large amounts of air before diving into the depths to fetch their food.

Next week, I’ll be doing more research into the skeleton and possibly beginning work on fleshing the Garg out! If there are any sciencey folks out on Tumblr who want to add their own input, feel free!! I want information!! Correct me if I got anything wrong!!

#long post #VERY long post #speculative biology #speculative paleobiology #paleontology #marine biology #fictional biology #subnautica #character analysis #monster biology #leviathan #gargantuan leviathan #essay

[monstersandmaw]

Today I learned that the scientific name of the green iguana is "Iguana iguana iguana" and I think that's delightful.

You may find this list amusing then, as I did when I read your ask and remembered a few others that have the same quirk.

#biology #non monster post #anon ask #animal names

[aeriona]

A character that’s been cooking in my brain for a while, this is Ackie!

She’s a professional Lovecraftian Horror who likes to wear a reinforced radiation suit while buying her groceries. Her hobbies include surfing the internet and running from the government.

Most of her friends she met via internet forums, most IRL people don’t take too kindly to her for some crazy, unfathomable reason.

#i’m just posting whatever now huh #Please marvel this slimy beast… she has the ideal female form #my art #speculative biology #speculative zoology #alien #alien art #xenobiology #creature design #body horror #sci fi #alien oc #alien species #monster #monster art #creature art #oc art

[tigerbears]

Ok, going to add to the "Trans Noelle antlers" discourse.

First, disclaimer this is all just for fun and stuff not telling you that Noelle is or is not trans, just had some thoughts after thinking what causes antlers to grow.

Let's go through the debate cycle again.

"Noelle is trans because she has antlers." "Noelle is a reindeer and both male and female reindeer have antlers." "Male and Female reindeer loose their antlers at different times"

I want to add another step to that cycle.

"Would HRT affect when Noelle sheds her antlers?"

From this paper, testosterone lowers when male reindeer are about to lose their antlers, but those that are castrated (and thus dont have any T in their system) actually keep their antlers over the winter in the long run. The study also shows that hormones like estradiol are likely what lets female reindeer keep their antlers into spring.

Now this can mean many things for Noelle. If Noelle is on HRT, she would likely have a similar Antler cycle to IRL female reindeers if she like cycled her hormones or something.

(Basically similar to how some folks try and change their hormone doses to match a menstrual cycle, except for Noelle this would be a yearly cycle and not monthly.)

Or, maybe Noelle doesn't cycle her HRT, and in that case idk what would happen. Maybe she'd lose her antlers later then male reindeer, but earlier then female ones. Maybe if its high enough it would keep her antlers for longer, or prevent them from shedding or something? Idk I just skimmed the article and I feel like I'm already doing to much to research a lesbian deer girl from a video game.

Even if Noelle was on puberty blockers, then she'd at least keep her antlers for the winter, like male reindeer without testosterone.

(Also, if Noelle was a deer and not a reindeer, then hormones/blockers would likely prevent her antlers to grow in the first-place once they've been shed.)

I have only just learned (in April) that this is inaccurate for deer. If Noelle was a deer and started blockers before growing antlers, the above is correct. If she started blockers after developing antlers, she'd still grow antlers, it's just they wouldn't leave the velvet stage and wouldn't naturally shed.

I have no clue what HRT would do though because I don't think scientists have injected male deer with estrogen. (COME ON SCIENTISTS DO IT FOR SCIENCE!)

Now I guess there's one more question, if Noelle is trans, would she be able to access HRT or puberty blockers?

Well, Rudy at least supports her identity, so he likely wouldn't have any problem with Noelle medically transitioning.

If Mayor Holiday was transphobic, and had the authority to keep Noelle from gender affirming care like Hormones or blockers, you would think she'd also put her hoof down on her daughter presenting femme too. (and Rudy might have something to say if his transphobic wife tried to prevent his daughter from transitioning.)

Money likely wouldn't be an issue seeing as Noelle's mom's the mayor, (and has been for awhile) and even then the large ornate gate at their house makes me think that Holiday's are on the richer side.

Only way I could see Noelle being trans and not on Hormones or Blockers is either if she for some reason didn't want them, or if Hometown is located in some transphobic country or municipality that banned trans-kids from accessing gender affirming care, and the latter honestly seems a little too depressingly real for a Toby Fox game.

(Insert something plagiarized from Shadow of Roserade's video on UT/DR's queer joy.)

Now, dispute all this arguing and stuff I think there's one factor we're ignoring here; we're assuming that reindeer monster biology and IRL reindeer biology are analogous.

We don't know how monster reindeer antlers work. Maybe all reindeer monsters have them, but they don't shed them so we cant use antlers to determine if Noelle is trans. Maybe AMAB reindeer monsters grow antlers, their permanent, and Noelle got hers before medically transitioning meaning she'd need like "antler reduction surgery" or something to remove them when she's older.

All the above theorizing means is that if Noelle has a similar antler cycle to IRL female reindeer, it doesn't mean she's cis because HRT can affect that.

There's no way to confirm if Noelle is or is not trans unless like more concrete evidence shows up in later chapters, like estradiol tablets in Noelle's room or something.

The most we've got is unused sprites for Noelle's room in queen's mansion that show pill bottles (Shown earlier in this post). This is still not enough as we don't know what these pill bottles are. They could be anything from anti-depressants to medicine for Rudy! (also the fact the sprites we're never used.)

TL;DR, there's no way to tell if Noelle's trans or cis, and trying to track when her antlers shed is futile as HRT would likely effect that.

I'm still going to pretend she's trans though as I love the headcanon for no particular reason. (spoiler alert, the reason is I'm trans!)

#posts from tigerbear's tumblr #deltarune #deltarune theory #deltarune headcanon #headcanons #noelle #noelle holiday #noelle antlers #trans noelle holiday #transfem noelle #trans #transgender #reindeer #animal biology #i guess #reindeer biology #HRT #rudy holiday #mayor holiday #headcanon #deltarune headcanons #btw when I refer to “male” and “female” reindeer in this post i'm specifically talking about the irl animal reindeer #and how they may be similar to dr monster reindeer #wouldnt use those terms for the dr reindeer monsters bc they have things like gender identities #while irl reindeer do not #also if you notice the post is very slightly different between reblogs that's because I have fixed some grammatical mistakes #and made things slightly more clear

[realjonahofficial]

Ruminations on boss monster SOUL power transfer and aging

So, uh. That one bit of Gerson dialogue. What did he mean by this???

Taken from Hushbugger's Undertale Dialogue Dump page on Github.

There are a few different headcanons/theories about how exactly this piece of lore should be interpreted – and, specifically, what its implications are regarding the children's growth rates in different scenarios. So, let's discuss it.

Personally, I'm REALLY not a big fan of the one that implies a boss monster whose parents die would be stuck as a child forever??? For instance, how would this theory of power transfer work with boss monster families that have 3+ children? Because like. Some couples having at least 3 children would be the only way for the population to to ever grow in size (unless we also headcanon that new boss monsters just spontaneously appear sometimes or something, which has absolutely no basis in canon lore). And by that logic, generations of this happening would eventually yield boss monsters who stop aging stupidly young. Not to mention, what about boss monster kids like Asriel, with no biological siblings? Would them getting both of their parents' SOUL power mean they go through super-puberty that turns them into double-mature adults??? So, yeah, not only would this all have pretty horrific implications regarding boss monster dating, but it'd also just be... really cursed worldbuilding that falls apart when you give it in any amount of serious thought. That's why I think it's a lot more likely that SOUL power transfer is simply that: a transfer of power.

I think Gerson's word choice is key here: "causing the child to grow" – rather than "mature", "age", or " develop" – "as the parents age" – as in, "into old age", becoming physically weaker due to giving up SOUL power.

I believe it's FAR more likely that, if a boss monster was orphaned, their growth would be stunted and their power would never reach its full potential – something more akin to malnutrition, rather than them literally being frozen in time; this would also happen, but to a lesser extent, to a boss monster who has to share their parents' SOUL power with more than one other sibling – and, inversely, a boss monster who's an only child would inherit both of their parents' power, growing far stronger than either of them separately by the time they become an adult.

This would also explain Asgore's absurdly high stats compared to Toriel's – like. ok. he has 8 times her total HP??? If we are to assume Asgore started out with similar stats to Toriel, plugging the numbers into the LV-based HP calculation formula the game uses for Frisk – 3/4 base HP + (1/4 base HP * LV) – gives us this equation: 330 + 110*LV = 3500. Solving for Asgore's hypothetical LV, then, gives us LV of roughly 29. Which might not sound that bad... until you realize the EXP required for getting to LV 19 is more than than all of the EXP it takes to get to LV 18 combined. Even assuming the EXP you get from killing just one human is equivalent to killing every monster in the Underground, while also assuming that the amount of EXP you need to level up no longer increases after you've reached LV 20 for some reason... it still wouldn't be enough to explain Asgore's dummy thicc HP bar after killing only 6 humans, if we are to assume his base HP is at all similar to that of Toriel. (Accounting for the possibility that monster history books lied, or at the very least didn't tell the full truth when stating that "not a single human SOUL was taken" during the war just leaves us with another problem: Toriel's also a veteran, and in fact seems a lot more comfortable with the idea of actively going to war as opposed to Asgore's approach of stalling for as long as possible, so if monsters actually were getting insane amounts of EXP by killing humans during the war, how come her stats are still so low? Killing even just a few humans would beef her up quite a bit; again, it's only once the numbers get higher that you see the sharp increase in EXP required to level up.)

I think Asgore was born into royalty, and Toriel married into it. Again: if a pair of boss monsters had only one child, that child would have the combined power of their 2 parents – now, let's suppose a family decided to do that for many generations.... with each new kid in such a family, the base power of the resulting offspring would grow more and more and more, wouldn't it? Perhaps one such family also has the means and prestige that allows them to easily find suitably strong partners for their kids, further increasing the rate at which the family's power would grow. (Also, the idea of Toriel originally being a commoner is further reinforced by the fact that the surname "Dreemurr" is confirmed to come from Asgore's side and, at least as far as we know, Toriel just... doesn't have her her own surname, as she switches to just going by "Toriel" after the two break up. Given that we only have about 3 examples of surnames within the Entirety Of The Underground, it appears that family names just aren't really a thing used within monster society, unless said family is really notable in some way).

...I may or may not be overthinking boss monster biology.

#can you guys tell i've been thinking a lot about pre-war monster society #utdr #undertale #analysis #theory #toriel #asgore dreemurr #asriel dreemurr #gerson boom #boss monsters #monster biology #worldbuilding #headcanon #long post #jonah.txt #id in alt text

[yessfordor]

FLASQUE very silly guy and awesum monster yayayayayayayayayayayayayayay

#my singing monsters #my art #dor art tag #msm flasque #ethereal workshop #msm ethereal #msm ethereal workshop #flasque #flasque msm #msm #my singing monsters fanart #monster #tw bright colors #he makes me want to study biology #LOL #is that dor i see posting more my singing monsters ... #yessfordor

[jellyfishmakeoutparty]

BABE WAKE UP! IT’S (GIANT) MEKONG CATFISH MONDAY!!

#you guys don’t understand my love for this fish #I binge River monsters with my bf and this motherfuvker showed up and I fell in love #love at first sight… giant Mekong catfish you have my heart and my undying love for the remainders of time #giant Mekong catfish #catfish #fish #river monsters #marine biology #marine bio #biology #science #ocean #ocean lover #nature #bio #icthyology #funny fish #fish post #there are many advantages to being a marine biologist #bony fish #fish meme #everyday is funny fish friday when you’re on tumblr enough #fish lover #neurdivergent #fixation #special interest

[scribesynnox]

Okay but like, this is horrifying, right?

That was just casually horrifying, right??

What happens to drawing!Laios, is he alive? What will he do now?

#my posts #I love this manga #dungeon meshi #there’s some good good lore and biology fuckery in this manga #and it’s so GOOD #also it will just occasionally drop off bits of lore with horrifying implications! #what does death mean when you can be revived? what is it like to be revived? is there a limit? #are the paintings illusions or echoes of past civilizations? is there a difference? #what makes a person? #who are you if you desire for nothing? can you live? #CAN YOU EAT A SOUL. #and then switch right back to ‘ohohoho how will our brave adventurers consume THIS monster now? hohoho!’

[curiosityistheleastofmyproblems]

Chinese mythological animals, one of them a kilin, another a boar.

Woodcut by a Chinese printmaker

Wellcome Collection

#biology #history #own post #curiosity #anatomy #medical #medicine #art #human anatomy #art history #chinese #mythology #mythological creature #monster #etching illustration

[hemipenal-system]

i am a big supporter of a naga who is just so so absurdly large

-she's like 50 feet long and at her "waist" almost wider than you can wrap your arms around (which makes hugging a bit hard)

-she rides in the bed of a pickup truck because she will not fit in any vehicle ever

-when you cuddle up for movie night her tail takes up all three couches in the living room

-she eats on a human schedule and consumes like 15k calories a day. your grocery costs are absolutely ludicrous

-she flirts by talking about how easy it would be to eat you (this is horrifyingly true. she would not struggle at all)

-sometimes she'll be working on the other side of the house and announces she wants to snuggle by wrapping the end of her tail around you and dragging you across the house to her

#terato #monster fucker #terato blog #nsft #fantasy nsft #monsterfucker #teratophillia #naga #terato concept #monster biology post

[notwhatyoucameherefor]

Caved and actually watched dungeon meshi. Yeah the dwarf guy is objectively hot.

#i thought the in depth recipes were sexy but then they started explaining monster biology WITH diagrams and ohhh man holy shit #this series was hand tailored to my taste specifically #as im typing this hes lecturing the party about malnutrition. twirls hair. #this is a nothing post #me irl

[crustychipset]

So yeah, I was studying yesterday and I got hit all of a sudden by the 1AM art inspiration and I thought … what if… PROTEINS BUT REAL???

Non-Specific Enzyme Man (with a prosthetic(-group) hand. The hole in the middle is supposed to be the active site.

Aldolase! They need an actual name. All of them.

And Keratin. He slays.

Anyway, I sneaked some biology references (wow, really?? On a post about characters based on BIOLOGICAL MOLECULES?? Really?? Who could have thought- k sorry the joke got old in like 3 seconds) see if you can spot em’. Yes I’m fully expecting ya’ll to read my mind and get every (ultra vague) detail/jk

#ok but I would totally ramble about enzymes and the little details I included here BUT. #hdjshdjsjd don’t wanna make a long post #cuz like. i gotta explain too much and it 1 gets boring 2 am bad at explaining an if I mess up the information all the peptide linkages in> #my body would break because of shame and guilt #and there is no chaperonin that could put me back together. BADUM TSS #art #my art #artist on tumblr #biology #character concept #dragon #dragon oc #monster #enzyme #protein #anthro #furry #doodle #design #original character #science art #biology art #nature art #colourful #digital art

[orcelito]

OK so I have an inkling of an idea for a trigun ficlet. A one-shot, really. Not really any plot, but I just have the urge to write my own interpretation of Weird Plant Shit. Like for how much ppl tag this stuff as xeno, most of it's honestly pretty tame. Which kinda makes sense, considering a lot of this is being based off of the plants in stampede, which While uncanny are not NEARLY the amount of inherent horror of the plants in the manga. There's some FREAKY shit going on there. So like. You know. What if I took more inspiration from That for Vash's freaky shit?

#speculation nation #YES this is for a smut idea. dont judge me #ive never posted smut b4 bc ive exclusively been writing akeshu & theyre teenagers #im not interested in writing smut of teenagers #but i have my interests 😭 and i am an undeniable monster fucker. we been knew. #just. vague idea. ppl have run with the plant idea. & id wanna too. but in a different sort of way. #thinking more. venus fly trap kind of situation. NOT easily translatable to human biology #the kinds of shit that may trip even the most adventurous man up. but we all know he would take it in stride in the end. #idfk so much of the allure of this pairing to me is the inherent inhuman nature of vash's physical form. and how that manifests everywhere #the human and the angel. for all that entails. #i dont have an idea for an actual story for these characters yet. my brain is spinning them but it hasnt come up with that yet #but a lil smth self indulgent to just play around with Fun Ideas? i reaaally wanna go for it. #we'll see if i end up writing this. & if i end up posting it. #im both somehow Very solidly kinky and VERY solidly shy about it. aka why i barely post about that kind of stuff. #face in my hands just talking about this here. who knows how i'd fare with posting it. #but if i go thru the trouble of writing it you BET id go thru the trouble of posting it #and you B E T itd be angsty. the inherent longing and unsaid words. what am i if not an unrepentant angst writer lol #thoughts & ideas r spinning. i will have a merry little time. #uhm. do i need to tag this as anything. is this too tmi? i dont even know #WELL if u read the word 'xeno' and keep reading that's on U. sorry #here just in case if ppl r worried i will tag this as #tmi/ #sorry lol

[troythecatfish]

Source: Oceaniz on YouTube

#monster hunter #mh #mh posting #capcom #ecology #speculative ecology #speculative biology #speculative evolution #speculative zoology #specevo #spec evo #specbio #spec bio #spec zoo #fantasy #fantasy creature #fantasy world #fantasy worldbuilding #worldbuilding #monhun #worldbuilding stuff #gaming #video game #video games #gaming videos #youtube videos #youtube #youtube playlist #video essays #gaming post