#alien species

[chanimate-art-blog]

Because my other spec evo post got attention, here are some old designs I plan to rework. I’m also writing an Explorer’s Guide for my alien planet, so that will be posted…. Eventually

(Also, I’m pretty sure there’s some incorrect math on one of them 😅)

[ghostopossumlives]

Progenitor-Hound

The Hound taxon descends from the 30mya Progenitor, diverging 10mya as the P. Hound. It is likely that the P. Hound was spread as a pest or livestock of a sapient species.

Common Traits:

• Large, curved tusks

• Coat of Pycnofibers

• Bones that are uniquely strong despite being uniquely lightweight

• Very dense brains in very small brain cases

Neemon: This Progenitor-Hound is deeply adapted for the desert. They have a long, lithe body covered in long, straight, off-white hair that reflects solar heat away from their body. They are without a doubt the most technologically advanced species in the southeast of the Nebula.

Kot: Kots are small, light creatures with long hoofed feet, large hands, large eyes, and prehensile tails. They seem to have evolved to alternate between an arboreal and cursorial lifestyle, as they have significant adaptations for both. They have long, oversized hands that help them climb trees effortlessly, as well as strong hollow bones that allow them to survive drops of any distance without injury (their terminal velocity in a breathable atmosphere is insufficient to seriously damage their skeleton, so long as they aren't carrying anything heavy and don't land on something sharp). The weighting of their body also causes their feet to point down whenever they are falling, causing them to always land feet-first, even if they are unconscious. They have hoofed feet with soft pads, and reciprocating tendons in their legs that allow them to hop along the ground for miles without using much energy. When startled, Kots may leap up to twenty feet straight up in the air. Their tail is very special, being prehensile with a flat grippy end, but also having a tendon running its length that can contract and lock in to convert it into a straight, rigid counterweight for hopping and maneuvering while running. Kots have enormous eyes for their size, giving them excellent vision.

Despite their lips covering them up most of the time, they still have the long, sharp teeth of the rest of their taxon. When angry, they can bare these fangs by flipping their lips up, though this obstructs their vision. The fangs are a weapon of last resort, and lighter squabbles are handled by batting with their big hands. The most visible sex marker in the species is the large pads on the fingertips of the males. These pads reduce the damage delt by their slaps to their opponents and their own bones when sparring for dominance. Engaging in this type of sparring in the modern day is seen by most members of the species as embarrassingly uncivilized, but still very sexy.

The Kots were separated and subjected to a cultural genocide roughly 2000 years ago by the Hool, one of the last victims before the Hool civilization collapsed. All of their records, technology, cultural institutions, and most of their population was destroyed, but following the fall of the Hool, four isolated populations have rebuilt and diverged into the Wukot, Cittitat, Monkot, and Tombokot. Climatic and atmospheric differences caused shifts in their pycnofibers and noses, but they are still one species. They exhibit different degrees of technological advancement, but none have yet achieved spaceflight. The Wukot are unique among the four because they managed to keep some of their ancient technology, however, their planet was severely nuked by the Hool and still hasn't fully recovered. The Wukot planet is probably the home planet of the species, but it is difficult to confirm as they are uncommunicative with foreigners and attempt to shoot down anything that enters their atmosphere.

Cynog: Cynogs are fairly large Hounds that evolved for snowy wetlands. They have thin, boney extremities rooted to bulging muscles packed tightly near their torso. This body plan enables them to cut through snow, brush, and shallow water without losing speed, akin to a moose. They have a very long neck within a mane of loose skin, thick fur, and prickly quills. Their mouth is made up of a shovel of curved tusks on the bottom, with a saw of short bladed teeth on top. This mouth is similar to the unrelated Bildir species, and fills that same niche eating mats of algae and weeds. Unlike the Bildir, Cynogs also feed on a variety of large cephalopod-like creatures native to their home planet, which their strange mouth and long neck help them catch and gobble up.

Cynogs are found throughout the West side of the Nebula, often encountered as merchants, rogue traders, mercenaries, or pirates, but usually only the males. They live in packs separated by sex, with the males going out to fight, work, and steal, while the females control their (often hidden) cities and forts, owning and managing property and raising kits. Males don't own property, such as buildings or spaceships. A Cynog spaceship usually won't have any females aboard, but it will be owned by one or a group of them, with their husband/s and his underlings operating it. If a male holds a ship or other property and can't prove his allegiance to a female, he is considered a "bitchless bastard". Any other male can seize things held by a bitchless bastard and deliver them to a female as a wedding proposal, though it's fair game to snatch until a female accepts it. A married male can then on claim objects on behalf of his wife, such as tools for his activities, but he is expected to display them to her at some point to make sure she approves. If a bitchless bastard is caught stealing owned objects, he gets sentenced to death. If a married male steals owned objects, then he gets divorced and becomes a bitchless bastard and whoever brings his stuff back to his ex-wife gets to marry her. If a married male steals owned objects and his wife knew about or supported the act, then him and his wife are both considered outlaws, and all of his wife's property becomes unclaimed. Cynogs are obviously constrained by other species with the barrel of a gun, but by Cynog rules, anything that isn't owned by a female Cynog is 100% up for grabs by whoever can snatch it.

Barbar: Barbars are an outlier in the Hound taxon in being far from lightweight. Their bones are enormous and bound in muscle like steel cords. Their skin can be an inch or two thick, filled with a web of hardened gristle, and topped with tough bristles with rhomboid crosssections and serrated edges. They have two tusks coiled around their locked-front eyes, above a wide mouth full of sharp triangle teeth. Barbars have comparable puzzle-solving skills to something like a gorilla, but with an attitude like a redwing blackbird. They are evolved for digging and use their strength and bristles to shuffle and shake their way through soil and gravel. They sometimes make permanent tunnels, but more often just beat their way through the loose earth. There is little scarier than feeling a growing shake in the ground, followed by a Barbar exploding out of a hillside set to maul you for walking on top of its territory. They usually won't chase an intruder outside of their territory, so the best bet is to run away. They are strong enough to fight almost anything, but the males or broody females will fight anything invading their space, including things like moving vehicles or landed space shuttles, and can cause serious damage to things you might not even imagine damageable.

Noteworthy nonsapient members:

Fillet Cat: The Fillet Cat is a violent parasitic predator akin to a terrestrial cookie-cutter shark. It is small, quiet, and alarmingly fast, with tiny hooves, a thicket of dorsal and lateral quills, and self-sharpening razor tusks. It sneaks up on larger creatures and uses its tusks to shave ribbons of skin and flesh from their bellies and legs to carry away and eat. Most species native to the planet it calls home have evolved thick hides, rapidly clotting blood, and fully internal genitalia as a result of this creature. They and their planet are avoided by most species, but they are occasionally kept as pets by Oooo and loosed on guests who overstay their welcome.

Brush Beast: The Brush Beast is a close relative of the Barbar, though significantly less intelligent. It is unique in being a terrestrial filter-feeder. The Brush Beast wanders through dense scrub and tall grass to accumulate seeds and parasites in its body hair. It then sifts its hair with its mouth of needle-like teeth to eat what it has collected.

[gigiumbuzeiro]

embora ainda 

indefinível

algumas linhas me desenham

peculiar

como o relevo

das minhas coxas 

precisamente variável

como íris azul-coloridas

na forma orgânica 

que hoje me acolhe

desafia, me difunde

e me condiciona

a ser

de incerta maneira

de incerto tamanho

e por que não

natureza_

[numberonehumanlover]

Is there anything that humans consume that's toxic to your species? And vice versa (what's not toxic to you, but toxic to us?)

well as I said before our species does photosynthesis so just about everything you consume would be bad for us, although we cannot get skin cancer from our suns so there’s thst?

there’s not much oxygen here so I’m not entirely sure how we’d survive if only provided with it but I know my neighbor is allergic to it

[numberonehumanlover]

How did you learn our language?

lots and lots and lots and lots of study and decoding with space junk I’d found. How’s my fluency?

[numberonehumanlover]

(In response to one of your posts)

Gordon Ramsey is a famous human chef that is know for being harsh towards adult humans that participate in his cooking shows (a lot of the humans that get yelled at deserve it tbh) - he has also done a cooking show with little / younger humans, but he was much much kinder to them and was more likely to help them if they were struggling with part of their dish making process.

An idiot sandwich is an insult Gordon used on an adult human during one of his shows - he placed two pieces of bread either side of the person's face - basically its an idiot sandwich because its a sandwich with an idiot in it (the adult human)

cooking shows? You watch people create meals for fun? Sounds boring but I suppose humans find a strange joy in many things!

As for the insult- how creative! I’m still struggling with the concept of “jokes” and “humor” but this seems amusing. Maybe I’ll have to research mr. Ramsey

[numberonehumanlover]

Are humans relatively well known in the solar system or is it just a niche community that you're in that knows about humans?

Follow up for this: How did you find out about humans?

it’s pretty niche, honestly many don’t believe in you all or don’t care to know, I personally find you all very interesting is all. Any other alien on my planet could tell you I never shut up about humankind.

good question! A while ago there was a crash of one of your human space items, I was curious about it so brought it for some reverse engineering and exploring to find more. It’s been amazing solving the puzzle of the strange creatures cluttering up space and getting to see you as less of an abstract concept and a real species.

[starsong13]

[The Void - 07/11/2023]

Zeus as Hatsune Miku! :3 (this was inevitable)