I’m trying to come up with some idea’s for creatures who belong to a fantasy world, and I think the best way to go about that and have it make sense in my own head, is to try to find inspiration in all the overlooked creatures we already have, (or have had) in ‘this world’. They can look weird or have unique abilities or both. They can be small or big. They can live in the water, on the earth, or in the air, (or multiple). Most importantly, it can be from any time period including now.
Even Idea’s of what things on places similar to Earth or a Post-Apoplectic Earth would be fine. Projections and predictions on how animals, (humans included), may evolve are also of interest.
Just to try to help my mind break free of a lifetime of influence in the suburbs.
I thought it might be fun for Dopers to list their favorites.
You know how you always hear how cockroaches would be the last to survive a nuclear war (yeah, I know Mythbusters disproved it)? How 'bout a race of beings that evolved from cockroaches? Like those creepy Orkin commercials.
Anything with an exoskeleton/invertebrate is going to look hella (yes, I said ‘hella’) weird. All kinds of bugs and sealife. I have no specifics, but that’s where I would draw from if I were going with an alien or far-future-evolved species.
I’m a particular fan of horseshoe crabs. They’re not actually crabs – in fact, they’re not even crustaceans at all; they form a separate class within the phylum Arthropoda. They evolved around the time of the trilobites, and haven’t changed much since then, so they are living examples of the kind of creature you would see if you could go back to the early Paleozoic.
For really weird (but long extinct) creatures, see the book “Wonderful Life” by Stephen Jay Gould.
They also have milky blue blood that is tremendously valuable to biotechnologists and medical researchers, a cool little plus.
Though it is strictly human in origin and use, the stone dwellings in Cappadocia have a very alien-like, even insectile, quality that would serve as the homes of any intelligent land creatures in any fantasy world. Google pics.
Key points:
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[li]It’s claw can snap with the acceleration of a .22 caliber bullet.[/li][li]The cavitation bubble produced by this claw strike exhibits sonoluminescence. The bubble actually creates it’s own light and temperatures in the range of several thousand kelvin, like on the surface of the sun!![/li][li]Some of the most complex eyes on the planet. They can see in the infrared and ultraviolet spectrum.[/li]And some species are just darn right purty.
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I saw some of those in the aquarium this summer. There were a lot of freaky fish there, but- :eek::eek::eek:! (And they gave my little brother nightmares).
Aye Aye
"The Aye-aye is an endangered species partly because they often were viewed as a harbinger of evil in some Madagascar villages and killed when encountered. " I’m not surprised, but I kind of want one, now.
Vampire Squid
I already knew this one because some people think this is the basis for the sea monster in Deep Rising. I think stauroteuthis syrtensis (an octopus) is even more dangerous looking, though.
Ajolote and the probably not even distantly related Ajolote Lizard.
The second one looks like a snake with legs. I don’t mind snakes, but having legs creeps me out.
Tarsier
Apparently a distant cousin to us, being a primate. They look stoned to me in virtually every picture, do they to you? Drug monkeys.
