More from the Oitjuan creator:
"The Irish are the only race of people on Earth for which psychoanalysis is of
no use."
- S. Freud
> From: "FUCHS_001"
> This made for an unattractive appearance, and a total lack of agility,
> that particular arrangement is directly related to the limitations of
> muscle-paralysis? Or a highly conductive substance to short-circuit the
> biological functions.
> breathe through their skin, and above a certain size air would not be
> been circumvented. One possible solution presented itself as I was
> expense of building a wing with all of these holes in it (and even
> exoskeleton can't have lungs. In this biosphere they don't, but that
> armadillos.
It
> was pretty startling to see anything survive such a radical change.
They
> must "pop" like the boiler room in "The Shining"!
G'day
> Actually, remaining close to the ground should not be
It will avoid many of this issues of being heavily armoured (either with endo
or exo skeleton), lifting your centre of gravity up can be a
killer....
though their equivalent of chiropractors may make a killing out of it;)
> BTW: what would you use for poison on a metal-eating,
a) Oxygen
b) Radiation?? Thinking more of the effect of EM-like pulse on the rest
of their working (but bit out of my depth there, so radiation itself may not
be exactly what I'm after)
> As far as I can tell, there is no reason why a
Then it becomes a problem of growing tubules to the right spots to get the
"respiratory" material around the body. Endoskeletal armour may be the most
viable alternative in the long run.
> However, if the Oijuan do have lungs, and a cardiovascular
Not if their lungs are actually fluid filled. Which is an option in a heavy
atmosphere enviro anyway to increase efficiency and give extra strength. The
main reason many deep sea ones do is due to gas bladders etc.
Cheers
Beth.Fulton@csiro.au schrieb:
> >BTW: what would you use for poison on a metal-eating,
> radiation itself may not be exactly what I'm after)
Most terran poisons do not use such brute-force approaches as
corrosion/acids or radiation. They work by disrupting critical
components of the target organism, e.g.by clotting blood, disrupting
neurotransmitters, paralyzing muscles etc. You can PSB just about anything as
a poison for your Oitjuan.
> >As far as I can tell, there is no reason why a
There are several ways in which an exoskeletal animal could have lungs.
If you want a totally solid shell, you could have a two-chambered lung
divided by a movable wall. Move the wall, and one lung exhales, while the
other inhales and vice versa.
Or you could have a shell of plates with flexibly linked edges. Think of a
square box (without lid or bottom). By moving the edges, you can fold it down
to completely flat or extend it to its full volume. Works
for most polygonal cross-sections, - ecept the Oitjuans' triangular one
:-(.
The other question is how to get "air" to the various parts of the body.
> Then it becomes a problem of growing tubules to the right
One possibility. The other one is to transpport it as part of the general
circulatory system (i.e.in the "Blood")
> Endoskeletal armour may be the most viable alternative in the long
Probably true.
> >However, if the Oijuan do have lungs, and a
Certainly depends on the athmospheric pressure you postulate. The 2-4
athmospheres mentioned earlier are not that outlandish, actually - like
diving 10-30 m. Most Terran organisms could adapt quite happily to air
at that pressure, I suspect.
Greetings
This thread reminds me of the recent column in "The Straight Dope" titled:
_Is It True Turtles Breathe Through Their Butts?_
It's online at: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/011116.html