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Q&A

Posts tagged merfolk

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Q&A Why would merfolk have hair?

A classic image of mermaids are their long flowing hair that swishes in the water. But in the scientifically realistic sense this makes none. The hair would be nothing more than a nuisance to the m...

21 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Uncle Tres‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by PinoBatch‭

Question reality-check evolution creature-design merfolk hair
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Q&A How to explain a mermaid's tail morphing into legs and vice versa?

I know a tadpole can do this transformation, given enough time, so what about mermaids?

4 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by user6760‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by PinoBatch‭

Question underwater merfolk fantasy-races
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Q&A How should I create my Merfolks to make them landbased?

I want a mermaid protagonist. If I am to make this story realistic, how should the Merfolk's body structures be made to make them adaptable for both water (swimming) and land (walking, running)? Is...

3 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by Pobrecita‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by PinoBatch‭

Question biology underwater merfolk
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Q&A A drinks party underwater?

Landia, a land based civilisation, has recently established diplomatic relations with Aquatica, a civilisation of fish people. The two peoples exchange gifts to each other - including from Landia, ...

9 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Fhnuzoag‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Fhnuzoag‭

Question water technology underwater merfolk
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Q&A How would an aquatic, air-breathing species organise its spaceship interior?

It's easy to imagine how would a water-breathing aquatic race outfit its spaceship - take a normal spaceship, insulate it, fill it with oxygenated water, possibly add some enhanced turbines to pump...

6 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by VienLa‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by VienLa‭

Question space spaceships water underwater merfolk ships
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Q&A Merfolk lung system similar to dolphins

Merfolk are one of the major species in my book. However, unlike in most depictions, they're fully mammalian and lack gills. Because of this, they need to breathe air, but I still wanted them to be...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by Richard Lindahl‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Richard Lindahl‭

Question biology races merfolk fantasy-races
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Q&A How might a highly intelligent aquatic species (mermaids) communicate underwater?

I'm trying to create basically realistic mermaids, and working on developing body language and vocalizations. I have most of the vocalizations I can think of (suggestions are still appreciated), bu...

11 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Guest‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Guest‭

Question water races communication underwater merfolk fantasy-races
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Q&A How to Breathe Both on Land and Under the SEA

The popular image of a mermaid is a half-fish, half-human creature breathing fine above and below the surface. The only real-life analogy to this are the amphibians - frogs, toads and salamanders. ...

7 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by JohnWDailey‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by JohnWDailey‭

Question biology merfolk
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Q&A Are pharyngeal and cutaneous breathing possible for an aquatic mammal?

I'm working on a setting with merfolk that I'd prefer to be fully mammalian. However, they have underwater cities and I find that hard to believe for a species that needs to surface every few hour...

3 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Cowrie‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Cowrie‭

Question biology reality-check creature-design merfolk mammals
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Q&A What effect would living underwater have on a mermaid's skin?

Mermaids are commonly depicted as mammalian, human-like creatures from the waist up and scaly fish-like creatures from the waist down. What properties (color, texture, etc) would their mammal skin...

1 answer  ·  posted 6y ago by JacobPariseau‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by JacobPariseau‭

Question biology races merfolk sea fantasy-races sea-creatures
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Q&A Membrane impermeable to $N_2$ but permeable to $CO_2$ and $O_2$?

I'm looking for a way to bypass the bidirectional diffusive gas exchange that happens in human alveoli, to allow aquanauts to breathe a standard Nitrogen-Oxygen air mix at very high pressures (up t...

4 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Algebraist‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Algebraist‭

Question biology merfolk chemistry biochemistry
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Q&A What materials would I use to build an underwater city?

I'm currently trying to set up an underwater race in my world"”merpeople if you will"”and I'm trying to figure out how their city would look. I'm basing their religion and lifestyle on native civil...

4 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Chloé B‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Chloé B‭

Question water underwater merfolk materials architecture
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Q&A What would happen to a human dragged quickly from the surface to the mesopelagic zone?

My mermaids have returned, and now they're dragging semi-conscious people about 700-ish meters underwater. Is it realistic for the person to still be alive at this point? (Y'know, for about ten sec...

4 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by Guest‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Guest‭

Question biology water underwater merfolk survival
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Q&A How can merfolks stream video in a way much similar to our WiFi but underwater?

Right now merfolks are totally envious of us watching a live stream video of cat(fight) via WiFi or satellite internet, ok ok I get it's not the speed but its latency... Urrrr. Nevermind that I sin...

6 answers  ·  posted 6y ago by user6760‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by user6760‭

Question water technology underwater merfolk internet
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Q&A How do mermaids' ears work?

Whales and dolphins surely do not have ears similar to ours and yet they can pick up ultrasound underwater without fear of water pressure damaging the eardrum. Any idea how the mermaids with ears l...

2 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by user6760‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by user6760‭

Question biology water races underwater merfolk fantasy-races xenobiology
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Q&A Could an intelligent race of seals craft tools effectively?

A while ago, I asked a bunch of questions about my alternate Earth timeline, which contains plausible fantasy creatures. One of the concepts I've devised more recently is a solution for mermaids (M...

4 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by SealBoi‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by SealBoi‭

Question evolution races fauna creature-design merfolk fantasy-races
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Q&A What would a Mermaid's taste buds be like?

Assuming Homo Erectus deviated at some point in history, to become Homo Aquarus, would their taste buds have developed different due to the nature of the foodstuff available to them? Of course, th...

3 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by Recelica‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Recelica‭

Question biology races merfolk fantasy-races
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Q&A Would an average seawater mermaid be any larger than its freshwater counterparts?

Let's use the sea turtle and the terrapin as an example, need I say more? I used terrapin because like the mermaid which is half fish and half girl so a terrapin would serve as an excellent example...

4 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by user6760‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by user6760‭

Question water races underwater merfolk fantasy-races
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Q&A Does mermaid evolution come with buoyancy control?

I must admit this legendary or mythical creature is really fascinating and I am talking about the half fish half woman. I know most fish have the ability to control buoyancy as they can easily mov...

1 answer  ·  posted 9y ago by user6760‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by user6760‭

Question water races underwater merfolk fantasy-races
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Q&A Would mermaids be able to sleep?

If a mermaid was a fully mammalian creature that split on the evolutionary chain about the same time as humans did, would it be likely that mermaids could sleep? Would they rest one half of their b...

3 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by jeln‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by jeln‭

Question biology reality-check merfolk
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Q&A Do mermaids lay eggs underwater or give birth to live young?

Let's pretend these magnificent and beautiful creatures are able to reproduce asexually so we can forget about their mating habits or their partners. I have yet to witness any hard shell eggs laid...

7 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by user6760‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by user6760‭

Question water creature-design underwater merfolk
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Q&A Could Air-Breathing Mermaids Colonize Atlantis?

I rediscovered this article recently and loved all the creative answers on how a mermaid might build underwater. This, for me, brought to mind Atlantis, the kingdom that sank into the sea. I've...

2 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Lot-Of-Malarkey‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Lot-Of-Malarkey‭

Question reality-check water underwater merfolk architecture
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Q&A How could mermaids talk with gills?

Recently I was pondering mermaids and was wondering how their respiratory systems work. Most importantly, how could their vocal chords continue to function? Secondly, how would they draw the water ...

3 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Emily Campbell‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Emily Campbell‭

Question biology merfolk xenobiology
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Q&A Anatomically reasonable respiratory system for human-derived merfolk

This question considers the respiratory apparatus of an aquatic (or amphibious) species descended from engineered humans. The history of the species provides a relevant constraint. While the scien...

8 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Lok‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Lok‭

Question biology genetic-engineering merfolk engineering
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Q&A Would merfolk's spaceship need artificial gravity?

Imagine a spaceship constructed for merfolk and it is completely filled with oxygenated water instead of air. Since they can swim around effortlessly in the water, do they even need artificial gr...

4 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by user6760‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by user6760‭

Question space biology spaceships merfolk ships
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Q&A Where Would a Mermaid's Blowhole Go?

Whenever people discuss mammalian-type merfolk, I usually see them be modeled after cetaceans like dolphins and whales. This is perfectly serviceable, but there is one piece of anatomy that I canno...

5 answers  ·  posted 7y ago by Lot-Of-Malarkey‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Lot-Of-Malarkey‭

Question biology reality-check races merfolk fantasy-races
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Q&A How to keep my spaceship properly pressurized for merfolk?

take me out to the black, tell 'em I ain't comin' back DaaaahWhoosh - 2min ago Merfolk live in the deep, plenty deep exactly, around 800m below sea-level. At these depths we talk about litt...

3 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by dot_Sp0T‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by dot_Sp0T‭

Question space spaceships merfolk ships engineering
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Q&A Why might it be desirable to engineer aquatic humans?

Consider a space opera sort of universe in which there exist communities of water-dwelling humanoids. These ocean people are derived from rootstock humans, descendants of genetically engineered hum...

19 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by Lok‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by Lok‭

Question space colonization genetic-engineering merfolk space-colonization engineering
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Q&A What would merfolk economies look like?

This is a world with underwater merfolks and other humanoids. They have opposable thumbs, so they can use tools humans can use. Lets assume there's different subspecies and races of these merfolks,...

5 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by pimmen‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by pimmen‭

Question water underwater economy merfolk
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Q&A Evolution of vipers (merfolk)

Appearance The ''vipers'' are semi aquatic humanoids species with webbed fingers on both hands and feet, they also have 2 fins on each leg and their legs are covered in scales from the feet up to ...

3 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by Kairos‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by Kairos‭

Question evolution creature-design alternate-worlds merfolk
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Q&A Can underwater Atlanteans make explosives without coming onto dry land?

Is it possible for under water Atlanteans to make explosives? These Atlanteans have no magic but do have gills. They look like normal people other than the gills and webbed hands and feet. They...

2 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by Foxy‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by Foxy‭

Question water underwater merfolk explosions
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Q&A Mermaid architecture

In most representations of mermaid cities, they either live in implausible magical palaces, or in some more or less elaborate cave systems. Assuming the only difference with our world is the prese...

6 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by clem steredenn‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by clem steredenn‭

Question water underwater merfolk architecture
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Q&A genetically engineered humans breathe underwater at extreme depths

Assume humans have the technology and motivation to genetically engineer humans capable of breathing underwater and on land. Also assume for this example mechanical technology is somewhat constrain...

4 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by Typhado‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by Typhado‭

Question biology genetic-engineering merfolk engineering
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Q&A Is it more likely that merfolk would evolve with horizontal or vertical tails?

Another mermaid questions I'm afraid! Fish have tail fins which are vertical, whales have fins which are horizontal. My race of merfolk are: Very active (more likely to be warm blooded) Have gil...

10 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by Liath‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by Liath‭

Question evolution fauna creature-design merfolk
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Q&A Trade between humans and underwater fish people

In my high fantasy medieval world, the ocean is populated by underwater fish people and land dominated by your good old human. Different type of fish people (shark, whale, turtle, shellfish, etc.) ...

3 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by Juliette Evans‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by Juliette Evans‭

Question water underwater economy merfolk ships
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Q&A How would merfolk store and preserve their food?

I've been reading this question about agriculture for merfolk and more specifically the accepted answer. They mention the problem of food preservation only minutely. Now I'd like to pour that thoug...

4 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by D-zap‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by D-zap‭

Question reality-check water underwater food merfolk
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Q&A Mermaid Buoyancy: Oily Livers, Swim Bladders and Lungs

There was a good question and answer here: Does mermaid evolution come with buoyancy control? But I would like to expand the question. I got off talking with a friend, it got me thinking about mer...

3 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by J. Doe‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by J. Doe‭

Question biology creature-design merfolk
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Q&A How do merfolk develop agriculture

Let's say that a race of aquatic merfolk have managed to achieve sapience, they are basic hunter gatherers, living in relatively shallow waters of up to 100 meters deep. As I have begun designing t...

4 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by Uncle Tres‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by Uncle Tres‭

Question reality-check culture flora merfolk agriculture
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Q&A How long would it take for humans to develop "tails" for use in water by evolution?

Ignoring the tails humans already have. Let's say it's the year 2016. Merpeople exist. They live in the ocean or rivers, breathe air, and have to surface occasionally. They also evolved from earli...

2 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by One Normal Night‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by One Normal Night‭

Question evolution merfolk
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Q&A The Mer--Let's Get Real, Shall We?

The traditional description of the mermaid is half-girl and half-fish. That, both biologically and dramatically, is just ridiculous. If the mermaid were half-fish, then why does she move her tail...

2 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by JohnWDailey‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by JohnWDailey‭

Question biology mythical-creatures merfolk
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Q&A Could amphibious creatures ever evolve hand-like parts?

Could there ever be an incentive for a fish or other aquatic being to use simple tools, like early humans did? Would it be possible for any structure of a current water-dwelling being (for exampl...

6 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Aaron Franke‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Aaron Franke‭

Question evolution water underwater merfolk tools
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Q&A Mermaid means of transportation

Assuming we're talking about a world similar to ours with the difference of the existence of mermaids, that are fishes with an upper half visibly similar to a human's, live in the sea, can survive ...

2 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Lwoorl‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Lwoorl‭

Question water technology underwater merfolk transportation modern-age transport
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Q&A How would a merfolks spaceship take off?

If on a water covered planet, an aquatic species such as the merfolk evolved sapience and now wishes to go into space, how would their spaceship take into account the lack of land? How would a spac...

6 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Uncle Tres‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Uncle Tres‭

Question space reality-check spaceships merfolk ships
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Q&A What are some major architectural designs in spaceships for aquatic beings

Like this question I'm wondering about design considerations for an intelligent aquatic species that wants to travel into space. Would they have to try and create special body suits to keep moistur...

6 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by bowlturner‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by bowlturner‭

Question space spaceships aliens merfolk architecture ships
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Q&A Would Merfolk Evolution Trade Noses for Gills?

The primary purpose of the human nose is to detect scents. This is an obvious statement, as is that the primary function of the mouth is to eat. The secondary purpose of both of these features is t...

1 answer  ·  posted 9y ago by Uncle Tres‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Uncle Tres‭

Question reality-check evolution creature-design merfolk
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Q&A Urban Aquatic Sanitation

In a fantasy world (a D&D setting, basically), how would an open underwater town populated by an assortment of mer-people deal with waste disposal? A few details: the town in question is a part...

4 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by Magician‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Magician‭

Question cities water underwater merfolk
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Q&A How do mermaids perform major surgical procedure underwater?

Suppose the mermaids share similar intelligent and technology with us, they also practise performing surgical operation like we do in hospital. Negate the issue of negligent during the operation th...

3 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by user6760‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by user6760‭

Question water underwater merfolk medicine
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Q&A Why would merfolk evolve arms?

Merfolk can be easily described as humans with the lower half of fish. On this site we have discussed; How their tails work, How they sleep, And how they hear. But there is one question that has no...

3 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Uncle Tres‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Uncle Tres‭

Question biology reality-check evolution aliens merfolk xenobiology