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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 8y ago by Uncle Tres‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by PinoBatch‭

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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 8y ago by user6760‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by PinoBatch‭

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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 9y ago by Pobrecita‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by PinoBatch‭

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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 4y ago by Fhnuzoag‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Fhnuzoag‭

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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 6y ago by VienLa‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by VienLa‭

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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 4y ago by Richard Lindahl‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Richard Lindahl‭

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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 5y ago by Guest‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Guest‭

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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 8y ago by JohnWDailey‭  ·  last activity 4y 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 6y ago by Cowrie‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by Cowrie‭

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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 4y ago by JacobPariseau‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by JacobPariseau‭

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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 5y ago by Algebraist‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Algebraist‭

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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 5y ago by Chloé B‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Chloé B‭

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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 5y ago by Guest‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Guest‭

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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 5y ago by user6760‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by user6760‭

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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 8y ago by user6760‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by user6760‭

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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 5y ago by SealBoi‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by SealBoi‭

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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 7y ago by Recelica‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Recelica‭

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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 8y ago by user6760‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by user6760‭

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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 8y ago by user6760‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by user6760‭

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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 9y ago by jeln‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by jeln‭

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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 8y ago by user6760‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by user6760‭

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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 6y ago by Lot-Of-Malarkey‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by Lot-Of-Malarkey‭

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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 7y ago by Emily Campbell‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Emily Campbell‭

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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 6y ago by Lok‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Lok‭

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

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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 6y ago by Lot-Of-Malarkey‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Lot-Of-Malarkey‭

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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 6y ago by dot_Sp0T‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by dot_Sp0T‭

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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 6y ago by Lok‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Lok‭

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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 6y ago by pimmen‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by pimmen‭

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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 6y ago by Kairos‭  ·  last activity 6y ago by Kairos‭

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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 7y ago by Foxy‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Foxy‭

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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 8y ago by clem steredenn‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by clem steredenn‭

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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 7y ago by Typhado‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Typhado‭

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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 9y ago by Liath‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Liath‭

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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 7y ago by Juliette Evans‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Juliette Evans‭

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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 7y ago by D-zap‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by D-zap‭

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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 7y ago by J. Doe‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by J. Doe‭

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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 7y ago by Uncle Tres‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Uncle Tres‭

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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 7y ago by One Normal Night‭  ·  last activity 7y 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 7y ago by JohnWDailey‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by JohnWDailey‭

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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 7y ago by Aaron Franke‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Aaron Franke‭

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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 7y ago by Lwoorl‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Lwoorl‭

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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 7y ago by Uncle Tres‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Uncle Tres‭

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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 8y ago by bowlturner‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by bowlturner‭

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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 7y ago by Uncle Tres‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Uncle Tres‭

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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 9y ago by Magician‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Magician‭

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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 8y ago by user6760‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by user6760‭

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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 8y ago by Uncle Tres‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by Uncle Tres‭