Activity for Aquar1animal‭

Type	On...	Excerpt	Status	Date
Question	—	Plausibility Check: Armored Birds How plausible, or implausible, would it be for a lineage of birds' feathers to evolve into sharp, hardened plate-like scale armor (and/or blades), comparable to that of pangolins? And if it is plausible, which ecological niches would these birds be best suited to fill? (more)	—	over 5 years ago
Question	—	Would an earlier HIV pandemic be a realistic, plausible historical apocalypse scenario? The most recent common ancestor of the HIV-1 M group, responsible for the HIV pandemic, dates back to the Belgian Congo city of Léopoldville (modern Kinshasa), circa 1910. And the genetic history of the virus indicates that there have been several separate "jumps" of the virus from the simian versio... (more)	—	almost 6 years ago
Question	—	Creature Design Challenge- Extreme Gravity Flying Vertebrate If you were tasking with creating a genetically engineered flying creature, capable of full powered flight on a (newly terraformed) planet with a surface gravity almost twice that of Earth's, do you feel that you'd be able to pull it off? You're limited to the genetics of extant Terran lifeforms, and... (more)	—	almost 6 years ago
Question	—	How plausible would a fully aquatic bat be? So, it turns out that bats are actually pretty good swimmers; several species of bats have been reported swimming, and they're far more capable and agile in the water than they are on land: https://youtu.be/62T-HtjWHE If you think about it, some of the bats' unique evolutionary features could be ex... (more)	—	almost 6 years ago
Question	—	Is there any limit to how large terrestrial gastropods can be? I know that practially all other terrestrial invertebrates are inherently limited in size, primarily by their exoskeletons, and by their respiratory systems, which impose upper thresholds on their maximum sizes depending upon oxygen levels. But is the same true of air-breathing land molluscs? In the ... (more)	—	almost 6 years ago