Fwurg

[Mercury]

"Join us and meet the strangest creatures in the universe!

Life can be found on countless worlds and it has taken countless forms, but some forms are stranger than others. This show highlights the strange and bizarre forms of life that have evolved all over the galaxy. Join us as we examine the weird adaptations that life has made to meet the challenges of the environment, strange defences and attacks used in the eternal battle between predator and prey and the bizarre methods that lifeforms have developed to reproduce.

For if there is one thing that life in the universe can teach us, it is that reality is stranger than anything we can imagine!"

((OOC: This is your chance to show off the strange and bizarre plants and animals of your world. You can make up anything, but please try to be somewhat conservative, as the existence of creatures can have consequences. No beasts the size of a small moon, teleporting unicorns or beings able to create stars please! Also, keep in mind this show is about animals - intelligent races would be offended to be featured on this show, so the network has decided not to cover anything with human-level intelligence. Smart creatures are fine though!

This thread will be closed July 13th, so be sure to enter before then! Naturally there is xp for all participants.))

[Mercury]

The Sarlacc of Tattooine

The sarlacc is a semi-sentient, plant-like, omnivorous creature found on several planets across the galaxy, including Tattooine. Not much is known about this creature, but it is unique in terms of galactic species. It lives to be tens of thousands of years old, and reproduced by spores.

Lifespan

The lifespan of a sarlacc has been estimated to measure 20,000 to 50,000 years. Younger members of the species can move under the sands rapidly and catch their prey much faster, while older ones remain immobile, waiting for prey to stumble into their clutches. Females generally grow much larger than males, to the point that breeding requires that the male attach itself to the female, being entirely dependent on their much larger companion. Adults generally have little to fear, as only the greater krayt dragon of Tatooine, and the gouka dragon of Aargonar are known to prey upon them.

Xenobiologists are unsure as to whether the sarlacc is animal or plant, as it possessed the characteristics of both kingdoms, but most scientists prefer the theory that the sarlacc is a giant plant organism.

Biology

The sarlacc is a large, omnivorous arthropod with long tentacles that rim its mouth. They reproduce by spores, known as "sarlacci," that travel through space until they find another suitable planet to inhabit. After implanting itself into the ground, the sarlacci grow downward like a plant, forming a pit. The mouth and tentacles are the most visible parts of the sarlacc.

The rest of the sarlacc's massive anatomical features are buried up to one hundred meters deep in the ground. This guarantees protection of the sarlacc's vital organs which make it invulnerable to most forms of serious damage. The teeth of the sarlacc surround its beak-like tongue and plant-like tentacles in tiers. Its teeth are also slightly slanted inward ensuring its prey would remain captured. While its lightning-fast tentacles are used to snatch up its prey, they are not its primary means of capturing a meal.

The sarlacc discharges odors and scents that lure herbivores and scavengers close enough for it to use its tentacles. Sarlaccs have a very odd body shape. The sarlacc's mouth is the only part of the body visible, usually. Most of its body is covered in rigid plates. It has eight appendages beneath the ground used for stability or for reburial if the sarlacc became partially exposed. The body of the sarlacc ends in three roots used for moisture absorption.

Despite their size, the sarlacc do not need to eat very much at a time. They are almost entirely immobile, which means they have to be able to survive for prolonged periods without food. As a result, they also digest their food very slowly. It is even said that sarlaccs could be telepathic and could gain consciousness from the creatures they eat by assimilating their thoughts and memories during digestion, though this was never scientifically confirmed.

Anatomy

The sarlacc's body does not have a skeletal structure or a solid framework, but it does possess a strong muscular body with large roots and a series of nerve endings on its skin.

The sarlacc also has roots on the outside of its body to leech the nutrients from the ground and to sense the vibrations from creatures on the desert sands. The sarlacc lacks eyes and ears, instead relying on the sensors in its roots to "see" its prey. The sarlacc's mouth contains large mucus-coated teeth and strong tentacles for catching prey. The tentacles grab prey and pull them into its maw, whereas the inward-pointed teeth function to keep victims in the mouth.

The sarlacc also has a large beak that emerged from the throat. The "beak", in reality, is the sarlacc's tongue, and the tongue within the tongue was actually yet another stubby tentacle that aids in swallowing prey. The sarlacc's throat has many veins and vessels which act as sensors to determine the size, weight, and strength of the victim, allowing the sarlacc to decide which stomach to put its prey into; stronger prey are put into the secondary stomachs, while smaller prey go into the main stomach.

The sarlacc's throat also possesses many microscopic openings that disperse mucus to keep the throat healthy—the sand, gravel, or whatever the case was (as environment varies from one sarlacc to the other) that dropped into the mouth could damage the lining of the throat. The more the sarlacc ate, the more the stomachs runs out of room, and, in rare cases, it uses a small number of its victims to grow the stomachs by enmeshing those few victims into the stomachs. The sarlacc also uses small air holes around its mouth for breathing.

The sarlacc's roots function as tentacles during adolescence, and then grow into full immovable stalks during adulthood. They absorb tiny fungal life forms, bugs, and microscopic cells and bacteria into the body from the ground for nutrients. The sarlacc's body can also absorb liquid molecules through small openings in the roots, to keep its water level up.

The tentacles on the mouth are actually thin strong tongues that could feel and taste the ground and prey. The beaks of other sarlaccs have other tongues within their beak that emerge to grab prey and directly pull them into its beak. The tentacles are known to stretch as far as four meters to grab prey.

Although sarlaccs are usually immense in size, some miniaturized versions of the species exist and are traded as pets. Sarlacc vocalizations are comparable to high-pitched screeches. However, they do occasionally emit a loud belching sound when consuming prey.

Digestive system

Only the sarlacc's gaping maw can be seen from the surface, with the vast majority of its huge body lying beneath the ground. It lays in wait for any living creature to stumble into its maw, and additionally, it pulls nearby victims in with one of its many tentacles. A sarlacc's mouth is surrounded by rows of retractable razor-sharp teeth, used to chew victims during adolescence, before the digestive system is fully formed. Adult sarlaccs develop a beaked, snake-like tongue at the center of the fearsome pit, which doubles as a mouth.

After being swallowed by the tongue, the victim makes its way into the sarlacc's stomach to be digested, purportedly being kept alive and slowly digested for a millennium (or so it is said). A strong network of vessels inside the stomach punctures the victim's skin and muscles and then embeds itself into victims before injecting neurotoxins into them, preventing the victims from escaping and ensuring that they remain immersed in the acidic fluids in the stomach, and attached to the walls of the stomach.

The vessels also provides victims with nutrients to keep them alive while they are digested in agony; sometimes when a victim is in the stomach for a long time period, the sarlacc actually embeds it in the lining of the stomach to make room for other victims it swallowed and to make the stomach stronger so that other victims cannot escape..

A number of smaller, secondary stomachs are used to store victims for later consumption at times when the sarlacc needs larger amounts of nutrients, such as when it needs to grow, breed, or strengthen its tentacles and beak for catching stronger, larger prey. The secondary stomachs also functions as a space to store victims when the main stomach runs out of room, although this is rare as the sarlaccs are an exceptionally feared creature in the Galaxy. The acidic fluids in the stomachs are composed of weak chemicals that take much longer to digest prey than acids in the stomach of other creatures. They specifically target skin and muscle tissue, because that is where the nutrients in the victims were. The secondary stomachs are also lined with more vessels and are smaller and more cramped to enclose the victims in, so that the sarlacc does not have to deal with the victim trying to escape its hold. The pain endured by its victims in this process is reputed to be unimaginable, though no scientist has tested this for themselves.

In addition to the acidic fluids that digests the outer portions of the victims, the sarlacc also processes its victims from within. The sarlacc's blood is highly caustic, and is employed in the digestion of prey. The tendrils and vessels pumps the sarlacc's acidic blood into its victims to digest the inside of their bodies, and to carry back nutrients from the victims. This process also provides the victims with minimal sustenance.

Mating and spawning

A Sand People legend told of how the sarlacc gives birth to itself in Tatooine's planetary core in the days before the twin suns split apart from a single star. According to this legend, it would continue to eat everything it came in contact with until eventually it was forced to consume itself. Though this is obviously not a true account of the sarlacc's origin, the Tuskens themselves refuse to accept any other explanation.

When a male sarlacc (who starts off much smaller than a female) makes contact with a female, the male attaches himself to her in a parasitic fashion. He gradually became larger as she became smaller. After several thousand years the female is digested into oblivion and he becomes the equivalent size of her, replacing the area where she once existed. The male then injects sperm into the spore production sac. Afterwards, the melded couple releases the fertilized spores, which can leave the atmosphere and travel long distances through the Galaxy to other planets. Because of this fantastic ability to propagate, the species' point of origin has never been accurately determined. Once the spore settle down, it attaches itself to an organism and sucks blood from it to feed itself. After detaching, it develops into a more mobile larva and is able to hunt and consume prey.

As it grows, the voracious larva will eventually challenge larger creatures. If the sarlacc larva is consumed by a bigger creature, the larva can kill it and eat it from the inside, assuming its consumer has swallowed it in more or less one piece. During this stage, it develops into a large worm-like creature with many tentacles and a beak-like maw. Eventually, the larva will dig itself into a pit, growing roots to anchor itself in the ground while it grows into a full sized sarlacc, becoming largely immobile and more plant-like. The roots also functions to absorb additional nutrients from the ground as a precaution against shortages of prey. A larger mouth forms around the beak, which becomes more like a tongue.

Having long admired the patience of the sarlacc, the Jedi Order has named a form of lightsaber combat, Shii-Cho, after the beast.

[Veolian Commonwealth]

The Makarangya of Mirda

The makarangya is an amphibious species (or genus depending on how one classifies them) of large carnivorous invertebrates that can be found in many diverse coastal regions of the oceans of Mirda. The makarangya are highly intelligent, much more so than any other invertebrates known on Mirda. Makarangya have been observed using small sticks as tools, and maze and problem-solving experiments have shown that makarangya are capable of storing both short and long-term memories. It is unclear how long-term memories affect their behaviour.

The species of makarangya can actually be classified as a genus as well. Over 450 species of makarangya are known, though most of these are capable of reproduction with each other, the resulting offspring will usually not be fertile. Due to the unique reproductive cycle of the makarangya, some of these normally infertile hybrids can become fertile by being carried to term by a female of other subspecies.

Makarangya can live up to 30 years and, depending on species and gender, reach maturity in four years.

Anatomy

Makarangya are characterized by their eight arms, normally bearing suction cups, and four eyes. All their limbs are muscular hydrostats, with several subspecies having two pairs of arms with split ends that can act as opposable limbs. Makarangya have almost entirely soft bodies with no internal skeleton. They have neither a protective outer shell, nor any vestige of an internal shell or bones. A makarangya has a hard beak, with its mouth at the centre point of the arms.

Makarangya have highly developed breathing organs consisting of a hybrid approach using both gills and alveolar lung structures. Though capable of breathing both air and water, most species of makarangya are best adapted for living in the water, with short trips on land. In fact, several species require up to two hours to acclimatize themselves to breathing air. Makarangya have three hearts. Two branchial hearts pump blood through each of the two gills, while the third is a systemic heart that pumps blood through the body.

Adult makarangya range in body size between 60 and 120 centimetres with proportional limbs ranging from 70 to 140 centimetres. Males are usually slightly larger.

Communication and Camouflage

Makarangya are capable of changing the colour of their skin. Certain specialized skin cells can change the apparent color, opacity, and reflectivity of the epidermis. These chromatophores contain yellow, orange, red, brown, or black pigments; most subspecies have four of these colours and lack the last one. Makarangya can control the areas that change colour to some extent, allowing them to take on different patterns.

Next to a use as camouflage, this color-changing ability can also be used to communicate with or warn other makarangya. a large number of species are also capable of imitating different textures through a mesh of small muscles underneath the skin. Certain species have been observed changing colours as a form of play, with several makarangya changing their colour to in rapid succession trying to match the colour of the others.

Modes of movement

Makarangya can move about in several ways. Underwater, they usually crawl and walk over the bottom with swimming for longer distances. On land, they are surprisingly agile and fast. Depending on the species, they are capable of crawling, walking and running. Most species are known to be able to climb, some even scaling steep cliffs of 50 meters high. Some species are capable of jumping, an ability mostly used while hunting.

While fast, the makarangya is not capable of walking or running long distances. Longer distances are always travelled in water. Most makarangya travel overland during low tides to move from tidal pool to tidal pool. Only a single species is known that actively traverses large land-masses; scientists are unclear on why they exhibit this behaviour.

Senses

Makarangya have excellent eyesight, being capable of not only seeing colour, but also the polarization of light. Most of the species are capable of hearing underwater, while a few species can also hear sounds through the air. The makarangya feature a unique set of organs that allow them to sense the orientation of its body relative to horizontal.

Makarangya have a keen sense of touch. The suction cups on the limbs contain chemoreceptors, allowing the species to taste what they are touching. Pressure sensors in their limbs allow them to very precisely feel movements in water currents or when holding something. Several of the more predatory species feature electroception in the front most pair of limbs, allowing them to sense impulses through the nervous system of their prey. In some cases, they have been seen tracking and destroying radio transmitters, leading scientists to believe that some of the more aquatic species are sensitive enough to sense radio waves.

Reproduction

The makarangya species features two sexes (male and female), yet its reproductive cycle frequently involves three individuals. Makarangya are quasi-viviparous. The reproductive organs of makarangya somewhat akin to those of mammals. Both sexes have genital slits on the underside of their bodies. The ability to stow their reproductive organs (especially in males) allows for maximum hydrodynamics. Females lack mammary glands, and have a retractable ovipositor used in the second stage of reproduction.

Makarangya copulation happens belly to belly; though many species engage in lengthy foreplay, the actual act is usually brief, but may be repeated several times within a short timespan. If conception occurs, the female will develop, over the course of about a month, a single soft egg that encases the offspring. After this period, the pregnant female will, forcefully if necessary, try to copulate with another female to place the egg within her partner's womb, where it will be carried to term. The offspring incorporates genetic material from the father and both the primary mother and its carrier mother. Gestation periods vary from species to species but usually falls within a 7 to 12 months duration.

Makarangya are known to display non-reproductive sexual behaviour. Various species of makarangya have been known to engage in sexual behaviour up to and including copulation with makarangya of other species. Sexual encounters may be violent, with both male and female makarangya showing aggressive behaviour towards both potential mates. Occasionally, makarangya behave sexually towards other animals, including bipedals.

[Mercury]

((OOC: This topic is now closed, and the Strangest Creatures in the Universe has come to an end. The Veolian Commonwealth has earned 1 , which will be added as soon as the story page has been made! Yay!

I'll try to make the next event less intimidating))

[Veolian Commonwealth]

((OOC: Finished story page. Reward code is already on the story page and only needs enabling by ST.))

[Mercury]

((OOC: Done and done))