[u][b]Species[/b][/u] [color=f26522]Mine:[/color] [hider=Acirians] [i]Name:[/i] Acirian [i]Kingdom:[/i] Animalia. [i]Base:[/i] Carbon. [i]Composition:[/i] multi-cellular. [i]Physiology:[/i] The simplest way to describe an Acirian is to akin it to a bipedal frog with a more angular version of an axolotls head and the regenerative powers of a flatworm on Gatorade. In order to most simply sum up their average personality one must only take the intelligence of someone with a 200-something IQ, pair it with the mentality of someone who entered and won the Darwin awards 5 years in a row and lastly throw in a twisted sense of humor and a proclivity towards insanity. But, I believe we already went over that last part. You may consider this the abstract. [hider=More] If we want to get into the specifics, Acirians are approximately 3-4 and 1/2 feet tall, green or violet skinned depending on their pigmentation or lack thereof, green being the pigmented version. A pigmented Acirians skin is actually a light yellow color and the intensity of the color will change based on diet. An Acirian who lives off standard space-fare from a wide variety of planets will typically be green while ones who eat a more restricted or electrolyte and mineral deficient diet will typically be a light blue or purple in color. If the Acirian has not regenerated recently the color intensifies in either pigmented or unpigmented types. It is possible for a green Acirian to turn Violet and vice versa. This is most easily observed after an Acirian regenerates 30% or more of its body mass as it takes awhile for them to regain proper electrolyte and mineral levels. An Acirian's 'brain' is not limited to its skull, it has small clusters of neurons and glial cells all throughout its body which serve as data caches for the central nervous system. This is an essential survival mechanism that allows Acirian's to retain back-ups of important information in case they lose their heads. Should this happen, the Acirian will remember all information it had deemed important, but will be unable to recall extraneous data resulting in memory gaps and subject-specific memory loss. The trick to Acirian regeneration is that there are specific gene sets that activate to regenerate specific organs and cell types. This, combined with the fact that they have undifferentiated stem cell clusters known as blastema stored in small grouping all throughout their bodies means that if a wrong gene set were to be activated artificially such as in laboratory tests, an Acirian could grow a kidney where they were supposed to be regenerating a hand. It is also possible for them to grow cell types and organs from other species that would normally not be compatible but that requires that all the genetic information that goes into making that specific organ be reproduced and held in the kamikaze protein transport unit that acts as part of the Acirian immune system specific to targeting foreign cells or cancer. All signaling information not presented in such a way is ignored. The only other species that has a immune system similar to an Acirians in that of Azulians who are in fact a splice between an Acirian and Human chromosome set. An Acirian's cardiovascular system runs their hemocyanin blood through a set of organs specific to their species called, shockingly, Liver-like Blood and Blastema Alteration System, or LBBAS, because Acirians inability to name things creatively has been around since their species started vivisecting themselves to determine why they didn't stay dead like other creatures. Anyway, the LBBAS, as the name suggests, is passably similar to a liver but that's as far as it goes. It functions as a blood filter yes, but it also generates blastema and can generate the full range of gene sets responsible for everything that makes up an Acirian, however it only activates if the Acirian goes into cardiac arrest in which case it functions as a reset button, taking inventory of the entire biological system through a system-wide reset-specific nervous system that, to put it simply, liquefies all damaged tissues by differentiating their cells using something similar to our neuropeptides which spread from the nearest severed nerve to the surrounding cells, telling them to revert to stem cell mode. Using the lymphatic system, the LBBAS signals the body to flush out everything after the severed nerve that isn't a stem cell. This allows Acirians to survive most poisons and toxins as the second they cause the subject to stop blood circulation, they get flushed out of the system with lymphatic fluid. However, in the case of venoms, since they tend to remain in the bloodstream, after a reset has occurred, if the problem is not resolved by the LBBAS-related nervous system, the blood is then filtered through the LBBAS and the immune system put into hyperdrive which results in any proteins still in circulation being metabolized or isolated prior to them being flushed out of the subject via the digestive system, or more correctly, the upchuck thereof. Neurotoxic venoms, poisons and toxins still affect Acirians similarly to other creatures with the addition of the effects of its interference with the LBBAS related nervous system which can result in misidentification of stem cells for foreign cells and vice versa. It can also cause the LBBAS to go into reset mode without the Acirian actually going into cardiac arrest or for it to fail to do so in the case of cardiac arrest. Common symptoms of neurotoxic poisoning in Acirians are seizures, heightened allergic reactions, liquefaction of unaffected organs or body parts, inhibited or altered regenerative abilities, neurological degeneration followed by an imperfect reset in the case of an altered LBBAS reset. With no LBBAS reset or response, symptoms and outcome will match exactly those of regular subjects although in some cases treatment will vary. As a result of the above, if an Acirian goes into cardiac arrest resuscitation of any kind is detrimental to recovery due to damage to ribs and the increase in blood circulation interfering with LBBAS related functions which, due to organ liquefaction, can result in internal bleeding, falsely triggered regenerative shut-down, volume loss and later growth abnormalities and cysts due to the circulation of region specific neuropeptides and stem cells to unaffected parts of the body. Depending on the nature of injury resulting in cardiovascular shut down, side affects can even extend to later infections or substance related tissue damage due to transfer to other parts of the body. The only case wherein resuscitation is beneficial is when the LBBAS fails to engage as a result of neurotoxins inhibiting its neurological signaling system. In this case it's best to administer anti-venom if available and resort to resuscitation only as a last resort. If that doesn't work, it may be necessary trigger regenerative function despite the fact that the system by which that normally occurs is out of commission. The easiest way to do this is to damage the LBBAS directly via a sharp pointed object like a knife, sword or spear. However this requires the knowledge of where the LBBAS is, and if one does not know, the certified medical procedure of chucking the subject off a cliff to reset everything in one go has been known to work. If no cliffs or other suitable objects are available, the 'stab/shoot till find' method will also work. As for Acirian personalities, they all typically have a built-in hatred for others of their species in a way that is similar to humans built in attraction for the opposite sex. This, unsurprisingly, is due to the fact that Acirians reproduce by effectively killing each other. So, it logically follows that Acirians more inclined to kill each other are more likely to create clones thus more likely to represent the majority of the Acirian population. it should be noted that Acirians with dietary deficiencies are less inclined to this behavior thus creating the assumption by some people that blue and purple Acirians are a less hostile subspecies. Due to the fact that Acirians are viscerally disgusted by each other and violently inclined in general, but also at the same time obsessed with all things logical, once they developed the technology to live entirely in space, the dispersed widely in an attempt to never see another one of their species ever ever again. This results in some people thinking that they are fictional, endangered or otherwise exceedingly rare as they've probably not seen more than two within their lifetime and certainly not more than one at the same time. However, while this assumption is wrong, Acirians are in decline due to the invention of space travel which aids both their dispersal and risk taking/accident prone tendencies. The subsequent invention of advanced incendiary devices which are the leading cause of permanent death among Acirians, simply does not jive at all well with their risk taking tendencies which tend to lead them into situations where encountering such devices is highly probable. [/hider] [i]Reproduction:[/i] Asexual. The average acirian divides multiple times a year, older acirians divide very very rarely. [i]Dimorphic?[/i] Nope. The closest thing to that is that acirians with a poor diet are blue, and acirians with a healthy diet are green. [i]Coded?[/i] Coded. [/hider] [hider=Azulians] [i]Name: [/i] Azulians [i]Kingdom: [/i] Animalia [i]Base:[/i] Carbon. [i]Composition: [/i] Multi-cellular. [i]Physiology: [/i] [hider=Pictures] Male [img]http://i1077.photobucket.com/albums/w469/Emma_Groom/Azulian%20skeleton%20-%20male_bak_zps44qrqmsb.png[/img] Female [img]http://i1077.photobucket.com/albums/w469/Emma_Groom/Azulian%20skeleton%20-%20female_bak_zpskv6bl7cn.png[/img] [/hider] [hider=Text] From the perspective of humans, azulians fall somewhere in the uncanny valley. Their basic skeletal structure is similar, save shorter, double jointed legs, thicker bones, longer arms, a rib structure that looks like it belongs to a quadruped or a reptile and a completely different skull shape. Because their arms and legs are roughly the same length, it’s possible for them to run on all fours, though in practice this is really only used to climb things. Both their hands and their feet are prehensile, and their feet partially double jointed. They typically walk with their toes at least partially curled up, like how you would mime a cat paw with your hand. They use both copper and iron to oxygenate their blood, which looks like watery elmer's glue with a drop or two of purple food coloring. Females favor the acirian portion of their genetics, whereas males favor humans. This is due to the way fetuses develop. All of them start out as female, and acirians don’t have Y chromosomes, (they actually only have one X chromosome) so for XY fetuses, the genetics of humans take over making them smaller than their female counterparts. Because acirians only have one X chromosome, (Thus only X chromosomes were spliced together) a female Azulian (XX) doubles up on the acirian traits, and without the lack of a second X chromosome and without the presence of a Y chromosome, their growth is uninhibited (because all acirians were derived from a clone with Turner’s syndrome). This results in faster regeneration, a more acirian-like skull shape, sharper teeth, and a muscle attachment ridge on the skull, making their bite force much stronger. Another difference is ribs. You can tell which skeleton is female, and as they have more ribs than a male Azulian. Again, this is because acirians have snake like ribs and humans do not. Azulian females think more like acirians, have better depth perception and a more visual memory. They're also more aggressive and some are just plain territorial. They're more easily swayed by mob mentality and are more likely to start fights for no reason and don't particularly care about the outcome, they fight for the sake of conflict. They also will use all of their strength when attacking, unlike humans who use about 10% due to them actually having a sense of self preservation. An Acirian will punch hard enough to break their own arm, and they don’t stall, hold back or run away because they might get killed, because behaviors that lead to injury increase the number of derivative acirians produced. Azulian females, will do the exact same thing as Acirians, except their arm isn’t going to grow back like an Acirians. Ergo, the logical side of them will know they shouldn’t hit that hard, but it’s not instinctive or subconscious, so if you make one sufficiently angry, logic will no longer apply. Someone once said that it’s not the strongest, the most skilled or the most intelligent person that wins in a street fight. It’s the most determined, because they don’t hold back and they fight dirty. Azulain females fight this way by default, which is why the police there are all trained to shoot to kill, because if you don’t kill them they’ll keep attacking and will do a lot more damage than most other species. Azulian males have this problem, but to a much lesser extent due to the following: An Azulian male does not have a muscle attachment ridge, doesn't have the exaggerated reptilian bone structure and tends to think more like a human. They have a lower pain tolerance, tend to have a better sense of right and wrong, and tend to be significantly smaller than the females. They also have better color perception, and live an average of ten years longer, despite their slower regeneration and higher risk for cancer. Their arms tend to be shorter and their legs longer, giving them an advantage when it comes to running and a disadvantage when climbing. Thusly track is considered a boy sport and parkour a girl sport. Muscle mass wise they're about the same as females when size differences are controlled for, so if a short female fights a tall male they're about evenly matched in terms of strength, except the female can bite through bone and the male cannot. Due to proportion differences, the fighting styles of males and females are different, females favoring punching and males favoring kicking. Though because of behavioral differences males tend to view fighting as less important than females do and so on average tend to be less fit. But because they're not incapable of it or terribly disadvantaged biologically, females tend to view them as smaller, lazy, crybabies and thus show them very little respect. Because of the differences in the way acirians and humans develop chimerism is extremely common among males, and less so among females but it is not unheard of. This results in a vitiligo and calico like hair patterns which is seen as attractive by females, thus increasing its prevalence rate. It also sometimes results in chimeras composed of male and female cells, which can result in anything from death to mixed primary and secondary sexual traits. Typically, intersex chimeras will ‘pass as female’ Because historically the legal system and Trifecta Law allowed females more rights than males. That, and it is seen as gay for a female to harass a ‘female’ chimera, but perfectly acceptable for them to do so if the chimera is ‘male’, in part due to the visual similarities between vitiligo and chimera. Which means that most females claiming to have vitiligo are intersex chimeras and most males females assume to be chimeras just have vitiligo. There are a number of genetic disorders that result from the gene splicing and usually come about in cases of inbreeding, which tends to exaggerate either human or acirian traits. In males, this can result in dwarfism, leukemia, bone neoplasms, deformed skulls, and club feet. In females, it causes completely unregulated growth to the point of organ collapse, skin cancer (green slimy patches), severe antisocial behavior, paranoia and psychosis. Yellow eyes and blueish hair are heavily associated with this disorder, the blue hair being most commonly found in males and the yellow eyes only in females. If a female has both they're typically only a few generations away from the above disorders as both traits are the result of genetic mutations that, if both parents are carriers of, results in either of the above disorders depending on the gender of the child. [/hider] [i]Reproduction:[/i] [hider= ] Sexual. Pregnancies last an average of 3 months, a full-term baby weighs 3.5 pounds (1% of the mother’s weight) and up to five can be carried to term without adverse effects as the mother/fetus weight proportion is still around half (5% of the mother’s weight) that of a normal (single fetus) human pregnancy (~11% of the mother's weight.) [img]http://i1077.photobucket.com/albums/w469/Emma_Groom/image%202_zpsp8tpssi3.png[/img] Azulian fetuses develop extremely quickly, and are born with teeth and hair but very little fat, inside a clear egg-like placental sack and often have something similar to a yolk attached to their stomachs, a genetic throwback to the amphibious portion of their genetics. If a fetus is female, the mother will produce estrogen during the first month of pregnancy, before switching to androgen for the remaining two months. If the fetus is male, a much smaller amount of androgen is produced. This is why males born with non-identical siblings tend to be bigger and stronger than those with no female fraternal twins. If a baby is born prematurely, and the placenta is still intact, it is possible for it to be taken to a hospital and grown in vitro, like a giant gelatinous lizard egg, though because of economic reasons, this rarely ever occurs. It takes ~72 hours for an infant to open it’s eyes, and they are capable of eating solid foods immediately, though in family units they are often fed milk for a number of weeks regardless as it boosts their immune systems and lowers infant mortality rates. The average age of puberty ranges from 9 to 19 for females and between 15 to 18 for males, depending on diet and recessive alleles, the higher the food quality and the lower the number of recessive alleles, the earlier the Azulian reaches puberty, and vice versa. Given access to the resources required to care for them, if a female is sexually active, she can have an average of 1-2 children per-year for 29.5 years, without adverse health effects, producing 29-59 children across her lifespan, 22-44 of which will survive to adulthood. 40% of children are male, 5% are intersex and 55% are female. [/hider] [i]Dimorphic? [/i] [hider= ] [img]http://i1077.photobucket.com/albums/w469/Emma_Groom/image%201_zps9pc1zkis.png[/img] [img]http://i1077.photobucket.com/albums/w469/Emma_Groom/image%203_zpsymfh2yiu.png[/img] Female children have faster metabolisms, grow faster and store more fat than their male counterparts. If they do not have sufficient fat reserves at puberty, their growth is stunted. Thus it is possible for a male to grow to be around the same height as a female, but only if he was a fraternal twin to a female and eats much more than his metabolism would otherwise dictate. The average life expectancy for females is 46 years, and the average life expectancy for males is 62 years. This is due to behavioral differences as biological ones would have females living to around 132. The average cause of death for females is murder or (wo)manslaughter, and the average cause of death for males is cancer. Because of this females can have children from puberty until death as menopause is not commonly encountered. Females get a growth spurt at puberty and males stop growing. [/hider] [/hider] [color=ec008c]Cupricality[/color] [hider=Claymoor] [i]Name:[/i] -REDACTED- [i]Kingdom:[/i] Silicosa [i]Base:[/i] Silicon [i]Composition:[/i] Single cell [i]Physiology:[/i] Self sufficient single cell organisms, highly adaptable, huge genetic code with effectively limitless capacity to self modify. Each cell has the capacity to be self sufficient, although not all are, and they become specialized to certain tasks. Cells are on average, approximately 86% altruistic in most situations. All unspecialized cells are oblong egg shaped, have tough membranes, and are covered in (relatively) large and strong, cilia like filaments, which are used for locomotion and binding. Base cells each have a small neural bundle, a miniature brain if you will, although, the neural network is more compact, and quite different from normal neural tissue. When cells specialize, they receive support and nutrients from other nearby cells, as such, if complex structures of cells form, a pseudo circulatory system develops to supply specialized cells with required supplements and energy. Cells use pseudo-telepathy to communicate with each other without being in direct contact, somewhat similar to electromagnetic perception that sharks use to find fish (although, obviously this system is different, and much more specialized and sensitive). [i]Reproduction:[/i] Main: Apoptotic self re-conglomeration with support, chemicals, and protection provided by nearby cells. Secondary: Asexual cell division. Tertiary reproductive method: Sexual reproduction with the intent to efficiently repair genetic defects, or to alter genetics at rapid pace. Other reasons for this form of reproduction include: Insufficient resources for safe apoptotic reproduction, evolution of desirable traits in a hostile circumstance. [/hider] [color=00a651]Hylozoist [/color] Three bird-like species, uplifted to sentience and tinkered around with by the Creators. [hider=Nezzim] [i]Name:[/i] Nezzim [i]Kingdom:[/i] Animalia [i]Base:[/i] Carbon [i]Composition:[/i] Multicellular [i]Physiology:[/i] Small in regards to the rest of the Orpil Flock, averaging out to about 20 inches in length, with a wingspan of around twenty six inches. Most often recognised by it's black and white feathers, small beak and, according to some, "mean looking eyes". As with all the uplifted species within the Orpil Flock, their toes are highly articulated and posess something similar to an opposable thumb. Think "Eurasian Magpie", and you won't be too far wrong. [i]Reproduction:[/i] Sexual. Usually once a year, with an egg taking around a month to hatch. A single, solitary egg is laid; now it often artificially incubated, tested and generally looked after as well as possible. Around 30% of eggs fail. [i]Dimorphic?[/i] Males tend to be slightly smaller then females, with more iridescence in the black feathers. [/hider] [hider=Avelone] [i]Name:[/i] Avelone [i]Kingdom:[/i] Animalia [i]Base:[/i] Carbon [i]Composition:[/i] Multicellular [i]Physiology:[/i] A large, heavy, flightless species, nearly two meters in length, with short wings that are rarely displayed. The Avelone posesses a short, hooked beak, "dull" plumage of dappled green, yellow and brown. Facial plumage gives members of this species something approximating a moustache and eyebrows, which are used in displays and as an aid to communication. As with other uplifted species in the Orpil Flock, it has highly articulated toes and a digit that functions like an opposable thumb. Think bloody great big "Kakapo", and you won't be too far wrong. [i]Reproduction:[/i] Sexual. Clutches of eggs (usually around five) are laid once every three years, hatching after three months. Approximately half of the eggs fail to hatch. Use of artificial incubators is something of a taboo, instead, family members, friends and trusted people within the community take it in turns to look after eggs and the young. [i]Dimorphic?[/i] Nope. [/hider] [hider=Orp] [i]Name:[/i] Orp [i]Kingdom:[/i] Animalia [i]Base:[/i] Carbon [i]Composition:[/i] Multicellular [i]Physiology:[/i] A large, brightly coloured bill is the defining trait of the Orp species - it shares the same black and white plumage of the Nezzim, and is only slightly larger at three feet in length. A large wingspan and long tail helps somewhat to balance out the size of the bill in flight, but it still looks like a fundamentally top-heavy creature. As with all members of the "Orpil Flock", it has highly articulated toes with an opposable thumb-like digit. Think "Toco Toucan", and you won't be too far wrong. [i]Reproduction:[/i] Sexual. Inherited a lot of mating behaviour from their pre-uplift ancestors; a male with a suitably large and impressive bill will be accepted by multiple female partners in the yearly breeding season. Pre-uplift behaviour of nest-building and the male rotating around his territory to provide food for the females is no longer displayed, and the rise of artificial incubation means that a female is no longer tied to a nest for three weeks. Communal incubation is the modern norm. [i]Dimorphic?[/i] Male bill colouration tends towards stripes and brighter colours compared to the female. [/hider]