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Anatomically Correct Mesopelagic Aves
The Next CEO of Stack OverflowPlanet of the Aves: AquabirdsAnatomically Correct HecatoncheiresAnatomically Correct MurlocsAnatomically correct furryAnatomically Correct AhuizotlAnatomically correct vampiresAnatomically correct akanameAnatomically Correct TrollsAnatomically correct ghoulsAnatomically correct GoronAnatomically correct radio communication
$begingroup$
Recently I had a vision of a colossal underwater bird-like figure.
I would describe it as follows:
- Roughly the wingspan of the length of a blue whale
- Snow-white
- Typical shape and feathering of a bird of prey (I may have mistaken something else for feathers)
- Gliding into the depth, probably in the mesopelagic/twilight zone
Since such a creature couldn't possibly be an actual bird, unlike the aqua-bird, what is my giant mid-sea bird?
creature-design sea-creatures anatomically-correct
asked yesterday
A Lambent EyeA Lambent Eye
1,771732
$endgroup$
|
show 2 more comments
$begingroup$
Recently I had a vision of a colossal underwater bird-like figure.
I would describe it as follows:
- Roughly the wingspan of the length of a blue whale
- Snow-white
- Typical shape and feathering of a bird of prey (I may have mistaken something else for feathers)
- Gliding into the depth, probably in the mesopelagic/twilight zone
Since such a creature couldn't possibly be an actual bird, unlike the aqua-bird, what is my giant mid-sea bird?
creature-design sea-creatures anatomically-correct
asked yesterday
A Lambent EyeA Lambent Eye
1,771732
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
The wingspan of a blue whale... in the length or in the breadth of the whale?
$endgroup$
– L.Dutch♦
yesterday
1
$begingroup$
@L.Dutch The wingspan of the creature is roughly the length of a blue whale.
$endgroup$
– A Lambent Eye
yesterday
$begingroup$
@cobaltduck The light may have tricked my eye into thinking they were feathers...
$endgroup$
– A Lambent Eye
yesterday
2
$begingroup$
"During the Late Eocene and the Early Oligocene (40–30 mya), some lineages of gigantic penguins existed. Nordenskjoeld's giant penguin (Anthropornis nordenskjoeldi) was the tallest, growing nearly 1.80 meters (5.9 feet) tall. The New Zealand giant penguin (Pachydyptes ponderosus) was probably the heaviest, weighing 80 kg or more. Both were found on New Zealand, the former also in the Antarctic farther eastwards." (Wikipedia, s.v. Pinguin)
$endgroup$
– AlexP
yesterday
$begingroup$
Is this a part of the "Anatomically Correct" series? If so, please do not forget to add your AC question to the list of AC questions in Meta. It's one of the requirements of the series.
$endgroup$
– JBH
7 hours ago
|
show 2 more comments
$begingroup$
Recently I had a vision of a colossal underwater bird-like figure.
I would describe it as follows:
- Roughly the wingspan of the length of a blue whale
- Snow-white
- Typical shape and feathering of a bird of prey (I may have mistaken something else for feathers)
- Gliding into the depth, probably in the mesopelagic/twilight zone
Since such a creature couldn't possibly be an actual bird, unlike the aqua-bird, what is my giant mid-sea bird?
creature-design sea-creatures anatomically-correct
asked yesterday
A Lambent EyeA Lambent Eye
1,771732
$endgroup$
Recently I had a vision of a colossal underwater bird-like figure.
I would describe it as follows:
- Roughly the wingspan of the length of a blue whale
- Snow-white
- Typical shape and feathering of a bird of prey (I may have mistaken something else for feathers)
- Gliding into the depth, probably in the mesopelagic/twilight zone
Since such a creature couldn't possibly be an actual bird, unlike the aqua-bird, what is my giant mid-sea bird?
creature-design sea-creatures anatomically-correct
creature-design sea-creatures anatomically-correct
asked yesterday
A Lambent EyeA Lambent Eye
1,771732
asked yesterday
A Lambent EyeA Lambent Eye
1,771732
edited yesterday
A Lambent Eye
asked yesterday
A Lambent EyeA Lambent Eye
1,771732
asked yesterday
A Lambent EyeA Lambent Eye
1,771732
asked yesterday
A Lambent EyeA Lambent Eye
1,771732
1,771732
1
$begingroup$
The wingspan of a blue whale... in the length or in the breadth of the whale?
$endgroup$
– L.Dutch♦
yesterday
1
$begingroup$
@L.Dutch The wingspan of the creature is roughly the length of a blue whale.
$endgroup$
– A Lambent Eye
yesterday
$begingroup$
@cobaltduck The light may have tricked my eye into thinking they were feathers...
$endgroup$
– A Lambent Eye
yesterday
2
$begingroup$
"During the Late Eocene and the Early Oligocene (40–30 mya), some lineages of gigantic penguins existed. Nordenskjoeld's giant penguin (Anthropornis nordenskjoeldi) was the tallest, growing nearly 1.80 meters (5.9 feet) tall. The New Zealand giant penguin (Pachydyptes ponderosus) was probably the heaviest, weighing 80 kg or more. Both were found on New Zealand, the former also in the Antarctic farther eastwards." (Wikipedia, s.v. Pinguin)
$endgroup$
– AlexP
yesterday
$begingroup$
Is this a part of the "Anatomically Correct" series? If so, please do not forget to add your AC question to the list of AC questions in Meta. It's one of the requirements of the series.
$endgroup$
– JBH
7 hours ago
|
show 2 more comments
1
$begingroup$
The wingspan of a blue whale... in the length or in the breadth of the whale?
$endgroup$
– L.Dutch♦
yesterday
1
$begingroup$
@L.Dutch The wingspan of the creature is roughly the length of a blue whale.
$endgroup$
– A Lambent Eye
yesterday
$begingroup$
@cobaltduck The light may have tricked my eye into thinking they were feathers...
$endgroup$
– A Lambent Eye
yesterday
2
$begingroup$
"During the Late Eocene and the Early Oligocene (40–30 mya), some lineages of gigantic penguins existed. Nordenskjoeld's giant penguin (Anthropornis nordenskjoeldi) was the tallest, growing nearly 1.80 meters (5.9 feet) tall. The New Zealand giant penguin (Pachydyptes ponderosus) was probably the heaviest, weighing 80 kg or more. Both were found on New Zealand, the former also in the Antarctic farther eastwards." (Wikipedia, s.v. Pinguin)
$endgroup$
– AlexP
yesterday
$begingroup$
Is this a part of the "Anatomically Correct" series? If so, please do not forget to add your AC question to the list of AC questions in Meta. It's one of the requirements of the series.
$endgroup$
– JBH
7 hours ago
1
1
$begingroup$
The wingspan of a blue whale... in the length or in the breadth of the whale?
$endgroup$
– L.Dutch♦
yesterday
$begingroup$
The wingspan of a blue whale... in the length or in the breadth of the whale?
$endgroup$
– L.Dutch♦
yesterday
1
1
$begingroup$
@L.Dutch The wingspan of the creature is roughly the length of a blue whale.
$endgroup$
– A Lambent Eye
yesterday
$begingroup$
@L.Dutch The wingspan of the creature is roughly the length of a blue whale.
$endgroup$
– A Lambent Eye
yesterday
$begingroup$
@cobaltduck The light may have tricked my eye into thinking they were feathers...
$endgroup$
– A Lambent Eye
yesterday
$begingroup$
@cobaltduck The light may have tricked my eye into thinking they were feathers...
$endgroup$
– A Lambent Eye
yesterday
2
2
$begingroup$
"During the Late Eocene and the Early Oligocene (40–30 mya), some lineages of gigantic penguins existed. Nordenskjoeld's giant penguin (Anthropornis nordenskjoeldi) was the tallest, growing nearly 1.80 meters (5.9 feet) tall. The New Zealand giant penguin (Pachydyptes ponderosus) was probably the heaviest, weighing 80 kg or more. Both were found on New Zealand, the former also in the Antarctic farther eastwards." (Wikipedia, s.v. Pinguin)
$endgroup$
– AlexP
yesterday
$begingroup$
"During the Late Eocene and the Early Oligocene (40–30 mya), some lineages of gigantic penguins existed. Nordenskjoeld's giant penguin (Anthropornis nordenskjoeldi) was the tallest, growing nearly 1.80 meters (5.9 feet) tall. The New Zealand giant penguin (Pachydyptes ponderosus) was probably the heaviest, weighing 80 kg or more. Both were found on New Zealand, the former also in the Antarctic farther eastwards." (Wikipedia, s.v. Pinguin)
$endgroup$
– AlexP
yesterday
$begingroup$
Is this a part of the "Anatomically Correct" series? If so, please do not forget to add your AC question to the list of AC questions in Meta. It's one of the requirements of the series.
$endgroup$
– JBH
7 hours ago
$begingroup$
Is this a part of the "Anatomically Correct" series? If so, please do not forget to add your AC question to the list of AC questions in Meta. It's one of the requirements of the series.
$endgroup$
– JBH
7 hours ago
|
show 2 more comments
4 Answers
4
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
Let's start with something in the Real World (TM), then try to see whether we can manipulate its future evolution into your creature. The thing I have in mind is the humble gannet, birds of the Morus genus. As seen in this article at Media Drum World, when these birds feed, they spend quite a bit of time swimming to a bit of depth, and do so quite adeptly.
We begin with two-out-of-four of your features already in place: Snow-white, and typical shape and feathering of a bird of prey. We just need to figure out how to grow it much, much larger, and get it to abandon its life in the skies and greatly increase its diving depth. How? The usual evolutionary pressures: eat, don't get eaten, make more of your kind (i.e. sex).
As the fish dive deeper to escape, the mega-gannet must follow. But now the sharks, which already compete with the gannet at the bait ball, have a better chance to pick them off along side the fish. Time to get larger, too large for a shark to swallow. This will eventually make it too large to fly. Alongside this, the mega-gannet will probably become swifter at swimming. I'm uncertain whether the mega-gannet might develop a blubber layer, or if feathers can adapt to provide cold-water protection (penguins, for example, have both). Finally, those mega-gannet which are most successful at eating and not getting eaten will also be more successful at breeding, and these traits will augment in each generation.
Given the right circumstances and a few million years, anything can happen.
answered yesterday
cobaltduckcobaltduck
7,5962150
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
change in bone density and muscular structure. The change in medium the bird moves through would require different physiological changes. Penguins and chickens have a higher bone density, so its not unheard of for that adaptation to occur in birds.
$endgroup$
– Sonvar
yesterday
add a comment |
$begingroup$
It's for sure the notorious Pinguinus Humongous.
It's a descendant from penguins, which, instead of feeding on small fishes, decided to go big and hunt for dolphins and other large sea mammals.
Its size is necessary for hunting those preys, and the feathers come from its ancestors being birds adapted to the sea environment.
answered yesterday
L.Dutch♦L.Dutch
89.3k29208434
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
Pinguinus, not Penguinus. And they are auks, not penguins. Otherwise it's fine. If you want penguins, that would likely be a descendant of Anthropornis, possibly Dinanthropornis colossicus.
$endgroup$
– AlexP
yesterday
$begingroup$
Penguins don't tend to have a large wingspan, nor are the feathers particulary visible, or am I mistaken?
$endgroup$
– A Lambent Eye
16 hours ago
$begingroup$
@ALambentEye, if you want to be streamlined underwater you cannot afford fluffy feathers and the resulting drag, especially if you rely on velocity to chase your meal
$endgroup$
– L.Dutch♦
16 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Except for the feathers, your creature is rather like a manta ray: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manta_ray
So convergent evolution is your friend here. Just as the demands of hydrodynamics cause sharks, tuna, dolphins, and ichthyosaurs to all look much the same to a casual eye, your mesopelagic bird is descended from penguins that evolved into occupying the same environmental niche as manta.
answered yesterday
jamesqfjamesqf
10.4k11937
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Giant nudibranch.
source
These are ocean animals. They swim slowly along as I imagine your creature might. They can have a vaguely avian outline as seen here.
Known nudibranchs of course do not get to the size you want, but maybe they could. The molluscan body plan can scale up. Squids get big.
answered yesterday
WillkWillk
115k27218482
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
What an intersting creature! Why might it change colour and become larger, or what would cause it to do so?
$endgroup$
– A Lambent Eye
16 hours ago
1
$begingroup$
1. Color - you could assert that default color for a mollusk is silvery white. Your creature is not trying to camouflage and it is not signaling to conspecifics with color so it is the default slug color 2. Something this big is probably a filter feeder like the whales and largest sharks. Size is an advantage for filter feeding and probably the bigger the better because you can filter more. An ancestor got into the filter feeding business and evolution scaled it up with time.
$endgroup$
– Willk
13 hours ago
$begingroup$
As regard the scaling up - the typical Blue Sea Angel is as long as a human finger is wide. From less than an inch (~25mm) to nearly a thousand inches (~80 feet, ~25m) is a lot of scaling. Not saying it's impossible, just making it clear the magnitude in question. (+1 by the way)
$endgroup$
– cobaltduck
4 hours ago
add a comment |
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4 Answers
4
active
oldest
votes
4 Answers
4
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
Let's start with something in the Real World (TM), then try to see whether we can manipulate its future evolution into your creature. The thing I have in mind is the humble gannet, birds of the Morus genus. As seen in this article at Media Drum World, when these birds feed, they spend quite a bit of time swimming to a bit of depth, and do so quite adeptly.
We begin with two-out-of-four of your features already in place: Snow-white, and typical shape and feathering of a bird of prey. We just need to figure out how to grow it much, much larger, and get it to abandon its life in the skies and greatly increase its diving depth. How? The usual evolutionary pressures: eat, don't get eaten, make more of your kind (i.e. sex).
As the fish dive deeper to escape, the mega-gannet must follow. But now the sharks, which already compete with the gannet at the bait ball, have a better chance to pick them off along side the fish. Time to get larger, too large for a shark to swallow. This will eventually make it too large to fly. Alongside this, the mega-gannet will probably become swifter at swimming. I'm uncertain whether the mega-gannet might develop a blubber layer, or if feathers can adapt to provide cold-water protection (penguins, for example, have both). Finally, those mega-gannet which are most successful at eating and not getting eaten will also be more successful at breeding, and these traits will augment in each generation.
Given the right circumstances and a few million years, anything can happen.
answered yesterday
cobaltduckcobaltduck
7,5962150
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
change in bone density and muscular structure. The change in medium the bird moves through would require different physiological changes. Penguins and chickens have a higher bone density, so its not unheard of for that adaptation to occur in birds.
$endgroup$
– Sonvar
yesterday
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Let's start with something in the Real World (TM), then try to see whether we can manipulate its future evolution into your creature. The thing I have in mind is the humble gannet, birds of the Morus genus. As seen in this article at Media Drum World, when these birds feed, they spend quite a bit of time swimming to a bit of depth, and do so quite adeptly.
We begin with two-out-of-four of your features already in place: Snow-white, and typical shape and feathering of a bird of prey. We just need to figure out how to grow it much, much larger, and get it to abandon its life in the skies and greatly increase its diving depth. How? The usual evolutionary pressures: eat, don't get eaten, make more of your kind (i.e. sex).
As the fish dive deeper to escape, the mega-gannet must follow. But now the sharks, which already compete with the gannet at the bait ball, have a better chance to pick them off along side the fish. Time to get larger, too large for a shark to swallow. This will eventually make it too large to fly. Alongside this, the mega-gannet will probably become swifter at swimming. I'm uncertain whether the mega-gannet might develop a blubber layer, or if feathers can adapt to provide cold-water protection (penguins, for example, have both). Finally, those mega-gannet which are most successful at eating and not getting eaten will also be more successful at breeding, and these traits will augment in each generation.
Given the right circumstances and a few million years, anything can happen.
answered yesterday
cobaltduckcobaltduck
7,5962150
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
change in bone density and muscular structure. The change in medium the bird moves through would require different physiological changes. Penguins and chickens have a higher bone density, so its not unheard of for that adaptation to occur in birds.
$endgroup$
– Sonvar
yesterday
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Let's start with something in the Real World (TM), then try to see whether we can manipulate its future evolution into your creature. The thing I have in mind is the humble gannet, birds of the Morus genus. As seen in this article at Media Drum World, when these birds feed, they spend quite a bit of time swimming to a bit of depth, and do so quite adeptly.
We begin with two-out-of-four of your features already in place: Snow-white, and typical shape and feathering of a bird of prey. We just need to figure out how to grow it much, much larger, and get it to abandon its life in the skies and greatly increase its diving depth. How? The usual evolutionary pressures: eat, don't get eaten, make more of your kind (i.e. sex).
As the fish dive deeper to escape, the mega-gannet must follow. But now the sharks, which already compete with the gannet at the bait ball, have a better chance to pick them off along side the fish. Time to get larger, too large for a shark to swallow. This will eventually make it too large to fly. Alongside this, the mega-gannet will probably become swifter at swimming. I'm uncertain whether the mega-gannet might develop a blubber layer, or if feathers can adapt to provide cold-water protection (penguins, for example, have both). Finally, those mega-gannet which are most successful at eating and not getting eaten will also be more successful at breeding, and these traits will augment in each generation.
Given the right circumstances and a few million years, anything can happen.
answered yesterday
cobaltduckcobaltduck
7,5962150
$endgroup$
Let's start with something in the Real World (TM), then try to see whether we can manipulate its future evolution into your creature. The thing I have in mind is the humble gannet, birds of the Morus genus. As seen in this article at Media Drum World, when these birds feed, they spend quite a bit of time swimming to a bit of depth, and do so quite adeptly.
We begin with two-out-of-four of your features already in place: Snow-white, and typical shape and feathering of a bird of prey. We just need to figure out how to grow it much, much larger, and get it to abandon its life in the skies and greatly increase its diving depth. How? The usual evolutionary pressures: eat, don't get eaten, make more of your kind (i.e. sex).
As the fish dive deeper to escape, the mega-gannet must follow. But now the sharks, which already compete with the gannet at the bait ball, have a better chance to pick them off along side the fish. Time to get larger, too large for a shark to swallow. This will eventually make it too large to fly. Alongside this, the mega-gannet will probably become swifter at swimming. I'm uncertain whether the mega-gannet might develop a blubber layer, or if feathers can adapt to provide cold-water protection (penguins, for example, have both). Finally, those mega-gannet which are most successful at eating and not getting eaten will also be more successful at breeding, and these traits will augment in each generation.
Given the right circumstances and a few million years, anything can happen.
answered yesterday
cobaltduckcobaltduck
7,5962150
edited yesterday
answered yesterday
cobaltduckcobaltduck
7,5962150
answered yesterday
cobaltduckcobaltduck
7,5962150
answered yesterday
cobaltduckcobaltduck
7,5962150
7,5962150
1
$begingroup$
change in bone density and muscular structure. The change in medium the bird moves through would require different physiological changes. Penguins and chickens have a higher bone density, so its not unheard of for that adaptation to occur in birds.
$endgroup$
– Sonvar
yesterday
add a comment |
1
$begingroup$
change in bone density and muscular structure. The change in medium the bird moves through would require different physiological changes. Penguins and chickens have a higher bone density, so its not unheard of for that adaptation to occur in birds.
$endgroup$
– Sonvar
yesterday
1
1
$begingroup$
change in bone density and muscular structure. The change in medium the bird moves through would require different physiological changes. Penguins and chickens have a higher bone density, so its not unheard of for that adaptation to occur in birds.
$endgroup$
– Sonvar
yesterday
$begingroup$
change in bone density and muscular structure. The change in medium the bird moves through would require different physiological changes. Penguins and chickens have a higher bone density, so its not unheard of for that adaptation to occur in birds.
$endgroup$
– Sonvar
yesterday
add a comment |
$begingroup$
It's for sure the notorious Pinguinus Humongous.
It's a descendant from penguins, which, instead of feeding on small fishes, decided to go big and hunt for dolphins and other large sea mammals.
Its size is necessary for hunting those preys, and the feathers come from its ancestors being birds adapted to the sea environment.
answered yesterday
L.Dutch♦L.Dutch
89.3k29208434
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
Pinguinus, not Penguinus. And they are auks, not penguins. Otherwise it's fine. If you want penguins, that would likely be a descendant of Anthropornis, possibly Dinanthropornis colossicus.
$endgroup$
– AlexP
yesterday
$begingroup$
Penguins don't tend to have a large wingspan, nor are the feathers particulary visible, or am I mistaken?
$endgroup$
– A Lambent Eye
16 hours ago
$begingroup$
@ALambentEye, if you want to be streamlined underwater you cannot afford fluffy feathers and the resulting drag, especially if you rely on velocity to chase your meal
$endgroup$
– L.Dutch♦
16 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
It's for sure the notorious Pinguinus Humongous.
It's a descendant from penguins, which, instead of feeding on small fishes, decided to go big and hunt for dolphins and other large sea mammals.
Its size is necessary for hunting those preys, and the feathers come from its ancestors being birds adapted to the sea environment.
answered yesterday
L.Dutch♦L.Dutch
89.3k29208434
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
Pinguinus, not Penguinus. And they are auks, not penguins. Otherwise it's fine. If you want penguins, that would likely be a descendant of Anthropornis, possibly Dinanthropornis colossicus.
$endgroup$
– AlexP
yesterday
$begingroup$
Penguins don't tend to have a large wingspan, nor are the feathers particulary visible, or am I mistaken?
$endgroup$
– A Lambent Eye
16 hours ago
$begingroup$
@ALambentEye, if you want to be streamlined underwater you cannot afford fluffy feathers and the resulting drag, especially if you rely on velocity to chase your meal
$endgroup$
– L.Dutch♦
16 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
It's for sure the notorious Pinguinus Humongous.
It's a descendant from penguins, which, instead of feeding on small fishes, decided to go big and hunt for dolphins and other large sea mammals.
Its size is necessary for hunting those preys, and the feathers come from its ancestors being birds adapted to the sea environment.
answered yesterday
L.Dutch♦L.Dutch
89.3k29208434
$endgroup$
It's for sure the notorious Pinguinus Humongous.
It's a descendant from penguins, which, instead of feeding on small fishes, decided to go big and hunt for dolphins and other large sea mammals.
Its size is necessary for hunting those preys, and the feathers come from its ancestors being birds adapted to the sea environment.
answered yesterday
L.Dutch♦L.Dutch
89.3k29208434
edited yesterday
answered yesterday
L.Dutch♦L.Dutch
89.3k29208434
answered yesterday
L.Dutch♦L.Dutch
89.3k29208434
answered yesterday
L.Dutch♦L.Dutch
89.3k29208434
89.3k29208434
1
$begingroup$
Pinguinus, not Penguinus. And they are auks, not penguins. Otherwise it's fine. If you want penguins, that would likely be a descendant of Anthropornis, possibly Dinanthropornis colossicus.
$endgroup$
– AlexP
yesterday
$begingroup$
Penguins don't tend to have a large wingspan, nor are the feathers particulary visible, or am I mistaken?
$endgroup$
– A Lambent Eye
16 hours ago
$begingroup$
@ALambentEye, if you want to be streamlined underwater you cannot afford fluffy feathers and the resulting drag, especially if you rely on velocity to chase your meal
$endgroup$
– L.Dutch♦
16 hours ago
add a comment |
1
$begingroup$
Pinguinus, not Penguinus. And they are auks, not penguins. Otherwise it's fine. If you want penguins, that would likely be a descendant of Anthropornis, possibly Dinanthropornis colossicus.
$endgroup$
– AlexP
yesterday
$begingroup$
Penguins don't tend to have a large wingspan, nor are the feathers particulary visible, or am I mistaken?
$endgroup$
– A Lambent Eye
16 hours ago
$begingroup$
@ALambentEye, if you want to be streamlined underwater you cannot afford fluffy feathers and the resulting drag, especially if you rely on velocity to chase your meal
$endgroup$
– L.Dutch♦
16 hours ago
1
1
$begingroup$
Pinguinus, not Penguinus. And they are auks, not penguins. Otherwise it's fine. If you want penguins, that would likely be a descendant of Anthropornis, possibly Dinanthropornis colossicus.
$endgroup$
– AlexP
yesterday
$begingroup$
Pinguinus, not Penguinus. And they are auks, not penguins. Otherwise it's fine. If you want penguins, that would likely be a descendant of Anthropornis, possibly Dinanthropornis colossicus.
$endgroup$
– AlexP
yesterday
$begingroup$
Penguins don't tend to have a large wingspan, nor are the feathers particulary visible, or am I mistaken?
$endgroup$
– A Lambent Eye
16 hours ago
$begingroup$
Penguins don't tend to have a large wingspan, nor are the feathers particulary visible, or am I mistaken?
$endgroup$
– A Lambent Eye
16 hours ago
$begingroup$
@ALambentEye, if you want to be streamlined underwater you cannot afford fluffy feathers and the resulting drag, especially if you rely on velocity to chase your meal
$endgroup$
– L.Dutch♦
16 hours ago
$begingroup$
@ALambentEye, if you want to be streamlined underwater you cannot afford fluffy feathers and the resulting drag, especially if you rely on velocity to chase your meal
$endgroup$
– L.Dutch♦
16 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Except for the feathers, your creature is rather like a manta ray: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manta_ray
So convergent evolution is your friend here. Just as the demands of hydrodynamics cause sharks, tuna, dolphins, and ichthyosaurs to all look much the same to a casual eye, your mesopelagic bird is descended from penguins that evolved into occupying the same environmental niche as manta.
answered yesterday
jamesqfjamesqf
10.4k11937
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Except for the feathers, your creature is rather like a manta ray: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manta_ray
So convergent evolution is your friend here. Just as the demands of hydrodynamics cause sharks, tuna, dolphins, and ichthyosaurs to all look much the same to a casual eye, your mesopelagic bird is descended from penguins that evolved into occupying the same environmental niche as manta.
answered yesterday
jamesqfjamesqf
10.4k11937
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Except for the feathers, your creature is rather like a manta ray: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manta_ray
So convergent evolution is your friend here. Just as the demands of hydrodynamics cause sharks, tuna, dolphins, and ichthyosaurs to all look much the same to a casual eye, your mesopelagic bird is descended from penguins that evolved into occupying the same environmental niche as manta.
answered yesterday
jamesqfjamesqf
10.4k11937
$endgroup$
Except for the feathers, your creature is rather like a manta ray: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manta_ray
So convergent evolution is your friend here. Just as the demands of hydrodynamics cause sharks, tuna, dolphins, and ichthyosaurs to all look much the same to a casual eye, your mesopelagic bird is descended from penguins that evolved into occupying the same environmental niche as manta.
answered yesterday
jamesqfjamesqf
10.4k11937
answered yesterday
jamesqfjamesqf
10.4k11937
answered yesterday
jamesqfjamesqf
10.4k11937
answered yesterday
jamesqfjamesqf
10.4k11937
10.4k11937
add a comment |
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Giant nudibranch.
source
These are ocean animals. They swim slowly along as I imagine your creature might. They can have a vaguely avian outline as seen here.
Known nudibranchs of course do not get to the size you want, but maybe they could. The molluscan body plan can scale up. Squids get big.
answered yesterday
WillkWillk
115k27218482
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
What an intersting creature! Why might it change colour and become larger, or what would cause it to do so?
$endgroup$
– A Lambent Eye
16 hours ago
1
$begingroup$
1. Color - you could assert that default color for a mollusk is silvery white. Your creature is not trying to camouflage and it is not signaling to conspecifics with color so it is the default slug color 2. Something this big is probably a filter feeder like the whales and largest sharks. Size is an advantage for filter feeding and probably the bigger the better because you can filter more. An ancestor got into the filter feeding business and evolution scaled it up with time.
$endgroup$
– Willk
13 hours ago
$begingroup$
As regard the scaling up - the typical Blue Sea Angel is as long as a human finger is wide. From less than an inch (~25mm) to nearly a thousand inches (~80 feet, ~25m) is a lot of scaling. Not saying it's impossible, just making it clear the magnitude in question. (+1 by the way)
$endgroup$
– cobaltduck
4 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Giant nudibranch.
source
These are ocean animals. They swim slowly along as I imagine your creature might. They can have a vaguely avian outline as seen here.
Known nudibranchs of course do not get to the size you want, but maybe they could. The molluscan body plan can scale up. Squids get big.
answered yesterday
WillkWillk
115k27218482
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
What an intersting creature! Why might it change colour and become larger, or what would cause it to do so?
$endgroup$
– A Lambent Eye
16 hours ago
1
$begingroup$
1. Color - you could assert that default color for a mollusk is silvery white. Your creature is not trying to camouflage and it is not signaling to conspecifics with color so it is the default slug color 2. Something this big is probably a filter feeder like the whales and largest sharks. Size is an advantage for filter feeding and probably the bigger the better because you can filter more. An ancestor got into the filter feeding business and evolution scaled it up with time.
$endgroup$
– Willk
13 hours ago
$begingroup$
As regard the scaling up - the typical Blue Sea Angel is as long as a human finger is wide. From less than an inch (~25mm) to nearly a thousand inches (~80 feet, ~25m) is a lot of scaling. Not saying it's impossible, just making it clear the magnitude in question. (+1 by the way)
$endgroup$
– cobaltduck
4 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Giant nudibranch.
source
These are ocean animals. They swim slowly along as I imagine your creature might. They can have a vaguely avian outline as seen here.
Known nudibranchs of course do not get to the size you want, but maybe they could. The molluscan body plan can scale up. Squids get big.
answered yesterday
WillkWillk
115k27218482
$endgroup$
Giant nudibranch.
source
These are ocean animals. They swim slowly along as I imagine your creature might. They can have a vaguely avian outline as seen here.
Known nudibranchs of course do not get to the size you want, but maybe they could. The molluscan body plan can scale up. Squids get big.
answered yesterday
WillkWillk
115k27218482
answered yesterday
WillkWillk
115k27218482
answered yesterday
WillkWillk
115k27218482
answered yesterday
WillkWillk
115k27218482
115k27218482
$begingroup$
What an intersting creature! Why might it change colour and become larger, or what would cause it to do so?
$endgroup$
– A Lambent Eye
16 hours ago
1
$begingroup$
1. Color - you could assert that default color for a mollusk is silvery white. Your creature is not trying to camouflage and it is not signaling to conspecifics with color so it is the default slug color 2. Something this big is probably a filter feeder like the whales and largest sharks. Size is an advantage for filter feeding and probably the bigger the better because you can filter more. An ancestor got into the filter feeding business and evolution scaled it up with time.
$endgroup$
– Willk
13 hours ago
$begingroup$
As regard the scaling up - the typical Blue Sea Angel is as long as a human finger is wide. From less than an inch (~25mm) to nearly a thousand inches (~80 feet, ~25m) is a lot of scaling. Not saying it's impossible, just making it clear the magnitude in question. (+1 by the way)
$endgroup$
– cobaltduck
4 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
What an intersting creature! Why might it change colour and become larger, or what would cause it to do so?
$endgroup$
– A Lambent Eye
16 hours ago
1
$begingroup$
1. Color - you could assert that default color for a mollusk is silvery white. Your creature is not trying to camouflage and it is not signaling to conspecifics with color so it is the default slug color 2. Something this big is probably a filter feeder like the whales and largest sharks. Size is an advantage for filter feeding and probably the bigger the better because you can filter more. An ancestor got into the filter feeding business and evolution scaled it up with time.
$endgroup$
– Willk
13 hours ago
$begingroup$
As regard the scaling up - the typical Blue Sea Angel is as long as a human finger is wide. From less than an inch (~25mm) to nearly a thousand inches (~80 feet, ~25m) is a lot of scaling. Not saying it's impossible, just making it clear the magnitude in question. (+1 by the way)
$endgroup$
– cobaltduck
4 hours ago
$begingroup$
What an intersting creature! Why might it change colour and become larger, or what would cause it to do so?
$endgroup$
– A Lambent Eye
16 hours ago
$begingroup$
What an intersting creature! Why might it change colour and become larger, or what would cause it to do so?
$endgroup$
– A Lambent Eye
16 hours ago
1
1
$begingroup$
1. Color - you could assert that default color for a mollusk is silvery white. Your creature is not trying to camouflage and it is not signaling to conspecifics with color so it is the default slug color 2. Something this big is probably a filter feeder like the whales and largest sharks. Size is an advantage for filter feeding and probably the bigger the better because you can filter more. An ancestor got into the filter feeding business and evolution scaled it up with time.
$endgroup$
– Willk
13 hours ago
$begingroup$
1. Color - you could assert that default color for a mollusk is silvery white. Your creature is not trying to camouflage and it is not signaling to conspecifics with color so it is the default slug color 2. Something this big is probably a filter feeder like the whales and largest sharks. Size is an advantage for filter feeding and probably the bigger the better because you can filter more. An ancestor got into the filter feeding business and evolution scaled it up with time.
$endgroup$
– Willk
13 hours ago
$begingroup$
As regard the scaling up - the typical Blue Sea Angel is as long as a human finger is wide. From less than an inch (~25mm) to nearly a thousand inches (~80 feet, ~25m) is a lot of scaling. Not saying it's impossible, just making it clear the magnitude in question. (+1 by the way)
$endgroup$
– cobaltduck
4 hours ago
$begingroup$
As regard the scaling up - the typical Blue Sea Angel is as long as a human finger is wide. From less than an inch (~25mm) to nearly a thousand inches (~80 feet, ~25m) is a lot of scaling. Not saying it's impossible, just making it clear the magnitude in question. (+1 by the way)
$endgroup$
– cobaltduck
4 hours ago
add a comment |
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1
$begingroup$
The wingspan of a blue whale... in the length or in the breadth of the whale?
$endgroup$
– L.Dutch♦
yesterday
1
$begingroup$
@L.Dutch The wingspan of the creature is roughly the length of a blue whale.
$endgroup$
– A Lambent Eye
yesterday
$begingroup$
@cobaltduck The light may have tricked my eye into thinking they were feathers...
$endgroup$
– A Lambent Eye
yesterday
2
$begingroup$
"During the Late Eocene and the Early Oligocene (40–30 mya), some lineages of gigantic penguins existed. Nordenskjoeld's giant penguin (Anthropornis nordenskjoeldi) was the tallest, growing nearly 1.80 meters (5.9 feet) tall. The New Zealand giant penguin (Pachydyptes ponderosus) was probably the heaviest, weighing 80 kg or more. Both were found on New Zealand, the former also in the Antarctic farther eastwards." (Wikipedia, s.v. Pinguin)
$endgroup$
– AlexP
yesterday
$begingroup$
Is this a part of the "Anatomically Correct" series? If so, please do not forget to add your AC question to the list of AC questions in Meta. It's one of the requirements of the series.
$endgroup$
– JBH
7 hours ago