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Deviousness `anmari has been spreading her infectious positivity throughout our community for over 6 years. Throughout this time Ana has been at the core of all things devious, passionately developing an eclectic gallery, helping organise devmeets, participating in chat events and also recently completed dedicating her time as a Community Volunteer. We are absolutely delighted to bestow the Deviousness Award for May 2013 to `anmari, congratulations! Read More
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Sta.sh
Cho: Fanservice?
2) Clam shells persist after clams die.
3) If they're intelligent enough to use tools, the females might have bras in order to prevent massive sagging...and retain a slimmer profile to swim better. (Again, if they have breasts, that's leaning towards a mammalian base.)
4) Uh...they wouldn't.
5) I'm guessing trial and error, myself.
6) Evolution is a combination of two factors...random mutation and selection pressure. (bear with me on this.) Random mutation arises in every population. Not all of these mutations work. Those that do, however, have a better chance to succeed. That said...if merfolk are mammalian, it'd be beneficial against trauma to the chest.
7) They make sense because over time they would have adapted their population to the oceanic environment (not by choice unless they have some seriously advanced bioengineering techniques, but by the fact that traits that work tend to survive in the population). The fish tail, though, would likely be fishy on the outside.
8) I'm leaning towards mammal, based on the arrangement of body parts and the fact that mostly their tails are aligned horizontally...that's a mammalian trait. Also, there are certain birth defects where the babies develop a "tail" rather than legs. However, these defects also occur with other defects which are severely deforming and incompatible with life. If merfolk evolved, the genetic expression would preclude the non-viable traits. (Look up "sirenomelia.")
9) Not sure about the fish thing, but if the are...I'd say convergent evolution. Breasts aren't made to create milk, but rather to attract mates.
10) Certain dermatological conditions occur in humans to produce scaly skin. Mostly these are associated with disease symptoms, but again, they might have a different genetic expression.
11) There are a few locations...behind the ears would be an embryological solution, but the more likely location would probably be at the base of the lungs...the lung exchange surfaces drain both upward for gas and downward for fluid, so "drowning" still passes a fluid over the exchange surface.
12) If they did breathe like dolphins, they probably engineered their cities to have air pockets which refresh themselves via mechanical ventilation or engineered plant life (turn over the CO2 for O2).
13) Pelvic region. Again, look at dolphins.
1. They are often portrayed with bellybuttons, a sure sign of live birthing. Many sharks and certain fish like mollies give live birth.
2. We humans eat pigs and keep dogs as pets. Perhaps merfolk are species-biased too...
3. Cultural dress. We humans also wear ornamentation that is purely for cosmetic value, like piercings. I'd imagine shell bras would serve a similar purpose among merfolk.
4. Most definitely not.
5. Mix 'n match.
6. Rendered null by answer in 4.
7. I can't answer this. They don't make sense at all xD
8. Mammals or fish? Both.
9. Discus fish secrete a milky substance from their flanks for their young to feed on. The glands that facilitate this "milk" could over time be concentrated around the chest area into the likeness of mammalian mammary glands.
10. Pangolins have scales, and they're mammals.
10. Their "hair" is really very long, very fine gill filaments. (Pinched this concept from Tony DiTerlizzi)
11. Rendered null by answer in 10.
12. This is a most interesting concept for me, one that I've pondered for years. I would imagine that merfolk have a cloaca, like fish do - a single opening for waste and reproduction. The cloaca, keeping in with fish anatomy, would be located on the underside of the body - on the "front" of the mer-person's fish half. In mermaids, the cloaca would lead to the uterine organ and ovaries. Mermen would not possess a penis - during copulation, a merman would simply press his cloaca to the female's and release sperm into it. This form of internal fertilization is used by live-bearing fish like mollies. OR, mermen would have a pair of claspers, the way male sharks do.
Hope this makes sense!
Also, nitpicking is fun.