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Old 02-25-2018, 02:31 PM   #21
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Default Re: Animal Genetic Traits Useful for Parahumans.

Kangaroos have a couple of useful reproductive adaptations. They can delay the onset of pregnancy after conception as well as selecting the gender of their offspring.
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Old 02-27-2018, 06:47 PM   #22
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Default Re: Animal Genetic Traits Useful for Parahumans.

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Kangaroos have a couple of useful reproductive adaptations. They can delay the onset of pregnancy after conception as well as selecting the gender of their offspring.
They can also abort, like rabbits. More radically, a Kangaroo can effectively be pregnant with two joeys at different developmental stages plus be nursing a third - one joey is a fetus or earlier, one is a "jellybean" stage half-fetus attached to a nipple like a placental mamal and an umbilical cord, and one is a normal "joey", who uses a separate nipple to nurse.

Jellybean is the technical term, I'm not joking. The front end is like a placental infant, the back end is like a fetus. It's wacky.
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Old 03-05-2018, 08:26 PM   #23
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Default Re: Animal Genetic Traits Useful for Parahumans.

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I wonder if any animal has a sense of balance better adapted to microgravity?
Most likely none, as they are all in the same boat as we are, i.e. millions of years of evolution in a constant 1g environment.
Agreed, it's improbable. But we can't rule out the possibility that some animal has a balance sense that would translate to free fall better than most, if only by chance. That's partly how evolution works. Trait 'x' happens to be a better 'fit' for a new environment and gives its owner a reproductive advantage.
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Old 03-05-2018, 08:44 PM   #24
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Default Re: Animal Genetic Traits Useful for Parahumans.

Bats don't appear to panic or suffer any overt distress in microgravity. Most likely because they're used to being upside down just as often as right side up, unlike even most sea creatures.
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Old 03-16-2018, 01:26 AM   #25
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Default Re: Animal Genetic Traits Useful for Parahumans.

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Here's another one, spit poison like a Space Marine cobra.
This doesn't sound like a Better Buy as it seems to require the Marine to be unsealed against pressure, etc to use and invites dismemberment on capture.
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Old 03-16-2018, 02:59 AM   #26
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Default Re: Animal Genetic Traits Useful for Parahumans.

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This doesn't sound like a Better Buy as it seems to require the Marine to be unsealed against pressure, etc to use and invites dismemberment on capture.
But then 40k have never been high on practicality. At some point someone thought it would be cool if Space Marines could spit poison.

They also have a melanin mod to protect against radiation, but it's hard to think that matters much when you're already wearing power armour. On the other hand it give you an excuse to have it malfunction for a chapter to give them completely white skin (Raven Guard).
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Old 03-16-2018, 08:48 AM   #27
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Default Re: Animal Genetic Traits Useful for Parahumans.

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This doesn't sound like a Better Buy as it seems to require the Marine to be unsealed against pressure, etc to use and invites dismemberment on capture.
Real spess mehrines don't wear helmets in war, even in vacuum. Like batman.
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Old 03-16-2018, 12:09 PM   #28
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Default Re: Animal Genetic Traits Useful for Parahumans.

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Real spess mehrines don't wear helmets in war, even in vacuum. Like batman.
Proof that Batman has two superpowers, massive wealth and the writer is on his side.

The last is another version of, "little girl aren't you worried that the Doctor (Doctor Who in this case) might get killed?"

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Five year old, with functioning brain: "Because his name is on the show."
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Old 03-16-2018, 12:28 PM   #29
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Default Re: Animal Genetic Traits Useful for Parahumans.

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This doesn't sound like a Better Buy as it seems to require the Marine to be unsealed against pressure, etc to use and invites dismemberment on capture.
From what I recall of the Deathwatch RPG, it's unusable while wearing a helmet. Not that this matters, since you wouldn't want to use it (it's basically a pea shooter compared to normal space marine weapons).
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Old 03-16-2018, 01:27 PM   #30
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Default Re: Animal Genetic Traits Useful for Parahumans.

I think it should almost go without saying that no realistic biological weapon is going to compete with man-made ones above TL 0.

Hard claws isn't as good as a metal knife or pointy stick.
Short range toxic saliva isn't as good as pepper spray against mammals, or more advanced sprays against anything not earth-evolved.
Etc.

Some of very primitive animals' resistance to desiccation also protect against radiation, so those would be quite useful in many UT situations.
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