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Old 02-03-2018, 03:30 PM   #11
Flyndaran
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Default Re: Animal Genetic Traits Useful for Parahumans.

The ones with the support structure allowing major changes in level of blood hydration without popping or shriveling?

That would help one survive dehydration, but with how much humans sweat, it would be a relatively short lived stopgap in very hot weather.
Camels do have a number of interesting adaptations to hot, dry, and even cold weather.
Mix those with production of avian uric acid rather than our water-hungry urea, and you can justify a point or two in reduced consumption: water.
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Old 02-04-2018, 09:26 PM   #12
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Default Re: Animal Genetic Traits Useful for Parahumans.

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Agreed! 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.
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Old 02-13-2018, 09:11 PM   #13
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Default Re: Animal Genetic Traits Useful for Parahumans.

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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.
Not necessarily. The square-cube law means smaller creatures are effectively under less influence from the same gravity and indeed numerous insects use halteres that flap in counterpoint to their wings for balance rather than our semicircular canals with their interior hairs to sense inertial fluid.
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Old 02-13-2018, 09:25 PM   #14
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Default Re: Animal Genetic Traits Useful for Parahumans.

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Better or different colour vision, e.g. Bluebottle Butterfly have 15 different colour receptors to humans' three.

Better low light vision, probably at the cost of some colour perception, e.g. cats.

Long range vision, e.g. some birds of prey have differently shaped eyes and retina to optimise for this.

Fanciful skin/hair colour is probably easiest to steal from animal pigment genes.

Chameleon skin for fun (I think we would all want chameleon armour for serious business), though I guess in sufficiently cinematic campaigns... :)

Large external ears for better directional hearing, e.g. cats, bats, hares.

Once you have the ears maybe you want sonar as well?
Most of these could be done with fewer or no disfiguring cosmetics, like including additional tiny corneas and aperatures scattered around the iris so they can focus on specialized and coordinated foveas for different sorts of supplemental vision. Additional auditory receptors can use existing cavities and other avenues for additional sound channels to allow directional hearing along multiple simultaneous axes.

The sonar idea is interesting and in fact its documented that human ears already produce sounds naturally for unknown reasons, but care would be necessary to make it elective.
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Old 02-14-2018, 03:39 AM   #15
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Default Re: Animal Genetic Traits Useful for Parahumans.

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Most of these could be done with fewer or no disfiguring cosmetics, like including additional tiny corneas and aperatures scattered around the iris so they can focus on specialized and coordinated foveas for different sorts of supplemental vision. Additional auditory receptors can use existing cavities and other avenues for additional sound channels to allow directional hearing along multiple simultaneous axes.

The sonar idea is interesting and in fact its documented that human ears already produce sounds naturally for unknown reasons, but care would be necessary to make it elective.
Well the OP asked for animal traits so I thought of some obvious ones.

So humans can make sounds with their ears? Bats use larynx, tongue, wings or noses to produce echolocation sounds so when suggestion it I thought of something similar and using the big ears for reception only.

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Here's another one, spit poison like a Space Marine cobra.
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Old 02-15-2018, 08:57 AM   #16
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Default Re: Animal Genetic Traits Useful for Parahumans.

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Agreed! I wonder if any animal has a sense of balance better adapted to microgravity?
Bats! NASA has brought a lot of animals into space, and bats are the only ones who don’t freak out when they’re in free fall. The current theory is that because they sleep upside down, they’re more comfortable not knowing where up is.
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Old 02-15-2018, 10:25 AM   #17
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Default Re: Animal Genetic Traits Useful for Parahumans.

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Bats! NASA has brought a lot of animals into space, and bats are the only ones who don’t freak out when they’re in free fall. The current theory is that because they sleep upside down, they’re more comfortable not knowing where up is.
Grandpa Munster space explorer! I like it!
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Old 02-15-2018, 10:48 AM   #18
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Default Re: Animal Genetic Traits Useful for Parahumans.

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Grandpa Munster space explorer! I like it!
Or Tizbeth the Camazotz from the Bio-tech/TS vignette.
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Old 02-15-2018, 03:34 PM   #19
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Default Re: Animal Genetic Traits Useful for Parahumans.

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Or Tizbeth the Camazotz from the Bio-tech/TS vignette.
Grandpa Munster is sillier. So I like him better. Besides Tizbeth probably never slept hanging upside down. Grandpa Munster is routinely shown sleeping like a bat.
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Old 02-24-2018, 04:09 AM   #20
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Default Re: Animal Genetic Traits Useful for Parahumans.

What about poisons and irritants? Mind you, given where a skunk shoots from, that modle won't be followed. Still parahumans and bioroids with hidden weapons would fit Transhuman Space.
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