[Space/Aliens] Reproductive Features: alien, exotic and weird ideas

[cptbutton]

Originally Posted by Vaevictis Asmadi

That reminds me of the Martians in Stranger in a Strange Land. I haven't actually read the book so I don't know the details, but I skimmed part of it. Apparently Martians are all born female. After they are fertilized and finish giving birth to some new females, they metamorphise into adult males. I don't know if the females are sapient or not.

The Martians in Stranger in a Strange Land are the same ones as in Red Planet (both by Heinlein). These Martians use r-type reproduction strategy.

Martians hatch from eggs as bouncers (Willis in RP is a bouncer). Bouncers have to survive all alone in the martian wilderness. Most don't. Bouncers are sapient but not too bright.

Bouncers who have survived long enough eventually meet up with an adult martian and are fertilized by them. The bouncers then lay eggs out in the wilderness and abandon them.

After they've laid their eggs, bouncers are taken in by adult martians. They go through a metamorphosis/pupal stage and emerge as adult martians. Adult martians are sapient and very intelligent. They have hands and acquire great psionic powers (but the latter may be from education).

At some point adult martians may fertilize bouncers as above. Eventually adult choose to die and become "Old Ones", powerful ghosts.

Other r-type aliens in SF include the Hivers from Traveller and the gukuy from Mother of Demons by Eric Flint. (Available as a free non DRM ebook.) The latter also have an interesting division into biological castes that I may write something about later.