I'd post an image to get the idea across better but the sub doesnt allow for it. long story short im working on designing an alien species for a personal project, though i do like to know biological applications of why things are the way they are before i jump on them just because i prefer to keep things in the realm of plausibility and biological accuracy.

the species im working on isn't to disimilar from the sangheili (elites) from the halo franchise, though one of the differences is they have five fingers opposed to the four the elites have. (least thats what i planned) with the middle being well... similar to a humans middle finger in that its longer then the others.

regardless, all that being said, what would the biological advantages/disadvantages be of having such a hand configuration? would it be not much different from a human hand or does it change anything specific?

I am writing a fantasy book, and a thought just struck me thats gonna need some serious thought. One of the main characters is a large dragon, she is immortal and has been around (mostly in a coma like state) for millions of years. Now that she is up and moving again, in a modern day world, how would she eat?

My initial answer was, "she is semi-aquatic, she can dive into the ocean to search for food. And perhaps is like a snake, and doesn't need to eat often."

But the animals that inhibit the planet today aren't nearly as big as they were millions of years ago, and for a creature her size she would still need to eat a LOT.

This is a fantasy book, there are dragons and magic and elves, I'm not exactly going for scientific accuracy, but I still want it to make as much sence as possible.

Say she is more like a godzilla type creature, and rapidly evolves (or, maybe not rapidly, but over the course of her life as the world changed and she slept) would I be able to explain with any sort of accuracy that she, over time, changed her biology, and is mostly sustained through the process of photosynthesis?

Her personality is already that of a giant black cat, and she spends most of her free time sleeping in the sun, so at least that already works out.

I dont need anything that a scientist would read and think, "ya, this makes sence," just your average fantasy reader.

Edit: every time I post on reddit (which isn't often) I expect some sort of hate or negativity, thats just the nature of this app (and the internet in general) So im sad but also very happy to say im suprised not a single person has said anything rude, and every single comment has been helpful. Which makes sence considering this is a biology sub, smart people do tend to be less toxic. So shout out to all the helpful, intelligent people who have taken time out of their day to help me. Yall are the best.

Howdy,

I’m wanting to do some nitrogen limitation studies using Setaria viridis and I’m trying to figure out a way to make shit soil essentially. I’m currently growing my organisms in Sunshine LC1 mix. Does anyone out there have any experience with making a nitrogen-poor growing matrix? Or even just a nutritionally-poor matrix in general? I was thinking of making the mix from scratch using unfertilized peat moss and vermiculite but that still will have some nitrogen I believe. Idk, I’d appreciate anything yall got!

I'm looking for resources that describe any ecosystem in depth. From top to bottom.

I was recently reading about the relationship between kakapo and specific fruit trees, and also about the wild amount of vastly different ecosystems in Madagascar, and I realized I'd really love to read about specific ecosystems. Any ecosystem. This is a super broad question, but if you've ever come across any resource that fits this, and you'd like to share, I'd love to read.

Thank you!

Is there a cladogram with everything on it? I want to see everything.