The natural history of the Xenomorph (warning: long)

[Memphet'ran]

This is a project I've had at the back of my mind for a while, and with all new movie out I figured this was a good at time to do it as any. I'm actually not sure whether I should have posted it here or in fanfics; it's more of a tech debate thing but it is a long essay. I apologize if it seems too long.

Disclaimer: I haven't actually watched Requiem yet, I'm hoping to do it tomorrow, maybe, I hope I have made no errors of fact there.

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In this essay I will attempt to reconstruct a plausible evolutionary history for Internicivus Raptus, commonly known as the Xenomorph (I’m using the Anchorpoint Article name because Xenomorph is obviously just a generic term for alien, and not really appropriate). For the purposes of my reconstruction I will consider only the movies canon and admit only evidence from them (both because I’m unfamiliar with the EU and because I do know it’s full of obscene xeno-wank). I am aware of theories suggesting Internicivus Raptus is an artificial lifeform created de novo by another species; no need to reconstruct a plausible evolutionary history because it was designed, but I’ve always personally felt that was a bit of a cop-out. I consider attempting to reconstruct a naturalistic evolutionary history for a species like Internicivus Raptus an interesting challenge. First, let us look at the demonstrated relevant traits of I. Raptus.

(1) It is a large predator of great strength, speed, stealth, and cunning. It appears to hunt primarily as an ambush predator.

(2) It is a cooperative eusocial organism, living in tribes that can reach as high as ~150 members and constructing hive-like structures of their own body secretions.

(3) It has a complex life cycle similar to that of certain wasps on Earth that lay their eggs in the bodies of caterpillars, but more complicated. Each I. Raptus hive has a queen which lays large numbers of eggs, from which emerge eight-legged crablike creatures commonly known as facehuggers. These facehuggers attach themselves to other large animals and implant parasites which very rapidly burst out and grow into full-grown I. Raptus adults. The queen appears to be generated from a special “royal” facehugger which can also implant drone parasites into the bodies of other victims. A deleted scene from Alien indicates that another animal can be turned into a facehugger egg by a virus injected by an I. Raptus drone, but since this scene was not in the original movie and this is an incredibly implausible ability I feel relatively safe in dismissing it from the body of evidence.

(4) Its blood apparently contains an extremely potent acid (capable of rapidly dissolving metal), which neutralizes soon after death.

(5) Infrared sensors have difficulty detecting I. Raptus, suggesting very low body temperature or ectothermy (cold-bloodedness). Its sluggish movements in Alien are consistent with an animal with a low metabolism. In Aliens, when the Marines first go into the hive, we see that I. Raptus seems to spend most of its time hanging motionless on the walls, which is also consistent with a low energy animal, and in the films in general it seems to be a rather slothful creature when not fighting. I. Raptus has a tendency to seek dark, warm places and the temperature in a hive is very warm. All this suggests ancestry on a warm world. On the other hand they have the ability to survive being frozen for long periods of time, like certain frogs and fish, and they are apparently able to function just fine in Antarctica. This suggests that most likely I. Raptus has a variable metabolism that can be “tuned down” to conserve energy in warm conditions and “supercharged” to keep it alive in cold conditions.

(6) We have observed at least 4 types of Raptus not counting different life stages: the queen, the drone, a more streamlined quadrupedal drone seen in Alien 3 (commonly called the “Runner”), and the “Predalien”; a creature that has morphological traits derived from Predators and is able to implant parasites directly into victims. I am not considering the variants seen in Alien Resurrection as they are not natural. It has been suggested that I. Raptus parasites take on the characteristics of their hosts, explaining the last two creatures. While it is difficult to explain the Predalien otherwise I would prefer to find an alternate explanation, as it is very difficult to see how such an implausible ability could evolve naturally.

(7) When introduced into an environment I. Raptus seems to quickly use up all available hosts and food supply; it does not seem to seek equilibrium with its environment. The high fertility of queens also suggests a pattern of population growth limited only by available hosts and food, and it will stress both well beyond the point of sustainability if they are limited (the hive on LV-426 had already used up virtually all available hosts and would undoubtedly have starved as it exhausted the limited food supplies).


SPECULATION: I. RAPTUS HOMEWORLD

The lifestyle of Internicivus Raptus suggests it would have evolved in a fecund environment like a jungle. Only an environment with a very large and constant supply of available prey would be able to sustain a species like I. Raptus. If dropped into anything less than an extremely rich ecosystem I. Raptus would quickly use up all available resources and die out. The low metabolism is also consistent with a warm climate. However, the ability to endure cold and enter frozen suspended animation suggests an extremely cold climate.

This can be reconciled surprisingly easily by postulating that the climate I. Raptus’s planet of origin is characterized by alternating periods of heat and cold. A likely model is a planet with a highly elliptical orbit, alternately carrying it very close to and very far from its sun (perhaps it is actually a moon of an eccentric gas giant that orbits within the life zone, like one of the RL planets of Upsilon Andromedae). The prolonged intense sunshine of the planet’s periastron “summer” would support luxuriant tropical growth and a very rich ecosystem. During the long apiastron “winter” the temperature would plunge. This would present a quandary for animals. They would need to be very well adapted to heat to survive the broiling summer and very well adapted to cold to survive the freezing winter. Nor would migration be an option: unlike Earth’s axis-determined seasons, the orbit-determined seasons of I. Raptus’s homeworld would be planet-wide.

For small plants and animals a likely solution would be to have generational cycles tied to the seasons: they would die in winter and leave behind seeds and eggs that would grow and hatch next spring. For larger plants and animals hibernation would probably be a popular option; just drop your leafs or fatten up and sleep through the long cold months (imagine it, this planet would have deciduous tropical forests!). Large animals that braved the long cold winter months would need particularly tricky adaptations. On Earth many animals have seasonal coats that are shed in spring when they become too hot. Some animals on I. Raptus’s homeworld may well have taken this a step further, alternating between a low-energy summer metabolism and a high-energy winter metabolism that they could switch between in response to environmental stimuli. A prolonged day/night cycle, which would also create extreme temperature fluctuations, may have also helped push animals toward such a development. Transplanted to other environments this would translate into great resilience to adverse temperatures, such as I. Raptus displays.

This would be a seasonal ecosystem, dying back in fall and coming back to life in spring. Spring on such a world might be characterized by fierce demographic warfare between competing species. For plants and animals on such a world success would lie in growing and reproducing as fast as possible as soon as the spring thaw comes; claiming as much trophic space as you can before a competitor can squeeze you out. In the context of a rich but seasonal ecosystem characterized by such competition I. Raptus’s tendency to increase as quickly as resources will permit with no eye to sustainability makes sense.


SPECULATIONS: I. RAPTUS EVOLUTION

OK, so we’ve established a plausible scenario for Internicivus Raptus’s homeworld, but still, what could produce a species like this, especially its weird reproductive process?

Let’s take a trip through space and time, to Internicivus Raptus’s homeworld tens, maybe hundreds of millions of years ago. During this time nothing like the I. Raptus we know would have existed. But if one looked in the treetops during this period one might notice great balls of organic matter held together with slimy, resinous material, like giant bird’s nests. The material of these nests is a superb natural insulator; protection against the heat of the day and the cold of night. These are the hives of a small eusocial arboreal predator that lives on arboreal fruit and leaf eaters, bird-analogs, and their eggs, as well as the occasional fruit and other plant material when opportunity presents itself or food is scarce. The food is gathered by small armies of males. Sometimes one will capture a particularly impressive meal and bring it alive back to the queen for consumption. Its reward was a chance to mate. In winter, when temperatures plunge below freezing, the trees lose their leaves, and food becomes scarce the creatures hibernate, their bodies becoming icicles to be thawed by the warmth of the returning sun in the spring. In the cold of night they simply ramp-up their metabolism, a significant advantage as it allows them to hunt and gather at night, though it comes at a significant cost in energy. The queen lays eggs during the year, fertilizing itself from a spermatheca in which it saves the gametes of the males who bring it the best prizes. The creatures are highly intelligent, as arboreal creatures in challenging circumstances often are. They have enough foresight to stockpile food in their nests, including some of the live trophies, which are cocooned in the nest’s walls to be killed and consumed at leisure. During the spring some of their surplus eggs hatch, including a special egg that contains a new queen. The young are spider-like creatures that descend to the forest floor and walk off to find a new tree where they can molt into a second instar, then gorge themselves and quickly grow into adult size. They have evolved an interesting defense against predators: their blood contains a precursor compound that, upon contact with air, reacts to form a short-lived but extremely potent acid. Any creature that tries to feed on one finds itself missing its lower jaw after the first bite. These are the humble ancestors of the terrible Internicivus Raptus.

At some point, something pushed these creatures out of the trees. Perhaps a climatic event or mass extinction temporarily destroyed the forests. Perhaps a predator evolved a countermeasure to their acid blood. In any case, something pushed the ancestral Raptus to build its nests on the forest floor. There it became an opportunistic predator-scavenger. Its body adapted to function better on the ground. Freed from the need to stay light enough for branches to support its weight it was now free to become bigger and stronger. Its new lifestyle still provided it with a wide variety of challenges, so it had good incentive to retain and increase its intelligence. Like the earliest human ancestors, it would have adapted to life on the ground by becoming an upright biped, explaining why the modern Internicivus Raptus has a similar stature to humans despite having a totally different lifestyle. Like its arboreal ancestors it would have continued the behavior of males vying for a chance to mate by bringing live prizes to the queen. With its increased size and strength one species among the new prey that came within its reach was a particular large herbivore. This herbivore also hibernated in winter, but it had evolved this ability independently, and its hibernation was more like that of a bear; its metabolism slowed down, but it didn’t stop, and as a consequence it had to eat profusely to fatten itself up during the summer. This development would set the stage for the transformation of this creature into the Internicivus Raptus we know today.

This immense, fatty beast would form a significant food source for the hive, especially if it was captured in autumn, when it was bloated with food. If left alive until other food had been consumed it could extend the activity period of the Raptus into the winter months. The Raptus could hibernate to survive the cold and lack of food, but winter may have held other dangers. All those animals hibernating in winter would have amounted to a massive amount of defenseless meat, and it seems certain that some predators must have evolved to exploit this resource. The ancestral Raptus’s acid blood probably at least partially constituted a chemical warfare defense against such predators; a Raptus slaughtered in its winter slumber would have quickly had its revenge, as the predator died a horrible death as the acid-precursor thawed in its digestive tract. But it’s also logical to think that, sooner or later, some such predator may have developed a countermeasure to it. By decreasing its hibernation time the proto-Raptus would have decreased its risk of being slaughtered in its winter slumber. A selection pressure would have been established for the Raptus to seek out this herbivore and bring as many as possible into the hive as a food store for the winter. Eventually it could eliminate the need for winter hibernation entirely in all but the hungriest years. The adaptations that served to allow survival during the chill of the long nights would have served well to let them survive the winter, so long as food was assured. No longer need the Raptus fear devoured in its sleep.

With this herbivore being vital to the Raptus’s lifestyle in this way, the Raptus might have begun to make use of it in other ways. The Raptus’s larval offspring may have adapted to use the still-living herbivores as a food supply, attaching themselves to them and consuming their blood like giant ticks. Eventually they may have extended this lifestyle into endoparasitism. At first this might have taken the form of premature molting, followed by the molted young either burrowing into the body or crawling down the creature’s throat. Gradually, this was refined into the familiar facehugger implantation process we know.

This would have been a significant evolutionary advantage to the Raptus. The huggers could implant the cocooned herbivores in the autumn and winter, and the chestbusters could be synchronized to emerge when the herbivores began to come out of hibernation in the spring. By conserving the implanted herbivores all winter the Raptus could be assured of a population explosion each spring, allowing them to fill up their ecological “space” while rival predators were still just beginning their own spring round of reproduction. The Raptus now had a significant evolutionary leg-up over its competitors. This change in lifestyle was not without a price, however, namely greater difficulty in founding new hives. Remember that at this stage in the Raptus’s evolution the emergence of the chestbuster was tied to the metabolic changes in the prey-herbivore as it emerged from hibernation; facehuggers that left the colony would find their implanted parasites widely dispersed by the time the chestbusters emerged, and the queen and drones would have to wander considerably to find each other. The solution to this was a modification in the “royal” facehugger causing it to carry a male and female parasite. They could infect two herbivores in the same herd and the male would emerge first, and would guard and then fertilize the female. This would reduce genetic diversity greatly, but it was presumably worth the trade-off. This created the conditions for the emergence of a third drone caste of sterile males. The drones and males apparently evolved divergently, with the drones retaining bipedalism while the males evolved for greater speed, becoming the quadrupedal “Runner” form encountered on Fiorina 161. This may be because a bipedal creature would have difficulty keeping up with the herd, and hence the queen-host, so the males would have needed speed. The drones, on the other hand, hunted the herbivores by ambush, and did not need to be able to keep up with them, so there was no pressure for the species as a whole to abandon its relatively primitive and awkward bipedal stance.

This situation could have continued for quite some time, but at some point something disrupted it. The prey-herbivores started to die out. Perhaps it was due to the evolution of a new type of vegetation than outcompeted the one the prey-herbivore relied on for food, perhaps the Raptus itself hunted them to extinction, but whatever it was it killed them off, but not fast enough to also quickly kill off the Raptus that relied on them. The Raptus was forced to adapt. It was by now too committed to its parasitoid reproductive cycle to go back to conventional reproduction, and there were presumably no closely related species it that it could easily switch to. The Raptus’s solution was to evolve to be able to parasitize off a wide variety of animals, instead of relying exclusively on one species.

This was a great milestone in the evolution of Internicivus Raptus, marking the beginning of its transformation into the creature encountered on LV-426. Like most species that reproduced in a parasitoid manner, its population levels had previously been tied to the population of the prey-herbivores. Now that it was free to exploit a wide variety of animals as chestbuster hosts it could reproduce almost without restraint. The only limiting factor on its numbers were now food supply, gross supply of large animals in the area, egg-laying rate of the queen, and the ability of the drones to capture a suitable supply of prey. The population of the Raptus would have exploded. The constant pressure to fill up as much trophic space as possible during early spring would have pushed the queens in the direction of pumping out as many eggs as possible, causing the population to rise further. Very quickly, the Raptus would have become the dominant predator on the planet. Without serious competition from rival carnivores it could afford to need more food, and hence to become bigger and stronger. It ceased to be a “wild dog” and instead became a “lion”, increasing dramatically in size and strength. Needless to say all this was probably a disaster for its competitors and prey. Internicivus Raptus undoubtedly drove many species into extinction by competition and overhunting, and its ecological impact on its homeworld may very well be comparable to that of early man. Only prey species that reproduced quickly or were too big or otherwise dangerous for a pack of drones to take down are likely to have survived. Today it is probably the apex predator on its homeworld, and undoubtedly the most successful one, combining intelligence, strength, high reproductive rate, and a high level of organization. Ash was not exaggerating all that much when he characterized it as a perfect animal.


BASIS OF SPECULATIONS

Internicivus Raptus’s arboreal origins are inferred from its quasi-humanoid form and the fact that it has crude but well-developed grasping hands, despite the fact that it has never been observed to use tools. Such traits only make sense in a creature that was once a climber. The excellent climbing abilities it demonstrates in the films is more evidence for this. The I. Raptus drone has a generally similar body plan to a human, so a not too dissimilar evolutionary history of descent from tree-dwelling to ground-dwelling would make sense.

Evidence for the acid blood not actually having a low pH in the creature’s body can be found in Alien Resurrection. The Ripley-hybrid uses hemoglobin (we know this because her blood is red) and probably many other human proteins (melanin, for instance, since she’s not an albino), which would almost certainly not last long in a bath of concentrated industrial strength acid, yet her blood has the same acidic qualities. There are also many other factors pointing to I. Raptus physiology not being profoundly alien enough for such phenomenally low pH blood to be viable, such as the fact that they use DNA, can presumably live on foods such as may be found in the Nostromo’s stores, and can parasitize off humans despite the fact that our blood should be like Draino to such an organism (in fact all this makes them a lot closer to us biochemically than a true alien probably would be, perhaps some form of panspermia is at work in Alien universe). Concentrated acid blood is problematic on a very fundamental level since it would destroy virtually any long molecule, so it does not seem very likely to be a necessary aspect of the creature’s physiology. On the other, as was pointed out in Alien, it makes a wonderful defense mechanism, and perfect sense as a chemical weapon against predators.

There has been speculation that Internicivus Raptus can survive on inorganic carbonates such as stone, which it would dissolve with acid secretions (see Anchorpoint Articles), but I see no compelling evidence for this unlikely ability. If Internicivus Raptus could get most or all the nourishment it needed from rock it would not have gone to all the evolutionary trouble of becoming an efficient predator, and it would not need teeth, which it obviously has. Its rapid growth in Alien can be easily explained by it raiding the ship’s food stores. As for AvP, it seems only logical that the Predators would have left food for their hunt animals. I do infer a relatively wide diet however, based on its ability to derive nourishment from human food stores, which would probably mostly be unappetizing to a strict carnivore.

The idea of a Raptus “king” is invoked as an alternate, more evolutionarily plausible, explanation for the Runner alien in Alien 3. So where were the kings in Aliens, A:R, and AvP? In Aliens the answer is probably just that it was there and we never saw it. Alternately, I. Raptus queens might practice sexual cannibalism, like praying mantises. As for the one in AvP, that can easily be explained by the queen having a spermatheca-like organ in which it preserves sperm, similar to that found in some insects on Earth, so that it would only need to mate once. The queen in A:R was obviously a mutant, so that can probably be dismissed.
The Predalien is more difficult to explain without invoking the dreaded “they take on the characteristics of their hosts” concept, and I can’t even begin to imagine how such an ability could have evolved. One possibility is to simply dismiss as a random mutant; a freak like the ones in A:R, but this reeks of desperation. Another possibility is that it is an artificial ability, introduced to the “domesticated” Raptus stock maintained by the Predators in order to make them more challenging opponents, which is not present in natural Raptus stock and may or may not have been present in the Raptus stock represented in the LV-426 derelict. This is probably the better option; it allows us to admit the obvious without accepting the premise that Internicivus Raptus must be a wholly artificial lifeform without a natural history.

[Memphet'ran]

SPECULATION: THE LV-426 DERELICT

Now that we’ve worked out a possible natural history for Internicivus Raptus the obvious question is how it came to be on LV-426. We know that the Predators hunt Internicivus Raptus for sport, so this suggests one obvious possibility. But the derelict ship on LV-426 was not a Predator ship, or at least its pilot was clearly not a Predator. So what did his race want with a hold full of Raptus eggs? One theory is that they were bioweapons, though I have always been dubious about this. While Internicivus Raptus is certainly a magnificent predator it would not pose a very serious threat to a properly prepared modern military (although presumably with some modifications it might, as it supposedly would have been worth billions to Weyland-Yutani’s bioweapons division).

It seems likely that the derelict’s builders (sometimes referred to as the “Space Jockeys”) had contact with the Predators, since they both acquired I. Raptus somehow. The most likely scenario is probably that the Predators acquired their Raptus stock from the Space Jockeys. One might imagine a scenario like this. The Space Jockeys found Internicivus Raptus’s planet of origin many millennia ago. Upon learning of Internicivus Raptus’s unusual nature they determined that the Predators might find them interesting to hunt. Apparently Raptus hunting quickly became all the rage with the Predators, and the Jockeys no doubt profited handsomely, providing the Predators with drone eggs for their hunts, either collected from the Raptus homeworld or bred from their own captive stock. Of course, their profits would have depended entirely on the Predators never acquiring a fertilized queen of their own, and since we know the Preds had access to at least one as of AvP the trade probably dried up long ago. But at some point before that there was an accident on one of the cargo ships, the crew was forced to set down on LV-426, some facehuggers got loose, and… well, you know the rest. Alternately, perhaps the LV-426 derelict was a Predator ship and the pilot’s species was a slave or subject race of the Predators.


ALTERNATE SPECULATION: COULD INTERNICIVUS RAPTUS AND THE PREDATORS BE FROM THE SAME PLANET?

The Predators seem to share some rather interesting characteristics with Internicivus Raptus, that seem to suggest they may come from rather similar planets. They are both rather implausibly tough animals, suggesting evolution in a quite hostile “green hell” environment. Like Internicivus Raptus the Predators have characteristics that would seem to indicate origin in a hot environment (their notorious love of heat), yet they are able to function just fine in Antarctica with an apparent minimum of protective clothing (presumably the film studio decided Predators bundled up like polar explorers just wouldn’t look very threatening), suggesting they too possess a variable metabolism that can be supercharged in response to cold. It seems a bit of a coincidence that the two species would both come from very similar planets (although, in fairness, given how many eccentric gas giants there are among real life known exoplanets, worlds something like the one that produced Internicivus Raptus may not be all that rare). Could it be that they actually evolved on the same world?

While there are some interesting similarities between Internicivus Raptus and Predators (they both have green blood, for instance) there are very great morphological differences, suggesting they come from very different evolutionary lineages. Internicivus Raptus has an exoskeleton, the Predators do not. Internicivus Raptus has no eyes, the Predator does, although they do not function like our eyes, seeing in infrared rather than visible light wavelengths. Internicivus Raptus lacks the distinctive Predator jaw configuration, indicating a divergence going back farther than the first creatures with movable jaws. Yet Earth also has its land dominated by two very divergent lineages of animals: insects and vertebrates. It doesn’t seem beyond possibility that a planet could have two competing lineages of large land animals. One might envision a scenario in which the decimation of its host species which first compelled I. Raptus to diversify its hosts was part of a general mass extinction that wiped out most of its order of life, setting the stage for the Predator’s distant ancestors to take over. In this case Internicivus Raptus would be a survivor from an earlier era on the Predator homeworld, like crocodiles are on Earth. It would certainly explain the importance of Internicivus Raptus to the Predators: I. Raptus would have probably have been the early Predators’ greatest natural enemy. One of the first great projects of an emerging Predator civilization would probably have been the systematic destruction of the nests of Internicivus Raptus. Internicivus Raptus would undoubtedly have featured prominently in early Predator mythology and cosmology; if this theory is correct one wonders if the hunts they carry out today might not actually be religious rituals, like the Mayan’s ceremonial ball games. They certainly seem to incorporate elements that one would not normally associate with simple sport hunting (the “duels” at the end of the first and second films, the ritualized scarification with the blood of the first Raptus killed seen in AvP, the cop being allowed to live at the end of Predator II).

Of course, it this theory is correct we must explain the Space Jockeys. Perhaps, as was already pointed out, the pilot of the derelict was a slave or subject race of the Predators. Alternately, perhaps the Predators were once a slave or subject race of the Space Jockeys, and later gained their independence one way or another.

[Mad Luddite]

I hope the reaction of "HOLY MACAROLI" doesn't insult the intellectuality of your work. Interesting, though. I may... read beyond the first few paragraphs sometime.

*scratches ass, belches*

[Hymenbreach]

Magnificently entertaining.

One or two points. A inability to conserve foodstuff and acid blood suggest to me that the I. Raptus is still a prey animal and not the apex predator. (It's also possible that there main prey animal breeds extremely quickly). The acid blood I suppose could be explained your way or by it a common feature on its homeworld coming further back in the evolutionary line than the Raptus' core ancestor.

Another problem is the lack of eyes you mentioned, which on earth analogues indicates subterraenaen habitats, although it is not impossible to imagine fungoid underground tree-analogues.

I'd like also propose a twist or two on your Pred-Xeno-Jockey relationship. Perhaps Predators are not the only species that ritually hunts? Perhaps the Space Jockey picked up supplies independently on Pred/raptus world and picked up a meat animal unwittingly infected?

[Memphet'ran]

Originally Posted by Hymenbreach

Magnificently entertaining.

Thank you!

One or two points. A inability to conserve foodstuff and acid blood suggest to me that the I. Raptus is still a prey animal and not the apex predator. (It's also possible that there main prey animal breeds extremely quickly). The acid blood I suppose could be explained your way or by it a common feature on its homeworld coming further back in the evolutionary line than the Raptus' core ancestor.

True. I did leave in the possibility that there were still things around the were dangerous to the xenomorphs on their homeworld, in fact I'd say it makes sense.

I can see the planet having large predators that are dangers to xenomorphs. I think the early man analogy can be used here. By the late ice age humans were probably the most successful animal on the planet, but bears and saber-tooths were still dangerous to them.

Another problem is the lack of eyes you mentioned, which on earth analogues indicates subterraenaen habitats, although it is not impossible to imagine fungoid underground tree-analogues.

The problem with that is underground habitats usually have relatively constant temperatures, so the variable metabolism wouldn't make sense.

I'd kind of always assumed that eyes as we know it just didn't exist on the xenomorph homeworld; they used some alternate equivalent. You did have the "xeno eye view" shots from Alien 3, which suggest it can see somehow. One idea I had was that it might have special light-sensitive nerves in the skin of its face, and the brain would put together the messages from those nerves into a sort of image, so its whole face would sort of be a big "eye".

On the other hand it was pointed out in a thread on SDN that the creature in Alien apparently has empty eye sockets under its skin, suggesting it did have eyes at one time and they atrophied. And the creatures do seem to like underground spaces, or tight spaces like the Nostromo's air ducts.

One possible solution I can think of is that they hunted mostly at night, and when they moved out of the trees they started building their nests in caves instead. This would be pretty consistent with the movies. Remember Newt saying they mostly came at night?

I'd like also propose a twist or two on your Pred-Xeno-Jockey relationship. Perhaps Predators are not the only species that ritually hunts?

It would be interesting if the Space Jockeys landed on a planet full of xenos and primitive Preds, and used it as a hunting resort for their rich and powerful, using the Preds as native guides, porters, and huntsmen. Later when they left this became fused with the Preds pre-existing tribal myths and traditions, giving rise to the ritualized hunting the Preds do now.

Perhaps the Space Jockey picked up supplies independently on Pred/raptus world and picked up a meat animal unwittingly infected?

Also possible.

[bullethead]

Great work Memphet'ran. A great read (and probably less aneurysm inducing than trying to do the same for the Species creatures ).

On the Alien having eyes- I've seen a picture of an Alien skull with eye sockets. However, what was most interesting was that the front of the skull looked pretty much identical to a human skull. Unfortunately, I didn't save it and I don't remember where I saw it.

[Damar]

One thing, I think Xenos have yellow instead of green luminating blood.

[Hymenbreach]

Originally Posted by Memphet'ran

Thank you!
True. I did leave in the possibility that there were still things around the were dangerous to the xenomorphs on their homeworld, in fact I'd say it makes sense.

I can see the planet having large predators that are dangers to xenomorphs. I think the early man analogy can be used here. By the late ice age humans were probably the most successful animal on the planet, but bears and saber-tooths were still dangerous to them.

Shudder, just thinking of a huge, monstrous Xeno-Anteater Analog...

The problem with that is underground habitats usually have relatively constant temperatures, so the variable metabolism wouldn't make sense.

I'd kind of always assumed that eyes as we know it just didn't exist on the xenomorph homeworld; they used some alternate equivalent. You did have the "xeno eye view" shots from Alien 3, which suggest it can see somehow. One idea I had was that it might have special light-sensitive nerves in the skin of its face, and the brain would put together the messages from those nerves into a sort of image, so its whole face would sort of be a big "eye".

On the other hand it was pointed out in a thread on SDN that the creature in Alien apparently has empty eye sockets under its skin, suggesting it did have eyes at one time and they atrophied. And the creatures do seem to like underground spaces, or tight spaces like the Nostromo's air ducts.

One possible solution I can think of is that they hunted mostly at night, and when they moved out of the trees they started building their nests in caves instead. This would be pretty consistent with the movies. Remember Newt saying they mostly came at night?

I agree the atrophied eyesockets indicates a move into cave systems (or alternately, developing on a planet where the sunlight dramatically decreases but does not affect the biosphere - which is certainly an 'alien' concept). The problem with the alien is that we do not see them particularly sensitive to light (either photosensitivity or information blindness).

I can't argue with your alternative vision thing tho (but it could be smell, etc (the a3 reference could have been the sense of smell made 'visible' for human audiences),

[soloista]

The AVP:R Predalien, if you look closely, and in the figure being sold, it has eye sockets underneath that translucent outer shell.

[An Ancient]

What about this, perhaps the creatures that hunted I. raptus during the winter periods were the Predators ancestors? This would explain their greater development (by being active all year earlier).

[Bryan]

It's a good read. B ut potent and strong acids have LOW pH. Bases have high pH.

Acids are less than 7 and bases above 7.

[Memphet'ran]

Originally Posted by Bryan

It's a good read. But potent and strong acids have LOW pH. Bases have high pH.

Damn! This is what happens when you try to do technical stuff from memory. I've edited it.

Incidentally, on the eye socket issue, I did a Google image search for a pic of the xeno skull on the trophy wall in Predator II, and I managed to find a pretty good one.



The xenomorph is the one in the upper right corner. It has no eye sockets. Though the creature in Alien might have been different. Does anyone have a screencap where you can see the eye sockets?

[Hymenbreach]

Originally Posted by Memphet'ran

Damn! This is what happens when you try to do technical stuff from memory. I've edited it.

Incidentally, on the eye socket issue, I did a Google image search for a pic of the xeno skull on the trophy wall in Predator II, and I managed to find a pretty good one.



The xenomorph is the one in the upper right corner. It has no eye sockets. Though the creature in Alien might have been different. Does anyone have a screencap where you can see the eye sockets?

Is it me or is that other skull one of the space Jockeys?

[Memphet'ran]

Originally Posted by Hymenbreach

Shudder, just thinking of a huge, monstrous Xeno-Anteater Analog...

I was envisioning something more like a brutish Kodiak bear sized vaguely xenomorph-esque beast in my mind, but now that you mentioned it the idea of some huge monster that slurps xenomorphs out of their nests with its tongue is pretty awesome.

Originally Posted by Hymenbreach

Is it me or is that other skull one of the space Jockeys?

I don't think so, Space Jockey skulls look like this (they seem almost to have a kind of xenomorph-like exoskeleton, interestingly):



It does have a large braincase though. I think it's probably another unrelated sapient that the Predators hunt, like humans.

[Memphet'ran]

Originally Posted by Damar

One thing, I think Xenos have yellow instead of green luminating blood.

I'm pretty sure it is green, but you're right that they really don't look much alike. Xeno blood is more of a pea-soup color, Pred blood is a lighter green, thicker, and it seems to have some phospherescent chemical in it.

Originally Posted by bullethead

Great work Memphet'ran. A great read (and probably less aneurysm inducing than trying to do the same for the Species creatures).

Thanks! Maybe I should do them next. I doubt it's possible to derive any kind of evolutionary history for them though; they're both obviously artificial and much too screwed up (just trying to work out a plausible life cycle from the mess that passes for continuity in that universe would be a challenge).

On the Alien having eyes- I've seen a picture of an Alien skull with eye sockets. However, what was most interesting was that the front of the skull looked pretty much identical to a human skull. Unfortunately, I didn't save it and I don't remember where I saw it.

Might you be thinking of this?



Giger did supposedly originally design the Alien to have a human skull under its face to create a subliminally disturbing creature, but the idea was dropped in later movies and there aren't any eye sockets on the skull we see in the Pred ship. You gotta admit the idea is creepy though.

[MJ12 Commando]

The Xenomorph might likely hunt via a combination of echolocation, smell, and hearing.

We know that Predator cloaking systems, which are pretty much total electromagnetic cloaks, don't hide one from them, after all.

Furthermore, if the Predator and Xeno evolved on the same planet, perhaps the primary spectrum that the sun gave out was infrared light? The Yautja sees in that spectrum natively, after all, and the Xeno doesn't seem to use our visual spectrum to see-which would make sense if the star didn't put out much in that spectrum.

If many animals saw in infrared, a low IR signature would also have been a secondary advantage, as in the thick lower undergrowth of this jungle world, they'd have been much harder to spot. Notice that both these species have extremely low IR signatures naturally, and the Predators have augmented it further with their cloaking.

[Memphet'ran]

Originally Posted by MJ12 Commando

Furthermore, if the Predator and Xeno evolved on the same planet, perhaps the primary spectrum that the sun gave out was infrared light?

That would probably imply it's a planet of a red or brown dwarf star. Or more likely a moon of a planet of a red dwarf, so tidal locking isn't a problem.

Hmm, I once theorized that vegetation on a planet like that would be black, in order to drink in as much of the reduced light as possible. Black vegetation that just sounds so appropriate for the xenomorph planet of origin, stylistically.

[krinsbez]

I LOVE these sorts of articles.

Query: will you follow up with an article on Preds?

[Eisen]

One thought is for the Xeno's to have something like an insect eye, but slightly decentralized. Rather than 2 complex eyes, hundreds of simple ones scattered across the front of the head. It would be many pinhead sized black dots against black skin/chiton. It would be horrible for reading text or picking out a particular shape at long range, but very good for motion, and OK for close range shapes.

Somewhat off subject, but I'd like them to make up their mind. In the Alien movies, Xeno's seemed to have exoskeletons. In the Pred movies they at least have a bony skull with skin over it.

[StarSpawn]

'Species' was mentioned but it was a given that the superpredator from the movie of the same name were a artifical construct, specificaly made to wiped out intelligent competion.
How 'Species' (Theron Carlizous Raptor) would interact and develop on the Yautja/ Internicivus Raptus homeworld, but it would be one very scary battle that is for sure.

[bullethead]

Originally Posted by Memphet'ran

Might you be thinking of this?



Giger did supposedly originally design the Alien to have a human skull under its face to create a subliminally disturbing creature, but the idea was dropped in later movies and there aren't any eye sockets on the skull we see in the Pred ship. You gotta admit the idea is creepy though.

Yeah, that's it.

[SGTschlock]

Originally Posted by Memphet'ran

While there are some interesting similarities between Internicivus Raptus and Predators (they both have green blood, for instance) there are very great morphological differences, suggesting they come from very different evolutionary lineages. Internicivus Raptus has an exoskeleton, the Predators do not. Internicivus Raptus has no eyes, the Predator does, although they do not function like our eyes, seeing in infrared rather than visible light wavelengths. Internicivus Raptus lacks the distinctive Predator jaw configuration, indicating a divergence going back farther than the first creatures with movable jaws. Yet Earth also has its land dominated by two very divergent lineages of animals: insects and vertebrates. It doesn’t seem beyond possibility that a planet could have two competing lineages of large land animals. One might envision a scenario in which the decimation of its host species which first compelled I. Raptus to diversify its hosts was part of a general mass extinction that wiped out most of its order of life, setting the stage for the Predator’s distant ancestors to take over. In this case Internicivus Raptus would be a survivor from an earlier era on the Predator homeworld, like crocodiles are on Earth. It would certainly explain the importance of Internicivus Raptus to the Predators: I. Raptus would have probably have been the early Predators’ greatest natural enemy. One of the first great projects of an emerging Predator civilization would probably have been the systematic destruction of the nests of Internicivus Raptus. Internicivus Raptus would undoubtedly have featured prominently in early Predator mythology and cosmology; if this theory is correct one wonders if the hunts they carry out today might not actually be religious rituals, like the Mayan’s ceremonial ball games. They certainly seem to incorporate elements that one would not normally associate with simple sport hunting (the “duels” at the end of the first and second films, the ritualized scarification with the blood of the first Raptus killed seen in AvP, the cop being allowed to live at the end of Predator II).

This seems unlikely. Predators are tough, but I doubt they could survive their pre technological stage against the I. Raptus. They have enough trouble decked out with their hunting gear.

Originally Posted by Hymenbreach

Shudder, just thinking of a huge, monstrous Xeno-Anteater Analog...

I don't think even the most hard of Predators would want to dabble into hunting that...

Originally Posted by An Ancient

What about this, perhaps the creatures that hunted I. raptus during the winter periods were the Predators ancestors? This would explain their greater development (by being active all year earlier).

Witch doesn't make sense. Predators have trouble hunting I.Raptus with energy weapons, and extremely high quality melee weapons of unknown weapons (but presumably better than anything we have today).

I just don't see a predator fighting off multiple xenomorphs with a stone spear. And killing an I. Raptus in close combat would still leave one Predator severely burned, and he would not recover without the aid of advanced medical tech.

[bullethead]

Another thing to take into consideration is that the Predator's natural sight doesn't allow for them to see any I. Raptus unless they are moving as seen in AvP, although the local conditions following the pyramids destruction could have created enough contrast between the Queen and the local environment. If they evolved on the same planet, it seems pretty strange that they couldn't sense the I. raptus while the I. raptus could sense them (unless they were separated by a geographic boundary neither of them could easily bypass).

A bit off-topic Memphet'ran, but you might have an easier time explaining away some of the weird shit from Species II/III as having to do with the Mars alien DNA getting fucked up. That said, I don't want to think about an Alien/Species creature hybrid...

[Memphet'ran]

Sorry I took so long replying to some of these, I've been busy designing a rocket for my uni the last couple of days.

Originally Posted by krinsbez

I LOVE these sorts of articles.
Query: will you follow up with an article on Preds?

Thank you. I hadn't really thought of doing another article on the Predators, no, I don't know if we really know enough about them for an essay like this. We don't even know, for example, basic things like whether or not they have seperate genders or are hermaphrodites. Of course, there is the AvP EU, but I'm not very familiar with it, and what I do know about it makes me disinclined to get more familiar with it to be honest (they turned the Preds into another Space Viking type race).

Originally Posted by Eisen

Somewhat off subject, but I'd like them to make up their mind. In the Alien movies, Xeno's seemed to have exoskeletons. In the Pred movies they at least have a bony skull with skin over it.

The best way to rationalize it is probably that the exoskeleton is like an armadillo's shell: it's armor, not support; probably something that evolved well after animals on that planet colonized the land. Of course, you'd expect an animal like that to bit more slow-moving and heavy. Maybe the exoskeleton is some kind of unusually lightweight material. Alternately, they actually do seem rather slow-moving most of the time; they just can be fast when they need to be.

[Memphet'ran]

Originally Posted by SGTschlock

This seems unlikely. Predators are tough, but I doubt they could survive their pre technological stage against the I. Raptus. They have enough trouble decked out with their hunting gear.

That's true. It was just one possibility, not necessarily the most plausible one.

Originally Posted by bullethead

A bit off-topic Memphet'ran, but you might have an easier time explaining away some of the weird shit from Species II/III as having to do with the Mars alien DNA getting fucked up.

Yeah, that's the theory I'm leaning toward too. My pet theory is that the race that sent the transmission sent a probe to Earth a couple of thousand years ago and deliberately contaminated both Earth and Mars with the virus. On Earth the infestation got wiped out when the Romans/ancient Egyptians/whoever was around at the time quickly stumbled on the blood weakness and some local lord's troops killed all the hybrids before they could spread very far. On Mars it just froze and sat in the dirt, getting totally fucked up by a couple of thousand years of unfiltered UV-induced mutations.

It's the only way I can think of to bludgeon it into making sense. Well, actually not really, but it lets me have a Roman Legion vs. a village full of Species hybrids. Man, they should totally have made that instead of Species III.