Richard's Animorphs Forum
Animorphs Section => Animorphs Forum Classic => Topic started by: super_sonic on June 22, 2009, 01:58:58 PM
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I wonder how Andalites manage to reproduce and go to the bathroom...
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I'm pretty sure they have a butt and penis/vagina. So going to the bathroom shouldn't be hard.
Reproducing is debatable. It would be inconvenient for an Andalite child to suck milk through its hooves. I thin babies may have an immediate ability to eat grass after birth. It's never really explained.
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somehow I always pictured Andalites as mammals and nursing their babies until they can eat solid food.
They do have arms, so I can imagine them holding their babies and nursing them.
It must be very pretty to see that. Andalite babies must be very cute. :cry:
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this question came to mind before but i tried hard not to think about it because the image of Andalites having(or trying to have) sex is kinda gross, and I can imagine it'd be pretty awkward to watch, just like watching them swim. as for bathrooms....well I don't know if they have private areas but I'm pretty sure they have butts so I'm guessing that's how they use the bathroom
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I imagine that Andalite sex strongly resembles horse sex. Or, centaurian sex, if you want to get a more a accurate picture. The female's tail wouldn't pose any sort of problem; it would be raised similar to an attack position.
somehow I always pictured Andalites as mammals and nursing their babies until they can eat solid food.
They do have arms, so I can imagine them holding their babies and nursing them.
It must be very pretty to see that. Andalite babies must be very cute. :cry:
I sincerely doubt that Andalite parents ever hold their newborns. I think Andalite infants would be capable of walking within a few minutes of birth, like horses and giraffes and other ungulates.
And, I also doubt they have an equivalent to nursing; I think young andalite's would be able to eat grass fairly soon after birth.
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Still they're probably so cute the parents can't resist holding them even though they already know how to walk, like with earth babies
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No, I disagree; first of all, I just don't think Andalites get the urge to hold things in their arms at all; their arms didn't really evolve for things like that. Kinda like how the concept of human-style throwing bewilders both Elfangor and Alloran/Esplin in the Andalite Chronicles.
But even if they did, I doubt that their frail arms would be able to hold even a new-born Andalite.
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There is no mention of Andalites being mammals aside from the fact that they have fur. Female Andalites don't seem to have mammary grands. I think that baby Andalites can absorb nutrients as soon as they are born . no need to grow teeth or anything. Plus i have been wondering since they communicate though thought speak. can an unborn baby Andalite talk to its mother?
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Plus i have been wondering since they communicate though thought speak. can an unborn baby Andalite talk to its mother?
I don't see why not really... unless the brain has to "mature" a bit beforehand...
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A newborn may not be able to compose their thoughts well enough to speak properly. It might be like hearing a toddler speak. Mostly gibberish.
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In Ellimist Chronicles the Andalites didn't really have words, just emotions via thoughtspeak. So it's possible that newborns only broadcast emotions (what more does an infant need to communicate? Anger, hunger, etc) and words have to be learned later in life.
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Okay, we know that andalites have "waste dispossal systems" however I think that they simply do not work like human toliets. Actually I think it would be possible for andalites to only urinate since Ax dosen't seem to worry about the possibility of his droppings being found. Personaly I think they breed the same as other equine (horse like) species
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How does grass digest? Would it tend to digest as a solid or a liquid? And what about other things that may enter the system by accident? Such as snails (btw, does that make the Andalites omnivores?)
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I thought they absorbed nutrients (and water) directly through the hooves? If so, then there wouldn't be a need for digestion.
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That's true. So would they even have a need for urination then? Maybe any excess nutrients they just...sweat out
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Okay, we know that andalites have "waste dispossal systems" however I think that they simply do not work like human toliets. Actually I think it would be possible for andalites to only urinate since Ax dosen't seem to worry about the possibility of his droppings being found. Personaly I think they breed the same as other equine (horse like) species
I don't think they only urinate. There was a line in Andalite Chronicles where it says:
"The tactical officer — the T.O. — looked at us like we might be a couple of pieces of dung stuck to his hoof."
As far as their breeding goes, I would guess that their anatomy is structured more like deer are, since their lower half of their bodies resemble deer more than horses. Plus, buck deer have very subtle reproduction parts, as opposed to stallions who can be notoriously obvious.
An interesting thought would be if Andalites had pheromones or not.
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Doesn't necessarily have to be Andalite poop. There are other creatures on the Andalite home world, and generally the word "dung" refers to animal (as in non-sentient animal) scat.
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Being a mother I could never imagine not holding my child. I'm sure since their arms are so weak, and thinking how much an andalite infant would compare in size that only embracing is possible. One thing that gets me is a fawn or foal can stand up not too long after birth, but the bone structure of a human infant takes sometimes months to be able to hold up their own head. I wonder how long it takes an andalite to carry their young..
A human is 9 months. An elephant is 2 years. That's earth, who knows about aliens? Maybe they mature much faster.
I believe they would be able to absorb nutrients through grass an such quickly after birth.
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Andalites seem to have a longer life span than humans - although that's relative, since they go by a different calendar, obviously. Still, I think that Andalites likely develop faster than human infants. As you mentioned, Alic, their arms are probably too weak to hold their infants, and as they require movement to eat they probably learn to walk almost immediately after birth. Which isn't so uncommon, really. Their first few months of life they are obviously going to be unsteady and wobbly, and therefore restricted to the scoop. I'm thinking that their tail blades also grow in after birth (like humans with teeth), as that would wreak havoc on a mother's womb.
Intellectually they seem to mature fairly quickly as well. The height of human society is simple to Ax, and he often comments that a mere child could do what adult humans can do. Obviously some of this is due to the fact that Andalites have had more time to develop scientifically, but some of it also could be attributed to the speed at which they learn. If young children can do advanced math (by human terms), then that says a lot for their brain capacity.
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Andalites seem to have a longer life span than humans - although that's relative, since they go by a different calendar, obviously. Still, I think that Andalites likely develop faster than human infants. As you mentioned, Alic, their arms are probably too weak to hold their infants, and as they require movement to eat they probably learn to walk almost immediately after birth. Which isn't so uncommon, really. Their first few months of life they are obviously going to be unsteady and wobbly, and therefore restricted to the scoop. I'm thinking that their tail blades also grow in after birth (like humans with teeth), as that would wreak havoc on a mother's womb.
Intellectually they seem to mature fairly quickly as well. The height of human society is simple to Ax, and he often comments that a mere child could do what adult humans can do. Obviously some of this is due to the fact that Andalites have had more time to develop scientifically, but some of it also could be attributed to the speed at which they learn. If young children can do advanced math (by human terms), then that says a lot for their brain capacity.
or it could simply be that the Andalites have had more experience with technology than we have. they have had the luxery of being a long established race. Humanity is just starting up but we are catching up fast and as Ax stated in one of the books, eventually we could rival the andalites in terms of Tech or even surpass them.
on the infant thing, the andalites have ready knowledge about how to make stuff from being an established race while Humanity is still fumbling around in the dark. a modern day 5 grader knows more about math than a 15th century serf.
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True, but if we became capable of Z-space travel, do you think that humans would be doing calculus in 5th grade? I don't think so. I don't think a 5th grade human has the capacity to do calculus, unless they're some sort of prodigy. No matter how advanced our technology becomes.
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Actually, if Andalites are anything like earth horses, they probably have the nipples located on their undersides.
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How would the baby Andalite get their hoof to the nipple, though? Seems awkward.
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I was gonna write the same thing earlier terenia, aha. I can picture them trying to reach.
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I'm still going with nursing milk. I still think their mammals.
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I don't think they'd nurse. It seems impractical. If anything, as gross as this sounds, I think they might pre-chew grass for their young or something. Or just put it in a food processor and make baby food.
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I'm still going with nursing milk. I still think their mammals.
Keep in mind they are from a completely different planet. "Mammals" might not even exist in the form we know. The rules that make an animal a mammal might not be the same rules that make an alien mammal-like. Hell, for all we know Andalites lay eggs. :P
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Well, a lot of quadrupeds have to lay on their sides for their young to access the milk. Andalites could very well act the same way. That way it would be easy for the young to get their hooves at the right spot.
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Its been awhile since I read through the series so my memory could be off. but wasn't there a book where the Animorphs and Yeerks snuck onto a military base as horses to see what they were hiding and at the end Ax said it was just an Andalite toilet or something to that affect? Or am I remembering that wrong?
As for the newborn Andalites I also think they are mammals, just not nursing mammals. (look at the platypus, there's exceptions to every rule ;) ) I believe the majority of hoofed animals are capable of standing shortly after birth and since Andalites absorb nutrients by crushing the grass with their hoof. theoretically a baby Andalite should be able to feed itself shortly after learning to stand.
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the problem is that you people are thinking of it in the terms of Earth Classification of Animals. the Andalite world could be filled with animals that defy putting them in the terms of "mammals" "birds" or "reptiles"
we don't know :donno:
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What I want to know is, how do they even carry the baby? It seems like it would be awkward to fold up like most unborn babies do to fit.
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I've been trying to explain that they wouldn't carry their young.
Unless you mean 'carry' in the sense of gestation. In which case, I dunno.
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Yeah, I doubt they would carry a baby. They may hug the kid, but I highly doubt they would carry it.
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Maybe they have a very flexible spine when they aren't born yet and can fold easily amd hardens somtimes after birth. I wouldn't know.
And, well, Andalites don't really touch.
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I don't think they'd nurse. It seems impractical. If anything, as gross as this sounds, I think they might pre-chew grass for their young or something. Or just put it in a food processor and make baby food.
yeah. i don't think they'd nurse either.
maybe they could pre-trample the grass?
as for carrying the baby, i think they'd be too weak.
for all we know, they could have a marsupium..
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And as for delivering the baby, how much would it hurt to push out a kid with a tail blade? Do you think that forms later in life? When?
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it's probably like a rhino's horn or elephant tusks
though it would have to form pretty early, or else they'd be inseparable from their mother until it did, if there's a bunch of ****ing monsters running around eating people!!!!
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It's probably uber dull at birth, then at an older age, they sharpen it with use.
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I can't imagine a tail blade truly developing until after birth if, in fact, Andalites give live births (still unproven, btw).
As I (and others) have mentioned before, Andalites are NOT mammals! This is important to keep in mind! Mammal is an Earth classification of animals. Just b/c Andalites appear similar to mammals in many ways does not mean that they ARE mammals.
Another note, in regards to the carrying (post-partum) of young....I do not believe that this would be possible. Andalite infants, while likely small are still probably too large for weak Andalite arms to handle. Besides this, touching is generally avoided in the Andalite society. They are not intimate in the way that humans are. This could be a result of the lack of close physicality in infanthood.
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I can't imagine a tail blade truly developing until after birth if, in fact, Andalites give live births (still unproven, btw).
As I (and others) have mentioned before, Andalites are NOT mammals! This is important to keep in mind! Mammal is an Earth classification of animals. Just b/c Andalites appear similar to mammals in many ways does not mean that they ARE mammals.
Another note, in regards to the carrying (post-partum) of young....I do not believe that this would be possible. Andalite infants, while likely small are still probably too large for weak Andalite arms to handle. Besides this, touching is generally avoided in the Andalite society. They are not intimate in the way that humans are. This could be a result of the lack of close physicality in infanthood.
i agree. i don't think andalites mate/birth in any way similar to ours.
what's the chance of that happening, anyways? the whole universe isn't like us.
as to the tail problem, it's probably not developed at birth. either that or they could lay eggs.
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I'm drunk. Sorry if there are typos. But. If I remember correctly andalites don't like tp have more than one child due to it being difficut. I thik an egg woukld be easier than giving actua birth. Maybe they do actually have tailblades. Even small it could be harmful?
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In TAC it's said they don't have more than one child because their laws don't allow for it outside of war time, I don't recall it ever being mentioned that it's difficult, or more difficult than say a human mother giving birth.
As for the tail blades I can see them developing as the children grow, probably very fast but it makes a certain kind of sense. Nursing I just downright doubt however Andalites do have liquid grass for injured andalites to eat, so that implies that liquids are easier to process than solid grass so some form of nursing might indeed exist, or maybe parents just trample the grass with their hooves closed off so the nutriends are still there to be absorbed.
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Yeah I meant gestate, sorry. Unless they like lay eggs or something.
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Is the tailblade made of bone or a karatin like material? also maybe they're all gestated artificially?
also im gonna try to classify andalites based on what i know of them and my fascination with taxonomy
also omg maybe they do lay eggs and they use the tailblades to break the egg shell and get out since they dont have mouthes and eye teeth
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Whatever the tail blade is made out of is stronger than human bones, at least. Ax has been known to slice through both plexiglass and metal, and I doubt that plain old bone would have that result. Whatever makes up the tail blade is no-doubt stronger than bone. Also I never hear about Andalites "sharpening" their tail blades, so they have to be strong enough to endure battles and whatnot without dulling their blades too much.
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maybe an organic metal?
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That sounds most likely. Also, Andalite tail blades slice through human bone with ease, as we see several human's lose limbs thanks to Ax or Visser Three (ouchies).
Hork-Bajir blades are more like bone, I think. I remember reading somewhere that they dull over time...
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How does grass digest? Would it tend to digest as a solid or a liquid? And what about other things that may enter the system by accident? Such as snails (btw, does that make the Andalites omnivores?)
Ax mentioned that it was hard for him to get rid of a snail shell.