Resource:Speculative Evolution: Difference between revisions
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Within speculative evolution content, the details of these processes may be brushed aside or summarized, such as "it evolved to be poisonous and warns would-be predators with its blue coloration" or "it evolved a larger beak to take advantage of large nuts as a food source", which are easy to grasp and digest on their own; however, attempting to design macroevolutionary changes without a grasp on the underlying process can result in strange or unlikely adaptations. For example, evolving a fifth leg for stability--even if the final organism technically works and the fifth leg does indeed make it more stable, did an individual just mutate to have an extra leg one day? Why didn't it hinder its movement? How was this "fifth leg gene" able to spread through the population? While answering such questions in the text is generally optional, wildly unrealistic adaptations will not go unnoticed and may break the reader's suspension of disbelief.
===Anatomy and Biomechanics===
:''Main articles: [[Resource:Anatomy]] and [[Resource:Biomechanics]]''
To some extent, it is true that made-up creatures can have made-up anatomy. However, understanding the basics of anatomy and biomechanics can help keep continuity within the work itself and prevent situations that break the reader's suspension of disbelief.
===Creature Design===
:''Main article: [[Resource:Creature Design]]''
Despite some claims that speculative evolution is simply the hard sci-fi equivalent to creature design, good spec and good creature design are actually two different skills--and many popular and beloved speculative evolution projects incorporate good creature design principals just as much as evolutionary ones. Ultimately, the only difference between a monster with knife-hands and an organism which evolved blade-like foreclaws is presentation.
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