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Iguanodon't

@iguanodont / iguanodont.tumblr.com

It’s a-me! The birgworld person! Eternally battling burnout :D

Revisiting my designs for the “fish” of birgworld

Most notable change is moving their “gills” to the tail, where they are completely covered by skin/exoskeleton in derived species, and water is pumped over them either by motion of the tail or with a siphon on the belly. The siphon also aids in expelling mucous and waste material as a defensive measure. They propel themselves in an up and down motion inherited from the paddles of the ancestral form (top drawing), most of which have been modified into internal gills in modern species.

Also worth noting; the mouthparts are shown at least partially extended in all these sketches, but they would normally be folded flat against the head or tucked into the mouth when not in use.

Commissioned illustration for @xensilverquill of her original dragon design: the woodland amphithere! If you think it’s neat, I highly recommend checking out this post to learn more about its biology and see the adorable crocheted sculpture this drawing was based on :)

just came across this blog. in love with the idea of plants with mobile / "bug"-like seeds. how does gardening / farming work when the seeds might not stay where you planted them?

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Depends a lot on the species! Feathervanes have developed a variety of strategies for dispersing, and some have evolved out of motile life stages entirely! However, for the motile species that do get farmed, those that don’t naturally die after a couple of days are usually drowned or smoked to kill the gametophyte while preserving the spore within prior to planting, and the mechanical act of pressing them into the dirt often damages the legs anyway.

However, the real challenge is figuring out how to harvest them before they wander off. There are plenty of solutions to this as well, but here are a few common examples;

Exhibit a: simple cultivate a crop whose gametophytes are too large or clumsy to escape the ovary. This crop derived from a plant whose “walking seeds” were built to emerge simultaneously in a very short time span, and before the development of this cultivar its harvest had to be carefully timed to *just* before emergence time.

Exhibit b: A treelike species whose gametophytes climb the tall stalk of the parent and wait on the branches to be carried off by avians. While collecting them from branch tips is possible, many farmers found it much easier to simply attach a disc a few feet above the ground to halt their progress to hard to access heights.

Exhibit c: Moats/trenches are utilized both as an efficient growing technique and to trap any escaping gametophytes, which can then be scooped up from the bottom.

How do birgs stylize their artwork to make the subjects seems ‘divine’ or ‘angelic?’ Like how in earthen cultures, wings, halos, golden glows, and sometimes other animal features and extra limbs are added to make something seem ‘godly.’ What’s the birg equivalent to that?

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Depends on the culture. The central Twowi religion believes all gods and spirits originate from an “inverted world” that hangs above the material world, and represents this by drawing divine entities with upside down faces. Perfectly round faces also invoke the forms of celestial bodies, considered the heads or eyes of these beings peering through the vaulted ceiling of the sky. Many satellites of the Twowi also use the upside-down head motif, but it is usually only a seasonal aspect of gods that change form and role with the shifting seasons.

Lower right depicts a “moon consort” priest, which I hope to expand on in its own post eventually. Their garb resembles the body of a black avian, and they serve as astrologers and guardians of hibernating clans.

The “centaur” god is a common and versatile figure in Kakroum belief systems, embodying strength, protection, and virility.

Two avian creatures native to the equatorial tundras and mountainous regions of birgworld. Jhujũjo (nicknamed “snowhoppers” by human observers) is a small, grouse-like animal that browses for feathervane fronds and seeds. The males gather in first spring to display in open areas. After claiming a mate, he will guard her fiercely and feed her larvae until they emerge as fledgelings in summer.

Wãbũitəha is an avian predator that features in many local legends. The Twowi name for this creature roughly translates to “Winter’s Soaring Knife”, a reference to beliefs in it being an incarnation of the blade that reaps life in early winter to prepare the world for new life in the spring.

This was actually a commission for @mfkayenne on twitter! And special thanks to @sirenafaculto and @primalmuckygoop for help with the names/script and the cultural lore, respectively

Occurs to me that the details might be difficult to see in the full image so here it is broken into pieces

Two avian creatures native to the equatorial tundras and mountainous regions of birgworld. Jhujũjo (nicknamed “snowhoppers” by human observers) is a small, grouse-like animal that browses for feathervane fronds and seeds. The males gather in first spring to display in open areas. After claiming a mate, he will guard her fiercely and feed her larvae until they emerge as fledgelings in summer.

Wãbũitəha is an avian predator that features in many local legends. The Twowi name for this creature roughly translates to “Winter’s Soaring Knife”, a reference to beliefs in it being an incarnation of the blade that reaps life in early winter to prepare the world for new life in the spring.

This was actually a commission for @mfkayenne on twitter! And special thanks to @sirenafaculto and @primalmuckygoop for help with the names/script and the cultural lore, respectively

do you have a discord server? If you dont already then make one please (i could help you make it if you want)

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Currently I do not have my own server, partly because I’m already plenty active in several others and feel that making another would be redundant. If I decide to make a patreon or expand my kofi I may open a server as a low level tier, if that’s something people are interested in. Thanks for the offer though!

Birg hair! Do they all have the same short hair or are there different types? Like long or curly. When I think about it I start thinking about all the different breeds of sheep XD

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heh. Nice username..

Yeah, their hair length and texture can vary a lot by region. Curly haired birgs are pretty uncommon, but not unheard of, especially in some isolated communities. The bottom two sketches depict phenotypes commonly found on the southern landmass.

Anonymous asked:

I’ve seen your birg art a lot and I love it so much! You even inspired me to start my own alien worldbuilding project. But even after seeing your many birg drawings, I still can’t get a handle on their anatomy… do you have any posts that break down what their bodies look like/how they function?

I am assuming you mean external anatomy, correct me if I’m wrong and I may consider a more comprehensive anatomy post in the future. In the meantime, here are some posts that you may find useful.

Some sketches of birgs at various angles and positions here

A drawing of a birg’s skeleton here

An animation of how their jaws move here

Animation of how they breathe (slightly outdated but good enough) here

And some fresh sketches just to give you a convenient overview of their joint positions and examples of hand motion.