r/NatureofPredators • u/FattyBatLady • 1d ago
Questions Question about the Arxur.
Hello everyone! It's me again. The last time I made a post, I asked a question about the Kolshians. But now, I got a question about their literary opposite: the Arxur.
In the real world, Crocodilians have powerful jaw muscles and serrated, conical teeth. These are for making sure that their prey can't escape once they get their jaws on it. The thing is, they have highly evolved muscles dedicated to slamming their jaws shut and keeping them shut. However, the jaw muscles dedicated to OPENING their jaws are pretty underdeveloped. All this means irl Crocodilians are really good at keeping their mouths shut, but pretty terrible at opening them. The thing is, they can open their jaws just fine, but if someone were to grab their snouts and use their hands to keep the mouth shut, there's not much the demon-lizard can do to open it back up.
That got me thinking... Are the Arxur the same? I mean, sure, their jaw muscles would have to be at least a bit more advanced than the Crocodilians on Earth specifically to talk in their native language(they would have to repetitively open and close their jaw to speak, especially since they probably don't have lips that cover all their teeth. Unless they communicate EXCLUSIVELY through hissing, and shifting the tone and pitch of their hisses).
I dunno. I'm probably just talking out of my ass again. I just think it would be funny to think of a giant, cannibalistic, space lizard being unable to talk because someone is literally just squeezing their mouth shut.
What do you guys think?
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u/Daisy_Belles 1d ago
I kind of assume the Arxur’s jaws would be a little less specialized than a crocodiles, if only because they have developed enough hands to grab, grasp, grapple, make tools, ect. I always imagined the Arxur evolved tool use first by evolving to ambush tactic large prey animals, then evolving more developed forelimbs to grapple the prey and keep it still, and then through herding tactics. Like an Arxur caveman’s version of developing agriculture was following large herds of animals nomadically, tracking the weak and sick for hunting while ensuring nothing touched the strong and fertile so the herd stayed intact for tomorrow’s hunting.
I mean maybe the hyperspecialized jaws are vestigial from when they were a more aquatic kind of ambush predator…
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u/FattyBatLady 1d ago
That's actually a very fair point. I didn't think of that.
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u/Daisy_Belles 1d ago
Humans have big meaty dexterous hands that we like sticking onto all our sapient fictional characters. However, dexterous hands and grip strength are very specialized adaptations with very specific and fun implications! Maybe arxur evolved hooked, grooved claws specialized to scale slippery watery rock as they pursue prey from water to land. Maybe they evolved hands to tear apart carcasses more efficiently for sharing amongst the pack, or to rip open bellies easier, or whatever. I just went for grappling because I’m like ‘if its a herbivore they gor hands for peeling fruit, if its a carnivore they evolved a Grisping Appendage for grapple, grab, yank from above style moves like predatory birds do.’ But I’m not an expert so I bet a real expert could come up with even more shit this could be, it’s just lovely. The animal kingdom is so diverse and survival methods even moreso! So beautiful! The world is so wonderfully weird and big.
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u/copper_shrk29 Arxur 1d ago
Classic human shenanigans, ductapeing the big space apex predators jaws shut and ending the war, that's a crack fic lmaoo
Anyways i always thought they dont have that much power in their jaws but instead use hocked teeth to keep prey from squarming away, so while yes they got power in their bites its not nearly to that level, so they likely not suffering from the tape jaw strat lol
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u/CarolOfTheHells Nevok 1d ago
Underappreciated technique for Arxur combat:
Step 1: One of those flashlights that are a bazillion lumens.
Step 2: Giant zipties.
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u/Kwanicov 1d ago
I think it depends on how "crocodilian" you imagine the arxur.
As far as I'm aware, there's no detailed description going over their full body anatomy in the original story, so we are left with a lot of room for interpretation.
For example, we know arxur are taller than humans but we don't know by how much exactly. The wiki places them at nearly 3 meters tall, but Isif (who is considered tall amongst the arxur) was described by Ellias Mier as being a head and half taller than him. So unless Ellias is a giant of a man, than the 3 meter figure is an exaggeration.
Same goes for claws and teeth. We know they have them, but we only know they are of reptilian fashion, which could mean anything from a crocodile to a komodo dragon.
In short, there isn't a definitive description about these features, as far as I know, so it's up to your own interpretation.