Riddle me this: # of extremities on Avatar's species

[bambam]

...

 

[Jim Grim]

Woah that's nit-picky.

Anyhoo maybe it's because they found another way to adapt.

 

[Woodsey]

What do you mean 'extremeties'?

 

[Spacelord]

Woah that's nit-picky.

Seconded.


Actually I'm just glad this thread isn't about alien dongs.

 

[aruseusx]

Well most mammals have five, its just the way we evolved.

 

[Borrowed Time]

I've gone and watched Avatar yesterday - enjoyed the movie immensely, the story is simple but the images astounding. I especially loved the creatures that populate the jungle.

And it is in this context that I noticed that essentially everything on Pandora has *6* extremities - the Hammershark rhino, the big cat-like predator, the smaller predators, the "horses", the flyers...everything.

Except, that is, the natives. Which doesn't make any sense at all after all we know about evolution. Why should this species lose the extra pair of extremities? If they had been a disadvantage, they would have been negatively selected before...

Any coherent explanation of this you can think off?

I'm so not going to go there. Must... get... mind... out... of... the... gutter...

OT - Insects have more than four extremities here on earth and are the most successful in terms of population. Just because something works for a series of species, doesn't mean that another species has to have the exact same biological configuration to be successful.

 

[CouchCommando]

Maybe they lost them after generations of tree hugging?

 

[WestMountain]

They can think and are smart, thats their advantage

Edit:I mean it gets even out then

 

[Lucane]

Are you sure the flying Banshees had six limbs? i though it was only 4? except for the big bad red/yellow one, but the Nav'vi were the only ones to evolve to make weapons, clothes, and capible of speaking other languages so it's not really much of a loss.

 

[GodsAndFishes]

They probably have vestigal limbs somewhere, either that or two limbs have fused into one.

 

[lazy_bum]

Do you mean appendages? I've never heard of extremities.

They have tails though. So that brings them up to 5. The 6'th doesent count because what about the females eh? EH!?

and their hair, probably counts, though that would technically give the horsethings and the banshees 7, but hay ho. awesome movie, so yeah. really nit-picky. am happy to let it slide.

 

[ProfessorLayton]

But they are pretty advanced. He said that their bones are made of something but I forgot what it was because I was too busy enjoying the movie instead of trying to tear it apart.

 

[aruseusx]

Possibilty #1:Because they are humanoid and one of the standards of being humanoid is having 5 extremities.

Possibility#2: Make up/CGI artists could be bothered adding another finger to them.

 

[steevee]

Eh, maybe they only needed 4 with the addition of teir tail?
After all this would give them better balance than the rest of the creatures, and presubmabley most of them couldbe escaped by running up and through the trees.

 

[SeanTheSheep]

Woah that's nit-picky.

Seconded.


Actually I'm just glad this thread isn't about alien dongs.

Thirded, but it is a good point, if obscure.
And about the other part of your post seconded.

 

[curty129]

Woah that's nit-picky.

Seconded.


Actually I'm just glad this thread isn't about alien dongs.

It's only a matter of time.

[sub]I bet mine's bigger.[/sub]

OT: Since I haven't seen Avatar yet, I'll just say, it's a movie about intergalactic planet wars with floating islands and such, so there probably won't be any realism involved D:

 

[MasterChowmein]

I didn't lose my extra pair

 

[bambam]

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