Godzilla Movie

The Biology of Godzilla

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Sim

MemberMothra LarvaeMar-07-2014 11:45 AM

I've noticed some confusion about what kind of animal Godzilla’s species is within the context of the new origin story. Is he an amphibian, a reptile, or more specifically, a dinosaur? Based on what I’ve seen thus far, if he were a real creature, he would likely be classified as an archosaur, a group that includes pterosaurs, dinosaurs (which also includes birds), and crocodiles. Godzilla has an erect gait, meaning his legs are placed directly beneath his body, not splayed outwards like non-archosaurian reptiles. His hind feet each have four toes which is typical of archosaurs. His hands have four fingers showing asymmetrical digit reduction similar to what occurred in early theropod dinosaurs. His head is very reptilian with the jaw muscles being visible when he opens his mouth; the jaw muscles are also covered with a flexible, scaleless, cheek-like skin. He of course has a row of bony dorsal scutes similar to those of many crocs and dinosaurs. Godzilla’s underbelly is covered with plate-like armor scutes similar to those of crocs and some dinosaurs.

But what about the gills? Godzilla does appear to have gills located on the lateral sides of his neck, but reptiles do not possess gills. Considering all the traits Godzilla shares with reptiles, specifically archosaurs, it would be more likely that the gills evolved secondarily—meaning they were completely lost then later re-evolved—rather than that a amphibian lineage independently evolved remarkably archosaurian/dinosaur traits. The gills could be highly modified, vascular scutes that can absorb gases dissolved in water. Of course, The presence of gills on Godzilla are far less problematic than the structural adaptations that allow such an enormous creature to stand without immediately collapsing into a pile of meat. Godzilla’s connective tissues would need to be composed of materials vastly stronger than collagen, elastin, and calcium carbonate. Instead of calcium, his bones would need to be composed of some kind of extremely strong natural alloy, and his other connective tissues would need to be made of something on par with nanotubes or graphene, the former of which can apparently be biosynthesized by bacteria. His muscular tissue would need to be composed of polymers that have much greater tensile strength and contractile force than normal muscle. Some polymers such as nylon are a 100 times stronger than normal muscle, so perhaps it could be something along those lines. The same adaptations that allow Godzilla’s species to grow so large would probably also afford him with near invulnerability to conventional weapons.

The most implausible aspect of the godzilla species is their apparent ability to expel ionizing radiation. Considering that some of Godzilla's connective tissues would have to be made up of some carbon allotrope, perhaps his particle beam breath could be handwaved by those same connective tissues being electrically conductive or magnetic, allowing him to direct a beam of charged particles out of his throat. If he were real, a blast from his breath would likely give nearly everyone in the vicinity radiation poisoning due to scattering of high-energy particles. Godzilla would have a very strange metabolism. If Godzilla is radiotrophic, in a similar way to how plants are phototrophic, then ionizing radiation could drive chemical reactions that convert some compound into his body into food; this means that Godzilla would make sugars and amino acids from inorganic compounds such as CO2 and water. Consequently he would not need to eat as much as a normal reptile, as much of his food could be produced via radiosynthesis.

Why do his dorsal spines glow when he emits his radiation beam? The dorsal spines themselves could contain radioactive isotopes such as uranium and plutonium. It would make sense that the dorsal plates would be external, tall and flat, as this would dissipate waste heat produced from radioactive decay. The dorsal plates could be extensions of his vertebrate which could be pneumatic (hollow) and contain a series of sacs. When the rate of fission is suddenly increased, the plates might emit light and the resultant alpha particles (helium ions) or plasma could be directed through sacs or tubes that run the length of the neck and terminate by opening into throat. The sacs and tubes would need to be enormously strong and heat resistant, on par with the hypothetical engines of a starship, as well as conductive like a particle accelerator. When Godzilla "eats" something like a nuclear submarine, he may be consuming fissile material that is later stored within his dorsal plates.

On a final note, I’m aware this is all very far-fetched and perhaps a bit silly, but it was a fun thought experiment that attempts to extend Gareth Edwards attempt at realism with an otherwise completely absurd premise.

 

5 Replies

GODZILLA HIMSELF

MemberMothra LarvaeMar-08-2014 11:02 AM

I like it! great ideas :D

king of the monsters

Sim

MemberMothra LarvaeMar-08-2014 12:16 PM

I just updated it. I fixed some typos and added a section about his dorsal plates, their function and why they glow. 

TW_G-Fan2014

MemberMothra LarvaeMar-08-2014 12:18 PM

An amphibian is any creature that can live a life on two or more distinct environments such as frogs, certain species of lizards, snakes, even some mammals lead dual lives and can be considered amphibians.

Amphibian, contrary to popular belief and 'understanding', is not automatically a reptile or a frog or anything of the kind. The term amphibian can be applied to any creature that is capable of living a life in two or more environment types such as land/air or land/water.

Technically, a human being could be considered an amphibian if they were to do things right. If they spent about a 50/50 ratio of time in and out of water every day of their lives, they'd be considered amphibians. Right now we're considered mammals because we spend nearly 99% of our lives on land. The other 1% is spent in the water (swimming pools or diving in the ocean), or in the air (inside of airplanes).

Sim

MemberMothra LarvaeMar-08-2014 1:29 PM

I think you're confusing the use of amphibian as an adjective with the noun referring to a class of animals. Modern amphibians are all members of the clade Lissamphibia, and as a class, it is a paraphyletic taxon that includes all tetrapods that are not amniotes. 

Just as an FYI for anyone who has questions, I'm a biology major studying to become an evolutionary biologist, so I may use terms that are unfamiliar to those without a background in biology. Please let me know if you want something clarified. 

Mecha Rodan

MemberMothra LarvaeMar-08-2014 8:24 PM

On the amphibian part, there are theories that say that Godzilla's haert acts as a natural nuclear reactor that producs energy that is needed to live so he would not need to eat and therefore not have to breathe so this is how he can spend yeas in high depth sea levels. The dorsal fins is probably a advancement that is acts like a exhaust vent that has tiny holes in them scattered out to let heat and unwanted and/or uneeded chemicals and heat. Other than that your topic is pretty great and some people have been wondering how Godzilla is such a big threat if they could just send a very strong missle at him. I think that either he has Wolverine abilities that let him regenerate very fast or he has a almost impenetrable hide. This would be like glass, regular thin glass is easy to break, you could smash it by hitting it with your fists, but if you make it thick enough and combine it with plastic and it becomes bullet proff. The same could be with Godzilla since he doesn't need most of his internal organs like his intestine, stomach, lungs, or kidneys because of his nuclear heart. This would allow him to have more room for skin and stronger material that isn't in regular animals that mixed with skin in that right way could resist most explosians. This could also be ruined if Godzilla's heart takes up most of his body or if he has a second brain. So what do you guys think? Don't talk about nukes though because he can survive because of his "super skin" and he can just absorb the radiation and could probably make him stronger by making his heart work harder and his radiation beam would be more powerful.

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