r/SpeculativeEvolution • u/Environmental_Low444 • 6h ago
Alien Life The Strigae
The Strigae are the first of many alien species that humanity encounter in my world (But I won't be talking about my world, I will be talking about the Strigae themselves, and parts of their design.)
Scientific name: Astronatus Sapiens (Wise star-born being)
Homeworld: Kaiga
Colloquial name: Strigans (Plural: Strigae | Singular: Strigoid)

The Strigae are a technologically advanced alien species, evolved as chase predators, as their homeworld, Kaiga, is an extremely vast, basically uncovered, cold desert. It is barely different from mars, the only real difference being that Kaiga has a magnetic field and somewhat has oceans, though these are moreso large lakes scattered about.

Strigae have very similar organs to humans, as they evolved in almost the exact same conditions as most mammals did, outside of the fact that Kaiga is much colder, and much more devoid of coverage, so ambush predators are not really an option. Instead, the Strigae evolved to fill a niche very similar to the Cheetah on Earth, rushing down it's prey and eating it. The Strigae's digestion even depends on their running, as the muscles that grind up food before reaching the stomach utilize the force of the muscles in their large legs contracting and expanding to churn and crush food items, as Strigae typically eat massive chunks out of their prey. On Kaiga, speed is everything, and if you are too slow to eat, or too slow to run, you will be something else's next meal.
A list of Strigoid organs:
- Brain (Pink below cyan)
- Eyeballs (connected to the brain)
- "Melons" (cyan around top of creature)
- Stomach (Red connected to the mouth)
- Liver/Kidneys (Amber just below cyan around top of creature, technically one organ but does the job of both the Liver and the Kidneys in different sections.)
- Lungs (Green at center of creature)
- Bladder (Yellow at back of creature)

The Strigae are known to have a coat of thousands of paper-thin sheets, comprised with the same general materials that make up human hair and most mammalian fur. These sheets can puff up to release heat rapidly, or close over to trap warm air around the Strigoid if it is cold, which is essential on a cold, arid planet like Kaiga. This coat is not to be confused with reptilian scales or keratin scales, as the sheets are soft and bend under little pressure, unlike the scales of say, an Earth Pangolin.
This is my first genuine Speculative Evolution with a more complex creature like this, so any advice is greatly appreciated.