# Mammal superpowers



## Stormcat (Feb 28, 2016)

I'm creating a race called "Chimerid". They supposedly have the DNA of every living creature on earth and by extension, have some of their abilities such as night vision and the ability to purr.

Since these creatures are humanoid, I want to give then powers one would find in a mammal. Night vision is an example, but I want to show more abilities. What sort of "Superpowers" do other mammals have that I might use?

PS: My Chimerids pretty much look like a normal human, so I won't be doing anything drastic like giving them bat wings or a tail. The literary objective here is to make these creatures "Human, but better."


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## Sam (Feb 28, 2016)

Here's one superpower: 

Imagination.


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## Stormcat (Feb 28, 2016)

I need these powers to have at least some basis in reality.


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## InstituteMan (Feb 28, 2016)

Stormcat said:


> I need these powers to have at least some basis in reality.



Dogs have a pretty good sense of smell.

Bats can echo-locate.

Elephants can pick things up with their noses . . .

The trick is that most of the potential "superpowers" require some specialized anatomy, which may not leave your species very humanlike.


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## Stormcat (Feb 28, 2016)

InstituteMan said:


> Dogs have a pretty good sense of smell.
> 
> Bats can echo-locate.
> 
> ...



That's why I'm doing research on them. The prehensile trunk is out, but there may be something to echolocation.


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## Jack of all trades (Feb 28, 2016)

There was a blind boy who could echolocate.

Elephants feel sound through their feet. Giraffes hear and emit very low sounds. Dogs have superior smell.  There's a lot more. Google various animals. 


I think purring and speaking are mutually exclusive. Unless you are giving them two pathways. How is purring a superior ability?

Is this related to the flora and fauna and the Polish alternate history?


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## Stormcat (Feb 28, 2016)

Jack of all trades said:


> There was a blind boy who could echolocate.
> 
> Elephants feel sound through their feet. Giraffes hear and emit very low sounds. Dogs have superior smell.  There's a lot more. Google various animals.
> 
> ...




Yes it is.

Purring has been shown to aid in healing a cat, but I honestly don't know much else about purring, like how cats purr.


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## Jack of all trades (Feb 29, 2016)

A quick Google search shows possibilities.


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## Lyra Laurant (Feb 29, 2016)

You do want physiological habilities that don't show much on morphology, am I correct?

If that's the case... Maybe spending a lot of time under water without having to breath, like seals, which have a higher concentration of myoglobin on their muscles (and some other adaptations, of course). 

And I work with subterranean rodents from the desert which don't drink water. They get all the water they need from digesting their food (metabolic water).


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## Sleepwriter (Mar 1, 2016)

to bad you're not doing insects, cause then you could give them the strength of an ant.

Since you are doing mammals,  what about eyes of an eagle, and the ability to turn their heads around like an owl.  Speed of a cheetah, not Chester though.


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## hhourani (Mar 1, 2016)

I would say amplify the five senses is the easy one: better senses of smell, sight, touch, taste, hearing.

Longevity is another. Then being rid of diseases. Resistance to cold. Ability to go for long periods of time without drinking. Being able to ruminate like cattle.

Then you have amphibian mammals like dolphins which could mean improved underwater breathing.

Being able to graze?

Retractable claws. Regeneration. Poisonous bite like hyenas. Eating their own poo (not sure if it's a superpower). Coughing fur balls (definitely not a superpower).


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## Terry D (Mar 1, 2016)

Just to clarify -- your Chimerids can't have 100% of the DNA of all other animals, or they would exhibit the traits of all other animals. Any animal's genetic makeup is unique to that animal. But, that being said, most animals have a lot of their gene sequence in common with others. Humans and chimps share about 96%, but, then again, humans and fruit flies share about 60% of their genetic material.


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## Radrook (Mar 1, 2016)

Want super-powered human mammals to LOOK like human  mammals?
Make them extraterrestrial human mammals whose home planets are different and transplant them to Earth. 

Example:

Alien human mammals from a planet possessing a far stronger gravitational field than Earth’s will provide them with super-strength, speed, and agility on Earth.

Or an alien planet whose star is far dimmer than our sun would provide the alien Humanoid Mammals with night vision or a whole range of super vision faculties on Earth depending on the home-world environment. I once read of creatures who could see the whole spectrum of light and considered humans virtually blind by comparison.


So tweak the home planet to provide the human-like aliens with the powers you want.
That of course will demand a great deal of imagination and research.

BTW
I might have forgotten that you want these to be genetically-produced chimeras.
Perhaps eliminating that requirement might make things a little easier.


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## Glyax (Mar 1, 2016)

You can give them the ability to change the pigments in their skin for camouflage, enhanced senses as everyone has already said ,  umm, eyes that can see different spectrums, the ability to emit different pitches/hear pitches that aren't normal to humans.  Most people have listed a lot of the obvious super powers already.... umm, pheromones?  Ability to secrete pheromones to control/coerce others, or as a defense mechanism.


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## Jack of all trades (Mar 1, 2016)

Keep in mind you will have to find out how these animals are able to do what they do, if you want to be realistic. By that I mean : every strength comes with at least one weakness. Cheetahs, for example, can move fast, but also tire quickly and have clawed feet.


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## Jack of all trades (Mar 1, 2016)

hhourani said:


> I would say amplify the five senses is the easy one: better senses of smell, sight, touch, taste, hearing.
> 
> Longevity is another. Then being rid of diseases. Resistance to cold. Ability to go for long periods of time without drinking. Being able to ruminate like cattle.
> 
> ...




Dolphins breath air and must surface or drown, just like humans.


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## InstituteMan (Mar 1, 2016)

Terry D said:


> Just to clarify -- your Chimerids can't have 100% of the DNA of all other animals, or they would exhibit the traits of all other animals. Any animal's genetic makeup is unique to that animal. But, that being said, most animals have a lot of their gene sequence in common with others. Humans and chimps share about 96%, but, then again, humans and fruit flies share about 60% of their genetic material.



Actually, getting around this limitation could make a fun premise. Maybe the Chimerids could manipulate the expression of their very extensive genome? The mechanisms of gene expression is a fascinating area that I don't know enough about to speak on intelligently, but doing a bit of googling on the topic and then getting a book or two from the nearest library could let you invent a biologically engineered process that more or less have your mammal superpower cake and eat it too.


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## Terry D (Mar 1, 2016)

InstituteMan said:


> Actually, getting around this limitation could make a fun premise. Maybe the Chimerids could manipulate the expression of their very extensive genome? The mechanisms of gene expression is a fascinating area that I don't know enough about to speak on intelligently, but doing a bit of googling on the topic and then getting a book or two from the nearest library could let you invent a biologically engineered process that more or less have your mammal superpower cake and eat it too.



Shape-shifters


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## Stormcat (Mar 1, 2016)

Sleepwriter said:


> to bad you're not doing insects, cause then you could give them the strength of an ant.
> 
> Since you are doing mammals,  what about eyes of an eagle, and the ability to turn their heads around like an owl.  Speed of a cheetah, not Chester though.



eagles are not mammals.


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## Radrook (Mar 1, 2016)

One thing to keep in mind is the target audience.
Some audiences are far more willing to cut the writer some slack and suspend disbelief than others.

If our target audience is one that demands an intricately-involved scientific explanations for every super-power that is displayed, then we can't just make our mammals strong without explaining how the body was modified to resist the structural stresses that such a strength demands. There is a limit on how much weight bones can stand before breaking or how much stress human skin can endure before it rips apart for example

However, if our target audience doesn't really give a dam and just whats an entertaining story as we kids did with the Marvel and DC heroes, then any simple superficial explanation will suffice. For example, we never asked how the Fantastic Four Torch could remain unscathed by his own fire or what Superman's propulsion system enabled him to fly. Story was entertaining and that was it. I remember one fan writing the Marvel Comic staff and asking for a detailed explanation and being told to please keep in mind that these were fictional characters.


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## Jack of all trades (Mar 2, 2016)

The author, through the story, determines how much slack a reader will give.

For example, Superman had super powers. Other than he was from another world, no attempt was made to explain how he could run so fast, lift so much, fly or catch bullets. No science mentioned = suspend disbelief or not at your discretion.

Chimerids, genetically manipulated humans, has a strong science base. Those with scientific knowledge will find it harder to suspend disbelief. The flaws will be smacking them in the face. If it is a superior story, maybe they'll be swept along. But it will be much harder than the simple "other world = alien genes" scenario.


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## Terry D (Mar 2, 2016)

Jack of all trades said:


> For example, Superman had super powers. Other than he was from another world, no attempt was made to explain how he could run so fast, lift so much, fly or catch bullets. No science mentioned = suspend disbelief or not at your discretion.



Actually there was a very loose explanation for Superman's powers. Krypton was a larger world than Earth, with higher gravity which caused him to be far stronger on Earth than on Krypton, and also allowed him to fly. Krypton's star was red, so the different wavelengths of light from our yellow sun caused changes in him which allowed for super-hearing, heat vision, etc. I'm not saying they were legitimate explanations, just the ones thrown into the story-line many years ago.


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## Jack of all trades (Mar 2, 2016)

Terry D said:


> Actually there was a very loose explanation for Superman's powers. Krypton was a larger world than Earth, with higher gravity which caused him to be far stronger on Earth than on Krypton, and also allowed him to fly. Krypton's star was red, so the different wavelengths of light from our yellow sun caused changes in him which allowed for super-hearing, heat vision, etc. I'm not saying they were legitimate explanations, just the ones thrown into the story-line many years ago.




I must have missed those explanations, and thankfully so!

Extra gravity at birth enables one to be able to fly. Right. Sure.

No explanation is better than a lousy one, in my opinion.


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## Radrook (Mar 2, 2016)

What we definitely don't want to do is provide a superpower that will obliterate the superhero when he attempts to use it.

For example, provide the superheroes with muscles strong enough to lift a tractor but forget to reinforce his bones to endure the stress and have him break every bone in his body in the attempt. 

Or give him Xray vision only to have him immediately lobotomized by the radiation and staggering blindly screaming in agony. 


Or provide him with super speed but fail to modify his joints so that they can endure the friction created by the running motion. Otherwise we will have him disintegrate his joints when he reaches a velocity which outstrips the ability to self lubricate and reduce heat buildup from friction. 

No! No! No! 

Great care must be meticulously taken in order to avoid such mishaps. If not, then we might wind up losing our genetics-tweaking license and then what will we do? Eh? Then what will we do?


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## PrinzeCharming (Mar 3, 2016)

Radrook said:


> What we definitely don't want to do is provide a superpower that will obliterate the superhero when he attempts to use it.
> 
> For example, provide the superheroes with muscles strong enough to lift a tractor but forget to reinforce his bones to endure the stress and have him break every bone in his body in the attempt.
> 
> ...



Give this member a cookie! I applaud you. I couldn't say it better myself. If you're going to give a house solar panels, at least put the roof on first!


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## ArrowInTheBowOfTheLord (Mar 3, 2016)

You could do something with hibernation--some hibernating animals' bodies slow so much that they only breathe a few times a minute--that could be imagined into something useful.

Platypuses have poison spurs on their heels.

The skin of a hippopotamus releases a red substance that absorbs UV rays.

Honestly, just look up "mammal adaptions," and see what you find. There's a lot of strange and wonderful stuff out there to draw inspiration from.


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