Saturday, January 7, 2012

Serious and Silliness

First the serious. I was beta-reading a short story which had a fantasy being based on bears, eg a bearlike humanoid. Which I think is pretty cool. The problem I had with it was the description of their nails. The author used talons, so I imagined bird type feet because talons are what birds of prey (eagles, hawks, falcons, etc.) have. Bears have paws and claws.

While nails, talons, claws, and hoofs are the same anatomical structure in vertebrates they really aren't synonyms. Primates have nails. Birds specifically birds of prey have talons. Bears, wolves, cats, dogs, etc. have paws and claws. Horses, cows, goats, sheep, camels, etc. have hooves.

If you're going to base a sentient fantasy creature on a known species, then take some time to look up that species anatomy. Otherwise your friend with a zoology degree is going to get confused.

Now for some silliness.

Giant Pandas playing in the snow



Even funnier

Red Pandas playing in the snow

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