Discussing Inkling/Octoling Biology

[Globin347]

It could very well be possible that Inklings and Octolings have become mammals, exhibit parental care, etc.
Just one example.

...Not really.
It's already extremely unlikely that inklings would come to resemble humans (although our bodies are rather energy efficient). For their biological structure to match ours would be downright miraculous.

Once again, simply not dying after mating would be about as close as we're going to get.

Besides: I think the inklings become far more interesting when they're less like us. Humans are boring.

 

[Paragon-Yoshi]

...Not really.
It's already extremely unlikely that inklings would come to resemble humans (although our bodies are rather energy efficient). For their biological structure to match ours would be downright miraculous.

And yet, that's what happened.

True, it is not likely for that happen in reality.
Then again, nature is an unpredictable force doing its own thing, so nothing is set in stone.

Besides: I think the inklings become far more interesting when they're less like us. Humans are boring.

Normal humans are, but superhumans are not.

Frankly, I think of Inklings and Octolings being the best of borh worlds, so to say.
Basicly being a naturally developed "Human-Squid/Octo Hybrid" if you will.
Aka, taking the basics of both, putting them together and becoming something unique.

So I can see them having traits from both sides.
As well as unique ones only they have.

And again, the society pretty much being human-like, albeit still different from humans, the music, the culture, etc.
All this speaks for human-like lifestyle.

But then we have their ability to generate ink and use it, as well as the Jet Propulsion technique that allows them to Super Jump to distant locations.
As well as their bone-less bodies.
That one speaking for their Squid/Octopus-side.

And then we have the unique stuff.
Their bodies being made of ink and ability to shapeshift between two set forms, each one looking like one of their two predecessor-species.

The Inklings and Octolings might not be a very realistic thing, at least with the way nature plays right now, but that doesn't make them any less interesting.
And discussing how their Biology would work, still is fun to do. : 3

 

[aceofscarabs]

Would they feel like actual meat or more like ink-filled balloons, though?

 

[Globin347]

I'm guessing that they'd feel fairly solid, as their flesh, inky or not, is chemically bonded together. I'd bet their hands would be moist and clammy, though.

 

[Dolphoshi]

they would be made of meat because they do have ink as their blood (very likely) so it would be similar to use in that regard (we humans have blood but our hands aren't bloody)

 

[Globin347]

Well, actually,
In models closer to the fluid end or middle of the spectrum, I've come to the understanding that inkling flesh is comprised of both muscle tissue and solidified ink.
It would probably still feel pretty solid, though- although probably quite clammy, and maybe even a little slimy.

...Looks like we're running out of steam again...

There doesn't seem to be a clear consensus on whether inklings die upon mating, or whether they have parenting (and if so, to what age.)
near as I can tell, that's primarily all we talked about since my last summary.

This thread will most likely remain dormant until someone asks a new question or until Nintendo releases new information.... unless the thread dies first.

...In theory, we could go further into inkling diet, although that would probably be more along the lines of ecology than biology. It would be more focused on determining what sort of animals exist in Splatoon

Spoiler

's earth

, and on what species are sapient (or have sapient and non-sapient forms) than on inklings themselves.
Probably best suited for another thread.

There are a few kinks that could be worked out, such as what kind of lungs inklings have, how their eyesight compares to ours, etc... but I can't think of any other big topics.

...well, the thread reached 8 pages... how long do these things last on average?

 

[Flareth]

I was actually going to ask about the Inklings' lungs a few weeks ago, but I decided against it because I figured the answer was obvious (they'd be something like land snails' lungs, which... I don't know what they look like, but that's probably what the Inkling lungs resemble).

About their eyes, well, it sseems all coleoid (the squishy cephalopods) eyes are structured such that they don't have a cornea, color vision, or a blind spot...

*post cut short for time*

 

[Globin347]

Actually, I don't think snail lungs are good enough to allow for the frantic activity seen during turf wars... are they?

Let's keep in mind that the inklings would also have to have engaged in relatively sustained action during the great turf war.

And given that turf wars are based on color, and that much of inkopolis is colorful, I think it's fair to say that inklings have color vision at least as good as ours... probably better.

In fact, I'd bet their vision extends into the UV range.

Just checked- snail lungs work by simple diffusion. Probably not good enough for inklings.

But I'm no expert. Are there any lung experts on this thread?

Also- modern squid already have very good eyes, easily comparable to ours.

 

[Flareth]

Right, I hadn't enough time to formulate the effects of not having a cornea/blind spot (good or bad). I kinda figured they'd develop color vision over time, albeit because "it's only natural."

I don't know the full history of the development of lungs, but I recall hearing somewhere that they arose from... gas bladders, I think? Or was it that they're both derived from something else? They aren't descended from gills, apparently. Of course those are vertebrate lungs, but I'm coming up empty on how the snail's lung came about.

I'm sure the snail lung as-is would be insufficient for anything more intensive than a snail's daily routine, but it's not entirely out of the question that more efficient Inkling lungs developed over time. Heck, modern cephalopods (nautili excluded?) have a circulatory system that all other mollusks lack, apparently to keep up the more active hunting lifestyle that they live; I'd wager that something similar could've happened to their respiratory system.

 

[Dolphoshi]

actually current day squids have WAY better eyesight then we do since the vision cones (don't remember what they are called) in our eyes are be hide a bunch of nerve cells while current day squids have their vision cones right up in the front with nerve cells be-hide or next to them, so seeing how evolution works inklings would have either modern day squids or WAY WAY better vision then we do.

As for lungs they would have to be very powerful seeing how they have three hearts (one for most of body other two are for gills which they could use when they are in ink) i don't know much about lungs all I know is why we need them but if I had guess they must breathe a ton in order to keep up the energy they use (another reason why they can't survive in water their gills adapted to ink and lost it's ability to get oxygen from the water)

 

[Globin347]

...Well, technically the inability to breathe in the water would not prevent a creature from swimming. But other than that, this seems to be a fairly informative post.

Perhaps an inkling's three hearts allow them to be more active than previously postulated, although they still likely wouldn't have the same stamina we do.

 

[Flareth]

I'm probably off-base with this, but my understanding was that the squid's 3 hearts were no more efficient than the vertebrate heart. It does its job just as well, but with each gill connecting to its own heart instead of a single heart connecting to both.

Which may present a bit of a problem... if the lungs aren't derived from gills, then what part of the squid anatomy would they be derived from? And thus, what would become of those two extra hearts?

 

[Globin347]

Well, given that gilled creatures have developed lungs multiple times in earth's history, I don't see how it's a problem. As for the hearts, It would be inefficient to let them go to waste. They could easily have evolved to connect to the respiratory system, perhaps providing additional support for said system.

 

[Flareth]

True, true. Forgot about the Arthropods there.

Wikipedia's telling me that the land slug/snail lung is adapted from the mantle cavity, and they breathe through a little opening called a pneumostome. Perhaps the Inkling lung(s) arose in a similar way?

Those new lungs would need something to provide them with blood, so I guess the extra hearts would eventually power them. Still, the thought of them having to disconnect from the gills and attach to the new lungs... unless the disconnecting happened after the lungs & hearts were connected, in which case there's no issue.

On a side note, given how different the Inklings have become from modern squid (what with their transforming, pocket dimension ink, lungs, etc.), is it fair to say that they're not "true" squid at this point? By which I mean, are those differences enough to classify them not just as a new species, but in a whole new genus as well?

 

[Globin347]

...Well, yes and no. Inklings are still descended from squid, landing them in the squid family line. But they are, in fact, so different, that it's feasible to call them something else. They are very distant from the oceanic squid of their time, but they're still descended from the same ancestors, and no amount of bizarre mutations are going to change that.

Birds are still dinosaurs, after all, but they're very different from say... Brontosaurs (which is now considered to be a real animal.)

As for the pneumostome, I don't believe that inklings would need it; they have mouths and noses very much like ours. The lungs probably connect there.

...Do you suppose inklings still have vestigial gills? if so, they obviously can't use them...
or perhaps the gills developed into something else entirely.
Or just disappeared.

Also, would the hearts have to be directly connected to the lungs to be useful? Or could they simply be connected to the bloodstream as a whole?
I know little in the way of anatomy, so I don't know.

 

[Flareth]

I'll just assume the Inkling pneumostome is their nose, modified for reasons.

Now that you mention it, would the Inklings as they stand be able to breathe inside the ink? If they still have gills, maybe they use them for that purpose... although for that to work the Ink would have to be oxygenated, and thus photosynthetic, which is unlikely.

Again, my (wont to be faulty) understanding is that the squid hearts work similarly to the vertebrate heart, but with multiple hearts instead of multiple chambers of a single heart. In the squid's case, the two branchial (gill) hearts pump deoxygenated blood into the gills; the newly oxygenated blood enters the squid's systemic heart, where it gets sent to the rest of the body. So the two branchial hearts function like the right atrium & ventricle, and the systemic heat works like the left atrium/ventricle.

The point being, the systemic heart can't keep the squid's pulmonary circuit going on its own. Those branchial hearts would have to be connected to the lungs in order to keep oxygenated blood circulating, and thus keep the squid alive. Unless the Inklings somehow also managed to evolve a multichambered heart to take the place of all three existing hearts...

('Tis all good. I'm still trying to get the hang of anatomy myself.)

 

[Globin347]

...What if all three hearts evolved into multi chambered hearts?

I don't have any evidence for this, I just think Inklings become more interesting as they grow more distant from humans.

 

[Flareth]

Frankly, I think that's a bit of a stretch. Closest thing to that I could imagine happening is the three hearts moving closer to each other over time and fusing, forming a different sort of multichambered heart.

 

[Globin347]

Perhaps, but it would be really cool.

 

[Flipz]

On the subject of cephalopods dying after mating: it was recently confirmed that certain species of octopi survive mating and go on to mate multiple times over their lifespan; additionally, this same species engages in social behavior with others of the same species (including sharing meals), and shows tactical behavior in their hunting patterns. I'd wager that the Octolings evolved from either this species or one similar to it; additionally, this report indicates that cephalopods can indeed survive after mating, proving it to be a viable survival strategy for cephalopod species (and thus a viable option for Inklings as well).