Articles
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1784-3499
Works of fantasy-based popular culture, including movies, comic books and novels, are inhabited by myriads of imagined, fictional species. Many of them are not properly constructed and as such may cause a feeling similar of ludonarrational dissonance. To make fictional species believable it has to be thought out with adherence to physical and biological laws, especially evolutionary processes. Specific features of said species should be presented as adaptations its native climate and geography or/and products of the evolutionary ‘race’ between different species. Predators have certain evolutionary features utilized for effective hunting, while other species adapt for efficient defense against predation. Such adaptations may be features of anatomy (morphology), physiology or behavior. If no additional explanation to the species’ specific (environmental etc.) circumstances is given, it should be created according to geological actualism, i.e. the same laws that govern life on Earth should be applied, regardless of the place and time of action (even if it does not take place on Earth). This article discusses some basic evolutionary laws and the means of using them in worldbuilding. It also provides examples of properly and improperly constructed fictional species.
Card O.S., Gra Endera, przeł. P.W. Cholewa, Prószyński i S-ka, Warszawa 2009.
Card O.S., Mówca umarłych, przeł. P.W. Cholewa, Prószyński i S-ka, Warszawa 1997.
Carroll L., Po drugiej stronie lustra i co tam Alicja znalazła, przeł. R. Stiller, Fundacja Festina Lente, Warszawa 1972.
Child L., Terminalny mróz, przeł. D. Górska, Albatros, Warszawa 2011.
Crichton M., Zaginiony świat, przeł. A. Leszczyński, Świat Książki, Warszawa 1995.
Doyle A.C., Świat zaginiony, przeł. T. Evert, Itaka, Poznań 1993.
Goodking T., Pierwsze prawo magii, przeł. L. Targosz, Rebis, Poznań 2004.
Grzędowicz J., Pan Lodowego Ogrodu, t. 1, Fabryka słów, Lublin 2005.
Grzędowicz J., Pan Lodowego Ogrodu, t. 2, Fabryka słów, Lublin 2007.
Lem S., Solaris, Wydawnictwo Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej, Warszawa 1961.
McCafrey A., Jeźdźcy smoków, przeł. R. Chodasz, Książnica, Katowice 2007.
Rowling J.K., Harry Potter i kamień filozoficzny, przeł. A. Polkowski, Media Rodzina, Poznań 1997.
Sapkowski A., Ostatnie życzenie, SuperNOWA, Warszawa 1993.
Weeks B., Czarny pryzmat, przeł. M. Strzelec, MAG, Warszawa 2011.
Wells H.G., Wehikuł czasu, przeł. F. Wermiński, Vesper, Poznań 2021.
Barton H., Speciation, „Trends in Ecology & Evolution” 16, 2001, nr 7, s. 325.
Blanco R.E., Washington W.J., Terror Birds on the Run: A Mechanical Model to Estimate Its Maximum Running Speed, „Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences” 2005, nr 272 (1574), s. 1769–1773, https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2005.3133.
Butterfield N.J., Oxygen, Animals and Oceanic Ventilation: An Alternative View, „Geobiology” 7, 2009, nr 1, s. 1–7, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1472-4669.2009.00188.x.
Campbell N.A., Reece J.B., Biologia, przekład zbiorowy, Rebis, Poznań 2015.
Casane D., Laurenti P., Why Coelacanths Are Not “Living Fossils”, „Bioessays” 35, 2013, s. 332–338, https://doi.org/10.1002/bies.201200145.
Cavin L., Guinot G., Coelacanths as “Almost Living Fossils”, „Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution” 2, 2014, https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2014.00049.
Chambers A.C., Comment: Movies and Scientific Accuracy, „Microbiology in Popular Culture” 44, 2017, nr 4, s. 191–192.
Chiarenza A.A., Farnsworth A., Mannion P.D., Lunt D.J., Valdes P.J., Morgan J.V., Alison P.A., Asteroid Impact, Not Volcanism, Caused the End-Cretaceous Dinosaur Extinction, „Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS)” 117, 2020, nr 29, s. 17084–17093, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2006087117.
Cloutier R., Patterns, Trends, and Rates of Evolution within the Actinistia, [w:] The Biology of Latimeria Chalumnae and Evolution of Coelacanths, red. J.A. Musick, M.N. Bruton, E.K. Balon, Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht 1991, s. 23–58.
Csikia Z., Benton M.J., An Island of Dwarfs — Reconstructing the Late Cretaceous Hațeg Palaeoecosystem, „Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology” 293, 2010, nr 3–4, s. 265– 270, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.05.032.
Darwin C., On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, John Murray, London 1859, http://darwin-online.org.uk.
Delrez L., Murray C.A., Pozuelos F.J., Narita N., Ducrot E., Timmermans M., Watanabe N., Burgasser A.J., Hirano T., Rackham B.V., Stassun K.G., Van Grootel V., Aganze C., Cointepas M., Howell S., Kaltenegger L., Niraula P., Sebastian D. et al., Two Temperate Super-Earths Trans- iting a Nearby Late-Type M Dwarf, „Astronomy & Astrophysics” 667, 2022, art. A59, https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202244041.
Dixon D., After Man: A Zoology of the Future, Harper Collins Publishers Ltd., [b.m.w.] 1982.
Dixon D., The New Dinosaurs: An Alternative Evolution, Salem House Publishers, Topsfield, MA 1988.
Egerton F.N., History of Ecological Sciences, Part 52: Symbiosis Studies, „The Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America” 96, 2015, nr 1, s. 80–139.
Faulkner D.R., There’s No Place like Home, „Answers: Building a Practical Worldview” 9, 2016, nr 1, s. 60–62.
Futuyma D.J., Ewolucja, przeł. W. Babik [et al.], Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, Warszawa 2008.
Gao Z., Malic V., Ma S., Shih P.C., How to Make a Successful Movie: Factor Analysis from Both Financial and Critical Perspectives, [w:] Information in Contemporary Society iConference. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, red. N. Taylor, C. Christian-Lamb, M. Martin, B. Nardi, t. 11420, Springer, Cham 2019, rozdz. 63, s. 669–678, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15742-5_63.
Green R.E., Braun E.L., Armstrong J., Earl D., Nguyen N., Hickey G., Vandewege M.W., John J.A.S., Capella-Gutiérrez S., Castoe T.A., Kern C., Fujita M.K., Opazo J.C., Jurka J., Kojima K.J., Caballero J., Hubley R.M., Smit A.F., Platt R.N., Lavoie C.A., Ramakodi M.P., Finger J.W. et al., Three Crocodilian Genomes Reveal Ancestral Patterns of Evolution among Archosaurs, „Science” 346, 2014, nr 6125, art. 1254449, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1254449.
Griffin M.J., Trewick S.A., Wehi P.M., Morgan-Richards M., Exploring the Concept of Niche Convergence in a Land without Rodents: The Case of Weta as Small Mammals, „New Zealand Journal of Ecology” 35, 2011, nr 3, s. 302–307.
Gunter R., Harding H.G., Stiles W.S., Spectral Reflexion Factor of the Cat’s Tapetum, „Nature” 168, 1951, nr 4268, s. 293–294, https://doi.org/10.1038/168293a0.
Hallam A., Ewolucja i zagłada: wielkie wymierania i ich przyczyny, przeł. M. Ryszkiewicz, Prószyński i S-ka, Warszawa 2004.
Hand P., Pozaziemskie oceany. Poszukiwanie życia w głębinach kosmosu, przeł. Z. Lamża, Copernicus Center Press, Kraków 2022.
Hara Y., Yamaguchi K., Onimaru K., Kadota M., Koyanagi M., Keeley S.D., Tatsumi K., Tana- ka K., Motone F., Kageyama Y., Nozu R., Adachi N., Nishimura O., Nakagawa R., Tanegashima C., Kiyatake I., Matsumoto R., Murakumo K., Nishida K., Terakita K., Kuratani S., Sato K., Hyodo S., Kuraku S., Shark Genomes Provide Insights into Elasmobranch Evolution and the Origin of Vertebrates, „Nature Ecology & Evolution” 2, 2018, s. 1761–1771, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0673-5.
Herculano M.F.A., Höfling E., Systematic Revision of the Phorusrhacidae (Aves: Ralliformes), „Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia (São Paulo)” 43, 2003, nr 4, s. 55–91, https://doi.org/10.1590/S0031-10492003000400001.
Herridge V.L., Lister A.M., Extreme Insular Dwarfism Evolved in a Mammoth, „Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences” 279, 2012, nr 1741, s. 3193–3200, https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.0671.
Jablonski D., Extinctions: A Paleontological Perspective, „Science” 253, 1991, nr 5021, s. 754–757, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.253.5021.754.
Jakosky B.M., Haberle R.M., The Seasonal Behavior of Water on Mars, [w:] Mars, red. H.H. Kieffer et al., University of Arizona Press, Tucson, AZ 1992, s. 969–1016.
Kasting J.F., Habitable Zones around Low Mass Stars and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life, [w:] Planetary and Interstellar Processes Relevant to the Origins of Life, red. D.C.B. Whittet, Springer, Dordrecht 1997, s. 291–307, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8907-9_15.
Kim A., Trimi S., Lee S.G., Exploring the Key Success Factors of Films: A Survival Analysis Approach, „Service Business” 15, 2021, s. 613–638, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11628-021-00460-x.
Koperski P., Współczesne poglądy na teorię ewolucji, „Edukacja Biologiczna i Środowiskowa” 29, 2009, s. 10–21.
Larramendi A., Shoulder Height, Body Mass and Shape of Proboscideans, „Acta Palaeontologica Polonica” 61, 2016, nr 3, s. 537–574, https://doi.org/10.4202/app.00136.2014.
Lidgard S., Love A.C., Rethinking living fossils, „BioScience” 68, 2018, nr 10, s. 760–770, https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biy084.
Lyell C., Principles of Geology, Penguin Books, London 1997.
Maj K.M., Ksenologia i kseonotopografia Bernharda Waldenfelsa wobec podstawowych założeń światotwórczych literatury fantastycznej (Orson Scott Card, Neil Gaiman, George R.R. Martin), „Hybris” 27, 2014, s. 72–95.
Matzke N.J., The Evolution of Creationist Movements, „Evolution: Education and Outreach” 3, 2010, s. 145–162, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12052-010-0233-1.
McKay C.P., Requirements and Limits for Life in the Context of Exoplanets, „Proceedings of the Na- tional Academy of Sciences (PNAS)” 111, 2013, nr 35, s. 12628–12633, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1304212111.
Motani R., Rotschild B.M., Wahl W. Jr., Large Eyeballs in Diving Ichthyosaurs, „Nature” 402, 1999, s. 747, https://www.nature.com/articles/45435.
Nguyen H.T.T., Dang B., Glenner H., Geffen A., Cophylogenetic Analysis of the Relationship be- tween Anemonefish Amphiprion (Perciformes: Pomacentridae) and Their Symbiotic Host Anemones (Anthozoa: Actiniaria), „Marine Biology Research” 16, 2020, s. 117–133.
Parker S., Evolution: The Whole Story, Firefly Books, Buffalo-New York 2015.
Rowe T.B., Macrini T.E., Luo Z.X., Fossil Evidence on Origin of the Mammalian Brain, „Science” 332, 2011, 6032, s. 955–957, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1203117.
Russo C.A.M., Andre T., Science and Evolution, „Genetics and Molecular Biology” 42, 2019, nr 1, s. 120–124.
Schulze-Makuch D., Mendez A., Fairen A., Von Paris P., Turse C., Boyer G., Davilla A.F., Sousa Antionio M.R.S. de, Catling D., Irwin L., A Two-Tiered Approach to Assessing the Habitability of Exoplanets, „Astrobiology” 11, 2011, nr 10, s. 1041–1052, https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2010.0592.
Sithamparam M., Satthiyasilan N., Chen C., Jia T.Z., Chandru K., A Material-Based Panspermia Hypothesis: The Potential of Polymer Gels and Membraneless Droplets, „Biopolymers” 2022, https://doi.org/10.1002/bip.23486.
Skinner A., Lee M.S., Hutchinson M.N., Rapid and Repeated Limb Loss in a Clade of Scincid Lizards, „BMC Evolutionary Biology” 8, 2008, art. 310, https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-8-310.
Sood N., Balamurugan J., Factors Affecting the Success of Movies — a Case Study of Twin Movies, „International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology” 2, 2017, nr 11, s. 105–108.
Stein K., Csiki Z., Rogers K.C., Weishampel D.B., Redelstorff R., Carballido J.L., Sander P.M.,
Small Body Size and Extreme Cortical Bone Remodeling Indicate Phyletic Dwarfism in Magyarosaurus Dacus (Sauropoda: Titanosauria), „Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)” 107, 2010, nr 20, s. 9258–9263, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1000781107.
Tomita J.A., Killmar L.E., Ball R., Rottman L.A., Kowitz M., Challenges and Successes in the Propagation of the Shoebill Balaniceps Rex: With Detailed Observations from Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo, Florida, „International Zoo Yearbook” 48, 2013, s. 69–82, https://doi.org/10.1111/izy.12038.
Trefil J., Summers M., Wyobrażone życie. Wyprawa na egzoplanety w poszukiwaniu inteligentnych istot pozaziemskich, stworzeń lodu i zwierząt supergrawitacyjnych, przeł. T. Chawziuk, Copernicus Center Press, Kraków 2020.
Van Valen L., A New Evolutionary Law, „Evolutionary Theory” 1, 1973, s. 1–30.
Wallace A.F., On the Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely from the Original Type, „Alfred Russel Wallace Classic Writings” 1, 1858, https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/dlps_fac_arw/1.
Wang X., Rodrigues T., Jiang S., Cheng X., Kellner A.W.A., An Early Cretaceous Pterosaur with an Unusual Mandibular Crest from China and a Potential Novel Feeding Strategy, „Scientific Reports” 4, 2014, art. 6329, https://doi.org/10.1038/srep06329.
Ward P., Future Evolution, W.H. Freeman, New York 2001.
Baker S., Fantastical Biology — Part One: Fantasy Creatures and Their Habitats, Fantasy Faction, 28.05.2014, http://fantasy-faction.com/2014/fantastical-biology-fantasy-creatures-and-their-habitats.
Łosiak A., Jak zbudować życiodajną planetę. Poradnik konstruktora, „Tygodnik Powszechny”, 23.04.2017, https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/jak-zbudowac-zyciodajna-planete-poradnik-konstruktora-147718.
Trela M., Dysonans ludonarracyjny to problem występujący nie tylko w grach, twierdzi Jonathan Blow, Miastogier, 23.06.2016, https://www.miastogier.pl/wiadomosc,34308.html.
Avatar, reż. J. Cameron, USA–Wielka Brytania 2009.
King Kong, reż. P. Jackson, USA–Nowa Zelandia–Niemcy 2005.
Kong: Wyspa czaszki (Kong: Skull Island), reż. J. Vogt-Roberts, USA–Wietnam–Australia–Chiny–Kanada 2017.
Żołnierze kosmosu (Starship Troopers), reż. P. Verhoeven, USA 1
English
Język Polski
https://doi.org/10.19195/0867-7441.29.2
