A blog about anything related to real and fictional insects (including other arthropods) and their impact, role and representation in society, media and pop culture.
A certain theory concerning Genesect's origins has captured my attention.
The theory suggests that there is some connection between him and Kabutops, going as further as presuming that they may be the same creature.
Description of the theory.
I'm not going to go into details how the body structure of both pokemon is very different, infact the only similarities between them is the flat head, number of limbs and body posture.
There is however something else that puts Kabutops into a completely different category from Genesect, something that most people have overlooked.
Kabutops has a well developed endoskeleton under his exoskeleton!
Kabutop's fossilised skeleton.
Arthropods only have an exoskeleton, so maybe this is one of the reasons why Kabuto and Kabutops are not bug typed even though they are clearly inspired and based on ancient arthropods. There is no evidence if Kabuto also has an endoskeleton or perhaps this adaptation is only present in it's evolved form (maybe as additional support).
How does this concern Genesect? First of all Genesect is a bug type pokemon, meaning he is supposed to be an invertebrate like all the other bug type pokemon, indeed even his name suggests he is closer to insects than any other arthropods.
There is a posibility that Kabuto is a relative to Genesect, even maybe a distant ancestor (the same way crustaceans evolved into insects millions of years ago) but considering they appeared at the same time in the past that is highly unlikely.
What is Genesect based on then?
My personal theory is that he is based on blattoptera (proto-cockroaches), the ancestors of mantises, termites and modern cockroaches, who happen to live in the same period as Genesect. From these proto-cockroaches evolves a species of cockroaches (Raphidiomimula burmitica) that have the same forelegs as mantises and Genesect seems to have similar.
So to sum it up Genesect is the missing link between the
proto-cockroaches who lived during the Paleozoic and the distant
mantises anscestor Raphidiomimula burmitica, which makes him more
closely related to Scyther.
Indeed when you compare the two you can notice the similarities.
Thank you for reading this and I hope it answered at least some of the
questions you may have about the mysterious prehistoric pokemon
Genesect!
Our planet is teeming with life, from the smallest microorganisms to the
gigantic whales inhabiting the oceans. Provided with millions of years
and a favourable enviornment, evolution has produced incredible and
often bizzare organisms that look more like a product of science fiction
than a real part of the nature we claim to know and understand.
I
would like to introduce to you a creature that has captured my interest
since early childhood, a creature that still holds mysteries that even
the brightest minds can only wish to unravel. Usually no bigger than a
few millimeters, this creature has succeeded into acomplishing tasks
that most would consider impossible or higly unlikely. This animal is
known as parasitoid wasps.
Ovipositing in an aphid.
But wat is a parasitoid? Is it a
parasite? Well not quite, a parasitoid is a creature that spends a
significant portion of it's life cycle on or inside a certain host and
unlike most parasites it eventually kills and usually consumes it's
host.
Many organisms are parasitoids but some arthropods,
especially insects, have reached astonishing feats as parasitoids. One
specific group of animals have become the experts in this field. Most
people think of wasps as social animals quite similar to bees but the
fact is that the majority of wasps are solitary creatures that
parasitise on other animals. Usually they are so small that are
unnoticable with the naked eye. So what can be so fascinating about
these little wasps?
First of all their life cycle is worthy of a horror movie.
The
adult wasp finds it's host by different means depending on the species,
in some cases the plants that are attacked by a caterpillar release
chemicals that attract the exact species that use the caterpillar as a
host! What follows is the wasp inserting it's ovipositor into the host
and injecting it's eggs inside it.
As seen here:
Usually the host’s immune system should be enough to irradicate the eggs
but the wasp has yet another amazing trick, polydnavirus!
In a few words, millions of years ago parasitoid wasps assimilated a
virus to use against their host’s immune system, keeping the eggs
intact.
The next step of their life cycle is simple, the eggs hatch
and the newly born larvae start to feed on their host’s fluids and
non-vital organs keeping it alive throughout the whole process until the
time they have to break out.
This video shows that stage of their development:
As you may have noticed after watching the video, in some cases the host
remains alive after the wasp larvae leave it’s body. Here is where the
most amazing ability of the parasitoid wasps can be seen! The heavily
injured host protects the same larvae that fed on it’s organs and
eventually broke out. Recent research has shown that one or two larvae
remain inside the host controlling it into protecting the rest of the
larvae, how this is achieved and how it is decided on which larvae to
stay inside is still uknown.
Another video that shows the zombified host being controlled by the wasp larvae:
Truly remarkable creatures!
Fairyfly, the smallest known insect.
The tiniest known insect to man is
also a parasitoid wasp that parasitises other insects eggs. They are
0.139 mm (139 μm) in length and posses a fully functional brain capable
of complex processing.
There are also species of parasitoid wasps that
parasitise on spiders making them create a chaotic web rather than the
well-organised web we are used to expect.
And ofcourse the more known jewel wasp that is famous for it’s ability to sting inside
the cockroach’s brain in the precise point to turn it into a helpless
slave that is later dragged by the antennae inside a nest where it will
provide food for the wasp’s young.
A comic explaining the jewel wasp's life cycle.
The young jewel wasp emerging from her cockroach host.
Really I can go all day and
night writing and talking about how amazing parasitoid wasps are and if
you don’t think the same way after reading the facts then don’t expect
anything in nature to ever surprise you more than this.
I thank
those who had the patience to read all the information and watch the
videos I had to provide. I really hope you enjoyed it and that it opened
your eyes to a world where the impossible is often proved possible by
the most unnoticable and truly alien creatures.
Bonus material:
The Xenomorph standing upwards.
If it hasn’t crossed your mind until now the life
cycle of the famous Xenomorph creatures from the Alien series is
inspired by parasitoid wasps as well as other insects. This analysis provides enough information on the subject coming from the actual creators of the Alien concept.
Bonus video:
I came across a really detailed video of parasitoid wasps emerging from their unfortunate host that I would like to share.
I must warn you it’s really not for the faint of heart!
Being a bug pokemon fan since my early childhood I never ceased to
wonder why so many of them have a humanoid shape while other pokemon who
are also inspired by animals retain most of their characteristics
(except for few exceptions).
With time I realised exactly what was going on in the pokemon universe.
Bug pokemon have always been considered as weak and so they would need
to depend on something else to survive, most of them are flying types
keeping away from natural predators while others depend on poison to
drive away the enemy but there is something that everyone have been
missing out... bug pokemon have been slowly but surely evolving to mimic
humans in order to benefit from blending in with humanity and become
more attractive to trainers.
Indeed pokemon like Heracross,
Scyther/Scizor, Butterfree, Beedrill and Pinsir who are humanoid have
become popular and prefered by trainers, while pokemon like
Paras/Parasect and Durant who resemble insects the most, are left to
depend on spores or iron exoskeleton to survive.
The pokemon that
has gone the furthest into this methamorphisis ofcourse is Leavanny,
it's pre-evolution Sewaddle has 6 limbs which is typical for any insect,
however it loses 2 of it's limbs while evolving.
Not only that but Leavanny is mimicing actual clothes looking more human than any other bug pokemon.
There is however something that some of you might use against my little theory, Genesect!
Genesect is known to have lived 300 million years ago which is long
before any human, still he has a humanoid shape which by my theory means
he is evolving to mimic humans... you can see for yourselves what
problem arises.
Yet I remembered two things that shined bright as a light in a darkest night!
Those two things are the pokemon known as Arceus and Kabuto.
Now how does that help my theory you ask? It's simple.
First Kabuto is also an ancient arthropodic pokemon that looks nothing
like humans, right? Well his evolution Kabutops suddenly becomes more
humanoid in shape (including developing an internal skeleton while
keeping the exoskeleton), why would an ancient pokemon that lived when
humans were still not around want to become more humanoid?
The answer lies in Arceus, he is believed to have created the whole pokemon universe which would include humans as well.
Yes ladies and gentlemen, we have proof of creationism and evolution both being present in the pokemon world.
Humans existed along with all the ancient pokemon, which makes my theory still possible despite Genesect's humanoid shape.
What's the next step in bug pokemon's evolution is uncertain but surely they will always be changing in order to survive and maybe one day
thrive supreme.
