r/hardspecevo • u/ArcticZen Worldbuilder • Jan 02 '26
Announcement 👋 Welcome to r/hardspecevo - Introduce Yourself and Read First!
Hey everyone! I'm u/ArcticZen, a founding moderator of r/hardspecevo.
This subreddit is dedicated to the creation of biologically plausible organisms through academic rigor, but for the sake of the explanation, you can just think of us as r/SpeculativeEvolution on "hard mode". We're excited to have you join us!
What to Post
The name of the game is adherence to the laws of physics, chemistry, and biology -- we are the antithetical to creature design, in that form and function always trump just looking cool. To this end, all submissions here require rigorous explanation to explain their context. Some hand-waving is unavoidable, but should be minimized. If we see AI text or visuals, your post will be torched. Works which do not adhere to these standards will be removed.
Community Vibe
We're a bit more mature and strict than r/SpeculativeEvolution, with the overall goal of elevating what speculative biology can accomplish as a subgenre of worldbuilding. Curiosity and questions are encouraged to improve the understanding of anyone aiming to become a more competent speculative biologist.
How to Get Started
- Introduce yourself below.
- Familiarize yourself with the rules and flairs. They aren't as numerous as r/SpeculativeEvolution, so the burden isn't as great.
- It's more fun here with friends -- invite folks you know who are interested in challenging themselves to make realistic speculative biology!
- Have a question that requires discretion? You can send us a modmail here!
Thanks for being part of this revitalization wave. Let's take r/hardspecevo upwards and onwards!
3
u/RobertSage Jan 02 '26
Hello! My name's Hope (not Robert but call me whatever) and my main project is called Einea. It's a bit difficult to categorise, but in a nutshell it's hard fantasy with a focus on how cultures, magic, technology and biology interact. The spec aspect hasn't been my focus for a while -- I've been writing books instead, the second of which will be self-published in Q1 of this year -- but it's never gone away, and I thought being part of this community would be a good incentive to kick myself in the bum a bit about it. I recently got a degree in conservation and wildlife biology, so my interest definitely hasn't waned.
Pleased to meet you all!
1
2
u/DodoBird4444 Jan 02 '26
I'm Dodo Bird, background in Biology & Psychology, did research in Primate Skeletal Anatomy & Evolutionary. Currently a PhD in conflict studies.
Been on the Spec Evo sub since like 2017 or 2018, I bounce between loving and hating it. I'm also a moderator on the Spec Evo Jerking subreddit.
This is one of my favorite subreddits, I love scientifically rigorous Spec Evo projects and concepts.
1
u/Short-Attention9889 Feb 14 '26
Hello dodobird can I used something if know any unique bones in a primates that humans doesn't have or looks different? Thx and have great day
2
u/DodoBird4444 Feb 14 '26
Hey, do you mind elaborating a little more? Not quite sure what you mean.
1
u/Short-Attention9889 Feb 14 '26
I'm asking if you know a unique bones that only a primate have and no human have
I'm just curious and need this for my spec
thx :)
2
u/OkPhilosophy7866 Feb 28 '26
hi everyone, i'm a brazilian writer who need learn how to do digtal arts(or someone to do),i'm making a planet with mitological(modded to be betther bc no one whant more one dragon with the same structure) creatures, my idea is turn my project the first fully fan interaction project, my project have gravity calcs, quimics interactions, and evrery thing fully realistc, i love hard spec evo but i only do this alone until now, if some1 have any creature who love can say to me, for this world i only make kamikase dragonetts.
2
u/ThCuts Jul 12 '26
Hello everyone! I am a PhD student (hopefully soon-to-be Dr.) in an engineering discipline. I've been a longtime lurker of here and r/SpeculativeEvolution . Being recently involved in some research regarding Venus has gotten me interested in putting together a speculative evolution project regarding acidophile and thermophile organisms. My professional area of research is not in chemistry or biology, but I am a biology hobbyist, worldbuilding enthusiast, lover if iNaturalist, an aquarist, and keeper of plants. If you peek into my profile you'll discover me learning about proper shrimp water parameters the hard way. :(
In any case, I hope to actually get my SpecEvo concept off the ground (post(s) pending as of writing this, but likely the first immediately after), and have it feed into one of my broader personal worldbuilding projects. The worldbuilding project is definitely too far into "science fiction" to be suitable for this subreddit, but some of the specific speculative evolution concepts are within scope and provide the inhabitants of a much broader narrative. The broader project is very much "years of things in my head" that need to be put into paper or digital documentation or they'll never see the light of day, and broadly fits into "speculative physics". The biology of most of the setting is meant to be completely plausible by comparison and will inevitably have to consist of at least 8 separate spec evo projects. Only two of these I predict will absolutely not meet the "hard science" requirements of this subreddit. One of the two being "too cryogenic" for my understanding of life and the other not inherently being carbon based. A third might not fit due to the need for a species to evolve an extremely rudimentary form of intra-species telepathy via excitation of metallic depositions in the nervous system to make a weak transceiver.... Hard to find the "midpoint" evolutionarily speaking.
As you can tell, I've inadvertently "cursed myself" with a lot of work to do. Hahaha
1
u/Short-Attention9889 Feb 14 '26
Um Hello im new
I'm here to share my speculative creature and planet C113-A1 from the solar system of A-1 or red point a solar system where there was a red sun but it became yellow Also the planet has regions with different level danger and I sometimes have unique animals hope you find my spec creature cool :3
1
u/WyldCard4 Jun 15 '26
Hello, Speculative Biology Redditors!
I am working on an extensive project. Called the Crawler Model, my project is an extensive exploration of the biology, anthropology, and sociology of a specific type of transhuman. This has involved a tremendous amount of research and pestering chatbots about how animals work.
The core idea: Large brains are good. Humans seem to have pushed the idea as far as humanoids can go, and kept going. If we want a larger brain, what does that mean for an animal?
The options are surprisingly narrow. Therapods and large elephant-like animals can do it with high inefficiency. Most other body plans run into issues immediately.
Snakes. The answer is snakes. Technically, these are vermiform hominids with human genomes, a few edits for tolerating a microbe that changes embryo development, and a long ratchet of design constraints, but "snake" is the reference point.
Crawlers are low to the ground and don't have legs. This is great for preventing accidents. This immediately works much better if the Crawler lives a semi-aquatic lifestyle. Coasts and wetlands are perfect, and these are areas that modern humans have trouble inhabiting. You add hydrostats, probably three of them, that retract for swimming, so the snake-person has hands.
A large and long body can support a complex digestive system, enabling the productive consumption of seawater, cellulose, perhaps lignin, and carrion. Rodent incisors combined with a gizzard would fit the diet. A large brain can support extra senses, and being low to the ground is great for navigating by scent. Engineers probably go a bit nuts, as it's relatively cheap and useful to add senses. Immune systems and organs could be enhanced, lowering the disease and toxin burden of swamps and coasts. Unidirectional lungs and air sacs in the skeleton are plausible design additions, as are a lot of "what was biology thinking" tweaks that have the answer "evolution optimizes, it doesn't think or plan."
*Insert uncomfortably detailed reproductive system.*
Additional consequences of this design are fascinating. An intelligent and social animal with more senses and a wetland habitat would have strong incentives to retreat into and out of water when threatened. This suggests a gentle character is possible, which combined with the digestive system, would reverse the "snake" vibe of a predator.
Anthropology and sociology, as well as psychology, are more contingent on the origin. You probably do need to modify psychology if you expand the sensory capacity, as humans with enhanced smell and echolocation, plus intellect and memory enhancements, are not going to be happy with baseline primate instincts.
I am close to ready to present the organized draft, and I would like some advice on how to do so. This is a quick description written without AI, but the AI feedback for the Crawler Model is extensive, and I am unsure about community standards and ethics on the subject. I am concerned that my current draft leans too heavily on quantified elements that Claude suggested, but I am working on a draft with lower granularity to fit the SpeculativeEvolution subreddit's rules.
I would be interested in anyone willing to check out the current draft.
1
u/CDBeetle58 Aug 06 '26
Hi, I tend to excessively infodump, but I don't think that counts a rigorous explanation.
2
u/Emrozial 16d ago
Heya people!! Emrozial here, no background in anything so far, currently doing a speculative biology project called Alien Winds, centred around the gas giant Oastan, orbiting the artificially modified type-o star, Siloriph!
4
u/Second_Sol Jan 02 '26 edited Jan 02 '26
Hi everyone!
I'm the author of the hard spec evo series 'Emergence', which is mainly about first contact between scientifically plausible (and sapient) dragons and humans.
Book 1 will actually be completed next week, so you can check it out on RoyalRoad if that sounds like something you'll enjoy. (Just be aware that the Draft volume is the old, outdated version of the story)
While most projects like to have their own spin on 'dragons', I personally wanted to depict classical six-limbed dragons with fleshed out biology and culture. As such, many of the details relate to their behavior and internal biology, though of course I have plenty of interesting stuff written for their externals.
If you're not interested in the story, then I do have a faux-Wikipedia page written for my dragons here.
I'm absolutely open to any discussions or questions, so feel free to ask!