‘Speculative Zoology’ is the imagining and description of fictional animals that uses actual animals, as well as ‘real-life’ scientific and biological facts, theories and principles as a source of inspiration. Often, people engaging in Speculative Zoology will attempt to ensure that their imagined animals are scientifically plausible, but this is not necessarily a required effort. A more extensive description of Speculative Zoology and other related subjects is beyond both the scope and the intention of this article, although it is a subject that does interest me greatly and it is a subject that I would like to write about in the future. During the previous year for a period of a few months, I spent a great deal of time engaging in speculative zoology. I found speculative zoology to be an enjoyable hobby, which allowed me to develop and my creativity and imagination, but it was also both interesting and educational as it required me to, whilst practicing my writing skills, learn a great deal of information regarding Biology, as well as a few other subjects, in order to gain a source of inspiration for my imagined animals, which I attempted to make as scientifically plausible as I was personally able to. In addition, speculative zoology encouraged me to develop my skills and characteristics as I both shared the descriptions of my imagined animals with online forums, and attempted to draw a few of them, also sharing the resultant pictures; this was personally beneficial to me as I had previously lacked the confidence and self-esteem to perform such tasks. I no longer engage in speculative zoology frequently as I now devote more time to other activities, but I thought that it may be of some benefit and interest, both to others and myself, if I was to share an imagined animal on this blog, and to explain the decisions and inspirations that influenced its creation.

I was initially inspired by the recent holiday of Easter because, as part of the celebration of the holiday, children are entertained with the idea of the ‘Easter Bunny’, a rabbit that visits the children to hide colourful eggs for them to find; I thought it would be enjoyable to, via speculative zoology, imagine and describe a rabbit-like creature, which produces colourful eggs, whilst still retaining some degree of scientific plausibility within the description of such a creature. This strongly influenced my decision to imagine the creature to be a monotreme, as this would allow the creature to share many of the characteristics of rabbits, such as the possession of fur, social behaviours, and long ears, whilst retaining an important ability, which is not possessed by other mammals and is the ability to lay eggs.

The colourful eggs of the creature seemed to me to potentially pose a problem to its scientific plausibility as mammals cannot produce the same pigments as birds in sufficient amounts to create the bright colours, which are present on the feathers of birds and the shells of eggs; it is believed that mammals lost the ability to produce such pigments in this manner as a result of their previous, chiefly nocturnal lifestyles, which mandated eyes that were better able to see in the dark at the expense of a reduced ability to distinguish colours, causing the benefits of bright colouration to no longer justify the evolutionary and survival costs of producing the required pigments. However, mammals still produce eumelanin, a pigment that is responsible for the varying degrees of brown and black colourations, and pheomelanin, a pigment that is responsible for the varying degrees of red colourations; the creature could use these pigments to provide its eggs with bright and aesthetically pleasing brown and red colourations. The eggs could be furthest made to appear bright and colourful by the addition of a thin, smooth cuticle of calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate, which would create structural colouration by reflecting light in a manner that could cause the eggs to display both glossiness and iridescence; this cuticle is directly inspired by that of the Great Tinamou (Tinamus major). In addition, the eggs could possess aesthetically pleasing ‘decorations’, such as speckles, which are produced by deposits of extra calcium within the shell of the egg, providing a greater strength of the shell. Interesting patterns could be provided to the shell of the eggs if, like the Guira Cuckoo (Guira guira), the imagined creature produced a layer of Vaterite over the egg-shells; Vaterite is calcium carbonate that differs structurally from the calcium carbonate of the egg-shells, and would, having a white colouration gradually, after an egg was laid, flake away from the egg, revealing the brighter, colourful layers underneath and creating varying patterns as it flaked away over time. The colouration and decoration of the eggs of the creature has implications that effect its social and reproductive behaviours. A bright colouration would make the eggs more vulnerable to predators, so it is unlikely that such colouration would evolve in the absence of any evolutionary benefit. Initially, I imagined that the creature would lay bright eggs to deliberately attract the attention of predators, distracting them from duller, better hidden eggs, but I decided against this idea as eggs require a large amount of resources to produce, and, thus, there would be a significant cost to the creature to produce eggs for the purpose of distracting predators, potentially outweighing the costs of such distraction. Instead, I imagined that the creature produces eggs with bright colourations and decorations to encourage other individuals of the same species to lay eggs in the same nest; this would ensure that multiple individuals would have an interest in protecting the nest, enabling certain individuals to attend to the nest whilst the others foraged for food. This form of communal nesting, which has been hypothesised as a significant benefit of the attractive eggs of the Great Tinamou, would likely be more effective if the imagined species was at least somewhat social, and had some method of reliably communicating information; long ears, like those of rabbits, could be used to demonstrate content and distress with their respective flattening and erection. Another, additional method of potential communication would be the use of spines, hollow hairs that are strengthened with keratin, which could be progressively erected to indicate increasing levels of distress; this trait was inspired by the similar trait of hedgehogs.

These spines could also serve a defensive purpose by deterring and injuring predators, and such a defensive purpose would be beneficial as, due to the position of their legs, monotremes cannot run as fast as other mammals, and, thus, the creature would likely be unable to outrun and escape many of its potential predators. Although the possession of defensive spines is not a trait that is commonly associated with the Easter Bunny, I think that it would be an interesting and plausible feature of the imagined creature. In addition, the possession of spines would allow the creature to display a behavior that is performed by hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus), which is known as ‘anointing’ and occurs when a hedgehog encounters an unfamiliar scent. The hedgehog will lick the source of the scent, forming a lather with its saliva that is then applied to the spines of the hedgehog; this ensures that the scent of the hedgehog is similar to its environment, making it difficult for the hedgehog to be detected by the olfactory senses of potential predators, and potentially giving the spines of the hedgehog the ability to further injure attacking animals by being infectious or toxic.

Now that the more interesting features of the creature have been established, traits that may be perceived as simpler can be established, such as its size. A larger creature would likely lay less eggs, but devote more resources to each of its offspring, and would be more overt than a smaller creature; I would prefer the creature to lay many eggs and be somewhat secretive, like my perception of the Easter Bunny, so I decided that it would be approximately the size of a rabbit, as opposed to possessing the larger size of some of the anthropomorphic portrayals of the Easter Bunny. In addition, being the approximate size of a rabbit would prevent the creature from being too small from defending its communal nest from predators, so the reason for its colourful eggs remains plausible.

For the sake of the brevity of this article, I shall provide no further explanations of my decisions, as I feel as though it would be potentially no longer beneficial to provide further examples, and shall proceed to the actual description of the creature. I have decided upon the name of ‘Prickled Rabbit’, as, in my opinion, such a name is descriptive of the creature. I shall now attempt to provide a description of the Prickled Rabbit:

The Prickled Rabbit, which, despite its name, is not a species of lagomorph, is a small monotreme with a length of approximately 60cm and a weight of around 5kg. The species has been erroneously called a ‘rabbit’ as the result of its long-ears, which allow the animal to hear approaching predators. The fur of the animal is a light yellow-brown colour, although the spines, which are hollowed hairs that are strengthened with keratin, on its back possess a dark brown colouration. These spines, which are the inspiration for the word ‘Prickled’ within the name of the animal, are used to deter potential predators because, as a result of the sprawled positioning of the limbs, common amongst monotremes, of the Prickled Rabbit, the Prickled Rabbit is unable to outrun, and is, thus, vulnerable to, predators. The defensive capabilities of the spines are enhanced by the animal’s habit of anointing its spines with sources of unfamiliar scents; such anointment both ensures that the Prickled Rabbit’s scent is similar to that of its environment, camouflaging it, and potentially coats the spines with a infectious or toxic substance, further harming any predator that is injured by the spines. The spines of the Prickled Rabbit also play a role in its ability to communicate as the animal is capable of progressively erecting them in order to display its growing distress. It also uses its long ears to communicate, raising and lowering them to display distress and content respectively. The ability to communicate in this manner is particularly beneficial during its interactions with other members of its species.

The Prickled Rabbit does not maintain territories, but is mostly asocial, although it will forage in small groups, throughout the year. However, nesting females share and protect communal nests of eggs. The eggs are considered to be aesthetically pleasing as they bare an attractive colouration, as the result of the pigment of pheomelanin, that varies between shades of bright red and brown. A thin cuticle of calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate uses structural colouration to further provide the eggs with both iridescence and an appealing gloss. The eggs are decorated by dark speckles of deposited calcium, which also serve to strengthen the shells of the eggs. Each egg bares an unique, decorative pattern as a layer of white vaterite, which initially covers each egg entirely, gradually flakes away, exposing the bright colouration and speckles underneath. The colouration and decoration of the eggs makes them more obvious and vulnerable to predators, but such characteristics serve an advantageous purpose by attracting female Prickled Rabbits to lay their eggs in the same nest. This is beneficial to both the eggs and the females as it ensures that multiple females have an interest in protecting the nest, allowing each female to forage and sustain herself whilst leaving the nest, and her eggs, under the protection of the other females.

The young Prickled Rabbits, protected in this manner, remain in their eggs for a sufficiently long time as to permit them to be precocial upon hatching. The precocial young travel, in separate directions, away from the nest during the day, preventing their excrement from attracting predators to, or spreading disease within, the nest, but return during the evenings to receive milk from the females; as monotremes, Prickled Rabbits do not possess nipples, but instead secrete their milk from glands in their skin. The females will allow any young Prickled Rabbit at the nest to drink their milk as they possess reliable method of distinguishing their own offspring from the offspring of other females. The young Prickled Rabbits continue to return to the nest until they reach the age of several months, although they gradually begin to incorporate solid foods and are weaned, returning less frequently to the nest, throughout as they approach this age. The Prickled Rabbit achieves sexual maturity at around five years of age, and has an average life-span of approximately fifteen years, although an individual can live for more than four decades in artificial, protected conditions.

The Prickled Rabbit is primarily insectivorous, but it will consume berries, seeds and exposed tubers, as well as unattended eggs, when available. It possesses molars for the mastication of its food. Female Prickled Rabbits exhibit geophagia and consume grit and soil, providing them with a source of calcium for the production of their eggs. The Prickled Rabbit is nocturnal and has poor eyesight, relying on its olfactory senses and long ears in order to detect food and potential predators. The species typically lives in forested regions, although some individuals do live in grasslands. Despite its prickles, the Prickled Rabbit is still vulnerable to predation by some larger predators; individuals in grasslands are more vulnerable to predation than individuals in forested regions due to their increased visibility in the reduced vegetation. Prickled Rabbits are polygamous, with members of both sexes mating with multiple partners; individual clutches of eggs can have multiple fathers. During the mating period, which begins during the end of the Spring, the males of the species attempt to court the females, who preferentially prioritise breeding with larger, healthier males, by rhythmically flexing their ears and prickles.

You have my gratitude for taking the time to read this article, and I hope that doing so benefited you in some manner. You also have my apologies, if this article seemed overly brief or disorganised; I have been writing it in brief intervals during my spare time, using my phone, as opposed to a computer, and the article, thus, may not have received a sufficient amount of attention, care or dedication. I also apologise to any of my readers who have felt offended or failed as the result of the fact that the majority of my recently published articles have been written in the English language, despite my claim that I would attempt to write this blog in a variety of languages; I have had less time to write recently, and English is the easiest language for me to write in, but I have begun to write, and am soon to complete and publish, an article in Esperanto. As always, I welcome and am grateful for any criticisms, or other forms of feedback, that you desire to share with me regarding this article.

Sources and Resources:

https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/11879/20171026/why-are-bird-eggs-different-colors Interview about the colouration of bird eggs.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/the-beauty-and-biology-of-egg-color/ Article about the colouration of bird eggs.

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/vvby9a/the-great-tinamou-lays-the-fanciest-eggs-in-the-bird-world Article about the Great Tinamou and its eggs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monotreme ‘Wikipedia’ Article about Monotremes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speculative_evolution A ‘Wikipedia’ Article about Speculative Evolution.