The strange fish in "Avatar 2" have prototypes? If you don't read this article, it's a waste of time to watch the movie!

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After 13 years, we finally got to see Avatar 2: The Way of Water . In this film, the protagonists came to the ocean world on the planet Pandora, and the camera showed us dazzling marine creatures . For aquatic life enthusiasts, the happiest thing is to find out the real prototypes of these fictional creatures, just like finding Cameron's hidden Easter eggs.

Avatar: Undersea World pseudo-documentary (mistake)

Let’s fast forward to the ocean world on the planet Pandora and take a look at the prototypes of the aquatic creatures in "Avatar 2".

Island tribe: They look different from the forest tribe

In order to survive, the protagonist and his party left their forest homeland and sought shelter from the island tribe living on the seashore. Although they are all residents of Pandora, they have lived in different environments for generations, and there are some differences in their physical forms between the island tribe and the forest tribe . These differences are reasonable from an evolutionary perspective.

Reef Tribe Leader｜20th Century Studios

The island and reef people have blue pupils and larger eyes, which may help them have a better vision underwater; the forearms and calves of the island and reef people are expanded outwards, which is similar to fish fins and can help them increase their swimming ability; the tails of the island and reef people are also thicker and can play a role in assisting propulsion like a fish tail - in the movie, when the island and reef people saw the protagonist's family coming to seek refuge, they also questioned whether their thin tails could not swim.

In the movie, the houses where the island people live are built on huge tree roots. This inspiration must have come from the supporting roots of mangrove plants on Earth .

Houses of the Island People｜20th Century Studios

Mangroves are simply a type of tree that can grow in the sea. They appear in the intertidal zones of tropical and subtropical seas. In order to adapt to the waves, high salt content, and low oxygen content of the intertidal zones , mangroves have many unique skills to "counterattack".

In order to resist the erosion of waves, they have grown intricate prop roots; in order to assist breathing and transmit oxygen, they have developed respiratory roots of various shapes; in order to excrete excess salt in the body, salt glands are distributed on their leaves; in order to adapt to life in the intertidal zone, they have also evolved the ability to spread fruits by sea drift.

Mangroves on the banks of the Berahan Kulon River in Indonesia｜Aulia Erlangga/CIFOR-ICRAF

Building houses on mangroves should be an ideal choice for island and reef tribes. On the one hand, mangroves have a stable root system and can be firmly rooted in the mudflats, which means that when storms and big waves hit, the residents on the mangroves are also safer - this is also of great significance on Earth, as mangroves can protect embankments and reduce the impact of storm surges on land. On the other hand, mangroves, coral reefs and seagrass beds are known as the three typical marine natural ecosystems . There are abundant fish, shrimps and crabs living under the mangroves, which can facilitate the island and reef tribes to catch food.

In addition, building the house on the supporting roots of giant mangroves can also make travel more convenient. In the movie, the island tribesmen’s mounts are parked in the sea water under the house, and they can get on the “car” just by calling out when they go out!

Ilu: A Mount from Ancient Times

Speaking of travel, we have to introduce the new "vehicles" that appear in "Avatar 2". After the protagonist and his family arrived at the island tribe, they had to learn how to use underwater transportation from scratch, and the first one to enter the test drive range was Ilu .

Ilu｜20th Century Studios

Ilu is intelligent and relatively easy to tame. It is the most commonly domesticated aquatic companion animal among island tribes and one of the most commonly used mounts.

Ilu｜20th Century Studios

Ilu has a slender body with flippers and a rudder-shaped tail. Its back is dark and its belly is white. There are different patterns or stripes on its back and belly. This body shape is likely based on the extinct plesiosaur .

Reconstruction of the plesiosaur｜Dmitry Bogdanov/ Wikimedia

However, the plesiosaur only has two pairs of flippers, while Ilu has three pairs, and the back two pairs of flippers are large, like open wings - these two pairs of flippers may be based on the setting of manta rays .

Manta ray | sarah faulwetter/ Flickr

Wave-skimming pterosaur: Flying fish really exist

If Iru is suitable for daily travel, then another means of transportation - wave-skimming pterosaurs are more suitable for wartime, because they can not only dive, but also glide on the water .

Skimwing (tsurak), the protagonist wanted to tame a flying bird 13 years ago, this time it's a flying fish｜20th Century Studios

The wave-skimming pterosaur has a slender body, with a body length of up to 14.6 meters. The upper part of its body is dark, the lower part is silver, and its orange pectoral and pelvic fins have black markings. When the wave-skimming pterosaur fully spreads its fins, it can glide on the sea.

Wave-skippers probably combined features of both the alligator gar and the flying fish. The alligator gar is named for its long, alligator-like snout full of teeth, and is a large carnivorous fish native to North America.

Alligator gar. The news that Ruzhou drained the lake to catch the invasive alligator gar made many people know this big fish｜FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute/ Flickr

Flying fish are experts in gliding among fish. Relying on their broad pectoral fins (some species also have very broad pelvic fins), they are able to glide on the sea surface for a period of time , thereby escaping predation by their natural enemies in the water.

The gliding flying fish is almost identical to the wave-skimming pterosaur｜Tom Benson/ Flickr

Moreover, the tail fins of most fish are symmetrical, but the tail fin of the wave-skimming pterosaur is short on the top and long on the bottom , which is similar to that of flying fish. In the movie, the wave-skimming pterosaur also uses its tail fin to slap the water surface like flying fish to gain the power to glide forward.

The tail fin is short on top and long on the bottom. Did you miss this when watching the movie?｜Avatar The Way of Water The Visual Dictionary

Akula shark: the "villain" shark with a bloody mouth

The Akula shark has a ferocious appearance and even attacks the protagonist's son in the movie, so it's obvious that it's not a gentle character. Its typical body shape and crooked tail indicate that the Akula shark is closely related to sharks.

Akula attacks Lo'ak, the second son of the protagonist | 20th Century Studios

The araku shark also seems to be a mix of various marine creatures. The black stripes on both sides of its body should come from the ferocious tiger shark . Tiger sharks are one of the most aggressive shark species. They have many brown spots and stripes on their sides, which look like tiger stripes, so they are also called "tiger sharks."

Tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) cruising in the sea｜Kevin Bryant/ Flickr

In the movie, the image of the Akula shark opening its bloody mouth to chase its prey is also very impressive. However, the action of opening its mouth to hunt is not quite consistent with that of a shark. I personally feel that it is more like a combination of some snake movements.

A threatening display by a pit viper | Bernard DUPONT/ Flickr

Tukun: A highly intelligent deep-sea elf

A giant marine creature, the Tukun , also appears in Avatar 2. According to the setting, the Tukun is highly intelligent, can grow to 70 to 80 meters, has three pairs of fins, and has two hard crowns on its head that look like the tail wing of a car.

Tulkun｜20th Century Studios

Tukun have delicate emotions, their own family history, their own poetry and complex music. They can communicate with the island tribes, and they can also form lifelong friends with a reef tribesman and share their experiences together after the migration. In the movie, Ian Garvin, a marine biologist who studies Tukun, believes that Tukun is even more intelligent than humans .

The setting of Tukun should also refer to a variety of creatures. Tukun's main body and many ecological characteristics should refer to the humpback whale (humpback whale) - Tukun's largest flippers are very similar to the wide flippers of the humpback whale, especially the signature action of leaping and hitting the waves (Breaching).

Humpback whale | Whit Welles / Wikimedia Commons

Humpback whales, like tukuns, have the habit of migratory migration. They usually stay in feeding grounds near the poles to replenish energy in the summer, and come to the tropics to breed and raise their young in the winter. In addition, similar to tukuns, there are many complex songs in the humpback whale group . These songs are mostly sung by male whales in the breeding season to attract females. Love songs are usually single and shared in the same population. Members of the population can make slight additions, substitutions, deletions, etc. to the public version, allowing the love songs to evolve continuously and slowly.

In the movie, Tukun's brain can also secrete Amrita, a liquid that can prolong human life and sell for 80 million US dollars a bottle. This setting may come from sperm whales .

Sperm whale | Gabriel Barathieu / Flickr

The sperm whale's head stores spermaceti , the main component of which is cetyl hexadecanoate, which is a clear, light yellow liquid at room temperature, very similar to Amrita in the movie. The proportion of spermaceti in a sperm whale increases as the individual grows, and a sperm whale can contain up to 1,900 liters of spermaceti .

In reality, sperm whale oil has no anti-aging properties , but centuries ago it was an important commodity used to make cosmetics, textiles, candles, and even lubricants.

Sperm whale spermaceti. It is not yet clear why sperm whales produce spermaceti. It is generally believed that sperm whales can melt spermaceti by increasing local blood flow, or solidify it by inhaling cold seawater, thereby changing the specific gravity and adjusting buoyancy. There is also a theory that spermaceti can act as a sonic lens to focus and calibrate the sound waves emitted by sperm whales. | Raphael D. Mazor/ Flickr

Similar to the movie, the demand for spermaceti oil also gave rise to the crazy sperm whale whaling industry in the 18th and 19th centuries . As oil exploration technology improved, the cost of oil production decreased, and it gradually replaced sperm oil in lighting and lubrication, and whaling activities once decreased; however, it was not until the International Whaling Commission suspended commercial whaling in 1986 that sperm whale whaling activities really decreased.

A study in November this year estimated the population size of sperm whales: before large-scale whaling in 1710, the sperm whale population was about 1.95 million; by 2022, this number was only 840,000 .

Dazzling underwater world

In addition to these cool protagonists, the underwater world of "Avatar 2" also features many creatures with Pandora characteristics but with obvious shadows of the Earth.

For example, underwater schools of fish that resemble flying fish:

Underwater schools of fish like flying fish｜20th Century Studios

A strange fish that combines the characteristics of nose fish and flying fish:

Behind the protagonist is a strange fish that combines the characteristics of a nose fish and a flying fish. ｜20th Century Studios

The home tree of the island tribe may be inspired by sea lilies:

The Soul Tree of the Reef Tribe｜20th Century Studios

Real-life crinoids | Alexander Vasenin / Wikimedia Commons

When escaping from the villain crab submersible, he entered the kelp forest:

Escape from the kelp forest | 20th Century Studios

Kelp forest on display at the Monterey Bay Aquarium | Leonard G. / Wikimedia Commons

In "Avatar 2", the marine life on Pandora is designed to be both bizarre and reasonable, giving people a feeling of interweaving virtual and reality - while immersing yourself in the dreamy underwater world of Pandora, you also feel as if you are in the ocean on Earth .

Ride Ilu and travel through the dreamlike underwater world of Pandora｜20th Century Studios

From this perspective, the sea on Pandora seems to be the sea we have on Earth. At this time, the "wave-skimming pterosaur" on Earth is rushing out of the water to escape pursuit, "Ilu" is cruising leisurely in a certain sea area, and "Tukun" has returned to the tropical sea and sang a love song. And the story of man and nature continues...

Author: Sundayhao

Editor: Mai Mai

This article comes from the Species Calendar, welcome to forward

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