Concerning Anatomy and Reproduction

Forgiveness requested if this issue has been addresses somewhere already and I failed to find it.
Anyway...
Out of boredom I looked up naga anatomy on DeviantArt and there seem, unsurprisingly, to be differing opinions on how the organs are arranged, particularly the reproductive and excretory systems. Personally I always pictured the uterus to be in the human part where it is in humans (as makes sense given the location of the vaginas apparent in Karbo's and most other Felarya-related drawings), and the anus to be somewhere on the snake portion. Yet, not being the Supreme God of Felarya I don't know how correct this is.
I do know that on a snake, the cloaca, i.e. general-purpose reproductive/excretory hole, is at the end of its body proper and the base of the tail. A question rises, though, of to what degree this case is similar to that of a naga, or whether the snake portion counts as just a tail or as a whole second body section. For one thing, nagas have wide, flat scales they use for locomotion - on a snake these are only found on the belly and not on the tail. Yet the genitals, which correspond somewhat to a cloaca, are way up at the end of the human portion, suggesting that the tail begins there.
On a related note, there is the question of the mode of reproduction. I vaguely remember something being said about Crisis hatching from an egg, but the wiki's article on nagas does not say whether this is always the case. Humans, we all know, have live births, and so do several species of snake, so it's difficult to make any conclusions.
Long story short, is there any official word on the anatomies of nagas and other Felaryan "taur" creatures, and would it be a good idea for me or someone else to draw some reference diagrams?
If there isn't an official word, what are you other people's thoughts on the matter?

I'm not the Supreme God of Felarya but here's what's generally been accepted:

Naga's digestive system goes completely through their tail, so near the end is the vent.

Reproductive organs on nagas are on their human half for females, same place for males but kept internally and covered. Assumed to be the case for the mythical mermen.

example

For most races, penises are hidden. The reproductive organs on both sexes will be kept internally/ on animal half if that's an option. Sphinxes and centaurs have their reproductive organs on their animal half.

Tauric and otherwise hybrid races lay eggs or give live birth depending on the method of whatever animal they're a hybrid of, and egg-hatched taurs are human scale before they undergo a huge growth spurt to giant size. Live births are at a larger scale.

Fairies do not hatch from eggs.

Quote :

Out of boredom I looked up naga anatomy on DeviantArt and there seem, unsurprisingly, to be differing opinions on how the organs are arranged, particularly the reproductive and excretory systems. Personally I always pictured the uterus to be in the human part where it is in humans (as makes sense given the location of the vaginas apparent in Karbo's and most other Felarya-related drawings), and the anus to be somewhere on the snake portion. Yet, not being the Supreme God of Felarya I don't know how correct this is.

Keep in mind, karbo did not invent nagas and there is a much larger community (and even fetish) of people who just enjoy demi-humans. Not all of their views conform with the Felaryan norm.

As for Felaryan nagas, yes, the general consensus is that their vagina, uterus and such are in the human portions.

The general idea about male nagas is that their penis is located in roughly the same spot as a female naga's vagina, but is held internally when not in use, behind a pair of belly scales that can separate to make room for it to come and go. This was decided on for the protection of the male genitalia as he's slithering around, and because an always exposed penis just looks silly on the naga body type.

The anus would be located at the end of the snake portion, similar to real snakes.

Quote :

or whether the snake portion counts as just a tail or as a whole second body section. For one thing, nagas have wide, flat scales they use for locomotion - on a snake these are only found on the belly and not on the tail. Yet the genitals, which correspond somewhat to a cloaca, are way up at the end of the human portion, suggesting that the tail begins there

Being half-human just swaps around some parts of the anatomy.

A naga's tail also tends to house organs and systems that could not fit in the human portion alone. For example, most nagas have two stomachs. They have the human-like stomach in their human half for small food, but if a meal is sufficiently large, it will pass right through the first stomach, and into the larger, secondary stomach located in the tail. If food has already been digested in the first stomach, it will just pass right through the second and into the intestines.

Oceanic Nagas and Sea Krait Nagas also house large secondary lungs within their tails which lets them hold their breath for long periods of time underwater (although, like sea kraits, sea krait naga secondary lungs are smaller, since more space is taken up by the muscles that power their belly scales).

Quote :

On a related note, there is the question of the mode of reproduction. I vaguely remember something being said about Crisis hatching from an egg, but the wiki's article on nagas does not say whether this is always the case. Humans, we all know, have live births, and so do several species of snake, so it's difficult to make any conclusions.

The general consensus is that the vast majority of nagas hatch from eggs. Some sub-species do give live births though.

Felaryan hyrids tend to fall into three reproductive groups:

1: Egg layers: Harpies, arthropod hybrids, most reptile hybrids, most undersea hybrids, and generally hybrids based on animals that lay eggs in real life
- Their young are much smaller (around human-sized) at birth
- The newborns are much more developed and active, and able to survive on their own shortly after hatching
- There seems to be a higher instance of child abandonment
- This type of reproduction is easier and safer on the mother, since her pregnancy is very light and does not hinder her that much

2: Live birth: Mammal hybrids, elves, fairies, some nagas, some mermaids, and generally hybrids based on animals that birth live young
- Their young are much larger (proportionately baby-sized to the parents) at birth
- Their young are less developed and require parental care to have a chance at survival
- Live birth is more common among communal predators, and as such, the children are almost never abandoned
- This type of reproduction is much tougher on the mother, and more dangerous. As her pregnancy continues, she becomes more hindered, and will require the help of her mate and/or friends to survive

3: Dryads
- Reproduce by combining their seeds with the pollen of wild flora and then releasing them into their air (I think that's what we decided on. I forget)
- Seed will only sprout if it lands in a good location.
- Looks like a normal plant at first, until the tough outer coating peels off to reveal the dryad
- Young dryads survive via an unconscious illusion-based camouflage reaction. They learn to control this more and more as they age
- Most dryads will never physically see their children, but the dryads' mental network allows young dryads to never be alone, and always have a friendly voice in their heads to help them along

Hope this helps some =D

EDIT: Also, fish is right. Most reptile, fish, insect, etc etc hybrid males will have their penises held internally when not in use. Mammals do not though. Quadruped taurs (centaurs, pantaurs, sphinxes, and so on will have their genitalia on their animal halves.

Still the best developed example of 'naga anatomy' I've yet to see. Also comes in a Flash version that you can look at the various layers (skin/muscle/organs/skeleton) separately.

Thats a huge heart and lungs. Kinda puts a damper on the two stomachs theory huh?

When we have two stomachs we can say one digests like a snake does, and the other digests like a human's stomach does, separating efficiencies. However, since there's one stomach here, how efficient is digestion? It would be fairly important

Spoiler:

Archmage_Bael wrote:

Thats a huge heart and lungs. Kinda puts a damper on the two stomachs theory huh?

When we have two stomachs we can say one digests like a snake does, and the other digests like a human's stomach does, separating efficiencies. However, since there's one stomach here, how efficient is digestion? It would be fairly important

Spoiler:

Not really, considering the 'prestomach' shown. The defining idea of two stomachs is mostly limited to the interpretation of the integration of said features. Most people treat taurics as humans with other things attached below the waist, but this isn't really how it would/should work entirely. Granted, with certain designs it becomes difficult, but in this example it's actually really on target.

Since this diagram has only one heart and lung, the size differential is necessary compared to the rest of the body. If you think of the prestomach as the 'first stomach', digesting small material that then passes through the stomach into the intestine for absorption, it isn't any different from the current line of naga thinking in Felarya. The larger stomach only 'gears up' when larger prey/larger quantities of prey is consumed. Granted, this image wasn't for Felarya, and isn't meant to be taken in that light. But it can be.

Personally I still find it flawed, but not because of that particular aspect. I don't necessarily agree with putting human sexual organs on them (in case that wasn't evident by my own species creations) - though in this case it is actually implemented well. What I find disagreeable/flawed is the skeletal structure - that human body upper portion couldn't possibly support the passage of larger prey items to the 'real' stomach.

Indeed, I only really posted it since it is the first conglomerate picture I've seen that was well drawn and at least thought out to some extent.

Yeah I actually mentioned the skeletal structure problem in another thread as an afterthought. The ribcage, mainly.