Of Sloths and Mind Control

Greatest topic name ever, amirite?


Colossal Sloth
Size: 70-80’
Danger Level: Very Low- High (when provoked)

A huge, omnivorous, non-sentient mammalian creature that resembles a giant sloth, but with a body structure closer to that of a gorilla. They slowly shamble their way through the jungle, eating vegetation with the temperament of a noghdong- although they do possess monstrous, wicked claws, which are usually folded away harmlessly, as they walk on their knuckles. They typically walk on all fours at about fifty feet at the shoulder. What keeps these peaceful creatures from being extensively preyed upon is their dual-personality. When they are attacked, a great change occurs- and they stand up on their hind legs, balanced by their thick tails. They then wield their claws freely- of which many predators would be extremely jealous of- to strike back with great fury and vengeance. If their aggressor is small enough, they eat them whole without a second thought, but if the opponent is large enough, they’ll rip them asunder. Their claws have been known to tear through the hides of even the toughest of predators, making the weapons extremely coveted by countless races. They have two fighting claws on the end of each forearm, with the back ones used more for digging and climbing than fighting. Colossal sloths are actually difficult to get angry because of their very thick matting of hair which makes them resistant to many smaller weapons. They are very dull creatures, but their deadly combat skills make them revered by many sentient creatures, and most give them a wide berth just in case- and for very good reason. Have been witnessed fighting on equal footing with tonorions, the lightning-fast, nightmarish creatures falling to the sloth’s crushing blows and dismembering swipes.

“Hey, that naga wasn’t to tough- OH MY GOD IT’S A SLOTH!”

Looks something like this


Slug Girl Zombie Parasite (also known as a disease called Leucoch to slug girls)
Danger Level: Minimal (critical for slug girls)

Based off of this

A strange parasitic creature that, like the dryad gut worm, has an odd life cycle. The first starts with much smaller creatures, such escarlai slugs, but later on if they happen to end up in a slug girl, the infected slug girl will then start exhibiting strange behavior, such as venturing out in broad daylight, in the heat, etc. They will start taking greater risks, and eventually their eyestalks will betray the cause- the eyes on the stalks will begin pulsating brightly, the parasites inside of them. It is possible to remove the stalks at this point, as they will regrow with time, but otherwise the slug girl becomes… A zombie to the parasites. One they have exerted full control, the slug girl will actually approach a predator- and try to get itself eaten! The parasite can only reach the next step in its life cycle if it ends up in a harpy, so if a full-sized slug girl gets eaten by a naga, nothing will happen to it. The naga, that is. She might be turned off by the oddly pulsating eyestalks in the first place, although most predators don’t have many qualms with (seemingly) willing prey. What the parasite really wants is a juvenile, which will slime its way to a high place, where its brightly flashing eyestalks will no doubt draw the attention of a harpy, who will swoop down and devour the unfortunate slug girl, letting the parasite switch hosts. Most predators should know that willing prey is prey with a catch, and the Parasite wreaks havoc for weeks once in a harpy. She’ll definitely not fall for it twice, so the parasite will work its mind-control (although extremely limited on the harpy host) to fly somewhere where she will… Scatter the seeds of the next generation, so to speak, which is usually as close to known slug girl territory as possible as well as in rival harpy territory. ;P

Note: unlike the real-life counterparts, these appear to be phosphorescent globes of light within the slug girl's eyestalks instead of a maggot. There is usually no eyestalk detachment in the process, as basically any Felaryan predator would rather make a full meal out of her, but they can be surgically removed, granting you a temporarily blind ally- and therefore, a temporary alliance...

Slug girls regard any of their kind who take unnecessary risks as having the leucoch "disease".

Example: "You're going hunting in that zigzag naga's territory? You must have leucoch!

Ohh so this is a sloth
I wondered several times about it. I think these are nice ideas ^_^

I agree with Karbo. These are some nice ideas.

Though the zombie parasite is scary. It makes me feel sad for the slug girls now.

As usual, great ideas.

Leucochloridium varidae is one of my favorite parasites. ... Yeah, I know how freaky that sounds, but seriously, if you really want to be simply amazed by the diversity of life you need to look at things like parasitic, symbiotic, and mimetic organisms. What you find out will just blow your mind.

Pendragon wrote:

Though the zombie parasite is scary. It makes me feel sad for the slug girls now.

Don't worry, /Fish/ was merciful and made them less scary than the real-life version. Leucochloridium Varidae actually inhabits the brain of the snail, and only sends parts of its body into the eyestalks; even after they are bitten off/severed, the worm is still alive in the body of the snail, and will simply grow back into the snail's eyestalks when they regenerate. Once a snail is infected, it pretty much stays infected until it dies. Which usually isn't anytime soon; although it makes the snail much less timid, Leucochloridium Varidae is fairly benign for a parasite... aside from hijacking the snail's brain when it is ready to reproduce, it otherwise leaves the snail alone.

Now, if you want some really nasty parasites, check out Dicrocoelium Dendriticum (the Lancet Fluke), Sacculina Carcini (or any other species of the genus), Spinochordodes Tellinii (the Gordian Worm), and probably the scariest of all, Cordyceps Unilateralis.

Sacculina turns crabs into total zombies, to the point that they don't care about anything or use any energy except to nurture the parasite.

Dicrocoelium and Spinochordodes not only mind control their hosts, they actually make them commit suicide when the parasites are ready to reproduce.

And Cordyceps will make an infected ant cheerfully climb up the highest plant it can find, clamp onto it with its mandibles, and wait around until the fungus bursts through its brain and out of its head, growing a fruiting body until it's big enough to explode and unleash a cloud of spores... which will drift downwards and infect any ants (or other insects, in the case of other species of Cordyceps) they contact. Basically, it turns the ant into a mindless zombie who helps it infect and kill the entire colony.

Seriously.

Check it out here.

EDIT: Oh, and if you REALLY want to be freaked out, this is my all time favorite parasite, Cymothoa Exigua.


This little guy is a parasitic isopod, informally named the Tongue-Eating Sea Louse. Because... well, I'll just show you.
Be warned: if you have any doubts at all about whether or not you want to see why Cymothoa got that name, you really do not want to look at the following pictures.

... Okay, don't say I didn't warn you.

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

If you're still having trouble figuring out exactly what you're looking at, here's a hint: Cymothoa is the ONLY organism (currently known) in the world that replaces one of a host's organs.

... Yeah.

@ Karbo: Thanks!

But that's a rather poor example of a sloth, since it's an extinct species. This is what a modern sloth looks like. Notice that it is cute and not fearsome. Definately not Felarya material. Just a bit of sloth edumacation.

@ Pendragon: Thank you as well. I don't have anything against slug girls, really!

@ Quantum: Thank you for giving me nightmares.

/Fish/ wrote:

@ Quantum: Thank you for giving me nightmares.

Anytime, my friend. Anytime.

(Hey, remember, I did warn you! )

EDIT: What's so fascinating about it is that aside from making the host snapper's tongue atrophy until it falls out and reattaching itself in the tongue's place, Cymothoa doesn't do any real harm to the fish. It simply takes a bit of food for itself, and allows the fish to control it with the muscles at the base of the mouth, just as if the isopod were the fish's real tongue.

Cymothoa pretty much lives out the rest of its life in a benign parasitic relationship with the host- if not for the fact that the host doesn't really get any benefits out of the relationship it wouldn't normally have, it would be considered more of a symbiotic relationship.

*Twitch* Alright quantum, no more parasite suggestions from you.

S-Guy wrote:

*Twitch* Alright quantum, no more parasite suggestions from you.

Awww, man....

@Quantum thanks to remember me the nature can be scarier than an horror movie

gwadahunter2222 wrote:

@Quantum thanks to remember me the nature can be scarier than an horror movie

Quoted for truth. No matter what kind of nasty little horrors we come up with, we need to remember that Nature as doing it first, and will most likely be doing it loooong after we're gone.

I know, I don't really have anything useful to contribute to this thread, but I've got to say: Cymothoa Exigua is easily the coolest thing I've seen all week.

I don't know why everyone seems all creeped out though, the little guy is kinda cute, if you ask me.

A...ARGH

PrinnyDood wrote:

I know, I don't really have anything useful to contribute to this thread, but I've got to say: Cymothoa Exigua is easily the coolest thing I've seen all week.

I don't know why everyone seems all creeped out though, the little guy is kinda cute, if you ask me.

See, I have pretty much the same opinion about it; there are some pretty nasty looking isopods, and considering what Cymothoa does, the little guy actually looks fairly adorable.

Have you ever considered a career in biology, PrinnyDood?

Karbo wrote:

A...ARGH

Excellent work on the both of them!

By they way which sloth are you basing this off. The extic one or the modern one for a pic view?

@ ericnthered123:

This is based off of the extinct giant sloth, but it's a bit like the King Kong equivalent. You know, fighting a pack of kenshas at once, that sort of thing.

/Fish/ wrote:

@ ericnthered123:

This is based off of the extinct giant sloth, but it's a bit like the King Kong equivalent. You know, fighting a pack of kenshas at once, that sort of thing.

Awesome!

TheQuantumMechanic wrote:

Have you ever considered a career in biology, PrinnyDood?

Not really, to be honest. Maybe I should? I do care for tarantulas and frogs part-time, which may contribute to my affection for creatures that many people consider creepy. I don't know the first thing about them though, other than how too keep them alive.

Alright, I'll stop being off-topic now, honest.