Gencie Salter writes...

Hi Greg.
1. Any idea where gargoyle civilizations started? Like, human civilizations started in Mesopotamia, Indus River Valley.?
2. Were there always gargoyle clans all over the world or did they migrate from wherever they started?

equation writes...

ok... I'm back with my bio q's...

1) well, this first one is more related to the canonicity of their biology... as their reproductive rate was never actually defined in the series, is their reproductive cycle as you have described it set in stone (proverbially speaking), or is there some significant leeway for further development of the specifics, perhaps going so far as to allowing for a faster cycle, still slower than humans, but perhaps more dynamic, maybe along the lines of kangaroos, the females of which can store male genetic material for a number of years (advantageous if one's mate is killed, and substitutes are unavailable or otherwise unsuitable), and choose the best time for pregnancy?

oops... that might be more than 1 question... 8P

2) now for a directly pertinent q... do the eggs experience stone sleep between the laying and the hatching, and if so does it correspond to the adult cycle? given the garg 'rookery' behavior, stone sleep doesnt seem to be necessary, as the rookery is always guarded at night, and very few predators large enough to handle garg eggs (there arent many able to bust an ostrich egg, and gargs' are bigger still) would be able to get into a sealed rookery, given that gargs tend to block the entrances with _big_ rocks! even if the behavior dates back to the dinosaur era, when there were predators able to eat them, they would have been hard pressed to get into the kinds of spaces gargs have been shown to place the rookeries...

3) and this'll be my last for now... as to the gargate question... they had to have a lineage to branch from... is it unreasonable to think that they are, however long ago, branched from certain known dinosaur groups? perhaps they shared a common proto-garg/dinosaur ancestor...

equation writes...

hey Greg... this is not so much a question as a correction to one of your earlier answers regarding gargs in space... the poster asked how a garg -- in the flesh as opposed to stone sleep -- would fare if exposed to hard vacuum (space) without a spacesuit... I hate to say it, but animals dont explode under those circumstances -- although attempting to hold ones breath would prove fatal (but not instantly so), as the alveoli in the lungs would rupture, making it impossible for the blood to absorb oxygen if the person were returned to normal atmosphere. if one were to _not_ hold their breath, the oxygen in the lungs would just go out of the circulatory system in reverse, leading to unconsciousness in about 30 seconds, and death by oxygen deprivation about 90 seconds later. side effects include burst capillaries at the skin surface, swelling of skin and other tissues,joint inflammation and dehydration

and just in case anybody else asks, one cannot freeze instantly in a vacuum either -- that was stupid F/X in M2M...

I do have a few questions on garg biology, but those will be posted separately...

Duncan Devlin writes...

This just hit me after watching the first season finale of a TV show about a certain Vampire Slayer, then Hunter's Moon.

Your ramblings on the wind ceremony did not have a little point about what happens to the corpse of a Gargoyle if it
is not cremated by morning.

Something tells me that the dead would not turn to stone at dawn. Since I seem like a jerk with this question if that assumption is wrong... I don't know.

What happens if a gargoyle experiences clinical death and crosses the threshhold of dawn while still in a state of death?
Will the Gargoyle turn to stone while dead, or what?

Assuming the gargoyle remains flesh after dawn, what will happen if he or she is revived.

Dracolich5 writes...

I just read your answer to my first question about the clones (thanks!) Just to clarify the question you made, the clones who spoke had digitized voices. Brentwood, Hollywood, and Burbank had brief phrases, digitized. So maybe this will help in the explanation. Now, here's just a few questions on garg biology:

1: Do gargoyles have similar vocal cords to humans, or something different?

2: Are gargoyle bones (especially the wings) made of bone or cartilege? Gargoyle wings are pretty flexible.

3: HOW DO GARGOYLES DO THE COOL EYE-FLARE THREAT???!!!

OK, that's it. Until next time!

Mary Mack writes...

Okay, so we all know that garg eggs are laid in even-decade-8 years (948, 1988, etc.) and hatch in odd-decade-8 years (998, 1958, etc.), and we all know that gargoyles age at about half the human rate, so that a 42-year-old garg is old enough to go to bars, but! what I want to know is at what approximate (human equivalent) level of development gargs hatch? The females lactate, so I'd guess most hatchlings don't start with teeth, but at a ten-year incubation period, it seems likely that garg hatchlings are more developed than human newborns. How much more, if any?
(By the way, this is my first post, and I read the whole Archive first. Aren't you proud of me? ;P)

Anonymous writes...

Hi Greg.

Despite the fact that I'm hopelessly behind in my planned attempt to respond to all you episode rambles, I'm gonna take some time out to ask you a few questions I've been thinking about. This set is about gargoyle-beasts.

1. Would the Manhattan clan refer to Bronx as a "gargoyle-beast", a "gargoyle", or something else entirely. In other words, do they use a different name for Bronx's species than their own?

2. We know that Bronx is at least as smart as a very intelligent dog, possibly smarter. He's at least capable of thoughts such as "That is a big dangerous monster. I should most likely attack it." ("The Hound of Ulster") and "That is a robot. I may therefore maul its face, though this may not be permissible on a human being." ("Leader of the Pack") Something along those lines, though maybe not with such flowery language. Anyways, about how smart IS Bronx, or the average gargoyle-beast? Are the beasts in fact as intelligent as regular gargoyles, but simply unable to speak? As smart as chimpanzees? Not nearly as smart as I seem to think they are?

3. The other gargoyles in the Manhattan clan seem to realize that Bronx has a fair degree of intelligence. Lexington and Brooklyn tell him to "go get help" rather than "go find Goliath" or even "go back to the castle and bark". (Okay, so he did end up running down the street and causing havoc. But he understood.) Goliath tells him to "help Angela", not "move the roccks off of Angela".
How much does the clan think Bronx understands. Just commands like these? Or does Hudson think he understands every word he says when he talks to him?

Vashkoda writes...

Hi Greg. I don't mean to be annoying, but with all the studying I've been doing for my Boards exam, biology has sort of taken over my life. I know that stone hibernation is unknown in the rest of the animal kingdom, but gargoyles still have to obey fundamental biological laws, on which my questions are based:

1a) When gargoyles turn into the stone-like substance, does this include all of different cell types in their body (muscles, nerves, blood, bone)? 1b) I've seen their hair and nails transform as well. How do you explain this, as these cells are already "dead", and shouldn't respond to any signal made by the body? 2a) What happens to the water inside gargoyle's cells when they turn to the stone-like substance? 2b) What happens to the water in the gargoyle's blood when they turn to the stone-like substance? 2c) If the blood or nerves have solidified into the stone-like substance, how is the gargoyle "biological clock" able to send signals to the rest of the body that tell it when to transform? 3) Are cells that have turned into this stone-like substance active in any way? Please explain this in terms of how: a) gargoyles supposedly don't age when they sleep b) gargoyles can still dream when they sleep c) gargoyles can convert sunlight into a storable form of energy when they sleep d) gargoyles can heal wounds while they sleep. 4) If you said there is no water in the blood and tissues, there can be no diffusion of vital ions and molecules into and out of cells. How then are they able carry out the processes mentioned in question 3? 5) Gargoyles are obviously frozen and cannot move their lungs to breathe when they sleep. Therefore, where do they get the gases needed to feed the cells that are working so hard to store solar energy while they sleep? 6) Are you still certain that gargoyles turning to "stone" is a process done naturally and without magic (except their clothes and personal items)? =)

Todd Jensen (repost by Aris) writes...

In your opinion, in the Gargoyles Universe, can artificial intelligences such as the Matrix and Talos develop emotions (love, hatred, fear, etc.)? Or are their thought processes ones of pure logic?

Aris Katsaris (repost by Aris) writes...

And now a question for those of us with dirty minds... <evil laughter> :-)

Where the heck does Zafiro keep his genitalia? I mean the guy's *very* anatomically different, compared to the other gargoyles... Is he like dolphins or something where the genitalia are tucked inside the body unless when aroused?