matt writes...

you've said numerous times that Bronx mated and will mate again with Boidekka, but since Bronx was born a generation after the trio wouldn't he be way to young to mate? if the fertility cycle is different for beasts than can they mate and concieve more often in life than the standard gargoyles? i understand that Boidekka, being older than Bronx, is probably able to concieve, but Bronx just seems too young. does it matter that he is male, as in males can mate and concieve earlier in life than females?

matt writes...

i have a question about when a gargoyle wakes up. in many times throughout the series we would see the gargs' eyes glow shortly before they would shed their stone skin and that makes sense to me because you've said that at sunset their entire body reverts to flesh except a thin layer over their skin, their eyes probably don't have this layer since that would probably be kinda painful to have stone flying out of your eyes. so we see the eyes first because it doesn't have to break out of a stone shell. am i at least roughly correct on this?

Justin writes...

Greg,
A few weeks ago Anonymous writes
<Are there any female gargoyles who are obese? How about muscular or extremely skinny? Are any females bow-legged?
Are there gargoyles with differnent wing and ear types than the types that were shown on the series?
You know how some gargoyles have a sharp elbow or knee spike that juts out, I was wondering if any gargoyles have them on both knees and elbows because it was always on or the other.>

To which you replied...
<Obese? Not likely, but possible, I guess.

Look, it's all sounding possible.>

Now why is not likely for a gargoyle woman to be obese? Must all of them be fairly skinny like Demona? I don't know man, it seems like a sexist notion of what the female form is supposed to be! Sorry if offends you but with the gargoyles anatomy being similar on the surface, this might boys the neanderthal idea of what female beauty is supposed to be, and girls an impossible standard to live up to. Now don't get me wrong I love the show. Another thing that yerked me. You have mentioned that the original Broadway was going to be a girl. But you changed your minds out of fear of feminist groups being concerned about the evil/fat issue among the two female characters.

Now I would think that feminist groups with all sorts of "agendas" as you put it would love to see a none picture perfect woman in the series. Trust me having the two main female gargoyles in the series model thing didn't exactly endear the show to them I'm sure ;)

Sorry if this sounds like a rant. I just wanted your honest thought on what I've said.

Thank you

matt writes...

among the British gargs would a female gargoyle that has the lion genes still have the mane that Leo has? i would think she would because Leo is not a lion and while he looks like one probably shares very few of the same characteristics of a lion.
i've also noticed that Maggie the Cat has lion genes and is the only mutate with hair and i assume this is because of the animal she was mutated from but of course Leo wasn't created from a lion...

matt writes...

no offense to anyone who has posted stuff about gargs evolving from dinosaurs, but i think that it is extremelly unlikely that they did. only Greg and God could convince me that they are saurian descendants.
dinosaurs were all wiped out!!!! what does a garg evolve from? bones? and as for the triceratops head frill and the pterydactyl wings and whatever else, why would all these dinosaurs mate with each other anyway? for that matter, pterydactyls arn't even dinosaurs!
gargs are far more likely to be related to the platypus, the bat, or some other mammal, not dinosaurs.
sorry if i seem like i'm ranting, but for some reason the dinosaur connection just really bugs me...

Fire Storm writes...

On 02-01-2001, you anwsered a question by Anonymous.
He/She wrote: How long is a female gargoyles' gestation period?

You replied: Didn't I answer this already? Check the Gargoyle Science archive.

I checked the Science archive, and then the entire archive, and the closest you have said is "6 months to a year".

So I pose these questions to you:
Have you refined your anwser to this question?

If so, how long is the gestation period for gargoyle females? (The time span the female gargoyle carrys the egg before laying it, for those non-scientifically inclined people reading this.)

And, when gargoyle females do end up laying their eggs, do they lay them on the same night or just generally around the same time?

See you at G2K+1!

Shavri writes...

1. When gargoyles are hatched, do they have any teeth? I would hope they didn't have teeth, because if the females breast-fed the hatchlings, I'm sure it wouldn't have been a very pleasant ritual to have gone through if the little ones did. OUCH times 10!! And wouldn't it have been a bit difficult for the hatchlings with beaks to breast-feed?
2. How helpless are hatchlings when they're first born? Are they almost as helpless as human babies? What is the average age a gargoyle hatchling learns to walk; also, to glide? Oh, and at about what age do hatchlings learn to talk?

Bruno writes...

Hi, Greg,

I have some biological questions. Nothing too hard, I hope.

1-There are blood vessels in the gargoyle's wings membranes?

2-I know that Gargoyles are warm-blooded. Then, does they sweat? Or the wings are a natural radiator? (A lot of animals have them). And how about the beasts? (The dogs sweat by the tongue, you know?)

3-Some Gargs are furry, as Leo, Una & Griff. And about the non-furry Gargs, does them have any body hair? (And yes, I mean the Manhattan clan :-)

4-No, I will not ask if gargs go to the bathroom.

5-I don't know _why_ I'm asking this, but: does Gargs has nipples? They don't appear to have, but in "Leader of the Pack", Wolf rip his T-shirt and (I believe) he doesn't has also. S&P things?

6-At what age does the beasts become adults? In 1996 Bronx is biological 9 and Boudicca 20, and both look adults to me (they even mated).

7-A comment about the eggs; They hatch in ten years. Yes, It's a long time, but not too long: Some insects late 13 years to become adults. The eggs are slow, but they're not irreal.

Jim R. writes...

Would a gargoyle be any different in space than a human? Does their physiology differ that much from ours if they were to be sent into space? And do gargoyles have a lesser tolerance for gravity then us seeing how they are more like birds and bats that have wings? (I would think their skeletal structure would be hollower than that of a human so they could generate lift)

matt writes...

you've said numerous times that there are no aquatic or amphibious gargoyles, however in "Ill Met by Midnight" as Katherine, Goliath, and everyone are arriving at the castle at the beginning of the ep there is a Avalon clan garg shown that looks extremely aquatic. he has what looks to be gills, fins, fishy looking eyes, webbed appendages, and on top of everything else is a aquamarine hue. i just thought i'd mention it...

matt writes...

you told me once that the Mayan clan and any other clans native to the Americas migrated over the Bering Strait from Asia like humans did about 10,000 years ago. so, where did the gargoyle species evolve from? humans came from East Africa and spread out across the world, the gargs must have had a starting place too. what about the beasts, where did they evolve from?

Yttrium writes...

You'd mentioned in the archive that gargoyles may be capable of having twins, yet it would be extremely, extremely rare. My question is, if a gargoyle did have twins, would they be born from the same egg, or would two eggs be laid?

---Ytt

Aris Katsaris writes...

A question about rookery generations...

1. If the Wyvern massacre had not happened, would the Trio normally have been considered rookery parents to the eggs that would have hatched in 998? Or was the generation of the first rookery parents the one immediately older than them? (Goliath, Demona, ColdTrio, etc)

In short are rookery parents 40 or 60 years older than their first rookery children?

2. What if one of the gargoyles had mated really young (teen pregnancy) and contributed an egg by the time she was biologically 15? Ten years later would she *not* be considered a rookery mother even though she had biologically contributed an egg? Or would she be treated as an exception among her generation?

3. For that matter would Iago be considered a rookery father to the eggs simply because of his generation, even though he was mateless and hadn't contributed an egg himself? Or not?

Eric Daniels writes...

yes hi I was wondering if you could tell me why gargoyles satnd for on buildings and what are they? Are they god's creatures, like "angels" or are the devils creatures? if you could, could you email me at Danielse@gatorzone.com thank you for your time, Eric Daniels

Anonymous writes...

Are there any female gargoyles who are obese? How about muscular or extremely skinny? Are any females bow-legged?
Are there gargoyles with differnent wing and ear types than the types that were shown on the series?
You know how some gargoyles have a sharp elbow or knee spike that juts out, I was wondering if any gargoyles have them on both knees and elbows because it was always on or the other.

Anonymous writes...

Are there any female gargoyles with wings like Lex's, or male gargoyles with wings like Desdemona's?
Are there any female gargoyles who have a beak like Brooklyn's? Or an overbite like Lex and Broadway?
Save Una, most females I have seen look pretty similar, no offense.

Anonymous writes...

How long is a female gargoyles' gestation period?

Anonymous writes...

Between what ages are gargoyles able to reproduce? (youngest/oldest)
Do female gargoyles have menopause?

matt writes...

would there be any biological problems with two gargs of different races (i.e. Guatemalan and London) mating and having a hatchling? i know interracial humans don't generally have any medical problems but i'm wondering if it is any different for gargs.

matt writes...

ah, Jim, i almost got the last post of yesterday too!!! oh, well.
Greg, garg eggs take ten years hatch, why? that is a mean blow for nature to give the gargs. do the embryos inside the eggs turn to stone? even so, that is egual to five years in incubation! why does it take so long for these embryos to mature?

gedoena writes...

Greg,

[ Gargoyle Science Question: ]

This probably looks a little silly, but I was just rereading my last posting and decided to reverse my thoughts on the matter.

Because gargoyles mate for life, it is probably very important to them to have someone fill that role in their lives. In an isolated clan with an unequal number of each sex for one generation, there would be very little hope of finding a mate for some of the clan members. With no possibility of mating with the equivalent of a widow, this would doom the "left-over" clan members to a lonely life, with a great gap to fill. Would this feeling cause them to bond to one-another?

This explaination is probably much less romantic then the one you would give, but I feel that there must be something in the biology and culture of a species that will at least allow for any given behavior to exist (just as you said that you did not think gargoyles would be found with a particular pashion or talent for architecture, as this was not an area where their talents were likely to be useful).

I guess this was much more of a ramble then a question. But again I would be very interested in hearing your response.

Thanks,

Gedoena

Gedoena writes...

Greg,

[ Gargoyle Science Question: ]

I have been reading through the archives lately, and was surprised to see that you believe that there would be homosexual relationships between gargoyles. This is not because of any personal moral problems; I was just wondering about the background of it within this species.

According to your other posts, gargoyles mate for life, and are driven by biological urges tied to certain scents peculiar to their mates. I would assume that even though each gargoyle has a particular scent, females' scents would be much more similar to eachother then to the scent of any male (and vice-versa). Therefore, I don't understand how two members of the same gender would become attracted to one another.

Furthermore, gargoyles only mate once every 20 years, and only lay one egg at a time. Being a warrior race, there is a probably a fair likelihood that at least one of the parents has died before more then one or two eggs have been laid, making it hard to keep up a sustainable population. It would seem that it would be of great import to the clan to have as many mated pairs as possible.

I guess this was more of a comment then a question, but I would very much like to hear your response to these thoughts.

Thanks,

Gedoena.

matt writes...

is it possible that Demona could lay an egg every twenty years since she is biologically a middle aged garg and (probably) still responds to those Earth rythm things? do gargs mate any time they want or only every twenty years? did Demona have sex with Thailog? sorry about the vulgar questions... :)

Basilisk writes...

You've said that gargoyles concieve eggs every twenty years and the eggs take ten years to hatch. What are the intervals for gargoyle beasts?

IMPFAC Goldberg writes...

Hey Greg, I found this at IMDB and wondered what it was:
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0120911
You and some others from Garg. are named. Just wondering.

'Nother question: How many eggs to gargs lay at once? Can it be more than one?