Which Living Things Have The Same Birth Method as a Xenomorph?

Ok, I checked I Found 1 so far that is the same, This "Thang", The Spider Wasp. [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/LT.HIGHTIMES/400px-Spider_Wasp_02.jpg[/img] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_wasp

I think your correct Spartacus. This wasp does indeed breed in a similar way. Only diff seems to be that the female wasp requires fertilisation, where as a Xeno doesn't. Still creepy though...

True Dat, You know what else, in studying this picture I realised Flys do to. [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/LT.HIGHTIMES/FleasLifeCycle.gif[/img]

Stage#1-Eggs are Shed By The Female Into the environment. Stage#2-Eggs Hatch into Larvae Stage#3-Larvae form Pupae Stage#4-Adults Hatch From Pupae It seems pretty much the same to me. Only "they" {whoever that was} made some of the stages a lot cooler for scary movie purposes I guess !!! LMAO.

Not 100% the same as what you are talking about, but this parasite lives inside ants and when they reach an ideal spot causes them to die and grows out from them. [url]http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2010/08/18/parasite-infested-zombie-ants-walked-the-earth-48-million-years-ago/[/url] Supposedly this has be going on for around 48 million years, and does not seem to happen to any other creature. Very odd, yet very fascinating!!!

amazing stuff shadowcaster, thanks man. "Zombie Ants", who "woulda thunk it"?

I think the spider wasp is probably the closest to the Alien life cycle. The female injects the egg into the abdominal area and when it grows it eventually kills the spider and is born. I am unaware of any creatures in the animal kingdom that has a living egg barer that the only purpose of it is to find a host.

yea, and when I first saw that picture above of it... I freaked. It is amazing to me to that the closest thing we have to a XENOMORPH in nature and real life, is about, what?... 1/500,000th of it's size? Incredible !!!

*(Late as hell in responding, trying to read all posts so as to not re-post about any subjects. LOL!) Giger spoke of this creature when he explained the life cycle. The Bottfly. Well, he didn't say Bottfly specifically but he did say worm and he kept saying how disgusting it was, and this "worm" beats all in the "omfg gross" department: [url=http://youtu.be/90exkFR2iSM]Bottfly, so gross[/url]

The 'Alien' xenomorph's life cycle is slightly different and, unfortunately to my mind, illogical. The 'mother' lays a lage egg which we know to be fertile. This egg hatches when it is ready and detects a nearby host (the derelict in Alien had been crashed in place for centuries/millenia as the SJ was fossilised with the eggs laid and waiting). The egg produces a relatively large and mobile face hugger to lay another (smaller?) egg in the host. Without the interference of Carter Burke the host is then cocooned to allow the chest buster to gestate. The chest buster is arguably smaller and less mobile than the face hugger - so what is the advantage in this part of the life cycle except in the potential for smuggling infected hosts to somewhere Wayland Yutani can attempt to use them in their weapons division? The Alien gets smaller, has to wait centuries to move on in its life cycle, and is dependant on a host happening along. Once the chest buster exits the host (bloodily) it almost instantly metamorphoses miraculously into a full blown alien soldier. Can't think of a good reason except for dramatic effect and to drive the plot. Gotta love it though!!!

wow, you dug this up, cool man...thanks! I love this thread.

amazing [b]"Xenobservations"[/b]...wow, Think I just invented a new word !!!

Going slightly off-topic (but not much), I've been thinking a lot about the life-cycle of Giger's alien, and I agree with Carbon47 that it is highly illogical but extremely dramatic from a narrative point of view. The thing I find most bizarre is the original life cycle (as portrayed in Alien DC), with the ability of an adult to mutate its victims into eggs. In this way the species becomes non perpetuating: in order to breed a new individual you need 2 victims (a host and an egg). Therefore, assuming a population of 100 victims, the maximum amount of new individuals would be 50. Once there are no more victims the aliens could turn towards their own species to further breed, thus cutting in half the population again, and so on, until only 1 individual lives, and eventually dies of natural causes. This doesn't make sense for any natural species, but could be a very useful instrument if the creature is engineered for the purpose of exterminating another species without the risk of taking its place. In the end it can clean an environment and then die without the need of further disinfestation. Man, that's evil! If there is an egg layer instead it all makes more sense from a natural POW (even though the life cycle as a whole stays illogical).

LOL! Yes I dug it up, I have been reading all the old posts, so I don't accidentally re-post a topic that has already been covered. So many old posts.. LOL!