Biology Of The Alien/Xenomorph

I heard that too about the acid. But I think Alien Rez and AVP debunked that, plus theres always the facehugger in Alien. They cut it the knuckle, not much room for 2 subdermal layers there IMO.

now there's a thing, in AVP it removes the Aliens outer shell to create the "shield" generic ripley analogue, but does so without spilling any acid, argument for the defence mechanism hyptohesis?

Possibly, another possibility is that the Predator was taught Alien biology beforehand and knew that the aliens carapace had no connecting blood vessels - supported by the methodically way in which Scar dissected the alien, and from the deleted scene where he causes the inner jaw to extend (funny scene).

that was from the unrated edition? yeah saw that, and as good an explanation as any, those films just annoyed me though.. they were so.. demographic orientated.. but anyway, Alien anatomy, I beleive i remember Giger saying he studied industrial design for a time and applied the principals to designing or refining the creature, so the tubes on the back would have purpose i imagine. did i read that they were part of a sensory arrangement (in a non canon comic source probably) like sharks have in there nose for sensing variances in electrical fields, except external

I suspect electric field sensory would be stored inside the head and be forward facing, not backward facing, from an anatomical point of view.

ah but if you look at radar and sensory equipment on ships they usually mounted on a post for 360 field of detection, and not many people have snuck up on a xenomorph, but like i say that is comic canon, the games cite pheromone detection and am unsure as to what the films say

To date the films say nothing. Regards 360 degree perception, I'll come to that later. Lets look at another aspect of the Alien... In Alien, Alien 3, Alien Resurrection and AVP the aliens featured all have shiny domed carapaces, yet it Aliens and AVPR they have ridged carapaces. Theories anyone?

The dome head was designed to be one big eye, so 360 degree sight is possible

youger vs more mature was the old explanation before resurrection and AVP or drones vs warriors if you want to go to try and mix up everything with everything else (comics, games, films etc etc) from a purely film canon POV i like the mature vs not mature explanantion. thats excluding res and AVP which unfortunately i can't just do because i don't like them..

Heres my theory... The Xenomorph is capable of eradicating an entire ecosystem of its indigenous population with a single egg. This egg, containing a parasite known as the Facehugger, incubating the embryo of a fertile female within, implants the embryo within a suitable host. The embryo develops into a larva known as a Chestburster, from the manner in which it fatally leaves its hosts body. This larval fertile female quickly develops into its immature form, known as the Princess. This Princess, utilising the indigenous population as hosts to incubate embryos via direct implantation, spawns a brood of subservient infertile females, known as Warriors. Once mature, the Warriors begin constructing a Hive. Once the Hive is established, the Princess develops into her mature form, producing an ovipositor from her abdomen, with each laid egg containing a Facehugger, this Queen now incapable of direct implantation. These Facehugger’s incubate the embryos of infertile males, which after gestating within living hosts mature into Drones, gradually replacing the Warriors. Once the hive is complete, the Queen can produce a limited number of prized eggs, the parasites within carrying other fertile female embryos. Incubated within incapacitated hosts the larvae grow into Princesses, who are then forced from the Hive to establish their own.

any views on this?

This is all very good Snork. The AVP movies dabbled in this with disasterous effects. Too complicated and no audience for it. The Alien is a thoroughbred creature with a very simple life cycle but with a massive problem when it comes to survival. It needs another creature to survive. So isolate it and it dies out which means it cannot live on it's own. So when compared with what we understand as evolution it does not fit in. Given that it must, using our logic and what we know of nature, be a by-product of something else.

check my other theories in the "why so ignorant thread". Edit: I see you already have lol.