Protoss Biology and Evolution

[Hellgrinder]

Probably a leftover from a time when their ancestors DID have jaws.

[Jconant]

Nice point; blizzard consistently gave protoss humanoid features: nipples, "jaws". I'm guessing w/e caused them to no longer need these things is also the element that enabled protoss to be able to communicate telepathically (eventually).

I'd guess it was a change in their skin. photogenic or not, the skin would absorb sunlight, either to keep it from damaging the body, or did a combination of eating and absorbing light to produce energy. Once skin was able to absorb other nutrients and minerals, eating became unnecessary. Mouths were then unnecessary, the plentiful energy protoss get can be used to replace mouths with more brain matter or organs to support or enhance the brain.

[Turalyon]

Heck, we might as well ask why Protoss are distinctly humanoid in appearance at all and not some entirely different shape.

If Protoss "eat" via photosynthesis and they do this through their skin, their bodies right now are not exactly designed to maximise that potential. Even standing upright would actually be detrimental to this because that would mean reduced surface area exposure to the sun and it's not as if they have leaves or something similar to compensate to increase such surface area.

[Hellgrinder]

However, there is a reason why they would stand upright, which is one of the same reasons humans do.

To help cool off the brain. And in a species like the Protoss, where the brain is as big and developed as it is, cooling down the brain is going to be a major priority, which explains their height, especially if they started off as normal humanoids who later somehow ended up incorporating chloroplasts into their cells.

Besides, it's also been said (somewhere) that Protoss can use psionic energy for a form of photosynthesis, otherwise, they would have never colonized Shakuras.

[Turalyon]

Never doubted why the Protoss would be standing upright, just that it would seem odd for them to do so in that it would reduce the capacity for the uptake of nutrients/energy given that one of the many reasons for evolving to be up upright is for energy conservation. The net effect of such (standing upright all the time would increase capacity to conserve energy but would also mean reduced energy uptake due to reduced surface area for exposure to the sun) would mean the partial cancelling out of the other. Strange evolutionary path...

[Alar]

Never doubted why the Protoss would be standing upright, just that it would seem odd for them to do so in that it would reduce the capacity for the uptake of nutrients/energy given that one of the many reasons for evolving to be up upright is for energy conservation. The net effect of such (standing upright all the time would increase capacity to conserve energy but would also mean reduced energy uptake due to reduced surface area for exposure to the sun) would mean the partial cancelling out of the other. Strange evolutionary path...

Physiology unusual. Strange features lacking in typical evolutionary paths. Suggests highly influenced gene structure. Will continue examination...

[Jconant]

But the protoss had some sort of telephathy; wasnt that why they were chosen in the first place by the xelnaga? So what we're talking about occured in some form before any "tinkering" by an advanced race.

[Hellgrinder]

It's possible that the telepathy was already there, but the ability to use psionic energy in place of light for photosynthesis appeared later.

[Turalyon]

It's possible that the telepathy was already there, but the ability to use psionic energy in place of light for photosynthesis appeared later.

If you're going to throw in the "magic" card (which psionics basically are no matter what pseudo-science explanation you come up with) to explain evolutionary paths than there's really no point in discussing the science of biology and evolution of how they became what they are now then. The reasons then just become "it just happened, okay?"

[Hellgrinder]

Well, I said that the telepathy was already there while the Protoss ancestors still needed to eat solid foods. And besides, there WAS some Xel'Naga tampering. Maybe the telepathy was a result of the tampering, and everything else came later and naturally.