What do tauntauns eat

While they are inactive, or grazing, Tauntauns have been known to alternate between their two sets of nostrils, each pair warming air on their own. These well evolved traits allow them to efficiently maintain their body heat at even the lowest temperatures for hours. Tauntauns feed on the scarce lichen and algae of Hoth, finding food and refuge in small caverns. Though their diet and eating habits are unremarkable, what happens to the food afterward is quite curious, because they do not void their bowels like most species.

Instead, Tauntauns excrete their waste through glands among their scales, which gives them their foul odor. While sleeping, they cease to purge themselves, to avoid attracting predators with the strong odor.

Tauntauns travel in large herds of twenty to thirty at a time. This species has a high female to male ratio, because of this the females must fight for mate and dominance. Each group would normally have individuals with them.

As a way to claim dominance, head-butting matches are common to these animals both in males and in females. Tauntauns posses almost the same genetic makeup as the of a Kybuck mixed with reptillian features like scales. They also lack mammary glands but they are able to form a mike like fluid from the regurgitations of their food.

Unlike reptiles tauntauns are also warm blooded, covered with fur and give birth to their young live. The tauntauns adaptations to the cold environment of their home planet includes wide and tridactyl feet with splayed toes to distribute their weight across a large surface area- much like how snow shoes work.

This allows them to gain more traction and also have more resistance from the snow- allowing to walk as if they are on solid ground. This also gives more friction, giving them the ability to thread through icy surfaces barely slipping. Their feet are also clawed giving them more grip when hodling on to ice. They also have swiveled ears and thick blubber to keep them warm.

They had a layer of blubber under fur which ranged from gray to white and covered their bodies. They also have mammalian characteristics, as were also warm-blooded, and gave birth to live young; and in other ways, they can be also considered to be marsupials due to their appearance and mating process. Known subspecies included the glacier tauntaun , scaly tauntaun , climbing tauntaun , and the giant tauntaun also referred to as the common tauntaun.

Tauntauns possessed numerous evolutionary adaptations to the bitter, cold environments of Hoth. Those adaptations included wide feet for running across icy surfaces, swiveling ears, thick blubber, chambered lungs, two pairs of nostrils, and a digestive system that excreted wastes as oils through skin pores, producing a distinctive odor.

Their four nostrils served to warm inhaled air. Their larger pair were used to bring oxygen into the blood stream during physical exertion. When lying down to sleep, the larger pair sealed to keep snow out, and the second pair took over.

A well-muscled tail extended a meter from their bodies to help maintain balance. They had clawed feet and hands to gain purchase on the ice. Their feet were also tridactyl, with splayed toes to act as natural snowshoes. The most important feature of tauntaun physiology was their unique blood mixture that was resistant to the tundra winds and kept their organs from freezing. Despite these adaptations, tauntauns sought shelter at night to avoid the extreme nighttime temperatures of Hoth.

When shelter was unavailable, they used their evolved ability to hibernate during low nighttime temperatures, maintaining a lukewarm internal temperature.

Some tauntaun breeds actually froze to death if awakened after sundown. When not eating the fungus that grew beneath the frost layer or lichens found in glacial caves or valleys [4] the omnivorous tauntauns were also known to eat ice scrabblers and Hoth hogs. Tauntauns were matriarchal animals and lived in herds of twenty to thirty individuals. Horn-butting matches were common among both males and females who hoped to establish dominance. Tauntauns were able to give birth to two young at a time, which would occur twice within one Hoth year.

Though they lacked mammary glands, tauntauns could regurgitate a form of "milk" produced in their crops. If you were freezing, would jumping inside the dead body of a giant animal really help you stay warm in this situation?

According to our highly scientific examination of this topic, the answer is a shocking "no. Nights on the icy planet of Hoth are brutally cold. Since the tauntaun is dead, it is no longer generating heat. In time, the interior of the animal will become a death trap for Luke. How much time does Han have to find shelter and save his friend who is also one-third of an ongoing love triangle? First things first. How did the Tauntaun die? This question is the key to determining how long Luke can survive.

While the beasts of burden are accustomed to extremely low temperatures, they often seek shelter at night in order to survive. Han Solo does not appear to have any problems with the tauntaun that would denote symptoms of hypothermia during his travels.

This decision, of course, is made with the the assumption that tauntauns operate at a core body temperature similar to mammals on Earth. When a Tauntaun becomes a deathtrap Using Newton's Law of Cooling, we can estimate the time it takes for the tauntaun's body temperature to reach levels detrimental to Luke's survival.

Luke is swimming in a sea of blood, bodily fluids, and organs during his time inside the tauntaun. This is essentially a liquid-like environment, one that will transmit the body temperature of the tauntaun well. To best model this scenario, merging Luke's body with the tauntaun becomes necessary, creating a one body system.

Forensics teams use Newton's Law of Cooling to estimate the time of death of a newly discovered body. Dead bodies will acclimate to the surrounding temperature of the room as the bodies no longer metabolize nutrients or generate heat. By measuring the rectal temperature of the cadaver and temperature of the room, the time since blood circulation ceased i.

Let's just let the idea of obtaining a Tauntaun's rectal temperature sit with you a moment. Whether Luke is completely inside of the tauntaun plays a role as well. Tauntauns are a little over two meters tall.