Mercurians are a sapient species from the planet Mercury.
Biology[]
Mercurians are sturdy creatures whose natural armour protects them from the extreme heat and solar radiation that castigates the surface of their planet. They are strong and agile, and move by prodigious leaps, similar to a grasshopper. The massive weight of their armoured bodies is not an issue in the low-gravity environment of Mercury, but they wouldn't be able to move in the same way (or to move very well at all) on Earth.
Mercurians are herbivorous, feeding on the nut-like fruits of desert vegetation. They have clawed hands and strong jaws to crack the nut-fruits open. They spend most of their lives underground, in populous communities similar to those of Earth's ants, with several individual castes specialized for functions such as hunting, breeding and fighting.
Gallery[]
Notes[]
- Created by science fiction illustrator Frank R. Paul, this Mercurian species was originally featured in Fantastic Adventures, September 1939. Although the original article, "Life on Mercury", claimed that the Mercurians had no cities, this was retconned in the following article, "A City on Mercury", which appeared in Amazing Stories, September 1941.