Vaikan/Internal physiology

Vaikan internal physiology is suited to their cold, low oxygen homeworld.

Digestion
Vaikan, although are analogous to hominids, are actually liquivores. As Vaikan live in a very arid climate, water is difficult to find. The inside of their mouth is lined with rows of long teeth designed to drain fluids, and they have a forked tongue to detect if their prey is edible. While several other species on Ucharpli evolved proboscises, the Vaikan required an alternate solution to extracting nutrients from tough, scaly prey who could resist the penetration of a proboscis. The solution was to develop an analogous mouth filled with sets of teeth to crush the prey into easier to extract pieces. Saliva glands in their mouth make a single Vaikan bite highly toxic. The chewing process is largely accompanied by highly acidic saliva which breaks down the object into its raw nutrients. Because of how acidic the saliva is, the teeth rapidly grow back - Vaikan often gnaw on a piece of wood or other hard substance between meals.

A Vaikan's sense of taste is not per se the same as humans. Instead, what they enjoy most is the richness and texture of the nutrients upon its passing into the system. The richer in nutrients the substance it is, the greater feeling of euphoria that gets triggered. Vaikan cuisine mostly consists of potato analogues or large herbivores. Most Vaikan meals of today consist of highly nutritious liquid mixtures.

For breathing, Vaikan have triangular shaped noses which contain an olfactory bulb. They also have a trachea, that connects their mouth to their lungs. As a result, their mouth doubles as both a method of breaking down food as well as breathing.

The nutrients they ingest first go through their livers which is wound around the upper spinal cord in the neck area. This serves as their only checkpoint where food is detoxified before getting sent along tube-like structures which deliver them to the life essential organs, primarily the heart and the brain. If the liver detects something dangerous such as hydrogen peroxide, their only means through removing the toxic agents is through sneezing. Naturally, with the lack of any other organs to break down food, their livers are extremely powerful offering them remarkable resistance to substances such as alcohol.

To adapt to the lower oxygen levels, Vaikan actually have two hearts to be able to cycle oxygen throughout the body very quickly, and they also have large lungs. The openings in their arteries are considerably wide, and on instinct, they can move around to redirect blood flow.

In times of famine, they can use their chloroplast layer, hidden under their skin, to gather emergency nutrients. It is believed to have appeared due to a symbiotic evolution. While not essentially to their survival, this allows them to gather an emergency source of energy. Effectively, a Vaikan can simply warm up by standing out in the sun for a few minutes. Even when the sun is not out, their scales still retain heat which allows them to survive in subzero climates. This has allowed them to thrive on the continent of Aggateya, which is located at the southern pole on Ucharpli.