Organs?

[Silverclaw]

I was just wondering, human and wolf insides are basically the same, right? But what differences is there really, like, do wolves have bigger proportioned lungs, heart, ect...During a transformation, what organs of a human would change as they shift to gestalt or wolf form?

[Akela]

Well obviously the organs would change size, muscles would be quite a bit different I'd expect.

[Terastas]

The thing about muscle is that you don't gain or lose it, you just change the condition of the muscles you already have. This would allow werewolves to appear more muscular (presumably as a result of the lycanthropic adrenaline surge) without actually increasing in mass.

Hmm... I think that would apply to most organs too -- they might appear to have changed size, but more accurately would have just be altered in shape and position. The only thing I'm pretty sure would become larger is the tongue.

[ChaosWolf]

The only thing I'm pretty sure would become larger is the tongue.

[Lupin]

Yeah, the organs would pretty much stay the same, they'd just change in size and position.

[Midnite Wolf]

Or, in the case of a tail, you grow a whole new appendage.

[Figarou]

Yeah, the organs would pretty much stay the same, they'd just change in size and position.

Hmmm...wolves has a large stomache. I bet that gets larger as a werewolf.

[Curan]

To be able to sort out possible differences between human organs and those of werewolves we have to say what model of transformation process we are actally following.
I prefer the mystique magical model in which growth of size and matte is inclosed. While changing the body proportions as brest enlarging a resizement of organs like heart and lungs is a logical conclusion.

[Terastas]

Or, in the case of a tail, you grow a whole new appendage.

Not necessarilly.

http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/ ... ans-7.html

[Alteron]

Well, one dissabled arm and bad reaction to pain medication later, I return to haunt you all;) Please pardon any spelling errors, I'm stuck typing left-handed only, and I'm a rightie.

Alright, on the subject of organs...
I'm going to go with the 'same amount of mass, just moving it about' theroy that is popular with those that live near me;)
Humans and canines have fairly simular designs. We have more or less the same number of bones and our organs are fairly simular. The amount of muscle mass is even more or less the same. Thus it isn't too much of a streatch of the imagination that the 'organ mass' allocated for each could move about, the stomach getting larger as the spleen shrinks, etc. As some bones disapear (we do actually have more bones in our body then dogs) or shrink, others appear or grow longer. Muscles shrink, change shape, etc... But more or less it's the same amount of 'mass' just moving to differant areas.

the only thing I have trouble imagining 'changing' is the brain and spinal cord. Maybe it's becuase nerve cells can't be regrown, and even the SLIGHTEST change causes mass havoc. And having he spinal cord and brain remain the same size/shape/length (not 'morphing' with the rest of the body) would still work. A wolf the same 'size' as a human would have a spine more or less the same length. And a WW's brain could have a smaller area allocated to the sense of smell, but a slightly larger area allocated to the sense of sight. Sort of a half-way point between a wolf's brain
http://brainmuseum.org/Specimens/carniv ... panel1.jpg
and a human's brain
http://www.sruweb.com/~walsh/chimp%20vs ... brains.jpg
This would mean that a WW wouldn't be able to process quite as many scents as a real wolf, but the WW would be able to process more visual information, and with larger frontal lobes and more folding in the structure of the brain itself, it would be able to think faster and more complex thoughts then a real wolf.

Erm... I minored in biology/anatomy in college... So I tend to think 'shape of brain=shape of thoughts'...
...Annnyway, I'll be quiet now;)

-Alteron

[Mysterious Lycanthrope]

WereWolves would have larger olfactory (smelling) nerves wouldn't they? There-fore, they would get large & change shape.

As for the brain, I personally think that a WereWolf somehow keeps all thoughts as if it were a human, just that the wolf's instincts would be stronger. If you read the book "Wolf Moon" you'll see what I mean. The boy in the book can be entirely in a wolf form, but he keeps his human thoughts. All he has to do is ignore his wolf-ish instincts & keep his head in the right place at the right time. (I HIGHLY recomend "Wolf Moon"!!! It's one of my all-time favorite books, & I read a LOT )

L8er!!!

[Ancient]

I agree with the fact that the organs stay the same just change in size and position as Lupin said. I also agree with Terastas that the tounge would probably become longer and the stomache may also get larger as Figarou pointed out. As far as the brain I think that they would have more wolfish instincts and still keep their human thought process and reason.

[Anubis]

i would imagine that werewolves are not born with an apendix because they were evolved from carnivores and it isn't apart of the anatomy.

and lungs and heart will become much larger that a humans to suport the werewolf's natual endurance.

[Scott Gardener]

Ditto on the brain. Getting the brain to a state where it can transform enough to lose 2/3 of its volume and still retain its neurologic information is one of the biggest challenges of designing a werewolf, and one of the key reasons why I don't think one can happen naturally without leaving a sizable trail in the historic and recent fossil record. Werewolves would had to have worked hard to hide their record of evolution, or else have happened by some unnatural method, known or unknown, or some method that could be described as natural but not following the normal ebb and flow of genetic information and heredity.

Maybe all the music stuck in your head gets converted from .wav to mp3?

I also figure that a werewolf even in human form would have an enlarged set of olfactory bulbs. An MRI could show this as one of the tell-tale signs of a werewolf, if one is a radiologist who knows to look for it. An ordinary radiologist would probably dismiss it as an anomoly, since it's symmetric and doesn't look like a brain tumor.

[Anubis]

well i thought about the brain and how it would works in different forms. I think like so much about a werewolf is unique. the brain cells are more dence, and fire more often than a human's to compisate for the less amount of brain matter. i also think that the werewolf brain matter is more plyable and is like puty so it can move around while the cranium changes shape with out any major brain damage accuring

[Veruth]

I thought the brain could stay as-is and still fit into all three forms. I guess if not then that would be one solution.

[Shadow Wulf]

or what it can do is compress the part of the brain that we dont even use or nedd at all so that the parts of the brain that we need will be in normal size, thiers parts of our brain that you can take out and it want make a single difference in a person.

[Ultraken]

Actually, you need every part of your brain. You may only use 10% of your brain at any given moment, but you do use all ofyour brain at some point or another. You can't just knock out 90% of your brain. If large portions of your metabolically-expensive brain matter weren't used, they wouldn't be there.

Just sayin'...

[Lone_Wolf]

Actually, you need every part of your brain. You may only use 10% of your brain at any given moment, but you do use all ofyour brain at some point or another. You can't just knock out 90% of your brain. If large portions of your metabolically-expensive brain matter weren't used, they wouldn't be there.

Just sayin'...

Well, yes and no. You do use a good portion if not all of your brain at one time of another. However, just because something is in your body doesn't mean its used. There are such things as evolutionary dead-ends and such, where some changes occur that don't necessarily help the organism, but since they don't hurt it really either under whatever selective pressures, it sometimes remains. Or so goes one theory, anyway

[Baphnedia]

What I think Ultraken is referring to is research with brain activity... as doctors and scientists map out different areas of the brain. But, at the same time, I'd love to use all of it at once for awhile.

[Apokryltaros]

What I think Ultraken is referring to is research with brain activity... as doctors and scientists map out different areas of the brain. But, at the same time, I'd love to use all of it at once for awhile.

I don't think that it would be a pleasant experience, as it would require you to, at the very least, do everything and anything your body is capable of...
Think "grand mal seizure," but messier and the involvement of glands, too.

[Morkulv]

I think nothing should be really changed inside the body, except for some muscles ofcourse.

[mielikkishunt]

Length of intestine, possibly size of heart(It's a known fact that sighthounds have bigger hearts than dogs of similiar sizes in different breeds), reproduction glands are different.

[W0LVERINE]

When they change I think everthing changes size of organs and ect.

[Therian]

The mucles would also get larger since werewolves are larger then humans. I'll agree with Wolverine. I also think after a series of changes over a few months they should be getting or have human senses. The first few changes instincts have control but then after a while the human or whoever is changing will be able to control itself.