Na'vi diversity

[Sothis]

I was reading the blu-ray pandorapedia and found these passages to be interesting. (Sorry for the all-caps... that's how it appears in the pdf.) Emphasis mine.

RANGE: ALL BIOMES OF PANDORA. POPULATIONS OF NA'VI ARE KNOWN TO EXIST IN EVERY ENVIRONMENT OF PANDORA, FROM TROPICAL RAINFOREST AND EQUATORIAL DESERT TO POLAR REGIONS, BOREAL FOREST, MOUNTAINS, OCEAN SHORELINES, WETLANDS, AND ARCHIPELAGO. THE NA‘VI SHOW EVIDENCE OF RAPID EVOLUTIONARY ADAPTATION TO WIDELY VARIED HABITATS. SOME SCENTISTS CONSIDER SOME OF THESE ADAPTATIONS SO SIGNIFICANT THAT THEY REPRESENT TRUE SPECIATION, BUT THIS IS CONTROVERSIAL, AND THERE IS STRONG AGREEMENT AMONG GENETICISTS THAT THE NA‘VI ARE A SINGLE SPECIES, THOUGH WITH WIDE VARIATION MORPHOLOGICALLY, LIKE DOMESTICATED DOGS ON EARTH.

NA'VI VARY IN SIZE, BY REGION AND GENETIC HISTORY. MAXIMUM RECORDED HEIGHT IS 5.9 METERS, WITH A MASS OF 290 KG, FOR A NA'VI MALE. ADULT NA'VI MALES IN THE REGION OF AUSTRALIS SURROUNDING HELLS GATE, AVERAGE 3 METERS IN HEIGHT AND 210 KG.

ALL NA‘VI HAVE A LONG, PREHENSILE TAIL. THIS IS USED FOR BALANCE, ACTING AS A MOVING COUNTERMASS TO SMOOTH OUT THE STRIDE AT A FULL RUN, AND TO ASSIST WITH DIRECTION CHANGES. THE TAIL IS ALSO USED FOR SOCIAL CUES REGARDING EMOTIONAL STATES, AS ARE THE EARS. SOME NA‘VI SUBSPECIES CAN SUSPEND THEIR WEIGHT FROM THEIR TAIL, BUT THE NA‘VI IN THE HELLS GATE REGION CANNOT. THEY HAVE BEEN OBSERVED HOWEVER USING THE PREHENSILE TIP OF THE TAIL TO GRIP TREE LIMBS AND VINES DURING CLIMBING, AND TO HELP ARREST A FALL.

From this, it would seem that some of Pandora's Na'vi would look quite different from what we see in the movie (the Omaticaya and their neighbors). For instance, the maximum recorded height is nearly twice as tall as the average Omaticaya male, and some of the other adaptations are so significant that a few scientists thought they were different species.

I think this is cool because it opens up a whole world of possibilities for how Na'vi might look elsewhere on Pandora. But they ARE all blue, apparently.

NA'VI SKIN IS HAIRLESS EXCEPT FOR THE CRANIUM AND THE TIP OF THE TAIL, AND CONTAINS CYANIN, A PIGMENT THAT PRODUCES COLORS IN THE BLUE, PURPLE AND CYAN SPECTRUM.

[Banefull]

NA'VI VARY IN SIZE, BY REGION AND GENETIC HISTORY. MAXIMUM RECORDED HEIGHT IS 5.9 METERS, WITH A MASS OF 290 KG, FOR A NA'VI MALE. ADULT NA'VI MALES IN THE REGION OF AUSTRALIS SURROUNDING HELLS GATE, AVERAGE 3 METERS IN HEIGHT AND 210 KG.

I get funny images in my head imagining a human standing next to a Navi thats over 3 times his or her own height.

Perhaps this gives a good comparison of what 6 meters tall is like...

[Sothis]

Originally Posted by Banefull

I get funny images in my head imagining a human standing next to a Navi thats over 3 times his or her own height.

Heee, I get funny images of an Omaticaya-sized Na'vi standing next to the taller variety, thinking "this must be how Sky People feel around us."

I also get funny images of what polar Na'vi must look like. Being all long and lean wouldn't bode well for heat conservation at all. Maybe instead they're short and blubbery?

[Raiden]

This is very interesting.

Perhaps it is a teaser for Avatar 2?

[Banefull]

I am not sure how it ties in with oceans or anything. The sea clans looked about the same as the Omaticaya in terms of body build.

[Ashen Key]

Originally Posted by Sothis

Heee, I get funny images of an Omaticaya-sized Na'vi standing next to the taller variety, thinking "this must be how Sky People feel around us."

I also get funny images of what polar Na'vi must look like. Being all long and lean wouldn't bode well for heat conservation at all. Maybe instead they're short and blubbery?

*snorts* Shorter, stockier, wears clothes, I'm guessing. If the Omaticaya have been in Hometree for about ten thousand years, more than than enough time has passed for the more Arctic Na'vi to have internal adaptations like the Inuit and the reindeer-herders in Siberia.

But, hmmm. Clothes would also be good if there was hair/fur to trap the warmth in - maybe Pandora does actually have creatures with hair/fur in other regions? It already have an interesting variety with numbers of eyes and limbs.

[Raptor]

But on Pandorapedia website, the stated maximum height is 3.9 meters, not 5.9, with the same mass figure.

The Na'vi | Pandorapedia: The Official Guide to Pandora | Own AVATAR on Blu-ray & DVD Now!

[Sothis]

...odd.

[Human No More]

There are a few contradictions around. I'm not actually sure if the stuff on the bluray was written with any input from the design of the Na'vi (although I would guess not) and I really would not consider it canon at all unless confirmed in a sequel. Such variation is very unlikely, and in effect multiple sentient species - while this may not be possible in most cases, I guess it could be on Pandora, but it's still very unlikely - although the Na'vi ARE significantly older than humanity, humans live in extreme environments without physical adaptations. There may well be differences in lifestyle, but that is to be expected.
Also, Pandora has ~0.7G, where the Na'vi height is perfectly justifiable and well adapted, but being twice that height would cause the individual to run into problems the same way a 4 metre human would on Earth (not taking about problems imposed by society, but physical ones)

[Tsawke`Iheyu]

Shouldn't this have a genetical origin ? I mean back on Earth, people are born to grow taller than others, or to stay short during the entire life. The Na'vi don't seem to make an exception, they're born to grow tall and 3,9 is a medium height, 5,9 is a maximum height.

[Raptor]

Based on mass figures, average females are about 90% of average male mass. But from what I see in the movie, females are much slimmer than males. Perhaps females have denser muscles? What would that imply, physically?

[Ashen Key]

Originally Posted by Tsawke`Iheyu

Shouldn't this have a genetical origin ? I mean back on Earth, people are born to grow taller than others, or to stay short during the entire life. The Na'vi don't seem to make an exception, they're born to grow tall and 3,9 is a medium height, 5,9 is a maximum height.

Yes and no - genetics plays a large part, but so does nutrition. Average height for men in Elizabethan England was about 5'5 or so - previously, I believe it was much higher, and now days it is back to being higher. That's not genetics, but plain old nutrition while growing up. That said, groups of people do tends to be taller or shorter, which is mostly where I think the Na'vi differences come in - I'd actually be surprised if they were exactly the same, over the whole planet. Humans certainly aren't, and from all implications, we're a much younger species.

Originally Posted by AC130StandingBy

Based on mass figures, average females are about 90% of average male mass. But from what I see in the movie, females are much slimmer than males. Perhaps females have denser muscles? What would that imply, physically?

...oh, now THAT'S interesting. I'll have to think about that.

[Fosus]

Isn't 6 meter long Na'vi too big to ride an Ikran.. ?

[Tsawke`Iheyu]

Originally Posted by Ashen Key

Yes and no - genetics plays a large part, but so does nutrition. Average height for men in Elizabethan England was about 5'5 or so - previously, I believe it was much higher, and now days it is back to being higher. That's not genetics, but plain old nutrition while growing up. That said, groups of people do tends to be taller or shorter, which is mostly where I think the Na'vi differences come in - I'd actually be surprised if they were exactly the same, over the whole planet. Humans certainly aren't, and from all implications, we're a much younger species.

We are very young, and very short I also wonder how could Jake (now Na'vi) meet a higher Na'vi them himself.

Originally Posted by Fosus

Isn't 6 meter long Na'vi too big to ride an Ikran.. ?

Yes, true. 6 meters is very high for a being, it's like 2 storeys of a flat, ground floor and first floor, up to the beginning of the second. That's a little bit problematic, even for riding a Pa'li... except for Thanator and Toruk, which are very big comparing to the others.

[Human No More]

Indeed, and it is directly mentioned that Jake is only the 6th Toruk Makto, and it is mentioned in other sources that Neytiri is the first Na'vi to ride a palulukan (yes, I am ignoring the games here, because their storyline bears next to no resemblance to Avatar).
I really don't see 2x height Na'vi happening.