The Xenomorph incorporates each new species it assimilates into the next generation of Xenomorph. Do all of the different variations of Alien Xenomorph Queens lay the same basic facehugger egg, or is each generations egg dependant on the species before it? Simply put, do the eggs evolve along with each Xenomorph version or is it a one egg laid by all scenerio?
asked May 27, 2012 at 16:07
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4"Assimilate"? Xenomorphs aren't Borg. Unless... Oh sweet Q, we're all going to die!– jwodderCommented May 27, 2012 at 18:51
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We've seen that the adult gets some of its morphology from the host in which it gestated. Is there any evidence that anything carries over from the previous generation? Were the aliens in "Aliens" more humanoid than the alien in "Alien"? I don't think so. Personally I'd like to know what happens when the host is an amputee-- that experiment would tell us a lot, from a hard sci-fi perspective.– BetaCommented May 28, 2012 at 16:48
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4An amputee is not genetic, merely physical.– AJotrCommented May 29, 2012 at 3:09
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There would be no reason for the aliens in "Aliens" to be more humanoid, unless an alien survived from "Alien" and became a queen laying new eggs, what had more human genetics in them.– AidanOCommented May 29, 2012 at 7:02
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@AJotr, yes, that's my point: does the embryo scan the genome and imitate the developmental pathways (assuming that the host drove its own development and retains those genes), or does it infiltrate the body like Sacculina and imitate the morphology it finds (which would be the only way, if the above assumptions didn't hold in the host it found)?– BetaCommented May 29, 2012 at 14:35
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1 Answer
The incorporation happens on a genetic level, which is also why it is only a partial change as the Alien DNA remains dominant. The new species host is only somewhat assimilated, and it does not change the method of reproduction, which is again deeply genetic. The fact that the Alien is fundamentally an egg-layer with intensely dominant genes means it will always remain an egg-layer. The face-hugger is sort of the embryonic / larval stage of growth prior to major differentiation, so the host's features do not show up until after this stage. Hence, once a face-hugging egg-layer, always a face-hugging egg-layer.
