The Porcupenguin

My entry for 2D rock-off contest, I just had to draw something after seeing that the theme is "buttock defense"

anyway, I wanted to draw something that is still scientifically plausible, so my concept is based on the fairy penguin [link] , because I think it is one of the possible candidate of real-life creatures which may evolve buttock-related defense (the other being the skunk, which already does, and homo sapiens, due to obesity problem). Of course, the defense here is passive defense, more for buying time as it runs away. And unlike the porcupine or echidna, a penguin can't possibly have spikes all over or it won't swim very well, so it will only have spikes on its lower butt where it doesn't significantly add to its hydrodynamic drag, and may even function as a rudder to some extent.

And of course, since any creature would be a few million years away, I did this in the format of an alien's paleontology book entry on earth's wildlife - just try to imagine that you all have a babelfish sucking on your brain and that's why you're able to read it.


Adobe photoshop CS2, Corel Painter 8
photos of fairy penguin used as reference (from personal collection, taken at Adelaide Zoo and Kangaroo Island).