The mysterious biology of the Yoshi.

[Yoshi Master]

See, snakes have long bodies, giving them a lot of space to digest. Yoshi's don't have much space for somthing half their size plus other organs. But anyway lets see what Claws thinks.

Claws?

[Claws]

Well, whenever Yoshi eats something big, we see his mouth and lower jaw grow larger. I'm thinking that he has an unhinging jaw (as Kamikaze said), but that when his prey enters his mouth (and his cheeks swell), digestive juices break the prey down almost instantly. Yoshi then swallows the now-mush and absorbs the nutrients in his intestines. The waste is covered in calcium carbonate and excreted through the anus--thus producing the egg.

[Kamikaze Koopa]

Maybe his saliva has acidic qualities. Like, REALLY acidic qualities. So like Claws said, maybe when he gets the food in his mouth, the saliva melts whatever's in there pretty much instantaneously. And the whole thing about the mush becoming calcified is great. Of course, the eggs would probably be filled with some sort of chemical that explodes on impact, hence the damage dealt from an egg attack.

[Claws]

That sounds good. Hey, Yoshis are actually flinging their own feces at their foes!

[Yoshi Master]

But...
In most games Yoshi is able to spit the thing it ate back out, suggesting Yoshi's can control an extra acidic saliva gland.

[Kamikaze Koopa]

Ah yes, good point. And it should be noted that some creatures he eats instaneously (goombas, for example), neither having the ability to spit them out nor make an egg out of them.

So ok, how about this. His saliva is very acidic, yet some things it can't break down. So these things pass straight through his system, in the process being covered in a mucus like residue. Then, when the object is excreted and the mucus makes contact with oxygen it calcifies almost instantaneously, thus forming the egg shell. But in addition, the mucus on the inside of the shell, which hasn't come in contact with oxygen, goes through a molecular change, causing it to become unstable and explode upon impact. How's that?

[Claws]

That sounds great. In addition, we can say his digestive system is very expandable and strechy, allowing even relatively large things to pass through. Same thing goes for his anus.

[Kamikaze Koopa]

Absolutely. A yoshi's fleshy tissue would have to be very malleable for that to happen.

So what do you guys think; should we move on?

[Claws]

Yeah. I think we've covered this well enough.

[Kamikaze Koopa]

Ok, then. I'm gonna go ahead and move on to the next subject, but if you guys want to go back and discuss this some more, just say the word.

So, next we have the question of how a yoshi can lift its own weight with its tongue. Well, that seems rather simple; they just have very strong tongues. I mean, tongues are basically muscles, just like the ones through out our entire body. Now, the fact that a yoshi's arms are so undeveloped means that all the energy that would usually be diverted to arm muscles (like ours) has to be diverted somewhere else, and since a yoshi's tongue needs to be strong and sturdy in order to pull struggling prey into its mouth, it seems only logical that it would be one of the most developed muscles in their body.

In other words, a yoshi holding his own body weight simply by its tongue would probably be along the same lines as a human holding his own body weight by his arms. Although granted, he doesnt' have the extra support of a skeletal structure like we do.

[Claws]

It seems kind of similar to a python's body. It's long and slender but capable of tremendous muscular strength. It has a sticky tip also.

[Kamikaze Koopa]

Since nobody seems to have anything to add, I'm gonna go ahead and move on to the next subject: Yoshi's ablility to spit fire and juice. Let's start with the fire.

First, we have to look at what scenarios yoshi has used fire in.. Now, the first time we ever see a yoshi spitting fire is in SMW when he eats a red shell. Then, in SMW2, he gained the ability when he ate a red melon. And finally, in SM64DS, he can actually eat a flame that's already burning and use it to ignite his own. Something to note is that the shell and the melon are both red, suggesting a possible relation in the materials. Perhaps, yoshi's stomach fluids are combustable when combined with certain enzymes (which happen to be found in both the shell and the melon) and exposed to oxygen. Yoshi then is able to regurgitate and spit out his stomach fluids. Now, it seems to me like the melon would contain more of the enzyme because of the juice inside of it, hence why he can repeatedly spit flames after eating the melon, yet can only spit three fireballs after eating the shell.

Thoughts? Comments? Flames?

[Claws]

That looks good. But when he eats a yellow shell, why does he suddenly become weightier? I'm guessing it acts like a rapid anabolic steroid, and it instantly adds mass and strength to his feet and leg muscles. And when he eats a blue shell, why does he sprout wings?

About the fire breathing in SM64DS; maybe his digestive mouth juices are flammable. So when his tongue brings fire back to these juices, all he has to do is spit, and the fire sprays. And his mouth would have to be extremely tough and durable.

[Yoshi Master]

That's kinda a lot like Bowser's fire ability.
Good job.
And on a completly unrelated note, Yoshi, ears, has nobody noticed one of the most forgotten cartoon simplifications besides four fingers? WTF, where's his ears? To answear, very small holes just like lizards.

[Claws]

Yeah, they're probably located in between his eyes and cheeks.

[Kamikaze Koopa]

Yup, just look at a frog or lizard and you've got your answer.

Now, the next question on the list is a big one: How can a yoshi generate wings instantaeously from eating certain shells?

..........I'm drawing a blank on this one. The only two possible explanations I can come up with are: A) the wings are always there, tucked into small pockets of flesh on his sides, yet they need something from the shell in order to make them strong enough to use OR B) magic, of course (the easy way out). They probably wouldn't be generated so spontaneously through biological means, simply because the necessary extra body parts they would need (extra bone structure, extra muscle mass, ect.) probably couldn't be grown so quickly without serious consequences to the yoshi's health. After all, having all those extra internal organs would push around the existing ones in a way that would probably be harmful to the yoshi.

[Yoshi Master]

Lets look to Star Wars for the answear.

All Star Wars movies have this alein language yet everyobdy speaks english, mostly.

Yoshi's can and do speak english as well as speak their Yoshi language. Mariodoesn't really need to know the Yoshi language considering Yoshi's can speak english anyway.

[Claws]

Maybe the Yoshi has small holes on its sides, and when it consumes a blue shell, nutrients from the shell instantly flow to these holes. But as they come into contact with the outside air, they immediately harden, usually in the shape of wings. But then how does the Yoshi control them? I don't know.

[Kamikaze Koopa]

I'm thinking the wings are just vestigial and are resting in pouches on the yoshi's sides.

[Yoshi Master]

They grow from chemicals. Complete with feathers, nerves, and four designer colors.