Silurian

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The Silurians (also known as Eocene, homo reptilia and Psionosauropodomorpha) were a type of Earth Reptile. Technologically advanced, they lived during prehistoric times. Unlike other species, Silurians showed vast differentiation between breeds, such as the number of eyes or the formation of their pupils.

Biology

Physical appearance

The Silurians were an extremely varied species, with a wide range of subspecies and appearances. Whilst many Silurians appeared similar, there were subtle differences which were attributed to caste. There were also clans or families with differentiated physical characteristics, some suited for environments of extreme cold or high plateaus. (MA: The Scales of Injustice) In general, they were humanoid reptilians with scaly crests on their head.

One group of Silurians was found at Wenley Moor. They had long fingers and three webbed toes on each foot. Their mouths were small and sucker-like. The most noticeable feature of these Silurians were their three eyes. Their main eyes were bright yellow with cat-like pupils. The third eye was red and high on the forehead, surrounded by a fluted bone structure. They also had rectangular external ears. They were active creatures who spoke quickly in deep voices. (DW: Doctor Who and the Silurians)

Another group was found at Sea Base 4. They looked similar to those of Wenley Moor, but had stockier builds, brown skin, suckers on the tips of their fingers, smaller mouths, ornate, curving spikes around their heads and the third eye on top. The third eye would glow along with their speech, but was not used in attack. They were also slower and spoke in a higher pitched voice. (DW: Warriors of the Deep)

A third tribe, found in Wales, was radically different in appearance. They had only two eyes, more human faces, no external ears, five digits on each hand and crests on their heads and down their neck. They had long tongues which they could flick to inject a venom, which was mutagenic to humans. They moved and spoke much like humans. (DW: The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood)

There were also the distantly related Sea Devils. (DW: The Sea Devils) They were genetically divergent enough to create problems for the offspring of matings with Silurians. Offspring suffered from biological problems including sterility and a shorter lifespan, due to cellular degeneration. (MA: The Scales of Injustice)

In at least one alternate reality, there was a human-Silurian hybrid. This demonstrated that mating between the two was possible. (PDA: Spiral Scratch)

Anatomy

A Silurian/Sea Devil hybrid (MA: The Scales of Injustice)

Silurians were cold blooded and could only survive at warmer temperatures. They were sluggish and slow when cold. (NA: Blood Heat, DW: The Hungry Earth)

Silurians had a hunter's anatomy, with powerful muscles and hollow bones. Though they were taller than humans, they were also lighter and faster. Silurians were incapable of crying. (NA: Blood Heat) The typical lifespan of a Silurian was 200 to 250 years, (MA: The Scales of Injustice) though some lived up to 300 years (DW: Cold Blood).

Silurians had an organ analogous to the human pituitary gland. (MA: Burning Heart)

Third eye

A Silurian using his third eye. (DWN: Doctor Who and the Cave-Monsters)

Most Silurians possessed a third eye on the forehead. Their three eyes provided them with a triple-faceted form of vision.The top eye saw in infrared. (DW: Doctor Who and the Silurians) The third eye also allowed them to use a variety of telepathic powers.

The Silurians used their third eyes to communicate with other Silurians in a process known as "linking". The third eye would glow along with their emotions, becoming brighter when they were angry. They could sense the presence of other Silurians, even at great distances. Silurians could control the minds of other creatures. (NA: Blood Heat) They could hypnotise and coerce humans through a link to a primal part of a subject's mind, though stronger wills could resist this control. (BFA: Bloodtide)

The third eye was capable of harming organic beings, killing them or leaving them unconscious. Alternatively, they could revive a human that they had rendered unconscious with the third eye. Energies emanating from it allowed them to burn through walls and create tunnels. (DW: Doctor Who and the Silurians, NA: Blood Heat)

The Silurians also employed their third eye in less destructive tasks, such as activating their technology, opening passageways or creating forcefields to trap prisoners. (DW: Doctor Who and the Silurians)

Not all Silurians had these third eyes; the tribe found in Wales did not. (DW: The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood)

Culture

The Silurians were generally a peaceful race. Their highest laws forbade outright warfare exceptfor defense. (DW: Warriors of the Deep) There was also great importance placed on the species' pure eugenics, which was believed to be their most important principle and most sacrosanct belief. Breeding between a Silurian and a Sea Devil was considered a crime punishable by death. The eggs of such a union were usuallly crushed and the parents executed. (MA: The Scales of Injustice)

The Silurians were generally led by a Triad, three Silurians who ruled jointly. (DW: Doctor Who and the Silurians, Warriors of the Deep, The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood) These Silurians came from different backgrounds and controlled different professions, such as the military and the scientists. Silurians were also split into different tribes. (DW: The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood) The majority of Silurian warriors appeared to be female, just as the females were the more aggressive in some species of lower reptile (DW: Cold Blood, A Good Man Goes to War)

Silurians communicated by telepathically linking through their third eyes, as well as by body language. Though they could use words, they generally only used speech for effect, when talking to children or to species without telepathic linking abilities. Silurians had little in the way of literature, since their mind linking abilities were a more effective method of transferring ideas. (NA: Blood Heat)

A Silurian of advanced age would festoon the third eye with pearls as a form of decoration. (NA: Blood Heat) Some Silurians kept early homonids as pets. (DWN: Doctor Who and the Cave-Monsters) Whilst in the future, some used the term Earth Reptiles, others called themselves Silurians, insisting those that accepted the name of Earth Reptiles were pathetic assimilationists. (MA: Burning Heart)

They worshipped a Lizard God. (MA: The Crystal Bucephalus) Their myths included Urmungstandra, a devil god (EDA: The Taking of Planet 5) and the Great Old Ones, including in their ranks Azathoth, a deity revered by the Silurians long before the rise of humanity. (NA: All-Consuming Fire)

Technology

The Silurians made many advancements unknown to the humans.

See also Silurian Technology.

Biotechnology

The Silurians had advanced genetic capabilities. They brought species back from extinction, including many dinosaurs. (DW: Doctor Who and the Silurians, NA: Blood Heat) They could modify species, as they did with the Myrka. (DW: Warriors of the Deep) They created a genetically engineered plague, which they once used against early humans who invaded their crop settlements. This disease was highly virulent and was used as a form of 'pest control'. (DW: Doctor Who and the Silurians) Despite this, they had problems with Silurian/Sea Devil hybrids' deficiencies. (MA: The Scales of Injustice)

The Silurians processed their own food and didn't rely on harvesting animals or plants (MA: The Scales of Injustice) except in times of famine (NA: Blood Heat). The Silurians could bio-program soil, causing it to react to certain events and respond, generally by dragging people underground. (DW: The Hungry Earth) They were capable of advanced decontamination, removing diseases and poisons from the body. (DW: Cold Blood)

Weaponry

Though the Sea Devils used sonic weaponry, the Silurians usually relied on the Sea Devils and their third eye for defensive purposes. The Silurians tended not to use weaponry, though they used a Battlecruiser for transportation and offensive purposes. (DW: Warriors of the Deep) They could amplify the powers of their third eyes, causing even more damage. (NA: Blood Heat)

The Silurians found in Wales used guns reminiscent of Sea Devil guns which could fire fatal energy beams. They also wore armour and used special masks that covered their faces and allowed them to scan objects. (DW: The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood)

Miscellaneous technology

History

Dominance

At some point in Earth's history, the Silurians were the rulers of the planet. They were led by the Triad and used the Sea Devils as soldiers. (DW: Doctor Who and the Silurians, Warriors of the Deep) In the early era of their rule, there were many stories of the rise of their civilization. One noted legendary warrior chieftain was Masz K'll of the Third Dynasty, who fought against his evil alter-ego, the legendary Two-Faced Lizard. Another figure was Panun E'Ni, who was the leader of the Southern Clan and conquered much of the world, which he ruled cruelly for a brief period until his defeat at the hands of Tun W'lzz. Following that event, the previously imprisoned and cast out tribes came together in a new, more unified civilization that ate their foes. Whether these were folk stories or historical facts was of no importance to them, as they inspired the Earth Reptiles for a millennium, with many of these writings left within their Hall of Heroes. (MA: The Scales of Injustice)

In this era, the Silurians co-existed in groups of clans that lived alongside the original ape primitives that were developing on their planet. As a lesser species, these hominids became the primary livestock of the Silurians. In order to improve their flavour, a Silurian scientist by the name of Tulok began to genetically engineer the apes. This led to a faster breeding cycle as well as intelligence, creating early Homo sapiens. For his genetic crimes, the Silurians banished Tulok and his creations to die in the coming cataclysm. (BFA: Bloodtide) These primitive, ape-like men began to hunt in packs and attacked the Silurians. (DWM: Twilight of the Silurians) They also began to prey on the crops of the Silurians, leading the Earth Reptiles to use plagues to exterminate them. (DW: Doctor Who and the Silurians)

At the height of their civilization, the Silurians lived in cities of metal millions of years old, and had uncontested dominion over the planet. However, this era was cut short. Some of their scientists, such as Doctor Wolik, believed that a small planetoid was destined to crash into their world. Some Silurians doubted this coming disaster; a few believed it to be a simple scare story. Eventually, the Silurians panicked. They entered hibernation chambers so their civilization could survive the coming disaster and reclaim their world once the danger had passed. (DWM: Twilight of the Silurians)

Twelve years before the large planet came dangerously close to Earth, the Silurians were divided on the matter of a mating between the land castes and aquatic castes. Normally, such matings were forbidden, and any offspring were killed along with their parents. However, facing the threat of a global cataclysm, they allowed a colony of such hybrids to remain in their Shelter near Smallmarshes. With the rest of the Silurian race, they took part in the Great Hibernation. (MA: The Scales of Injustice) The panicked Silurians sealed themselves in their underground hibernation chambers, but the technology was faulty, and never woke them. They were unaware the dangerous planetoid that they believed would devastate their world was instead captured by the planet and became the Moon. (DW: Doctor Who and the Silurians) Despite their intentions to punish Tulok, the renegade Silurian scientist instead sabotaged a number of the hibernation chambers and destroyed them. (BFA: Bloodtide)

The time of this rule has never been consistently dated.

Re-awakenings

Over the millions of years since their rule, many of the Silurians' prominent structures such as the Hall of Heroes were lost to erosion and plate movement which erased any traces of their ancient civilisation. (MA: The Scales of Injustice) After millions of years, some of the Silurian Hibernation units were activated and opened.

In 102 AD, a number of Silurians were part of the Alliance of the Doctor's worst enemies that imprisoned the Doctor in the Pandorica. (DW: The Pandorica Opens)

In the 19th century, a group of Silurians was awoken by the digging of the London Underground, leading to the death of several navvies. Though Vastra, a Silurian who had been awoken by their digging, wanted revenge, the Doctor was able to convince her to live with the humans in peace. She resided with her human partner Jenny, though she fed on human criminals. She and several of her soldiers were called up by the Doctor to fight at the battle of Demons Run. (DW: A Good Man Goes to War)

Charles Darwin and the HMS Beagle expedition, along with the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn Smythe, encountered a rogue Silurian group in the Galápagos Islands. The leader of this group had been responsible for creating humanity's prehistoric ancestors via a forbidden breeding program. (BFA: Bloodtide)

During the Howberry expedition in 1920, Lord Barset took part in an expedition to Antarctica. There they discovered a city of Silurians. All of the expedition's members except one were killed. The sole survivor returned to civilization, where he was considered insane after telling the fate of his comrades. (AV: Endurance) This later inspired a second expedition to Antarctica in 2012 led by Barset's grandson. He intended to find the advanced technology of the Silurian civilization. Instead he encountered a band of Ice Warrior war criminals who were frozen in the ice. (BFA: Frozen Time) Jules Verne and the Doctor once encountered Silurians and a giant squid. This incident was worked into 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, though the Doctor had some difficulties convincing Jules to remove the parts with the Silurians. (NSA: Peacemaker)

In the late 20th century a group of Silurians were awakened from hibernation by the energy from the nearby nuclear power research centre at Wenley Moor. After disagreement between Okdel and Morka over a course of action, Morka won out and the Silurians tried to reclaim the planet from humanity by releasing a deadly virus. This plan was stopped by UNIT and the Third Doctor. Despite the Doctor's best efforts to broker a peaceful solution, the Silurian base was bombed by UNIT on Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart's order. (DW: Doctor Who and the Silurians) Shortly afterward, a second base was awoken in Oregon, and was likewise dealt with by UNIT. (PDA: The Devil Goblins from Neptune) A different base of Silurians was found in the Smallmarshes, consisting of hybrids born of unions between Silurians and Sea Devils. They too wanted to take back the Earth. There was a power struggle until The Third Doctor managed to ensure that this shelter was left in peace and there was an end to the fighting. (MA: The Scales of Injustice)

In 1983, Sarah Jane Smith and K-9, while visiting Warren Martyn's archaeological expedition in Egypt, discovered an underground city of Silurians and Sea Devils. Sarah Jane opened diplomatic relations with them, and on her return to England, contacted the Brigadier, who wished to make amends for his earlier mistakes. (DWM: City of Devils)

By 2003 there were Silurians serving as part of UNIT, in particular Imorkal, who worked with Liz Shaw at Tranquillity Moonbase on Earth's Moon. (NA: Eternity Weeps) Some decades later, General Sir Lethbridge-Stewart helped the Silurians try to finally make peace with the humans, though the general public believed it to be a stunt involving men in rubber suits. (BFA: The Coup) Later, the Silurians aided UNIT in finding a cure for a deadly plague. (BFA: The Wasting)

In late 2010, a fossilised Silurian egg was discovered by the Pharos institute. Sarah Jane went to the institute to take a look at it. (SJAF: Sarah Jane's Alien Files episode 6)

File:Alaya1.png
Alaya, a Silurian warrior who attacked the human mining station at Cwmtaff, Wales, in the year 2020. (DW: The Hungry Earth)

In 2020, a Silurian city in Wales was awoken by a mining trial led by Nasreen Chaudhry and Tony Mack. The Silurians took corpses from a graveyard for study, as well as Mo Northover and later Amy Pond as living subjects. Eventually they contained the village in a force field and captured Elliot Northover. Alaya came to the surface and was captured. While the Eleventh Doctor and Nasreen travelled to the Silurian city to negotiate her return for Mo, Elliot and Amy, Alaya was guarded by Tony, Rory Williams and Ambrose Northover. The Doctor and Nasreen were captured, while Amy and Mo escaped. After an abortive rescue attempt, the Doctor was able to convince the Silurian leader, Eldane, to negotiate with Amy and Nasreen for the future of both their races. Back on the surface, Ambrose tried to help her family and threatened Alaya, accidentally killing her just as the group were summoned to the city. Alaya's death was received badly, especially by her sister, Restac, who tried to kill all the humans in retribution. Eldane managed to lead the Doctor and his friends to a laboratory. He released a deadly gas into the city, forcing Restac's troops to return to their hibernation. The timer was set for a thousand years, to permit a second chance at negotiation. (DW: The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood)

A Silurian in the attack of Sea Base 4 in the year 2084. (DW: Warriors of the Deep)

Circa 2084, a group of Silurians allied themselves with the Sea Devils to invade Sea Base 4. They attempted to launch nuclear weapons to provoke a war between the two major power blocs. They were killed when the base was flooded with hexachromite gas. (DW: Warriors of the Deep)

Post-contact

At some point after the 2084 incident, a human colony faced a devastating war against the Earth Reptiles. Humans developed a doomsday device which they placed in a base around the moon colony, designed to scour the surface of the satellite. To combat this, the Earth Reptiles dispatched Quarra to infiltrate the base and take it over. However, she was unaware of an entertainer called Jen Yates who was not on the crew count, and this last survivor managed to activate the weapon, killing everyone in the colony. Though Quarra killed Jen, the shock of the event led to Quarra taking on the entertainer's personality to shield her from the truth. She believed that she was now human and that she was guarding the weapon alone in case the Earth Reptiles won the war. After a visit by the Doctor, Quarra remembered the past and killed herself by walking onto the surface of the moon without a spacesuit. (ST: Cold War)

By the 26th century, the inter-species conflicts appeared to have come to an end. Silurians and Sea Devils were accepted into Earth society, and the term "Earth Reptile" was apparently popularized among humans. (NA: Love and War)

During the 29th century, when solar flares were threatening to engulf the Earth, the Silurians built a spacecraft, surreptiously attatching it to the bottom of the humans' own. After takeoff, a Dalek attack caused the Silurian ship to break away from the humans. What happened to the Silurian ship afterwards is unknown. (VG: Doctor Who: Evacuation Earth)

In the 30th century, the Earth Reptiles were part of the Earth Empire, considered full members of the government as an Earthborn species. (NA: So Vile a Sin) In the 32nd century, it became illegal to trade in Earth Reptile pituitary analogue extract on the planet Dramos. (MA: Burning Heart)

In the year 3020, one thousand years after the encounter at Cwmtaff, Eldane's clan were scheduled to reawaken and unite with humanity and their Earth Reptile cousins. (DW: Cold Blood)

In 3110, a Silurian was running the Musée d'Orsay when the Eleventh Doctor visited it. (WC: The War of Art)

In the 101st century, the Earth Reptiles were part of the Union. (MA: The Crystal Bucephalus)

Undated events

Alternative histories

  • In one alternative version of the 1990s, the Doctor having died during the Wenley Moor incident, the Silurians ruled Earth unchecked, introducing dinosaurs into Earth's ecosystem. (NA: Blood Heat)
  • In another alternative 1990s, the Doctor died during the same incident. Silurians, Sea Devils and humans lived in peace, under the URIC or United Races Intelligence Command, formerly known as UNIT. (DWM: Final Genesis)
  • In a timeline diverging from the 1970s, the Silurians (refered to as "lizards") unleashed an army of dinosaurs on London. UNIT used time-travel technology to wipe out the Silurians with nuclear weaponry before they could wake up in the 1970s. (DWU: Sympathy for the Devil)

Other references

Behind the scenes

Dating issue

The Silurians have never been accurately dated. As implied by their names, they were first thought to be from the Silurian period (roughly 440 million to 415 million years ago), though this was before the first reptiles are believed to have evolved. The Third Doctor mused that the Eocene period (roughly 55 million to 35 million years ago) would have been a more accurate dating, although this was after the dinosaurs (which the Silurians were shown using) were believed to have become extinct. The Silurians were also seen to have a map of Pangaea from around 200 million years ago, which was the late Triassic period. The Eleventh Doctor told Alaya that she was "300 million years outside of your comfort zone," in The Hungry Earth which would place them around the late Permian period, although later in the same episode he referenced that they were sometimes called Eocenes. Silurians tended to make references to early apes, which are believed to have evolved at some point between 40 to 15 million years ago, or the late Eocene to the Miocene period.

The Quantum Archangel suggests that the Moon was orbiting the Earth before 150 million year ago, which means the Silurians ruled before the Jurassic.

According to current theories, the moon wasn't created elsewhere in the solar system and captured by Earth's gravity, but actually formed from the debris thrown up from the impact of a Mars-like body hitting the Earth a few million years after its formation.

Naming issue

The naming of the Silurians also tends to be inaccurate or questionable. As stated above, both Silurian and Eocene are of questionable accuracy, though the Silurians are said to be named after the Silures. [source needed] Another name given in Blood Heat, Psionosauropodamorphae, translates as psychic lizard-foot shaped. This may be intended to suggest a connection between the Silurians and the sauropod family of dinosaurs, though this seems unlikely given the near-total lack of physical resemblance and the comparatively small cerebral capacity of most sauropod dinosaurs. Homo reptilia, one of the suggested names used in City of Devils and The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood, cannot be a scientific term. The rules governing the use of genera prevent any two separate groups within a kingdom (i.e. animals) from using the same genus. A more approriate term would be Reptilia sapien.

Template:Silurian & Sea Devil stories

v • e
Aliens and Enemies of Season 7
Spearhead from Space
The Silurians
The Ambassadors of Death
Inferno
v • e
Aliens and Enemies of Season 21
Warriors of the Deep
Silurians (Icthar  • Scibus  • Tarpok)  • Sea Devils (Sauvix)  • Myrka  • Solow  • Nilson • Maddox
The Awakening
Frontios
Resurrection of the Daleks
Planet of Fire
The Caves of Androzani
The Twin Dilemma
v • e
Aliens and Enemies of Series 5
The Eleventh Hour
The Beast Below
Smilers  • Winders  • Hawthorne  • Star whale
Victory of the Daleks
Daleks (Ironside  • Supreme  • Eternal  • Drone  • Strategist  • Scientist)  • Edwin Bracewell
The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone
The Vampires of Venice
Amy's Choice
The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood
Silurians (Restac  • Alaya  • Eldane  • Malohkeh)
Vincent and the Doctor
The Lodger
The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang
v • e
Aliens and Enemies of Series 6
A Christmas Carol
The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon
The Curse of the Black Spot
The Doctor's Wife
House • Ood (Nephew) • Uncle • Auntie
The Rebel Flesh / The Almost People
A Good Man Goes to War
Let's Kill Hitler
Night Terrors
The Girl Who Waited
The God Complex
Closing Time
The Wedding of River Song
Death Is the Only Answer
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