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This is a submission for the Anatomically Correct Series

Orcs have been a staple fantasy enemy race for decades, but could such a species exist in real life? Some basic characteristics of Orcs include:

  • varying height: from a squat 4 foot to tall 6 foot
  • greenish~greyish skin
  • relatively short life span
  • reproduce quickly
  • very strong
  • not very dexterous
  • prominent tusk-like canines of greatly varied size and sharp teeth
  • having pointy ears
  • intelligence like that of early hominids, with use of tools and crude weapons
  • inherently aggressive
  • slightly better night vision than humans

Given these characteristics, what evolutionary pressures would lead to such a creature?

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icewar1908
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    Possible duplicate of Suppose the Orcs are mammals, why is their skin green? – Aify Apr 25 '18 at 05:40
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    Two questions you might consider asking elsewhere (is there a Biology SE or Evolution SE?) is "Why have animals that are green evolved to be green" & "Why have humans never evolved to have bright colors such as blue or green like many other animals have" the answer to these questions may help you. – Pelinore Apr 25 '18 at 07:02
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    @Pelinore [biology.se] SE is a real site. See their subject scope. They allow for "general questions about biological concepts", which presumably would include questions relating to evolution as that is widely considered a biological concept (and one of its fundamental underpinnings, at that). – user Apr 25 '18 at 08:51
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    Please, don't describe it as "often have". Find out what is most iconic orc "image" and then simply describe it. Decide what properties are needed for it to be an orc and go with it. – Mołot Apr 25 '18 at 09:14
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    VTCers! The anatomically correct series of questions is one of those unique precedents on WB.SE that, for better or for worse, pretty much gets a bye in the VTC queue. If anything is lacking here, it's a clear description of what the OP believes is an orc. OP, I recommend you follow my link and look at examples of these type of questions. If you have the necessary information, your question shouldn't be closed. (Frankly, since the slender man Q wasn't closed, this one shouldn't be by definition.) – JBH Apr 25 '18 at 09:32
  • @JBH as you can see, lack of definition of an orc was a reason of my vote. I suppose others might think similarly. – Mołot Apr 25 '18 at 10:00
  • @Mołot, I don't doubt it. It's just that the site is very inconsistent with the Anatomically Correct questions. That's why I pointed to the Slenderman question, which actually has no descriptive characteristics at all and not a single VTC. – JBH Apr 25 '18 at 15:58
  • @JBH well, slenderman was described in a short, but precise way. Once upon a time whole Internet had one idea about what slenderman exactly is. No imprecision like "often depicted as" or "tusks they often have". There are way more versions of orcs than pretty much one version of slenderman on the Internet. – Mołot Apr 25 '18 at 16:07
  • @Mołot, that wasn't true. "Because the Slender Man's fictional "mythology" has evolved without an official "canon" for reference, his appearance, motives, habits, and abilities are not fixed but change depending on the storyteller." Everyone thought there was a clear idea and gave the question a bye, just as everyone thinks there isn't a clear description of an orc and aren't giving this question the same benefit of the doubt. Like I said... inconsistent. Have any posting rules ever been made for the AC questions? – JBH Apr 25 '18 at 16:14
  • @JBH if a question is not well defined it is not well defined. Don't matter if it attempts to jumo the bandwagon or not. – dot_Sp0T Apr 26 '18 at 06:06
  • @dot_Sp0T, Again, my issue is consistency. If you think this is so poorly defined that it deserved closure, please visit the Slenderman Q and VTC it, too. It's difficult to help people improve when the successful examples are all over the map. Bear in mind, I also think this Q is not well enough defined and I'd LOVE to pass a written-in-stone law that declares the minimum conditions for an ACQ. I've left a comment on the Meta page for TrEs-2b if I can start an A on that Q to come up with a concise guide with community review. TrEs-2b hasn't answered yet. – JBH Apr 26 '18 at 06:15

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