Download PDF

1. Common and scientific names

• What common names does it have in different languages or regions? (include pronunciation and spelling)

• What stories or cultural meanings are hidden in those names?

• What is its scientific name, and what do its etymological roots reveal?

• Optional, at the end of the log: if the entity could name itself based on its own experience, what “word‑symbol” would it choose and why?

  
  

2. Short taxonomic overview

• Scientific literature: To which family or group does it belong, and which feeding, defence or reproductive traits does it share with its relatives?

• Community accounts: How do local people describe those same similarities or differences?

• If we reorganised the evolutionary tree according to how the entity senses (sound, vibration, scent), what new sensory clans would appear?

  
  

3. Morphology and distinctive traits

• Which structures (feathers, cuticles, glands, crystals) work as "biological technologies" to perceive or transform its environment?

• How does its shape change throughout its life, and what narrative potential lies in those metamorphoses?

• From inside the body, what sensations dominate its everyday experience?

  
  

4. Habitat and prevailing environment

• Which abiotic gradients (light, temperature, salinity, pressure, magnetism) define its comfort zone and behaviour?

• Which micro‑scenarios invisible to humans— a soil layer, a thermocline, a root filament—are crucial to its existence?

• If the habitat were a character, what dialogue would it have with the entity over the course of a day?

  
  

5. Geographic and temporal distribution

• How have historical changes (glaciations, trade routes, urbanisation, climate change) shaped its range?

• What happens to its presence during cycles of migration, flowering or other activity peaks?

• In a speculative future, what voluntary or forced shifts might redraw its living map?

  
  

6. Conservation status and human pressures

• Which threats (resource extraction, noise/light pollution, pathogens, climate) most alter its relationship with the environment?

• Science & community: Which management strategies or local world‑views have had positive (or negative) effects?

• Does the entity perceive the human footprint in its sensory routines, and if so, how?

  
  

7. Sensory capacities and perceptual systems

• Which channels of reality does it use (chemical, electrical, ultraviolet, ultrasound) that are alien to us?

• How does it process that information: scent memory, acoustic maps, electromagnetic antennas…?

• Which metaphors help translate its umwelt for human readers without diluting its otherness?

  
  

8. Key ecological behaviours

• Which tactics of foraging, play, cooperation or deception offer dramatic tension?

• Which rituals of courtship, hunting or defence lend themselves to vivid storytelling?

  
  

9. Interactions and ecosystem roles

• Which alliances or mutual dependencies (pollination, dispersal, habitat engineering) sustain its life?

• How does the trophic network shift if its population changes?

• What conflicts arise with other species sharing its niche?

  
  

10. Own rhythms and temporal scales

• Which internal clocks (circadian, tidal, lunar, seasonal) organise its sense of time?

• What stories emerge when contrasting its longevity or briefness with ours?

  
  

11. Perspectives of local communities (including specific Indigenous peoples)

• Which oral narratives, songs or rituals reveal deep knowledge of the entity?

• What future visions do these world‑views propose that could enrich non‑Western narratives?

  
  

12. Cultural and symbolic representations

• When does the entity appear in iconography, literature, film or games, and with what meanings?

• What shifts (deity → pet → threat) has it undergone through visual and written history?

• How can these images act as a bridge—or an obstacle—when imagining the entity’s own voice?

  
  

13. Narrative hooks and emerging metaphors

• Which biological trait could serve as a central metaphor (camouflage = social invisibility, mycelium = care networks)?

• What ethical dilemmas surface when adopting the entity’s perspective?

• Where lies the dramatic tension between its sensory world and ours?

  
  

14. Sensory reference materials

• Which archives (audio, video, 3D models, datasets) help “feel” its reality?

• How can we translate ultrasonic sounds or chemical signals into accessible formats (sonification, visualisation, AR)?

• Which gaps in these collections can fiction creatively fill?

  
  

15. Knowledge gaps or controversies

• How do academic evidence and local experience diverge, and what stories might that friction generate?

• Which speculative hypotheses (biological or cultural) could be explored without contradicting what is known?

  
  

16. References consulted

• How do scientific papers, oral stories, artworks and open data converse within the dossier?

• Which criteria do we use to assess reliability, bias or relevance (authorship, date, cultural viewpoint)?

• How can we document and share sources so future creators can expand or challenge this work?