Parocophants
Origins:
Parocophants are sextapods, animals with six limbs instead of four. The most
famous of the sextapods are the dragons. Parocophants obviously came from the
Dragon Homeworld. Dragons brought them, along with griffons to all the new
worlds they colonize. Parocophants are weary when dragons are nearby, but
dragons never preyed upon parocophants. Dragons are just fond of the beasts,
and brought them along as quasi-pets.
Size:
The parocophant reaches ten meters in length, stand two meters tall at the
shoulder, and have a mass of one tonne. Males and females are the same size.
They have somewhat stout, wide bodies, much like an elephant, though not quite
as fat since they do not eat vegetation.
Head:
The parocophant skull is an almost solid muscle mass. Muscles attaching the
jaws to the skull give the animal a powerful bite, capable of killing prey by
crushing it. Parocophants have frills
behind their heads made of thick bone and protected them from some predators in
eons past. Ear holes exist on the sides of their head. The internal structure
of the ear allows them to hear above and below water. Their eyes are placed on
the side of their heads, facing forward, giving them some binocular vision.
Their brains are not overly large, but in structure are more parrot-like than
crocodile-like.
Body:
Not only do they have a head similar to a crocodile but their other end as
well. The parocophant’s tail is built like a croc’s and is used in the same
way; propelling them through water. However, the bulk of their body is more
like an elephant, or in the aquatic sense a hippo. Like both mammals,
parocophants tend to just plod along through the water, in no hurry. Their
tails give them burst of speed when chasing prey.
Limbs:
The first two pairs of limbs of the parocophant, legs and feet, are similar to
an elephant, and almost as large. They are not intended for speed, but to keep
the animal standing. Parocophants are very efficient walkers, which is one of
the reasons they have been domesticate by humanity. Only their diet limits
their range and where they can be used. Parocophants do not have claws, but
rather hoof-like nails sticking from each of their toe bones. The most
distinguishing feature of the parocophant is the third pair of limbs. They are
not limbs in the tradition sense, but have fused into giant crests protruding
from their upper shoulder some three meters into the air. Like the crest, it
was once used for defense. Now both tend to be used more for display.
Plumage:
Parocophants are covered in bright feathers like a parrot. The biggest difference between the two is
that the females (riki) are covered with green feathers, whereas the males
(peri) are covered with red and orange feathers.
Internal Structure:
Parocophants have a tough hide of interlaced tissue, making it difficult for an
adult to suffer puncture damage. Between their skin and muscle is a lay of
subcutaneous fat, which serves both as an energy reserve and as buoyancy. To
lower their overall mass, the bones of parocophants are hollow. The most
impressive structure inside a parocophant is on the cellular level. They have
TNA, tri-ribo nucleic acid, which packs in considerably more genes than DNA.
TNA, despite being more complex, can replicate itself more efficiently than DNA
and far longer before error have a chance of occurring. Their genetic material
is so sturdy that sextapods never suffer from the decay of old age.
Lifecycle:
Parocophants, like all sextapods, have extremely long lifespans. They will
always outlive their humans, even if they happen to be pygmaeus. Parocophants
will ultimately die due to injury or disease. Barring either, they could easily
live for over one thousand years. Parocophants hatch ready to face to world. As
soon as they dig their way free, they bolt for the closest source of water and
feed on minnows. Even at hatching, they display the characteristic shoulder
protrusions, making it difficult that prey on the likes of turtles and such to
feed upon newly-hatched parocophants. Even so, it is not uncommon for half the
clutch to parish before reaching the water. The hatchlings grow fast, reaching
adult size within a decade. However, within a year of hatching, there are few
predators that will bother them. If they can survive the first year, a
parocophant is almost guaranteed a long life.
Reproduction:
Parocophant are not a violent animal, not even when it comes to mating. Males
tend to size each other up and force the other to back down by displays of
plumage and shoulder crests. If this fails, they will line up against each
other and proceed to swing their heads into each other. Their heads are solid
enough that no damage is sustained, and the fight ends when one male grows
tired. Longevity means that sextapods reproduce infrequently. On average, a
riki will mate once a century and lay a clutch of eight to twelve eggs. After
burying the eggs, the mother walks off to never see her offspring again.
Sociability:
Parocophants have a very agreeable temperament, making them easily tamed. This
is believed to be a lingering side-effect of domestication and selective
breeding done by dragons millions of years ago. Humanity uses parocophants on
the world where they exist, as beast of burden. They are as strong as elephants
and much easier to work with. They also eat less often. Parocophants are
limited in range due to their diet; fish. Every other day, parocophants return
to the water to gorge on fish. Handlers must always unhook the drawn cart
before feeding. Parocophants have been known to drag cart loads of goods into
the water in their search for food.
Habitat:
Parocophants live in wet environments, never a day’s walk away from a body of
water. This is to satisfy their diet. They live in marshes, swamps, jungles and
any place that has adequate year-round water sources. Just like hippos and
crocodiles, the parocophant spends most of their time in the water. There is a
certain average temperature, 290K, which they will tolerate. Areas colder than
this will not find parocophants.
Communications: Parocophants
are rather quiet animals, considering their size. They can produce both growls
and surprisingly high-pitched chirps, but rely more upon subtle visual cues,
such as posture and eye contact.
Competition/Enemies:
They have no enemies as adults, but are wary of dragons. As hatchlings,
anything that can swallow them will eat them. Parocophants do not thrive as
well in regions that have crocodiles or hippos, mainly because of competition
for space. The parocophant’s docile nature means they tend to move out of the
way.
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