Quirlax

"An ancient offshoot of the Aurix, the Quirlax have been domesticated by their brethren and are used as livestock and beasts of burden." — Vacotor Database description, Terran translation

The Quirlax (both /kwʊrlæks(iː)/ and /kwiːrlæks(iː)/ are considered correct pronunciations) (Quirlaxa familiaris) are a genus of long-necked, herbivorous tentacleiosaurs on the planet Vuunega. They are the second most important offshoot to the Aurix, behind the Neomwa.

Name Pronunciation

For those who do not understand how pronunciation IPAs work, here is a laydown of the proper pronunciation of their name:

• Quir as in quirky
• lax as in relaxation

However, a second pronunciation is also correct:

• Quir sounds like queer
• lax as in relaxation

The plural form adds an "i" at the end of the word:

• i sounds like ee

Statistics

A comparison between 2 average adults — one Quirlax, one Human.

• Species Type: Cold-blooded terrestrial tentacleiosaur
• Lifestyle: Social forager

• Hunt/Forage Success Rate: 80% Forage (90% success rate), 20% Photosynthesis (99.7% success rate during day, 5% success rate during night)

• Armor: Quirlax possess no natural armors, and are not sapient; therefore they do not make armors.

• Defenses: Skin has thickened, as well as gained a weak toxicity. Toxins may cause discomfort and nausea if consumed by individuals with little tolerances. Four very small (for its size) thagomizers exist on the short tail, giving a small rear defense as well.

• Weapons: Quirlax possess little in the way of weaponry; generally they are forced to rely only on their muscular tentacles to bash foes. However, these are used in defense, as the species as a whole are generally well-tempered.

• Tools: Manipulation of objects (usually floral material) taken care of by the four tentacle-arms flanking the neck and shoulders.

• Method of Eating: Unspecified
• Reproductive Rate: Quirlax breed once every five years.
• Gestation: 11 Vuunegan months then gives live birth.
• Number of Offspring: Typically 2 per litter — 3 is uncommon, 4 is extremely rare.

• Offspring Survival Rate (before age of maturity): 70% — Quirlax try and protect their young, due in part to their low birth rate. They usually succeed, although young do occasionally die. Even with the low birth rate and decent mortality rate, the Quirlax are large in numbers. This may be due to, until recent times, their main predator being a parasite and therefore not usually killing herd members. However, now that they've garnered the Aurix as a predator as well, they have fallen on harder times.

• Singular/Plural/Possessive: Quirlax / Quirlaxi / Quirlaxian

Physiology

Below in this next section, you will find information on the Quirlaxi physical appearance, and explanations of things including, but not limited to, their skeletal structure and their senses.

Digestive System

A Quirlax as it appears in game.

Because the Quirlax's diet consists exclusively of Vuunegan floral matter, they have developed a system capable of handling it. Rather than a regular stomach, the Quirlax possess an organ called the Camaragaster; this functions similar to several stomachs put in one, while an appendix dispenses enzymes to break down the floral matter more quickly. Two large coils of intestine are built to extract as much possible nutrients from the food as possible, as well. Because digesting floral matter creates so much methane gas, they also have another organ, simply nicknamed the "Gas Disperser", which distributes the gases released evenly into the body; methane is one of the primary chemicals that make up their skin toxins.

Respiratory System

The Quirlax respiratory system is centered around a pair of large lungs, which fill up a significant portion of their ribcage. Despite this enormous centerpiece, the Quirlax are not fast runners; they are built for overall endurance, not for speed. A healthy Quirlax could push itself in a full-on "powerwalk" for upwards of an hour before showing signs of tiring. Despite this, the Quirlax will rarely leave pack members behind, and will not usually go faster than the slowest member in their group. This helps them make sure all of them make it to safety by protecting one another.

Circulatory System

Because of all the blood that is required to run through their system, especially during attempts at fleeing, they possess a large heart, placed near the back of the spine and the base of the neck. This location allows it to more easily pump blood up to its brain, at the top of its nearly five-foot neck. A secondary ribcage is built out of cartilage that protects just the heart from damage, as it is such a vital organ to their survival. Their system is a closed one, and blood vessels criss-cross their body like roadways on a map.

Size

A Quirlax in Monster Space.

Quirlax are the second-largest species within their lineage, second only to the Quirlunth, which absolutely dwarfs not only a Quirlax by many times over but also dwarfs all other creatures at their full size — the Quirlunth are also known as the King of Walkers. Quirlax are born large in comparison to most other organisms, however. A newborn Quirlax will be around 6ft tall. Juveniles (sexually mature but not quite full size) are significantly larger, though they are still dwarfed by the full-grown adults.

• Juvenile
  • Shoulder Height — 1.75m (5.7ft)
  • Skull Height — 3.16m (10.4ft)
  • Eyestalk Height — ~7in
  • Final Height — ~3.3m (~11ft)
  • Body Bulk — Rhinoceros-like.

• Full-Grown Adult
  • Shoulder Height — 10ft
  • Skull Height — 18ft
  • Eyestalk Height — 2ft
  • Final Height — 20ft
  • Body Bulk — Sauropod-like.

Evolutionary History

A herd of Quirlaxi are quietly stalked by a pack of Aurix in the Catapult Forest.

An ancient offshoot species of the Aurum, the Quirlaxi (Quirlax being the singular form) split off immediately from the Grendon as soon as they moved onto land. They, however, had developed a camaragaster and then a short, snout-like mouth for feeding on "plant" matter, rather than continuing the hemophagic lifestyle of their ancestors. This lifestyle has also made them far less violent than other offshoots (namely the Neomwa, Zrrmzasha, Grendon, and Aurosuchus).

Initially, they enjoyed spending all of their time grazing the low-lying scrub grass such as scrusk at the higher elevations of the sandy beaches of Southern Zeeon, close to the surrounding catapult forests. Since this time, however, they have grown into long-necked foliage grazers deep in the palm tree-like tropical catapult forests and the nearby mangrove swamps. Here, they feast off of the leaves of the two main trees in the area, as well as the fruit and berries bore by the shorter species, and grass plucked from the ground. Their four tentacle-arms have been arranged upon their bodies so as to allow them an easy way to deliver food to their mouths.

They dislike the Grendon feeding upon them (although it does not often result in death), and will generally become distressed and occasionally even stampede. For a long time, they were unable to stop these attacks, and so they dealt with it as best as they could until several witnessed the Aurix attempt at protecting one of the dead Quirlax who had gotten "caught in the crossfire" between the Aurix hunting pack and a brash young Grendon male that had been feeding off of it. With this strange event, the Quirlax began a time of prosperity, during which they tried to stay near Aurix batteries, to hopefully help in the prevention of the Grendon from feeding off of them, because the Aurix are known predators of the Grendon.

Selective Breeding Through Predation

This age of prosperity changed forever the day that the Aurix attacked the Quirlax for the first time. Now finding themselves prey to their former protectors, they have begun to go through unnatural selection from the Aurix weeding out certain types of Quirlax more than others.

Potent Genes

The Quirlax is a versatile species, and has already diversified itself into several nearby biomes on Vuunega, making them, quite possibly, the most diverse order of offshoots in existence. Offshoots of the Quirlax include the Qira, Quelia, Quirlunth and the neogenetic hybrid, the Qurix.