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Description

scientific name: baropod xylefsis
common name: brown beetle-cow, beetle-cow
average weight: 3,500-3,800 lbs
average height: ~8 ft

When we first made landfall on the red planet of Endos, one of the very first creatures we encountered was one of great height and weight. While this beast looks nothing like anything back on Earth, its strange appearance is actually relatively tame. By this, I mean that the animal, while certainly alien in nature, is actually quite unremarkable in terms of its body-plan, and therefore sets a decent standard of what Endonese alien life can look like. This creature we call the Baropod Xylefsis.

The Baropod Xylefsis (lumbering heavy-foot) is a member of the baropod genus. The genus itself is a representative of the Pachypodidae family, a family that consists of some of the largest herbivores outside of the mighty Titanobrachids. Pachypodes often fill the niches of grazers or low-browsers. The Baropod Xylefsis inhabits the inner steppe-plains of the west coast of Concordia, where they are treated to a vast wealth of lampaphytes, which fuel their massive weights.

The B. Xylefsis is a very social creature, living in herd-oriented groups numbering anywhere from 10 to 30 members. The herd is lead by a single thatriarch, often the strongest of the herd.

Being a generalist grazer, it has a few options when it comes to eating. Its menu consists of the plentiful lampaphytes blanketing the steppe, as well as large mushroom-shaped stegiphytes (roof plant) and bush-like lampaphytes, called thamnophytes (bush plant). When grazing and feeding, B. Xylefsis will utilize its long muscular trunk to rip up lampaphytes, stegiphytes and thamnophytes. Their trunk is tipped with a small but powerful beak, which is capable of ripping up vegetation with ease. They will then proceed to shove the contents into their mouth, where rasping teeth-like grooves will masticate and process the food. Once mastication has completed, the contents of the leaves and sliced bulbs are processed in their foregut, which resides in their thorax. Here, a similar mechanism of rasping and grinding protrusions of teeth-like material will grind up the tough contents before passing it into the main gut in the abdomen.

Common predators of the Baropod Xylefsis include the local stiletocarpids, like the Prionodactyl Dolofonikos, which are more of an annoyance than they are an actual threat, as well as the Theronychus Tyrannos, a large ruthless hypercarnivore and the apex predator of the Concordian west coast. In response to this threat, the B. Xylefsis has evolved a few key defenses, those namely being the muscular and dense trunk, which they will often use as a type of club to beat things with, as well as their great size, which offers some deterrence, in addition with the fatty-pads lining the back of their abdomen, which form a thick protective barrier. However, they are vulnerable from their underside, and the two most common causes of death due to predation include either their head and “neck” being butchered and torn apart or being tipped onto their side or back and then having their abdomen bored into. Because a Baropod Xylefsis is more prone to death by tipping and disembowelment, the Theronychus Tyrannos has evolved a strong growth of bone which essentially act as a battering ram. They will chase down the individual they seek out, and will use their toughened wrists to tip the herbivore onto its side, then will proceed to use their long, sharp claws to tear away at the soft and vulnerable underbelly.

The B. Xylefisis reproduces through seeds, like most other stithopods, and two who wish to mate will decide who fertilizes who through a show of intimidation, swaying their trunks in the air, their beak wide open, their nostrils emitting deep stereo growls. Whoever backs off first is the one to become fertilized.

Description

scientific name: baropod xylefsis
common name: brown beetle-cow, beetle-cow
average weight: 3,500-3,800 lbs
average height: ~8 ft

When we first made landfall on the red planet of Endos, one of the very first creatures we encountered was one of great height and weight. While this beast looks nothing like anything back on Earth, its strange appearance is actually relatively tame. By this, I mean that the animal, while certainly alien in nature, is actually quite unremarkable in terms of its body-plan, and therefore sets a decent standard of what Endonese alien life can look like. This creature we call the Baropod Xylefsis.

The Baropod Xylefsis (lumbering heavy-foot) is a member of the baropod genus. The genus itself is a representative of the Pachypodidae family, a family that consists of some of the largest herbivores outside of the mighty Titanobrachids. Pachypodes often fill the niches of grazers or low-browsers. The Baropod Xylefsis inhabits the inner steppe-plains of the west coast of Concordia, where they are treated to a vast wealth of lampaphytes, which fuel their massive weights.

The B. Xylefsis is a very social creature, living in herd-oriented groups numbering anywhere from 10 to 30 members. The herd is lead by a single thatriarch, often the strongest of the herd.

Being a generalist grazer, it has a few options when it comes to eating. Its menu consists of the plentiful lampaphytes blanketing the steppe, as well as large mushroom-shaped stegiphytes (roof plant) and bush-like lampaphytes, called thamnophytes (bush plant). When grazing and feeding, B. Xylefsis will utilize its long muscular trunk to rip up lampaphytes, stegiphytes and thamnophytes. Their trunk is tipped with a small but powerful beak, which is capable of ripping up vegetation with ease. They will then proceed to shove the contents into their mouth, where rasping teeth-like grooves will masticate and process the food. Once mastication has completed, the contents of the leaves and sliced bulbs are processed in their foregut, which resides in their thorax. Here, a similar mechanism of rasping and grinding protrusions of teeth-like material will grind up the tough contents before passing it into the main gut in the abdomen.

Common predators of the Baropod Xylefsis include the local stiletocarpids, like the Prionodactyl Dolofonikos, which are more of an annoyance than they are an actual threat, as well as the Theronychus Tyrannos, a large ruthless hypercarnivore and the apex predator of the Concordian west coast. In response to this threat, the B. Xylefsis has evolved a few key defenses, those namely being the muscular and dense trunk, which they will often use as a type of club to beat things with, as well as their great size, which offers some deterrence, in addition with the fatty-pads lining the back of their abdomen, which form a thick protective barrier. However, they are vulnerable from their underside, and the two most common causes of death due to predation include either their head and “neck” being butchered and torn apart or being tipped onto their side or back and then having their abdomen bored into. Because a Baropod Xylefsis is more prone to death by tipping and disembowelment, the Theronychus Tyrannos has evolved a strong growth of bone which essentially act as a battering ram. They will chase down the individual they seek out, and will use their toughened wrists to tip the herbivore onto its side, then will proceed to use their long, sharp claws to tear away at the soft and vulnerable underbelly.

The B. Xylefisis reproduces through seeds, like most other stithopods, and two who wish to mate will decide who fertilizes who through a show of intimidation, swaying their trunks in the air, their beak wide open, their nostrils emitting deep stereo growls. Whoever backs off first is the one to become fertilized.