Pandoran Fauna

Pandoran Fauna the animal world of Pandora.
Pandora's amazing but dangerous inhabitants continue to amaze scientists and delight humans. For example, the slinger is an incredible animal that can literally lose its mind chasing its prey, the medusa, a giant creature that floats under the clouds like a balloon, and the thanator, a dangerous land predator.
The bones of Pandoran animals are a composite that contains natural carbon fiber. Many fauna have adapted to life in a dense atmosphere with the help of a highly efficient respiratory system, which functions as a forced engine; The air enters through one hole and leaves through another.
Like Earth, Pandora is home to a wide variety of species, from single-celled organisms to the intelligent Na'vi. One researcher noted that some of Pandora's animals, reminiscent of extinct land species, serve as a "window into our biological past." We are surprised by both the familiar features: the existence of herds, the presence of predators and herbivores, the structure of the food chain, and the strange ones: the tsaheylu between animals and the Na'vi, the composite skeletons and the widespread luminescence. Since almost all predators have disappeared from the face of the Earth, we are fascinated by deadly claws, chitinous shells, sharp teeth and poisonous stings.
Scientists who were lucky enough to go to Pandora consider the highlight of their careers to be able to observe this fauna with their own eyes, and for all other humans, the idea of ​​the existence of such animals inspires hope for the future.
== Common Features ==
With all the diversity of the animal world of Pandora, it is possible to identify common features in the structure of many species of creatures.
=== Giantism ===
Pandora has low gravity, so the upper threshold for the size of terrestrial animals is higher than on Earth, and even the most gigantic creatures retain agility and mobility despite their more than respectable dimensions. The hammerhead titanothere can very quickly turn around and flee from the predator it sees, and the six-ton ​​thanator is capable of running fast and jumping high.
However, gigantism is not a necessary characteristic of the Pandoran fauna. A large number of relatively low species are present on the planet, such as viperwolves, prolemuris and tapirus.
=== Six Limbs ===
Most land animals have six legs, such as the hexapede. Two pairs of front legs are located along the chest and one pair behind, supporting the pelvis. The hexapede can be explained by Pandora's greater speed of movement and air density. Animals resist the wind when they walk or run by clinging to a support with an extra pair of legs.
Rare exceptions to the general structural scheme are associated with exceptional adaptation to flight (banshees) or with an arboreal lifestyle (prolemuris). It can also be assumed that the ancestors of the Na'vi lost their third pair of limbs in the second way.
=== Chitin Armor ===
Most of Pandora's large creatures are covered in chitinous armor that protects their bodies from damage. In especially large animals, such as the titanothere, this armor is so strong that it can withstand a bullet from a GAU-90.
=== Four Claws ===
Animals, including flying and hoofed species, have four claws on their limbs.
=== Two Pairs of Eyes ===
Most Pandora animals have four eyes: the main pair is primarily the organ of vision and the second, smaller pair captures infrared radiation.
=== Respiratory system ===
Pandora animals do not have nostrils in the usual earthly sense: they are replaced by special spiracles located in the chest area and providing the shortest access of oxygen to the lungs.
At least in some species, including the banshee, the entry of air into the lungs is controlled by a special cartilaginous valve, and the lung functions like a bellows: air enters the front and leaves the lungs behind, through gills. openings in the back of the sternum, so that in flight, banshees breathe not by inhaling and exhaling, but by continuous inhalation, like birds on Earth. On land, thanks to the valve mentioned above, the animal can switch to the breathing method of land animals: inhale-exhale.
Since the head is not directly involved in breathing, a special muscular tube leading from the lungs is used to supply air to the vocal cords: by pumping air into it, animals can produce quite loud sounds.
=== Queue ===
On the head of all known Pandora vertebrates they have “Kuru”, two cartilaginous processes that begin at the temples and end in a small extension with nerve endings. Like the Na'vi braid, these processes contain nerve fibers and allow animals to bond with each other. In particular, a direhorse herd is described as moving more synchronously if the animals within it exchange neural signals more actively using processes.
The duration of the processes can vary greatly, which probably affects the sociality of a particular animal; for example, in Sturmbeests and Stingbats, the processes are quite short (these species probably depend on vocal, visual and olfactory signals to interact with their relatives), while in banshees and direhorses they extend beyond the neck.
Although the vast majority of animals have two neural tails, there are two known exceptions: the prolemurs and the Na'vi, only have a single neural tail.
=== Carbon Fiber ===
The bones in these animals are reinforced with carbon fiber, which strengthens their skeletons and reduces the likelihood of fractures.
=== Vertebrates ===
==== Terrestrial creatures ====
Name 	Image	Description
Austrapede 	 	A flightless Pandoran bird that looks like a cross between an ostrich and a pink flamingo.
Direhorse 	 	Similar to horses, with very long necks and small heads. They are approximately the size of an elephant.
Dodiapede 	 	An omnivorous predatory bird-like creature that roams of packs of four to six. It tends to preys on small animals.
Great Austrapede 	 	A relative of the Austrapede and a bird-like Pandoran creature.
Hexapede 	 	Some of the most beautiful and fragile creatures on Pandora.
Hammerhead Titanothere	 	A large Pandorian herbivore, approximately eleven meters (36 ft) long, which is almost twice the size of a land elephant.
Kentrocapra 	 	Herbivorous creatures living in mountainous regions of Pandora.
Saber Hog 	 	Creatures with brown skin and orange chitinous armor covering their backside. They have notably massive lower canines, which earn them their name.
Slinger 	 	It is one of the strangest and most dangerous creatures discovered so far on Pandora.
Steervane 	thumb	Similar to a cross between a hexapede and a sturmbeest, with the latter's distinctive head-shape, but a slimmer body and two protruding yellow crests branching off of the sides of its head.
Sturmbeast 	 	A large buffalo-like herbivore.
Tapirus 	 	Is a docile, herbivorous tapir-like creature
Thanator 	 	A dangerous predator native to the forests of Pandora.
Viperwolf 	 	A carnivore similar to a six-legged hyena or wolf
=== Flying creatures ===
Name 	Image	Description
Mountain Banshee 	 	They are large aerial predators and nest in numerous colonies in predominantly mountainous areas. Used by the Na'vi as a mount.
Fan Lizard 	 	Small nocturnal creatures, flies using an unrolling bioluminescent membrane.
Forest Banshee 	 	A small species of banshee, it nests in small groups. It is the favorite prey of the Great Leonopteryx.
Great Leonopteryx	 	Pandora's largest flying predator, kept alone or in pairs. Sacred animal in Na'vi mythology.
Stingbat 	 	A small predator that lives in packs similar to a bat. Characterized by an extremely low level of intelligence.
Tetrapteron 	 	Medium-sized semi-aquatic animal that lives in numerous flocks.
=== Aquatic creatures ===
Name 	Image	Description
Akula 	 	A ferocious and relatively little-known aquatic predator related to the nalutsa.
Dinicthoid 	 	Carnivorous fish that lives in rivers and lives in numerous schools.
Ilu 	 	A relatively harmless aquatic animal that feeds mainly on fish. The Na'vi of the ocean ride on them.
Nalutsa 	 	A formidable predator that lives mainly in the shelf zone of the Pandora oceans.
Pincer Fish	 	Sea fish with unusual growths on its head that look like horns.
Skimwing 	 	A flying marine predator similar to a Terran flying fish. Used by Metkayina as a war mount.
Tulkun 	 	A large, intelligent marine species native to the oceans. The Metkayina clan views them as brothers.
Turtapede 	 	An amphibian animal that resembles a cross between a turtle and a starfish.
=== Invertebrate creatures ===
Name 	Image	Description
Arachnoid 	 	A large scorpion-like insect with a poisonous sting that lives mainly in forests. The Na'vi use arachnoid venom during Uniltaron.
Cerebellis Scapularis	 	A small aquatic arthropod that lives in symbiosis with the sagittaria.
Hellfire Wasp 	 	A large flying insect with a double sting that gathers in large swarms.
Kinglor 	 	A species of large moth prized by the RDA for its incredibly durable silk.
Mantis 	N/A 	A large insect that lives in symbiosis with the mantis orchid.
Reef Tick 	 	
Shimmyfly 	 	A butterfly-like insect with large, beautiful bioluminescent wings.
Teylu 	 	They resemble centipedes, while the soft and nutritious teylu are one of the Na'vi's main food sources.
=== Other invertebrate ===
Name 	Image	Description
Anemonoid 	 	Colonial aquatic animal, similar in lifestyle to terrestrial polyps.
Glow Worm 	 	A special type of worm whose body contains a psychotropic alkaloid; used during Uniltron.
Gill Mantle	 	A gelatinous marine animal that has entered into a symbiotic relationship with the Na'vi and provides them with breathing underwater.
Medusa 	 	A huge aerial animal with long hunting tentacles, which lives in the Hallelujah Mountains area.
Sagittaria 	 	A squid-like creature that lives in fresh water and shoots down insects with precisely aimed jets of water.
=== Microorganisms ===
Name 	Image	Description
Manducus Taurus 	 	Generalized microneuroparasite
Navileria Orberum 	 	Generalized microneuroparasite
Pandorica Simbiotii 	 	Generalized microneuroparasite
Velocivirus 	 	A virus of unknown origin that entered Pandora, probably via RDA spaceships.
Water Cleaning Colony	 	A colonial species of bacteria that lives in Pandora's waters and destroys harmful chemicals.
=== Creatures mentioned ===
Mentioned in the original 1995 script, but were not included in the Avatar franchise.
Name 	Image	Description
Manticore 	 	A predatory beast, analogous to a thanator, but with claw-like forelimbs, like those of a praying mantis, and a poisonous stinger.
Moonwraiths	N/A 	A type of insect whose swarms take on the appearance of a banshee in flight.
Slinth 	 	A relative of the slinger, a more agile and agile predator
Wolf Tick 	 	A titanothere parasite, about a foot long
Category:Creatures