Temperate freeple

*Not to be confused with the **Mario character of the same name** or **frogs that are known as toads**.*

The **temperate freeple** (*Neoamphisapien primoribipeda*), also known as the **toad** (named after the fictional Nintendo character) and simply as the **freeple**, is a species of 4 foot (1.2 meter) tall frog-like amphibian, most closely related to the *Triadobatrachus*, that originally did not exist, but has since been created by SciiFii. The freeple as a species enjoy the gift of advanced from the ancestors, the frixels. The frixels’ tool use, compared with the closely related tree frixel (*Amphisapien arbolidae*), has expanded into development of technology, art and culture. Freeple communication is auditory, but not necessarily considered vocal. All speech occurs within the gular sac, and seems to be coded like an advanced form of morse code, the pitch and space between croaks determining the phonemes. The jaw is not involved in vocalization, so all freeple would seem strangely tight-lipped to a human observer. They would similarly appear stoically impassive, emotions being conveyed through stance, posture, and minute eyeball movement, rather than facial expression, freeple lacking the needed facial muscles. Freeple reproduction involves the female laying three to four eggs within a private basin, where they are kept until they hatch. Upon doing so, the tadpoles are brought to a communal pool, where they swim and compete with the rest of the community’s tadpoles. Before entering the pool, tadpoles are affixed with a family-specific adornment, usually a tail piercing. As with other amphibians, tadpoles are highly competitive and sometimes cannibalistic. When there are cannibalistic tadpoles, only those tadpoles strong enough to survive this infancy and climb out of the pool themselves are recognized as individuals and returned to their families based on the previously attached jewelry. Reproduction/survival based wagers are common. Hallmarks of freeple culture outside of cities and suburban areas can include ritualized events combining poetry and physical combat, intense debate spectacles, and a proclivity towards psychotropic fungi. The freeple’s respiratory system, slightly thicker than those of other amphibians, and less permeable skin make light and moderate smoke far less dangerous in a way that our hearty mammalian lungs endure relatively easily, although freeples can adapt to deal with heavy smoke. Because of this, freeple cannot easily smelt ore, create heat for their homes, or the myriad chemical transformations we rely on in our history. Yet, despite these limitations, the freeple thrive. They derive heat from composting vegetation, and masterfully work wood with techniques beyond human knowledge. Farming and breeding of flora and fauna have let to extremely specialized livestock, living tools and means of production. Freeple are capable of growing a bush of shovels, or breeding a pet that produces gloves. Freeple villages far into the wildernesses across the world are often suspended high in the canopies of forests, above potential predators. Freeple retain their innate affinity for life in the trees. Though not as agile as their frixel relatives, their movement can favorably be compared to the movement of orangutans, allowing for both brachiation and occasional quadrupedalism, even able to leap in great bounds over twenty feet, though this is a skill that is being gradually lost as a sedentary lifestyle becomes more prevalent in society. As with other sapient species (re)created, the freeples are able to adapt to life in the cities and suburban environments and live in peace with other sapient species. The conservation status of the temperate freeple is **Least Concern** due to successful conservation efforts, the temperate freeple's wide range and its tolerance to many of the human activities, including being able to work and live with other sapient species.