Saurians

**Saurians** are a species of humanoid beings that share traits with dinosaurs, having evolved from dinosaurs alongside human ancestor species going all the way back to the first primate ancestors.

## Prehistory

Back when dinosaurs still walked Albion millions upon millions of years ago, a small group of them lived in close proximity to a colony of early primate ancestors. Their relationship was mostly a peaceful one, with each species hunting or foraging for food independent of the other. However, when the shifting of the planet's tectonic plates broke what would later become Latveria into two parts, these two groups were essentially "stranded" with each other. Over the next few million years, experiencing the same environmental conditions, natural selection operated on these dinosaurs and primates in a similar fashion. What this meant for the dinosaurs was the gradual emergence of traits similar to humans, who would gradually evolve from successive species of primates, making them appear superficially similar to humans.

## "Modern" Saurians

Having established something akin to a "society" near the southern tip of Latveria's eastern landmass, the Saurians lived a largely hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Most of their food was acquired through hunting the local animals, with a supplementary portion of their diet coming from plants, such as berries, vegetables, etc. Because of their history as a species, they held a largely reclusive attitude, so, in the interests of avoiding detection, they gradually made the shift into a tribal-based lifestyle, with small handfuls of Saurians living together, each containing multiple actual families.

However, this lifestyle would prove to be less than self-sustaining. Over-hunting of the local wildlife caused food supplies to dwindle, leading to a sharp decline in Saurian numbers. Recognizing the danger this posed to the species' long-term survival, the Saurians collectively decided a few thousand years ago to depart their ancestral homeland, hoping to find somewhere to settle down, as individuals, that would provide them with enough food to ensure their own survival, and by extension, the collective survival of the species. A small number of Saurians elected to remain behind, no longer in danger due to not enough food for too many individuals.

## Biology

Saurians are superficially similar to humans. They are bipedal creatures, possessing two legs with clawed feet, two arms with clawed hands, a torso, a head, and a tail. Their bodies are covered largely in scales of varying colors, generally warm colors like green, brown, and red, with all of the legs and tail being covered and the arms being covered up to the shoulders. Their hair, which is the same color as their scales, is thick and keratinous, lending to it a sort of glossy sheen.

They do not have human reproductive organs, instead possessing cloacas in both male and female members of the species. Female Saurians are capable of producing one offspring approximately every thousand years, once they reach sexual maturity at approximately twenty thousand years of age.

Reproduction between Saurians and humans is possible, but depending on the circumstances, it can be anywhere from somewhat unlikely to extremely unlikely. With a male human and female Saurian, the chances of successful fertilization and conception are at their lowest—as Saurians lay eggs instead of giving live birth, there is the issue of the presence of a placenta to consider, which must engage with the eggshell in order for the embryo to develop properly. In the event that conception is successful, however, embryonic and fetal development proceeds relatively normally, with oxygen exchange through the eggshell allowing the fetus to "breathe" through its umbilical cord and placenta. Saurian half-breeds born in this way will be small upon hatching, due to the necessity of the egg, and will possess cloacas.

However, with a male Saurian and female human, reproduction is far more simple. Since the female handles all biological functions necessary for gestation and birth once conception has taken place, the fetus can develop and be born just as a human fetus would, albeit with the biological differences resulting from the introduction of Saurian DNA. Saurian half-breeds born in this way will possess human genitalia.