Moørkutlot

Disclaimer: The Moørkutlot is a fictional tetrapod from Keenan Taylor's Tales of Kaimere

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Earth Ancestor: Watcheeriidae sp.

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Heterothermia

Order: Xenosimia

Family: Xenocaniformes (superfamily)

Genus: Xenospiritus

Species: X. hemacaementum

### Description

The Moørkutlot is the apex predator of Kaishel, it is characterized by it's large size at 6-8 ft long, 5-6 ft tall, and 600-1100 lbs, and defined non hoof digits and claws. Being Xenosimian Heterotherms, they have a coating of non Newtonian slime and venom, a unique metabolism based on food availability, and a protractable tongue. Moørkutlot are completely blind, only retaining a small vestigial eye socket, and as a result they rely almost entirely on sound to track prey. Moørkutlot like whales and bats are able to echolocate, even evolving a melon convergent with that of carnivorous whales and dolphins, covering this melon are a pair of 'ear shields', which and be open and closed at will, used as a satellite for sound when open, and protection of the sensitive melon when closed. Despite their size, Moørkutlot are somewhat arboreal, using their non hoof digits not for prey restraint or kills, but instead for latching onto trees for resting, torpor, or ambush. Moørkutlot can live for millennia due to their heterothermic metabolism, spending most of their lives in stasis, only waking at signs of prey or other external stimuli. Moørkutlot only stay within the inner forests of Kaishel as being a heterotherm their slimy skin is extremely sensitive to salt, and so do not venture to the shore or Desert of Frost. Moørkutlot, like all heterotherms are hermaphroditic, so all produce offspring when mating commences or they have the energy to produce offspring.

### Phylogeny

Moørkutlot and other related species all belong to a group of tetrapods known as heterotherms, an ancient clade of animals unique to Kaimere. Moørkutlot are apart of a clade of heterotherms known as xenosimians, and are most closely related to the more derived Snap Hound.

### Ontogeny

Moørkutlot are hatched from eggs only when sound is detected, which can be between 1 month to several years before hatching and start their lives disproportionate lips, feet. and torsos, which become more contained in adulthood. Moørkutlot ontogeny and lifespans are like their metabolism based around caloric intake, with individuals who are well fed growing into adults within 1 to 2 years and dying at around 50, with more starved individuals taking multiple decades to reach sexual maturity and can live for multiple centuries and in extreme cases over a millennia.

### Human Relations

Moørkutlot can and will hunt anything they can hear, including humans, because of this the indigenous peoples of Kaishel, the Tlaton, reside on the shores of Kaishel and coat their clothing with salt to deter the beasts. As of relatively recently (Pleistocene) Moørkutlot have become increasingly unpredictable due to the introduction of caribou in Kaishel, which due not adapting to be silent, have become a bounty for Moørkutlot, making ventures into the silent forest less reliable due to less Moørkutlot in stasis.

The First Children, when they were in power, took great interest in the Moørkutlot and used its body plan in many of their homunculi, with some of said homunculi even being on earth, such as Grimhlaya. The First Children took such interest in these beasts that some individuals have been discovered in stasis in First Children designed sarcophagi.

### Redesigns

The Moørkutlot has undergone 2 redesigns.