Claw Walkers

The claw walkers, the chosen mount of the daerlman, and now has become the most common animal for transportation in the entire continent. They are tall creatures with long forelimbs that end in sharp claws that allow it to protect itself from dangerous predators. Its has a long face, and follows its herds with long strides across the savannah, being incredibly fast creatures despite their size at top speeds. They look quite similar to the famous long necks, but have thick brown hair covering its body, with darker manes from the top of their skulls reaching down their necks.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The claw walker is a quadrupedal creature with long limbs holding its large body up, each limb ending with long sharp claws that it can retract into its body for easy movement. They are incredibly muscular, with wide backs that allow people to travel upon them. Their faces are long but round in a cone form, with flat molar teeth within it, and a layer of fur on the skin of it that has varying shades of brown and patterns on it.

Genetics and Reproduction

Mating is a dangerous predicament for the claw walkers, both for males and females. As they have a harem structure, flocks tends to be controlled by one, or rarely two, dominant males that has children with the rest of the flock. It is especially during mating seasons that the male impregnates the females, but is also when other males try to compete for the herd and taking the control away from the dominant male.
However, there are exceptions to this rule, as there have been cases of subordinate males going with herds and serve the dominant male, usually in return allowing them to have one or two females for themselves, protecting the herd from predators and keeping them all stable. When conflict does arise between males, then they first make intimidating displays such as loud noises and slamming their forelimbs into the ground. If, and this is very rare, this does not work then the two males fight by hitting each other with their forelimbs and scratching and tearing with their claws. These fights can be fatal, hence why they are so rare.
Once mating is completed, which is when a male mounts a female, the female is pregnant for about one year. Whereafter the child is born, usually landing hard into the ground because of the mother's height from the ground, and raised communally in the herd, both females and males reach maturity at the same time at about four years where they are then expelled from the herd to find their own places in the world.

Growth Rate & Stages

Babies are born very vulnerable and small but grow very quickly from drinking their mother's milk, and then later moving on to eating plants that it eats by imitating the other herd members, slowly developing its claws as well. Once they fully mature and reach their adult status, that is when they are sent away. However, females only grow two or so more years, but a male may grow up to four more years, becoming much larger than the female

Ecology and Habitats

The claw walkers used to call the great savannah their home, as it was their natural habitat. But since the popularization of using the creature for various purposes, they can be found all over the continent as many have bought and brought whole herds with them to their homes. This has actually helped them grow greatly, as the fertile plains of other places helps the creature eat a lot of food and grow to even immenser sizes than those in the savannah.

Dietary Needs and Habits

As one would assume from such a calm and peaceful appearance, the claw walker is a herbivorous creature that uses its long neck to reach high into the trees to eat. They can also use their claws to dig under the ground in search for food during the dry seasons, allowing them to reach herbs and other plants that are right below the surface. Since spreading to other lands, they have also become grazers, happily eating as much grass as their stomachs can fit.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Their eyesight is relatively poor, having a wide arc to see but not great at seeing things from long distance, as most things become a blur of colors and shapes for it. They make up for this in their incredible sense of smell that allows them to smell plants from long distances during the dry seasons, and their sense of hearing that allows them to hear any predator that tries to approach them.

Lifespan

30 years

Average Height

2.4 meters male, 2.1 meters female

Average Weight

1700 kg male, 1000 kg female