Death Horses

The Death Horse, perhaps the most infamous creature to live within the massive savannah in the center of the continent. It is an ugly beast, it closest comparison being a monstrous version of the north horses, with more bestial heads and shorter legs. It is a terrifying predator, with thick muscle and a power jaw, able to grab onto any living creature and break bone as it does so. Once it has you in it's bite, there is no escaping, there is only a slow painful death as you feel it slowly crush your bones, hearing each bit cracking from its power.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The death horse is a quadrupedal creature, with four thin but muscular legs sprouting from a thick core. Its body is wide and tall, its thick musculature rippling with every step, with a very short tail like appendage at the end. Then there is the brutal head, its most iconic feature. It's head is huge and wide, with a burly neck to support its weight, and its skull has boney protrusions sticking out from within. Its mouth is begun with long sharp fangs, used for grabbing deep into flesh, with flatter but very much still sharp teeth in the back for chewing. Atop its mouth is a flat snout, with eyes at the to the sides of the skull.

Genetics and Reproduction

When mating season arrives, which is when the sun is hottest in the sky during the year, that is when males beginning hunting down females. During this, they must get on top of the female so she does not run away during reproduction. Once it has done so, the female now goes along with the male as it continues it journey to another female, accruing a large flock of females in the process. This comes into conflict of course when two males meet each other, where they then come into contest.
A fight between two males is quite a spectacle to see, as it is a very brutal display. First, the two males open their mouths wide and getting close to each other in a display of dominance, attempting to intimidate each other into submission. If that doesn't happen, then the battle begins. The two males stand side to side to each other, then begin slamming their heads onto each other, using their protrusions to bruise and break the opponent's bones. Due to their skull's thickness, this rarely breaks them, so then comes the most brutal part, the biting. Death horse bites are dangerous weapons, and one can see it at its full display when they fight each other, loudly cracking the opponent's bones and leaving massive wounds. The first to submit is the loser, with the winner taking the spoils and impregnating any females in the opponent's flock.
When the mating season ends is unknown, but it is believed to be about when the temperature begins cooling once more, and thus the females go their separate ways, where they then give birth after a 5 month period, usually giving birth to about 6 babies for each of the mother's mammary gland, with the occasional runt. The mother then takes care of them for two years, and then force them out for a new batch.

Growth Rate & Stages

Babies are born small but grow very quickly in their first few years of life, they are however born with no teeth which is something that grows later in life. Due to this, they are very reliant on their mother for food, milk at first and then later food that the mother vomits or brings to them. A death horse doesn't reach maturity until about 4 years of age, where their teeth become fully developed and they reach their full size.

Ecology and Habitats

The death horses are most at home within the large savanna's of the middle of the continent, for its temperature and climate is perfectly suited for their large bodies and muscular form. While they are savage beasts, a lot of the time they don't go out of their own way to hunt for their food, rather choosing to find carcasses and then forcing away whatever creature is currently feeding on it, along with just looking for nutritious plants both on and under ground.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Despite its monstrous appearance, the death horse is an omnivorous creature, eating both plants and animal flesh. It eats plants by eating nutritious roots within the ground, where it uses its reinforced snout to dig, along with other eatable herbs. Otherwise, they search for carcasses that they can eat, scavenging what they can, or even keeping an eye on another predator and then forcing it away once it complete its kill.

Additional Information

Average Intelligence

The death horse is not very smart, in fact its brain is smaller than a fist, and it can be plainly seen it how aggressive it can be to a creature it sees as hostile. Regardless of size difference, or if the other creature is far more dangerous, it will charge and attack it if it feels threatened. Thus, its a common saying that someone is as dumb as a death horse.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

While they have a wide arc for their eye sight thanks to their positioning, their eye sight is poor, especially when it comes to long ranges. It may see movement at a far distance, but it will be muddled for it and thus it would not be able to tell what it was. Their only sense that is of note is that of their sense of smell, which is able to smell carrion from long distances along with sniffing out plants and herbs that it can eat. It is theorized that their sense of smell can sense flows of magic as well, which is why its very difficult for anything to sneak up on it, regardless of wind.

Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms

There are some bird species that help clean the teeth of the death horse when it rests by digging in its mouth and eating food that has gotten stuck in its teeth. On the other side, there are certain parasites that attach to the horse on its backside, which it sometimes is able to hit off with its tail.

Lifespan

25 years

Average Height

2.1 meters male, 1.8 meters female

Average Weight

850 kg males, 650 kg female

Average Length

3.2 meters male, 2.5 meters female

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Most of a death horse body tends to be a beige color, to match with its environment, but then has some different colors on the spine of its body and its face, the most common color being a dark red. The patterns on the males face tends to be brighter and more diverse than those on the females, which is something males gain when they finish maturing.