Lejipolma (Non. Lit. 'Three Walks')
Public sentientologic record
Property of the Royal Atheneum of Hövnís, Eörpe
The B. Pilosidae is an unusually large and varied family of mammals on Biegjun, comprised of ~17 species of xenarthan and saurin herbivores split across three genuses. Of these, the gigantic lejipolma is the most well-known.
Etymology & Definition
The origin and meaning of the name are unclear but could be a composite word formed from the roots ‘lehj’ (n. ‘three’) and ‘pollmo’ (v. ‘to walk/travel’). Based on this, a possible translation would be ‘Three Walks’.History
Origin
The lejipolma is a young species thought to have finished evolving into its current form as recent as 3500 years ago. In comparison, the other species sharing the same genus – Momogimukis and Kiiluhaoyl – are thought to have come about circa 15-23 thousand years ago.Habitat & Population
They are a common sight within the vast grenn forests found across both the temperate and subarctic bands. Their population is partially managed by the seasonal emergence of the tjaetsiimaj, and these seem to be their only natural predators. Only unusually daring tikkunni have been observed to use the lejipolma’s aggressiveness against them to lure a female away from their vulnerable, recently born offspring.Galactic Distribution
The lejipolma is found exclusively on the planet Biegjun. As a part of the Suszukoro Reserve Zone policies it’s illegal to export them from their homeworld, alive or dead.Taxological Data
Many Lejipolma
Biological Data
Walking
Forest
The Rosepetal
Biology
by Nimin N.
Morphology
Lejipolma are quadrupedal xenarthans with tauric peculiarity. They have a small head, a long neck, a muscular torso, a heavy main body, and a thick tail.Head
The head is small in proportion to the rest of its body, and triangular on both the lateral and dorsal plane. The jaw makes up most of the skull and has a broad and long beak-like extension. Both males and females sport antlers on top of the skull, but only during the autumn, winter, and the beginning of spring.Neck
The neck is long and muscular, narrowing down toward the head. It’s highly flexible and dexterous. A pair of back- and downward facing orifice is located at the base of the neck, one on each side close to where it connects to the torso’s shoulders.Torso
A tauric body part located between the neck and the main body. It’s always as wide as the main body but only at most half as thick. It features a pair of arm-like limbs at the top. Each limb has an elbow and wrist joint with full capacity for pronation, and end in a pair of stubbly fingers with long, scythe-like claws.Body
Circa 70% of the species’ weight is attributed to the squat, broad main body and the four thick legs supporting it. Each leg ends in a broad, heavy hoof.Tail
The tail is thick and has limited mobility. Its purpose is most likely to preserve equilibrium by countering the extra off-center weight from the torso.Anatomy & Physiology
Lejipolma is the largest extant species on Biegjun with fully grown adults measuring 435-460cm in height and weighting 5500-5700kg.
From the moment they’re born and helped up on their feet by their mother, lejipolma will live their entire lives standing up. Due to their size and weight, a lying position is very likely to lead to the internal organs of the main body becoming squished and crushed, eventually leading to life-threatening conditions they can’t recover from. As well, their physiology makes standing up from a lying position more difficult the older and heavier they become, and adults may very well be unable to rise again even after an accidental fall.
Skeleton
Lejipolma features an uncommon tauric peculiarity in the form of a duplication of the ribcage and shoulder girdle. The upper ribcage encases the secondary and tertiary heart, and the reticulorumen part of its alimentary canal, while the lower ribcage encases the primary heart, the omasum and abomasum parts of its alimentary canal, along with the rest of the internal organs and intestines. The main body’s spine rests at a 35-40° angle due to the front legs being longer than the hind ones. This likely serves a similar purpose as the tail, as well further aiding in lessening the strain on the heaviest section on the body by letting it rest closer to the ground. Like many larger animals on Biegjun, the lejipolma has adapted to the above average gravity by incorporating an iron-like element in its bone mineral. This significantly strengthens the skeletal structure but also result in thicker bone walls and an overall increase in weight.Skin & Fur
Their hide is a matte purplish pink in color. Except for a part of the head and torso, the lejipolma are covered by a long, heavy fur in mid- to dark green tones. It’s shed seasonally, thinning out during the warmer months, and growing thicker again when the temperature drops.Digestive System
Lejipolma are ruminating herbivores, which means they acquire nutrients from plant-based food by fermenting it in a specialized stomach prior to digestion. The reticulorumen (A collective name for the two stomach chambers responsible for foregut fermentation: the rumen and reticulum) function as a large fermenting vat, allowing the animal to break down complex carbohydrates. The foregut fermentation is done via a combination of microbial actions, creating heat and gas as a byproduct. The fermenting ingesta – more commonly called cud – can be regurgitated several times, the repeated chewing helps to break it down into smaller particles for increased nutrient absorption.Circulatory System
To ensure the blood can easily travel all the way up to the head and back, the lejipolma have an additional set of smaller hearts located in the torso. The secondary and tertiary hearts rest close to the reticulorumen to take advantage of the heat produced from its fermentation processes. Warmed, oxygenized blood is distributed to the torso, upper limbs, neck, and head by the secondary heart. Warmed, deoxygenized blood is sent back down to the main body by the tertiary heart.Respiratory System
Lejipolma have two cartilaginous tubes closely resembling tracheas connecting the roof of the rumen with the orifices located at the base of the neck. It lets the lejipolma belch out gas created during the fermentation process without disrupting normal breathing, ingestion, and regurgitation. The belching is a reflexive action controlled by the autonomic nervous system.Sensory Capabilities
Lacking both aural and nasal orifices, lejipolma only have their hearing and sense of touch to rely on. Lejipolma have proven highly proficient in navigating their heavily forested territories and detecting nearby life even under conditions that’d normally disfavor reliance of auditory cues. This has led to speculation of being able to detect magnetospheres, which could explain their aversion to strong electric fields. The exact mechanism behind this ‘extra sense’ is still unknown.Dietary Needs & Habits
The sprouts, young leaves, fruits, and seeds of the grenn tree is the primary source of food lejipolma. Their height and flexible necks give them easy access to reach the entire tree.Genetics
Life Cycle
While lejipolma likely could reach an age of 16-18 years they very rarely do. Most succumb either to a tjaetsiimaj swarm, or to wounds sustained in a fight with another lejipolma, long before reaching that age.Reproduction
Rut occurs during both autumn seasons and consists of four phases. Right before the rut begins both sexes see a number of physiological changes, including the growth of antlers and heightened aggression in both sexes.Phase 1
The first phase of the rut consists of all males wandering out into the nearby plains and can walk for several kilometers to congregate in seeming pre-determined areas. Intimidation through pushing, screeching, and mock-fighting is used to establish a fragile hierarchy among the gathered males, usually with a few older and experienced males at the top.Phase 2
In the second phase, any sexually mature female that doesn’t already have a calf to care for, will leave their territories and also wander out into the plains. As they come closer to the males’ gathering spot, they’ll become increasingly aggressive and its not uncommon for older females to viciously chase away any younger females they sense nearby. The females’ arrival triggers a heightening in activity, with dominant males chasing away competition and beginning to fight for real among each other for the right to breed with the arriving females. Claws, beaks, and antlers all become dangerous weaponry and the fights that break out can be very violent and even lead severe enough wounds that a male later on succumb to them.Phase 3
The third phase is marked by the 6 years of age and older females entering estrus, making them available for breeding. Dominant males have to divide their time between defending the area from other males and breeding with as many females as they can. Once a female has been bred with, they’ll leave and head back to their own territory. There’s typically a pause between the third and fourth phase, where the dominant and too wounded tend to end up wander off due to exhaustion.Phase 4
The fourth phase begins when the females between the age of 3-5 enters estrus, sparking another round of violent activity as the remaining males fight for the right to breed. This is usually a lot more chaotic than the first breeding round and can include even females attacking both other females and males making advances. Bred females and exhausted/wounded males will leave, until the area has been emptied out, marking the end of the rut. A few days later the physiological changes will begin to revert, and they’ll drop their antlers.Growth Rate & Stages
Female lejipolma have a gestation period of 80-90 days, giving birth to usually a single calf in the late spring season. Twinning is possible if food is plentiful. Calves stay with their mother until around half a year before they’re to reach sexual maturity, around the age of two, at which point they’ll be angrily chased out of their mother’s territory and left to survive on their own.Behavior
Outside of the mating seasons and caring for offspring, lejipolma are largely solitary animals occupying individual territories within their grenn forest habitats. While male territories can overlap those of several females and vice versa, they won’t tolerate members of their own sex trespassing. They are also known to exhibit aggressive behavior toward other large animals, even herbivores, with exception for the muursamul. There’s continuous competition for the territories that offer plentifullest food.
Any perceived intruders will often first be intimidated to leave with loud screeches, chases, loud snapping sounds produced by clapping their beaks, and ground stomping. Old individuals, and females with young, are just as likely to attack right away, using their breaks and claws to gore the perceived enemy and front hooves to trample.
Young lejipolma sometime group up in small, wandering herds before they’ve found an unoccupied space to claim. At this point, the herd usually end up dissolving shortly after as its members become entrenched in fighting for ownership over the new territory, that’ll last until all but one have been chased off or killed. It sometimes happens that a herd work together to take over an older lejipolma’s territory, but inevitably begin infighting shortly after if they succeed.
Communication
Lejipolma are very noisy, letting out a continuous crowing that doesn’t appear to be used for communication. It also doesn’t have a lot of nuance and variance in terms of pitch and volume. Instead, mothers and their calves appear to primarily interact with each other through body language consisting of light pushes, affectionate rubs of the neck, and small head bops.It was theorized lejipolma orient themselves via echolocation, and the crowing was part of this, but this doesn’t seem to be the case. The true purpose of the constant crowing is still unknown.During the mating season, or while intimidating/attacking, most of the crowing is switched with high-pitched screeches that can be heard from several kilometers away.
Oooo, I love them, they are so weird. It's really sad that if they fall over they won't be able to get up when they're older. :(