Scientific Name: Skepluvian Dromaeosaurids
Common Name: Skepluvias (Plural) / Skepluvi (Singular)
Pronunciation: skep - ploo - vee (singular) / skep - ploo - vee - uh - s (Plural)
Sub Names: Jacks = Males, Queens = Females, Rittens = Juveniles
Group Name: Scuffle (Generally consisting of one jack and two to five queens.)
Basic Anatomy: Bipedal (meaning they walk on two legs) with three elongated toes on back feet. Long bucked rodent teeth in the front with very short square blunt teeth in a ridge along the rest of their mouth (they do not have 'canines' or 'fangs' of any sort - purely herbivorous inspired teeth). Bristly furred bodies with softly feathered joints, tail, crest. Four hefty spikes on the tail with five small blunt spikes on their rumps. Lizard-like mouths and lips with small lizardy nostrils. Four-fingered front paws with curved talons and short partially opposable thumbs. Feathery fluttery eyelids on both sexes with males having two long eyelid feathers as well. Standard adult size is an average of seven feet tall, while the pygmy size is an average of a one foot tall. Walks and runs on back legs like an ostrich, only stands on front paws when kneeling or crouching. Body/head movements similar to that of a bird, much like most
theropod dinosaurs. Bodily behaviors and socialisms more similar to that of a horse, such as in the way they stomp or throw their head or nuzzle and groom each other.
Colors/Patterns: While their base coat can be almost any color/pattern, all Skepluvias will present a form of white marking in their design themed after the natural white markings on rats and other rodent-esc creatures. The most common of these markings is hooded, the rarest of which is self (ie whiteless), though albino (fully white with red-hued eyes) and melanistic (fully black with blue-hued eyes) Skepluvias are also equally rare; albino and melanistic however are only seen on queens, and will generally only produce hooded offspring. New white markings may be added to their genetics list at any given time, and rarities may change as breedings produce new genes in varying amounts, so if you're genetics oriented keep an eye on this list for any alterations in the future!
Genetics ListHere are all the known white markings in relevance of rarity, from most common to least common. These are not actually based off of any specific natural genetics and have their own Skepluvian-based system of passing. All white markings however are loosely inspired by real rat, mouse, and rabbit patterning.
Hooded: HH (Long stripe of color along their back, as seen here.)
Variegated Hooded (Broken stripe): Hh (Long stripe of broken/spotty color along their back, as seen here.)
Bareback: BAR (Head and neck color, as seen here.)
Variegated Bareback (High white/spotted neck): Bar (As seen here.
Capped: CA (Head color.) (As seen here.)
Variegated Capped (Low white/spotted neck): Ca (As seen here.)
Berkshire: BRK (White patch on chest and all four feet, as seen here.)
Variegated Berkshire (High white): Brk (As seen here.)
Irish: IR (Small white patch on chest, as seen here.)
Variegated Irish (Low white): Ir (As seen here.)
Headspot: HED (White spot or star on forehead, as seen here.) [Can be stacked with; hooded, bareback, capped, berkshire, irish, belted, rump white, downunder, dalmatian, piebald, and roan.]
Variegated Headspot (Minimal white): Hed (As seen here.)
Blazed: BL (White wedge shaped blaze on muzzle, as seen here.) [Can be stacked with; hooded, bareback, capped, berkshire, irish, belted, rump white, downunder, dalmatian, piebald, and roan.]
Variegated Blazed (Flame/lightning/split-face): Bl (As seen here.)
Belted: BEL (White mark covering mid-section, as seen here.)
Variegated Belted (Low-white): Bel (As seen here.)
Dutch: DU (Color over face and rump only, as seen here.)
Variegated Dutch (High-white): Du (As seen here.)
Hoto: HOT (Color around eyes/feathering, as seen here.)
Variegated Hoto (High-white): Hot (As seen here.)
Rump White: RU (White covering lower half of body starting at the hips, as seen here.)
Variegated Rump White (Low-white): Ru (As seen here.)
Masked: MAS (Color over eyes in a mask pattern, as seen here.)
Variegated Masked (Smaller mask or broken/eye spot): Mas (As seen here.)
Downunder: DOW (Replicates the back pattern onto the stomach, as seen here.)
Variegated Downunder (Splotched white): Dow (As seen here.)
English Spot: ENG (Color around eyes, muzzle, and along the spine with small spotting along the back, as seen here.)
Variegated English Spot (High-white): Eng (As seen here.)
Dalmatian: DA (Spots of color along the back and sides, as seen here.)
Variegated Dalmation (High white): Da (As seen here.)
Piebald: PIE (Splotched spotting over entire body, as seen here.)
Variegated Piebald (Low-white): Pie (As seen here.)
Roan: ROA (Faded white ticking overtop base coat color with higher white along spine & belly, as seen here.) [Can be stacked with all other markings.]
Variegated Roan (Minimal white/white ticking): Roa (As seen here.)
Husky: HU (High white undermarks with a blaze and brows, as seen here.)
Variegated Husky (Low white): Hu (As see here.)
Harlequin: HAR (No Premade Marking Layer - White on one half of body, colored on other half, perfectly split, as seen here.)
Variegated Harlequin (Splotchy split-line - No Premade Marking Layer): Har (As seen here.)
Self: SE (Also called a whiteless. Total lack of white patterning.)
Variegated Self (Also appears whiteless, but is a gene bomb - has the chance of throwing any sort of white pattern or mix thereof): Se
Albino (Queens only - solid white coat, eyes must be a warm color hue with lighter non-black pupils or pupiless): Alb
Melanistic (Queens only - solid black coat, eyes must be a cool color hue with lighter non-black pupils or pupiless): Mel
Important Note: Our genetics formula is unique to Skepluvias, and does not work the same as normal genetics. The equation works as follows, allowing patterns to move down the list and up in rarity as the generations evolve.
AA x AA = Aa, AA x Aa = Aa, Aa x Aa = aa, aa x aa = BB
So, if breeding for a bareback, just breed two recessive variegated hoodeds (hh x hh = BAR). If breeding for a capped, breed two recessive variegated barebacks (bar x bar = CA). And so on!
When two patterns from two spots on the list are mixed, the pattern will be randomly generated from within the list. For example, if a hooded HH is bred to a Variegated Berkshire Brk, then there's the chance of getting Hh, hh, BAR, Bar, bar, CA, Ca, ca, BRK, Brk, or brk. The farther apart the rarities of the two parents, the wider the chance of getting a completely different and random marking!
(Remember - this is not realistic to how genetics actually work, so any genetic knowledge should go out the window with these guys. This is just a really weird random Skepluvias specific system to keep white patterns rolling through the rarity list and to help randomize offspring/lineage on a much wider spectrum.)
Origin & History
Work In Progress
- Originally preyed upon humans in the early paleolithic era
- Began to use humans as food-bringers and protectors in exchange for not eating them
- Humans became more intelligent, Skeplivias became lazier and more domesticated, transferring to vegan diets
- Intelligence became less important as humans cared for them, and they began to shrink in size to become more easily riden and controlled
- Pygmies began to pop up and humans found them to be great pets - then starting breeding them for tameness, producing ultra tame Skepluvias
- Now they're completely domestic, with lower IQs and dorky personalities, making them perfect family pets that are eager to please and easy to train and ride
- Humans and Skepluvi alike do not forget their origins however; all are very aware that harming a Skepluvi (or harming any living creature in front of a skepluvi) means the bad human becomes dinner
