Phase 2:Boughdyn Kin'toni Clan

History

Psychology

Biology

The Boughdyn are adapted to the cold, windy, and icy Tetryl Tundra. Their builds are compact and robust, with thick dense muscles. This is to lower heat loss in the freezing environment. Their skin is white, but it is not visible under their thick, long coats of white fur. This fur has a fluffy undercoat, and a layer of long guard hairs above that. The coat has oils to make it water proof. It protects well from the cold, but leads to overheating in warmer environments. Under their skin, there is an thick, dense, highly specialized subcutaneous fat layer.

This acts as an insulator against the frigid temperatures. The clan's members have long white, thick hair, forming a large mane. Their eyes are brilliant ice-blue in color, and have an thick, transparent nictitating membrane to protect from snow blindness and harsh, reflective light. Their ears are short, flat to the head and pointed, and filled with thick fur. Their noses are small, with tight sealing and complex internal passages lined with vascular tissue to warm incoming air.

Their senses have the adaption of being able to lower energy expenditure by being temporarily diminished when not actively tracking prey. This leads to an lower awareness of their surroundings. The teeth are short and blunt, and adapted to be highly durable. These teeth are adapted for crushing bones, frozen and non frozen alike as to get out the marrow and sequestered blood. The jaws are thick, with large amounts of dense muscle to aid in crushing the bones. Their claws are short, thick, shovel like and heavily mineralized.

These claws are used to dig though packed snow and ice as to be able to find sheltered prey and dig short term dens. Their arms and legs are short and thick, with dense muscle adapted for digging though snow and ice. The downside of this is that they are not fast runners, being adapted for strength, not speed. The blood flow in their bodies is arranged in a counter-current system, adapted so that cold venous blood is warmed warmer arterial blood and once it reaches the core, a special heat producing organ in the core, the then warm blood is sent out in the arteries.

The blood vessels lack the normal swelling of kin'toni blood vessels, maintaining smaller vessel diameter to prevent loss of heat. The blood vessels are deep under the skin as to prevent heat less. Their blood is chemically altered as to remain a liquid with low viscosity even at sub-zero temperatures. This is to allow for efficient circulation. Their bodies create large amounts of protein-like substances, in particular, glycerol as to lower the freezing point and prevent ice crystals forming in the cells.

The hemoglobin recycling glands are adapted to be hyper-efficient as to maximize the energy and caloric yield from eaten blood. This is to compensate for the high energetic demands of insulation. The clan have the ability to enter a deep torper during severe blizzards or periods of extreme cold. To enter this torpor for more than a few months, they have to drink blood to fatten up. The clan's main weakness is the fact that their extensive insulation, vital for survival in the frozen tundra, leads to overheating in warmer climates and strenuous activity.

This can cause Hyperthermia and even death.

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