Allocamelus
Trusted working guards to those in the desert, an allocamelus is always devoted to their protectors and cannot be made to betray. They watch over other herd animals or are used in merchant caravans to help carry and watch for highwaymen.
Basic Information
Anatomy
An even-toed unguluate with four long legs and a long neck. The back has several reservoirs of fatty tissue, which can be metabolized for some water. They can go about five days without external water while travelling. They hardly sweat, but when they do they can withstand losing about fifty percent of their body temperature in sweat before suffering from dehydration.
The allocamelus has a thick but generally short coat except under its head and at the bottom of its neck. It both insulates it from the heat of the day and holds heat in during the colder nights. During the hottest times of day the allocamelus always stands, so as to keep their body away from the heat of the ground and allow for more air to pass under it.
Their head is small, with large folds of eyelids over its two eyes, long lashes as a double protection to their eyes. Their two nostrils are snort slits which can close to protect themselves from inhaling sand in storms. They have large ears, which are meant both for hearing long distances (swiveling at 280 degrees to hear in most all directions, let alone with its flexible neck), and to help cool its blood. An allocamelus has a thick short tail to protect its hind quarters from insects.
Genetics and Reproduction
Allocamelus tend to mate with one dominant male to all the females in his herd. It appears the dominant male in the herd is selected by the females, though their precise determinations have yet to be identified. However, when made the dominant male one year, it is often two to three years before that male will be selected again. The males of the herd who have not been chosen as dominant protect the herd from any other wandering allocamelus.
Breeding season occurs at the end of winter and lasts one to two months. Usually the allocamelus only give birth to one offspring and do not reproduce again until their child has begun to forage on their own and no longer require their mother's milk. The gestation period of an allocamelus averages around eleven months.
Growth Rate & Stages
Fully developed at birth, an allocamelus will stand within moments of being born, though they tend not to leave their mother's side. While able to eat plants within a few days, they are not weaned until a year old.
Between one and four years the allocamelus will shed their milk teeth and only have their adult teeth, which continuously grow and are only tempered by chewing and deliberate application of their own poisonous saliva. By the time they are three or four years old they will have filled out fully and reached maturity.
Ecology and Habitats
An allocamelus lives in the desert, yet always near some source of water. Therefore, they would not be found in the driest parts of Geville, unless travelling from one source of water to another.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Allocamelus are herbivores and they graze off and on continuously throughout the day. While they can go for days without food, they are certainly happier when able to eat only a little at a time, rather than a lot all at once. This is in stark contrast to their watering habits. An allocamelus "tanks up" on water and then will only drink again when halfway through metabolizing their own fat stores. This is only averted when the allocamelus chooses or becomes aware of coming travels, in which case they make sure they are topped up before they leave.
Biological Cycle
Like most furred species, allocamelus have winter and summer coats. Their summer coat is not much thinner than their winter one, but it does get much lighter so as to reflect the sunlight. There are some breeds of allocamelus that breeders swear change their coat colour day by night, but if this is the case a drastic change in colour has yet to be publicly recorded.
Additional Information
Social Structure
In the wild, allocamelus are almost always found in a herd. The herd takes care of its own, with each year the females determining the dominant male for breeding season. There is little infighting between the males, as they accept and submit to the will of the females in this regard. However, they are very willing to fight those outside of the herd if they believe they are being encroached upon by outsider allocamelus or another other species.
The social structure of the females in the wild is much harder to ascertain. Outside of age, there appears to be a few females that are most often checked in with by all of the herd when it comes for being cared for or important decisions. This position doesn't appear to be affected by seniority, length of time in the herd, the most children, or anything like that.
Domestication
Domesticated allocamelus can be solitary, but most often they are raised in a small herd. When the only allocamelus in their herd, they appear to place their owners as members of the herd instead, to varied results.
The trust one must cultivate in an allocamelus is done most easily when it is still a child, but can be done with an adult allocamelus. This is done with giving proof of a partnership, rather than simply domesticating the allocamelus for your own sake. Whether needing them for guarding a home or travelling with merchandise, in the matter of food, comfort, shelter - one must give an allocamelus enough in return that they agree working with you is a good deal. While this can be difficult, once attained, the allocamelus is a friend for life and will help and protect you as long as they find you are doing the same.
With the trust of a herd, it becomes nearly trivial to gain the trust of baby allocamelus, for they follow the lead of their mother in this regard.
Uses, Products & Exploitation
By and large, allocamelus are used as guards, transportation, and as companions. Occasionally they allow themselves to be milked for the delicacy.
There are those who kill and skin them for their furs or attempt to "milk" their saliva for poisons and other concoctions. This is done without the permission of the allocamelus themselves and is illegal in almost all countries, even those that do not have allocamelus native to their lands.
Facial characteristics
Allocamelus have a short muzzle, with their ears on the top of their skull, which are often as long as their muzzle is. One might usually describe an allocamelus as looking bored or tired, especially because of their thick eyelids which are hardly ever completely open. This skin tends to be of a lighter colour, making it very obvious when they are open or shut. All allocamelus also have a beard, which grows in around their second year and becomes faded and wispy a year before they pass of old age.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
As working animals and pets, allocamelus can be found all the way from western Venztorian Empire to Sebterke, Azni-alay, Trestof, and Fitta/Futkefl. Wild herds are mainly found in the Eastern Empire and Sebterke, though the occasional wandering wild allocamelus has been spotted near the cold desert in northern Venztor.
Average Intelligence
Allocamelus are highly intelligent as well as loyal. Therefore, they become easily annoyed by those who do not understand this and try to get them to do things they might not want to do without giving them a good reason for it. They can be taught to understand all types of languages (from vocal to signed) and while they cannot always respond in kind, they have been shown to understand even the nuances of what is said to them. Never try to trick an allocamelus, for their are intelligent and they have friends. Plus, they spit.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
An allocamelus relies mainly on their hearing and sight. Their sense of smell is not much to write home about. From day to day they mainly work with their hearing, but when they are on alert they use more of their eyesight. Therefore it is said that an allocamelus with closed eyes or a sleepy expression is a happy allocamelus. Wide eyes means something is wrong and likely that someone is about to be spat at.
Allocamelus by BORZOICHRONIA
Lifespan
60 years
Conservation Status
Allocamelus are considered abundant and safe.
Average Physique
They tend to be rather lean. While their legs have been proven to hold up to more than five times an allocamelus' own weight, one would be hard pressed to find a very heavy one.
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
The most common colour for an allocamelus is brown. They tend to be mainly of one colour, with both lighter and darker patches either at their back, at the fringes of their coat, on their face, or at their tail. The main colour is what lightens and darkens depending on the time of year, the other two (sometimes they are more, but often two) remain the same.
Geographic Distribution