Quebitauros

The kentauros, or centaur, were born from and named for a tribe of horsemen in Thessaly. The Minotaur sprung forth of Minos. And here, the first person in modern times to see the Quebitauros from a distance shrugged, said to a friend "Probably some bugger from Quebec or something riding a moose. Those folks are weird."
A Quebitaur (singular) has a moose-like lower body and a humanoid upper body. The moose-like part of the body consists of four legs, a horizontal body and back, and a tail. The humanoid body is covered in a short, softer fur, and has a torso, arms, a head, and moose-like antlers. Quebitauros do not wear clothing as a matter of habit, but do drape themselves in furs to deal with cold temperatures and carry tools like spears, bows, and axes.

Basic Information

Anatomy

A quebitaur has four muscular ungulate legs that end in solid hooves. Their front ungulate legs are slightly longer than their back, for increased ability to jump, and they are stronger as well, to support the weight of their humanoid torso. Their spine curves from their tail through their humanoid torso, with the human lumbar vertebrae replacing the lower cervical vertebrae. The sharp bend in the spine is susceptible to injury and the most common back and spinal injuries happen in that area. The upper torso is covered in a finer and softer fur than the lower body. The upper body lacks secondary sex characteristics, because young nurse from the lower body.

Ecology and Habitats

This species lives best in an arctic environment where there is snow for part, but not all, of the year. Their current range spreads across British Colombia and Alberta, with smaller numbers across the border in Washington, Idaho, and Montana.

Dietary Needs and Habits

The digestive system of a quebitaur runs from the humanoid mouth down and through the rest of the lower body. The first stomach is located low in the humanoid torso, followed by a track of intestine to the lower body, where the latter three stomachs, the intestines, and augmentary organs like the liver and kidneys are located. Because of their stomach structure, they are able to consume large amounts of tree bark, twigs, leaves, and fruit high in trees. However, their ability to chew cud is limited by humanoid dentition, so their first stomach has a very strong acid to allow them to chew cud with smaller molars.
Due to their human dentition, they are also able to consume meats, but the proteins of meats tend to denature in their stomachs and they don't get an ideal amount of nutrition from meat sources.
Quebitauros are solitary creatures and tend to forage for and store food by themselves. They will carry salt deposits with them on their back, and sometimes strip down a dying tree to store the food from it.

Biological Cycle

Quebitauros are highly affected by the changes in the seasons, due to their reliance on plant life. Most quebitauros mate during early fall, carry children through the winter, and have children in the spring. The winter months are hard for quebitauros who are bearing children, and these quebitauros spend time in the late fall collecting felled trees to carry them through harder months. Unlike moose, the antlers of a quebitauros are kept by all sexes year-round, and are only shed during the winter if significantly damaged during mating season.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Quebitauros are mostly solitary animals. They form small family herds with two to three mothers and their children, and male children split off of that herd when they are ready for mating season. Women stay together, building generational ties and knowledge. Once a male leaves a herd, he is alone forever. Some lose language, social skills, and knowledge of more complex tool-fashioning techniques. A lone Quebitaur with a strung bow and arrows has either just recently left a herd or is a scout for a much larger group nearby.

Average Intelligence

Quebitauros are generally sapient, but they don't have the strong societal structure to develop knowledge beyond that of a few generations of a family. They can speak to others outside of their familial herds, but not well, because their dialects diverge very quickly before contact forces them back into alignment.

Scientific Name

Homo sapiens alces

Lifespan

50-60 years

Average Height

5 to 6.5 feet at the withers, 7 to 9.5 feet from head to foot

Average Weight

600-1400 pounds

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Most Quebitauros are dark brown on their lower body and light brown on their upper body. Young Quebitauros have spots on their upper body that fade as they age.