Cassiter

Cassiters are a mammalian family whose members occupy a variety of niches similar to otters, beavers, dogs, bears, and weasels. Cassiters are differentiated from other mammals by an extra pair of breathing openings allowing them to take in extra air.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Cassiters take on a variety of forms and can be similar in appearance to Otters, Weasels, Dogs, Bears, or even Humans in the case of the Sergal.
Similarly to dogs, Cassiters are Digitigrade and have a degenerate digit that is located further up the paw, but also can have an opposed or semi opposed digit analogous to a thumb. Some arboreal Cassiter species have the degenerate digit available for a double grasp.
Cassiters frequently have a flat head and laterally tapered snout. Their eyes are usually in grooves near the top of the skull, which gives an additional verticality to their field of view. Many Cassiters can also move their eyes independently. The Cassiter eye does not blink and instead has a nictating membrane that allows them to maintain constant awareness while awake and helps to protect the eye's function in extreme environments.
The most notable feature that Cassiters have, which sets them apart from all other mammals, are their overbreathing organs which are colloquially termed “gills”. Actually these are more similar to mouths or nostrils. Overbreathers generally are located at the base of the neck but some creatures have them on the upper back or at the shoulders. When a Cassiter is overbreathing, the chest cavity and the area where the overbreathing organs are located will swell to accommodate additional lung capacity and expand two small extra airways. In Lesser Cassiters these airways go to the windpipe, which also expands. In Greater Cassiters the overbreathing organs have separate airways which are mainlines to the Lungs, which have more than 2 chambers.
Overbreathing usually occurs during periods of stress, exertion, or arousal. It is a phenomenon similar to panting in dogs or sweating in Humans and allows Cassiters vastly increased stamina and temperature regulation. Cold climate Cassiters have extra blood vessels coiled around the airway beneath the gill openings, warming air at a greater rate to better regulate internal temperature in freezing weather at the cost of increased vulnerability to pulmonary edema (ie, if the airway is pierced they can bleed out into their lungs and drown in their own blood). The larger airways allow Cassiters to grow larger than other mammals, with some Greater Cassiters weighing up to 13 tons.
Cassiters have a wide variety of body plans but most of the Cassiters of bear size or smaller can stand on two legs, some for extended periods, with Sergal being fully bipedal.
Cassiters tends to be omnivorous. However the largest Cassiters are specialized either as herbivores or carnivores. For example, the dinosaur-like Canopy Grazers are the largest Cassiters and are built to graze leaves from treetops with their immense necks, and the Woodland King is a gigantic gorilla-esque apex predator that preys on them and other large animals.
Generally, Greater Cassiters are larger, with the smallest being about the size the size of a wolf and the largest being the aforementioned 13 ton behemoths. Lesser Cassiters are not necessarily small, though, and the largest Lesser Cassiters are in fact the Sergal, with the smallest being the Vole Cassiters, burrowing predators no bigger than an adult human index finger that prey on worms, insects, and rodents underground.

Genetics and Reproduction

Universally, Cassiters are superfecund and can have litters with children from multiple fathers. They reproduce sexually and rear their young for varying periods similarly to other mammals. Lesser Cassiters are generally more social like dogs or lions while greater cassiters tend to be lone hunters like foxes or bears.

Ecology and Habitats

Cassiters are widely distributed across Granmor and Morgranth. They are not endemic to Theamor. They occupy predator, scavenger, and opportunist environmental niches.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Cassiters generally have excellent sense of smell and sight. Their eyes tend to be slightly bulging and located toward the top of the skull, which gives them a wider field of view with an extra degree of freedom. Many can track threats and prey by moving their eyes independently. Most Cassiters have an electrochemical sense, which is stronger in water- and nocturnal- adapted species, mostly vestigial in others, and for the Vole Cassiter it is the main sense as it lives exclusivey underground. Cassiters have better color vision than other animals and are thought to be able to see the same array of colors as humans can.

Genetic Descendants

• Sergal
• Woodland King

Scientific Name

Magnosculum

Origin/Ancestry

Mammalia

Geographic Distribution

• Gonewald Forest
• Southeast Granmor
• Southwest Granmor
• The Broken Horn
• The Crevice of Seething
• The Great Desert
• The Green Horn
• The Northern Heartland
• The Reach
• The White Horn

Related Ethnicities

• Northern Sergal
• Southern Sergal