Sand Camel

Sand Camel is the colloquial name given to a species of autotrophic snake-like plants of considerable size, endemic to The Shifting Desert. Their name is an allusion to their suitability as desert transport, and their superior ability to traverse treacherous sandy terrain, such as the type prevalent in their natural habitat.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Sand Camels are comprised of three main body parts: Trunk, Canopy, and Pseudopods.

Trunk

The trunk is the largest part of a sand camel. As the name implies, it parallels a tree trunk and serves the same functions, with the distinction of lacking a bark; instead it is covered in overlapping leaves, serving as scales. This allows a sand camel to locomote like a snake.

Canopy

The canopy is a large hard growth atop the midsection of the trunk. Scholars currently have no plausible explanation for its purpose, as it seems to do nothing more than providing shade for any who ride the sand camel.

Pseudopods

The Pseudopods serve both as the sand camel's root system and as one of its methods of movement, where slithering is not as advantageous as having a dozen legs.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Similarly to other plants C. Ambulatillis is autotrophic, requiring nothing more than sunlight, air, and water. However, due to their unique relationship with humans, their roots have been replaced by pseudopods; instead of branching as deep as possible in search of water, they can only hydrate themselves from surface level water sources, such as oases or water troughs.
Regardless of their autotrophic nature, they possess a peculiar love for the fruits and seeds of Sand Snares. Lacking a mouth or any other orifice, they eat by enveloping the fruit in their pseudopods, crushing it, and then smothering themselves with the nutrients; during this process they crack open the seeds, rendering them the only natural predator of sand snares, even though they aren't even predators.

Additional Information

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Though life-like plants exist throughout the continent, sand camels are endemic to The Shifting Desert; surprisingly, this seems to be a result of thousands of years of breeding (more precisesly, cultivating) and domestication by the earliest .

Current Date: 2^nd of Latsum, 1572

A mature sand camel, with three (contracted) pseudopods and the canopy visible

Scientific Name

Cycas Gigantica Ambulatilis

Lifespan

10 years, with oldest specimen recorded reaching 41 years

Conservation Status

Extant

Average Height

2 - 2.5 m (underbelly to trunk top;
2.5 - 4 m (underbelly to canopy)

Average Weight

1000-1150 kg

Average Length

7.5 - 10.5 m;
8.5 - 12 m including pseudopods.

Geographic Distribution

• The Shifting Desert

Related Ethnicities

• Sala'kir