Keratoplexa
The keratoplexa clade consists of warm-blooded, vertebrate animals of theropod origin. They include the genus Excultida which contains all the native, terrestrial people of Torvalen. They are named for the keratin structures that grow usually from the upper dorsal surface, usually just behind the forelimbs, though in some species, the keratoplex can extend down the spinal column. These structures are controlled by a network of muscles. Together this structure is called the keratoplex. Its structure and function is highly varied, although the vast majority use theirs simply as a means of signaling during mating or territorial conflict. It is retained and used by most species, but is vestigial among the labians, such as the hakanu and varhani.
Comparative anatomy suggests to scholars that they are very distantly related to the birds native to Utanar and Xusmalat. The skeletons can be hollow or solid. The known keratoplexan peoples, the excultids, include the Dhun, Drakir, Ejdehan, Hakanu, Nagathi, Ettnir, Tecuhtli and Varhani. Aside from the excultid genus, keratoplexans are also the dominant tetrapodal land life forms of Torvalen as well as including many aquatic and semi-aquatic species.
Most species possess some form of beak or hard keratin ridge around the exterior of their mouths. However, because all excultid keratoplexans possess a well developed syrinx, they do not need lips to replicate sounds otherwise requiring lips. All keratoplexans feed their young with a substance excreted from the inner surface of their esophagus, known as liguro. The production of this nutritious liquid is stimulated by prolonged proximity to young. Though the mother is the primary feeder, any adult keratoplexan, male or female, is capable of producing liguro. Keratoplexans have black teeth given this color by a special kind of enamel impregnated with iron phospate. This impregnates their skeletons as well, giving their bones a dark brown hue.
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