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The 'ikra (Chaatai: “person”; feminine 'ikra, masculine 'ikrika) are a sapient species of theropod dinosaurs that inhabits Tagra.

Origin and evolution

Also see: Tagra#History

From an evolutionary standpoint, the 'ikra belong to the family Dromaeosauridae, the bipedal, generally carnivorous, mid-to-small-sized, heavily feathered theropod dinosaurs commonly known as “raptors”; and more specifically to the subfamily Unenlagiinae, which is known from southern continents at the very end of the Cretaceous. The 'ikra's closest relatives known to human science are the smaller Buitreraptor and the much larger Austroraptor, both from Late Cretaceous Argentina.

When a meteor struck Earth 66 million year before the human age, marking the end of the Cretaceous, some dinosaur species, including omnivorous unenlagiines, had long been living in Antarctica, and had adapted to periods of extreme cold, darkness, and food scarcity. This allowed them to survive the Cretaceous mass extinction. Proto-'ikra kept evolving alongside with the other survivors, as well as mammal species that later crossed over from Australia and South America, as climate became increasingly cold. Whereas known unenlagiines have an extremely lithe and light body structure, proto-'ikra became bulkier and stouter, and developed thick fat pads and feather coats.

When Antarctica set around the South Pole and the Circumpolar Current formed around it, definitively cutting off the continent from the rest of the world and kickstarting its final freezing, the climatic shock forced the early 'ikra through the threshold of intelligence. This occurred about 36 million years before the human age, or some 2 million years before the present of Tagra.

Anatomy and physiology

Outer anatomy

Whereas humans arose first in a tropical environment, and thus evolved mechanisms to shed excess heat, 'ikra evolved to retain heat as much as possible. Subcutaneous fat serves both as thermal insulator and storage of energy; an extremely long and dense feather coating, accounting for well over half of the body's total volume, covers the entire body except for the feet, the medial side of palms and digits, and the lips and nostrils, all of which are covered by thick scaly skin. Feathers are shorter, though still very dense, around the cloacal opening, where they would otherwise by soiled by waste. The longest feathers are the remiges on the arms, homologous to the flight feathers of birds. The entire feather coating is uniform in color (irregular color patches are a marker of disease), black or otherwise very dark.

Naked 'ikra can survive indefinitely at temperatures below 0°C. However, as temperature kept decreasing during their evolution, and as they became more dependant from technology, they are no longer able to survive a whole seasonal cycle without protective clothing.

The tail is as long as the rest of the body, and serves as counterweight for it, as well as a rudder to change direction when running. Since its vertebrae are partially fused together, it's not very flexible, except at the base, and effectively moves as a single rigid piece.

Female 'ikra have fleshy sacs, located on the antorbital fenestrae in front of their eyes, richly vascularized and connected to the nasal airways, that swell and turn faintly red in response to emotional excitation.

Metabolism and energy

'Ikra are generalist omnivores, able to consume virtually every native organism of Tagra: the breadth of their diet is limited more by cultural taboos than by physiology (see below).

All 'ikra undergo a partial hibernation during the winter night, in which their metabolism slows down by an order of magnitude, their internal temperature drops by several degrees, and all activity and thought slow down considerably. In this state, they can survive for many days without food or water, and usually spend >80% of the time sleeping. The winter torpor is triggered by the reduction of day-long light levels, and naturally dark environments such as mines must be well-lit lest workers become prematurely torpid. However, trying to go through a whole year without any period of torpor can cause metabolic and neurological damage.

Senses and communication

Sexual dimorphism

Reproduction

Like all dinosaurs (avian or otherwise), 'ikra are oviparous, i.e. they reproduce by egg-laying. Eggs are elongated (about 18 cm in length and 9 cm of diameter) with slightly asymmetrical ends (which causes them to roll in circles rather than in a straight line, and thus makes them easier to keep in the nest). The shell is a mottled grey-brown color that helps them hide among rocks and dirt. Eggs are much larger than in Mesozoic theropods of comparable size, because the intelligence of 'ikra requires a longer period of embryonal development; accordingly, egg incubation takes about 120 days, an enormous time for the birds of the human age.

A female 'ikra will lay two eggs (one from each oviduct) about once every 40 days, whether fertilized or not. Since eggs have a hard, waterproof shell, fertilization must occur before it is laid. Sperm transfer occurs through direct cloaca-to-cloaca contact, as 'ikra have no significant external genitalia, though the most superficial part of the male cloaca everts slightly during mating to facilitate the transfer.

Mating may theoretically occur at any time of the year and month (as in apes, sexual contact has taken a secondary function of social interaction and pair bonding in particular). However, it tends to be concentrated in mid-to-late autumn, with over half of all matings occurring in the month of Krai'ichati of the Chaatai calendar. This ensures that eggs are incubated between late autumns and late winter, when parents are likely to be at home and subject to torpor in any case. They would then hatch in the late spring, so that the hatchlings can be raised in the period of maximum abundance (winter hatchlings are much more likely to suffer from malnutrition with all its consequences).

Unfertilized eggs are simply discarded as waste; as might be, depending on culture and circumstances, unwanted fertilized ones (major cities may have institutions to gather and take care of abandoned viable eggs). During winter, a completely exposed egg will almost certainly die within hours. In prehistoric times, this would have been the fate of any egg left out of the nest, which would have been built in sheltered ground (e.g. under shrubs or between rocks) out of dirt, stones, and the parents' own guano. If available, eggs might have been covered in rotting vegetation to help shield them from the cold whenever the father was away. In modern times, nests are built out a variety of materials, always kept inside homes, and often artificially warmed.

Hatchlings remain the nest for about one year. Nestlings are fed, almost exclusively by the father, first with crop milk and then with regurgitated food (see below); they will also consume their own eggshell as a source of calcium for skeletal and nervous development. After that, they become juveniles able to move and eat solid food, though they remain heavily dependent from the parents. Being so much lighter, juveniles mostly move by hopping like songbirds rather than walking, though they are likely to be taught walking as soon as possible. They reach sexual maturity between 8 and 12 years of age, developing their dimorphic features such as tailfans and antorbital sacs. In modern nations, 'ikra who survive infancy can expect to live 40 to 60 years.

Demography and ethnography

Culture

Also see: Chaatai, Takrakaya, Kru'u, Tayaka

Some more-or-less species-wide aversions can be attributed to the circumstances of 'ikra evolution. For example, the most detested physical attribute is almost universally the loss of feathers, which is a common consequence of skin parasites and makes it harder to survive the winter cold. Most'ikra cultures have a more or less strong taboo around the color white, which is associated with snow and ice, and therefore death by cold and starvation: glaciers are considered cursed places and associated with torment in the afterlife. (This, of course, can have very negative consequences for albino 'ikra). Everywhere on Tagra, mythical monsters have the same attributes: they have white feathers or none at all, they resemble frostbitten corpses, they feed on eggs, they don't experience torpor and are most active during the winter night.

Nations

Philosophy and religion

Also see: Cosmology

The isolation of Tagra from the rest of the planet, whose existence is generally known, has had a profound effect on philosophy, religion, and science. Often, the waters beyond the Wall of the Sea are considered the abode of deities, monsters, and/or blessed or lost souls. Many coastal peoples revere whales as liminal creatures, the only able to cross the Wall (this hasn't in any way diminished their exploitation for meat and fat).

Diet and food production

Also see: Tagran biota

Nestlings are fed by a parent, at first with fat-rich crop milk, then with regurgitated food, usually digested cooked fish as it's rich in fats and proteins and contains little solid matter. The feeding parent is almost always a male, as females produce much less crop milk and regurgitate less abundantly. In most 'ikra cultures, nestlings are fed by the father unless he is missing altogether. Adult 'ikra commonly consume crop milk and regurgitated food from domestic animals – usually krukaa and penguins, respectively.

The consumption of mammalian milk, in contrast, is regarded with disgust. Since mammary glands are unconnected to the digestive trait, mammal milk is analogized to mucus or pus. The consumption of eggs, even unfertilized, is also taboo in almost all 'ikra cultures, with one exception: growing nestlings consume chips of their own eggshell as a crucial source of calcium. Calcium supplements, in form of bonemeal and cuttlebones, are important not only for nestlings but also adults: a chronically calcium-deficient diet will make a female sterile, as her eggs fail to develop a shell and are reabsorbed before being laid.

Since 'ikra teeth are scarcely suited to chew starchy or fibrous plant matter, such foods are usually ground, minced, or boiled into gruel. Cellulose-based food, if not used to feed animals or grow mushrooms, may be treated with yeast-like fungi to release simple sugars. 'Ikra may also swallow gastroliths (“gizzard stones”) that, moving around in their muscular gizzard, assist with food breakdown. While any small, hard stone will do, polished gastroliths in bone or porcelain are part of any elegant tableware set.

Grooming and body modifications

Depending on culture and social standing, feather dyeing with mineral or vegetable colors may be practiced. Males in particular are more likely to dye their collar and tailfan. Red paint may also be applied to one's antorbital sacs. Dyes and prosthetic feathers are commonly used to remediate discolored or missing feathers. Dust, abrasive sand, and/or alkaline ash are scrubbed on the body surface to clean it from dirt and parasites.

Remiges (flight feathers) are often trimmed, or more rarely plucked, as, being large and rigid, they might interfere with the handling of objects. Both in Chaatai and Takrakaya, wealthy or noble individuals may deliberately let their remiges grow to remark that they do not depend from manual labor.

Takrakaya slaves often have their whole head and neck fully shaved as a symbol of their dependency from the household, as they would die of hypothermia if they found themselves outside in winter. Note that they would not die during the summer, and in any case they would likely cover their head with clothing.

Science and technology

At the present time to which this wiki refers, the scientific and technological development of Tagra may be compared roughly to that of humankind around half of the 19th century. It has, of course, been very uneven: most new discoveries and inventions are concentrated in Chaatai, Kru'u, and to some degree Tsang-ha. Life in most of Takrakaya and the Tayaka lands remains largely pre-modern (and in the 'Akau'a lands, mostly pre- or proto-agricultural). In fact, even the rural population of Chaatai and Kru'u remains mostly unreached by innovations such as electricity and mass production.

Here are some scientific discoveries that would be well-known to natural philosophers and educated people in all the nations of Tagra:

The commonly used units of measurement are based on the traditional Grikaa units, with factors of conversion modified for easier computation (e.g., to be based on the octal numbering system, and often to include 3 or 5 as factors):