Allotauriformes

These hulking, armored animals dominate the large herbivore
niches on the mainland continents. A familiar sight to many Snaiadi citizens,
the Allotauriformes are among the most speciose lineages of advanced herbivores
on the planet. Allotauriformes are united through the presence of extremely well
developed, churning second head mouths, bands of hardened skin folds that form a
protective armor and unique rear legs with digits and distal bones fused into a
semi-flexible, boot-like appendages. In addition, most species also sport horns
or spikes on their rear ends, possibly as a defense against Fucker attacks.

Allotauriformes are tentatively divided into two major groups;
the Archaeotaurids; which have relatively larger front legs and larger, less
efficient second heads, and the Hesperotaurids, which have a more “regular” gait
and compact, efficient feeding heads. These two groups seemed quite distinct in
the past, but recent fossil discoveries and molecular studies might reveal them
to be polyphyletic.

Species: Allotaurus chrysolophus
Common Name: Golden
Bull.
Size: Up to 5 meters long.
Habitat: Grassy and regular sproglands
across northern parts of Isterna and Vesterna.

It is an unusual coincidence that the first observed and the
most widely known member of the Allotauriformes is in fact a very aberrant
member of the group. Famous for the bright, golden coloration of its leathery
armor plates, this species has its forequarters and second head exaggerated to
ungainly proportions. Its huge, vat-like second head is a voracious feeding
apparatus; able to rip patches sprog all the way down to the naked ground. To
support the weight of this massive organ, the front legs are huge and
tractor-like. These powerful limbs are also used in self-defense; a hulking
stomp from one of them can easily crush even the most powerful Snaiadi predators
like grapes.

In between seasons, this species joins many of its cousins in
the massive megaherbivore migrations from Isterna to Vesterna and back. These
migrations are accompanied by a variety of predators, commensal species and
parasites.

Species: Barotaurus longus
Common Names: Kadilak, Limotaur,
Behemoth.
Size: Up to 11 meters long.
Habitat: Edges of jungles and wet
forests across northern Vesterna

This gigantic animal is the longest, if not the heaviest of all
known Allotauriformes. A placid herbivore, it grazes along riverbanks and edges
of gallery forests and even pinnacle ranges, preferring a mixture of bushy red
and green plants instead of sprog. It has an enormously extended second-head
neck that is supported by the suspension bridge-like arrangement of its first
head. In this respect Barotaurus (independently) resembles the
extraordinary Titaniformes of far-away Thalassia. Although this gigantic animal
has no trouble supporting itself on dry land, occasionally it is seen wallowing
in deep rivers, or even the sea. Due to the uncomfortable location of its
breathing orifices beneath its armpits, it is usually forced to make barrel
rolls in order to breathe under water. This ponderous, but also weirdly graceful
aquatic ballet also seems to form a part of the animals’ mating rituals, but
only in the warmer seasons.

B. longus is the only member of its genus. This animal
very similar in most respects to the three species of Allotaurus, and
until recently it was classified as Allotaurus titanis. Unlike its
Allotaur cousins, Barotaurus does not migrate or form herds. Its huge
size is sufficient to protect it from most predators. (However, they are
vulnerable as young - the individual pictured here has healed gouges on its
flank, battle scars from a past attack by an unknown Fututoriform.) An even
larger animal, thought to be related to Barotaurus, reportedly lives in
the Great Azonic Jungle on the other side of Vesterna.

Species: Teratodirus aspersa
Common Names: Shingleback,
Fanhorn.
Size: Up to 4 meters long, usually less.
Habitat: Mostly around
Pansavannah, a minority population migrates between Pansavannah and northern
Isterna.

One of the more unusual Allotaurs, this species has the folds
of its leathery plates hardened into six sideways-projecting spikes, and a
bizarre, saw-toothed crest that projects forward from the top of its first head.
Its defenses are further supplemented by a backwards-pointing horn on its rear,
a countermeasure against attacking Fuckers. While the rear and side spikes are
the same in most individuals, the head crest is tremendously variable; some
individuals hardly seem to have it at all while in others it grows to a
grotesque size that seems like a hindrance to the animal. Both sexes have
crests, but only the males carry the record-breaking ones.

This is a relatively small Allotaur that dwells in family herds
up to ten individuals large. Mature males usually break away from established
herds to find mates on their own. Paradoxically, certain “feminine” males in
these groups have very small crests, or no crests at all. These individuals have
been observed “sneaking in” to other family herds and discreetly mating with the
females before running away.

Species: Chasmotaurus morkociana
Common Names: Musclemouth,
Muskullu, Zat.
Size: Up to 7 meters long.
Habitat: Forests and jungles
all across Isterna. Absent from the Ankyranian Desert and Oroland.

This enormous animal is markedly different from all other
Allotauriformes, so some Snaiadi zoologists classify it in its own group.
Instead of the long neck and the vat-like grazing organ of other Allotaurs,
Chasmotaurus has an enormously thick, muscular, shortened mouth, much
like those of the Xenosuids. Its diet is also different from other
Allotauriformes in that it contains, in addition to rough and indigestible
vegetation of all sorts, helpings of scavenged meat. On a single occasion, a
Chasmotaurus has been observed trampling a defenseless loplophid
(Bandia borealis,) and consuming parts of its dead body. In the big
picture of Allotaur evolution, this animal seems to be a deviation from the
usual Allotauriform pattern of herding herbivores, into a more omnivorous,
solitary lifestyle.

Although widespread, Chasmotaurus has a very diffuse
population, with a small number of animals spread across a large territory.
Their rarity, combined with these animals’ unnatural aggression towards
trespassers of any sort, makes them notoriously hard to study.

Species: Polylophotaurus minimus
Common Names: Tinytaur,
Spiny Allotaur, Dwarf Allotaur.
Size: 1.6 meters long.
Habitat: Jungles,
pinnacle ranges, forests and scrublands across South-Western Vesterna.

Not all Allotauriformes are giants. This western form is among
the smallest members of a five-species sub-clade known as the Suitaurs, or
pig-bulls. Living in burrows constructed by their spade-like first-head beaks,
these animals emerge during the day to forage. Their preference is for
soft-tissued wetland plants or fruiting bodies, but these generalists are
perfectly comfortable feeding on other plants as well. When danger threatens
they quickly retreat to their burrows, blocking the entrance with their spiny
hindquarters.

These tiny Allotaurs are noteworthy for having a large number
of armored skin-folds across their backs. This is reflected in their genus name
– “Polylophotaurus” means “many-ridged-bull.”

Species: Melanorotaurus erectopus
Common Names: Black bull,
Apis.
Size: Up to 6 meters long, usually less.
Habitat: Sprogland
habitats across most of Vesterna.

This is a fairly typical “Hesperotaur,” if the outdated term
still holds any meaning. Much like their cousins in Isterna or Pansavannah,
these large herbivores roam across the sproglands and plains of their realm in
big herds, eating copiously and continuously. Their elongated second heads make
it possible for these animals to tackle both sprog and tree-growing vegetation.
Unusually among Allotauriformes, these animals sometimes engage in “pinnacle
probing,” crashing the sides of pinnacle-tree reefs in local ranges, and feeding
on the vegetation inside. Three large spines on their neck, back and rear ensure
that no predators inside or outside the pinnacle threaten them.

Species: Austrotaurus anticeras
Common Name:
Spinotaur.
Size: 4 – 4,5 meters long in the mainland, 2 meters or less in the
Midland.
Habitat: Sproglands and forests in Midland, also present in south
western Isterna.

This unusual little Allotaur is readily identifiable through
its brightly colored dorsal armor and the extraordinarily long “anti-Fututor
horn” that grows from its rear. This horn grows throughout the animals’ lives
and is frequently broken off and regrown as the animals go through near-escapes
and accidents. Other than warding off predators, the rear horn also seems to
play a social role; mating couples have been observed clashing them together in
ritualistic combat. In the jungles of south western Isterna, individuals bang
them across hollow trees to signal each other across the misty darkness.

Two distinct populations of this species exist on south western
Isterna and Midland. It is uncertain whether the dwarf population in Midland was
already there before the land bridge to the main continents was submerged, or if
they somehow swam or rafted over later on. In any case, the Midland population
might be classified as a separate species as more studies are undertaken.

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