Creature:Praazhm

Scientific Classification
Domain: -- Kingdom: -- Subkingdom: -- Superphylum: -- Phylum: -- Subphylum: -- Infraphylum: -- Superclass: -- Series: -- Class: -- Subclass: -- Infraclass: -- Superorder: -- Order: Praalidae (Praalytes -- ) Suborder: -- Infraorder: -- Family: Loperia (Skozelian Lopers) Subfamily: Genus: -- Species: Praazha Binominal Name: --

Statistics
Species Type: Cold-blooded Terrestrial Praalyte Lifestyle: Social Predator Hunt/Forage Success Rate: 100% Hunt (97% success rate)

Armor: Defenses:

Weapons: A Praazhm's first line of offense is generally their venom gland, which is located at the end of their tail, which naturally curls underneath their belly to point forward. While not tremendously potent, it gives the Praazhm ample time to prepare for the likely event of the creature defending itself in one way or another. The second and essentially "main" line of offense is the mandibles. These are curved, sharp, and very deadly. Armed with curved barbs on the inside of the tools, the Praazhmi will ravage their opponent with them, cutting deep gouges into the enemy's flesh. Coupled with their pack mentality, they can often take down a foe with little harm incurred upon themselves. While they have fallen into disuse since sapience in preference for the venom gland combined with invented weaponry, their species once preferred to charge at a foe from a distance using their dual curved tusks, which flank their set of mandibles. Once a foe was gored by one or more Praazhm, as many as possible would then surround the victim, while the rest hung back and lobbed the occasional venomous splatter into the fray. Tools: A solitary pair of hands, located at the base of the neck. Hands are attached to the forelimbs, which naturally are carried off of the ground.

Method of Eating:

Reproductive Rate: Sexual maturity is reached after 10 years. Can reproduce at any time of year that they wish to. Gestation: 7.32 months than lays egg. Offspring Incubation: 2 months until egg hatches after being laid. Number of Offspring: 1 larvae per birth. This K-Strategist design helped aid them in becoming sapient in the first place. Offspring Survival Rate (before age of maturity): 98% -- Praazhm appear to be tremendously caring for their young, and are naturally adept at choosing great times to avoid breeding. This generally involves times such as whenever a rival tribe is expected to attack. Young are, on some occasions, left behind to fend for themselves while the entire tribe goes on a hunt only a few miles out of 'camp'. Taking a full compliment of Praazhm, while dangerous to the existing larvae, allows the Praazhmi people to return very quickly and with low circumstances of loss of life. Eventually, the Praazhm began domesticating the local Aurix population, using the huge brutes to guard their tribe while they were away. Amazingly, these Aurix were so properly domesticated, the eating of larvae by Aurix pet was a very rare event. Singular/Plural/Possessive: Praazhm/Praazhma/Praazhmi

Prey
While the Praazhm are opportunistic predators, there are a few species which they prefer to feed from.
 * Knibb (Adults)
 * Aurix (Eggs)

Predators

 * Under Construction

Domesticated Organisms

 * Aurix

Evolutionary History
The ancestors of the Praazhm arrived on their homeworld of Skozelius via panspermia, having survived orbital entry while cryogenically hibernated due to being deep within the meteorite itself. Their known ancestors proceed as follows:

Cellular Evolution

 * "Unnamed Extraskozelestrial Cellular Organism"
 * Troskelia eozoa
 * Troskelia spinovenator
 * Troskelia cilialus
 * Troskelia jetiski

Aquatic Evolution
''Unfortunately, nothing is truly known about the Praazhmi aquatic evolutionary tree at this time. Xenobiologists and Xenopaleontologists are currently diligently at work trying to uncover clues to the full history of the Praazhm and their "past selves". While a number of species had to exist to allow them to adapt to the level they reached, only one is currently referred to:''
 * "Unnamed Ancestor of Thornjetter"

Terrestrial Evolution
''Originally, the Praazhm were suspected to have evolved from the somewhat abundant Bowlegga species - however, this has turned out not to be the case. Bowleggas were a distant relative of the actual ancestors of their lineage, but had split early in the cellular history of the planet, and then having led to a parallel evolution.''
 * Thornjetter
 * "Intelligent Thornjetter Ancestor"
 * Tuskflyer
 * Stiltflyer
 * Spineflyer
 * Praatusk
 * Praasprinter
 * Praazhm

Understood Timeline

 * 0 AS: The first ancestor of the Praazhm arrived on Skozelius.
 * 500,000,000 AS: Troskelia eozoa evolves. The original ancestors go extinct soon after.
 * 1,100,000,000 AS: Troskelia spinovenator evolves. Troskelia eozoa goes extinct soon after.
 * 2,300,000,000 AS: Troskelia cilialus evolves. Troskelia spinovenator goes extinct soon after.
 * 3,900,000,000 AS: Troskelia jetiski evolves. Troskelia cilialus goes extinct soon after.
 * 4,575,000,000 AS: The Thornjetter arrives on land. Likely evolved close to this time period.
 * 4,621,000,000 AS: Thornjetters and Bowlegga form a symbiotic bond, protecting one another from predators.
 * 4,634,000,000 AS: Niggatron species goes extinct due to Thornjetter intervention.
 * 4,634,000,000 AS: Thornjetters grow larger brains, becoming a new species, although they look identical on the outside. Original Thornjetters go extinct due to being outcompeted by their own, more brainy, ancestors.
 * 4,716,000,000 AS: Tuskflyers evolve. This was the first known ancestor of the Praazhm to have adapted wings capable of limited flight capacities.  Intelligent Thornjetters go extinct soon after.
 * 4,735,000,000 AS: Tuskflyers, having remained symbiotically linked to the still-surviving Bowlegga, begin a symbiotic relationship with creatures known as Speedies.
 * 4,779,000,000 AS: Phineys, a species of cylcoptic, land-dwelling ichthyoids, go extinct due to Tuskflyer intervention.
 * 4,833,000,000 AS: Spikey-Sperm species goes extinct due to Tuskflyer intervention.
 * 4,906,000,000 AS: Stiltflyers evolve. Much larger than their ancestors, they are far more capable of taking care of themselves. While symbiotic ties with Bowleggas and Speedies dissipate, the two species continue to garner aid from their now-larger "friends"; protecting these two species has long since become ingrained into the brains of the Stiltflyers' lineage.  Tuskflyers go extinct soon after.
 * 4,987,000,000 AS: Stiltflyers grow larger brain cavities like the Thornjetters before them, and in a similar way to the Thornjetters, the Stiltflyers give way to a far more intelligent subspecies, while the original subspecies goes extinct.
 * 5,131,000,000 AS: Spineflyers evolve. They are the first of the lineage to begin to grow calcified growths on their bodies, a trait that would become a very prominent and even distinguishing feature of their sapient descendants.  Stiltflyers go extinct soon after.
 * 5,136,000,000 AS: Narhinos go extinct due to Spineflyer intervention.
 * 5,278,000,000 AS: The Krugg, a race of large insectoids, go extinct due to Spineflyer intervention. Amazingly enough, surviving populations continued to emerge well into the Praazhm's tribal era, likely hinting at their having been placed there from another world by extraskozelestrial visitors.
 * 5,534,000,000 AS: The Praatusk evolve. They are the first "upright walking" quadrupedal species borne from this lineage, and are largely considered the very first "recent" ancestor of the Praazhm.  Spineflyers go extinct soon after.
 * 5,543,000,000 AS: Duroli go extinct due to Praatusk intervention.
 * 5,586,000,000 AS: Praatusks grow larger brain cavities in a trend that seemed to have followed their lineage for some time. As with all other occasions, the less-intelligent Praatusk subspecies (aka the original strain) go extinct with only a relatively short number of generations.
 * 5,629,000,000 AS: Liomans go extinct due to Intelligent Praatusk intervention.
 * 5,693,000,000 AS: Praasprinter evolve. They are similar to their ancestors, but have adapted to become better sprinters.  Their markings change as well to distinguish themselves from their ancestors, who do not go extinct immediately.
 * 5,693,0075,032 AS: The very last of the Praatusks finally die out, leaving their species extinct.
 * 5,737,000,000 AS: The Glurbs, a species brought from another world by a mysterious extraskozelestrial race, go extinct on this planet (but not other planets such as their homeworld) due to Praasprinter intervention.
 * 5,778,000,000 AS: Nilsson go extinct due to Praasprinter intervention.
 * 5,842,000,000 AS: Shantlered Kneehands go extinct due to Praasprinter intervention.
 * 5,893,000,000 AS: Cluboceratops go extinct due to Praasprinter intervention.
 * 5,938,000,000 AS: Rammo go extinct due to Praasprinter intervention.
 * 5,960,000,000 AS: Rajuus relocated (likely by same race who moved the Aurix here as well) go extinct due to Praasprinter intervention.
 * 5,960,000,000 AS: Praasprinters grow larger brain cavities, giving rise to Intelligent Praasprinters. Praasprinters disappear mysteriously off the face of the planet soon afterwards.
 * 5,994,000,000 AS: The Praazhm form their first tribe after the discovery of fire by a smart member of a small cluster. He is made chieftain after this, and his immediate descendants would carry his name for several million years.

The Stone Age

 * Under Construction

Trivia

 * The Praazhm were created only a few months after the Aurix themselves were while brainstorming for alien names upon the creation of the Aurixan Chapter 2. However, it was very quickly established that no mental images would be associated with the species, and that instead it would be the first creature I played in Spore, allowing me to not worry about getting a creature correct, and instead enjoy the game and have fun with the physics and everything else.
 * The Praazhm used domesticated Aurix during their tribal era to guard their tribal grounds while away on errands.
 * It was not originally intended for the Praazhm to necessarily have anything to do with the Aurix -- this is where the game stepped in the way. It chose to include the Aurix in the Praazhmi tribal era, and how could I not use them as my domesticated animals?