Physiology, Tarkasian
From SOTS
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General Description
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The Tarkas are a reptilian species, sharing many outward physical characteristics with terrestrial lizards. Although their internal structures and highly evolved brains are very different from anything seen in the reptile species of Earth, their appearance has nonetheless earned them a variety of derogatory nicknames among Human spacers, who commonly refer to them as "Lizards" or "Crocs".
The external characteristics of the Tarka race point toward an origin among the reptiles, but they are as far removed from their lizard-like ancestors as humans are from the tree shrews from which they evolved. Tarkas have a coat of scales over their bodies, the patterns and thickness of which vary with the individual—although males traditionally have thicker and tougher scales than females, especially as they grow older. Tarkas also have three sets of eyelids and claw-like nails on both fingers and feet, which can become quite thick and sharp if they are allowed to grow.
Tarkas have five digits and an opposable thumb on their hands, and their feet are also prehensile. Their tails are muscular, shorter in the male than the female, and capable of manipulating objects and striking with significant force. It is standard practice for a Tarkasian martial artist to use his or her tail in combat. A Tarka can survive the loss of his or her tail, so long as a tourniquet is quickly applied, but it doesn't grow back naturally. The tail would have to be re-attached surgically or regrown with an advanced tissue knitting technique.
They have a very large and complex brain, warm blood and an advanced circulatory system. A Tarka's heart has five chambers: four are engaged in standard respiration, and one is activated by the Tarka's adrenal system. This auxiliary chamber rapidly flutters when a Tarka's fight-or-flight reflexes are engaged, pumping a complex stew of chemicals and stimulants into the bloodstream. These act on all aspects of Tarka physiology, doubling or trebling the speed at which nervous impulses are transmitted, greatly dampening the feedback associated with pain or injury, profoundly affecting brain function, and flooding the body with blood and hormones. The resulting battle fury is legendary, and renders an adult Tarka extremely dangerous when "the little drum is beating".
Tarkas are omnivorous, able to consume and digest a wide variety of plant and animal foodstuffs, but are fond of eating arthropod species—their native diet incorporates a great many tree-, sea- and ground-dwelling arthropods as sources of protein and important nutrients. This often creates tension between the Tarkas and the Hivers. (See: Social interactions between Tarkas and Hivers.)
Tarka females average 120–180 centimeters in height and weigh from 60–100 kilograms. They reach their full adult size within 20 years of hatching and maintain roughly the same dimensions throughout their lives. Tarka males, by contrast, can go through two distinct phases of growth and development: the standard development from egg to adult which their female counterparts undergo, and a second stage of maturity which begins later, triggered by a special dietary regime. Tarkas refer to this secondary growth cycle as "the Change."
Tarkas can live in a variety of gravities and temperature zones but seem to prefer warmer worlds for their large colonies.
Changed Males
Post-Change males function as both alphas and as free agents; the closest terrestrial equivalent would be a silverback gorilla, but there really is no Earthly equivalent to certain quirks of Tarka physical and cultural evolution.
A Changed male, by Tarka standards, is not only an alpha in the sexual sense but a defense mechanism for the whole social unit. He is huge, loud, agile, and like all Tarka, capable of a berserker rage—in the case of a Changed male, that rage can allow him to very possibly kill a predator many times his size, although he is likely to be fatally wounded during the fight.
He also reeks of dangerous pheromones which warn every organism on his homeworld to stay the hell away from his area. He is easily able to command and control every adolescent male in his tribe, not only with his size and sound but with his scent signature; unChanged males are naturally inclined to submit to his authority, even millions of years later when full sentience has intervened.
Not all Tarka males will undergo the Change; in fact, it is estimated that only one in a thousand Tarka males ever reaches this phase of development. As to whether there would be males who would never want to gain 200–300 pounds, become irrational and perhaps even psychotic—yes. There is a sizable percentage for whom this idea was unattractive. Given the ratio of Changed males in Tarka society, there would be egg riots constantly if paternity was the only thing in life that any Tarka male could think of, and the only thing anyone thought was worth doing. However, when the Change occurs, a male Tarka undergoes a profound physical and psychological transformation, which affects every aspect of his life.
The production of sex hormones in his body increases, which causes him to develop a broad spectrum of sexual traits. Firstly, he becomes fertile: although he has been able to perform as a sexual being from early adolescence, it is not until the Change that he begins producing viable sperm and becomes capable of fertilizing an egg. Along with this primary change in his reproductive capacity, he also develops a host of secondary sexual characteristics, which signal his availability to females and enable him to compete vigorously for mates.
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His vocal chords thicken and his voice becomes louder, deeper and more resonant. The coloring, arrangement and thickness of his scales will change radically, often forming entirely new marking patterns. His personality is substantially altered as well; in general he becomes much more aggressive, extroverted, ambitious, and prone to intense emotional outbursts and moodswings.
The pheromones that a mature male exudes have a variety of psychological effects on other Tarkas. Younger males, who have not undergone the Change, seem to find their senior counterparts extremely magnetic; they are docile and cooperative toward seniors, and easily influenced by their charismatic leadership. By contrast, other senior males become immediately hostile and competitive toward a male of their own stature, reacting automatically to every signal of maturity with anger. The rival's voice, coloring, bearing and attitudes will be found offensive at an almost cellular level, and if the two are brought within range of one another's pheromonal signatures, this effect increases many fold. Put two senior males into one room and a physical altercation is almost sure to result.
Female Tarkas, by contrast, have a less intense emotional reaction toward senior males. Although they find seniors personally, professionally and sexually attractive, they do not mirror the docility of their young male counterparts. Culturally speaking, female Tarkas tend to view all male Tarkas, both young and old, with a certain amount of prejudice, regarding them as emotionally unstable and prone to poor judgment. However, the ability of a senior male Tarka to command and control his juniors is often very useful in politics, in the military and in business affairs; most female Tarkas are inclined to harness and direct this power rather than suppress it.
Evolution
The pre-sentient Tarka were an amazingly effective race, and spread swiftly over several continents. However, evolutionary pressure on their homeworld was so intense that sentience was ultimately the one adaptation which made them the top of the planet's food chain. Scientists have speculated that their species must have evolved in a dense arboreal environment. They have retained many features we still associate with tree-dwelling species and they seem to have evolved very much in the pattern that one might expect from an arboreal social primate on our own world.
The environment of the Tarka homeworld is one of extreme brutality and fierce competitiveness and the early Tarka faced many predators, both massive and small. During the course of their evolution, the Tarka have become a social animal which bands together for mutual protection and defense of the young. Tarka young spend an EXCEEDINGLY long time in the egg phases, which means that they must be defended night and day from predators of all sizes; never forget that an egg can be destroyed by tiny pests and egg thieves as easily as by huge predators which drive the tribe away from their nesting ground. While the Changed male protects the tribe from advances of much larger predators, younger males and females are available to protect the eggs from smaller predators, and to provide them with care which will protect them from bacteria, extremes of temperature and the like. No Tarka female has a biological motivation to neglect or destroy another female's eggs, nor does any junior male have a biological motivation to destroy the Changed male's eggs. On the contrary; it is in the best interests of the tribe for as many eggs as possible to survive, regardless of circumstances—during Tarka prehistory, all members of a given tribe would have been related, and the genes being protected were shared by the whole group.
The evolution of the Change was likly as a response to the nature of a Changed male. As useful and valuable as he is to his tribe, a Changed male presents certain problems. He is violently competitive with other adult males—doubtless due to territorial clashes during the evolutionary stage. So although one Changed male in a tribe is very desirable, two at one time is a disaster for everyone—instant faction war, tribal split, and mass infanticide results. Also, biologically speaking, a Changed male is an expendable unit. If he dies, he must be replaceable by another SINGLE unit—not by several competitors at once. And all the other males in the tribe must remain useful during this period as egg-tenders, child-minders, food-gatherers, etc.
Lifespan
Females and unchanged males live up to 100 years or so—a Changed male has a more limited lifespan and is unlikely to live more than 30 or 40 years after the Change. It's simply too stressful to the system.
Reproduction
Tarkas have two genders and a standard mode of sexual reproduction; an adult female Tarka produces an unfertilized proto-egg within her body at standard intervals, and if a male does not fertilize this egg, it passes from her body and she disposes of it (See: A Lady's Favor). Fertilization of Tarka eggs occurs in utero, and once fertilized the egg will remain within its mother's body for several weeks, forming an extremely dense mass of compressed nutrients and a tough, thick leathery outer skin. Thereafter, the egg passes from the female's body and begins an independent cycle of growth. If tended properly, the infant will hatch from its egg in approximately 18–24 months.
