Yama

Appearance
The Yama are small, lizard like mammals. They have short fur over their body, a large flat mouth that protrudes from the head, and a longer, thinner body then most mammals. They have 2 eyes, one on either side of the head with the snout in between them. Yama also have a 3 foot long tail used for balance and attack. They have 6 limbs, 4 legs and 2 arms, all heavily muscled and well developed for terrestrial movement. The middle legs can be used as both legs and arms, depending on the situation, and give the Yama great climbing abilities. The Yama have short, coarse fur over their entire bodies, ranging in color from lighter red to almost black. The fur of females is slightly longer and far softer then that of males, though males do have longer, softer fur at the elbows, armpits, legpits, and face.

Diet
Yama are carnivorous, preferring to eat their food raw and sometimes still alive. They can become cannibalistic if not supplied with adequate food, but can also go hungry for up to 2 weeks before their bodies start to run out of natural energy and fat reserves. They do eat plants, but only to supplement their diet, fill the belly for a short time, or receive the healing essence of some plants.

Reproductive Cycle
Both males and females have the ability to nurse young, though only females can give birth. The males aren’t as good at is as females, as they only have 4 mammary glands to the females 8. The Yama do not give live birth, instead laying between 6 and 12 eggs, though only 8 young can, at best, survive. The eggs are tiny, and latch on to the fur at the base of the tail until they hatch between 1 and 2 weeks after being lain, depending on the size and age of the female. When they hatch, the blind new yama, called a “Yirli” has to crawl it’s way to the nearest available mammary gland. If there are no glands left, they can and will fight, being hatched with fully developed claws for holding onto fur and killing each other. In the end, there will usually only be 1 Yirli per mammary gland, sometimes less if the fighting gets that bad or if there were fewer eggs. The young will mature hanging onto the mothers stomach until they get too large to hold on and fall off. At that point the Yirli are called “Irlics” and have to learn to hunt and survive in the world. The father traditionally teaches them these things, though the mother plays a role by hunting separately from the family so that the Irlics don’t scare dinner away every night. The Irlics will remain with the parents for about 12 years or so before finding a mate of their own. The Irlics are then called Yama and Yaman (Male and Female). The children will stay with the parents until the parents die, then they will break apart from each other and become the matriarchs of their own families. If the parents are killed while caring for young, the oldest set of siblings will usually take in the orphaned young.

Senses
Due to the position of the eyes, an individual Yama has limited depth perception. The bonus, however, is that they also have 370 degrees of vision, with 10 degrees being Binocular, 5 in the front and 5 in the rear. You cannot sneak up on an alert Yama. Their eyes are large, and work independently of each other like a Chameleons eyes. Their brains are built with the eyes in mind, being very skilled at picking out movement. However, since they lack the ability to perceive how far it is from them with sight, they use sound to find out where it is in relation to themselves. They have amazing ears, massive, with multiple levels of hearing and 4 openings in the head that sound can enter through. This allows them to pinpoint the exact location of any prey animal they spot. Their sense of smell allows them to track their prey as far as needed in order to catch it, and their sense of taste allows them to detect even the tiniest amounts of poison, disease, or rot within a creature upon first bite, so they rarely fall for poisonous creatures or plants. The Yama also have the ability to, when swimming, sense the electrical charges of animals without fur or feathers or too much blubber.

Evolution
The Yama are evolved from an ancient species of otter-like mammal that used to swim in their home worlds oceans. These creatures moved on land, adapting rather then remaining in the crowded oceans. Some of the traits that they have from their ancestors are an affinity to water, their streamlined shape, double eyelids (one clear, the other solid), and waterproofed fur. Their watery past also influenced how they reproduce, that is, by latching onto one another and doing it. The fact that the eggs attach themselves to the protected base of the tail and the young are built to move around in the thick fur of the mother without falling off also proves that they come from an environment where gravity played less of a factor and the young needed to hold on for dear life. No nests allowed underwater, not for an active carnivore. After moving on land, they developed their stronger legs and the middle ones started to become hand-feet limbs. They achieved sapience about 72 thousand years before they reached space, and have been getting larger and smarter ever since.