Sexual Dimorphism - Tumblr Posts
I just stumbled upon your blog and I think your creatures are so interesting!!
Could you talk a little more about the sexual dimorphism of your bipedal species (Is "Slomen" the right name?), and what the "crop pouch" the females have is that you mentioned in a recent post? And also how the reproductive process works with the "meat egg"? Do the males have an "umbilical cord" like appendage to nurture the meat egg? How does that work?
Okay so.
Sexes/gender
Slomen have two sexes. The females are stereotypically the men of their society and males are stereotypically women. Some cultures have more accepted genders than others. Slomen also apply this inverted human-gender system to animals.
To make reading easier I will use masc and fem for the sexes.
On average, fem slomen are lighter with smaller muscles. They are very noticeable for having big display feathers on their back arms. Few cultures see them as sexual and thus hide them/cut feathers - only allowing fresh parents (they can be used to carry smaller children or the megg) to show them.
Fem slomen also have big air sacks on their chest. These are mostly for personal expression and can be used to signal things like status. With some training, the sloman can also use it in speech. "Lady talk" has many different meanings and uses among cultures.
Deeper within the sack is a food storage organ reduced to only be used during early childcare.
Also, fem often have brighter colors, though limited to browns to yellows with sometimes black or white.
Masc slomen are slightly bigger. They lack long arm feathers and developed air sacks.
On the right side (usually) is a small slit. This is where the "meat egg" leaves the body when fertilized or discarded. If fertilized, the masc sloman's bigger back arms hold it to the body (but cloth "backpacks" are also used).
The megg and other
Sloman are a little complicated when it comes to reproduction. The dedicated organs are in their short necks with transfer happening in their mouth. For most of the year, these organs are hard to feel but at the end of winter, they become active. Until late middle spring to the beginning of summer slomen are more interested in partnering (with many attached traditions). Most cultures have a matriarchal family with one fem (in one generation/partnership) and multiple mascs (who are often not expected to stay for long).
The one fem shares her drops (bigger multicellular seed) with her partners. After a few days the masc slomen have visibly swollen neck side. After that, the meat egg drops out of their neck opening. First, the umbilical stays short, staying close. When its size starts approaching 10cm, it falls to the shoulders and then its growth continues consistently. After all the organs are either used up or reorganized for the baby's shape - right size and weight, it separates from the internal megg wall. The umbilical slowly dies off and the parent stops producing soup.
After a few more days, the baby eats its way out of the remaining megg wall.
By that time the fem sloman already has the "crop pouch" full. Babies use their giant curved tooth to pierce the pouch skin. It heals fast but it takes time to get used to. The pouch content is a lot like the masc sloman's soup.
The unfertilized megg is actually capable of growth even without fertilization as it's a separate haploid organism (just like the drop). But it's rare and unwanted.
Slomen don't have the easiest time reproducing and since it happens basically once a year with a bunch of possible complications, they find large multi-generational families very important. Everyone helps a little with the wave of children. Also yes, twins can happen but it's usually lethal for at least one.
I know this hasn't been very detailed but I hope it explains a bit. I didn't want to go deep into reproduction in case it would be too icky. At some point I will show general vertebrate reproduction (on the sloman continent), with some Kula context likely.
LADIES....
20110324_F0001_2400_20110316 by wfxue on Flickr.
