New Species

[Kitsuneko]

Yakima's genetics thread brought it back into my mind, but this is a project I started playing around with a couple months ago in Biology class. Basically, I wanted to play around with genetics, so I came up with the Aelith. Would anyone be interested in one (or several, and breeding, considering they come with genetic codes)?
Unfortunately, I just discovered that my scanner is broken, due to having a painting dropped on it. I ordered another one, but I won't be able to scan the templates I have for a few days yet. Or I could do a new clutch at Sedona, now that I'm almost done with school.


The Aelith are a relatively short-lived race compared to many in the Nexus; they reach adulthood at the age of ten and live for a total of around 50 years. They are quite adaptable and widespread on their homeworld, having adapted to live in many different climates. They have a technology level roughly equivalent to that of 21st century Earth, though they are rather advanced in some areas, particularly genetics, and not so much in other areas. They are aware of other worlds and having a thriving trade market with them.
The Aelith are more than a little obsessed with genetics, and have developed technology to the point where they can identify hidden genes in their own genotype with over 95% accuracy and even do some genetic engineering sometimes. They can be a superficial people and it's not uncommon for a female, when it comes time for her to mate, to choose a male solely for his genetic qualities. They're mostly a solitary race, anyway, except for mothers and their cubs, and they rarely mate with the same male twice. Despite their mammalian appearance, they lay 1-3 soft, leathery eggs every 3 years.
Aelith live everywhere from the tundra to the equator, and natural selection has ensured a wide variety of physical traits which differ from biome to biome. Body shape may vary in different regions but the template shows a more-or-less mid-range body type for simplicity's sake. The only physical characteristics apart from coloring that are reflected on the template are long/short fur and full-sized/stunted wings. Certain gene alleles may be more common than others in a given biome, but others can still show up. A tundra Aelith could very well be black or red, it's just very rare and not considered desirable in a snowy region.


The Genes:

Xo, X, Y: Determines sex;
XX-black female
XoX-Mixed female (like a tortie cat)
XoXo-Red female
XY-Black male
XOY-Red male


B,b,bl: Base color, in order of most to least dominant
B-Black
b-Brown
bl-Cinnamon (A sort of light, reddish brown)


D,d: Dilution gene
D-Normal
d-Dilute


A,a: Patterning; an Aelith with at least one A allele will have some sort of tabby markings on its body, aa is solid
A-Agouti
a-solid


Ti,ts,t: Tabby, only shows if there's an A above.
Ti-Ticked (Body is lightly speckled with darker markings, similar to an Abyssinian cat.)
ts-spotted
t-striped


M,m: Melanism gene; which produces black Aeliths with ghost-markings like a black leopard's
M-Normal
me-Extension (Dark markings cover more of the body and may appear to have the colors reversed)
m-Melanistic (Black with faint tabby markings)


I,i: This gene makes it so that instead of black markings on a colored background, the tabby markings are colored on a white background. Silver on an aa Aelith produces "smoke".
I-Silver
i-Normal


W,w: Overrides pretty much all the other genes to produce a solid white Aelith.
W-White
w-Normal


S,s: Whitespotting; some patterns are considered more desirable than others by the Aelith and tend to be passed on from the parents
SS-Mostly white with colored patches
Ss- Mostly colored with white patches
s-Fully colored


C,ch,cs,ca,cc: The albino gene, also carries alleles for chinchilla and points
C-Normal
ch-Chinchilla (Red turns to silver with no effect on other colors)
cs-Pointed (White body with colored points)
ca-Blue-eyed white
cc-Pink-eyed white


Wi,wi: Produces smaller, stunted wings that cannot fly, only glide. Most Aelith with this allele live in the rainforests, where they can easily glide from tree to tree.
Wi-Stunted wings
wi-Normal wings


L,l
L-Short fur
l-Long fur


The code was largely based on cat genetics, though I took a few things I liked from other sources as well. Partly based on the cat genetics used in the cyber-cat breeding game Pure Felinity as well.




And phenotypes, by biome:

Tundra
Body Build: Large, bulky
Fur: Long, usually white or pale coloring
Head: small ears, short muzzle
Wings: Large, broad for soaring long distances


Taiga
Body Build: Large, bulky
Fur: Long, dark-colored
Head: small ears, medium muzzle
Wings: medium-sized


Temperate Forest
Body Build: Small, light, long limbs
Fur: Short, brown coloring
Head: Large ears, long muzzle
Wings: Long, narrow


Tropical Rainforest
Body Build: Medium-sized, average build
Fur: Short, spotted or striped markings
Head: Large ears, long muzzle
Wings: Short, stunted


Tropical Savannah
Body Build: Tall, slender body, long legs
Fur: Short, spotted or striped markings
Head: Large ears, long muzzle
Wings: Large, broad for soaring long distances


Desert/Scrub
Body Build: Small, compact, long limbs
Fur: Short, pale coloring
Head: Large ears, medium muzzle
Wings: Large, broad for soaring long distances


Temperate Grassland
Body Build: Tall, slender body, long limbs
Fur: Short, striped markings
Head: Medium ears, medium muzzle
Wings: Large, broad for soaring long distances

[Starburst]

Cool!

I'm pretty much in love with species that have their own genetic codes and these look awesome. And I used to work with cat genetics waaay back in the day when there was an actual cyber cat association, so this is quite the throwback.

Interested? You bet I am XD

[JKatkina]

This looks awesome! XD About halfway through I was like "WAIIIT.... cat genetics! Yay!" These guys would get along with daemons really well. :3

[Shard]

I'd certainly be interested.

[Dray]

Those guys sound awesome! Though I think that you'd have to sic a second code set upon them given that I think Yakima wants to try to interbreed different species together. Never the less, I'd be interested in seeing them!

[Kitsuneko]

Yeah, I'd have to read through Yakima's code again before trying to figure any of that out, (and I'd already put the code together a while ago) but I think this could at least serve as a general guideline when breeding with other species.

[Dray]

In this case, it would probably be that you use Yakima's code for your guys' body shape, whereas I think a lot of this genetic code determines colour. So it probably wouldn't overlap too much?

(I'm still not quite sure what her code is. XD I may have skimmed just a little bit!)

[Yakima]

Erm, well yes and no. My code isn't meant to be very genetic based, I just borrowed some ideas. My dragons all have their own codes that would get 'thrown out' when I breed them together. The NGBC (Nexus Genertic Breeding Code ) It's meant to set up a base for a clutch based on what the creators of the species wanted to see bred out.

I think it may be more understandable if I did a clutch or two, eh?

And for the record, I'm interested in at least one, Kit. And a Sedona clutch. I have a candidate waiting for you. *tries to pry herslef away from Tiale's story to finish Erivana*

[jess d]

I think they sound very interesting, and I'd be interested >.>

[Kitsuneko]

I've got a set of ten Aelith written up and ready to go as soon as I can get the templates onto the computer. Just waiting for my new scanner to come in.