Rothtun Dog

The Rothtun Dog is a sentient, carnivorous canine native to Malisk II.

Taxonomy
Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Carnivora

Family: Canidae

Genus: Canis

Species: Canis Rothtis

Traits
Weight:

Male: 160-200 lbs. Female: 130-150 lbs.

Height:

Male: 3.5-4 Feet. Female: 3.5-3.7 Feet.

Coat: Short, fuzzy.

Color: Black with smaller Orange patterns. Very dark brown fur.

Litter Size: 1-2

Life Span: 60-70 years.

Notable Features
Rothtun Dogs are renowned by the Eteno for many reasons, but two stick out immediately. The first reason is their intelligence. Rothtuns are borderline sentient and can communicate by crudely writing phrases by holding a writing utensil with their dexterous twin tails. They are also very keen to others' emotions, be it that of their own kind or another creature. They can recognize a wide range of compex emotions and act accordingly to celebrate with or comfort a friendly or neutral creature. It is common knowledge among the Eteno that having a Rothtun as a lifelong companion can increase your lifespan by up to four years.. They are naturally friendly, but are fierce and unforgetting enemies if one angers or threatens a Rothtun. Next, the Rothtun Dog is incredibly strong and dexterous. Most of the Rothtun's weight comes from its muscle. They can knock over an Eteno with ease, and taller creatures with slightly more difficulty. This was useful during their species' days as a wild race because their prey was very large, and packs always split up to handle numerous matters that had to be attended to on a daily basis. This means that hunting group were smaller and members had to be stronger to bring down their unusually strong prey. The Rothtun also has dual tails splitting at the base. They have pronged ends that are almost pure cartiledge and both tails working together can utilize many basic tools and serve as graspers for the species. Although minor, there are two more reasons that the Rothtun Dog is important to the Eteno, The first one is their immensely powerful sense of smell, and the second is their extremely soft coat of fur. The Rothtun is the number one pet of choice for the Eteno and the two species have had a long relationship harkening back to when the Eteno were inhabiting caves.

In the Wild
Although there are few remaining wild Rothtuns, they have been studied and observed by researchers of many nationalities in their habitat. The dogs live in packs with truly remarkable ways of doing things. Packs normally have territory ranging from six to fifteen square kilometers of territory and have 100-1,000 members. Out of their six to fifteen square kilometers of territory, roughly two to five of it is "developed". Development in pack society is when basic wooden structures are built. Dwellings are built by males, and are usually are shallow (five to six feet) pits lined with grass and feathers from killed birds and covered by several hundred long sticks over the pit tied to the ground in case of wind. There is also a thick layer of grass tied to the cieling of the den as insulation against water and cold.. Arenas are built from tied-down sticks to denominate the boundary, and all of the plants in the arena are torn out and the thicker dirt is brought to the surface by digging. Finally, there is the pack leader's dwelling. It is similar to regular dwellings, except for the fact that the lining is slightly thicker and the pit is ten to fifteen feet deep and contains three rooms instead of one big one. Pack leaders are chosen through an extremely crude, yet amazing democratic system. Male Rothtuns vying for leadership fight each other in an enormous battle until each dog has surrendered or given up except two. The two strongest then stand side-by-side. All of the dogs (barring young) choose who they want for leader by lining up behind them. The dog with a longer line is the new leader, and the one with the shorter line is the runner up, or co-leader. These two and their mates rule over the pack with no restrictions. A leader can be ousted from the pack and removed from 'office' if enough Rothtuns attack the leader or co-leader and their followers and defeat them. The next part of the Rothun Dog's pack society was so revered and respected by the family-oriented Eteno, that they adopted the dog's way of thinking for their own culture. The pack is seen as a whole family, and each bloodline is a sub-family, or clan. Then, there is an immediate family of a male and a female, their young, and the male and female's siblings. Since the Rothtun lives for so long, the species can afford to have very few young in a single litter. Normally, a pair will have seven to eight litters. The pair raises their pup(s) for two years, and then sets them loose into the pack to choose a mate. In Rothtun society, younger adult dogs will hunt, fight other packs, negotiate with other packs, deal with territorial maintenance, and deal with other daily activities. Older dogs, normally above the age of fifty, have the coveted duty of watching and teaching the young when the younger dogs (almost always parents) are not present or are busy. When a dog dies, many members of the dog's clan bury it in deep, vertical pits decorated with flowers. The dead pack member is never spoken of again.