Togruta Biology

Appearance

Togruta had rusty skin tones ranging in hue from blue to red to green, with white pigmentation on their faces, and greyish lips, and most were patterned with white stripes on various body parts. A Togruta’s stripe pattern is unique to the individual. This red and white pattern was a phenotype left over from their ancestor's camouflage that helped them to blend in with their natural surroundings, especially the red-and-white turu-grass which dominated Shili's scrublands. It’s speculated that the rare blue and green color morphs originated from a deeply isolated population in the coastal forests, long before modern modes of transportation made their discovery and blending with outside communities possible.

Their heads bore two montrals, with three, and on rare occasions, four head-tails, whose stripes were darker than those of the montrals. Togruta had the ability to sense the proximity and movement of physical objects around them by means of their hollow montrals, which detected space ultrasonically. Young Togrutas' montrals and posterior head-tail did not fully grow until adolescence, when their montrals become curved and their third head-tail grew to the length of their two main head-tails.

Another sensory advantage that facilitated survival is their nocturnal vision. Their eyes, like nocturnal mammals, are armed with the tapetum lucidum to recapture and reflect light. A night walk through the forests of Shili would reveal an array of eye shine.

As predators, Togruta had sharp canine teeth, which they used to painlessly kill thimiars, their primary prey, causing the creatures' post-mortem death spasms. This gave outsiders the false impression that Togruta were venomous.

Anatomy

Head: Montrals are mostly hollow - a sparse matrix of fragile ossicles and gelatinous, neural highway that spirals downward into the cranium. Following the path of these receptive neurons will show that they deliver payload to the visual cortex, bypassing auditory.

No external ear is visible, but a scan will show a narrow canal funneling in from somewhere within the folds of headtail-montral junction.

The three headtails are much more dense than the montrals. Their connection at the skull is reinforced by cartilaginous core and a few thick, leathery folds. The lekku are composed of some muscle but mostly fat and matrix of connective tissue. The thin muscle tissue is organized into longitudinal and also circular groups, enabling the things to contract, stiffen, and some degree of flexion and abduction, but nowhere near the sophisticated potential of Twi’lek lekku. More like an arthritic earthworm. More interesting though are the melanophores forming the bands of pigment along their lengths. Contractions within these cells can subtly alter the intensity and width of the stripes, creating additional means for nonverbal communication.

Eyes: possess a reflective tissue layer behind the retina - tapetum lucidum

Dentition: Slightly conical incisors, perfect for nipping, nestle closely together between a wicked pair of upper fang teeth. Strong at the base, the fangs narrow down to seemingly delicate points capable of inflicting a bite with surgical precision. Contrary to popular lore, there’s no swelling of venom sack to be seen. Behind the fangs, the premolars resemble something out of an animal dentistry book more so than human and are designed to crack bone, but the molars behind are more flat. The bite force is strong with this one.

Not only do Togruta possess a predatory ‘smile’, but their tongues and palates are made for keeping caught prey ensnared en route to their ever-hungry belly. The purple tongue tip is smooth as silk, but the rear portion is lined with tiny, fleshy bristles. Likewise, the palate is heavily ridged.

Organs: If one explores further along the digestive system, they will find a stomach fueled by intensely corrosive acid - at least five times more acidic than that of a human’s - too hostile for most known parasites to endure. It dumps out into a very short, by humanoid standards, intestinal tract. The rest of this squirmy mass of guts is mostly unremarkable, save maybe for the liver, which is a little large. More study of the liver itself would reveal its ability to eliminate toxins, namely the high level of uric acid incurred by a strictly carnivorous diet.

Lifecycle

The evolution of Togruta and their culture revolved around pack life and functioning as a unit. Reproduction was no exception. Modern, more ‘civilized’ Togruta tend to pair off and form monogamous couples within their tribe rather than indiscriminately breed. It was not uncommon though, for mates to separate after any number of years and bond to someone else.

Females within a pack would typically synchronize their biannual cycles, beginning with the oldest, most ‘dominant’ reproductive female. It is thought that their primitive ancestors coordinated breeding to coincide with more optimal seasons, taking into consideration migration of game and activity levels of predatory species, like Akul. If pregnancy was not achieved in the first cycle of the year, another wave of opportunity would hit some months later.

Because conception was so coordinated, most pregnant females would give birth within the same small window of time - days to a week or so. A special structure was built to accommodate them all, apart from normal sleeping quarters for delivery, so that the rest of the pack may gather around the outside and guard the vulnerable mothers-to-be from hungry predators scenting their blood. It was a tense time, for any traditional pack. Those living nearer to or within the limits of cities, however, could take advantage of hospital accommodation.

Togruta generally gave birth to one offspring at a time, but would continue to nurse for up to 3 years. It was not unusual to see a mother feeding both infant and toddler, and any nursing female within a tribe would cooperatively feed another’s young. This made discerning to whom children belonged difficult for outsiders.

The lifespan of a Togruta tended not to exceed 90 years, and those who still lived in the traditional way often had a much younger expiration date, due to the shunning of the weak. Illness and grievous injury claimed lives more often than old age.