Yakeet

The Yakeet, or Yakakeet Psittabos, are a species of grazers that live in herds. They can be found in the deserts of primarily Kylorne but also in Rathnir. They are generally peaceful, but if threatened the stallion of the group or a mare, if her child is threatened, will become aggressive quickly. In general there are about three mating pairs per a herd, usually with about eight children each. Yakeets are utilized by The Siva Folk as cargo pullers, but some individuals have other plans.

Appearance
Despite their heavy appearance, Yakeets tend to be quite light. Their more vividly colored feathers usually come in greens, oranges and purples but can come in other colors. Otherwise their fur and other feathers tend to be similar to horses with whites, browns, greys and blacks. Eye color ranges from Blues and greens to yellows and browns. Although a rarer mutation, Purple eyes are by all means possible.

They have four legs and two wings. Due to their shape and size, said wings cannot be used for flight, but are maneuverable and so they use them for intimidation and to attract a mate. They have large, curly horns, usually black or grey, and sometimes with some colored stripes on them, that frame their heads. Their beaks are usually orange or a light brown to beige, only sometimes being white or grey. They also have a crest, the same color as their beak where their nostril is held.

They have high, protruding shoulder blades coming from their back. The base of their wings is just below that. They have arched backs the lead to long tail feathers, with the same vivid colors as the wings. Their legs are all tipped with hooves, usually the same color as the horns.

Diet
Yakeets are grazers that live in the desert. They are specialized to be able to eat dead bushes and cacti. Due to their migration patterns, being in the desert until their breeding season in summer, where they travel east to the Jungle, they have seasonal fruits in their diet, in the summers. This leaves them far more plump, leaving the jungle back to the desert.

Habitat
As stated, Yakeets live in deserts, usually herding from oasis to oasis. They are migrators though. Every summer when the sun is at it's hottest in the desert, Yakeets migrate to the jungle.

Biology
The Yakeets are in a class called Mamaves. This is a class that diverged off birds and through convergent evolution, became 'avian mammals.' The earlier versions of this class included Mamaves Homm, Mamaves Paliftae and the Yakeet's descendent, Mamaves Bos. Due to this, the Yakeet's bones are quite thick, but still hollow. They are heavily muscled for travelling and have lot's of fat as a sort of 'back up energy' if needed.

Social Behavior
Yakeets in herds usually are extremely close to siblings. When younglings reach maturity, they and their siblings are kicked out to fin their own herd or create a new one. Due to this you'd often have siblings from one herd mating with another trio or more of siblings. The oldest siblings of the herd usually become the Stallion and Lead Mare of the group. They and their children get the priority when finding food, then comes the other children and then the other adults.

Species History (Kylorne)
After Evolving from Mamaves Bos, notable differences such as fat and muscle amounts along with 'hooves' appeared. Otherwise, the only other thing they developed was a migration pattern, after having found the jungles.

Wipeout
After the tribal invasion, near ten years ago, the Yakeet was near extinction due to their valuable hide, horns and hooves. The remaining population, about three herds each of near twelve in numbers, retreated to the jungle on their annual mating migration, but never returned. They became extinct in the desert and lost all contact with the people of it.

Comeback
About a year after the 'Desert Extinction,' they began reintroducing themselves, balancing out the eco-system a bit. The eventually bounced back after another year, their numbers bouncing into the thousands. Around this time was when a Siva man named Kallaway Kongoe began a search for them, to bring them back near the Kissaran Deserts.

The Saddle Initiative
Origionally called the 'Cargo Initiative' by Kallaway Kongoe, this was meant to 'domesticate' the Yakeets in a way to get them to pull Cargo and things of the sorts. Now owned by Kallaway's son, Zanai, He is attempting to ride the beasts.

The Cargo Initiative
Founded by Kallaway Kongoe, the Cargo Initiative was to make heavy lifting easier for the citizens of Kissara by using and domesticating the Yakeets. They began a small breeding program that continued to make a sort of subspecies. Although they could not make a new Clave on the evolutionary chain, they had a more muscular lower back and thighs to carry carts. Unfortuantely, Kallaway died from a bandit attack.

The Saddle Initiative
After Kallaway died, his son, Zanai took over but had larger ambitions: to saddle and mount the animals. This subspecies had a more arched back, larger wing feathers and a bit slimmer body. Once again, still not big enough to create a new evolutionary clave, simply a breeding and domesticating program.

Current
Wild Yakeets are now thriving, with breeding seasons every year, they can easily have more children. Cargo yakeets are treated fairly by farms and Saddle Yakeets are in the works.