Aineku

Aineku were concepted and sprited by TCA. They were released on April 9th, 2011. They were the first creature available to the users to have multiple color variants. Originally, there were only 4 variants, but another 4 were added due to added interest in species alts.They are common, and found on the Grasslands and in the Forests on Zeima. It is possible to use one to help in the Spaceship quest.

Breed ID: Feline

Sprites and Descriptions
Alpha: This egg is... furry...?

Beta: A cute little kitten hatched from the egg you found. It has two tails.

Delta: A cute little kitten hatched from the egg you found. It has two tails. The tails have grown longer, and the kitten is much more alert and playful.

Omega: Aineku are small omnivorous felines. Their two tails serve as their hands, and they are resourceful animals. They tend to live in groups consisting of weaker Aineku following a strong Aineku of the opposite gender. These playful, gentle felines are generally harmless, though they do have sharp retractable claws in their soft little feet.

Additional Information
(All info in this section is written by TCA, the species creator. Nobody else should be adding to this except to edit in things she said on the forums.)

Aineku are small omnivorous felines. Their two tails serve as their hands, and they are resourceful animals. They tend to live in groups consisting of weaker Aineku following a strong Aineku of the opposite gender. These playful, gentle felines are generally harmless, though they do have sharp retractable claws in their soft little feet.

Aineku are similar to domestic cats, but they have two prehensile tails that they can use as hands and are omnivores instead of carnivores. They tend to be much more social than most felines, and form packs consisting of a healthy, strong individual of either gender surrounded by a harem of weaker members of the opposite gender. Two harems with leaders (and therefore lesser members) of opposite genders will share territory, the leaders will mate, and occasionally the leaders will permit the lesser members to mate with lesser members of the other harem, but two harems with leaders of the same gender will fight until one leader dies or surrenders. The victor will absorb the other Aineku from the loser's harem into their own, and if the loser surrendered, they will go to join another harem as a lesser member. They are excellent at climbing trees, and will go after a small bird in a tree or a ripe fruit with equal enthusiasm.

There are 8 variants of Aineku- Havana (chocolate-brown with gold eyes), Siamese (seal-point with blue eyes), Black (jet-black with green eyes), Ginger Tuxedo (orange and white with cyan eyes), Calico (tri-color with amber eyes), Russian Blue (slate-grey with emerald eyes), Mackerel Tabby (brown striped with red-amber eyes), and Angora (brown-marked cream with orange eyes).

Ainekus are not related to Earth cats despite the looks, and their genetics work differently. While Earth cats' color genes are linked to their sex chromosomes, Aineku color genes are linked to genes for coat length and texture. Each of the 8 variants has a distinct coat feel- the darker their coat, the shorter it is, while lighter colors have longer coats. The fur's feel depends on which colors are present. White fur is always very silky but tends to shed, black fur tends to be coarse and almost wiry, brown and orange are thick, slightly stiff hairs that rarely shed. Grays and light browns tend to be the most welcoming to the touch- medium-length, fairly soft, and only moderate shed.

Aineku are mammalian, but they do lay eggs. The eggs are sticky when first laid, and the parents will roll the eggs in their belly fur for added insulation in case both parents run off to hunt. Parents take turns incubating the eggs- if one parent is a harem leader, commonly the case, the other parent usually spends more time with the eggs. A single clutch can be anywhere from a single egg to four eggs- more eggs can be laid at once, but the kittens will end up starving because they can't all feed. They can single out their own children from visually identical kittens by scent. The kittens, unlike Earth kittens, hatch able to move around on their own and survive without constant care, though their teeth don't grow in until later. The mothers feed them with a milklike substance secreted from four glands on their lower abdomen until they learn to hunt and forage- generally it's the father's job to teach them. While not domesticated, Aineku have no fear of humans and are easy to befriend and train, though they get extremely lonely if kept without other Aineku and take to constantly badgering their human caretaker for affection.