Fitzgerald's World

Juffalope

Named for its discoverer, Dr. Argos Juffle, the Juffalope is a grazing, herd-living animal native to Fitzgerald's world

Unique Traits

The fact that its home-world has no significant land predators has allowed the Juffalope to evolve several traits that would not survive in other environments:

-Its white skin is spotted in pastel hues, making it immediately visible in the landscape. 

-The Juffalope's three long, feather-like tails would be easy for a predator to grab. 

-Also, it's painfully slow gait is due to joints ill-adapted to running.

-The Juffalope's long, slender neck terminates in a comically small head.  The Juffalope has no ears, making it completely deaf.  The Juffalope's brain is quite small, which has the side-effect of making it remarkably easy to tame.  The small mouth and slender neck of the Juffalope make grazing an almost constant activity (except during mating season), as it has a hard time swallowing enough food to power its body.

Life-cycle

Juffalopes gestate for a short three months.  Mothers typically give birth to a litter of three or four offspring at a time.  The young juffalope is quite small, only weighing about ten pounds, but begins walking and grazing almost immediately after birth.

Juffalopes grow to maturity quickly, being able to reproduce after only two local years.  Adults can grow quite large, and specimens weighing over 2000kg are not unknown.

The average lifespan of a Juffalope is around 120 Earth-years, the most common cause of death being old age, although occasionally a disease or food shortage will devastate a population, felling entire herds.

Economics

Juffalopes found some market value as pets during Era-1.  During Era-2, with its scarcity-based economy, Juffalopes also became livestock.  Juffalope meat has an exceptionally mild flavor (often attributed to the low stress lifestyle of the Juffalope).  Juffalope hide also became somewhat popular in clothing during Era-2 for its unusual coloration.