Greymane

About

A rare to the point of being legendary nocturnal hunter. These creatures are mistaken for or believed to be treahni suffering under some form of curse.
Other Names: Greymane, Shamblehound, Burrower

Classification: Mammal
Size: 48 kilograms (106 pounds), 0.5 metres (1 foot 8 inches) at shoulder, 0.9 metres (3 feet) long nose to rump, 1.6 metres (5 feet) including tail.
Appearance: Medium sized quadrupeds, with slim, almost emaciated appearance. Hairless with greyish pale skin, except for a thick mane of grey, white or silver hairs running in a crest ridge along their spine. They have long rough skinned tails ending in a tuft of stiff bristle-like hairs. Their limbs resemble those of a treahni, being about two-thirds as long, with elongated fingers and toes, tipped with short claws. They move about digit-grade in a semi squat, are capable of bipedal stance, and are expert climbers. Their face looks almost like a treahni but with the mouth pulled forward into an elongated jaw and snout, and covered with bony plate resembling an animal's skull.
Sexual dimorphism: Males are slightly larger, and broader in the shoulders, than females. They have external genitalia similar to other mammals. Females in brood will develop six breasts.
Variance: Juveniles lack the pronounced mane of adults, but otherwise resemble them in body form and colouration.

Habitat: Forests, Scrubland, Wastes, usually near existing, or abandoned, treahni settlements.
Diet: Carnivorous scavengers, and ambush predators, greymanes will attack people or animals if they have the opportunity to strike quickly, and escape with their meal.

Social grouping: Solitary or mated pairs, females with up to six young. Nest in dug burrows, caves, or abandoned buildings and ruins.
Temperament: Extremely wary, but can be aggressive towards potential prey.
Intelligence: Grey manes are very intelligent, and capable of cunning planning or trickery to isolate prey. Capable of making sounds resembling treahni speech, they will sometimes make mimicry part of their hunting behaviour.
Reproduction: Females mate once a year or so, and if they produce offspring, live-birth them in the following spring. Females will not mate while rearing their young (1-2 years).
Hunting: Greymanes are nocturnal, seeking out carrion or live prey they can drag back to their nest to devour at their leisure. If they find potential prey they will usually wait in ambush, or try to lure or harry their prey towards their den area before making a kill. When attacking they use extreme speed to their advantage, usually moving quite slowly with determined stealth until they flash in with a bite, or claw to cripple and disable their prey.

No known subspeciation.

No efforts have been made to domesticate this species.