tYPICAL ADULT FORM

The Panatrak and all the other federation races share a bilateral symmetry but their avian development has endowed them with two pairs of limbs for flight.

The general body shape starts with a narrow and pointed head that is more equine than reptilian which is backed on to a double curved neck like that of swan which connects it to the main body which from profile is quite reptilian and although does not end in a tail it has a protrusion that continues the line of its back beyond the hind limbs.

The fore most limbs are relatively spindly and long, with one joint that acts as an elbow, but which reflexes in the opposite direction of the rest of the limbs, each forelimb has four digits which extend from a narrow wrist with no real palm of the hand. An unremarkable shoulder half a metre behind the base of the neck and just beneath the winged limbs connects the fore limbs to the body, when these limbs are folded against the body the ‘elbows’ rest at the base of the neck bending upwards, the rest of the longer forearms lie along the bodies length.

The middle and hind limb pairs are much stockier and are less than half the length of the fore limbs. Each of these walking limbs extends four toes which end in a sort of hoof, these limbs fold up either side of the body when in flight, with a knee joint bending towards the posterior and the toes projecting forwards along the same axis as the lower part of the limb.

The back undulates between three sets of paired peaks which are the major flight muscle groups, the first and minor pair jut out in a dorsal fashion at the base of the neck, with the great pair just sitting posterior, beneath this major mounds are the wing limbs which just rest above the forelimbs, the final set of flight muscle pairs occur another half metre down above the mid limbs.

The wing set consist of two major wings with span of 5 metres in adult (a little less in males), and immediately behind these a set of minor wings perhaps with a span of just over two metres. Both of these sets of flight limbs share a complex common shoulder, with the major wings anterior in the joint of the minor wings.

The posterior projection over the hind limbs is muscled and can be flexed its major function is for balance in flight, though it also is used as a rest when the creature is standing on hind limbs.

The neck although double curved is not longer than just over half a metre, it is extremely prehensile affording the head near 360 degree turning ability with a great range of angles around the plane of rotation.

The head is long and broad at the neck with jaw muscles, the head is wedge shaped, though the front is quite without point, a familiar jaw structure is observed with a set of upper and lower jaws, containing not teeth but inter-digitating ridges, the mouth is not very broad, only the same width as the snout of the head, about fifteen centimetres or so. Situated half way along the top surface of the head there are two wide nostrils, which run over 5 centimetres long and 3 centimetres wide, these can be pulled closed by muscle sets, a spinctered muscle set in the roof of the mouth opens another route into the respiratory tract which lies quite separately of the alimentary canal.

The head also has familiar sense organs at the peak of the head, to either side are wide eyes, which allow for good all round vision, and behind these are sunken pits of the ears, though their internal workings are very different from human physiology.

The excretory orifice if located between the mid and hind limbs, and lie posterior to the external reproductory organs, which are not clearly defined in external appearance generally, but form a shallow groove.

The whole body is covered with a fine and short fur, which is more velvety than proper fur, the only exceptions are on the hind and mid limbs which are more densely furred especially around the toes. The fore limb digits lack a prominent hoof, and are also furred more, though in modern times this hair is often cut back.

The body length as a whole is just under two metres at adult form, with a mass of about sixty kilograms, there are few definite external differences between male and female, but the females tend to be larger and broader massing up to eighty kilos. There are no great morphological changes during the entire lifecycle though fur colour usually changes between infant and adult, with the adults displaying a far greater range in colour and pattern.