Horse wolf
| Horsewolf | |
|---|---|
| File:Direwolf.png | |
| Drawing of a horse wolf doing battle with an mounted horseman. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia
|
| Phylum: | Chordata
|
| Class: | Mammalia
|
| Order: | Carnivora
|
| Family: | Carnivora
|
| Genus: | Canis
|
| Species: | C.Giganticus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Canis Giganticus Hylfred Görenssen, 1785
| |
| File:Horsewofl habitation.png | |
| Dark brown: Habitat, light brown: former habitat. | |
The horsewolf is one of the earliest documented animals tamed by Scanderans for the usage in warfare and have been depicted in runestones that pre-dates even the first migrations. However with the domistication of the horse did the horse wolf lose much of it's importance as it was quickly replaced as a mount everywhere but in the light cavalry, amongst the scouts and the most conservative of lords.
Despite that so is the horsewolf still seen as a symbol of glory and honour amongst Scandera and they are commonly featured in statues, on heraldries and in holy scriptures.
Etymology
Strangely enough so is the horsewolf not named horsewolf or "Hästaulf" in Imerian but rather so is it named "ulf frände" or "wolf friend" or to be more precise the domesticated animals are known as "ulf frände" while wild animals are called "ulf best" or "wolf beast" and despite being from the same race so does the race carry two names. This is also noted in Hylfred's book where he actually describes them as separate species calling them Canis Giganticus in the case of the domesticated variant while the wild animals were just referred to as Canis brutum.
This remained as a fact until the race were given the standardised name Canis giganticus in the early 20th century.
History
Amongst the historical animals that has been domesticated so is the horse wolf one of the most important in military history at least as it for ages before the migration wars was the mount of choice for Scanderan mounted warriors on the northern iceplains. Mounted warriors were used in large numbers in the battles against the wharen empire by the species northern coalition and later on their southern allies as they all battled for control of the southlands against the wharen.
While it was replaced by horses as a horse could carry a heavier weight in the heavy cavalry so were it still kept in use amongst the light cavalry and scouts that favoured it's mobility and speed.
While the humans moved south so did they bring their wolves with them however so were it rare that they were able to escape so the animals did luckily not spread to the wild there, instead so have the traditional habitat actually shrunk a bit as it used to be wild horse wolves living in the Karmanjakan pass even if they were all hunted to extinction there by local shepherds and farmers that did not like the threat to their livestock by wild wolves.
Taxonomy
Just as most Scanderan animals so were the horse wolf first written about in a modern scientific manner by Hylfred Görenssen in the late 18th century. Instead of as it is categorised today so did Hylfred separate it into a tame and a wild species and said that if a domesticated wolf escaped did it turn into a wild one over time and wise versa. However there is a interesting history to note as he assumed that the wild species could not mate with the domesticated species even if it was common knowledge that they could. This was however changed in his second edition of the book where he also spent a chapter first apologising for the error and then defending his words, something that he did not regret when people complained over this.
Anatomy and health
The horsewolf is almost identical to a Scanderan grey wolf in all regards but their fangs and their size. As for their size so is a horsewolf the size, as the name implies, of a horse and it has a strong enough back to allow a mounted rider to ride it over long distances even if it cannot carry equipment if it does.
The second difference is it's long fangs that are positionally longer than the ones worn by their smaller cousins.
Reproduction
When a horsewolf mates so does it do so for life and only takes a new mate if it's old one is dead. A litter of kids is often three pups large that the female carries over five months. It takes about a year for the pup to grow up into an adult and is driven from the pack.
Diet
The horsewolf is a predator that hunts for food and it prefers large animals as mammoths, rhinos, lions, deers, Shagrats, moose, Muskox and bisons.
Behaviour
Just as its smaller cousins so is the horsewolf a pack animal but it is used to live in much smaller packs than it's cousins and a horsewolf pack does often only consist of three pairs and their pups. Once the pups have grown up so are they all sent out and often do they travel the northern iceplains where they join up with other new packs and mates for the first time with their new mate.
When they hunt so does the wolf as it's smaller brothers often single out weaker individuals and separates them from the herd before it moves in for the kill.
Life expectancy
A horsewolf can grow up to be 30 years old.
