Vespoid

Vespoid Temporal range: 0.85–0 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ Calabrian – Recent
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Suborder:	Haplorhini
Infraorder:	Simiiformes
Family:	Hominidae
Subfamily:	Homininae
Genus:	Homo
Species:	H. veskoyanensis
Binomial name
Homo veskoyanensis TBD, XXXX Ʋ
Homo veskoyanensis population density
Synonyms
Homo sapiens veskoyanensis (TBD, XXXX Ʋ)

Vespoids (Homo veskoyanensis or Homo sapiens veskoyanensis) are an extant species of the genus Homo, native to the continent of Vesperia. Together with modern humans (Homo sapiens), chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans, vespoids are a part of the family Hominidae, commonly known within the scientific community as the great apes or hominids. Vespoids are distinguished from humans by their greater physical height, weight, and muscle mass, being the more robust of the two extant hominid species on the planet. As with humans, vespoids are a superior form of terrestrial animal, capable of the manual dexterity necessary for the usage of tools, as well as possessing an erect posture and bipedal locomotion. Furthermore, vespoids also have the ability to use a wield and nearly open-ended variety of languages for communication within one another, allowing for the formation of organized societies.

The earliest known fossils for the vespoids have been dated back from 850,000 to 1.2 million years ago, possibly making the vespoids one of the oldest known hominids on the planet, and currently the eldest of the two extant branches of the subtribe Hominina. Vespoids began to exhibit evidence of behavioral modernity approximately 70,000–100,000 years ago, and began to spread across the Vesperian continent and some of the surrounding islands in the far east. Evolving on the arid continent of Vesperia millennia ago, vespoids have a completely distinct heritage from their human neighbors, with the only bond between them being their shared ancestry through the genus Homo. Compared to modern humans, vespoids are taller, stronger, and more aggressive, likely tied to their adaptation to the harsh climate and predatory wildlife of the continent.

The global vespoid population was estimated to be near 3.2 billion in 5996 Ʋ.

Biology

Anatomy and physiology

Vespoids differ significantly from modern humans in that they possess a vastly more robust physical build, being several times stronger and taller than the average modern human adult. The vespoid body consists of a torso with two arms, two legs, and a head connected to the rest of the body by a neck. They possess black hair and dark brown skin with a somewhat pale coloration, which is the physical norm for all members of the population. The color of vespoid skin purely genetic rather than environmental, with the levels of melanin in the skin remaining the same regardless of their latitudinal location or exposure to UV radiation from the sun. The average vespoid adult consists of approximately 115 trillion cells, approximately 15% more than in modern humans on account of the greater physical size of the vespoids. Vespoid bodies are divided into a nervous, cardiovascular, circulatory, digestive, endocrine, immune, integumentary, lymphatic, musculoskeletal, reproductive, respiratory, and urinary system.

Vespoids are physically larger than their modern human counterparts and naturally predisposed to advanced muscle growth; though within the population itself, vespoid females are significantly larger, stronger, and heavier than their male counterparts, and consequently take on the majority of the different and dangerous responsibilities within their population. The average height for an adult vespoid male is 198.12 cm (6 ft 6 in), while the average height for an adult vespoid female is 218.44 cm (7 ft 2 in), though some females - particularly those to the warrior caste known as the vakoranin - are known to be as tall as 230.14 cm (7 ft 6 in). The average mass of an adult vespoid male is 100 kg (220 lbs), while the average mass for an adult vespoid female is 181.4 kg (400 lbs). Vespoids are capable of growing even larger in height and mass depending upon the circumstances of their environment and upbringing, with the majority of the growth directed toward conflict and domination. Evolutionary biologists believe these changes to be linked to the potential that vespoids grew as a race geared toward conflict, much of which has defined their people down into the modern day. As with all specimens, the height and weight of the individual vespoid is determined by their diet and environment; though as a rule of thumb, vespoids are generally always the tallest and strongest members of any population they are apart of.

Vespoid females possess larger wombs relative to their size compared to modern humans, and have somewhat larger birth canals to facilitate an easier birth during pregnancy. Vespoid infants are similar in size to modern human infants, which when factoring in the larger wombs and birth canals of adult vespoid females, means that childbirth tends to be a much easier and faster process among the vespoids. While vespoid fetuses are born with the same disadvantages as possess by modern human fetuses, such as their reliance on upon caregivers for survival, they mature at a much faster rate allowing a vespoid child to advance to adulthood without the same penalties found in their human cousins. Another major difference is the lack of a menopause period and infertility towards the end of life among vespoid woman. Rather, vespoid females remain fertile and can continue to give birth all the way up until the end of their lives, though the number of births and health of the offspring will vary greatly depending upon the health of the mother. They also do not go through the costly menstrual cycle which results in the loss of healthy eggs. The mother controls the formation of the thick wall lining for the uterus prior to fertilization through an act known as spontaneous decidualization; as long as the mother wills it, fertilized eggs will not be to able to connect to the wall, and will be destroyed and absorbed into the body should a pregnancy not be achieved.

Due to the hostile nature of their desert homeland, vespoids have developed a strong tolerance to dry and arid climates. Among their strengths in desert environments is their ability to go without hydration for an extended period of time. The average vespoid can survive for approximately one week before succumbing to acute dehydration. Furthermore, vespoids are less prone to the negative biological effects of UV radiation exposure, such as melanoma and cataracts, as well minor physical harm in the form of premature aging and skin damage. Conversely, vespoids are not built for cool weather; cold climates is considered distressing and intolerable at times for vespoids, and they actively seek to avoid arctic or sub-arctic climates whenever possible. Vespoids possess unique eye colors not found among the wider modern human population. The irises of vespoids are a fiery orange color, with deep black pupils, and accentuating black circles around the edges of the iris; when combined with the sometimes wide-eyed stare vespoids make when angered, give what some deem a distributing gaze which produces unease in the recipient. It is believed that is was an evolutionary development which may have been useful in the dominance-oriented society of the early vespoids, primarily among females attempting to court males.

Vespoid hair boasts a nearly pure black pigmentation, linked to the high levels of black eumelanin in the hair follicles resulting in a near-universal lack of hair color variation among the population. The hair retains this black colorization throughout the life of the Vespian, as the decay period for the eumelanin - though constant as with all other races - is not rapid enough to break down the pigmentation within the lifespan of the vespoid individual. As a direct consequence, vespoids generally do not possess large-scale greying of their hair, with only sections of their hair suffering from discoloration with age. Vespoid hair is naturally curly; possessing a silky, glossy appearance with females, and a somewhat coarse look and feel with males throughout the life of the individual. Their hair tends to be thick and possess strong roots, growing in more voluminously and with a dark brown or black coloration. Males grow the majority of their hair on their heads and faces, and with light hair on their arms and legs and around the genitals; though they are incapable of growing underarm hair or hair anywhere else on their bodies. Females grow much longer hair from their heads and are capable of growing underarm hair, while their pubic hair is far more prone to growth than their males. As with the males, vespoid females are incapable of growing hair anywhere else beyond these locations.

Life cycle

As is the case with modern humans, Vespoid reproduction begins through the act of internal fertilization via sexual intercourse, during which time a male vespoid will impregnate a female vespoid after she has allowed ovulation to take place within her uterus. Sperm from the male will be deposited into the vagina via ejaculation, and the sperm will proceed to travel through the vagina and cervix, and into the uterus where fertilization of the ovum is accomplished. Once this has been completed, the ovum will settle into the thickened walls of the uterus, where gestation will begin. The zygote divides within the uterus to become an embryo, a process which takes a period of 38 weeks (9 months) of gestation to become a fetus. At this point, the fully-formed fetus will be birthed from the mother's body begins to breathe independently as an infant. Unlike the majority of modern human societies, within vespoid culture the concept of personhood is extended to the fetus at the moment of conception, with full protection under the law. Vespoids have the highest rate of multiple births in the world, likely a consequence of the high infant mortality rates experienced by the race, and the need to ensure that as many viable offspring as possible from the mother survive gestation. Nearly a third of all vespoid births are twins, while a approximately a sixth of births are triplets or quintuplets.

Childbirth among the vespoids is somewhat easier than among modern humans, due primarily to the physical differences of females belonging to the two races. Female vespoids are the largest extant hominids in the world in terms of physical size; however, their pelvis, cervices, and vaginal canals are larger in size, and better equipped to deal with the passage of a newborn child from the vagina than a modern human female. Labor is not as painful and much easier to cope with, though the actual birth of the infant remains a painful experience though less akin to hazardous and sometimes lethal births witnessed among modern humans. Due to these differences among vespoid females as well as the small size of the vespoid fetus, natural childbirth remains the most common form of birth among vespoid societies, less likely to result in the death or permanent physical harm of the mother during the process of giving birth to the offspring. Maternal deaths among vespoids prior to the advent of modern medical technologies were and still are the lowest in the world. Infant mortality tends to be much higher in contrast, due to the hostile environment for the vespoid homeland, as well as the violent behavior of female vespoids toward the children of rival mothers within the polygamous marriages of their race.

Birth weights for vespoid infants tend to be relatively uniform throughout the world though only slightly higher than that of infants among modern humans; vespoid infants typically weigh 4–5 kg (9–11 lbs) and 60–70 cm (24–28 in) in height at birth. Low birth weights are uncommon and generally linked to an extreme deficit of nutrition in the mother, a rarity outside of times of war or famine. As with modern human infants, vespoid infants are helpless at birth and require constant supervision until they have grown enough to support or at the very least care for their own basic needs. Vespoids develop physically at a much faster rate than modern humans, typically reaching sexual maturity by 9 years of age and physical maturity by 13 years of age. The 8–10 year period of time between sexual and physical maturity within modern humans known as adolescence, does not exist within the vespoid population. Rather, due to the evolutionary need by female vespoids to reproduce rapidly with the few males in their population to sustain the race, vespoids needed to be fertile and ready to give birth and provide for their offspring as quickly as possible, cutting out the period of growth modern humans typically devote to learning and developing emotionally. The consequence of this is that vespoids undergo a series of rapid and often painful growth spurts within a short period of time, and are less developed emotionally than modern humans, making them prone violent behavior and having less control over their base desires, such as anger, lust, and hunger.

Vespoid females do not undergo the process of menopause, remaining fertile throughout the duration of their lives. Whereas menopause within modern humans is believed to be a consequence of allowing reproductive success and more investment of time and resources into existing offspring, the lack of menopause within vespoid females is believed to be linked to the need to allow for a constant supply of new offspring to replace those lost to the high mortality rate of vespoids. Furthermore, it is also believed that a longer fertility window in vespoid females would allow for a greater chance in conceiving and carrying to term male offspring, due to the lack of male vespoids in the general population. Likewise related is the process of spontaneous decidualization, which allows a vespoid female to determine when to allow the walls of her uterus to thicken prior to fertilization of her eggs. Eggs which are not fertilized are not passed from the body during a menstrual cycle, but instead broken down and absorbed into the body. This ability to control the fertilization process naturally meant that the requirement for an evolutionary "check" on the birth rate was unnecessary, as vespoid females could switch between giving birth and focusing on the needs of gathering food and defending their families. The majority of child-rearing was, and to a degree still is, the responsibility of vespoid males who given their scarcity of numbers, are confined to the home and cared for by the females out biological necessity.

Behavior

Gender roles

Main articles: Ruhohun, Juvahun, and Juhunosa

Among vespoids sexual division of local and social norms is based around the superior physical strength of females and the scarcity of males within the population. Females handle virtually all of the physical labor, industrial work, military occupations, and menial tasks required within modern society, while males are allotted responsibilities with little risk or harm, such as major leadership roles, child-rearing, and clerical duties. As it is the biological imperative of vespoid females to ensure the safety and security of their males, a vespoid code of chivalry known as juhunosa has existed throughout the majority of their race's recorded history. This chivalric code demands of vespoid woman their difference to the needs and considerations of their male counterparts, whose survival is paramount to both their people and their civilization. Somewhat similar to the code of chivalry found among non-vespoid civilizations, juhunosa proscribes that vespoid females not harm a male or a child of their race, protect them from danger, and care for their needs insofar as the female is capable of rendering such service to them. Conversely, very little is required of male vespoids. They are only ever expected to perform one of three tasks to the best of their ability: guide their families in an upright manner and bring glory to their god, father many children with their various wives to maintain the population of their people, and ensure that the children placed in their care are raised to become responsible members of vespoid society.