Yinrih reproduce much like salmon. They are semelparous (only reproducing once in their lives) and exovoviviparous, which is a reproductive strategy not found on Earth.
Both female and male yinrih have a cloaca and lay eggs. Male and female eggs are externally similar, such that most languages do not differentiate between them in common speech, but both genders must contribute to a clutch in order to have a viable litter. Fertilization, as it were, begins when the male and female eggs are placed in a clutch together. The eggs meld together to form a complex structure called a womb nest. The womb nest possesses a simple heart and circulatory system, with a highly vascularized dermal layer for gas exchange.
Embryos form and grow within individual amnions that line the walls of the womb nest. Each amnion is attached to a central artery running down the center in a bus configuration. This arrangement is what gives interstellar womb ships their name.
Gestation takes about 144 Earth days. The process of emerging from the womb nest is called yeaning. Offspring are called kits from the time of conception until they are weaned, at which point they are called pups or puppies. Age is reckoned from the time of conception, and there is no concept of the firstborn. However, in very large litters, the kit closest to the heart gets more nutrients than the kits further away. The furthest kit tends to become a runt, and the closest may be quite big.
The number of parents can vary between two to twelve, as long as there are an equal number of mothers (called dams) and fathers (called sires). Each kit is a genetic combination of the contributing parents. Culturally, more is almost universally seen as better, to the point that accusing someone of having only one sire and dam is akin to calling someone inbred. LItter-size is proportional to the number of parents, with a surplus of 1.5 kits per parent being the usual statistic.
A group of yinrih parents is called a childermoot. Because they are semelparous and because reproduction does not involve physical contact, yinrih completely lack a libido, and regard their fellow parents more like fellow teachers in a school. The drive to reproduce instead manifests as broodiness, an overt desire to have and raise children.
There is no concept of marriage. A childermoot is only expected to remain together until the children are raised, which takes about 53 Earth years. One is expected to remain in the childermoot during this time, however, which gives rise to the phrase “You put your egg in this nest” meaning to make a long-term commitment.
Paternal care is much stronger in yinrih than it is in humans. Sires instinctively guard the womb nest as the kits gestate. In the wild, the womb nest was a target for ovoraptors as well as conspecifics from other groups seeking to keep the number of enemies down.
Kits come out of the womb nest blind and immobile, their eyes opening after a few days. Kits will nurse for a few years, licking milk sweated from their dams’ paws (sires do not lactate). This gives rise to the mild oath “By the palms that nursed me!” or simply “Palms!” to mean something like “oh wow!” or “holy crap!”
Yinrih do not recognize blood relationships beyond those between parent and child and between litter mates. Those relationships are extremely strong, however. Grandparents do not typically interact directly with their grand-pups, only doing so indirectly through interactions with their own children who are now parents. Childless adults, especially women, may play a special role in the lives of their siblings’ pups, usually as the ‘cool aunt’ who sugars them up and sends them home with a can of silly string and a noise maker.
Child rearing styles vary throughout place and time, but three strategies are common at the time of First Contact. All parents and the entire litter may share a single home, Parents may live singly, with each parent taking care of a few pups at a time in rotation, or lone parents may concentrate on the same few pups throughout their puppyhood, with the other parents and siblings being regarded as very involved aunts/uncles and cousins.
Bantalsa (they call themselves /Β˥˦Ωː˥Ωˑ˩/¹) are plant people. Some really old ones will turn into trees kind of like Tolkien’s ents do, getting much slower and bigger instead of dying. These trees are called sithe (/siːθ/, their word is /Βː˥˦Ω˦˥Η/), and they grow nuts that fall and grow in the ground into young bantalsa over a period of several months. The sprouts (babies) uproot themselves when they’re ready and are raised by the community. Sprouts only photosynthesize and drink water for several more months until after their teeth come in.
Bantalsa who think they’re ready to become sithe will travel from their home village in a group of around 20. The one who expects to turn, usually the oldest, gets to decide where the group stops, but they don’t have any particular destination in mind when they set off. When the group finds a good place, the oldest picks one spot and stops moving. The rest of the group prepares to build a new village around the new sithe, since it’s important to them to be able to pass on their culture to the next generation.
Most bantalsa will not ever reproduce. They have no sex, but some have adopted gender after learning it from other peoples who do.
Ornad are birds, usually about 4 feet tall. Males are a little smaller than females and have brighter feathers, but that’s the extent of ornad sexual dimorphism. They’re monogamous and females lay clutches of 1-2 eggs during mating season every couple of years. Eggs are fertilized externally, and both parents take turns brooding. Healthy eggs hatch about 2 1/2 months after fertilization. Chicks can start feeding themselves after 3-4 weeks. Ornad are considered adults when they first fly, around age 15.
¹I plan to expand on their language once i have a better understanding of their phonology and anatomy. For that i’ll probably have to build a model of their vocal apparatus. Here capital beta /Β/ is a buzzing whistle, approximated by humans as a glottal whistle. Capital omega /Ω/ is a clear whistle. Capital eta /Η/ is a squeak. This notation is compatible with the IPA.