Smooth Operator/Species characteristics

NOTE: adding in some info about various species typically used in the furry genre. I will break this down into 2 headings per species. 1 is facts, facts about the species IRL. The other is society, how those facts would likely interact with the culture set in this world. (feel free to challenge on anything related to the culture portion.)

Also, if there is some form of social higherarchy in this culture broken down by species, it would be from top to bottom on this list. I am assuming land mammals only as those are the ones that technically meet the definition of "furry" the best. Will update this list if the story content happens to expand into sea creatures or birds in the future.

Large cats

Fact Large cats are largely considered the apex predatory land species. This is true by technicality, but in actuality it is polar bears who truly hold that position.

Culture Large cats are likely at the top of society, as lions are considered to be the top among the top the other large cat species are likely to imitate lionesses in their deferral to males and large cats are likely to value males more highly than any other species does. Even with this being the case though, as apex predators, they are likely to have more respect for males of a predatory species, more respect for male large cats, and the most respect for the exceedingly rare male lions.

Birth rates Large cats would have low birth rates, and thus the level to which they value males would be even higher.

Age of puberty

-Female, 13

-Male, 14

Lions

Facts

Lions already have a low birth rate of males compared to females. Lions typically live in communities of 1 male to up to 20 females (usually no less than 5 females.) Despite the male lions being larger and stronger, their job is to protect the lion pride's home while the females do all the hunting.

Culture

Lions' already low male to female ratio would have gotten even worse. As such, male lions would be such a seriously rare commodity it's a question as to whether or not there is even a single male lion in any given state or province. As such, female lions will look to other species for males. Female lions are likely the ones who set all of the cultural standards in this new society in regards to how males are treated since it is them society will have been looking to since even before this situation occurred they were a society with a low male birth rate. Being made the cultural standard will have elevated the position of lions even higher.

Other large cats

Facts

Other large cats typically do not practice any form of pair bonding. The male of a given cat species other than lion does not stick around the female he impregnates, and the female large cat raise their young on their own.

Culture

Other large cats will have had their culture affected the least out of all the animal species by the change to society and will seem the most capable of functioning in this new society since it fits well with the practices they already had. However, female large cats will likely get caught up naturally in the tendency to imitate lionesses and feel more of a duty to protect the rights of males. They are not a species that would make huge demands on males in the first place, and they would also likely enjoy the status boost they get in society from imitating the cultural leadership position that lionesses have.

Large Canines (non-domesticated types)

Facts

Canine species are considered significant predators who, by working in groups, can even out perform members of the large cats. However, no individual Canine could take on a large cat 1 on 1.

Culture

Wolves would be considered the most noble among the large Canines. Meanwhile, other large Canines would generally be seen as more threatening. Wolves would likely be viewed in the manner one might see a soldier or a police man, where as other large K-9s like hyenas or coyotes are more likely to be seen in the same way one would a gang of ruffians.

Birth rates

Canines would have the highest birth rate of any predatory species.

Age of puberty

-Females, late 12 - early 13

-Male, late 13 - early 14

Bears

Facts

Most bears are omnivores and eat both meat and plants alike. Due to this omnivorous status, this allows them to become the largest and strongest land animal. However, due to the way the classification system for orders of predators goes, this omnivorous status actually demotes them and keeps bears out of the position of apex predator despite the fact that any bear could easily destroy any large cat. There are three exceptions to the omnivorous status of bears though. One is the panda and another is the Koala, both of which are strictly an herbivore (and the koala also being an exception to bears being large and powerful.) The other is the polar bear, which is strictly a predator. As such, the polar bear is the true land animal apex predator, but is less famous for it due to being in a family of omnivores.

Culture

Bears, despite their powerful nature, would not have much interest in influencing the culture. Bears, however, would be known to strongly value their children. Mother bears are more protective of their children than any other species. A female bear would be the classic helicopter parent, and would advocate for their own child at every possible turn. They are the one species most likely to violate the cultural standard on allowing males to get away with even rape if the rape victim happened to be her child.

(there are also likely to be fewer bears population wise in this setting.)

NOTE: Koalas are a large exception to everything related to bears, and are better to be categorized with and regarded as though they were fast moving sloths from the herbivore section.

Birth rates

Female bears have some difficulty becoming pregnant. However, due to the less social nature of bears, they are the most likely to use a sperm bank to become pregnant. However, fertile females who do meet an actual male, while being a bit socially awkward about it, will really want to try to be impregnated by him. (they will be bashful about it though and want their sex to be as secret and private as possible.)

Age of puberty

- Females, late 13 - early 14

- Males, late 14 - early 15

Small wild Canines (AKA, foxes)

Facts Foxes and any other small-size non-domesticated Canines are typically burrowing species who hunt small animals. Foxes IRL can be raised as pets under certain strict standards, and they are known to be flexible in terms of whether they behave more like a cat or a dog. If a cat owner also has a fox, the fox will act like a cat. If a dog owner also has a fox, the fox will act like a dog. If someone owns a fox, but does not have any cats or dogs, the fox tends to behave in a way that's somewhere between a cat and a dog. Foxes prey on the same animals that cats do, but are superior hunters for the one fact that foxes can also burrow and they can dig up burrowing prey such as moles.

Another noteworthy thing about foxes IRL is that female foxes (also called vixens) are known for being quite vocal during sex.

Culture Foxes would likely be a physically active species known for being clever and creative in their problem solving. Having fewer males, the old stereotype of foxes being caniving will have largely disappeared and have been replaced with a reputation for being adaptable. However, with only female foxes, they will also likely be known for being seductresses and good at attracting males. Female foxes will likely know both from instinctual knowledge as well as being trained by their mothers how to best approach and attract a male, and how to non-awkwardly proposition them for sex in a way that does not violate this world's standards for not pressuring a male too hard. (being such an intelligent and highly adaptable species, they know how to get around the rules and get what they need)

Birth rates Fox birth rates will likely be no lower than those of their larger Canine cousins.

Age of puberty

-Female 11

-Male 12

Small cats (non-domesticated, AKA wild cats and bob cats)

Facts Small cats are a timid species that are the very definition of the middle of the food chain. They are very well adapted to escaping from larger predators while hunting small prey. Cats have excellent night vision, but the mechanism in the eye that gives them excellent night vision also harms their ability to see details. As a result, they become less able to see exactly what they are looking at but are very sensitive to motion. Small moving objects excite a cat's hunting instincts and cause them to instinctively pursue it.

Culture WIP (open for others to contribute)

Birth rates Cats have the highest birth rate of all predators. However, wild cats are more aloof and thus less likely to find each other at the appropriate times. Due to their mating habits rather than anything else, there are likely very few wild cats around.

Age of puberty

-Female 11

-Male 12

Domesticated Canine species (large)

Facts Canines in the form of wolves were among the first species domesticated by humans. Over the generations of selective breeding, selecting for loyalty and barking, which would warn the humans that there was something near, the domesticated wolves became what we now know as dogs.

In terms of comparing dogs to wolves, the behavior of domesticated dogs is mostly like an extended "puppy" phase. Older dogs still act like adult wolves, but their "puppy" phase is extended by several years by comparison to wolves.

Culture Larger dogs would be seen in a similar light to wolves, being noble protectors of the community like a police man. However, they would generally be taken less seriously in terms of leadership roles due to being seen as a more hyperactive and less mature equivalent to wolves. This would result in comparatively less respect, but this is only relatively speaking. The large dog would be seen in a similar light to a star of the football team who likes to party a lot, while the wolf would be seen as a star of the football team who is also very serious about their studies. Both are respected, but the wolf would be given a lot more respect.

Birth rates The birth rates of large dogs would be no different from wolves, but the easier life they would live would cause them to hit puberty slightly earlier.

Age of puberty

-Female 12

-Male 13

Domesticated Canine species (small)

Facts Small domesticated dogs are largely divided into two categories. Work dogs and toy dogs. The former category are usually in the category of hounds who are bred with a superior sense of smell and greater stamina for hunting than some of their larger cousins. Toy dogs tend to have strangely shaped ears, noses, or hair that grows in strange ways that is not so functional in practical application, and are meant for just being pets. There are also some places where the two cross, such as palmeranians which have several characteristics of toy dogs, but are actually bread in order to hunt rats on a farm and tend to do a better job of it than barn cats.

Culture Hounds and work dogs would be seen as the more serious working-man type role. It would be a lower class in society, but taken quite seriously. In some cases, more seriously than their large Canine cousins. The toy-dog varieties would be seen more like the vally-girl types. They have an attitude that will place them on the upper ends of the power scale most of the time just due to bombastically rolling over anyone who tries to challenge them, but nobody really takes them seriously.

Birth rates Their birth rates are still similar to the rest of the Canine species, but smaller size leads to even earlier puberty.

Age of puberty

-Female 11 (work dog) 10 (toy dog)

-Male 12 (work dog) 11 (toy dog)

Domesticated cat species

Facts Domesticated cats have lost a large amount of the skittishness characteristic of the wild varieties, but they are still quite timid compared to the likes of various K-9 species that never had an inherent timidness to begin with. Domesticated cats have the same eye structure that gives them excellent night vision at the expense of the ability to see objects in fine detail, as well as the hunting instinct triggered by moving objects. However, where the wild cats use this instinct for actual hunting and thus will be more likely to dismiss targets not interpreted as something they can eat, domesticated cats will attack almost any small moving object and will also hunt small animals even if they are not hungry due to their size and movement triggering the cat's hunting instinct.

Culture These are the more common variety of cats, and likely fill a roll typical to your standard white westerner IRL. They would be more likely to be middle class and are likely to hold opinions and standards of behavior that conform well to society. However, those cats who are in a comfortable middle class lifestyle are liable to be free to have some quirks.

Birth rates Cats have the highest birth rate of all predators, and due to the greater freedom possessed by the domesticated cats to act they can fully capitalize on this. Most small cat species are of the domesticated variety.

Age of puberty

-Female 11

-Male 12

Other small predators

Facts There are several other small-size carniverous species about, such as weasels and badgers, or also the sables which live in eastern Asia. Most of these smaller predators tend to be sneaky opportunistic hunters with a rather noteworthy tollerance for pain and often possess the ability to deform their bones in order to fit between gaps. In the case of the honey badger, their tollerance for pain has reached flat out legendary levels to the point they can keep going after events that would seriously injure most other animals.

Culture Small predators are generally not looked at in an extremely positive light. However, they are also not seen as extremely threatening like the large K-9s (other than wolves) are. They would be more like the gofers or stoodges of a gang to the Hienas or Cyoties who run it.

The major exception to this would be the sables who have a level of beauty in their appearance good enough for them to hold a position similar to foxes.

The honey badger is the exception in the other direction. They tend to have bad off-putting attitudes but in a fight they are incredibly scrappy and while something like a large cat could probably win in a fight they would rather stay out of it, because the honey badger would last long enough to do some damage. Only bears and apex herbavors such as elephants and hippos have a good chance of winning in a fight against a honey badger.

Birth rates Although they are predators, these animals are also often prey as well, mid-line on the food chain. As such, they often have a much higher birth rate than other predators. Of course, once again, the exception is the honey badger which could probably breed well if not for the fact that their bad attitudes tend to be off-putting to most males. It is strongly suspected that most of the honey-badger women who become pregnant may have raped young boys in order to become pregnant, and are looked at with suspicion.

Age of puberty

-Female: late 9 to early 10

-Male: late 10 to early 11

apex herbivores (elephants, hippos, and camels)

Facts Due to sheer size and the strength that comes with it, apex herbivores are no-one's prey. Not even bears or large cats will mess with them. While land-animals such as elephants and camels tend to be more docile in nature, the water-born hippos are very aggressive and territorial. All three of these types of animals tend to be very social, and travel in fairly large groups of their own species.

Culture The large herbivores would be seen in a similar respect to Bhudist Monks. They are not all that influential toward society, but it is largely agreed that you just do not mess with them. They are powerful, and they also tend to keep to their own.

With the possible exception of hippos, they would tend to largely go along with the cultural norms including that they would not harm a male even if he raped their daughter. However, said male would be marked by the entire apex herbivore community, and will be immediately shunned and shut out of their society. Absolutely no apex herbivore would even give them the time of day after such an incident, and he would be refused service at any store run by an apex herbivore.

Birth rates Due to nothing being able to threaten them, the apex herbavores tend to have the absolute lowest birth-rate of any species.

Age of puberty

-Female: 18 (20 for elephants)

-Male: 20 (22 for elephants)

Special addition Tortises are the same in every respect to large herbavores in terms of survivability and the resulting low birth rate, except that they get their survivability from their shells instead of their size. They are not as social as the apex herbavores, but due to their similar attitudes they would be accepted in any elephant or camel community, and due to their water-born living the hippos would not have much of a problem with them either. It would not be the slightest bit uncommon to see a tortise hanging around in an apex herbavore community.

(Birth rates and age of puberty are the same as apex herbivores)

rodent and lagomorph herbavores

Facts The rodent family (which includes everything from mice and squirrels to also include and gerbils) as well as the closely related lagomorph family (rabbits and hares) boast the absolute highest reproductive rate of any mammalian species. This is because the females of the species are literally ovulating almost exactly as frequently as other species are not ovulating. (as in, say, a human woman is ovulating for about 5 days out of a 30 day month. A female rodent would be ovulating for 25 days out of a 30 day month.) As such, rodents do not exactly experience heat cycles the same as most other animals do. Rather, they are just always ready to reproduce.

Culture Rodent species, due to their extremely high reproductive power, are likely to be the most populous species. While the sheer number of them likely hampers their social status, they are still considered important to the society because their large population means most of the males in the society will also be rodents just because of the numbers game. Predatory animals will likely prefer to have a male who is a member of a predatory species, but beggars can't be choosers.

Birth rates In addition to the female rodent's high reproductive ability and ease with which she gets pregnant, since rodents are a species classification primed for reproduction they are likely to become fertile the earliest of any species.

Age of puberty

-Female 8

-Male 9