Fauna | Simon's CA-Archive23

The following websites are used as sources: Pern Fandom

The following lists are not the entirety of Pernese fauna. However, these are mentioned canonically or were added to fill out the world. Additionally, the majority of Pernese biodiversity occurs in the oceans and most native land animals are insects, crustaceans, and related creatures.

Native Avians

Gryphhawk: An avian that resembles a wherry but has proper feathers and is a little larger than a fire-lizard. They are trainable and are often used as hunting companions.

Wherry: An avian that looks like a downy raptor with an additional pair of limbs in the form of membranous wings. Wild wherries taste more gamy while domesticated wherries taste similar to Terran fowl.

Native Insects

Flyby: A gnat-like insect.

Trundlebug: An insect native to the Southern Continent that consumes parasites and acts as a pollinator. They have elaborate color camouflage and release a nasty smell in self-defense.

Rockmite: A water-dwelling beetle.

Roller: A wood louse.

Sandworm: An armored Thread-eating worm that lives near Igen Hold.

Scatid: A burrowing insect smaller than a human thumbnail.

VTOL: A harmless flying insect named for its ability to perform vertical take-offs and landings.

Native Reptiles

Fire-Lizard: A bird-sized, dragon-like telepathic, empathic, and teleporting reptile which lives in groups (“fairs”) and has a bee-like hierarchy. Individuals are one of five colors (gold, bronze, brown, blue, or green) which indicates their sex and place in the hierarchy. Tamed fire-lizards act as pets and messengers.

Snake: An omnivorous vermin with six limbs (feet or paddles). Most are inedible, apart from the tunnel snake, and some species have a venomous bite. There are three families of snakes: the amphibious sand snakes, the land-dwelling tunnel snakes, and the aquatic water snakes.

Whersport: An unintelligent porcine-sized dragon-like species related to fire-lizards. Domesticated whersports are bred for food.

Native Sealife

Bordo/Packtail: A deep-sea fish covered in spines and slime that can cause infections if it gets into an open wound. It is often grilled or smoked, and its slime can be used to clean fire-lizards.

Fingertail: A fish.

Rainbow: A fish.

Redfin: A fish that is often made into steaks.

Spiderclaw: A shellfish that looks like a many-legged crab. It is often smoked, salted, or dried.

Whitefish: A fish that is often eaten fresh, salted, smoked, or pickled.

Yellowstripe: A fish.

Imported/Engineered Avians

Bird-of-Prey: A catch-all term to describe eagles, falcons, and hawks.

Game Bird: A catch-all term used to describe geese, pheasants, quail, and turkeys.

Fowl: A catch-all term used to describe chickens and ducks.

Songbird: A catch-all term used to describe doves, pigeons, and other songbirds.

Imported/Engineered Insects

Grub: A relative to the Igen sandworm engineered to better consume burrowing Thread. They also help plants grow by consuming harmful insects.

Imported/Engineered Mammals

Canine: A term used to describe dogs. The most common working breeds are shepherd-like.

Cheetah/Lion: Metasynth-enhanced cheetahs and lions are a menace created by Ted Tubberman in a failed attempt at creating an exotic feline companion but in current times, are prized for their pelts. If they come too close to civilization, they are killed to prevent them from attacking humans, dragons, and livestock.

Draybeast: A catch-all term used to describe draft ponies, donkeys, llamas, mules, and oxen. They are used to pull carts or for other serious labor.

Feline: A term used to describe domestic cats.

Fox: Metasynth-enhanced foxes live on the Southern Continent. They are easily trained and bred as hunting companions.

Herdbeast: A catch-all term used to describe bovines, goats, porcines, and sheep. They are used for their meat, milk, and hides.

Runnerbeast: A term used to describe thoroughbred horses used by Runners and as leisure animals. The most common breeds resemble the Anglo-Arabian.

Imported/Engineered Reptiles

Dragon: A species engineered from fire-lizards as the primary defense against Thread. They are telepathic, telekinetic, and can teleport. They bond to a single rider at birth and stay with them until death.

Watch-Wher: A species engineered from fire-lizards as a secondary defense against Thread. They are moderately telepathic, empathic, and can teleport. They are primarily used as guard beasts or as helpers in mines as they see in infrared. They can bond to multiple riders and can switch allegiances even if their previous rider is alive.

Imported/Engineered Sealife

Deep Ones: A term used to describe metasynth-enhanced whales. While they are presumably telepathic and intelligent like shipfish, few have been able to communicate with them.

Minnow: An imported fish.

Shipfish: A term used to describe metasynth-enhanced dolphins. After some rediscoveries in the Ninth Pass, many work with sailors and are accompanied by Dolphineers.