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Description
Scamandrith Developmental Milestones

1) Conception (usually in early Wibbernil)

2) Gestation & Incubation (2 ~ 2.5 A-months)

3) Eggs are in mother’s body for ≈ 1 A-month (Midwinter - early Elvernon). Spawning instinct kicks in; the male accompanies his mate to her place of birth; nest/nursery construction begins.

4) Eggs are laid (early Elvernon) in the nursery.

5) Eggs are tended by parents for ≈ 1 A-month (early Elvernon to mid-Blossom).

Hatching

Eggs hatch (mid-late Blossom). At hatching, the offspring are limbless, and possess feathery external gills on either side of the throat, in addition to a simple lateral-line system. The nasal gills are developed and functional as of hatching. “Intelligence” is minimal at this stage. Small nubs along the neck and the back of the head are present; these will develop into the head-crests. Chromatophores are present, but inactive; the offspring lack the neural/mental connections as well as the “motor control” required to manipulate them.

First A-Year of Life

—The offspring are fed worms, insects, mashed-up fruit, and other small, easy-to-eat foods by their parents, à la feeding fish in an aquarium.

—By the final third of the A-year, the offspring are usually “weaned”: they can hunt small invertebrates and feed off algae or fallen fruit independent of their parents assistance. Parents may still feed their children at this stage, especially if the nursery is located in an artificial pond/stream (such as would be found in scamandrith communities in human cities). Additionally—for the urban-dwelling scamandrith—live prey (small fish, insects, etc.) is released into the nursery for the children to be able to learn eat them on their own.

—Near the end of the first A-year, the head of the young scamandrit should undergo a noticeable increase in size, growing disproportionately large compared to the rest of the body.

—Common causes of death at this stage of development include contaminants in the water, improper aeration of the water, and failure to acquire sufficient nutrition. Developing the capacity to hunt independently is crucial for the infant’s neurological development. Failure to develop this capacity leads to a lack of neural stimulation, which can cause moderate to severe mental retardation, depending on the severity of said lack of stimulation.

Second A-Year of Life

—Very early on, the chromatophores should display activity. Color flashes tend to be wild and erratic at first, but grow more regular over the ensuing months. The appearance of a scamandrith child’s “colors” (chromoemotive displays) is an important cultural rite of passage; among other things, it only happens to those children who have survived their first A-year of life. If chromatophoric activity fails to appear, it is virtually guaranteed that the child will soon die.

—The arms begin to develop; the legs’ development begins shortly thereafter, although there will be a gap in the relative growth rates for the remainder of the A-year (i.e., for the second A-year, the arms tend to be longer, stronger, and more well-developed than the legs.) The pelvis does not undergo much development at this stage, and so—consequently—the legs jut out from either side of the body (as it is with the larva of more ordinary amphibians)

—The “hugging” reflex appears, usually in the middle of the second A-year.

—The body elongates slightly, as well as expands perpendicularly to the dorsal-ventral axis.

—The head-crests begin to grow in, though they remain vestigial and immobile for the duration of the second A-year.

—The articulation of the head on the neck changes: the point of attachment of the neck to the head moves downward from the back of the skull toward the bottom of the skull. This process is usually completed two-thirds of the way through the A-year. At the same time (and as a consequence of this physical change) the child’s orientation/posture in the water undergoes a corresponding shift: the standard posture changes from a horizontal one to an obtuse “V” shape (with the torso as one “arm” of the V and the tail as the other arm of the V).

—Intelligence continues to grow throughout the second A-year; this tends to manifest in a general curiosity in things; a tendency to stop and observe, rather than to swim about, ever-engaged in the continual search for food.

—The child will take frequent naps; this is in contrast to the relatively strict diurnal circadian rhythm that they child possessed in its first year of life.

—A critical milestone in mental development is the set of behavioral changes that occur during the last third of the second A-year. In a healthy child, soon after the re-alignment of the head, neck, and body-posture is completed, the “bobbing” behavior will begin to manifest itself. This entails poking the top of the head (eyes and “ears”, especially) above the surface of the water for many minutes at a time, for purposes of observing their surroundings. Initially, the children are very skittish. They will quickly retract their heads back into the water upon sight of a sudden external movement and/or physical presence (such as that of their parents).

—It is critical that the parents remain unfazed by the bobbing behavior: specifically, by the fact that their children might, at first, seem utterly terrified of them. Eventually, the children will become accustomed to their parents’ presence, and will no longer re-submerge themselves out of fear at the sight of their parents. The parents must continue to talk (both to others, and to their children) and go about their daily business within eyesight of the nursery. It is at this period of development that the child develops its language skills; failure to provide adequate amounts of verbal stimulus will result in severe language impairment (both in speaking, and in comprehension).

—In general, the earliest memories of childhood a scamandrit can possess are set around this time.

—Failure to achieve adequate mental stimulation during the second A-year can lead to mental retardation, along with a large variety of other psychological disorders (autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, psychosis, and so on).

—A child-mortality bottlenecking point occurs once the bobbing behavior manifests itself: death from infection of the nasal passageways or gills due to overexposure to air is common among scamandrit children.

Third A-Year of Life

—Physical growth continues. Neotenic features and proportions give way to adult forms. The cartilaginous pelvis begins to solidify in a form suitable for a terrestrial bipedal posture. The legs undergo corresponding lengthening and strengthening. The tail becomes stronger and thicker.

—From the outset of the third A-year, mental capacity increases dramatically and continues to do so, unabated.

—Soon after the start of the third A-year of life, the external gills will be enclosed in a sac of skin that gradually absorbs the gills, changing them into internal lungs.

—As the lungs begin to form (soon after the sac has enclosed the external gills), there will come a point where the child will, virtually overnight, gain the ability to speak (the ability to expel air through its vocal chords). The first few weeks of the third A-year are dominated by a new addition to the bobbing behavior: incessant bouts of babbling/talking. The child will fully project their head and upper body out of the water when “bobbing”. Initially, they will have to return under water soon after, as their lungs are still not strong enough to provide them with sufficient oxygen from the air. Once the lungs develop sufficiently, the child will no longer suffer from this inhibition.

—The first half of the third A-year of life is a very dyadic time of the child. The child will alternate between periods of boisterous, irresistibly adorable activity and periods dominated by sleep. This is especially true for the bouts of bobble-babbling; periods of great exertion and energy are followed by recuperative periods underwater, in which the child begins to experience the underwater trance state characteristic of relying on their nasal gills to satisfy their oxygen demands underwater. The circadian rhythm of the child’s sleep cycle will almost completely disappear for the first half of year, becoming regular again only after quite a bit of time has passed after the time that the lungs attain full functionality.

—The period of development spanning the beginning of speech to the resumption of a normal circadian cycle (at about 60% of the way through the A-year) has the highest frequency of child mortality aside from the first few weeks following hatching. In general, scamandrith children that survive all the way to the start of their fourth A-year usually survive to adulthood (barring random accidents, disease, and misfortune).

Fourth A-Year of Life

—The child’s first excursion onto dry land should have occurred by a third of the way through the fourth A-year.

—Psychologically and mentally, by their fourth A-year, a scamandrith child is now at an equal (if not slightly superior) state of mental development as human/eloei and manû children of the same age.

Description
Scamandrith Developmental Milestones

1) Conception (usually in early Wibbernil)

2) Gestation & Incubation (2 ~ 2.5 A-months)

3) Eggs are in mother’s body for ≈ 1 A-month (Midwinter - early Elvernon). Spawning instinct kicks in; the male accompanies his mate to her place of birth; nest/nursery construction begins.

4) Eggs are laid (early Elvernon) in the nursery.

5) Eggs are tended by parents for ≈ 1 A-month (early Elvernon to mid-Blossom).

Hatching

Eggs hatch (mid-late Blossom). At hatching, the offspring are limbless, and possess feathery external gills on either side of the throat, in addition to a simple lateral-line system. The nasal gills are developed and functional as of hatching. “Intelligence” is minimal at this stage. Small nubs along the neck and the back of the head are present; these will develop into the head-crests. Chromatophores are present, but inactive; the offspring lack the neural/mental connections as well as the “motor control” required to manipulate them.

First A-Year of Life

—The offspring are fed worms, insects, mashed-up fruit, and other small, easy-to-eat foods by their parents, à la feeding fish in an aquarium.

—By the final third of the A-year, the offspring are usually “weaned”: they can hunt small invertebrates and feed off algae or fallen fruit independent of their parents assistance. Parents may still feed their children at this stage, especially if the nursery is located in an artificial pond/stream (such as would be found in scamandrith communities in human cities). Additionally—for the urban-dwelling scamandrith—live prey (small fish, insects, etc.) is released into the nursery for the children to be able to learn eat them on their own.

—Near the end of the first A-year, the head of the young scamandrit should undergo a noticeable increase in size, growing disproportionately large compared to the rest of the body.

—Common causes of death at this stage of development include contaminants in the water, improper aeration of the water, and failure to acquire sufficient nutrition. Developing the capacity to hunt independently is crucial for the infant’s neurological development. Failure to develop this capacity leads to a lack of neural stimulation, which can cause moderate to severe mental retardation, depending on the severity of said lack of stimulation.

Second A-Year of Life

—Very early on, the chromatophores should display activity. Color flashes tend to be wild and erratic at first, but grow more regular over the ensuing months. The appearance of a scamandrith child’s “colors” (chromoemotive displays) is an important cultural rite of passage; among other things, it only happens to those children who have survived their first A-year of life. If chromatophoric activity fails to appear, it is virtually guaranteed that the child will soon die.

—The arms begin to develop; the legs’ development begins shortly thereafter, although there will be a gap in the relative growth rates for the remainder of the A-year (i.e., for the second A-year, the arms tend to be longer, stronger, and more well-developed than the legs.) The pelvis does not undergo much development at this stage, and so—consequently—the legs jut out from either side of the body (as it is with the larva of more ordinary amphibians)

—The “hugging” reflex appears, usually in the middle of the second A-year.

—The body elongates slightly, as well as expands perpendicularly to the dorsal-ventral axis.

—The head-crests begin to grow in, though they remain vestigial and immobile for the duration of the second A-year.

—The articulation of the head on the neck changes: the point of attachment of the neck to the head moves downward from the back of the skull toward the bottom of the skull. This process is usually completed two-thirds of the way through the A-year. At the same time (and as a consequence of this physical change) the child’s orientation/posture in the water undergoes a corresponding shift: the standard posture changes from a horizontal one to an obtuse “V” shape (with the torso as one “arm” of the V and the tail as the other arm of the V).

—Intelligence continues to grow throughout the second A-year; this tends to manifest in a general curiosity in things; a tendency to stop and observe, rather than to swim about, ever-engaged in the continual search for food.

—The child will take frequent naps; this is in contrast to the relatively strict diurnal circadian rhythm that they child possessed in its first year of life.

—A critical milestone in mental development is the set of behavioral changes that occur during the last third of the second A-year. In a healthy child, soon after the re-alignment of the head, neck, and body-posture is completed, the “bobbing” behavior will begin to manifest itself. This entails poking the top of the head (eyes and “ears”, especially) above the surface of the water for many minutes at a time, for purposes of observing their surroundings. Initially, the children are very skittish. They will quickly retract their heads back into the water upon sight of a sudden external movement and/or physical presence (such as that of their parents).

—It is critical that the parents remain unfazed by the bobbing behavior: specifically, by the fact that their children might, at first, seem utterly terrified of them. Eventually, the children will become accustomed to their parents’ presence, and will no longer re-submerge themselves out of fear at the sight of their parents. The parents must continue to talk (both to others, and to their children) and go about their daily business within eyesight of the nursery. It is at this period of development that the child develops its language skills; failure to provide adequate amounts of verbal stimulus will result in severe language impairment (both in speaking, and in comprehension).

—In general, the earliest memories of childhood a scamandrit can possess are set around this time.

—Failure to achieve adequate mental stimulation during the second A-year can lead to mental retardation, along with a large variety of other psychological disorders (autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, psychosis, and so on).

—A child-mortality bottlenecking point occurs once the bobbing behavior manifests itself: death from infection of the nasal passageways or gills due to overexposure to air is common among scamandrit children.

Third A-Year of Life

—Physical growth continues. Neotenic features and proportions give way to adult forms. The cartilaginous pelvis begins to solidify in a form suitable for a terrestrial bipedal posture. The legs undergo corresponding lengthening and strengthening. The tail becomes stronger and thicker.

—From the outset of the third A-year, mental capacity increases dramatically and continues to do so, unabated.

—Soon after the start of the third A-year of life, the external gills will be enclosed in a sac of skin that gradually absorbs the gills, changing them into internal lungs.

—As the lungs begin to form (soon after the sac has enclosed the external gills), there will come a point where the child will, virtually overnight, gain the ability to speak (the ability to expel air through its vocal chords). The first few weeks of the third A-year are dominated by a new addition to the bobbing behavior: incessant bouts of babbling/talking. The child will fully project their head and upper body out of the water when “bobbing”. Initially, they will have to return under water soon after, as their lungs are still not strong enough to provide them with sufficient oxygen from the air. Once the lungs develop sufficiently, the child will no longer suffer from this inhibition.

—The first half of the third A-year of life is a very dyadic time of the child. The child will alternate between periods of boisterous, irresistibly adorable activity and periods dominated by sleep. This is especially true for the bouts of bobble-babbling; periods of great exertion and energy are followed by recuperative periods underwater, in which the child begins to experience the underwater trance state characteristic of relying on their nasal gills to satisfy their oxygen demands underwater. The circadian rhythm of the child’s sleep cycle will almost completely disappear for the first half of year, becoming regular again only after quite a bit of time has passed after the time that the lungs attain full functionality.

—The period of development spanning the beginning of speech to the resumption of a normal circadian cycle (at about 60% of the way through the A-year) has the highest frequency of child mortality aside from the first few weeks following hatching. In general, scamandrith children that survive all the way to the start of their fourth A-year usually survive to adulthood (barring random accidents, disease, and misfortune).

Fourth A-Year of Life

—The child’s first excursion onto dry land should have occurred by a third of the way through the fourth A-year.

—Psychologically and mentally, by their fourth A-year, a scamandrith child is now at an equal (if not slightly superior) state of mental development as human/eloei and manû children of the same age.