FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Sub species

There are many different kinds of fennix, the general red and yellow variant vastly outnumbers any others. Usually this standard fennix prevents any sub species from properly settling and reproducing, unless the new variant migrates to another area unsuitable for the mundane fennix. It was difficult to study these sub species as some only exist on other planets, or far away from our preferred areas of deployment.

For information on the wreck rat fennix, as we've finally settled on calling it, check the second part of this manuscript. Information on the night stalker variant can also be found there.

• Snowflake fennix.

A playful name has been given to this mutation, as these fennix live in the Arctic, and love chasing snowflakes to entertain themselves. They appear in other cold areas as well, such as pine tree and birch forests. Their fur pattern is usually white as a primary colour, with light blue for secondary areas, such as the glowing tip of their tail. Uncommonly the colours can be reversed. In order to survive, these fennix have a thicker fur coat. This alone is unfortunately not enough to maintain the high body temperature of a fennix. In order to stay warm, these fennix will use their sludge to create small fires for keeping warm. They are likely to be found in caves, where they often drag in wood and other burnable materials0 to make the fire lasting longer. Compared to the normal fennix that has been seen to throw up when eating moss, the Snowflake fennix will often eat moss to create their flammable fuel. From observations of the normal fennix, it is clearly seen that they are displeased with the feeling of moss under their feet and in their mouth. Mundane fennix seems to prefer sand or grass beneath their paws. Snowflake fennix seems to really like mushrooms, and has often been seen willingly navigating risky mountain ledges to find their favourite kind of treat.

• Pink fennix

The name is simple, but the creature in question is not. My crew and I have observed a pink fennix in the distance on multiple occasions. The variant was always far away and we had to use my trusty spyglass or a set of binoculars in order to see it. This variant seems to be quite rare, and always alone. We have never seen it in the vicinity of other fennix. I've been very agitated lately, this is the only variant I haven't been able to study up close. I boil over in excitement when one of our spotters calls out. "There is the pink one!" I run to see for myself, just to writhe in my bed out of frustration the night after. It is distant and elusive, as if it was some kind of hallucination. We adjust our course, we change our plans, we drive straight towards the critter. It simply vanishes. In my head a plethora of theories have formed as to why, but I can never find an answer which satisfies me.

• Contagious fennix

Moss green and lime, these are the colours worn by this rather disgusting variant. They have a low life expectancy, but they won't lay down and rot until they have caused grief and suffering. The mutation which causes this species to emerge just about anywhere, has a high chance of occurring if a fennix is born from a diseased creature or an infested corpse. Minor conditions such as a cold yield no risk, the condition has to be quite severe, like a full blown cancer or a deadly flu. These fennix ooze their deadly sludge from their skin, they are actually covered in it, and their mutated bacteria cause them to emit a putrid smell. Their fur is sticky and wet, making them look rather unhealthy or rabid. These fennix have a hard time breeding parasitically because of this, luckily, this lowers the risk of another more terrifying variant to appear. This is because they usually kill the host before the parasitic fennix can develop, and the high amount of diseases involved usually kill the parasites as they can no longer enjoy the protection of their host. They will occasionally shake their torso, making sure there isn't too much sludge sticking to it. This causes their disease infested bacteria to spread easily. The bacteria are modified to harbour diseases, just being near one of these fennix is a great risk. They will not breathe fire, or set their own sludge aflame, as the risk is immense of igniting themselves.

• Anthropomorphic fennix

This variant is rare, but more known across the universe when compared to the normal fennix. The biggest problem with this sub species appearing, is the fact that when this mutation occurs, it often ends up being fatal to the fennix. Rapid bone growth is one of the problems, starvation is another. Another factor is that the fennix needs a host like an ape, or other anthropomorphic beings. These fennix can only be born out of parasitic scenarios initially, they can breed once developed. When they leave their host, and manage to survive, it is almost always because they have been picked up by some space voyager. In our lab, we had this peculiar mutation appearing after one of the scientists had an accident with a chimpanzee containing a parasite. But that is a tale for another day. They have no issues breeding or carrying out a full pregnancy like feral fennix. When they manage to survive in the wild, they will be rather primitive. It is possible to teach an anthropomorphic fennix the workings of the world without too much difficulty, as they are intelligent beings.

Lone mutations

A little information first. This section is about mutations that did not establish a sub-species, they are usually unable to reproduce naturally, or just so rare they only occurred a few times so far. In cases like this they just didn't manage to reproduce in time, or couldn't adapt to their environment. Lastly, a multitude gets stillborn, and will never see the light of day.

One of these peculiar fennix is the winged fennix. It is very unlikely for a fennix to adopt the flying capabilities of a winged host, which is probably why we have only seen this variant or its skeleton once. It is simply a fennix with feathery wings, the wings are of no value to the carrier. They are not big enough to carry the weight of the fennix, especially not seeing as the fennix carries a large amount of fuel in its body. The example of this mutation we had uncovered had multiple fractures in diverse locations. It was discovered near a cliff, we took our conclusions.

We had a weird result when growing a fennix inside of a snake. It had tried to take over the venomous capabilities of our snake, and ended up poisoning itself as the anatomy of the fennix was too different. It was not capable of adapting sufficiently to safely produce and store venom.

Another specimen is the armadillo fennix, this creature can unfortunately not survive the harsh desert conditions. It has a shell on its back, slowing the fennix down, and causing it to get exhausted more easily. It missed out on food and water because of this, and has a lot of trouble mating with the fennix when they meet up. We have only recorded one of these, as it was living in the wild, reaching an age of 2 years old. We only observed it for a week or so, the age is a rudimentary guess from one of our scientists.

We have discussed the giant fennix in part 3, now it is time to discuss their smaller counter part. There is a very small fennix, it is very vulnerable due to it's small size. Somehow this fennix had ended up in a beetle as it was being developed as a parasite. This is most likely because of the beetle swallowing the fennix from their previous dead host only moments after the host had been infected. It cannot breed with any other fennix, and does not even seem to be capable of producing any functional parasites, the limbs of the parasites are malformed and won't develop properly. It has trouble surviving as well. As soon as it leaves the tall grass or the oasis, it would get exposed to the harsh desert. Insects are not as easily aware of the dangers of attacking fennix, some of them do not hesitate to attack this small creature.