14/6/2004 - The chakasa have the overall aspect of centaur-like felines, but we had to design a very complex pelvis for them, since they have a big prehensile tail and it just wouldn't work with standard feline bones; there are also other reasons, especially the fact they are designed with a very large pace for letting the newborn pass with little trouble during birth. See also comments by leonardo.

1. Backside view. Nothe the birth space, about twice as large as that of a Siberian tiger (the reference creature for the body size).

2. Upper side view of the sacrum coccyx and the full set of tail vertebrae.

3. Three quarters view of both parts. Note the insetrion point of the first tail vertebra: it looks odd and maybe a bit unnatural, but the huge coccyx is likely necessary to have enough space for muscles to attach on the bone. The muscles of the tail are supposed to be modeled after an elefant snout, and in effect the coccyx shape and surface is inspired by the front of an elephant's skull. It is also partly inspired to the birds/dinosaurs pelvis.

4. The end bone of the tail: a small "mace" with space all around for some organs it hosts and the ability to grow a sharp chitine horn.

5. The vertebrae (like those of the spinal column) are gripped to each other by an acetabulum and are quite different than the ones existing in nature. They are progressively different as the tail goes on, and the last vertebrae of the tail (6) are smaller and hold each other with a horseshoe-shaped acetabulum.

7. From the left: normal tail, tail with developed horn, tail with metallic weapon attached. The lower side of the tail has a furless area (not shown here) for better grasping.

(Click on the picture to enlarge.)