Lonnum

Lonnum is a genus belonging to the class Lonniformia, before the arrival of human beings, almost all intellectual species of the 8th World belong to the genus Lonnum.

Species belonging to the genus Lonnus are called True Long-longs; while species that don't belong to the genus Lonnus but look like specimens of the genus are called Fake Long-longs.

There are only two surviving species: the Long-longs (Lonnum lonnum subsp. pilii or Lonnum lonnum x gongonga) and the Gong-gongs (Lonnum gongonga).

True long-longs have an upright stance and walk with hindlimbs(legs) and have a tail on their back; they are about 120cm~160cm tall; they have a flat, neotenous and somewhat human-like face without snouts and visible noses; however, as most animals belonging to the class Lonniformia, all true long-longs don't have pinnae; also, the sexual organs of true long-longs are covered by a layer of skin and muscles, they are only shown during copulation.

There are five stages of growth of all species belonging to the genus Lonnus: the first stage(also called The taka stage, a specimen in the first stage is called a taka, taka is pronunced as /tɑkɑ/), the second stage(also called The talkam stage, a specimen in the second stage is called a talkam, talkam is pronunced as /tɑɫkɑn/) , the third stage(also called The sakam stage, a specimen in the thrid stage is called a sakam, sakam is pronunced as /'sɑkɑm/) , the fourth stage(also called The sankel stage, a specimen in the fourth stage is called a sankel, sankel is pronunced as /sɑŋkəɫ/) and the fifth stage (also called The sankeye stage, a specimen in the fifth stage is called a sankeye, sankeye is pronunced as /sɑŋkɛjɛ/), the fifth stage is the mature stage; however, only the growth from talkam to sakam, and the growth from sakam to sankel are metamorphic, the only distinction between a taka and a talkam is the size of body; and the only distinctions between a sankel and a sankeye are the size of body and the capability of reproduction.

In principle, true long-longs can change their sex, and can change back to the sexually undefined state, and they can do so at their own wills; however, only specimens reaching the fifth stage of growth, the sankeye stage are capable of reproduction and sexual change; as a result of free sex change, true long-longs have minimal sexual dimorphism, except for sex organs, the only difference between different sexes are the unnoticeable pheromones that are used to distinguish specimens of different sexes.

True long-longs can perform parthenogenesis, they can reproduce without sex, actually, sexual reproduction is not common among species of the genus Lonnus, and among Modern Long-longs, sexual reproduction is so rare that there are no native words describing sex, copulation and gender in Lonmai Luna.

As a result of the virtual nonexistence of sexual dimorphism in appearance, all intellectual beings of the true long-longs don't have the sexual division of labor, and they don't have concepts of most sex-specific things which human beings take as granted.

Known Species

 * Gong-gongs (Lonnum gongonga)
 * †Old Upright long-longs (Lonnum erectus)
 * †New Upright long-longs, or called wato or uto beings' (Lonnum utoum or Lonnum noverectus)
 * †Two-horned long-longs, or callednevotacums or nevotacum beings (Lonnum nevotacum)
 * †Scaled long-longs, or called yuwas or yaws beings (Lonnum lonnum)
 * Long-longs, or called Modern Long-longs(Lonnum lonnum subsp. pilii or Lonnum lonnum x gongonga)

Note
