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Glenn wrote: ////2024-11-11T14:41:44+00:00
Indeed! An interesting and creative (if slightly disturbing) alternative form of parental feeding of their young.
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An addendum:
Wormcows are regarded much like Terran cattle–placid, slow-moving herd animals that aren't too bright. Their sheer girth is both a blessing and a curse, as it attracts predators but also serves as their best means of defense. Wormcows rear up and slam back down on whatever is trying to nom on them, or try to roll over and crush the attacker under their weight. Predators that target wormcows tend to go for the dads' trophic legs, so encounters with carnivores don't typically result in the wormcow's death. Presapient yinrih shires living on the boundary between the jungle and southern steppes preyed on wormcows, and the animals became one of the first (after forest flyers) to be domesticated upon the yinrih's ascent to sapience.
Domestic wormcows were selectively bred to regard their yinrih masters as calves, so they'll happily relinquish their trophic limbs. After First Contact, Christian missionaries at Focus adapt the wormcow as a rough equivalent to both the sheep and the pelican, as symbol of self-sacrifice.