The Dizyntk are a bi-pedal mammalian race descended from a cat-like predator species. The average height is about five feet for females and two inches taller or so for males. Average weight is about 105 pounds for females with males running about 10 pounds heavier. As can be seen Dizyntk males are not significantly larger than females, nor are they much stronger.
The Dizyntk posses a layer of fur over parts of their bodies. On the torso this fur covers the shoulders, runs down the spine and runs to the front in strips that follow the ribs. It also covers the back of the neck and upper arms. The legs, lower arms, abdomen, chest, and facial areas have an extremely fine layer and, in some individuals, the chest, abdomenal and facial areas may be completely devoid of it.
On the head Dizyntk hair grows to about the waist in both genders, although this hair can be, and often is, cut and styled to the preference of the individual. The color of fur and hair is similar to that of humans, with the exception that some green and blue hues can be seen in some Dizyntk. The most common colors are brown and auburn. It is fairly common to see swirls of two related colors in the fur and hair. This tends to act as a natural camouflage by breaking up the outline of the body.
The varieties of fur colors were once related to the overall sub-racial group that a particular Dizyntk came from, similar to skin color among humans. Over the cyankas, however, this has become less and less an issue among the Dizyntk. The last remnants of this applied to the Darzen Dizyntk (the rarest of fur colors, black). Even this is pretty much a dead issue now. For the vast majority of the population, a Dizyntk is a Dizyntk.
Dizyntk ears are located on the tops of their heads and are movable in a fashion similar to terran felines.
Dizyntk also posses tails of varying length, but the average is about 24 inches. While they are able to control the tails to a great degree, they are not prehensile.
Dizyntk hands possess four fingers, one of which is an opposable thumb. All four digits are equipped with retractable claws of one half inch in length.
Dizyntk eyes are about 50 percent larger than human eyes and possess vertical pupils. Dizyntk eye color tends to be more vibrant than that found in most humans. Emerald greens, Topaz golds and Ruby reds just as examples. They also have silver flecking in the iris to varying degrees. Dizyntk possess excellent low light vision.
While Dizyntk are not very good distance runners, they are phenomenal sprinters. While an average Dizyntk can run for up to 3 miles at a decent pace, they will never be as good as humans at any longer distances. At distances of up to 400 meters or so however, Dizyntk can run at speeds of up to forty five miles per hour. A speed they can reach within five or six strides.
Because of their muscle structure, Dizyntk are stronger than they would appear at first glance. An average Dizyntk is as strong as an average human even though humans are physically larger.
Dizyntk females are born at a slightly higher rate than males. Approx. 120 females to 100 males.
Due to the effects of estrus on Dizyntk females, discussed below, this ratio grows more imbalanced by the time Dizyntk reach the average bonding age of Sixteen Cyankas (24 Terran Years).
Dizyntk females generally enter their first estrus cycle at 10 cyankas (15 years). Although this does vary a bit by individual. Their cycles last about ten to fourteen days and occur once every three months. While most of the effects of estrus on Dizyntk females are generally the same as for most mammalian type species known to Terran science, there is one significant difference. A certain hormone released into the Dizyntk female's system during estrus causes emotional reactions in the brain to be greatly intensified.
While their sentience does allow them to control their actions to a large degree, it is still not a good idea to irritate or anger a Dizyntk female at these times. Because young Dizyntk are less able to control themselves at these times, however, accidents still occur.
Approx. two-thirds of all deaths among Dizyntk between 10 and 12 cyankas can be attributed to a Dizyntk female in estrus being angered and slashing out with her razor sharp claws. As Dizyntk females are better able to sense when another female is in estrus than males when at this age, the vast majority of these fatalities, almost 90 percent, are young males.
These deaths are treated as regrettable accidents by Dizyntk society. As young Dizyntk grow and mature, these incidents become far less frequent. Not only do females learn to better control themselves at these times, but the males learn how to identify females in estrus and be more careful in dealing with them.
Thus by the time Dizyntk reach fourteen cyankas, while injuries are commonly inflicted, deaths rarely occur. By this time, however, the ratio of females to males is close to 2 to 1.
For this reason, among many others over the millennia, current Dizyntk society has been matriarchal for over 500 cyankas (750 years).
The flip side of this is that these same intensified emotions make Dizyntk females far more open in expressing affection towards others that they care for. Which can seem excessive to humans, as most Dizyntk have little problem expressing affection in the first place.
So if one is in the good graces of a Dizyntk female while she is in estrus, then they can expect her to nuzzle, pet, lick, and kiss on them, even in public. For this reason other Dizyntk take little notice of these things as anything other than signs of affection from a friend and accept them as a normal part of life.