#(except perhaos birds that were historically useful for communication and other purposes)

[odissean]

All I can think about today is Aaneachans, I say as if it’s some burden.

So I’m thinking more about some basic physical traits. I am making them humanoid to make my life easier but evolved from seals rather than primates. I’m thinking Aaneach is primarily water with no continents, only islands. (Maybe there was a supercontinent that broke up and/or drowned, but that would be millions of years ago.) Which is why I was thinking they’d retain the sealcoat. However . . . I also think the whole species has a strong seafaring tradition. It’s the only way to travel. Seals can make long migrations across the sea, but for the great journeys I’m envisioning, it makes sense for them to build boats.

So although they still spend a lot of time in the water, they’re adapting to significant time on land and boats. Which means they might not keep those sealcoats, just as they don’t keep the seal whiskers. It won’t be as advantageous as they adapt to spend more time out of the water. I do think they’d keep the seal eyes, a layer of blubber, and develop webbed fingers + toes. I am considering that they maintain oil production though. It’s just that instead of oily fur, they have oily skin. Which I guess is more froglike? I’ll look into it but some kind of secretion would make swimming more efficient.