Speculative Apes of April: Desert

As humanity spread across the galaxy, they found to their disappointment that planets with life-- even microscopic life-- were few and far between. Perhaps as a way to compensate for this, they began terraforming every potentially habitable world they could, converting hundreds of formerly barren planets into thriving biospheres over the course of centuries. While many of these new worlds supported fertile communities of humans and wildlife alike, others did not. One particular colony world hosted a variety of plants animals-- most of which had been sourced from southeast Asia-- but was left abandoned after a burst of radiation from its star killed off the human colonists. The biosphere suffered a great deal as well, with the vast majority of species dying out.

One that surprisingly survived was the hoolock gibbon, an arboreal ape with long arms for brachiating. As the forests receded, its descendants-- already thinner and lankier than their Earth ancestors due to the slightly lower gravity-- became more terrestrial, and eventually adapted to the deserts that were now the dominant biome. Five million years post-settlement, Xeribates grallator is one of the most successful mammals on its desert world. An herbivore, it feeds on low-growing plants found at ground level. It moves about on all fours, and its hands have thick pads of skin on their knuckles to keep them from being burned by the hot rock and sand. Its fur is thin and light-colored, as another way of lowering the animal's temperature. Xeribates is not especially large; with its long legs stretched out, it is no more than about three feet long. Unlike most apes, they are not social, and do not even share strong bonds between mated males and females.