Note that a lot of these images are not my artwork; they are public domain illustrations that I tracked down to save myself the time of having to draw a ton of animals. I will replace these with original artwork at a later time.
Rongeur/Ronjure (Glire Meat)
Ronjure was a variety of white meat that most of the peoples of ancient Borea typically only ate out of desperation. This was mainly due to the fact that rodents are fairly intelligent animals while lagomorphs are adorable, making the eating of glire meat a mild quasi-taboo, and glires were far more often kept as pets than eaten as ronjure — at least by Boreans and other Wights (however, people did often keep glire-eating pets for the purposes of pest control, especially in areas where stores of grain provided much of the local diet).
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— Hares —
(Lepus europaeus)
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— European Giant Beavers —
(Trogontherium sp.)
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— Dire Rats —
(Gigantomys bigassii)
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— Jerboa —
(Allactaga sp.)
Commonest in Mediterranean climates where Borean settlements tended to be wealthier than elsewhere, and preferring open terrain, these creatures were only very rarely consumed as ronjure.
Poultry (Bird & Reptile Meat)
— Bustards —
(Otis tarda)
Bustards were hunted, trapped, and in some cases were even kept as pets or livestock. Bustard coups were sometimes kept and some limited domestication may have occurred. Since most Boreans had an aversion to eating animals they raised, tamed or domesticated flocks were primarily kept for the purposes of egg production. This seems counterintuitive, since bustards were not known for being particularly productive layers during Homo sapiens’ historical times, implying: (1) the species became reproductively lethargic between Palaeoboreanic times and H. sapiens’ historical times, (2) there existed during Paleoboreanic times a subspecies capable of greater egg production, (3) some of the Paleoboreanic peoples intentionally or unintentionally created one or more domesticated strains capable of greater egg production than their wild counterparts, or (4) some combination of these.
— Great Auks —
(Pinguinus impennis)
The Great Auk was known to typically only venture ashore to reproduce, and so was typically hunted at sea. Because the female Great Auk typically only laid one egg per breeding season, there was a mild taboo against eating their eggs.
— Starlings —
(Sturnus sp.)
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— Swans —
(Cygnus sp.)
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— Giant Ostriches —
(Pachystrutho sp.)
Giant Ostriches lived in eastern Borea (on the Balkan peninsula and in the Carpathians) and in the lands east of Borea. They were hunted for their meat and their eggs were harvested.
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— Crocodiles —
(Crocodylus sp.)
A rare sight in ancient Borea but common across the Mediterranean in what is now Egypt, almost all Crocodile meat & leather had to be imported from across the sea.
Poisson (Fish & Amphibian Meat)
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— Beluga Sturgeons —
(Huso huso)
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— Grey Mullets —
(Mugil sp.)
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— Surmullets —
(Mullus barbatus)
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— Codfish —
(Gadus morhua)
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— European Congers —
(Conger conger)
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— Mediterranean morays —
(Muraena helena)
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— Halibuts —
(Hippoglossus hippoglossus)
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— European Anchovies —
(Engraulis encrasicolus)
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— Mackerels —
(Scomber scombrus)
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— Sardines —
(Sardina pilchardus)
Also known as the True Sardine or the European Pilchard.
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— Herring —
(Clupea harengus)
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— Common Carp —
(Cyprinus carpio)
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— Wels Catfish —
(Silurus glanis)
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— Nippers —
(Parapiranha sp.)
Nippers are Pseudocharaciform Otophysians of the family Paralestidae. As Pseudocharaciformes, these fishes were most closely related to Characiforme fishes such as Serrasalminidae (piranhas and pacu) and Alestidae (African tetras and tigerfishes), and were somewhat more distantly related to the Siluriformes (catfishes) and Gymnotiformes (electric eels and American knifefishes). The genus Parapiranha, as the name implies, bore a strong superficial resemblance to the Serrasalminidae (piranhas and pacus). These fishes could be found in waters ranging in temperature from cold temperate / sub-boreal to mediterreanean / subtropical, and were most common in waters ranging in salinity from fresh to brackish, though they could tolerate sea water and were occasionally found schooling about reefs and kelp forests in the mediterranean sea.
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— Common Nippers —
(Parapiranha vulgaris)
The Common Nipper is a Pseudocharaciform Otophysian of the family Paralestidae. This species of nipper superficially resembled piranha of the species Pristobrycon calmoni and Pristobrycon striolatus. Adults ranged between ~9 inches (~25 cm) and ~1 foot or ~12 inches (~30 cm) long. Common Nippers were known to congregate in large schools or shoals, and were most often fished en masse using large fishing nets, and were procured from lakes, rivers, and river deltas.
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— Cat-faced Nippers —
(Parapiranha felix)
The Cat-faced Nipper is a Pseudocharaciform Otophysian of the family Paralestidae. This species of nipper superficially resembled the pacu Colossoma macropomum (the tambaqui), but was equipped with catfish-like barbels similar to those of Ameiurus melas (the black bullhead catfish) or Pinirampus pirinampu (the flat-whiskered catfish). Adults ranged between ~9 inches (~25 cm) and ~1 foot or ~12 inches (~30 cm) long. Cat-faced Nippers survived best in slow-moving waters where visibility was low, not unlike the more aggressive Round-faced Nippers, but could out-compete Round-faced Nippers where these conditions were most extreme. Cat-faced Nippers tended to be solitary and were most often fished using small nets.
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— Round-faced Nippers —
(Parapiranha spherotops)
The Round-faced Nipper is a Pseudocharaciform Otophysian of the family Paralestidae. This species of nipper superficially resembled piranha of the genera Pygocentrus or Catoprion, and to a lesser extent, the species Pristobrycon maculipinnis. These were the most highly aggressive of all nipper species. Adults ranged between ~9 inches (~25 cm) and ~1 foot or ~12 inches (~30 cm) long. Round-faced Nippers survived best in slow-moving waters where visibility was low, but could be out-competed by Cat-faced Nippers where these conditions were particularly extreme.
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— Flying Nippers —
(Parapiranha aeropterygium)
The Flying Nipper is a Pseudocharaciform Otophysian of the family Paralestidae. This species of nipper superficially resembled a tigerfish but with enlarged pectoral and pelvic fins similar to those belonging to Exocoetidae (flying fishes) of the genera Parexocoetus or Fodiator. Flying Nippers tended to live in large lakes or in clusters of large ponds. They were difficult to fish and were considered a delicacy. Adults ranged between ~6 inches (~15 cm) and ~9 inches (~25 cm) long.
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— Dire Nippers —
(Parapiranha cacosomnium)
The Dire Nipper is a Pseudocharaciform Otophysian of the family Paralestidae. This species of nipper had an enlarged maw and teeth similar to that of larger-toothed examples of Melanocetus johnsonii (the humpback anglerfish). Adults ranged between ~1 feet or ~12 inches (~30 cm) and ~1.5 feet or ~18 inches (~45 cm or ~0.5 m) long.
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— Great Nippers —
(Parapiranha cacosomnium)
The Great Nipper is a Pseudocharaciform Otophysian of the family Paralestidae. This species of nipper superficially resembled a cross between the extinct Megapiranha paranensis (giant piranha) and the extant Hydrocynus goliath (goliath tigerfish or mbenga), being slightly longer and slenderer in shape than a piranha, yet shorter and broader in shape than a tigerfish. The species likewise did not have so prognathic a rostrum as the goliath tigerfish, yet did not have quite so rounded a face as the piranha, being slightly more prognathic than the piranha Pristobrycon calmoni. It had the characteristic underbite of a piranha. Like the goliath tigerfish, this was a highly aggressive and voracious large-toothed predator. Adults ranged between ~2.5 feet or ~30 inches (~75 cm) and ~3.5 feet or ~42 inches (~106 cm or ~1 m) long.
