Physical Characteristics
Shiffles are a species with an acute sexual dimorphism. Male shiffles are entirely covered in hair, making them look like just a pile of hair. They generally get a full coat of hair by the age of five, and variances in the consistency and color can help determine from what region the shiffle is from This hair begins to fall off if a shiffle lives past 70.
Female shiffles, on the other hand, are completely devoid of hair, revealing shiffle features. The skin is pinkish-tan, and the head is almost bulbous at the top but tapers down towards the neck with no chin. The pupils are shaped like an arch, and the mouth is a somewhat small hole. Female shiffles tend to wear clothes, unlike the males. The arms are rather short and thin, and the body gradually widens from the neck to the bottom where it is as wide as the head at its widest point. The torso is only a little bigger than the head, and shiffles are a bit on the short side.
Shiffles do not have legs; instead the body ends at a flat, somewhat squishy bottom, though it is muscular; locomotion involves a series of muscle movements. The bottom is also the only part of the male shiffle not covered in hair, revealing the pink skin underneath. They only stand at an average of 1.2 meters in height. Shiffles’ lifespan last about 70 years.
History and Culture
Shiffles come from a continent in the far north of Mintop, a land with a cooler climate which likely encouraged the growth of thick hair, although this leaves the question of why females have no hair. It did come with a use, however—as the hair of male shiffles could be used to identify their region, female shiffles found it easier in olden times to travel among different regions, being harder to identify what their home region was. Due to this, female shiffles were often the ones to explore and engage in trade and economics, leaving the male shiffles to remain behind, farming, working in the community, or looking after children.
Duth Olec's Cuckoo Cosmos 