A modern Eoanthrope

As ice was trapped in the North Pole and various montane glaciers during the Miocene, the lands between Stirrope and Khaan dried out, and forests were reduced. This transformation in environment caused a new mass extinction. However, one creature not only survived, but thrived in the midst of this latest wave of extinctions; Oreopithecus.

Oreopithecus, uniquely amongst apes of the day, was bipedal. While this was tremendously useful for crossing plains, this was not where Oreopithecus spent most of its time; rather, it was a wader, walking into deep swamp waters. When a land bridge formed between the isles it called home and mainland Stirrrope, their population exploded upon arrival in the swamps. Here, they could feast freely upon the aquatic grasses, sedges and tubers that made up their diet. They lived in a veritable paradise for their kind, undergoing variance to occupy a number of extremely specialized niche, though always maintaining powerful jaws for chewing tough vegetation.

Intelligence varied widely amongst the Oreopithecines. Most species were individual, and thus forced to rely on their own wits. While there were some social creatures, these tended to be the smaller, more monkey-like specimens, who were forced to rely on one another for mutual protection and threat-detection. Overall, however, the Oreopithecines could afford to be dim-witted. After all, it was a veritable golden age for apes.

Alas, it was to be short lived. New animals came into the land, specialized herbivores and ferocious carnivores. Quick action was demanded. Within a few tens of thousands of years, a solution was found; carnivory.

Putting their dexterous hands to use, social Oreopithecines began to craft tools. With these, they not only defended themselves, but began actively hunting. And not only did they hunt the various small creatures of the swamp; they hunted their own brethren, their fellow Oreopithecines, who were scarcely even distinctive species by that point. But, they competed for the same resources, and provided an ample source of meat. Soon, neatly all of the herbivorous Oreopithecines were dead, save a few isolated species. A new clade arose in this extinction event; the Eoanthropes.

They spread out across Stirrope, bringing their novel methods of hunting with them. Soon, they began to speciate themselves, with some even reverting back to herbivory. It would be in the northern Stirrope that the first truly intelligent Eoanthropes would emerge.

Rather then developing behavioral modernity in response to a changing diet, Eoanthropes gained intelligence simply by changing tactics. Once, they were crude hunters, only going after creatures too small or dumb to defend themselves. However, the Eoanthropes began to change this. They would lay in wait, in caves, or in warrens dug in the mud. As a group, they would wait for passing prey. They would employ real hunting strategies, cornering the weak and elderly, corralling them. Eoanthropes found they could no longer rely on supplementing their diet with sedges and swamp grasses. Quickly, they began to turn to full carnivory. It was not long before they began to feed on each other. Hundreds of clans and tribes emerges, each espousing their own supremacy and right to rule. It was here, in the crucible of war, that true modernity would be reached.

The fully intelligent Eoanthrope is a very different animal to the one that left the mire of Stirrope. Far from short-statutes, the average Eoanthrope measures in at five feet and eight inches, 190 pounds. Their jaws remained heavy and crushing-- a necessity for a race which had not yet developed fire. They have long, powerful arms and legs.

The Eoanthropes lack any sort of morality as we understand it. For them, there are three goods; Their survival, their tribe’s survival, and their race’s survival. Not only do they cast any other considerations to the wind, but they seem to relish it; they all seem to suffer from sadism, relishing the pain of others, devising a thousand methods and weapons to inflict as much as they can. Cannibalism, torture, rape; these are hallmarks of Eoanthrope culture. It has made them extremely effective hunters and fighters, but at the same time has dulled any advancement towards urban civilization. A city of serial killers would not last long at all.

Eoanthropes are organized in tribal bands ruled by dominant males, or "kings". Known tribes (or possibly races) include Sagoths, Zargs, Dru-Gars, Gorpoks, Wagabu, Wergu, Chanari, Barasts, Majmun, Charau-Ka, Udam, Voormis, Gnophkeh (NOT to be confused with the six-legged group of bears containing the Gnoph-keh, Forest Gnoph-keh, and Bugbear), Alu, Nobargan, Ibbits, Roi, Vairking, and Thak.

Most tribes use simple tools such as stone knives, clubs, stone hammers and wooden spears, though a few have learned to fashion blow-darts and arrows.

Eoanthropes: Humanity's evil cousin?
5719511

5719684 hmm... actually, i think Oreopithecus (the ancestral species) was more closely related to the Gibbons than the Hominins (aka Gorillas, Chimpanzees, and the various species of Human and Protohuman)

and evil? nah, this seems like normal human behavior to me.

...well, to be honest, it's actually more civilized than what i understand about humans

(in reality, it's basically a shout out to the various Apemen races of classic pulp writers as well as old ideas like Piltdown Man and Pithecanthropus)

5719689
Humans have some sense of morality and tend to dislike cannibalism.

(I was think Planet of the Apes, but that just shows were pop-culture goes for me)

5720198 interesting fact, the Bible actually doesn't forbid cannibalism

5719511
So... basically Yahoos? (from Gulliver's Travels)

5720290 nah. Yahoos are more closely related to this universe's chimpanzees.

Like in normal prehistory, an ape called Australopithecus appeared, but for whatever reason, they didn't make the leap into "human", instead producing several lineages of upright apes. The remaining two who still look like Australopithecines are the Savannah Mangati (which resembles gracile types) and Forest Mangati (which resemble robust types).

At some point, the Lemurians collected populations of these two species and used them to produce a new species of ape known as a Lemure (from which Lemuria and the Lemurians get their name)

Eventually, the Lemurians gave some of these apes to the Shetlantean Empire, and from those came the various Yahoo breeds.

The Eoanthropes, however, are more closely related to gibbons than chimps.

I don't suppose you've read The Night is Passing, by Cynewulf? Brilliant story. These Eoanthropes remind me of the Mitou, a race of large, hairy bipedal creatures reminiscent of apes but not quite enough to be considered similar to chimpanzees. On your point of the behavior of the Eoanthropes being similar to common human behavior, I had a strange thought while reading about the Mitou: these creatures are wild, savage beasts, and yet they are bipedal in a world of ponies and griffons. I wonder if the Mitou were meant to represent the human race. If so, it would seem that they, as well as your Eoanthropes, are not a little related to humans after all!

5725417 I've never heard of that story, mind giving me a link?

5727621 The Night is Passing, by Cynewulf

5737892 thanks!