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In 6,000 years, the Tau have expanded rapidly. Based on how human numbers increase IRL, the Tau obviously reproduce much more rapidly than humans.

Does anything ever say if they're born in litters or hatch from eggs? How long does it take them to become fully grown? Do they require constant care, or are they at least somewhat capable of taking care of themselves after birth? How long is gestation?

Tau are mammals. They're a bovine-like species.

Nothing specific is mentioned beyond this other than they mature in roughly 10 terran years.

Thus we can assume gestation is relatively quick and the young are relatively precocious. We also know that Tau are educated in their caste at a young age till they mature.

 Grey Templar wrote:
Tau are mammals. They're a bovine-like species.

Nothing specific is mentioned beyond this other than they mature in roughly 10 terran years.

Thus we can assume gestation is relatively quick and the young are relatively precocious. We also know that Tau are educated in their caste at a young age till they mature.

The platypus is a mammal that lays eggs.

 EmpNortonII wrote:

 Grey Templar wrote:
Tau are mammals. They're a bovine-like species.

Nothing specific is mentioned beyond this other than they mature in roughly 10 terran years.

Thus we can assume gestation is relatively quick and the young are relatively precocious. We also know that Tau are educated in their caste at a young age till they mature.

The platypus is a mammal that lays eggs.

It's also a one-of-a-kind species.

It is unlikely to be the same with Tau.

Tau young are raised communally, rather than in nuclear-family units, which instills in them a sense of greater community and service to it from almost the very beginning.

While it's possible that they are hatched from eggs, like a platypus, there's nothing presented so far to suggest it.

 Psienesis wrote:
Tau young are raised communally, rather than in nuclear-family units, which instills in them a sense of greater community and service to it from almost the very beginning..

According to shadowsun, babies are raised from their own mothers until they go off to the fire academy.

 hotsauceman1 wrote:

 Psienesis wrote:
Tau young are raised communally, rather than in nuclear-family units, which instills in them a sense of greater community and service to it from almost the very beginning..

According to shadowsun, babies are raised from their own mothers until they go off to the fire academy.

Which is a reason to completely disregard that book

From the 6th ed book

As they are raised by caste institutions, family allegiance is an alien concept, with perhaps the closest thing in Tau society being those who are bonded in a ta'lissera - a pact where groups of Tau pledge to support each other.

Its likely that the mother remains with the child as long as its nursing, but beyond that there is no involvement outside of the group.

 Grey Templar wrote:
Its likely that the mother remains with the child as long as its nursing, but beyond that there is no involvement outside of the group.

But why? The Tau will have developed formula milk and an immunisation program. With the fact that they don't want family ties interfering with the caste system by splitting loyalties, there is no reason why you need the mother to nurse the child.

Even if she did, this is a period of time that might last a few weeks, at best. Babies don't nurse *that* long, and Tau mature quickly. Their childhood is a few years long, at best, followed by a brief adolescence, with maturity reached at, what, ten years?

Formula is never as good as the real thing. Why spend the extra bother developing an unnecessary extra thing when a couple weeks of nursing is all you'd need?

The mother is already needed to give birth and have time to recuperate, why not have her do the natural thing?

 Grey Templar wrote:
Formula is never as good as the real thing. Why spend the extra bother developing an unnecessary extra thing when a couple weeks of nursing is all you'd need?

The mother is already needed to give birth and have time to recuperate, why not have her do the natural thing?

Because having your finest commander off the line for a couple of weeks could have a serious effect on any ongoing campaigns.

And formula isn't as good now but that's not to say it won't ever be.

 A Town Called Malus wrote:

 Grey Templar wrote:
Formula is never as good as the real thing. Why spend the extra bother developing an unnecessary extra thing when a couple weeks of nursing is all you'd need?

The mother is already needed to give birth and have time to recuperate, why not have her do the natural thing?

Because having your finest commander off the line for a couple of weeks could have a serious effect on any ongoing campaigns.

And formula isn't as good now but that's not to say it won't ever be.

Tau who are slated for reproduction are retired from active duty.

 Psienesis wrote:

 A Town Called Malus wrote:

 Grey Templar wrote:
Formula is never as good as the real thing. Why spend the extra bother developing an unnecessary extra thing when a couple weeks of nursing is all you'd need?

The mother is already needed to give birth and have time to recuperate, why not have her do the natural thing?

Because having your finest commander off the line for a couple of weeks could have a serious effect on any ongoing campaigns.

And formula isn't as good now but that's not to say it won't ever be.

Tau who are slated for reproduction are retired from active duty.

Quote on that?

Maybe they have a milk bank?

It would also be interesting if they did lay eggs, a bit like the Tharks in Edgar Rice Burroughs' Mars novels.

 EmpNortonII wrote:
In 6,000 years, the Tau have expanded rapidly. Based on how human numbers increase IRL, the Tau obviously reproduce much more rapidly than humans.

Does anything ever say if they're born in litters or hatch from eggs? How long does it take them to become fully grown? Do they require constant care, or are they at least somewhat capable of taking care of themselves after birth? How long is gestation?

Throughout man's history, human reproduction has never been a problem. Look at older families especially and you'll see families with many, many children. Prior to the industrial revolution (and last couple centuries particularly) the humans faced a larger problem of staying alive. Scarcity of food, plagued by sickness, and reduced to living in near autarky, man was unable to realize his full potential until he began the process of capital accumulation.

Perhaps the Tau are simply excellent savers who learned a very important lesson early in their cosmic life

How about Kroot babies?

 A Town Called Malus wrote:

 Grey Templar wrote:
Its likely that the mother remains with the child as long as its nursing, but beyond that there is no involvement outside of the group.

But why? The Tau will have developed formula milk and an immunisation program. With the fact that they don't want family ties interfering with the caste system by splitting loyalties, there is no reason why you need the mother to nurse the child.

Pretty sure that even formula milk isn't as healthy as directly breast-fed.

Pretty sure that even formula milk isn't as healthy as directly breast-fed.

Not now, on Earth, but we lack the advantage of Tau Science and 38,000 years of development.

 Ashiraya wrote:

 EmpNortonII wrote:

 Grey Templar wrote:
Tau are mammals. They're a bovine-like species.

Nothing specific is mentioned beyond this other than they mature in roughly 10 terran years.

Thus we can assume gestation is relatively quick and the young are relatively precocious. We also know that Tau are educated in their caste at a young age till they mature.

The platypus is a mammal that lays eggs.

It's also a one-of-a-kind species.

It is unlikely to be the same with Tau.

Is this a real response? I can't fathom a human-being that thinks that since only one mammal lays eggs in their universe that it's unlikely that a fictional race in a fictional setting with a literally non-existent ancestral background can both be mammalian and lay eggs.

That is just so bizarre.

 robam45 wrote:

 Ashiraya wrote:

 EmpNortonII wrote:

 Grey Templar wrote:
Tau are mammals. They're a bovine-like species.

Nothing specific is mentioned beyond this other than they mature in roughly 10 terran years.

Thus we can assume gestation is relatively quick and the young are relatively precocious. We also know that Tau are educated in their caste at a young age till they mature.

The platypus is a mammal that lays eggs.

It's also a one-of-a-kind species.

It is unlikely to be the same with Tau.

Is this a real response? I can't fathom a human-being that thinks that since only one mammal lays eggs in their universe that it's unlikely that a fictional race in a fictional setting with a literally non-existent ancestral background can both be mammalian and lay eggs.

That is just so bizarre.

You mean like how laying eggs is an evolutionary disadvantage for big brained mammals, which would have to be born in gigantic eggs so large it might injure the mother?

Before you start berating people on science, make sure you actually understand the subject.

 Ashiraya wrote:

 EmpNortonII wrote:

 Grey Templar wrote:
Tau are mammals. They're a bovine-like species.

Nothing specific is mentioned beyond this other than they mature in roughly 10 terran years.

Thus we can assume gestation is relatively quick and the young are relatively precocious. We also know that Tau are educated in their caste at a young age till they mature.

The platypus is a mammal that lays eggs.

It's also a one-of-a-kind species.

It is unlikely to be the same with Tau.

Echidnas also lay eggs. Regardless, it is clear that nursing with milk developed long before live birth did in mammals, despite the fact that some sharks, some snakes, some lizards, and I'm sure some other animals also give live birth.

I'm thinking maybe I should read up more on the development of mammals from pseudo-mammals, back before the Triassic. That'd be something fun to do on a weekend.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Wyzilla wrote:

 robam45 wrote:

 Ashiraya wrote:

 EmpNortonII wrote:

 Grey Templar wrote:
Tau are mammals. They're a bovine-like species.

Nothing specific is mentioned beyond this other than they mature in roughly 10 terran years.

Thus we can assume gestation is relatively quick and the young are relatively precocious. We also know that Tau are educated in their caste at a young age till they mature.

The platypus is a mammal that lays eggs.

It's also a one-of-a-kind species.

It is unlikely to be the same with Tau.

Is this a real response? I can't fathom a human-being that thinks that since only one mammal lays eggs in their universe that it's unlikely that a fictional race in a fictional setting with a literally non-existent ancestral background can both be mammalian and lay eggs.

That is just so bizarre.

You mean like how laying eggs is an evolutionary disadvantage for big brained mammals, which would have to be born in gigantic eggs so large it might injure the mother?

Before you start berating people on science, make sure you actually understand the subject.

What if Tau are marsupials? Maybe that's why Fire Caste ladies have to retire from military service for some time after they get pregnant.

Also- I don't want to be that guy, because I *AM* usually that guy getting the discussion off-topic, but could I politely ask everyone to not get in a debate about human breastfeeding vs formula? After all, we're not talking about humans.

Someone help me out:

Wasn't part of the reason the Tau have had such explosive technological advancement is because for them, 50,000 years passed while the planet was surrounded by the warp storms?

You can ask, but we can't guarantee people will listen. It's not an appropriate debate for here, in any case.


Evidence is that Tau give live birth - they are omnivorous, odd-toed ungulates. Given that Tau are raised in creches, and the fact that the only sample we have is of an exceptional individual, it is likely that Shadowsun would have had to retire not because female Tau retire to have children, but because Shadowsun would need to do so to preserve her teachings.

I like to think of it less as retiring from the military to be a mother, and more retiring from active duty to be a training officer.

How isn't it appropriate? IF they had that length of time while their system was shrouded, that could explain the population growth.

Tau mature faster, but don't they also die younger?

Yes, Tau natural lifespan is 80 "standard" years, rather than 120 like a human's is.

Which says interesting things about the length of a standard year in the Imperium.

 PhillyT wrote:
Someone help me out:

Wasn't part of the reason the Tau have had such explosive technological advancement is because for them, 50,000 years passed while the planet was surrounded by the warp storms?

No. There were storms in the warp between the Imperium and the segment of the galaxy in which the T'au system is but T'au was never within a warp storm in the sense of planets in the Eye of Terror, for example.

It's the overflow of the warp into realspace which causes the weird time stuff to happen in the Eye of Terror. So the storms around what would become Tau space were bad enough to make warp travel through them impossible (at least if you intended to come out the other side in the right time frame and universe) but not strong enough to rip a hole in realspace and allow the warp to leak in.

So time would have flowed normally for the Tau race.

 PhillyT wrote:
Someone help me out:

Wasn't part of the reason the Tau have had such explosive technological advancement is because for them, 50,000 years passed while the planet was surrounded by the warp storms?

I don't think so. There's no evidence that daemons invaded T'au, which would have happened if the storms engulfed their home world, instead of just being in a line that blocked travel from Imperial space.

I always figured that the Warp Storm only affected the Warp side of the space around T'au, having no impact on the Materium side of things - after all, how would the Imperialsk now when they only have sublight non-warp travel?

 A Town Called Malus wrote:

 PhillyT wrote:
Someone help me out:

Wasn't part of the reason the Tau have had such explosive technological advancement is because for them, 50,000 years passed while the planet was surrounded by the warp storms?

No. There were storms in the warp between the Imperium and the segment of the galaxy in which the T'au system is but T'au was never within a warp storm in the sense of planets in the Eye of Terror, for example.

It's the overflow of the warp into realspace which causes the weird time stuff to happen in the Eye of Terror. So the storms around what would become Tau space were bad enough to make warp travel through them impossible (at least if you intended to come out the other side in the right time frame and universe) but not strong enough to rip a hole in realspace and allow the warp to leak in.

So time would have flowed normally for the Tau race.

Citation needed.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 EmpNortonII wrote:

 PhillyT wrote:
Someone help me out:

Wasn't part of the reason the Tau have had such explosive technological advancement is because for them, 50,000 years passed while the planet was surrounded by the warp storms?

I don't think so. There's no evidence that daemons invaded T'au, which would have happened if the storms engulfed their home world, instead of just being in a line that blocked travel from Imperial space.

The Tau don't show up very brightly in the Warp. While they may have been stuck in a Warp Storm, they might have blended into the background "static", thus preventing Daemons from seeing them.

Also, there was a whole lot more activity going on on the other side of the Galaxy (Reign of Blood, Thorian Reformation, etc.) to draw the attention of daemons.

 Psienesis wrote:



Automatically Appended Next Post:

 EmpNortonII wrote:

 PhillyT wrote:
Someone help me out:

Wasn't part of the reason the Tau have had such explosive technological advancement is because for them, 50,000 years passed while the planet was surrounded by the warp storms?

I don't think so. There's no evidence that daemons invaded T'au, which would have happened if the storms engulfed their home world, instead of just being in a line that blocked travel from Imperial space.

The Tau don't show up very brightly in the Warp. While they may have been stuck in a Warp Storm, they might have blended into the background "static", thus preventing Daemons from seeing them.

Also, there was a whole lot more activity going on on the other side of the Galaxy (Reign of Blood, Thorian Reformation, etc.) to draw the attention of daemons.

I dunno. The Tau seem to have little trouble in developing new weapon systems to respond to new threats (unlike, say, the Imperium, which couldn't figure out how to strap anti-aircraft missiles to a Rhino without an STC). If the Tau had 50,000 years to develop, I think they'd be much further ahead of the Imperium than they are now.

Besides, 50,000 years would have left a LOT of Tau on T'au... and without conflict or worlds to colonize, where would they all fit? The speed of the three expansions seems to indicate a reproductive rate that would have left T'au with tens of billions of residents over 50,000 years.