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 Frozen Ocean wrote:
It's entirely possible (even likely) that the Tau don't rely on the standard and barbaric methods of reproduction we filthy humans do. That is; a gamete from each parent fertilised in what some might erroneously call "a test tube" or "a petri dish". The embryo could then develop in a machine. This would require a female and male Fire Warrior maybe a day each (sitting in the waiting room, getting the a gamete - or if their technology is sufficient to create stem cells, then any cell from their body - extracted, leaving and going back to their duties). This would also allow a huge degree of ability to genetically screen and perhaps modify the DNA of the Tau-to-be, or even just create the ideal combinations of parents to benefit genetic diversity. It would be fitting for the Tau. Gene extraction could even be a duty in of itself.

I was always partial to this idea of lab grown baby blues. It seemed so clean and orderly, everything in its place. Not the messy bloody affair that humans kick and scream into. Seemed fitting for the Tau.

On the subject of psychic intel gathering, Tau might be a blank, but it is the Tau empire, and it does take in Kroot and Humans and Naccisar (etc etc). Daemon knowledge through the warp always taste better when its passed through a few hands.

Never heard the herbivore bit either.

 Psychosaur wrote:

As far as the daemon knowing about Tau, that isn't too off base. While the race as a whole are generally psychic null, there is the possibility of variation among individuals. This would allow for a Tau to have a strong enough psychic presence to be picked up on.

This is very explicitly stated in-universe to be untrue - the Tau, as a species, have no Warp signature whatsoever.

 Psychosaur wrote:
Additionally the homogeneous nature of the Tau Empire will include psychic races like humans and the Nicassar who the demons could spy through. If you go this route it would also make sense that the Daemon's knowledge would be inaccurate on some points, since the knowledge gained would be second hand.

This is definitely more accurate. Daemonic knowledge also doesn't have to come from anywhere; they're conglomerates of psychic power (as is the Warp), so that knowledge could just be floating around there, something certain daemons just intrinsically know because of being basically made of bits of thought.

 Psychosaur wrote:
As far as the herbivore ancestor, that may have been true at some point in their evolution. Apes, the creatures that share the closest common ancestor with humans, are all generally herbivores and so it is likely the ancestral apes were herbivores.

This is not true. While apes often consume a lot of fruit/leaves/vegetables/etc, they are omnivorous and will basically just eat whatever they get the opportunity to. Chimpanzees in particular possess instinctual knowledge on how to break open bones and use tools to get the marrow out for consumption. Many apes also eat a lot of insects.

 Psychosaur wrote:
At some point during their evolution the Tau would have had to start consuming meat, as the protean provided by including meat is necessary for higher brain functions.

That is blatantly untrue. Not only do plants produce proteins, but pure herbivores produce proteins from them. If a cow can make cow-protein from grass, and a human can make human-protein from a cow, what's stopping a xenos life form from making protein from grass too? Humans need protein because we are omnivorous and meant to be this way. Also, you suggest that vegans don't exist.

 Psychosaur wrote:

I think you did fine with the bit about the Tau "breasts". I personally never though of the female tau as having breasts, especially human ones. Additionally if you look at the wide range of mammary glands seen in mammals they can be pretty varied and diverse.

I disagree with the whole "mammal-like so must have breasts" bit.

Psienesis wrote:So, since the Tau appear to be mammalian (they have hooves, after all, and "plains-dweller" seems to suggest a mammal) it was determined that Tau females do, indeed, have what humans would call breasts

Tau are not mammals (indeed, they're not even animals), no matter how similar to mammals they may be. Mammals are part of Earth's animal kingdom. Anything that applies to them does not necessarily apply to alien life forms from a wholly unrelated ecosystem. All mammals produce milk, but this does not mean that a xenos race with traits similar to mammals would have to produce milk; they could be warm-blooded and possess scales and tentacles and a beak, because they're aliens. Also, dwelling on a plain suggests nothing of the sort! That's a really bizarre logic leap that assumes that everything is Earth. It's fine that you've decided this, but just make sure you have your facts straight.

EDIT: It does seem fitting for the Tau, CpatTom! There is no reason why they wouldn't do this and many reasons why they should, and it blends thematically (in terms of fluff-feel) with their obsession with perfection and control. There's no reason why their continual pursuit of advancing science shouldn't encompass genetics.

EDIT2: I know it's hardly the best source of canon information, but doesn't the Fire Warrior game mention gene augmentation being standard?

 Frozen Ocean wrote:

 Psychosaur wrote:

As far as the daemon knowing about Tau, that isn't too off base. While the race as a whole are generally psychic null, there is the possibility of variation among individuals. This would allow for a Tau to have a strong enough psychic presence to be picked up on.

This is very explicitly stated in-universe to be untrue - the Tau, as a species, have no Warp signature whatsoever.

To my knowledge some of the event of the Fire Warrior video game call this into question, with a Daemon prince feeding off the psychic emissions of the main character. Additionally just from the variation inherit in any population it is possible for a rare Tau to have some level of psychic presence. I agree such an individual would be very unlikely and would be playing loose with established fluff, but could be allowed if it fit what ever story the OP is trying to tell with his game.

 Frozen Ocean wrote:

 Psychosaur wrote:
As far as the herbivore ancestor, that may have been true at some point in their evolution. Apes, the creatures that share the closest common ancestor with humans, are all generally herbivores and so it is likely the ancestral apes were herbivores.

This is not true. While apes often consume a lot of fruit/leaves/vegetables/etc, they are omnivorous and will basically just eat whatever they get the opportunity to. Chimpanzees in particular possess instinctual knowledge on how to break open bones and use tools to get the marrow out for consumption. Many apes also eat a lot of insects.

Orangutans are almost completely herbivorous, only rarely consuming insects. Gorillas are also primarily herbivorous, with some lowland species supplementing their diet with insects. Chimpanzees are the most carnivorous apes outside of humans. Chimps will actively hunt for meat as well as consume insects. However, my point was that is that apes and humans likely shared an evolutionary ancestor that was primarily herbivorous, and so it is also possible for the Tau to have a herbivorous ancestor.

 Frozen Ocean wrote:

 Psychosaur wrote:
At some point during their evolution the Tau would have had to start consuming meat, as the protean provided by including meat is necessary for higher brain functions.

That is blatantly untrue. Not only do plants produce proteins, but pure herbivores produce proteins from them. If a cow can make cow-protein from grass, and a human can make human-protein from a cow, what's stopping a xenos life form from making protein from grass too? Humans need protein because we are omnivorous and meant to be this way. Also, you suggest that vegans don't exist.

Plants and animals produce different types of proteins. The proteins required for proper brain development in humans are most easily obtained from the consumption of meat. Very few plants produce the proteins required for this development, which is why Vegans must be very careful to find plants/nuts/fruit to supplement those proteins while on this diet. Regardless on Earth it is very difficult to get all the proteins necessary for proper development from a Vegan diet, and why such a diet is not recommended for young children. Additionally there is a strong correlation in the hominid fossil record between increased brain size ( and therefore higher brain functions) and an increased carnivorous diet (hunting tools, butcher marks on prey species etc.). Now in a fictitious setting could vegetables on an alien world provide all the necessary proteins? Sure. However, it makes sense for the Tau to develop an omnivorous diet in a way similar to humans since they have a strong hunting tradition, even influencing their modern war strategy.

 Psychosaur wrote:

 Frozen Ocean wrote:

 Psychosaur wrote:

As far as the daemon knowing about Tau, that isn't too off base. While the race as a whole are generally psychic null, there is the possibility of variation among individuals. This would allow for a Tau to have a strong enough psychic presence to be picked up on.

This is very explicitly stated in-universe to be untrue - the Tau, as a species, have no Warp signature whatsoever.

To my knowledge some of the event of the Fire Warrior video game call this into question, with a Daemon prince feeding off the psychic emissions of the main character. Additionally just from the variation inherit in any population it is possible for a rare Tau to have some level of psychic presence. I agree such an individual would be very unlikely and would be playing loose with established fluff, but could be allowed if it fit what ever story the OP is trying to tell with his game.

Fire warrior's canon is iffy at best (the game at any rate). The book is a bit better, but it's still kind of weird. To each their own though.

 Psychosaur wrote:

 Frozen Ocean wrote:

 Psychosaur wrote:
As far as the herbivore ancestor, that may have been true at some point in their evolution. Apes, the creatures that share the closest common ancestor with humans, are all generally herbivores and so it is likely the ancestral apes were herbivores.

This is not true. While apes often consume a lot of fruit/leaves/vegetables/etc, they are omnivorous and will basically just eat whatever they get the opportunity to. Chimpanzees in particular possess instinctual knowledge on how to break open bones and use tools to get the marrow out for consumption. Many apes also eat a lot of insects.

Orangutans are almost completely herbivorous, only rarely consuming insects. Gorillas are also primarily herbivorous, with some lowland species supplementing their diet with insects. Chimpanzees are the most carnivorous apes outside of humans. Chimps will actively hunt for meat as well as consume insects. However, my point was that is that apes and humans likely shared an evolutionary ancestor that was primarily herbivorous, and so it is also possible for the Tau to have a herbivorous ancestor.

Minor point. Gorillas are omnivores, in fact they are known cannibals.

So, getting back to original ideas, some information that might be gleaned second hand for the game:

1. Tau (FW) like to hunt and take pleasure in a successful kill
2. Tau society is rigidly controlled and divided into castes with some castes designed to integrate the others into a cohesive whole
3. Sexes are less distinguishable to outsiders, and reproduction can logically be thought to have some sort of control in place on how it is done
4. Tau do not form 'traditional human' family units
5. Both genders perform the same roles and with the same requirements in most respects
6. Ethereals have an almost but not quite full hard stop to any discussion (the fluff makes it clear that Tau do disagree with decisions, but will still go with the decision because that is what they were raised/trained to do. Farsight is still lauded and approved of by a not insignificant portion of the Fire caste, but publically even those who 'support' him downplay it for the good of the whole). So their decisions are acted on, but not necessarily always enthusiastically.
7. Tau are omnivorous, and items are produced for pleasure beyond simply function (the Tau have art, sculpture, music, it stands to reason food would also fall into this category).

Frozen Ocean wrote:
Tau are not mammals (indeed, they're not even animals), no matter how similar to mammals they may be. Mammals are part of Earth's animal kingdom. Anything that applies to them does not necessarily apply to alien life forms from a wholly unrelated ecosystem. All mammals produce milk, but this does not mean that a xenos race with traits similar to mammals would have to produce milk; they could be warm-blooded and possess scales and tentacles and a beak, because they're aliens. Also, dwelling on a plain suggests nothing of the sort! That's a really bizarre logic leap that assumes that everything is Earth. It's fine that you've decided this, but just make sure you have your facts straight.

Some Tau even have hair (Shadowsun, most notably, with her huge, feth-off topknot), and they all have hooves, them being mammals makes the most sense.

IRT the video-game Fire Warrior, they may have been Blanks/Untouchables at the time, but more recent writings have described them as "nearly invisible" in the Warp, rather than the howling black holes of negative warp-energy that is a true Blank.

 Frozen Ocean wrote:


Tau are not mammals (indeed, they're not even animals), no matter how similar to mammals they may be. Mammals are part of Earth's animal kingdom. Anything that applies to them does not necessarily apply to alien life forms from a wholly unrelated ecosystem. All mammals produce milk, but this does not mean that a xenos race with traits similar to mammals would have to produce milk; they could be warm-blooded and possess scales and tentacles and a beak, because they're aliens. Also, dwelling on a plain suggests nothing of the sort! That's a really bizarre logic leap that assumes that everything is Earth. It's fine that you've decided this, but just make sure you have your facts straight.

Minor point, they are animals. Just me being picky though.

Well, they are certainly not vegetables or minerals... so that leaves us with "animals" or "being of pure energy" as the remaining choices.

I think (though I disagree) that the point he's trying to make is that they're not animals, they're xenos - claiming that animal is a term for nonmineral, nonbotanical life forms unique to earth.

Tau have always had a psychic presence even during Fire Warrior, IIRC. It's just really really small. One fluff piece gave the analogy that Tau souls were basically the daemon food equivalent of cookie crumbs. That they are crumbs shows they do exist, but they're just really small compared to an entire cookie or hamburger. Fire Warrior also shows that some Tau have a greater psychic presence than others, so there is some variation there.

Animals exist the way they are for a reason in most cases. Ignoring creationist theory for the sake of argument (Whether you believe God created everything or not, Wh40k is a fictional universe anyways), the majority of an animal's traits came about because that trait was useful and natural selection would weed out the rest. The same logic applies to sets of traits that complement each other. Generally, most sets of traits that serves an animal well on earth would likely be the same case for other planets that support life, at least to a point where they'll likely end up being similar to the Mammals Reptiles Birds whatever segregation that we have on Earth right now, unless there's something drastically different about that planet from Earth (which there is no indication that this is the case for the Tau's home planet, I believe)

Therefore, odds are more likely than not that if Tau have some mammalian traits, they probably have quite a few others and relatively few reptilian/amphibian traits.

 Psienesis wrote:
Well, they are certainly not vegetables or minerals... so that leaves us with "animals" or "being of pure energy" as the remaining choices.

I don't know, how do they taste in a salad?

TiamatRoar wrote:

Therefore, odds are more likely than not that if Tau have some mammalian traits, they probably have quite a few others and relatively few reptilian/amphibian traits.

So far, so logical, but because they cannot be described as part of the Mammalia Class of earth animals if we want to be technically correct (the best kind of correct ) we're left with a designation of mammaloid creatures for the Tau.

 Furyou Miko wrote:
I think (though I disagree) that the point he's trying to make is that they're not animals, they're xenos - claiming that animal is a term for nonmineral, nonbotanical life forms unique to earth.

Well, I guess... except humans are animals, too, because we are neither vegetables nor minerals.

ETA: And also obviously not beings of pure energy.

 Psienesis wrote:


ETA: And also obviously not beings of pure energy.

I dunno, some four year olds I've met...

: any of a kingdom (Animalia) of living things including many-celled organisms and often many of the single-celled ones (as protozoans) that typically differ from plants in having cells without cellulose walls, in lacking chlorophyll and the capacity for photosynthesis, in requiring more complex food materials (as proteins), in being organized to a greater degree of complexity, and in having the capacity for spontaneous movement and rapid motor responses to stimulation



Nothing in that definition says it has to be from Earth, so Tau fit the definition of animal just fine.

Unless there's fluff going around that says they don't follow a cellular structure, but I find that rather doubtful

 Furyou Miko wrote:

 Psienesis wrote:


ETA: And also obviously not beings of pure energy.

I dunno, some four year olds I've met...

I think that is more a transitory state, like plasma, and will eventually cool back into solid matter.

TiamatRoar wrote:

: any of a kingdom (Animalia) of living things including many-celled organisms and often many of the single-celled ones (as protozoans) that typically differ from plants in having cells without cellulose walls, in lacking chlorophyll and the capacity for photosynthesis, in requiring more complex food materials (as proteins), in being organized to a greater degree of complexity, and in having the capacity for spontaneous movement and rapid motor responses to stimulation

Nothing in that definition says it has to be from Earth, so Tau fit the definition of animal just fine.

Unless there's fluff going around that says they don't follow a cellular structure, but I find that rather doubtful

You misread your own quote. Yes, my point about animals was that they are unique to Earth. The definition you cited states any of the kingdom Animalia, which Tau are not part of. Reptiles are animals in the class Reptilia, meaning anything that is not in the class Reptilia is not a reptile. The same goes for every other form of life on Earth. Tau being animals means that they are somehow related to life on Earth, which they are obviously not. Psienesis, I don't understand your "except humans are animals, too". Humans are unique to Earth. Just because we expanded into other planets through physically moving there doesn't change that we are an Earth species. We're part of Earth's animal kingdom, all descended from the same source and genetically related to each other. Eldar/Orks/Tau/Tyranids/etc are not.

TiamatRoar wrote:Animals exist the way they are for a reason in most cases. Ignoring creationist theory for the sake of argument (Whether you believe God created everything or not, Wh40k is a fictional universe anyways), the majority of an animal's traits came about because that trait was useful and natural selection would weed out the rest. The same logic applies to sets of traits that complement each other. Generally, most sets of traits that serves an animal well on earth would likely be the same case for other planets that support life, at least to a point where they'll likely end up being similar to the Mammals Reptiles Birds whatever segregation that we have on Earth right now, unless there's something drastically different about that planet from Earth (which there is no indication that this is the case for the Tau's home planet, I believe)

What if the dinosaurs were never wiped out? Life on Earth would be drastically different. Furthermore, just because the Tau homeworld appears similar to Earth doesn't mean that the most important details (which are subtle) are the same. Relatively slight differences in temperature, gravity, the availability of minerals, etc - all of these variables, when slightly changed, completely screw up what is beneficial and what isn't. A great deal of why animals are the way they are is because other animals are also the way they are (animals are adapted around other animals, whether to hunt them or avoid them), and evolution builds on what came before and adds in random mutation. Birds have similar feet to reptiles because birds evolved from reptiles, etc - all life on Earth has a degree of similarity because all life on Earth is related. Even on Earth we have things being weird. You could say "all non-insect flying things are birds", but then we have bats. If bats were extinct (and all species do go extinct eventually) or never evolved on Earth, then you'd be arguing that a winged mammal on a fictional alien planet was improbable. Why do you say what you do without making the same conclusion that Tau, ignoring their humanoid shape and focusing only on their sapience, must have evolved from primate-like creatures? You're saying that hooves = mammal, but other traits unique to mammals (sapience) don't count?

In short; yes, hooves are beneficial things, and it's fairly likely to assume that hoof-like structures would evolve on various planets to perform the same function as hooves. What this does not imply, however, is that all hoofed creatures have to follow the same rules as Earth's hoofed creatures; they don't have to be warm-blooded, furry, tailed, anything. You could have warm-blooded scaly things with fur and five horns and two tongues and eight hearts. Even operating with the assumption that they're very similar to Earth life, they could be cold-blooded and possess four-chambered hearts. The most likely answer is that, as aliens, they do not exactly fit any of our definitions.

Here are a few questions, assuming that xenos life outside of Animalia are animals: what are Tyranids? They defy one of the biggest ways of dividing our own animal kingdom, possessing both an exoskeleton and an endoskeleton. What are Vespids? Are they insects, despite being far too large to fit the 'definition'? Are Kroot automatically reptiles because they look a bit like reptiles? What about Orks? Are they primates, because they look like primates? Are they fungi because they're spongy, and their cell-structure is said to be closer to that of a fungus than anything else? Are Eldar, Tau, Orks, Kroot, and Vespids all humans, because they share one of our defining characteristics (sapience)?

That's if you persist in believing that sapience is a defining characteristic of humanity, which the many experiments with teaching Dolphins to communicate kinda debunks.

Horns are a defining characteristic of goats, it doesn't mean it's unique to goats. Actually, that's pretty much exactly the point I'm trying to get across; just because one thing (humans/hoofed animals) has an attribute (sapience/hooves) doesn't mean that all things that are have to be similar to the first thing.

EDIT: In essence, it's the same as the statement "all things that are sapient must also be land-dwelling and bipedal". Assuming dolphins are actually sapient, they share precious little in terms of anatomy with humans (save for warm blood). It's the same; assigning correlation to things that aren't actually connected (hooves and warm-bloodedness or sapience and bipedal... ness).

 Frozen Ocean wrote:

TiamatRoar wrote:

: any of a kingdom (Animalia) of living things including many-celled organisms and often many of the single-celled ones (as protozoans) that typically differ from plants in having cells without cellulose walls, in lacking chlorophyll and the capacity for photosynthesis, in requiring more complex food materials (as proteins), in being organized to a greater degree of complexity, and in having the capacity for spontaneous movement and rapid motor responses to stimulation

Nothing in that definition says it has to be from Earth, so Tau fit the definition of animal just fine.

Unless there's fluff going around that says they don't follow a cellular structure, but I find that rather doubtful

You misread your own quote. Yes, my point about animals was that they are unique to Earth. The definition you cited states any of the kingdom Animalia, which Tau are not part of. Reptiles are animals in the class Reptilia, meaning anything that is not in the class Reptilia is not a reptile. The same goes for every other form of life on Earth. Tau being animals means that they are somehow related to life on Earth, which they are obviously not. Psienesis, I don't understand your "except humans are animals, too". Humans are unique to Earth. Just because we expanded into other planets through physically moving there doesn't change that we are an Earth species. We're part of Earth's animal kingdom, all descended from the same source and genetically related to each other. Eldar/Orks/Tau/Tyranids/etc are not.

Kingdom is a taxonomic rank. You are completely mutilating the meaning of the word to fit your own semantic nonsense.

TiamatRoar wrote:

 Frozen Ocean wrote:

TiamatRoar wrote:

: any of a kingdom (Animalia) of living things including many-celled organisms and often many of the single-celled ones (as protozoans) that typically differ from plants in having cells without cellulose walls, in lacking chlorophyll and the capacity for photosynthesis, in requiring more complex food materials (as proteins), in being organized to a greater degree of complexity, and in having the capacity for spontaneous movement and rapid motor responses to stimulation

Nothing in that definition says it has to be from Earth, so Tau fit the definition of animal just fine.

Unless there's fluff going around that says they don't follow a cellular structure, but I find that rather doubtful

You misread your own quote. Yes, my point about animals was that they are unique to Earth. The definition you cited states any of the kingdom Animalia, which Tau are not part of. Reptiles are animals in the class Reptilia, meaning anything that is not in the class Reptilia is not a reptile. The same goes for every other form of life on Earth. Tau being animals means that they are somehow related to life on Earth, which they are obviously not. Psienesis, I don't understand your "except humans are animals, too". Humans are unique to Earth. Just because we expanded into other planets through physically moving there doesn't change that we are an Earth species. We're part of Earth's animal kingdom, all descended from the same source and genetically related to each other. Eldar/Orks/Tau/Tyranids/etc are not.

Kingdom is a taxonomic rank. You are completely mutilating the meaning of the word to fit your own semantic nonsense.

Yeah, Animals are animals, no matte where they are. Tau son't appear to be anything else and fit the classification of an animal.

what are Tyranids? They defy one of the biggest ways of dividing our own animal kingdom, possessing both an exoskeleton and an endoskeleton.

Tyranids used to be more reptilian than insectoid, and even now share traits of both. In short? They're animals.

What are Vespids? Are they insects, despite being far too large to fit the 'definition'?

Insects, which are animals. They're sapient, too.

Are Kroot automatically reptiles because they look a bit like reptiles?

Repto-avian. Thus, also animals.

What about Orks? Are they primates, because they look like primates? Are they fungi because they're spongy, and their cell-structure is said to be closer to that of a fungus than anything else?

They're an artificial life-form, purpose-built rather than evolved. However.... they're still predominantly animal-based lifeforms, so they're animals.

Are Eldar, Tau, Orks, Kroot, and Vespids all humans, because they share one of our defining characteristics (sapience)?

No, but the Eldar are definitely mammals, and we've already touched on the others. The Eldar, like the Ork, are also a purpose-built race, rather than having evolved from some more-primitive form of life. That they lack the seemingly-chimeric DNA sequences of the Ork is irrelevant, they're still akin to a product line rather than a true species. They are, however, more animal than anything else and so, like humans or the Tau, get the "animal" classification.

 Psienesis wrote:

What about Orks? Are they primates, because they look like primates? Are they fungi because they're spongy, and their cell-structure is said to be closer to that of a fungus than anything else?

They're an artificial life-form, purpose-built rather than evolved. However.... they're still predominantly animal-based lifeforms, so they're animals.

I thought they were fungi .

They have some fungus-like biological processes (sporing, most notably) and their blood is largely/contains large quantities of chlorophyll, and tends to just suffuse them rather than really flow through veins and such... but they are otherwise animals, what with needing to eat, respirate (in most cases), and all that other animal-based-life stuff.

 Psienesis wrote:
They have some fungus-like biological processes (sporing, most notably) and their blood is largely/contains large quantities of chlorophyll, and tends to just suffuse them rather than really flow through veins and such... but they are otherwise animals, what with needing to eat, respirate (in most cases), and all that other animal-based-life stuff.

And after all, a platypus can be mammal even though it lays eggs.

 Co'tor Shas wrote:

 Psienesis wrote:
They have some fungus-like biological processes (sporing, most notably) and their blood is largely/contains large quantities of chlorophyll, and tends to just suffuse them rather than really flow through veins and such... but they are otherwise animals, what with needing to eat, respirate (in most cases), and all that other animal-based-life stuff.

And after all, a platypus can be mammal even though it lays eggs.

What's crazy is that I'm almost certain I have read an example in our own Earth biology of some kind of animal that has a symbiotic relationship with single celled organisms allowing it to get at least some of its nutrients by photosynthesis.

There's also those weird-ass cordyceps fungi that eat brains and make zombie-bugs.

 Psienesis wrote:
There's also those weird-ass cordyceps fungi that eat brains and make zombie-bugs.

I know there are fungi that do that to slugs and ants.

Yeah, the cordyceps!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordyceps

Mammal is a very specific description of something in a taxonomic class. I would imagine that there is an official body responible for determining what is included in such a thing, so it is unlikely that fictitious creatures could be included. Animal seems to have some more generic definitions allowing any fictitious creature, and Creature can also be applied at will (whoever he is)