Early death dog

The early death dog, also known as Urcaninus lic morte or simply urcaninus, was a foul-tempered, strong, and voluminous predator. The urcaninus was a nocturnal hunter that inhabited swamps, veldts, and plains and fed off red and blue meat, which included poisonous snakes, although it was also known for eating aquatic broccoli. Female early death dogs typically hid their offspring from the males to avoid cannibalism during the first years of life. The creatures could be found from the Middle Plains to thirty thousand leagues south of Troon, depending on the season. They were also kept as pets by certain species.

Biology and appearance
The early death dog was a large-sized quadruped creature, with an average height of twenty-seven to thirty-six mortars, light brownish skin, a beige pelt, small black eyes at the top of its head with periorbital dark pigmentation, a red-colored depilous face, and a large mouth in comparison with the rest of the body. The urcaninus had strong shoulders and arms, a lumbarless spine&mdash;which at one point was in the process of de-evolving&mdash; four limbs: two clawed and two pawed and an overdeveloped torso with an ancillary pelvic structure. It possessed no hair, a retractable tail, rose-colored gums, self-cleaning carnivorous fangs, and a spiked, pink tongue.

Behavior and intelligence
The urcaninus was a nocturnal species, possessing frontal optical lobes that allowed the creature to hunt poisonous snakes and feed off red and blue meat, although the creature was known to eat aquatic broccoli as well. Its nighttime predisposition made the creature particularly irritable during daylight hours, even though it was naturally seen as aimless, erratic, melancholic, and frustrated for most of the time, often suffering from a condition known as melancholia agressiva. Its main habitats were swamps and veldts, ranging from the Middle Plains to 30,000 leagues the south of Troon. Domestic urcaninus were known to enjoy scratching trees.

The creatures did not maintain long-term relationships with members of the opposite sex, and the females hid offspring from the males during their first years to avoid filial cannibalism. Some urcaninus were known to have accessories that resembled bracelets around their arms.

Early death dogs in the galaxy
Early death dogs could be kept as pets, following proper security recommendations. Caretakers were advised to keep them in high-voltage enclosures, walk them with wide-range laser "leashlets," and possess trees for the urcaninus to scratch. The creature could be bought at pet shops and, at one point, cost 970.X*.000/45, although that price depended on availability and the exchange rate.

Behind the scenes
The early death dog was featured in a one-page entry written by Bob Carrau for the 1993 book Monsters and Aliens from George Lucas, a publication that combines creature designs and photographs from various George Lucas projects with original text by Carrau. Lucasfilm employee Leland Chee, who maintains the Holocron continuity database, has indicated that information contained in the book is non-canonical. Although the entry for the urcaninus specifically stated that the predator did not possess hair, the image for it depicted a furred creature and the entry states the creature had a beige pelt. This article assumes that its skin is furry-looking.