Color Shift

Utilized by the Fluffipedes of Sreteer, this language is believed to be primative although no one has translated it into Galactic Standard. It seems to be limited to basic concepts: food, fondness, and fear.

The eyes of fluffipedes glow and shift in color, with some color changes also migrating down through chromatophores in their fur. While these color changing cells are primarily used for camouflage, color shifts have been observed between different fluffipedes when they are in a safe environment. Sometimes a color will radiate down one fluffipede and then be picked up by another nearby, demonstrating some form of communication.

To direct others to food, they will look at the food, and then green will shift from their tail to their head, directing others towards the food source.

Fondness is shared by looking at the object of their affection and radiating pinks and blues from their eye back along their bodies.

Fear is portrayed by the entire creature turning a vibrant red. It is interesting that they only show fear after being caught. When being stalked, they revert to a camouflage pattern that will perfectly blend with their surroundings. This has led researchers to believe that they have confidence in their camouflage and only feel fear after being discovered. However, when one of them is caught, all surrounding fluffipedes will immediately turn red as well. Some think that having a large section of the forest near a predator suddenly turn blood red is a learned defense mechanism. However, Sreteerans seem to be attracted to that particular shade of red and claim that the taste of the fluffipede changes with the color, and that the red ones are actually the tastiest.

Color shifts also contain many subtleties based on whether the shift starts at the eye or the tail of the creature, and they are capable of portraying a full spectrum of color, leading researchers to believe that they may have more nuance to their communication than has been documented.

Their vibrations seem to shift along with their colors, which may add additional nuance to their messages. Their communication extends outside of the normal visual and auditory ranges. Two fluffipedes can have what appears to be a very intense conversation without making a sound.