#le-matya

The Vulcan Le-matya from TAS Season 1, Episode 2. I had so much fun making her, I gave her kittens!!

It is the only explanation for why le-matya are green-yellow on a world that is predominantly red.

Na'Shaya! There isn't much additional information on the animals that do appear on Memory Beta, however it seems to be missing some creatures that are mentioned in the VLI and other sources. I've compiled all the info I could find here for reference. I apologise because this is not really what you were hoping for, but perhaps it will be useful to the fanfic writers (and xenobiologists! 😛) out there:

A'lazb: a kind of very small, transparent spiders who, like their Terran counterparts, have the ability to weave near-invisible webs.

Askor: an animal with the ability to change color, much like Earth chameleons do.

Aylak: small scavenger animals that are palm-sized, dark brown in color, and have six clawed legs and two whiplike tails. They tend to live in the driest parts of Vulcan, and often perish for lack of water. Dead aylakim serve as a primary part of the diet of the le-matya. Though not domesticated, they seem to enjoy the attention of observers when in captivity.

Ch'kariya: a small mammal resembling a Terran weasel, with pale skin, sparse hair, and two large forepaws with six razor-sharp claws which it used to climb and dig. These burrowing animals are active during the day, often foraging for food to maintain a high metabolic rate. Chkariya relied largely on plant roots for nourishment, but also ate fruit, carrion, and the occasional small animal. They are extremely friendly and bold enough to be fed by hand, and to venture into the cities and destroy carefully-tended gardens, much to the dismay of the Vulcan population.

Dokai: a large domesticated fowl that is used for keeping weeds and insects out of the crop fields in the circumpolar region of Vulcan.

D'rachanya: an extinct breed of flying reptile, similar to the dragons from Terran legends.

Dzharel: also spelled jarel, this creature is a pony-like horned animal with clawed feet and a distant relative of the kenel.

Fnell: an extinct wildebeest-like animal which used to be raised for meat and milk.

Haurok: a kind of bird.

Hayalit: a small burrowing animal, their flesh is edible and said to taste like chicken.

Huum: an extinct bison-like animal, with clawed feet instead of hooves, which once roamed the desert in vast herds.

Kaashk: an extinct bobcat-like animal; widely domesticated as a pet in pre-Surak times.

Kenel: an extinct animal, somewhat like a cross between a horse, camel and gazelle, with rhino-like skin. It used to be widely domesticated for riding.

K'karee: a species of poisonous snake with mottled blue-gray skin. When the k'karee coils to strike, two sacs located below its throat expand outward, creating the appearance of a small pair of silvery fins and giving it the ability to project its venom in a concentrated spray with an effective range of up to 5 meters. The k'karee poison is not in itself fatal to humanoids, but it can temporarily paralyze a limb (for 24-48 hours) or cause blindness if it hits its target in the eyes. Either can leave a victim an inviting target to further attacks by the snake or by other predators in the area, unless proper antitoxins can be promptly applied.

K'nurt: a rabbit-like rodent.

Kriil: an alligator-like reptile of northern waterholes and lakes; it is very ancient and used to be a lot more common before Vulcan underwent desertification.

Krin-tu: also known as krinti, an extinct wolf-like animal.

Krovill: an animal that despite not having any teeth, can eat anything from an artichoke to a xylophone.

Lanka-gar: a predatory night flier, known for their wheeling shape and the downward swoop it used to catch prey.

Lara: the lara bird is bright blue in color, and resides in desert areas such as Vulcan's Forge.

Le-matya: a predator, similar in size and shape to a Terran mountain lion, equipped with poisonous claws and fangs. Their fur is green, grey, yellow or orange and sometimes has diamond patterns. Their hide is almost impenetrable. Known for its lightning-fast reflexes, they attack anything they saw or smelled, and drinking the blood of their victims even if they have recently fed. They will also feed on carrion, such as dead aylakim. The deadly nerve toxins in their claws were capable of killing a small animal within minutes, or paralyzing and even killing a humanoid. There is no known cure for le-matya poison. Due to their aggressive nature, no le-matya are allowed on any of Vulcan's nature preserves: if one enters a preserve it is removed as quickly as possible. Le-matya live in the deserts near ShiKahr, the Valley of the Seven Winds, and the volcanic plains; and tend to stay as close as possible to the desert waterholes. Specimens as large as 90 kilograms had been reported in the vicinity of the Cheleb-khor desert. Le-matya typically live in the hills but do emerge in times of drought when native prey was sparse, and have even been known to wander into the cities and attack pets.

Mah-tor-pahlah: a type of bird that mates for life.

Masu-sark: also known as the Vulcan water-beetle. A type of insect native to the coastal regions of Vulcan.

Mazhiv-oluhk: also known as sand viper. A common blue-green serpent-like animal native to Vulcan.

Mazhiv-ukram: also known as sand worm. This large, mysterious animal is so rare that many believe it to be merely a legend. It is said to have large eyes, fleshy-looking mandibles, a mouth with no visible teeth, two long antenna-like or tentacle-like projections above its eyes, and a tough segmented body. It burrows underground but emerges to the surface to hunt for prey.

Melshk: a very rare, snake-like reptile that lives deep underground.

Mor-gril: a wolverine-like animal.

Muuk: a skunk-like animal. Extremely rare, and not related to any other living species.

Mu-yor-spahk: called Nightclaw in Federation Standard, a mysterious animal on the prohibited list within the United Federation of Planets and thus protected from hunters.

Myrmidex: a type of multilegged animal that roams Vulcan's desert wastes.

Pandree: a python-like animal, noted for the ability to lure prey into traps dug into the desert sands.

Plakrala: also called Bloodwing, a majestic, heavy carrion-eater known to require a long takeoff distance. They were also introduced to Romulus by the migrants from Vulcan during the Sundering.

Quattil: leaping herbivorous creatures that travel in herds. In the distant past, these animals were often preyed upon by flying predators. In spite of their main predators going extinct, the quattil retained an ancient deeply driven instrinct to flee whenever they saw a shadow over them.

Ran-tu: also called a "ranti". An extinct dog-like animal; widely domesticated as a pet in pre-Surak times.

Rikrusal-fo-aushfa: molusks that live in the modest seas of Vulcan. They are edible, but most Vulcans do not eat them due to their strictly vegan diet.

Salan-faufa: also known as wind-rider, these are flying creatures with delicate, translucent bodies that live in the highest areas of the deserts of Vulcan, such as the L-langon Mountains. They are too frail to ever touch the ground, and have hollow bones, tissue-thin skin and transparent fur, and glow faintly in the night like fireflies. They spend their entire lives in the air, hunting, mating, giving birth and dying without ever touching the ground. No one understands how wind-riders are able to survive Vulcan's harsh environment. They are very rare, so seeing one is considered very fortunate for those interested in the fauna of Vulcan.

Sa-te kru: a type of large, cat-like creature. Like the le-matya, the sa-te kru is a formidable and dangerous predator.

Sehlat: Probably the most beloved Vulcan animal, the sehlat is a large bear-like creature with six-inch fangs and fur that covers their bodies completely. In spite of their fierce appearance, they have a friendly temperament and some breeds of sehlat have been domesticated in Vulcan since the Time of Antiquity, being used as transportation, beasts of burden and household pets. These domesticated breeds are far smaller than the wild sehlats that prowl the harsh deserts of their homeworld, and they are thought to be excellent pets for Vulcan children to learn discipline and responsibility (though domesticated, nobody wants to get in the way of a hungry sehlat!). Sehlats are thought to have originated in the temperate forest areas of the southern hemisphere of Vulcan, but they spread and adapted well across the entire planet. Their fur protects them from desert heat and they have excellent hearing. They did not like to climb and prefer to remain close to the ground, which provides a way for travelers to escape any potential attacks if they encounter a sehlat in the wild. They are omnivorous, and wild sehlats feed on grubs, roots, and small burrowing animals. Some of the many breeds of sehlat include the nesh-sehlat, the khav-sehlat, the vai-sehlat (used by the ancient warriors to travel across the desert, and said to slumber in large groups in their lairs) and the wild norsehlat. An Vulcan proverb states that the norsehlat has no conception of right or wrong, yet the Vulcans do not allow them to eat their citizens.

Sha'amii: also spelled sha'mi and sham'amii, this animal is halfway between a Terran sheep and a goat. They are domesticated and live in the Sas-a-shar desert surviving on the native browse. They yield edible milk, and their long, silken wool is a staple of the Vulcan fashion industry.

Shatarr: a poisonous breed of lizards that live under rocks or in small caves and burrows. They are known for striking out at prey or intruders who pass near the entrance to their homes. Specimens can grow as large as two meters, and the larger ones have been known to attack human-sized prey. Shatarr poison is a neurotoxin that quickly attacks the victim's nervous system, causing massive muscle spasms. For the small animals that are usually its prey, death occurs within minutes. If a larger animal or humanoid is bitten, the poison requires more time to take effect, which gives the victim an hour at most to seek treatment.

Shavokh: a graceful hunting bird with gold and brown feathers, a 2.5 meter wingspan, and a powerful musculature that allows it to propel itself along the mild wind currents of Vulcan's atmosphere. This carnivorous bird possessed two pairs of sharp golden talons, and its prey consisted of small rodents and reptiles. The legends say that encountering a shavokh when travelling through the desert brings good luck, for where it descended to ground, one would find ground water or a soak not too deeply buried nearby. The shavokh does, however, also eat carrion, occassionally making them an unwelcome sight to desert travellers.

Shkral: a rat-like rodent, very common.

Starok: a nocturnal mouselike mammal with forelimbs modified to form membranous wings and anatomical adaptations for echolocation by which they navigate, much like a Terran bat.

Tcha'besheh: also known as a'kweth or Underlier, it is a large silicon-based lifeform that live on Vulcan, similar to the Hortas of Janus VI. They are large beasts that were the size of a great house and possessed several tentacles. Very little is known about the Tcha'besheh's biology or their evolution. They do not apparently need to respire, require oxygen or feed and were one of the first recorded species that lived on a planet alongside carbon-based lifeforms. As a series of intense solar flares started to shape Vulcan into the desert world it would become, in order to avoid extinction, the Tcha'besheh moved underground and continued a secluded life far beneath Vulcan's surface, being extremely difficult to detect by scans. They are highly intelligent and are considered to be the Vulcan equivalent of whales, however they are not aquatic, but travel beneath the sands of their homeworld. Legends say that in the ancient days, before the proto-Vulcans developed language, one such Vulcan known as The Wanderer learnt his first word through an encounter with a Tcha'beseh.

Tchakarya: also called "chkariya", it is a small, ferret-like predator.

Tchorka: also called "chorka", it is an extinct camel-like animal that was occasionally domesticated as a beast of burden.

Teresh-kah: also known as silver birds, they have chromium-coloured feathers. They are falcon-sized and have an eerie cry; they are said to sing only at dawn in order to greet the sun. They nest furtner north in the L-langon mountain range and usually come over the Sas-a-shar desert at dawn.

Tugno't: a sheep-like animal native to Vulcan. Its soft, curly woool is used for making heavy robes.

Valit: a small rust-colored burrowing rodent with powerful claws capable of digging through the hardest soils or even volcanic rock. It lives in large family units in vast underground complexes and emerges onto the surface world only at night. The creatures are highly intelligent, and xenobiologists at the Vulcan Science Academy have recently begun experimenting with domesticating the creatures.

Vralt: an animal similar to a wild mountain goat.

Vulcan ant fish: foraging aquatic creatures that live in colonies and work for the benefit of their community, in the same way that the honeybees of Earth do.

Wihlb: an extinct peccary-like animal that was occasionally kept in captivity as a pet.

Wuhrf: a mildly venomous, chameleon-like reptile.

Yel-hafa: also known as the Sundweller. These large flying peaceful beasts spent their entire lives gliding through the desert winds of the Vulcan homeworld. It is said that they mated in the skies and never touched the ground. Not even the predatory Shavokh were known to hunt them. Despite this, they were known to be fragile animals and were believed extinct by the age of Surak. It was believed that the wars that were destroying the planet, as well as the pollution released into the atmosphere, had killed the Sundweller populations, however, a few were still known to be seen at the time. Due to the rarity in seeing these animals, it was believed that should one be seen then it should be considered an omen of bad things to come.

Yon-kushel: also known as the Firebird. A very rare species of bird, said to live for only a few moments after hatching. However, the Firebird's short life is filled with more joy than what a hundred beings could experience in their lifetimes added together. Beings from the farthest reaches of space have fought and killed for the chance to see a Vulcan Firebird. Typically, it took anywhere between three hundred to a thousand Earth years for Firebird eggs to hatch. The reason for the difference in hatching times was due to a need for another being to nurture the Firebirds to life, resulting from an inability to exit their eggs independently.

Zhekenel: an extinct zebra-like animal with clawed feet; a distant relative of the kenel.