Sangheili

The Sangheili are a saurian race of intelligent, muscular creatures that hailed from the desert world of Sanghelios. Most of the Empire of the Covenant's military forces we're Sangheilis.

Description
Sangheili are physically imposing beings, typically standing more than a foot taller than the average human. They are vaguely reptilian in overall appearance, with leathery skin, reverse-jointed legs and sharp claws and teeth. Their large hands have two fingers and two thumbs. Their most distinguishing trait is their jaw structure, which is made up of four separate mandibles attached to their face. The Sangheili are known for great strength and intelligence, and are praised for their bravery and honor.

Anatomy and physiology
Sangheili are muscular and very tall, usually standing between 2.25 and 2.62 meters. Their jaws are quadruple-hinged, with an upper jaw and four lower mandibles arranged in two tiers. Mandible and upper jaw structure along with teeth shape and numbers result from different phenotypes; however they do not indicate reproductive isolation. These mandibles have between six and twelve teeth each and some Sangheili have an additional, larger fang on the tips of each mandible. Anywhere from eight to more than a dozen broader teeth may be mounted on the upper jaw structure. Adult Sangheili mandibles can be found in varying shapes, sizes, and ranges of dexterity, and are as distinctive as a human fingerprint. Some Sangheili also possess molars. Sangheili smell with the use of two nostrils, each slightly in front of and below the eye socket. Given their predatory nature, a Sangheili's sense of smell is likely very developed.

Their hands are tetradactyl, each having two fingers in the middle and an opposing thumb on either side. Their legs are digitigrade, with short upper and lower legs, and elongated tarsals, using the distal and intermediate phalanges to support their weight when walking. This arrangement possibly allows them to run very quickly and jump large distances, compared to ordinary humans and other Covenant races.Their superior agility may also be attributed to their homeworld's higher gravity; the additional strength required to move normally in a high-gravity environment would likely cause them to be more powerful in lower gravity situations (though, curiously, their tall, large, and lean figure would be extremely disadvantageous and impractical on a high-gravity planet—an arrangement possibly allowed by other major factors in their biology and life cycles; alternatively, the impressive strength and agility may be the result of the capabilities of their standard-issue combat harnesses). They also appear to have a double set of pectoral muscles, which contributes to their incredible strength. On the other hand, their digitigrade stance makes it difficult for them to climb vertical constructs such as ladders. Sangheili have a binary circulatory system that pumps indigo-colored blood. They breathe oxygen and their homeworld has a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere, allowing them to breathe the same atmosphere as humans. Sangheili cannot breathe molecular nitrogen. Sangheili possess a cloaca, which is a common orifice for the digestive, reproductive and urinary tracts.

Most Sangheili have leathery skin covered in many part by scales. Young Sangheili have pale protective scales hanging from their necks that they lose with age, an evolutionary leftover from the days when Sangheili parents used to carry their offspring in their jaws. Sangheili skin color can range from light brown to dark brown and from light gray to black. They have forward-facing eyes with vertical slits and horizontal eyelids much like those of terrestrial reptiles, likely giving them high-resolution central vision and depth perception. Sangheili are unable to perceive purple tones, which they see as blue. They are also able to see in the "infrabrown range". This apparently indicates that they lack L cone cells. Their eyes can have multiple colours ranging from red all the way to green and can be even gray. Most Sangheili though possess yellow or orange eyes.

Culture
TBA