It had common ratite features: flightless and large, with a raptor-like beak and two long legs. Like the kaadu of Naboo, carrion spats had no upper extremities at all, unusual among much of galactic fauna. They were mostly featherless, but both males and females alike had plumage issuing from their upper pelvic regions.
A giant carrion spat standing beside its handler in Coronet.
Plumage as well as coloration varied among carrion spats, ranging from crimson and brown to shades of green. They were often domesticated, and could be fitted with a harness and bridle, serving as popular mounts for sentient species throughout the galaxy. Some could be found on Boz Pity. Like the tauntaun, the carrion spat sometimes served as a military mount for various groups because of its excellent speed and mobility over terrain.
Carrion spats could be domesticated and used as mounts for transportation.
A larger, variant subspecies called the "giant carrion spat" existed as well on Corellia. This subspecies, apart from size, was very similar in appearance to the common carrion spat. Aside from physical appearance, the giant carrion spat was much less common and could be observed, in the wild, only at very high elevations.
The painted spat was a larger, stronger, more resistant and more aggressive mutated variant of carrion spat.
After the Battle of Yavin, a pack of carrion spats lived in the Riverlands of Corellia. In 1 ABY, the enraged carrion spats attacked the farms on the outskirts of Coronet City, such as Pol Handerin's farm. CorSec Lieutenant Mack Jasper dispatched a recruit to kill the pack leader Gravefeather and most of the pack.
During the Galactic Civil War, the miner Volo Madine owned carrion spat named Betsy. In 1 ABY, Madine and Betsy were present on Dathomir during the Blackwing virus outbreak. The miner barely escaped the undeads who attacked him but he lost his carrion spat in his run. Later, a spacer retrieved Betsy alive in the Quarantine Zone and brought it back to her owner.
Concept art for Star Wars Galaxies.
Carrion spats appeared in the 2003 video game Star Wars Galaxies, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Sony Online Entertainment and published by LucasArts, prior to its closure on December 15, 2011. Carrion spats were made craftable mounts for players with the release of the "Publish 4" on November 13, 2003. This feature was removed from the game upon the release of the "Publish 25," a.k.a. the "New Game Enhancements," on November 15, 2005. However, it was finally restored with the "Chapter 6" update, released on May 22, 2007.
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