Cat Ear



The cat ear (Na'vi name: pamtseowll meaning "music plant") is a woody stem zooplantae, covered with modified leaves resembling cat ears. These are collected by the Na'vi as musical instruments due to the sound produced when wind moves across the leaves of the plant, and as children's playthings.

This species is both musical and beautiful with characteristics of both plants and animals. Cup-shaped leaves, which resemble cat ears, grow all over the stems of the plant. Inside the base of each cat ear, a small flower forms, which, when emerging, resembles small whiskers. The music is produced by wind passing over the leaves of the planimal, and is varied by the size of the specific planimal. The cat ear's music may resemble a small symphony when in a collective group. Besides the ability to produce music, this planimal has the uncanny ability to turn in the direction of movement and track it. This 'tracking' can become disconcerting to humans who feel as if they are being watched as the planimal turns in response to their presence.

The behavior of this zooplantae has led xenobotanists to label these odd creatures as straddling on the 'evolutionary fence' of both plants and animals.