Note the striped, sandy hatchling. This is a method of camouflage and lessens with age. The adult is noticeably albino or amelanistic.

The species is bisex, like most of Earth’s vertebrates. The sex with larger gametes (‘females’) become fertile in the planet’s ‘Fall’ annually. They are typically larger than ‘males’ and their sail extends to the base of their tails rather than ending at the neck. A few weeks after insemination, the fertilized egg(s) (1-2 on average) is deposited and carefully incubated. After about 6 Earth-months, a small but capable youngling hatches. The child can walk quite quickly and is immediately ready to consume the same foods as the adults. A Nexian becomes sexually mature at 9-12 Earth years, and stops developing at around 15. The soft tail ‘spade’ is only present on fully developed, sexually mature adults. The crest is also absent from younglings, and grows over time.