The Animus

The Animus are tribes of people.  They can turn into a particular species of animal, talk to that species, and they are born with some traits and skills associated with their animal. The animals are species, but not subspecies. For instance:

• There is a Leopard Tribe, but not Cloud, Chinese, or Snow leopards
• There are tigers, but not Amur or Bengal Tigers

Every full moon, the tribes met at a gathering and tell each other news, meet friends, or find out how the Leopard tribe needs 1/7 of the Hyena tribe's territory. There is a tribe for every animal, except for insects, bugs, and caterpillars, although there is a tribe for butterflies and moths.