The preferred mount of Green Martian warriors as imagined and described by
Edgar Rice Burroughs in his 1912 sci-fi classic "Princess of Mars".
"...and his mount! How can earthly words describe it! It towered ten feet at the shoulder; had four legs on either side; a broad flat tail, larger at the tip than at the root......Like its master, it was entirely devoid of hair, but was of a dark slate color and exceedingly smooth and glossy. Its belly was white, and its legs shaded from the slate of its shoulders and hips to a
vived yellow at the feet."
More recent writers and filmakers have borrowed heavily from Burroughs' Mars series.
Jabba's sail barge, land speeders, and everpresent swordplay in Star Wars being notable examples.
Two of these animals had fallen to me from
the warriors whose metal I wore, and in a short time I could handle them as well as the native warriors........If the thoats did not respond with sufficient
celerity to the
telepathic instructions of their riders, they were dealt a terrific blow between the ears with the butt of a pistol.......