Gender locked race?

[Lauront]

Would the even be able to bounce back? It's unlikely that theres a whole lot of boys in the village to start out with considering the with the 1/5 birthrate, and then they'd have to deal with the 1/5 chance at having a son per birth once they did mature :o

Probably not for generations, no.

[wereotter]

Probably not for generations, no.

Actually considering how this type of reproduction works, and the extended lifespan of the viera, it would have an impact, but not a large one, and here's why:

While one female in mammalian species can only have offspring with one male at a time, one male can father offspring with several females at once. This is why the 80-20 sex split in the viera isn't an issue. One male could mate with four females and the population would remain stable or grow whereas if the roles were reversed and there were four males to every one female, the population would die off.

Add to that the viera have very long lifespans, and it's safe to assume that females remain able to carry children for many more years of their lives than humans do, and this makes it less of an issue. You'd potentially have males in the village ranging from embryo to the verge of sexual maturity, so the real difference where would be the ratios. The males coming of age in the village would no longer have to compete with mature males in the wild for partners, and the male to female ratio for a time would change, but it would mean that each male would likely increase the number of females he has children with rather than have some females go without having children.

The real impact here would be cultural. With no males in the while to teach young males the skills they need to survive, you might see a change where males stay in the villages with the females rather than venture off on their own. That would in turn have other impacts on viera society that might leave them more open to explorers from other races coming across their settlements and either forcing them to open up to the outside, or the outside influences would overrun the viera, potentially wiping most of them out.

[Lauront]

Actually considering how this type of reproduction works, and the extended lifespan of the viera, it would have an impact, but not a large one, and here's why:

While one female in mammalian species can only have offspring with one male at a time, one male can father offspring with several females at once. This is why the 80-20 sex split in the viera isn't an issue. One male could mate with four females and the population would remain stable or grow whereas if the roles were reversed and there were four males to every one female, the population would die off.

Add to that the viera have very long lifespans, and it's safe to assume that females remain able to carry children for many more years of their lives than humans do, and this makes it less of an issue. You'd potentially have males in the village ranging from embryo to the verge of sexual maturity, so the real difference where would be the ratios. The males coming of age in the village would no longer have to compete with mature males in the wild for partners, and the male to female ratio for a time would change, but it would mean that each male would likely increase the number of females he has children with rather than have some females go without having children.

The real impact here would be cultural. With no males in the while to teach young males the skills they need to survive, you might see a change where males stay in the villages with the females rather than venture off on their own. That would in turn have other impacts on viera society that might leave them more open to explorers from other races coming across their settlements and either forcing them to open up to the outside, or the outside influences would overrun the viera, potentially wiping most of them out.

That's all true, however given their longer lifespans it will also take longer to reach their former population of mature adults, and as you say, there's some considerable risks as well as changes it could force upon them. Still, it's one avenue SE could take, without consigning the race to oblivion. I hope they avoid this.