Are hrothgar and coeurls related?

[MikkoAkure]

But then WHY do some Hrothgar have the couerl whiskers if they don't serve some similar function?

"Because the devs wanted it" is the reason why a lot of stuff exists and most of the time it's not any deeper than that. Even the lore creators have just thrown stuff in because they felt like it without meaning for there to be any deeper meaning. The reason why Heavensward is full of dinosaurs? World-builder Banri Oda REALLY likes dinosaurs. Why do some hrothgar have couerl whiskers? Hrothgar are cats, couerl are cats, and an artist or dev probably just wanted to throw them on them because they can and it's probably not any deeper than that.

[RyuDragnier]

Couerls are native to Thavnair. It would make sense why we don't see any on the First because their version of Thavnair was eaten up by the Flood. Behemoths are anyone's guess since the lorebook says they were completely unknown until the latest umbral era but personally I'm personally kind of sick of everything being traced back to the Allagans.

Ahh, but who was there in Thavnair in the past? THE ALLAGAN EMPIRE! Joking aside, I find it silly to not assume the Allagans could be involved, they literally created the Ixali, captured Elder Primals, made Dalamud, and Crystal Tower (a tower made up of white auracite). They had their hands in so many things we've encountered up to now that it's not inconceivable.

[Cilia]

But then WHY do some Hrothgar have the couerl whiskers if they don't serve some similar function?

Watsonian answer? They might serve a similar function. There's no known in-universe reason for them though; every race has human physiology unless otherwise noted though, so they may serve no biological function or a similar function to cats' whiskers. (While there is no known link between Hrothgar and coeruls or cats of any size, that doesn't mean they can't coincidentally have physiological similarities.)

Doylist answer? They're totally there to be reminiscent of coerul whiskers, as well as serve as a stand-in for facial hair on that Hrothgar face. They're there to serve as a mustache, helping to sell the idea of the man-cats.

[Iscah]

not encounter any Couerls or Behemoths on the First

There are caracals in the Rak'tika Greatwood.

No behemoths perhaps, but they seem to be found in snowy regions and Norvrandt doesn't have any.

[KageTokage]

I do really look forward to seeing if 6.0 finally explains/clarifies the origin of the races.

Namely, whether they were creations of Ancients, or if they literally are the former Ancients who simply had their forms twisted by the Sundering (As was originally suggested from what Varis had been told by Elidibus back in 4.5).

[PeppermintBrown]

There are caracals in the Rak'tika Greatwood.

No behemoths perhaps, but they seem to be found in snowy regions and Norvrandt doesn't have any.

Yeah though given that most of the FIrst was wiped out just 100 years ago, and Norvrandt is all that is actually left, that doesn't really tell us much sadly.