Mugato
The mugato (alternatively pronounced mogatu, mugatu, mugutu, or even gumato) was a large ed ape-like carnivore, native to regions of the planet Neural, that had the "strength of ten men" and a bite that was poisonous to most humanoids. (; )

History 
In 2255, Lt. James T. Kirk visited Neural on a planetary survey and mentioned the mugato in his report. 

Thirteen years later, Kirk, then a , returned to Neural and was bitten by a mugato. Dr. Leonard McCoy vaporized the attacking mugato with his phaser and a local kahn-ut-tu woman, Nona, was able to heal Kirk with a ceremony. Later, the mugato's mate attacked Kirk and Nona, and Kirk killed it with his phaser. ()

According to Commander Jack Ransom, at some point prior to 2380, "horned gorillas, sentient tar, [and] spores that make you hook up with your best friend's sister" were all types of disasters that he had personally experienced on away missions that should have been a walk in the park. ()

Noted  Kerner Hauze had a mugato skeleton in his collection at the time of his death in 2381. ()

That same year, two Denobulan researchers on Frylon IV were attacked by a mugato. Starfleet sent the  to investigate. The crew discovered a group of Ferengi poachers, led by Kynk, who were imprisoning and killing the mugatos, to illegally sell the endangered species horns. After an initial conflict, Ensigns Brad Boimler and Sam Rutherford convinced the Ferengi that it would be more profitable to keep the mugatos alive in a preserve, named Kynk's Mugatoland. ()

Physiology 

Mugatos were large, intimidating animals that could reach a height of two meters (not including their horns). Covered by a thick pelt of white fur all over their bodies with the exception of their faces and hands, they were similar to the great apes of Earth in their physical proportions and prehensile hands and feet. Mugatos had large, thick horns projecting from the top of their craniums as well as smaller spikes running down the spine, which lead to a large tail. (; )

Mugatos were known to attack humanoids. The Mugato would wrestle a person to the ground in order to bite it and inject its poison. All of their teeth were sharp and serrated and their fangs contained a strong venom that was fatal to Humans and inhabitants of Neural alike within a matter of hours. Mugato venom was a toxin that attacked a humanoid's nervous system. Death was slow and could take several hours. 23rd century Federation medicine knew of no antitoxin for the poison of a mugato bite; however, the kahn-ut-tu knew of a means that involved the mahko root and their own blood. () By the 24th century, Federation medicine of this era could treat mugato bites, at least if the venom had been sucked out of the wound. If riled enough, they could also simply devour a humanoid's entire head, removing it from the neck in one bite. ()

Mugato genitals were sensitive to phaser fire. Animals that had been hit by phasers apparently were left no longer able to breed, a serious impact for an endangered species, so Starfleet did its utmost to avoid doing so. ()

They usually traveled with their mates. () 

When a male mugato encountered two others mating, he might challenge the other male to establish dominance, or he might prefer to watch the mating pair. After the mating was complete, the mating pair and  were likely to fall asleep. ()

Appendices

See also 
 Anthropoid ape

Background information 
Originally called a "Neuralese Great Ape" in the first draft script, dated , the Mugato finally became the "Gumato" in the later drafts script; however, DeForest Kelley could not pronounce the name correctly and it was changed. Both Kelley and William Shatner pronounced the name as "Mugatu" all the way through the episode, and Mugato is still frequently spelled Mugatu in various sources such as The Star Trek Compendium. The  episode  made the fact that the ape is known under several slightly different names canon.

In the film serial , the native Orangopoids from the planet  resemble the Mugato. These creatures were colloquially known as "The Dreaded Beast of Mongo," where they were often used in ritualistic executions of so-called enemies of the state.

It also bears some minor resemblance to the gremlin from the "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" episode of . William Shatner starred in this episode as a neurotic airline passenger. The creature terrorized Shatner's character until he went mad.

, an avid Star Trek fan, named the  villain Jacobin Mugatu (played by ) after the Mugato.  

The Mugato costume was created and performed by Janos Prohaska. It is believed that Prohaska also used the costume for the "Fatal Cargo" episode of , without its head horn or back spikes (DVD season 4, volume 1), and in Season 1, Episode 22, "Lucy's Safari", of . The  noted Prohaska had designed and built the mugato from an ape suit he had previously built for another project.

In the end credits of "A Private Little War", Prohaska receives credit as "Gumato".

Apocrypha 
The novel series Star Trek: New Frontier featured an augmented mugato named Janos (named after the original mugato's performer Janos Prohaska) who was genetically-altered by Doctor Marius Bethom and achieved sentience. However, his augmented genes led to an irreversible decrease in intelligence that came in waves before becoming permanent. He entered Starfleet with the rank of ensign and served as a security officer aboard the  and USS Excalibur-A. In 2376, he was temporarily transferred to the USS Trident where he had a short-term relationship with M'Ress. However, his intelligence finally deteriorated, leading him to murder fellow crew member Lieutenant Gleau after he mentally assaulted M'Ress. Having lost his unique sentient abilities, Janos was eventually brought to Neural and released back into the wild where he joined a tribe of mugato. He eventually got into a scuffle with several members of the tribe after defeating at least two members using Judo throws implying that while Janos lost his intelligence, his muscle memory remained un-impaired.

The Star Fleet Medical Reference Manual lists what to do in the event of a mugato bite in the first aid section and lists the mugato's taxonomic nomenclature as Pongidae theropoda and that it can reach up to 2.2 meters in height.

External link 
 

de:Mugato
Animals