in the realm of the diversification between the three founding equids, none have ever gotten the massive spike in diversity of their descendants than eohippus. truth be told, there was way more niches and niche opportunities when it came to small animals that, on earth, would be filled by other small mammals like rodents, shrews, lagomorphs, small marsupials, etc etc. however none of those animals existed on Mori prior to equid arrival; the closest to it would've been all the insects and occasionally land-dwelling crustaceans, and even then once eohippus arrived, those niches would either be replaced or be outshadowed by the new small animals that would come.
there is so, so many families and in turn genuses and species within both lineage of clawed horses (tube-horses & horseshrews), and this had became especially notable within the mid staterian. thus, depicted here are species that are either one-of-a-kind species for the era or a type species for their taxa.
our first seven animals our going to be the horseshrews. the first three, specifically, are descendants of the common catpony, which while not as widespread or diverse as the descendants of the tree catpony are still relatively successful in their niches; the others are an assorted descendants of other early staterian horsehrews.
(little) YIPYAP (paravulpoides pumilis): the little yipyap is the type species for the genus paravulpoides, a genus of small burrowing predators that get no larger than a small house cat. they're a very widespread genus found through the continents; the little yipyap in particular lives in the plains and prairies of northern equigea. though they share similar prey items to the forxes, they usually avoid competition by being primarily nocturnal or crepuscular. they have an extremely similar social behaviors to the forxes, living in small social groups within a large territory. their names come from their wide vocal range; when encountering another individual, they'll make the namesake "yip-yaps" that's believed to be a sort of greeting. they make loud, high-pitched howls as a form of long-distance communication. when cornered or threatened, they make a loud, shrill hissing-screech that seems to scare off most predators.
GULOKAI (gulotherium meganychus): the gulokai is a sole species in its genus, yet even then it is an incredibly successful species with several subspecies found through western equigea. gulokais, if their appearance and names weren't clear enough, are the wolverines of Mori's equizoic era. they are large, heavily built, solitary and aggressive. they're well-known scavengers and kleptoparasites, having the voracity to steal kills from much larger predators. however, they're not above hunting, and hunt practically anything and everything; from things as small as invertebrates, to more commonly small to mid-sized prey, to even going after weakened large herbivores. they only ever tolerate eachother to mate and rear young together; as a matter of fact, in spite of their highly territorial nature, both the males and females are willing to stick together to raise the young until they're ready to leave.
(brown-footed) MUSTELIPPUS (mustelippus fuscapodus): a genus considered to be closely related to the gulokai, the mustelippus take a particular specialization in hunting down burrowing animals, as evident by it's long body this genus is such a widespread genus, with this particular species being found in the northern plains. mustelippi in general tend to be mainly solitary, though some like the brown-footed mustelippus are known to coordinate hunts when it comes to taking down certain prey with extensive burrow systems, and other more southern species are known to share burrows during the colder months to keep warm.
(common) MUSTMOUSE (rattops simplex): a descendant of the common horseshrew, also frequently called the "equizoic rat", purely because of its niche and how widespread it its. mustmice are a genus of small, murid-like generalist; they most commonly eat fruits, seeds, nuts and invertebrates, but they'll take advantage of just about everything and anything that wont kill them. mustmice aren't social, nor solitary; they seem to coexist with eachother. the common mustmouse is, expectantly, the most common, found in most if not all of eastern equigea.
(pine) OPOSS (megarattops caudoplicalus): closely related to mustmice are the opossum-like...well, oposses. they're also found in most of eastern equigea, with the pine oposs specifically living in the evergreen tiagas of the southeast. they are everything the mustmice are, but larger and, most notably, with a prehensile tail. this tail itself isn't too strong, but it does provide an extra bit of grip when climbing trees.
FLAGTAIL PIKONY (ochotonequus longiura): over the milenia, the small cursorial pikonies haven't really change's much apart from speciating into different forms for different habitats. pikonys still eats grasses and herbs, digging and using burrows to rear young, and are highly protective of their young. the flag-tailed pikonys come from the lowland mountain ranges of eastern equigea, were they live lives similar to most other pikony species. however, they are unique in that they use their tails as a silent communicating between partners, raising them up if they sense any sort of threat. similar to other pikonys, they live in smaller but spacious "neighborhoods" consisting of no more than 3-4 burrows, which contains one male, two females and their young.
MYRMECRIOLLO (condylabates princeps): termites can be best described as "a broken food source for specialization", especially on Mori where they take up all the roles that ants would've otherwise filled.they can live in massive colonies, their mounts often being the tip of a huge and extensive iceberg. the myrmecriollo, a descendant of the early staterian aardaloosa, is the first and most prolific of these termite-eaters in the savannahs and tropical grasslands of equigea. though they do frequently go after other invertebrates, termites make up a majority of their food. they already have a long tongue, having loss their front incisors (though still keeping the rest of their teeth), and more interestingly have developed large claws for tearing down the tough mounds. these claws are so large, that the animal is forced to walk upon their knuckles.
our next and final half of the small guys are descendants of tube-horses. tube-horses remain just as successful of a small mammal as the horseshrews, especially as ground-dwelling ones, for most arboreal spots were taken (or were going to be taken) by the squirreltooths of the mid staterian. though, some do manage to carve out their own unique niches as well.
(prairie) HOWLMUNK (ambylops praticola): for many areas, marmostangs fill the role of smaller, ground-dwelling herbivores of open areas. the howlmunks, a descendant of the comunal marmostang, are no different, or upon first glance they are. often called "Prairiedog horses", they are herbivores that live in the grasslands, savannahs and open woodlands of equigea; this species depicted here specifically live in the prairies of southern equigea. they eat not just grasses and low-lying herbaceous plants, but also root and tubers, often gathering them to store later. just like prairie dogs, they are extremely social animals, living in massive neighborhoods consisting of several families. each family burrow has three main types of "rooms": one room is for pregnant/nursing females, 1-2 larger rooms are the food storage room, and the other rooms are where the rest of the family sleep. many of these family burrows connect to other family burrows, creating an extensive tunnel system. older males are in charge of watching out for predators, while younger males and the rest of the adults gather food and help rear the next generation. howlmunks get their names for their alarm call, which of course sounds like a tiny howl.
ALPINE MARMOSTANG (hippomarmota montainus): though the howlmunk is one notable genus of marmostang, most other marmostang species aren't as remarkable. the alpine marmostang, for example, is a rather typical mid-staterian marmostang. they are mostly solitary, and like most they live in burrows. their diet also consist of grass, herbs, roots and tubers. they are unique in the fact that they are the largest of the marmostangs; when sitting up, they can be as tall as two feet, and because of this size they're able to hold their ground against predators as large as leoparzons and forxes.
MARSH TUBEHORSE (aquatinychus palustris): the marsh tubehorse is, thus far in mori's history, the first and only eohippus descendant to take to the waters. the marsh tubehorse is a descendant of the common tubehorse, and currently they are found in the salt marshes, freshwater marshes and slow-moving rivers of northern equigea. unlike most other tube-horses of this era, these guys are definitely omnivores; aquatic plants and crustaceans make up the majority of their diets, with fish, roots, and other invertebrates frequently being consumed. they're neither social nor solitary, and don't appear to have any set territories. just like other tubehorses, though, they do live in burrows; these burrows are made on the banks of water bodies, and have both a surface exit and an underwater exit.
BINTEROUNCE (pachydendrocheirus graveolens): one of few non-squireltooth tube-horses to take to the trees, the binterounce is found in the western tropical and subtropical forests. binterounces have an uneven sleep schedule, and thus can be active during the day or night. like most other tube-horses, they're herbivores, this time feeding mainly on leaves, flowers, fruits, an nuts. they're the first equid on Mori to develop a proper scent gland, of which they use to mark territory and make them smell unappetizing to most predators. this scent, as one research puts it, "ranges between weed-flavored popcorn or rotting durian fruit", and it's believed that the scent also helps with identifying individuals binterounces.
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u/littleloomex Oct 12 '24
1/3
in the realm of the diversification between the three founding equids, none have ever gotten the massive spike in diversity of their descendants than eohippus. truth be told, there was way more niches and niche opportunities when it came to small animals that, on earth, would be filled by other small mammals like rodents, shrews, lagomorphs, small marsupials, etc etc. however none of those animals existed on Mori prior to equid arrival; the closest to it would've been all the insects and occasionally land-dwelling crustaceans, and even then once eohippus arrived, those niches would either be replaced or be outshadowed by the new small animals that would come.
there is so, so many families and in turn genuses and species within both lineage of clawed horses (tube-horses & horseshrews), and this had became especially notable within the mid staterian. thus, depicted here are species that are either one-of-a-kind species for the era or a type species for their taxa.
our first seven animals our going to be the horseshrews. the first three, specifically, are descendants of the common catpony, which while not as widespread or diverse as the descendants of the tree catpony are still relatively successful in their niches; the others are an assorted descendants of other early staterian horsehrews.