10-14-2019, 07:08 PM
Mammals: Odd-toed Ungulates
1.) From the order Persissodactlya, the following families and species have members native to this nation:
Equidae
Metahipparion monodactylos** = Plains, or Striped, Hass
Metahipparion montanus** = Upland Hass
Although these species belong to the ‘Horse’ family they are more closely related to the extinct-in-RL genus Hipparion (which still had three toes on each foot, although with the ones on each side reduced in size relative to the central one) than to any of the species (all placed in the genus Equus, and all with only one toe per foot) that survive in RL today. The name “Hass” was coined because they aren’t exactly proper Horses, and they aren’t exactly Wild Asses, but they appear rather similar to both if you don’t look too closely at their feet. They are both grazers, the ‘Plains Hass’ living in open grassland and wooded savannah (or even the in more open parts of the actual woodland, sometimes) below the [western] foothills of the mountains while the ‘Upland Hass’ — whose legs are proportionately a bit shorter — occupies the grassy areas on the slopes above and even those at the top of the eastern slopes as well. The Plains Hass has only one toe on each foot, although some remnant bones [of reduced size] from the other toes that their quite recent ancestors possessed form slight bulges on either side above this. The Upland Hass still has three toes per foot, although the outside ones are smaller than the centre one: It normally walks or runs on just the centre toes, but when descending slopes may bring the others into contact with the ground behind those as well which improves stability and thus allows higher speeds. The fur of the Plains Hass is basically a light brown in colour, but with thin stripes of a darker brown to individually varying extents on the head, body (except the belly), and upper legs: The fur of the Upland Hass is solidly a fairly light greyish-brown in colour. Both species have a “typical equine” social structure, with small herds that each consist of one adult stallion with a number of mares and their immature offspring while ‘bachelor’ stallions roam individually. Both species will sometimes graze alongside or amidst herds of antelopes, just as the also-equine Zebras do in RL Africa. Only a few attempts have been made so far at taming any members of either species, and none yet has been successful.
(†) Chalicotheriidae
Neochalicotherium gigas** = ‘Chalicothere’ (At least some of U.N.E.’s colonists here call it the "Sasquatch Horse")
Large browser, found in the woodlands along the western coast and sometimes found even in wooded savannah. Around the size of a large horse, capable of sitting on its haunches and using its long forelimbs — whose toes are tipped with claws rather than with hooves — to pull branches down to its mouth. Those claws are also a useful defence against predators.
Rhinoceratidae
This continent’s native Rhinoceroses all belong to its endemic subfamily Monceratinae* (“One-horns”). They are divided into two tribes, one of browsers and one of grazers.
Monoceras griseus notus*** = Southern Grey Rhinoceros
This is a grazer, occurring in the more open of the habitats west of [and below] the mountains.
Breviceras hespereus** = Western Short-horned Rhinoceros, or Western Jungle Rhinoceros
This is a browser, both in the rainforest and in the denser & lusher of the west coast’s forests. As the name indicates it has a relatively short horn, although this is still quiet sturdy, and it is rather smaller than either of the other native species.
Aresiceras brunneus** = Brown, or Belligerent, Rhinoceros
This is also a browser, but in the drier forests, scrub, and wooded savannah, inland from the west coast. It generally relies on coarser vegetation than does the species above, and has more powerful teeth for crushing this. Like the ‘Black Rhino’ of RL Africa, it is noted for its tendency to charge at perceived threats. (Hence the reference to Ares, the Ancient Greeks’ God of War, in its genus name.)
Hippydridae*
Hippydor oceanicus** = Southern Water-horse
This family is only distantly related to any of the other Perissodactyls, and evolved from a now-extinct family of rather tapir-like animals called the Anthracobunidae (which were also formerly present, but are now extinct, in RL). Its modern members are aquatic herbivores that fill similar ecological niches to RL’s modern ‘Sea-cows’ (manatees & dugong) in suitable areas around the coasts of both the IDU’s continents, but because of their ancestry they are commonly called ‘Water-horses’ instead. The range of one species extends into ‘sea-grass meadows’ near this nation’s western coast, where its members graze.
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Fossils of various “Condylarths” (animals that were formerly grouped together as into a now–discredited ‘Order’ called Condylarthra, some of which were probably quite close relatives to particular “true” Ungulate lineages (such as the Perissodactyla [see above] or the Artiodactyla [see next post]) but others of which possibly were not closely related to any other ‘Ungulates’ at all, might also be found here.
1.) From the order Persissodactlya, the following families and species have members native to this nation:
Equidae
Metahipparion monodactylos** = Plains, or Striped, Hass
Metahipparion montanus** = Upland Hass
Although these species belong to the ‘Horse’ family they are more closely related to the extinct-in-RL genus Hipparion (which still had three toes on each foot, although with the ones on each side reduced in size relative to the central one) than to any of the species (all placed in the genus Equus, and all with only one toe per foot) that survive in RL today. The name “Hass” was coined because they aren’t exactly proper Horses, and they aren’t exactly Wild Asses, but they appear rather similar to both if you don’t look too closely at their feet. They are both grazers, the ‘Plains Hass’ living in open grassland and wooded savannah (or even the in more open parts of the actual woodland, sometimes) below the [western] foothills of the mountains while the ‘Upland Hass’ — whose legs are proportionately a bit shorter — occupies the grassy areas on the slopes above and even those at the top of the eastern slopes as well. The Plains Hass has only one toe on each foot, although some remnant bones [of reduced size] from the other toes that their quite recent ancestors possessed form slight bulges on either side above this. The Upland Hass still has three toes per foot, although the outside ones are smaller than the centre one: It normally walks or runs on just the centre toes, but when descending slopes may bring the others into contact with the ground behind those as well which improves stability and thus allows higher speeds. The fur of the Plains Hass is basically a light brown in colour, but with thin stripes of a darker brown to individually varying extents on the head, body (except the belly), and upper legs: The fur of the Upland Hass is solidly a fairly light greyish-brown in colour. Both species have a “typical equine” social structure, with small herds that each consist of one adult stallion with a number of mares and their immature offspring while ‘bachelor’ stallions roam individually. Both species will sometimes graze alongside or amidst herds of antelopes, just as the also-equine Zebras do in RL Africa. Only a few attempts have been made so far at taming any members of either species, and none yet has been successful.
(†) Chalicotheriidae
Neochalicotherium gigas** = ‘Chalicothere’ (At least some of U.N.E.’s colonists here call it the "Sasquatch Horse")
Large browser, found in the woodlands along the western coast and sometimes found even in wooded savannah. Around the size of a large horse, capable of sitting on its haunches and using its long forelimbs — whose toes are tipped with claws rather than with hooves — to pull branches down to its mouth. Those claws are also a useful defence against predators.
Rhinoceratidae
This continent’s native Rhinoceroses all belong to its endemic subfamily Monceratinae* (“One-horns”). They are divided into two tribes, one of browsers and one of grazers.
Monoceras griseus notus*** = Southern Grey Rhinoceros
This is a grazer, occurring in the more open of the habitats west of [and below] the mountains.
Breviceras hespereus** = Western Short-horned Rhinoceros, or Western Jungle Rhinoceros
This is a browser, both in the rainforest and in the denser & lusher of the west coast’s forests. As the name indicates it has a relatively short horn, although this is still quiet sturdy, and it is rather smaller than either of the other native species.
Aresiceras brunneus** = Brown, or Belligerent, Rhinoceros
This is also a browser, but in the drier forests, scrub, and wooded savannah, inland from the west coast. It generally relies on coarser vegetation than does the species above, and has more powerful teeth for crushing this. Like the ‘Black Rhino’ of RL Africa, it is noted for its tendency to charge at perceived threats. (Hence the reference to Ares, the Ancient Greeks’ God of War, in its genus name.)
Hippydridae*
Hippydor oceanicus** = Southern Water-horse
This family is only distantly related to any of the other Perissodactyls, and evolved from a now-extinct family of rather tapir-like animals called the Anthracobunidae (which were also formerly present, but are now extinct, in RL). Its modern members are aquatic herbivores that fill similar ecological niches to RL’s modern ‘Sea-cows’ (manatees & dugong) in suitable areas around the coasts of both the IDU’s continents, but because of their ancestry they are commonly called ‘Water-horses’ instead. The range of one species extends into ‘sea-grass meadows’ near this nation’s western coast, where its members graze.
___________________________________________
Fossils of various “Condylarths” (animals that were formerly grouped together as into a now–discredited ‘Order’ called Condylarthra, some of which were probably quite close relatives to particular “true” Ungulate lineages (such as the Perissodactyla [see above] or the Artiodactyla [see next post]) but others of which possibly were not closely related to any other ‘Ungulates’ at all, might also be found here.