Stygmogg

One group of drakoggs would split off and return to becoming more social and generalistic. This would lead to the evolution of the stygmogg, which lives in a wide range of habitats. At first glance, the stygmogg looks pretty similar to its ancestor, retaining sharp senses of hearing and sight, which are its main senses for chasing down prey. Unlike the drakogg, however, the stygmogg prefers hunting small game, like the several species of nodent found within their range. To better handle the stresses of struggling prey and to reinforce their powerful bite, the skull of the stygmogg had developed a modified form of lignin within them that makes them stiffer and stronger than normal wood. While it makes it slightly harder to give birth, it makes it much easier for them to crush bones and armor.

Two particularly noticeable changes in the stygmogg’s anatomy involve features intertwined with its ancestry. The first change is that the lowermost pair of horns have returned to becoming barbels, allowing the stygmogg to smell more efficiently than its close relatives, the very tips of these barbels still have wooden spikes to protect the barbels from damage. The second major change is the duplication of its leaf-wings, a trait that occurs fairly regularly among plents. The second pair of leaf-wings did mean extra surface area for photosynthesis, but they were more important for communication, with stymoggs often raising and lowering the second pair of leaf-wings to show off the bright coloration. This correlates with the fact that unlike their ancestors, the stygmogg has become much more social, gathering together in groups of about 3-7 adults.

One benefit living in a pack provides is that the stygmogg can hunt creatures larger than themselves, mainly the juveniles of local megafauna. Since most of the megafauna are plents, some individuals will harass the protective parents and lure them away or chase them off, while other stygmoggs will focus on taking down the youngster. These packs can also help with catching rather evasive prey, with some individuals cutting off escape routes and driving prey into the jaws of a stygmogg. When a kill is made, the stygmoggs will eat every part of the carcass if given the chance, but will always go after choice pieces like the heart or brain since those provide the most nutrients.

While the thorny spines on their bodies do provide some protection from large ukjaws and flunejaws, the stygmogg will more often rely on their coloration and patterns to avoid being detected, which also means they can avoid being spotted by their prey as well. If backed into a corner, a lone stygmogg will not hesitate to bite and scratch at a threat, attacking with great ferocity and seemingly reckless abandon since at that point they are focused on turning the tables upon their assailant as quickly and violently as possible.

Although the stygmogg still acts aggressive to other species, intraspecific interactions have become much more peaceful, due to the species living in tightly-knit packs. For males, conflicts are now more settled by shoving contests instead of physical violence. This lowered aggression among packmates is due to how each member of the pack is important to the overall survival of the whole group, helping to obtain food and to rear young. Young stygmoggs, known as hornpups, are underdeveloped compared to their ancestor’s young. These hornpups have mostly sealed eyes (which limits their vision), no body armor, and only have their canines being present. Combined with legs unable to support their weight, stygmogg hornpups are entirely reliant upon their pack for survival. Stygmogg packs will rear their young in a den, which are often overhangs or abandoned burrows of other creatures, though a stygmogg can dig out their own den if left with no other options.

When the pack goes out to forage, at least one of the adults will stay behind to care for the young. Any threat spotted by the guardian will be dealt with appropriately, with smaller threats being attacked by the guardian while the stygmogg barks with their butt nostril very loudly to alert the rest of the pack if the threat is bigger. Even things like a large flunejaw are likely to back down if spotted, since a pack of stygmoggs protecting their young is not worth fighting against. Hornpups reach maturity at around 2 years of age, though they can begin hunting with the group at about 6 months old.