Tigmadar

The Tigmadar split from their ancestor and adapted to life in the hot sands of Dixon. They have become well suited as a middle trophic level predator of their environments, they have become pack hunting pursuit predators, using their numbers to overwhelm and exhaust prey, chasing them until the prey collapses from fluid or energy expense. Their most radical change has been in their legs, which have become proto-hooves, allowing for further support for running. Their fur is generally soft and thin, notably softer on the belly than on the back, and have adapted a more beige coloration to help blend into the sands of the drier Dixon regions. Their ears are not as wide as their ancestors, as large ears are a hindrance for aerodynamics for running, but still provide some cooling effects. Instead, their nasal passageways have widened to allow for greater intake of cool air. Tigmadars live in groups consisting of parents and their offspring, parents and their grown offspring, parents and their grown offspring and immature offspring. While they are capable of breeding year-round, the vast majority of pregnancies occur in the cooler months, when hunting is easier. After emerging from the mother, they crawl to her pouch, latch onto a teat inside, and drink the milk. Due to the difficulties of gripping with hooves, the front limbs have retained some claws, though they lose flexibility in them as they grow. The females also have a backwards facing pouch, allowing for their joeys to not have to climb into a pouch. The embryos/newborns are pink, hairless, small-eared, and lack spikes on their back. Though born with all their eyes closed, within two weeks their first pair of eyes (the ones closest to the nose) will open. Their pickaxe shaped thagomizers are now solely used for defensive purposes, mainly as a means of defending kills from scavengers or protecting their young from potential predators, like the Stride Sauceback. The spikes have become less prominent, and have a ball joint developing near the tip of the tail where the thagomizer meets the tail body, allowing the thagomizer to rotate so that the spikes do not provide as much drag when they run.