Paddling Plent

The stilt plents in deeper waters began adopting a sort of loping, leaping method of moving through water. This eventually gave way to a sort of graceful dog-paddle, as used by the paddling plent. The paddling plent could be thought of as a sort of small, agile hippo. They eat plant roots and leaves thanks to a pair of toughened plates in their mouth and spend long periods of time basking in the sun digesting. Their air vent has developed a sphincter, like their cousins the plodding plents, but the function of this one is to allow the plent to 'hold its breath' and dive to the bottom of the water to forage for roots. Their eyes and ears have become larger and more sensitive as they avoid large predators such as plesiodiles. Paddling plents also regurgitate young which are able to swim and fend for themselves, and so have lost the throat pouch of the stilt plent. The 'leaves' characteristic of plents have become useful in swimming. When on the surface, they extend to provide a large surface for stability, and when the plent dives, they fold flat against the body to streamline.