Tambite

Though tambucks were absent from the Martyk archipelago when it first formed, they were present in the surrounding mangals; it was inevitable that some would eventually make it to the islands proper. These island colonizers evolved into the tambite.

In the absence of any large predators in the forests, the tambite has lost its spikes and has taken on more omnivorous dietary habits. Its incisors are fang-like and its jaws are strong, allowing it to dispatch small prey with a well-placed bite that crushes or severs the spinal cord. For most creatures this means biting the neck, but it can easily distinguish saucebacks from other creatures and knows to bite them on the base of the tail instead. It mostly feeds on forest creatures, but it will also hunt on the beaches. As a large creature in an insular environment, though it has technically taken the role of apex predator at the time of evolution, it cannot survive only off of meat, so it also still consumes various flora.

Much like its ancestor, the tambite is semi-arboreal and spends much of its time in trees, using the hooked thumb claws on all four of its feet to aid it in climbing. Unlike its ancestor, it also constructs its den in trees to keep its young safe from smaller ground-dwelling predators. Its tail saw, though smaller than that of other tamjacks, can be used to cut up wood which it can then use to form the den’s radial “skeleton”. The “skeleton” is then covered by a loose net of woven flora dotted with leaves that serve to disguise it, and the interior is filled with a soft bedding of flora, fur, feathers, trichomes, plent cotton, and other insulatory material. This is where it sleeps, and where females give birth.

Unlike its ancestor, the tambite is generally more solitary, with males departing after mating while females have to raise their young on their own. They mate and give birth to 2-4 babies at a time every 1-2 years. Tambites gestate for 6 months, take 3 years to reach full size, and, barring early death by disease or predation, they can live for up to 20 years, the shortened lifespan reducing overcrowding.

The tambite is mostly terrestrial, but as it resides on an archipelago, it inevitably has to disperse in order to survive the loss of old islands. When an island becomes too crowded, tambites will sometimes venture out to the sea and swim off to new islands.