Aardox

Those intrepid Aardoorn that settled the temperate beaches of Fermi and began eating the berries of purple flora such as Fuzzpalm and Fuzzpile eventually gave rise to the Aardox, replacing their ancestors within their range.

While still omnivores, the diet of Aardox primarily consists of the fruit of various flora. They supplement their diet with the many insect-like fauna that dwell at the tops of flora. When spring comes and the Mangot’s leave-fruits ripen, many individuals congregate during this period to gorge themselves. The ratio of fruit eaten versus live prey is dependent upon different factors that may affect any given individual. An adolescent Aardox’s diet will contain more live prey species than an adult, due to not being able to reach many sources of fruit that an adult could reach. As an Aardox ages and grows larger, more and more of their diet will be made up of the various fruits found on the Jaydoh temperate beaches.

The Aardox is longer and taller than the Aadoorn. The tongue of the Aardox is even longer than that of its ancestor. Their increased size and tongue length allows them to forage for food at heights of up to 4 and a half to 5 meters, depending on the individual.

Aardox are just as aggressive as their forebears. Maintaining the attitude that a good defense is a strong offense, the Aardox will primarily protect itself against predation by charging any would-be assailants, threatening to land a deadly blow with one of their foot-claws or shoulder spikes.

A fully grown Aardox will claim a strip of beach as their own territory. They will aggressively defend this territory from invading predators and other Aardox. The only time an adult Aardox will be tolerant of other Aardox encroaching on their land is when the Mangot ripens in the spring time or during their mating season.

During mating season, partnerless adult female Aardox will abandon their territories in search of a mate. They will travel up and down the coast, looking for the males with the flashiest wattles and color displays. Once it has chosen her prospective partner, they will begin to cohabitate in the territory of the male. The female will spend most of her time resting in shade while her partner forages food for her. If their newly shared territory doesn’t have enough resources to maintain both individuals, the males will either expand the borders of their territory, or will choose to go without food for the duration of their partner’s pregnancy. During this period, Male Aardox tend to consume far more live prey than normal, saving foraged fruit for their partners. Aardox mate for life.

Aardox will produce anywhere from 3 to 7 newborn. When born, juvenile Aardox retain some neotenic traits, such as their large heads, eyes, and their prominent tail fin. Unlike their ancestor, these traits will take several weeks, if not months, to fade away as the baby Aardox grows in size. Young Aardox are capable of fending for themselves at birth, if necessary. However, they are small and unarmored. This makes them easy prey for the predators of Fermi. This has led to the development of parental care.

Aardox will rear their young for up to a year before the adolescent Aardox eventually leave the safety of their parent’s territory. During this time they grow rapidly, losing their childhood traits and growing their osteoderm armor within 2 months. For the rest of their time with their parents their objective is just to grow as large as possible. Once large enough to safely leave the protection of their parent’s territory, they will spend a few more years growing on their own before maturing into adults and taking control over their own strip of beach.