Sansheh

The sansheh replaced its ancestor in the forest biomes of Barlowe, being better adapted to eat the large obsidibomb. Their tusks have again become longer to help gather food and for defense, however the tusks are now hollow to help reduce weight. Their respiration pores have moved backwards to make room for the stronger leg muscles needed to support their bigger bodies; their toes have become wider to help spread out the creature's weight when walking. They live in loose herds of ~20, peacefully meandering through and feasting on the underbrush, only becoming violent if provoked. The sansheh's primary adaptation is its tail, which uses recycled tail-leg genes from the sansheh's older ancestor, the sanashi. It now uses its tail to elevate the body in order to reach the leaves of the obsidibomb; it uses its feet to balance against the flora's stalk and its trunk and tusks to grab the leaves. The plates on the tip of its tail form a backwards-facing, hooflike base in order to support the creature's weight. Older and larger individuals can sometimes topple obsidibombs; as such the sansheh plays an important part in the Barlowian forests, by preventing the black flora from blocking out the sunlight needed by other types of flora. Individuals live for 30 years, reproducing every 5 years at the start of the warmer months. Males attract the attention of potential mates through bellows and shaking displays. Females lay 20-25 beige eggs, seven cm in diameter, which are placed in holes dug by the parents' tusks. The eggs hatch in 4 months, the parents guarding the nesting area until the 15 cm long larvae hatch. The larvae are more independent than their ancestor's. Larvae live as detrivores for the first month of their lives, transitioning to a diet of smaller black flora. Sansheh larvae use their mouth and tail spike to climb up flora if threatened. It takes 6 months for the young to reach their adult form. Their legs develop within a chitin spike-shell, which will break open in the fifth month of development; Their 4-pronged mouth will slowly split into the separate trunk and tusks throughout the growth cycle; at the same time their plates will shrink as their internal skeleton develops. By the time the metamorphosis is complete the young will be half their full size, at which point they will live under the protection of the parent herd until they are big enough to strike out on their own.