Squirrelly Dufftrout

The squirrelly dufftrout split from its ancestor the needlewing and spread into the surrounding boreal regions. They have strong legs that briskly carry the solitary opportunists as they roam across the forest floor. Their front limbs have hardened and lengthened into sharp spines which are used as highly mobile defense. Their wings have become more robust, with strong musculature at their base and their length hardening and ending in a spine. The needles growing off have become long and filament-like, increasing the surface of the wing. Though their primary purpose is photosynthesis they double as decoys and if damaged they're very easy to regrow. The posterior spines have multiplied and lengthened to increase their defensive ability. Their skin has become patterned to better break up their appearance against the forest floor.

They have a diverse diet, and will attempt to eat anything smaller than themselves that could be food. Typical hunting involves scratching through leaf litter or poking around in burrows and underbrush. However they won't stray from chasing down small prey, including lost interbiat chicks. Fruit and seeds are pulled from low-growing flora, though more often simply found on the ground. Though preferring to live alone when scouring the duff or feasting on fallen fruit, they can be found basking in small groups under breaks in the canopy enjoying the sunbeams.

Though capable of digging they more often live in burrows or hollows that they find instead. They adjust these homes by carrying in and lining them with large amounts of dried leaf litter until they are very well insulated. A new behavior they've developed dealing with winters is hoarding. They are semi-scatter hoarders, usually creating a small handful of larders throughout the summer filled mainly with seeds and smaller dried fruits.

Unlike it's ancestor the squirrelly dufftrout has well developed pouches in both females and males. These pouches are not used for carrying brood. Instead they are meant for holding large amounts of material at once, whether it is stuffing them full of berries and seeds for larders, or full of leaves for their dens. Females have shifted back to the using the anatomy of their earlier ancestor, the bipedal baghopper, inflating their birth canal to continue holding their brood for a longer period rather than in their pouch like their direct ancestor. Mating is performed early in the year. Males may offer food to their mate during the brood holding period, though they are rather unreliable and tend to drift away before the period ends. Females are fully capable of feeding themselves and their young however. Food is either immediately eaten by her, or stored in the pouch and rationed to the offspring. Once fully birthed, mid to late spring the babies will continue to follow and learn from their mother. By the end of early summer they will have begun creating their own stashes of food and drift apart from their family group. By winter they are sexually mature, their first brood numbering 1-3, though later broods can number up to 10. They can live for up to 30 years.

During winter their wing needles are shed and only the tough spine of the wing remains. Much of this season is spent hiding out in their nest, feeding on food stored in their pouch. Routinely they will interrupt their shut-in life to raid one of their hidden stores in the woods and refill their pouch.