Congotingo

The Congotingo replaced its ancestor, the Bloody-Nosed Cotingo, on Fermi. Due to many generations of increasingly harsh selective pressure, it has become smaller, more cooperative, and expanded its range outside the beaches to ensure better access to and use of resources. The pigments of its archetypal ancestor, the fraboohorn, have returned. The dark body helps this geothermic creature obtain heat in the polar environment, and the brighter shell and horn pigments alert other fauna of its bad taste from the methanethiolic chemicals it secretes.

Groups of congotingos form trains of up to two dozen individuals. The posterior of each adult sports a "scent-spot" which secretes identifying pheromones. Adults in the trail use their longest pair of horn-nostrils to follow the scent of their leader, while the additional branches test the ground on either side for signs of food. If food is detected, an individual will slap the posterior of its leader, and wiggle its posterior to alert its follower before moving in to feed. The train will encircle to foodstuff, spraying it with the foul-smelling cocktail as it tightens its formation to feed. The train is pretty cowardly, and if the food puts up too much of a fight (i.e. the creature is stronger or it is carrion guarded by an obstinate predator) then the individuals move on. When temperatures drop too low, the train will dig a shallow dish in the sand and snow and huddle together in a torpor: heavy snow provides insulation for the train as well.

If two or more trains encounter each other, they form a "cocktail party" where the trains dissolve into a mob. Scent markers are exchanged, and some mating occurs, before the trains reform: up to half of each train may end up switching sides at the end of these meetings. Egg sacs are laid on the backs of other adults in the train. Young hold onto the bases of adult's horn-nostrils until they develop their own methanol secretions, going to the back of the line when they mature.