Tamybara

The tamybara is slightly more aquatic than its ancestor. While its habitat has no major rivers, it does have ponds and streams. Once the offspring are old enough, they forage with their parents, often wading into the water with them. When they need to rest, they go back into the mother's pouch, which is underneath the tail. However, the pouch isn't hermetically sealed, so if the water is too deep, the offspring must climb onto their parents' backs. Unlike its ancestor, tamybaras do not have spikes over their spines, therefore making it possible for their offspring to sit comfortably on parents' backs. As it has no predators (at time of evolution), its spikes are useless for defense, but they do provide something for their offspring to grip if they start to fall off their parents' backs. Tamybaras bear one or two offspring at a time. Unlike their ancestor, they no longer make burrows. However, they still try to sleep in burrows if they can find one that's big enough. Occasionally, a tamybara that's unaware of its size will try to occupy a tamchuck burrow that's too small for it. Its attempts to fit itself inside a burrow that's too small for it are humorous to watch. Sometimes, the burrow is unfortunately not abandoned, leading to tamybaras inadvertently shoving their hind ends into the faces of resident tamchucks. Tamybaras have more developed molars and chewing muscles than its ancestor, helping it break the tough outer coating of obsidibomb spore chambers. Its ability to survive on tougher, less digestible foods allows it to coeexist with its relatives. Tamybaras produce nootkatone, a chemical compound that smells of grapefruit, from mucus glands on its nose. As liquid nootkatone is yellow, a wet tamybara nose has a slight yellowish tint. The fragrant mucus is deposited on nested brush carniferns to announce its presence in an area. This is used not to warn others to stay away, but as an invitation: the nootkatone concentration in the mucus greatly increases in the mating season. Nootkatone repels certain species of local vermees, making them reluctant to climb large fauna that smell of nootkatone. This includes cleaner borevermids, as they are descendants of vermees. Consequently, cleaner borevermids never approach the noses of tamybaras. Tamybaras have trouble cleaning themselves, as they have short, inflexible necks, small tongues and relatively inflexible limbs. This is not often a problem, though, as tamybaras regularly immerse themselves in water and are frequently groomed by their mates. If not groomed, their wounds may develop infections, often caused by morsuses and pestilences picked up from stagnant water. They are so dependent on being groomed by their mates that, after the mate's death, they may die from progression of an infection. If the wound site is located somewhere inconspicuous on the corpse, the tamybara can appear to have died from sheer grief. Triva: In experimental conditions, tamybaras love to be petted, and may even make strange squeaking noises if the experimenter suddenly stops petting them. As grapefruit contains nootkatone, which tamybaras use as a social signal, captive tamybaras show unusual interest in grapefruit. However, they don't enjoy eating grapefruit, as they dislike the bitter chemical naringin. Like its ancestor, the tamybara's eyes are slightly out of synchronization when it blinks.