Topship Shrog

The topship shrog split from its ancestor. It purposefully exploits topship fuzzpalms to construct sturdy nests capable of lasting multiple generations. It identifies topship berries by their yellow color and extracts the seeds found inside. It plants these in its nest during construction and defends the sapling from predators as it grows, purposefully allowing them to take over the nest. This results in a living nest which requires very little maintenance, resists attack from shrogsnappers, and even has built in shade and sugary snacks. Topship shrog nests are often considerably wider than seashrog nests, sometimes measuring a whopping 30 meters in width and containing up to a dozen topship fuzzpalms, as they do not need to depend on finding trees that grow tall enough to make sufficiently large ribs for support. Their nests last multiple generations and they rarely construct new ones as a result; the learned skills have gradually fallen away and they rely more on instinct and intuition to make new nests when they need to do so.

Unlike the seashrog, which hunts large prey using spears, the topship shrog utilizes nets to catch considerably smaller creatures. These nets are made from excess topship fuzzpalm roots which grow inside the nest and are put together using a weaving instinct present in most tamjacks. Spears are still used for self-defense. When hauling an especially large catch on board, topship shrogs may drape the net over their head and shoulders, effectively gripping with their osteoderms and allowing them to use the strength of all four limbs to drag it aboard. Though their prey is smaller, this hunting method allows them to reap massive rewards—a single catch can include hundreds of gilltails or swarmers and can easily feed a large family. Leftovers are not stored except to feed the topship fuzzpalms, as they rarely fail to catch any food at all in a day. A net can also be cast over small floating flora to satisfy their other nutritional needs.

Because it can obtain so much more food at once and can make such large nests, topship shrogs live in fairly large groups, sometimes containing multiple families. They spend much of the day relaxing and socializing, though they watch the sky for predators as they do so. Obesity is common in topship shrogs, and individuals that are not at least fairly chubby compared to other warm-climate shrog species are rare. Solitary topship shrogs and smaller families also exist, usually found in former seashrog ghost nests which they took over and repurposed. They have similar vocalizations and facial expressions to seashrogs.

Topship shrog nests, being alive, keep themselves fairly clean. This has resulted in the nest being rather hostile to various species that usually inhabit shrog nests, as many of them rely on the presence of large amounts of waste and detritus. Most notably, shailnitors are absent. Kakonats, on the other hand, thrive in the larger topship shrog nests far better than they do in seashrog nests, nibbling at the nest's roots, snatching newly caught prey from the pile, and rarely even swarming and devouring baby topship shrogs.

The topship shrog has a smaller tail saw than its ancestor, as it does not need to use very high-quality wood to make a nest (even a rotting log would suffice) and therefore it uses its tail considerably less. Its tail wears down quickly, unlike the tails of other tamjacks which are fairly resistant to wear, and it grows back slowly. Like most shrogs, the topship shrog has 4 digits on each limb. The innermost digit of each forelimb is opposable and used to grasp tools.

Topship shrogs are somewhat less monogamous than seashrogs, due in part to living in larger groups, but generally still stick to a single partner. The osteoderms on their faces are attractive and they perform a sort of ritual combat where they use them to "head-wrestle". They have no breeding season and females are almost always pregnant or nursing. They gestate for 4 1/2 months and give birth to 2-4 offspring at a time. Newborns live in a pouch and drink milk until their osteoderms start to grow in, at which point they are weaned. They take as long as 6 years to reach full size, but they can live independently as young as 3. They will disperse on beaches upon landfall and set out in search of a mate and a new community to join; it is very rare for a mated pair to start a nest alone, instead finding others of their kind which are either making landfall for their own dispersal or searching for material to build a new nest.