Plated Tamow

The Plated Tamow split from its ancestor the Adorned Tamow. It now lives Temperate Woodlands of Vonnegut. No longer on a floating island it became a burrower that will dig into the black soil. Its front nails have become strong digging claws. Its coloration is black to blend into the soil. Its spikes have becomes knobbly plates that resemble pebbles. This servers as camouflage and protection from predators such as the Sparkleshrog.

While it still eats mostly flora it supplements its diet with small bug-like fauna such as Minikruggs and Vermees. It still has symbiotic microbes such as Guttoplaques to digest the grass it consumes daily.

Its tail is no longer flat but a club shape. It can swing it in defense. It actually hits a lot harder than predators think and once they get whacked they usually leave them alone. If they don't they have their keratinous armor to protect them or they can just hide in their large burrows. Their large ears both help them listen for predators (or small prey) as well as help dissipate heat from their black armor and thick-looking fur. In the winter however these adaptions keep them comfortable and warm even in the snow.

Like their ancestor they are more solitary, however their offspring live with their mothers. They give birth to helpless fetal young. Males do not participate in parental care at all. Joeys will live in their mother’s pouch and drink milk until they start to grow in their armor, at which point they leave the pouch already able to run from predators. They are fast as juveniles, but slow down considerably as they age and their armor finishes growing in. Juveniles will continue to suckle from their mother for up to a year after leaving the pouch before they are weaned and begin eating grass instead.