Edurian

Splitting from its ancestor, the edurian grew to nearly twice the leafshell's size and has adapted to living farther inland. They have evolved a trio of horns on their head with a thin membrane connecting them. An impressive sight, it helps to differentiate edurians from their close relatives. They live in family groups of up to 12-15 individuals of various ages. They are typically led by an alpha male. The males use their horns for display purposes. Males, when they find a potential mate, will perform a "dance" during which they will bob their heads while hopping in place. If the female accepts his advances, she will join in and they will continue for an hour or two before mating. The female will then have a seven week pregnancy before giving birth to 1-2 tiny young. As the young are raised, they are heavily guarded from potential predators. If a predator does show up, the young will be gathered in a circle by the adults who will bear their sharp beaks in order to keep them at bay. Predators rarely go after them as the bites of adult edurian are quite painful. Because of this, the young can usually grow up to maturity as long as they are cared for. At birth, edurians lack the distinctive horns and resemble leafshells in appearance. They stick close to their mothers for the first 2-3 weeks of their life, after which they will begin to explore their world and play with members of the same age. They are both cared for and nurtured by all members of the herd. The young are extremely curious yet timid at the same time, and will tend to stay in the safety of the herd. As the young reach their seventh year of growth, they enter their adolescent stage of growth. As their hormonal levels increase, the young start to become less dependent on their parents and start to become more aggressive. Their heads develop the beginning of a central horn surroundby two small knobs, and males start to develop color patterns that they will use later on in life in their mating displays. Males become larger and tend to start more fights with older males, though they tend to run off at the first sign of trouble. Females, meanwhile, begin to play a role in the nurturing of newborns. At adulthood, both sexes achieve their maximum sizes at 10 years of age. They are now sexually mature and will leave the herd in order to join new ones. While females, with their drab coloration and smaller size, are generally accepted into a new herd without problem. Males, meanwhile, must first submit before the alpha male by lowering their heads. This indicates that they are not attempting to challenge him for rule of the herd. If a male eventually does challenge the alpha male, they will attempt to outdo one another, flaunting their trio of large horns until one backs down. If neither does, they will attempt to bite one another until one surrenders. If the challenger wins, he will become the new alpha male, otherwise he would become submissive once more and follow the current leader.