Sniffrat

The sniffrat split from its ancestor and has taken up residence in the Yokto Temperate Forest, going back to the omnivore ways of its ancestor's ancestor, the norat (its digestive system has compensated accordingly). It still retains a highly social behavoir, living in small groups of three to seven, and giving birth to two to three babies at a time. These family groups raise the young until they are nearly full-grown, then they are kicked out (or leave) to join other groups or form new ones. The sniffrat retains the burrowing instincts of its ancestor, and will dig a handful of burrows in the same area in order to live in and store food. This burrow area will be defended against hostile groups that attempt to take it, but there is an equal chance that other groups may interact peacefully, getting together for social activity before leaving again. Sniffrats overall eat roughly equal portions of flora and fauna material, although they do little in the way of actual hunting. Usually they will seek out dead animals and drag them back to their burrows, often catching a few dartir in the process. During the winter when flora is a bit more difficult to find, they will hunt down weaker or injured prey, while during the summer they will often eat mostly flora. Due to their tail being unneeded and mostly an inhabitance during hunting, it has been reduced in size on the sniffrat, and, along with a change in coloration to provide better camouflage, this makes the sniffrat a competent hunter. What gives sniffrats their name is the six lumps on the front of their faces which act as primitive smell-sensing organs. These evolved from the particle-detecting abilities of the past wind-sensors, mostly as a way of identifying possible food through snowfall, and to recognize necrokiss stalks before its to late (as a result of being able to smell the difference, they commonly eat the necrokiss stalks without much hazard). In addition to their newfound sense of smell, sniffrats have slightly better hearing in order to aid with hunting.