Opportunity Shrew

The Opportunity Shrew split from its ancestor. It has developed a longer snout for picking up scent better, and enlarged ears for listening. It can hear the sounds of saucebacks echolocating, and it uses this in combination with its good sense of smell to intentionally seek out sauceback nests to devour eggs and young—as well as to avoid confrontation with the parents. It has abandoned all flora from its diet and become carnivorous, supplementing its diet of sauceback eggs and larvae with smaller organisms which it can easily catch.

Like its ancestor, the Opportunity Shrew is a burrower. It resides mainly in burrows it made itself, though it may also steal burrows from other species of Shrew, and it may also live inside hollowed logs and other natural cavities. As its diet specifications put it in regular contact with saucebacks, the Opportunity Shrew is relatively hardy so that it may survive inevitable attacks; for example, it has dense fur and the skin around its neck is thickened, making it more difficult to bite to death. It is generally solitary, but it may also sometimes be found in mated pairs. Like its ancestor, it gives live birth and carries its offspring around in a pouch. There, they are nourished with milk until they are old enough to leave the pouch and go out on their own.