The Paraselenodontia contain over 40 species of mostly or entirely herbivorous eutherians that range in size from 5 to 300 kg in weight. The largest members of this group have managed to carve a place for themselves amongst niches usually reserved for dinosaurs by thriving in harsh or remote environments that ornithischians find too extreme. "Harsh", however, includes all of Europe – the winters are too cold, the Mediterranean Sea does not permit jackalopes to migrate. Many aspects of their lives are as yet unknown, due in part to their living in remote locations as well as a general bias amongst specresearchers towards dinosaur-related projects.

FEATURES

Specerotheres are terrestrial herbivorous quadrupeds found throughout much of the northern hemisphere and certain parts of Africa. They reach their greatest size and diversity in remote environments like the great northern tundra, the Himalayas, and the floor of the tropical forests of Asia and Africa. They can be divided into the small, conservative lagocanimorphs (dogbunnies) and the derived specerotheres (spakas, the dunicorn, spelks, and caripoos).

They have sometimes been called 'odd-and-even-toed' ungulates, as they walk on 3 or 2 hooves on the manus and 3 or 4 hooves on the pes.

All paraselenodonts possess the following dental formula:

Upper jaw: I1, I2, P3, P4, M1, M2, M3
Lower jaw: I1, - , P3, P4, M1, M2, M3

The first pair of upper incisors and the sole lower incisors are greatly enlarged, giving the lower jaw a diprotodont condition effectively identical to that of certain marsupials of Home-Earth Australia. A wide diastema usually separates the incisors from the closely packed cheek teeth.

(fig. 1)
A: Lower jaw of a three-horned caripoo, Tricerotherium mirificum.
B: labelled diagram of a left upper M3 of a blue-maned dogbunny, Lagocanis caeruleocauda.

Paraselenodont cheek-teeth are generally high-crowned with a unique ridge pattern of that has given their clade its name. Like the selenodont teeth of most Home Earth artiodactyls, the cusps of paraselenodont molars and premolars are arranged in pairs of crescent-shaped ridges, forming a long-lasting grinding surface. However, because of the different chewing actions of these Specworld mammals, these ridges are arranged breadthwise rather than lengthwise (as if an artiodactyl molar had been turned 90 degrees clockwise).

Unlike the side-to-side chewing of Home-Earth "ungulates", the jaw action of paraselenodonts is primarily propalinal (back-to-front). This chewing motion is somewhat akin to the rodents of our timeline and the xenotheridians of Spec, and is facilitated by an immensely strong medial masseter that attaches to either the zygomatic arch (in lagocanimorphs) or to the side of the snout (in specerotheres). Also like rodents and xenotheridians, many paraselenodonts possess large cheek pouches.

All these mammals possess a complex, sacculated stomach which contains a rich bacterial flora to aid in the breakdown of plant foods. Specerotheres also practice rumination or 'chewing the cud'.

HISTORY

Precisely where these creatures fit amongst the placental mammals remains a mystery. They bear a number of remarkable external convergences with various mammals of our home timeline but are both genetically and anatomically dissimilar to all other extant clades of both timelines. Preliminary mitochondrial DNA studies suggest that their ancestors diverged from the other living Spec-mammalian lineages around the start of the Cenozoic. Intriguingly, this same genetic research indicates that their nearest (though still very distant) relatives are none other than the rodent-like xenotheridians, although there is rather little morphological evidence to support this idea. Alternatively, the variety of primitive species on the Himalayan plateau would seem to indicate that the paraselenodonts are of Gondwanan stock, arriving in Eurasia perhaps via India. In that case their ancestry would become quite mysterious.

Although they may or may not have originated in a different part of the world, most researchers are in agreement that the Himalayan region was the cradle of paraselenodont evolution and was the source of the current crop of living forms.

While small paraselenodont-like teeth are known from Oligocene Mongolia and India, no diagnostic postcranial remains are known from before the Neogene which makes pinpointing their relationships a difficult task.

In the early Miocene, fossils of rat-sized lagocanimorphs suddenly become quite common in Eurasia (a phenomenon consistent with the "Out of India" model). These forms are already quite advanced (and are in fact more derived than the most primitive extant dogbunny), a clear indicator of a much older evolutionary history.

During the Pliocene, cat-sized representatives of the more derived subclade (Specerotheria) appear in south-central Asian assemblages. While never particularly common or speciose (rarely more than one species in any assemblage), they soon spread into much of Eurasia and northern North America and also reached Africa.

The formation of the north polar icecap seems to have given these mammals their lucky break in clearing out many of their dinosaurian competitors in the high Arctic. During the Late Pliocene and early Quaternary, the specerotheres shot up in size and diversity in the Holarctic, evolving into the collection of long-legged horned beasts that currently dwell in the frigid north.

LAGOCANIMORPHIA (dogbunnies)

This the more conservative clade of paraselenodonts. Today it represents about thirty small species scattered throughout Eurasia as well as parts of Africa. They are long-tailed and walk with a digitigrade posture, giving them a distinctly dog- or fox-like appearance when viewed from a distance. This, when combined with their large incisors and ears, has inspired the name "dogbunny" for these mammals.

Widely distributed in the Miocene, today the dogbunnies are generally found in cool, rocky environments, although a few unusual species can be found in the arid plains of central Asia and the drier parts of Africa.

Dogbunnies possess 4 toes with hooflike claws per hindpaw and 3 per forepaw, often with additional vestigial digits.

(fig. 2) Blue-maned dogbunny, Lagocanis caeruleocauda (Himalayas)

By a wide margin, the blue-maned dogbunny (Lagocanis caeruleocauda) is the largest of the lagocanimorphs. An ethereally beautiful animal, the most remarkable features of this creature are the luxuriant blue fur on its neck and tail. A closer examination reveals that this blue coloration is achieved through the mixture of black and yellow hairs.

The blue-manes inhabit remote alpine grasslands and dwarf-scrubland in the Himalayas to just below the snowline, rarely descending below 3500 m. They live as mated pairs, which defend a territory against incursion from other blue-manes with the assistance of their adolescent offspring. They are diurnal, emerging from their lairs in the early morning to feed on grass, leaves and lichen.

The dawn and dusk call produced by bluemanes as they declare their territorial boundaries is a haunting, high-pitched, surprisingly dog-like howl. Alas, when heard alongside the cries of ibisbill raptors, one cannot help but draw comparisons with Scooby-doo...

(fig. 3) Siberian dogbunny, Arctohyrax bicolor (northeastern Asia)

The Siberian dogbunny (Arctohyrax bicolor), a small lagocanimorph, lives in cool-temperate northeastern mainland Asia, including the Kamchatka Peninsula. It prefers rocky upland regions where it moves with ease through seemingly inaccessible terrain. It is diurnal, feeding of grass, lichen and plants.

SPECEROTHERIA (spakas, spelks, caripoos and the dunicorn)

A dozen or so species of specerotheres can be found throughout the Holarctic in the tundra and boreal forests. A few others are scattered around the rest of Eurasia in remote montane or insular environments. Surprisingly, several species inhabit the rainforest floors of Asia and Africa, perhaps hinting at a long, undiscovered history of the clade.

Specerotheres are medium-to-large sized mammals with long snouts and short tails. They possess 2 manual and 3 pedal hooves on their feet. Many species possess an unusually fleshy and mobile upper lip. Specerotheres walk with an unguligrade posture.

Most specerotheres possess a variety of horns or horn-like structures on the head. Nearly all possess one or more bony extensions on the temporal ridge that supports a keratinous horn or crest. Many specerotheres also possess facial horns or bosses made out of epidermal tissue.

(fig. 4) Dunicorn, Unicornoides mongoliensis (Gobi)

This strange, heavily-built specerothere has been characterised as a cross between a dachshund and a rhinoceros. It is a solitary inhabitant of the desert and arid steppe that form the Gobi. Although poorly equipped for major excavation, the dunicorn (Unicornoides mongoliensis) spends most of the day in a burrow – either finding one abandoned by a burrowing reptile or mammal, or the dunicorn will aggressively evict the occupants. It clumsily descends into the burrow tail-first, usually allowing its snout to protrude from the entrance. Its sharp horn acts as a deterrent against predators (or the original tenants of the burrow should they return).

After sundown, the dunicorn emerges to feed on grass, seeds and roots as well as the occasional insect. It manages to extract the bulk of its water requirements from these foods and rarely needs to drink.

The exact relationships of the dunicorn are somewhat unclear. Some insist it is more basal than the spakas, while others think it must be the closest relative of the spelks and caripoos.

TRAGULOMYIDAE (Spakas)

These peculiar animals live in the wet tropical and subtropical forests of the Old World, with at least two species in Africa and at least four in southern Asia. They look as if someone had deliberately combined all animals from Home-Earth that could be regarded as their ecological equivalents, such as the agutis (Dasyproctidae) of South America, the chevrotains and mouse deer (Tragulidae) of the Old World, and some small antelope species of Africa. For mammals, spakas are rather large, ranging in length (tail omitted) from 40 to 90 cm and in weight from 3 to some 40 kg. Their elongate, slender feet resemble those of spelks and large dogbunnies, while their short, round bodies, large heads and occasionally digitigrade posture (used especially on wet ground) are more reminiscent of similar-sized dogbunnies.

All spakas are rather strictly nocturnal; this is one of the main reasons for the little amount of research that has been done on them. They eat leaves, buds, mushrooms, fruit and seeds, but when no vegetable matter is available (as happens, for example, in the dry season of monsoonal forests), they are not above scavenging and plundering nests of small dinosaurs, snakes and crocodiles. Insects are on the menu list of some species anyway.

Spakas can jump surprisingly high, up to 3 m in the largest species. This helps them to escape predators like harracks, but it is also a part of the mating ritual in those species where it has been researched.

The Sumatra spaka (Tragulomys pacarana) is an unspectacular member of the clade, of medium size, distinctive only by the stripes on its face. [Perhaps some text on its size, reproductive habits, whatnot.]

(fig. 5) Sumatra spaka, Tragulomys pacarana (lowland of Sumatra)

 

 

 

The royal spaka (Regitragulomys velocipes) is commonly seen in the undergrowth of the Congo rainforest, especially along gihugrongo highways and other clearings. It feeds mainly on browse, but is also omnivorous, taking anything it finds in the undergrowth, from mushrooms to, occasionally, even frogs. It can move very fast through the forest and can jump astoundingly high for such a small animal in attempts to evade its predators, such as harracks and Archaeopluma (a recently discovered dinosaur that has not got a vernacular name so far).

A good swimmer, the royal spaka occurs on both sides of the Congo.

(fig. 6) Royal spaka, Regitragulomys velocipes (Congo rainforest)

SPECEROTHERIIDAE (spelks and caripoos)

The members of this clade, the caripoos and spelks ("Spec elks"), are the largest and most familiar of the specerotheres. They bear a strong external resemblance to the artiodactyls of our timeline, possessing long, slender legs with an unguligrade posture and prominent flamboyant horns on their heads.

SPECEROTHERIINAE (spelks)

The spelks (Specerotheriinae) range from 15 to 70 kg and are primarily forest and woodland dwellers that can be found all over the temperate and boreal areas of the northern continents. They live as solitary individuals or pairs that defend a territory. Spelks often have bizarrely ornamented bony horns or crests that are used for visual threat displays. When this fails, the single sharp epidermal horn on the forehead is brought to bear.

(fig. 7) Annelk, Annelka infuraria (Eurasian taiga)

The annelk (Annelka infuriara) is one of the smaller specerotheriine spelks. It dwells in boreal forests across Eurasia, generally preferring areas with a fair degree of undergrowth where it browses on leaves, nuts and fallen cones.

As with all spelks, the annelk aggressively defends a home territory against others of its species, sizing up its opponent by laterally displaying its hand-shaped temporal crest. This aggression does not extend to other species; the annelk will quickly disappear into the shadows when faced with danger.

This spelk has a unique, high-pitched coughing call (aheh! aheh! aheh-heh-heh!) that is loudly repeated at dusk and soon becomes extremely infuriating to listen to.

(under creation)

(fig. 8) Red spelk, Specerotherium pulchrum (temperate forest of Europe and southwestern Siberia)

For sufficiently patient observers, the red spelk (Specerotherium pulchrum) is a relatively common sight in the deciduous and mixed forests from Gibraltar to far behind the Ural, nibbling at leaves, gnawing at fallen nuts, or munching grass in clearings. At a total length of up to two metres and a weight of up to 70 kg, red spelks are much larger than any other mammals that share their habitat. The orange-brown fur serves as camouflage against the forest floor; the temporal crest, which can reach a length of half a metre in the largest bucks, as well as the shorter but sharply pointed epidermal horn serve as deterrents to predators. However, all spelks prefer to flee while they still can; the main purpose of the headgear is for keeping fellow spelks out of their territories.

The birth season is in late March and early April; the single young, camouflaged with speckled fur, remain hidden in undergrowth for the first few days till they can keep up with the mother.

Tricerotherium (Caripoos)

This clade comprises the three species of caripoo, which, at 190 – 300 kg in weight, are probably the largest land mammals ever to exist on Spec. Unlike the forest-loving spelks, the caripoos roam the great northern tundras in small to moderate-sized herds. Living alongside the great polar segnosaurs, the caripoos survive by having powerful chewing capabilities coupled with an intensive digestive process that allows them to tackle less palatable foods than the dinosaurs are usually willing to sample. Caripoos possess a short bony horn on the unusually large (for a herbivorous mammal) temporal [?] ridge and two or more epidermal horns.

Brian Choo, David Marjanović and Timothy Morris

                                    ,=Lagocanis caeruleocauda (Blue-maned Dogbunny)
                  ,=Lagocanimorphia=|
                  |                 `=Arctohyrax bicolor (Siberian Dogbunny)
                  |
=Paraselenodontia=|               ,=Unicornoides mongoliensis (Dunicorn)
                  |               |
                  |               |               ,=Tragulomys pacarana (Sumatra spaka)
                  |               |=Tragulomyidae=|
                  `=Specerotheria=|               `=Regitragulomys velocipes (Royal spaka)
                                  |
                                  |                                     ,=Annelka infuriara (Annelk)
                                  |                  ,=Specerotheriinae=|
                                  |                  |                  `=Specerotherium pulchrum (Red spelk)
                                  `=Specerotheriidae=|
                                                     |                ,=T. mirificum (Three-horned/great caripoo)
                                                     `=Tricerotherium=|
                                                                      `=T. quoquemirificum (Four-horned/American caripoo)

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