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Description

    Two bull titan probers engage in a bout of territorial conflict, shoving, kicking, and delivering crushing blows with their huge proboscis sheaths. As their preferred food of giant pseudofungi are limited in distribution and take time to grow, Titan Probers require extensive territories in order to obtain enough food and must defend them fiercely. Old males act much like silverback gorillas, distinguished by their bright red chest and rump coloration and large size: the absolute biggest may weigh nearly twelve tons.

    Titan Probers are unusual among probers for a multitude of reasons. For starters, they resemble basal species such as the Aiguille, but are in fact of a very convoluted lineage more closely related to the sapient Nephilim. Like them, they are distantly descended from arboreal animals who became baboon/gorilla-like ground foragers and grew larger in size. Owing to their distant past in the treetops, these foragers had mobile, dexterous fingers and knuckle walked. The knuckles of the Titan Probers, however, are abnormally huge, and padded with thick callused tissue forming an elephantine foot of sorts with the fingers held behind like those of a ground sloth. The weight-bearing is predominantly done by this pad and the knuckles. Their fingers are curled up into the air, and though reduced compared to their smaller ancestors can still serve to aid in manipulating objects and ripping open food and opponents. They use them much more as youngsters, with the elephant-sized adults relying more heavily on their great strength and proboscis sheaths.

    Unlike the vast majority of probers, Titan Probers are poor diggers. Their limbs are very long and columnar proportional to their bodies, and their heads are massive. They struggle to rear up on their hind legs, and the biggest adults cannot do so at all, and so to knock down the pillar trees that comprise the bulk of their diet they must rely on the immense muscular power of their neck, shoulders, and chest. Their head is huge and heavily armored with thick skin and bone, and they have large, semi-keratinous pads on their chests (the bright red breastplates) to aid in shoving “trees” to the ground. A sturdy and powerful proboscis sheath wielded by the thick neck can handle even the toughest epidermis, and a huge, muscular proboscis serves well to dissolve and slurp up the insides.

    Titan Probers are pseudofungi specialists. While many animals feed on them opportunistically, few can and will tackle the biggest species, and the only other species truly suited to doing so are the Ogres. While Ogres depend heavily on pseudofungi, they also feed regularly on more mobile animals, leaving the tube-mouthed titans as the ultimate enemy of their sessile prey.

    Like orcas, Titan Probers often have distinct regional variations of culture, with different hunting techniques practiced by different groups. The primary challenge of giant pseudofungi, besides their armor and size, are their chemical defenses. If one is damaged, it quickly emits pheromones that “alert” any nearby for a considerable distance, causing both them and itself to release toxins of varying degrees of danger. Some can be fatal if consumed in even tiny amounts, so it is very important for the young probers to learn which are safe and how to dispatch them. Some groups opt to tackle a single individual pseudofungus and quickly rip it apart, killing it before it can activate its defenses, while others make a small opening into their target, ingest a limited portion, and move on to a different, not yet irritated target. Titan Probers live in small, close-knit family groups usually headed by a mated pair, and foraging techniques are taught to the youngsters very early on.

    In many ways, Titan Probers resemble large herbivores, but it is important to consider the fact that they are predators, in fact the largest land predators ever to live on Paradise. They occasionally attack other large animals such as mastodons, and they spend much of their time sleeping, especially in populations that opt to attack and kill a single pseudofungus for their meals. When not at rest, they are patrolling their territory and foraging. Their habitat is very wet, and they enjoy water and are surprisingly good swimmers.

    Few animals pose a threat to Titan Probers, with their greatest threats being their shrunken and fragmented habitat, diseases that target their food source, and competition with Ogres, who not only share their diet but will occasionally hunt them for food. Nephilim and Atrox Sapients hunt them as well on occasion. Giant wyrms and the occasional Common Drumjaww (in the few places where they overlap in range) pose a threat to younger individuals.

    Though they seem rather defenseless compared to the clever sapients and tanky mastodons, Titan Probers are formidable animals. Their size alone presents a problem, and their skin is thick and heavily armored. They are surprisingly nimble for animals of their size, capable of frighteningly quick movement. Their callused forelimbs can deliver bone-shattering kicks, and their proboscis sheaths are lethal weapons. As mentioned before, they are fairly intelligent animals, and wise to many of the tricks that work against mastodons, rhinos, and the like.

    Credit to GOONWITHAFACE for convincing me to bring back the knuckle-walking as well as the more upright, leggy design.

Description

    Two bull titan probers engage in a bout of territorial conflict, shoving, kicking, and delivering crushing blows with their huge proboscis sheaths. As their preferred food of giant pseudofungi are limited in distribution and take time to grow, Titan Probers require extensive territories in order to obtain enough food and must defend them fiercely. Old males act much like silverback gorillas, distinguished by their bright red chest and rump coloration and large size: the absolute biggest may weigh nearly twelve tons.

    Titan Probers are unusual among probers for a multitude of reasons. For starters, they resemble basal species such as the Aiguille, but are in fact of a very convoluted lineage more closely related to the sapient Nephilim. Like them, they are distantly descended from arboreal animals who became baboon/gorilla-like ground foragers and grew larger in size. Owing to their distant past in the treetops, these foragers had mobile, dexterous fingers and knuckle walked. The knuckles of the Titan Probers, however, are abnormally huge, and padded with thick callused tissue forming an elephantine foot of sorts with the fingers held behind like those of a ground sloth. The weight-bearing is predominantly done by this pad and the knuckles. Their fingers are curled up into the air, and though reduced compared to their smaller ancestors can still serve to aid in manipulating objects and ripping open food and opponents. They use them much more as youngsters, with the elephant-sized adults relying more heavily on their great strength and proboscis sheaths.

    Unlike the vast majority of probers, Titan Probers are poor diggers. Their limbs are very long and columnar proportional to their bodies, and their heads are massive. They struggle to rear up on their hind legs, and the biggest adults cannot do so at all, and so to knock down the pillar trees that comprise the bulk of their diet they must rely on the immense muscular power of their neck, shoulders, and chest. Their head is huge and heavily armored with thick skin and bone, and they have large, semi-keratinous pads on their chests (the bright red breastplates) to aid in shoving “trees” to the ground. A sturdy and powerful proboscis sheath wielded by the thick neck can handle even the toughest epidermis, and a huge, muscular proboscis serves well to dissolve and slurp up the insides.

    Titan Probers are pseudofungi specialists. While many animals feed on them opportunistically, few can and will tackle the biggest species, and the only other species truly suited to doing so are the Ogres. While Ogres depend heavily on pseudofungi, they also feed regularly on more mobile animals, leaving the tube-mouthed titans as the ultimate enemy of their sessile prey.

    Like orcas, Titan Probers often have distinct regional variations of culture, with different hunting techniques practiced by different groups. The primary challenge of giant pseudofungi, besides their armor and size, are their chemical defenses. If one is damaged, it quickly emits pheromones that “alert” any nearby for a considerable distance, causing both them and itself to release toxins of varying degrees of danger. Some can be fatal if consumed in even tiny amounts, so it is very important for the young probers to learn which are safe and how to dispatch them. Some groups opt to tackle a single individual pseudofungus and quickly rip it apart, killing it before it can activate its defenses, while others make a small opening into their target, ingest a limited portion, and move on to a different, not yet irritated target. Titan Probers live in small, close-knit family groups usually headed by a mated pair, and foraging techniques are taught to the youngsters very early on.

    In many ways, Titan Probers resemble large herbivores, but it is important to consider the fact that they are predators, in fact the largest land predators ever to live on Paradise. They occasionally attack other large animals such as mastodons, and they spend much of their time sleeping, especially in populations that opt to attack and kill a single pseudofungus for their meals. When not at rest, they are patrolling their territory and foraging. Their habitat is very wet, and they enjoy water and are surprisingly good swimmers.

    Few animals pose a threat to Titan Probers, with their greatest threats being their shrunken and fragmented habitat, diseases that target their food source, and competition with Ogres, who not only share their diet but will occasionally hunt them for food. Nephilim and Atrox Sapients hunt them as well on occasion. Giant wyrms and the occasional Common Drumjaww (in the few places where they overlap in range) pose a threat to younger individuals.

    Though they seem rather defenseless compared to the clever sapients and tanky mastodons, Titan Probers are formidable animals. Their size alone presents a problem, and their skin is thick and heavily armored. They are surprisingly nimble for animals of their size, capable of frighteningly quick movement. Their callused forelimbs can deliver bone-shattering kicks, and their proboscis sheaths are lethal weapons. As mentioned before, they are fairly intelligent animals, and wise to many of the tricks that work against mastodons, rhinos, and the like.

    Credit to GOONWITHAFACE for convincing me to bring back the knuckle-walking as well as the more upright, leggy design.