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Description

A smart and social island dweller with a wide range of behavioral flexibility, the springing monkcat thrives where two very different habitats meet.

Springing monkcats are very close relatives of springheels that have adapted to life on forested islands in the Trilliontree archipelago 280 million years P.E., which they have reached through a combination of incidental short-distance rafting on vegetation mats (often broken off of coasts by storms) and by swimming across narrow channels or running over temporarily exposed sand bars between islands. They are quite visually distinct from their nearest relative and near-ancestor, with distinct pelage, face patterns, and smaller size, but the two species have been isolated for only around 1.5 million years. Insular habitat has produced different behavior patterns too; the monkcat, unlike the mainland springheel, is semi-arboreal and can easily climb trees with its opposing sickle claws and grasping tail. The tail is more flexible, its joints able to flex in a wide range of directions. The former knee of the tail is no longer distinct and is now little more than a series of bones connected by flexible cartilage, but the "ankle" and especially "wrist" is still differentiated, though not always obvious at all angles. Springing monkcats are strong bipedal jumpers, but can also walk on the ground. They are uniquely capable of hanging from branches upside-down, in order to access food sources like bird's nests with their tails. They are fast-moving predators of a wide range of small animals including insects, molodonts, sparrowgulls and skuzzards in forests, and can utilize both ambush and persistence hunting techniques. Rare for a sawjaw, they also readily feed on plant-based foods like fruit, nuts, and even honey. It pays to be a generalist here, and the springing monkcat's diet has become much wider than its ancestor's.

Full entry: sites.google.com/site/worldofs…
Serina on Patreon (tons of currently-exclusives and stories and species and stuff) www.patreon.com/sheatherius

Description

A smart and social island dweller with a wide range of behavioral flexibility, the springing monkcat thrives where two very different habitats meet.

Springing monkcats are very close relatives of springheels that have adapted to life on forested islands in the Trilliontree archipelago 280 million years P.E., which they have reached through a combination of incidental short-distance rafting on vegetation mats (often broken off of coasts by storms) and by swimming across narrow channels or running over temporarily exposed sand bars between islands. They are quite visually distinct from their nearest relative and near-ancestor, with distinct pelage, face patterns, and smaller size, but the two species have been isolated for only around 1.5 million years. Insular habitat has produced different behavior patterns too; the monkcat, unlike the mainland springheel, is semi-arboreal and can easily climb trees with its opposing sickle claws and grasping tail. The tail is more flexible, its joints able to flex in a wide range of directions. The former knee of the tail is no longer distinct and is now little more than a series of bones connected by flexible cartilage, but the "ankle" and especially "wrist" is still differentiated, though not always obvious at all angles. Springing monkcats are strong bipedal jumpers, but can also walk on the ground. They are uniquely capable of hanging from branches upside-down, in order to access food sources like bird's nests with their tails. They are fast-moving predators of a wide range of small animals including insects, molodonts, sparrowgulls and skuzzards in forests, and can utilize both ambush and persistence hunting techniques. Rare for a sawjaw, they also readily feed on plant-based foods like fruit, nuts, and even honey. It pays to be a generalist here, and the springing monkcat's diet has become much wider than its ancestor's.

Full entry: sites.google.com/site/worldofs…
Serina on Patreon (tons of currently-exclusives and stories and species and stuff) www.patreon.com/sheatherius