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Apr 14 2023, 04:22 PM

Spotted Kitshrox (Hastalopex maculosus) (spotted spear-fox)
Creator: Disgustedorite
Ancestor: Violet Kitshrox
Habitat: Maineiac Bush, Maineiac Temperate Woodland, Lamarck Temperate Woodland, Maineiac Plains, Lamarck Highvelt
Size: 70 cm long
Support: Endoskeleton (Bone)
Diet: Omnivore (Atholat, Cloudswarmers, Pionferruses, Parasitic Floats, Teacup Saucebacks, Minikruggs, Silkruggs, Xenobees, Xenowasps, Minibees, Sweetworms, Dartirs, Sapworms, Supershrooms, Sapshrooms, Feluks, Mikuks, Uniwingworms, Gushitos, Athiwi, Rustwurm, Armored Pedesorm, Harvester Pedesorm, Prutarbor fruit, Fuzzpile berries, Communal Janit, Aossi, Sappy Pinknose, Scaled Srugeing, Mudfish, fruit of Cryobowls, Hair Nimbuses, Miniswarmers (from ponds), Larvaback (from ponds)), Ovivore (Wingless Florasnapper, Tyrannical Corvisnapper, Lunging Camoback, Fruitsnapper, Logcrusher), Scavenger, Kleptoparasite
Respiration: Active (Lungs)
Thermoregulation: Endotherm (Fur)
Reproduction: Sexual (Male and Female, Live Birth, Milk)

The spotted kitshrox replaced its ancestor where their ranges overlap. It is fairly similar to its ancestor overall, though it has larger ears and spots all over its body. It also no longer has a nose boss, instead mostly using nipping and scratching during intraspecific combat. Much like its ancestor, the spotted kitshrox is an opportunistic omnivore and an intelligent tool crafter which behaves in a manner reminiscent of a stereotypical anthropomorphized fox.

Image caption: Knife-making.
user posted image

Much like its ancestor, the spotted kitshrox crafts small hand-held tools such as picks, hooks, wedges, knives, and more from wood or bone by carving them on its rough tail cap and gnawing in finer details with its teeth. Unlike its ancestor, the spotted kitshrox notably tries to keep a bone knife, typically made by sharpening a broken limb bone scavenged from a carcass, on hand (or in mouth) or otherwise accessible nearby at all times. This is a learned behavior, the bone knife having proven itself sufficiently sturdy and highly versatile over the generations. This is somewhat comparable to Terran otters carrying their favorite stone for smashing shells. The bone knife is used for a variety of tasks, mostly related to cutting, most commonly removing a haunch from a carcass so that it may be carried off and cutting tough flora for use in tool- and den-making, as kitshroxes lack the blade tail of other shrogs.

The spotted kitshrox’s social structure has become more complex. Skulks now contain several jesters, who are the best tricksters in the skulk, and the buffoon, who is exceptionally cunning and leads the skulk. The buffoon is an active leader who simultaneously keeps the attention of the rest of the skulk through entertainment by way of sleight of hand and absurd physical comedy, typically aided by the jesters. As in the violet kitshrox, the “humor” of the spotted kitshrox is oriented around trickery, so this frequently entails elaborate tricks where the buffoon convinces other kitshroxes of something absurd (such as that rocks float, by using pumice) before demonstrating that it is wrong (carrying a large, heavy rock into a pond and immediately sinking) and simultaneously getting a desirable result out of it (resurfacing with a swarmer in its mouth). In addition to demonstrating the buffoon’s cunning, this also serves as a teaching tool--in the example described, all kitshroxes that witnessed the spectacle now know that some rocks can float and that it’s possible to pursue prey underwater, though whether the lessons actually have practical use varies. Much like its ancestor, the spotted kitshrox finds trickery and deception to be attractive due to its demonstrations of dexterity and problem-solving, so buffoons and jesters have the most mating opportunities in the skulk.

The spotted kitshrox’s vocalizations are the same as its ancestor’s. As an important addendum, however, the nature of its “language” must be clarified--kitshroxes do not form anything resembling coherent sentences. Though words can be translated to english, a kitshrox’s “description” of where to find food might quite literally translate to, for example, “down log east pond down down down pond log log trail log trail trail east down pond”--the repeated words or their order meaning nothing and this set of them effectively meaning the food is in the direction of sunrise, located near a log, a pond, and a trail, and hidden somewhere low. Likewise, if they were to be taught some form of sign language, the results would be similar.

The spotted kitshrox’s reproduction is unchanged. Gestation lasts 3 months and they give birth to naked and helpless young, which live in a pouch and suckle milk. As the spotted kitshrox is placental, its offspring are already fairly developed at birth and leave the pouch in just over 2 weeks, though they will continue to suckle until they are about 5 weeks old. Their growth rate is slow compared to the speed at which they wean, as having a large brain limits how quickly they can mature. A spotted kitshrox is fully grown at 4 years of age and can live for up to 20.