The Family of the Week: The "Double-Grazers"!!

These are basically much smaller versions of the anacolls. The family Diplonearidae so far contains about 13 species. The neck is still quite noticeably long and flexible. The tail is long and thick, the legs are like those of elephants. I call these animals collectively "double-grazers" because they can browse from trees as well as graze on grass. In their feeding habits, they are quite versatile, whereas the anacolls specialize on feeding on leaves. The head is shorter and more blunt than in anacolls and no species in this family has the long, elephant-like proboscis. The largest species in this family stands no more than 13 feet tall, and the smallest a mere 6 feet tall. Like the anacolls, they often stand on their rear legs to help them reach high branches, and their long tongue gives them a little extra length. The ears are small and rounded, the eyes are relatively large, and the eyesight is very good. Their hearing is their most important asset though. They live in herds that may number as many as 20 individuals. They all look out for each other and even communicate with each other by calling out to other members of their herd. The herd even has lookouts, that screech when they detect a predator.

The diet of these animals consists only of leaves, grass, fungi and other varieties of vegetation either ground-level or tree-level. They are even capable of eating tough bamboo stalks, or toxic eucalyptus leaves. To help them successfully digest the toxins, these animals swallow bits of clay and mud to absorb the toxins and pass them safely through their system. These animals eat by day and sleep at night. Reproduction is slow, no more than one calf every 4 years. But a female can have several young in a lifetime of about 80 years. These animals prefer to make their homes in areas where there is plenty of vegetation, preferably in dense jungle areas. Though the largest species makes it's home more on the plains.

The greatest predators to these animals are the larger mongooses and deinognathids. Sometimes they may be taken down by such animals as Tyrannopithecus. Bear-dogs can also bring down the smaller species and the young, as can predatory rats. They can defend themselves pretty well by either swatting their heavy tails at attackers or by using their sheer bulk or by using the sharp claws on their forelimbs. Though when threatened, these animals usually prefer to run from danger. They run pretty much the same way elephants do, with their long necks stretched out.