Family of the Week: The Gentle Sinecrus

This is the family Cervainiidae, and they are quite closely related to the tusked sinecrus, only these animals do not have tusks. They do however, live the lives similar to their tusked relatives and the modern manatees of today. These animals are generally larger than the tusked sinecrus. They are solitary animals that spend their entire lives in or near the water. They feed on the vegetation that grows in the water. Either aquatic plants, grasses, even algae. Sometimes they will even crawl out of the water to feed on the leaves of low-growing trees. Some species do this more than others though. The foreflippers are very long and powerful, and equipped with elephant-like fingernails. The tail is very long and propels the animal in an undulating fashion, much like whales. The eyes are relatively small, the mussle is short and blunt, but the mouth is rather flexible, almost like those of most land-based herbivores. The hind flippers are very small, and almost useless. In a small way though they do help the animal move over land and even anchors them in place to feed on trees. The neck is slightly longer than it is in the tusked sinecrus. There is no fur, but the soft flesh is quite colorful.

Like the tusked sinecrus, these animals are large and slender and inhabit lakes, ponds and rivers. Sometimes, they will even submerge in lagoons and even in the ocean. They do not go too far out into the ocean though. The largest of these sinecrus are in the genus Diplomala. They are mostly long in body and neck, and even have a slender beak-like muzzle. On land, they move much like the tusked sinecrus. They pull themselves along using their foreflippers and the feet and tail help out slightly as well. When feeding, these animals use their foreflippers and the mouth, which has flexible lips like manatees. These animals live in couples, rarely in herds. Couples may move overland together to get from one luscious patch of aquatic vegetation to another. They are slow reproducers, and only a single calf is born every 3 years. But these animals themselves can live up to 100 years, and reproduce right up to the end.

These animals have few predators. They may be taken by predatory bats, mongooses, foxes, predatory pentadactyls and Deinognathids. Most of their predators take these animals as they are crossing land from one body of water to another. With the exception of the deinognathids, most of their predators will not chase them into the water. Predatory bats may prey only on the youngsters, rarely taking adults unless they are weakened by sickness or something.