The Family of the Week: The Tapimurids

These animals were inspired by Dixon's tapimus, presented in After Man, and the Shag-rats presented in The Future Is Wild. I took the two, did a little tweaking with their anatomy and made them my own, putting both together in this family. Though I did decide to keep the names. They are descended from modern rats, and instead of making them like they appear in Dixon's creations, I made them look more like great dane dogs. Only pudgier. Since rodents do have the long incisors, I had to keep the square shaped muzzle. The ears are larger and more pointed in the genus Tapimus, but smaller and more rounded in the shag-rats (Lasiomus). If you get a good look at the modern maras, you could get a great idea of what I figured these animals to look like, only with tails in tact. The tails are not long, it reaches just past their hocks, and it's enough to keep the animals well balanced when trying to make a quick get-away. The necks are not very long, but not very short. The legs are long and slender. When resting, these animals sit on their hocks, rather like kangaroos, with the tail resting on the ground. The eyes are large and almond-shaped. There are no naked feet-pads, but rather hoof-like feet instead of soft pads. The length of the toes are greatly reduced to compensate the development of hooves.

These animals live in groups, except for the Amazonian tapimus, which lives in couples. Usually a male, female and sometimes a single young. The young tends to stay with the mother, and the male usually parts company. Tusks are present in males, but lacking in females. However, to defend her baby, a female is equipped with sharp claw-like hooves to slash at a predator. Males take over defending the family when the couples are together, then he can gore a predator with his tusks. These rats are vegetarians. They feed on grasses, leaves, berries, fruits, plants and flowers. They feed during the day and roost at night. In shag-rats, they live and breathe in large herds, led usually by a dominant male. There is a species that lives in colder climates, and their fur even changes with the climate. They turn white during the winter and brown and white during the summer. This makes them almost invisible to predators, or at least would confuse the predator. They find their biggest safety in numbers. This is why their groups are so large, about 100 individuals sometimes. Not all related to the dominant male usually. Their biggest defense is to run, and run they really can! These animals can reach speeds of up to 50 mph, and can reach these top speeds in about a second.

Predators of these animals include the largest mongooses, Phobogulus, foxes, snakes, crocodiles, predatory pteropods, and even large Barofelids. Phobogulus particularly specializes in hunting such animals as Lasiomus. Such animals as foxes prefer to take the young of Tapimus. They are hardly deterred by the defensive mechanisms of the adults.