Family of the Week: The Marsupial Pig

Well, I was reading my latest comments, and an old SE buddy of mine was saying this blog seems to have turned into something it wasn't intended to be before, and he's sick of it. It made me think "ya know, he's right about that." I couldn't argue. My response was I was thinking of starting up the Family of the Week deal again. I said I'd do it when I wasn't so busy anymore, and then I started thumbing through my regular rounds on the internet, and realized there was not much going on. So I decided to start up again tonight. I believe my last FOW was the shrubucks. For the first time in months, this week's family of the week is the marsupial pig.

The marsupial pig is the sole species of the family Thylasuidae. Dixon named it the posset, I just call it a marsupial pig. It is the last descendant of the bandicoots. The head resembles that of a modern pig, or boar. They also have tusks that helps them grub for roots and tubers. The feet are not hard like those of pigs, but rather soft, and dog-like in appearance. The feet are equipped with claws that helps these animals dig burrows. The legs are relatively short, the body is short, bulky and round. The tail is long and tipped with a small tassel, like a zebra (yes, I did some tweaking on this animal's body) the ears are small and rounded, and really the only naked part of the body. The eyes are large and round. The animal it's self is not very big, about the size of a shepherd dog. They are diurnal animals, spending their nights in communal burrows, that house a single family of about 4 individuals. The family members split up during the day to hunt for food. The dominant male and female (the parents) remain the closest together when foraging without crossing paths.

The burrows themselves are quite interesting, consisting of a seemingly seriously undersized tunnel and a large chamber at the end where the family curls up together and sleeps. The undersized tunnel is there to deter intruders from invading the family. Though the main part of this animal's diet is roots and tubers, they will also feed on grass, seeds, some leaves, fallen fruits, berries, even insects, earthworms, snails, and sometimes carrion and the eggs of ground-nesting birds. The flat nose is designed though to get under mud and soft dirt to dig out the morsels they like. The claws also aid in this act. The tail is constantly twitching as a signal to other members of the group, alerting each other's position.

Females are known as sows, as are pigs. They have a pretty well-developed pouch. The young come out partially developed and fed through a makeshift placenta for several weeks, and then finish their development in the pouch, attached to a nipple. This is the closest to being developed in the way a normal mammal is that any marsupial gets. The babies are still no larger than a bumblebee when they are born, but they are a little better developed than marsupials today are at birth. They are born with better developed rear legs that allows them better gripping power at birth, so they are better able to crawl to the pouch.

These animals are quite capable of defending themselves, much like the way anteaters do. They stand up on their hind legs with their front feet (which has the biggest claws) slashing the attacker. Predators of this animal include Carnophalanger and Tamanoa. Also some large monitor lizards and pythons.