Family of the Week: The Slashers

I also call these "serpent-slashers" because they feed mostly on large lizards and snakes. This is a very late Metazoic era family, Anguilestidae, that is the last link to the mongoose family. Though they can stand for some period on 2 legs, these are mostly quadrupeds. Their claws are long and sharp, and retractable on the rear feet. The head is elongate and jaws are powerful. The legs are long, the animal it's self is built for speed, but is not wimpy like a cheetah. The tail is long and stiff. The animals themselves when they run and leap appear to be able to defy the laws of gravity! They can leap more than 50 feet in a single bound, and race at speeds topping 70 mph. Most species live in the New World, but some are able to migrate over the new land bridge connecting the New World to Asia. They are solitary hunters, that hunt mostly by night, when most of their prey becomes active. The eyes are large and pupils are a lot like those of a cat. The ears are generally small and round. The feet are padded on the undersides. The fur is thick, and covers the body, being shortest on the face. The nose is naked and usually wet. The genitals of the male are external, but so small and covered with thick fur, they are not easy to see. When hunting, these animals use mostly their sight and hearing, rarely do they use their sense of smell. They range in size from up to 4 feet long in Anguilestes to up to 10 feet long in Cercodius. Not counting the length of the tail, which is about as long as the head and body. Despite their size, these animals can move amazingly silent, causing very little ground vibrations so not to alert the snakes and lizards in their way.

The largest claws belong to the genus Falconyx. These animals have developed large, curved claws on the first toes that are carried well off the ground. They hunt and kill the way other species in this family do. When a prey item is spotted, these animals do a quick pounce, grabbing the head with their large jaws and using the feet to slash open the body, often gutting their prey. The claws are mostly what is used, not really their jaws. Often when the animal pounces on a prey item, they will begin slashing them immediately, taking the prey's head in their jaws only if the prey is proving difficult to overcome by their feet. Much like today's Secretary bird, they stomp on the prey, using the claws to cut it open, and kill that way. They are fast, and can even outwit venomous snakes.

The main prey of these animals are snakes and large lizards like tegus and monitors. Any snakes will do. They will even stand up to medium-sized anacondas. Though not the full-grown 50-footers. However, when snakes and lizards are not available, like during the winter months, these animals will often take deer, antelope, lemurs, monkeys, rodents, birds and bats, even scavenge off the kills of other animals. All prey is killed much in the same manner. Birds and bats are a little more difficult for these animals, but they will often leap up to 10 feet into the air just to pluck prey out of the sky, the stiff tail being used as a balancing rod. It is during the harshest months that these animals often become active hunters during the day as well.

Though their powerful jaws and sharp claws may be useful as weapons, these animals still have their own set of predators to worry about. Deinognathids are among their worst enemies. Giant anacondas also take their toll. Rarely, they may be taken by such animals as large dogs, predatory bats, even larger species of this family may feed on the smaller.