Springing Monkcat

Springing monkcats are very close relatives of springheels that have adapted to life on forested islands in the Trilliontree archipelago 280 million years P.E., which they have reached through a combination of incidental short-distance rafting on vegetation mats (often broken off of coasts by storms) and by swimming across narrow channels or running over temporarily exposed sand bars between islands. They are quite visually distinct from their nearest relative and near-ancestor, with distinct pelage, face patterns, and smaller size, but the two species have been isolated for only around 1.5 million years. Insular habitat has produced different behavior patterns too; the monkcat, unlike the mainland springheel, is semi-arboreal and can easily climb trees with its opposing sickle claws and grasping tail. The tail is more flexible, its joints able to flex in a wide range of directions. The former knee of the tail is no longer distinct and is now little more than a series of bones connected by flexible cartilage, but the "ankle" and especially "wrist" is still differentiated, though not always obvious at all angles. Springing monkcats are strong bipedal jumpers, but can also walk on the ground. They are uniquely capable of hanging from branches upside-down, in order to access food sources like bird's nests with their tails. They are fast-moving predators of a wide range of small animals including insects, molodonts, sparrowgulls and skuzzards in forests, and can utilize both ambush and persistence hunting techniques. Rare for a sawjaw, they also readily feed on plant-based foods like fruit, nuts, and even honey. It pays to be a generalist here, and the springing monkcat's diet has become much wider than its ancestor's. 

These sawjaws are social and intelligent - they must be smart, as the trilliontree islands are a complex environment to navigate, a matrix of forests, sandy beaches, seashores and waterways of varying size, and often populated by much bigger animals that directly influence the ecosystems through their browsing, changing the landscape year to year. The monkcat itself is a small animal, around 8 pounds, which enables its varied locomotion habits, as it can leap over 8 feet in a bound with its muscular forearms, letting it quickly escape an enemy either on level terrain or flee into a tree. Though generally adapted to live in wooded areas, springing monkcats have learned that the sea is also worth visiting for a meal, and they are frequently observed at the edges of the jungle, carefully looking around for danger before darting down to the water's edge. There, they skitter back and forth, flipping rocks or debris and digging just below the water line, collecting foods such as crabs, isopods, molluscs and the occasional fish. In the open they are vulnerable, and yet they also have superior visibility versus in the forest; keeping an alert eye out for danger (and an alert ear, too - their ears constantly swivel and pick up on any small noise), the monkcat can quickly zoom away back to cover as soon as anything comes too close. They are thus an excellent example of an edge-habitat specialist, being most numerous and generally choosing to live where two habitats meet, in their case at the border of jungle and shoreline. 

Springing monkcats generally live in family groups of up to fifteen adults, though four to eight is much more common. Multiple females may reproduce in a group with any number of males, and there is no long-term pair formation. Young cling to the backs of adults for several weeks before ever being able to walk on their own, and males will aid the females in childcare in order to win their favor, sometimes competing for the chance to do so. Foraging is always done in groups of at least two, to improve the odds of spotting danger, and where resources are sufficient for an entire troop to feed together, as at the seashore, one animal will often stand as a sentry to let the rest find food, with the role being alternated by different individuals every 20 minutes or so. Generally diurnal, the monkcats may retreat to shelter to rest during the height of the day and then rise again in the afternoon, and will feed for a short time after dusk to take advantage of nocturnal prey emerging from their dens as the light fades. Denning behavior is well-developed, and troops share roosting sites in dark, secure places which can include tree hollows as well as burrows dug into the soil either by themselves or other animals. These shelters are defended by all members of the group not only from potential predators, but also rival troops of monkcats. Male monkcats are aggressive to unfamiliar males, and generally members of this sex stay within their natal troop much longer than females do. Young females, in contrast, disperse early, often before a year of age, and are generally accepted into other groups easily. Males eventually will leave too, but will not typically do so until the group has grown large and acquired a number of unrelated females from other troops, some of which he may be able to encourage to take with him to start a new troop. A single male, outcast from a crowded group by necessity earlier in his life, is in dire straits, for he will struggle to claim any territory and be subject to intense hostility from other males in nearby troops. Such individuals may never successfully integrate into a new, functional troop, as single females will not accept them either. Known as vagabonds, they often adopt the lifestyle of bandits, stealing resources from surrounding territories when their owners are not around, even adjusting their behavior to be more active at night in order to keep a low profile. Several vagabonds will often form a coalition together, and attempt to kidnap dispersing females against their will. Sometimes this may succeed - if they can keep her from leaving until she gives birth, she will not stray, as now other males would harm her infant - then, a reproductive troop can be formed. But the female monkcat is a very choosy animal, and given any chance before then to make her break, she will slip away from her unwanted suitors and vanish into the night, leaving the unfortunate vagabonds to their life at the margins.