Ratconey
“ In the morning we found the rabbits intent on a meticulous and general campaign of copulation. ”
– Primo Levi
Scientific Taxonomy & Character Information
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: †Leptictida
Family: †Pseudorhyncocyonidae
Genus: †Leptictidium
Species: †Leptictidium auderiense
Descendant: ???
Named by: Heinz Tobien
Year Published: 1962
Size: sixty centimetres in length; 45 centimeters tall in height
Lifespan: 30 years
Type:
Synapsids
Mammals (Leptictida)
Title:
Bunny Rat Beast
Other Name(s)/Alias(es): none
Pantheon:
Terran/Gaian
Time Period: Eocene (Lutetian 47.8 – 41.2 MYA BCE)
Alignment: Shy
Threat Level: ★★
Diet: Omnivorous 🥩🌿
Elements: n/a
Inflicts: n/a
Weaknesses: Fire, fae
Casualties: none
Based On: itself
Conservation Status: Extinct (EX) – IUCN Red List
Leptictidium is an extinct genus of small mammals that were likely bipedal; it has a type species, Leptictidium auderiense.
Etymology
It was called by Germans in TROQA saga as Rötkäning or Ratconey (Low German: "Rött" and "Kanink", lit. "rat-bunny").
Physical Appearance
Leptictidium is a special animal because of the way its anatomy combines quite primitive elements with elements that prove a high degree of specialization. It had small forelegs and large hind legs, especially at the distal side (that is, further from the body). The lateral phalanges of its forelegs (fingers I and V) were very short and weak; finger III was longer; and fingers II and IV were roughly equal in size and slightly shorter than finger III. The tips of the phalanges were elongated and tapered.
The ankles and the sacroiliac joint were quite loosely fixed, while the pelvis had a flexible joint with only one coccygeal vertebra. The anteorbital muscle fenestrae in their crania suggest they probably had a long and mobile snout, similar to that of elephant shrews.
Leptictidium had wide diastemata in the antemolar row; its upper molar teeth were more transverse than those of the North American leptictids; and its fourth premolars were molariform. Leptictidium's C1 canines were incisiviform. Its dentition was quite small in comparison to the size of the mandible and of the animal as a whole.
Abilities
Elephant shrews, on the other hand, are able to move on two legs in order to escape a predator; they typically walk on four legs. Research on the skeletal system of Leptictidium has produced conflicting results. While its long feet were clearly designed for leaping rather than running, its leg articulations seem too weak to have sustained the shock of repeated leaps.
Ecology
Perfectly preserved fossils of three different species of Leptictidium have been found in the Messel pit in Germany. The marks on their fur have been preserved, as well as their stomach contents, which reveal Leptictidium were omnivores which fed on insects, lizards and small mammals. The holotype of Leptictidium tobieni also had pieces of leaves and notable amounts of sand in its abdomen, but it cannot be determined with certainty if the animal swallowed it.
They were omnivorous, their diet a combination of insects, lizards and small mammals. Leptictidium and other leptictids are not placentals, but are non-placental eutherians, although closely related. They appeared in the Lower Eocene, a time of warm temperatures and high humidity, roughly fifty million years ago.
Behavior
Generally speaking, leptictida do not pose much danger to humans, but a bite from a leptictida is unpleasant, and the venom is not typically lethal to humans.
Distribution and Habitat
The species' name alludes to the Roman Empire's town of Auderia, also known as Dieburg, in the Deustchland region, which was once a wet woodland with a lake formed by volcanic eruptions in the middle of the Eocene period.
Movement Pattern: Migrant
Individual Type: Nomadic
Population Trend: Stable
Population:
Earth: 0
Berbania: 40–80
Reinachos: 5000–7200
Sawintir: 50–350
Locomotion: Terrestrial
Habitat: Polar; tundra; taiga; montane grasslands and shrublands; temperate coniferous forests; temperate broadleaf and mixed forests; temperate deciduous forests, temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands; subtropical coniferous forests; subtropical moist broadleaf forests; subtropical dry broadleaf forests; subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands; salt plains; limestone forest; tropical coniferous forests; tropical moist broadleaf forests; tropical dry broadleaf forests; tropical grasslands; tropical savannas and shrublands; Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub; mushroom forests; deserts and xeric shrublands; badlands; flooded grasslands and savannas; swamp; riparian; wetland; mangrove forest; bamboo forest; air-breathing coral reefs; graveyard vale; warm river; cold river; lukewarm river; subterranean river; pond; littoral; intertidal; kelp forests; coral reefs; neritic zone; pelagic zone; benthic zone; hydrothermal vents; brine pools; cold seeps; demersal zone; karst cave; karst spring; lush caverns; crystal cavern; magnetic cave; radiated vale; lava tube; volcano; lava trench; ghost town; ruined skyscraper; moon; outer space; crimson forest; warped forest; soul sand vale; basalt deltas; corruption grove; end plains; end islands
Earth:
Extinct: Czechia; France; Germany; Nederlands
Berbania: none
Reinachos: none
Delphia: none
Sawintir: none
Agarathos: none
Tamed
The leptictida can be trained using plants, eggs, or worms if it isn't already tamed.
Lore
The region that is today Germany was in a volcanically active zone during the Eocene. It is thought that the Messel pit could have been the old location of a volcanic lake saturated with CO2. The lake would periodically release the gas it contained, creating a lethal cloud that would asphyxiate any animal in its path caused by a mysterious limnic eruption. This would explain the great number of non-aquatic species that have been found in the old lakebed of the Messel pit.
Although they were widespread throughout Europe, they became extinct around thirty-five million years ago with no descendants, probably because they were adapted to live in forest ecosystems and were unable to adapt to the open plains of the Oligocene.
Known Individuals
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Gallery
See also: none
Main Theme Music
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Foreign Languages
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Trivia
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