As the Time of Hunger came to an end the vertebrate species of Loki had begun to diversify. Although still capable of interbreeding the different populations were becoming increasingly genetically isolated, which would eventually lead to the evolution of new, distinctive species. Evolution is not a spectrum and the number of different species arising were many, but at the end of the Hunger the types of populations could be roughly divided into multiple tribes. In time, these tribes would both wax and wane in success, but for now, the possibilities were endless.
The Tribes Of the Land
Grazerkin
Rats do not possess the ability to digest grass, and thus the ability to survive on a grass diet would take a long time to successfully evolve. The grazerkin had taken the first steps on that journey. Though rats’ teeth were strong enough to slice through tough grass, the actual digestion process was the main hurdle. This attribute began to develop through the accidental ingestion of grass pieces during seed eating, or deliberate ingestion out of sheer hunger. Those rats that could extract just a few calories from this gained a slight advantage over those that could not, which over generations lead to a modest ability to digest grass. The most notable change to anatomy was the increase in gut size to allow for fermentation, causing grazerkin to be larger and bulkier than other rats. They also engage in coprophagy (eating their own droppings), effectively digesting their meals twice. As graminivores go they are horribly inefficient- being poorly adapted to eat grass and having to supplement their diet with whatever else they can find- but being the only grazers on the planet has given them the luxury of time to develop their abilities.
Hunterkin
Despite being a prey species rats are also predators, so it was only natural that some populations should develop their talents further. The hunterkin descend from rats that found that other rats were the most reliable source of food during the Hunger. Hunterkin rats are slightly larger than regular rats, with stronger bites and more aggressive personalities. As all rats at this stage are relatively evenly matched, the hunterkin mainly rely on ambushes to deliver the killing bite before their prey can fight back. Although still capable of eating seeds their diet has become increasingly skewed towards meat consumption.
Riverkin
Rats are at home in the water, being excellent swimmers who are not afraid to get their fur wet. During the Hunger many rats took to the rivers, diving to access freshwater invertebrates and the occasional lost herring. Riverkin rats have embraced the semiaquatic life, slipping in and out of the swift waters. Their builds have become slighter and their limbs longer, better able to manoeuvre through eddying currents and swaying vegetation.
Oceankin
Pushed to the land’s end by the waves of migration, some rat populations decided to make a living on the shore. Originally scavenging from rockpools and anything washed up, the sheer number of herring glistening tantalisingly close to the shore encouraged many to take a dip. Due to their small size rats make poor coastal swimmers, but the oceankin are steadily adapting. They have grown larger and sturdier, with thickened tails and stronger spines to better enable swimming against waves and tides.
Burrowerkin
As their invertebrate prey burrowed deep into the ground to avoid predation, some rats went in after them. The rats that dug deeper not only found food in the form of tubers and hidden invertebrates, but also discovered these burrows gave them excellent protection from the emerging hunterkin. Burrowerkin are leaner and flatter in form to better excavate and move through tunnels, and are becoming increasingly tolerant of other non-related rats due to the close proximity of other burrows.
The Tribes Of the Sea
Swimmerkin
Pushed out of the shoals due to overcrowding and lack of food, some herring began to venture further into the deep blue sea. Although still preferring to stick together, the swimmerkin are becoming increasingly independent, moving steadily farther away in search of food. This in turn has increased their body size and modified their fins to be better adapted to slow cruising through wide open waters.
Biterkin
Herring are poorly suited for inflicting damage on anything bigger than zooplankton, but sometimes a herring’s bite would be just strong enough to snag a trailing fin or a few scales off a neighbour by accident. In times of starvation these extra calories made all the difference, and soon those accidental nips became nibbles and then bites. Biterkin are still remarkably similar to other herring, albeit with a stronger bite and sharper teeth. Their similarity allows them to remain close to shoals, stealing bites out of other fish when they can. However, as opportunist mouthfuls evolve into full predatory behaviour this deception will not last for very long.
Scavengerkin
Those herring towards the bottom of the shoals ingested more marine snow than copepods, and over time began to follow this more reliable food source to its origin. Due to their weak jaws scavengerkin mostly focus on ingesting the organic material floating in the water column, though sufficiently rotted flesh is soft enough to be bitten away from the corpse. The anoxic conditions on the sea floor mean that the scavengerkin are mostly restricted to the layer just above this zone, but their increasing tolerance to low oxygen conditions means that they can tolerate short excursions to reach more food. Scavengerkin shoals now operate almost independently from the shoals on the upper levels, becoming increasingly genetically isolated from the rest.