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Ancestor: Scraping Mice

Size: 20 cm.

Dietary Needs: Eats  invertebrates primarily, especially woodlice  outside of the dry season. When in need of supplementary nutrition or when invertebrate prey is scarce they will also eat seeds and carrion.

Life Cycle: Pups are raised when there is plenty of rain and thus plenty of food. They are usually raised in shallow burrow nests, sometimes dug out under the rotting logs the females forage from.  Pups only take a few months to fully mature and sometimes two litters can be raised in a year. There is no assistance from the male. Though he will generally leave his own pups alone recognised by scent, sometimes he will use other male's pups as a food opportunity. Like all pups they are born blind, pink, helpless and reliant on milk, and may spend periods of time unattended while their mother goes to forage to build up her milk reserves. 

Like their ancestors males use ultrasonic chirps to attract a female, using an exact frequency to distinguish them from other species. Courtship and mating occur at night.

Other: They have strong forelimbs and long foreclaws which can assist in prying rotting bark from wood to unveil the woodlice living beneath, with the assistance of their sharp, strong incisors. They are also able to dig small burrows to keep out of hot sun, to sleep in relative safety and also to raise their pups. Very quick and reactive with good hearing and sight, they prefer the cover of night to forage. Their whiskers help them home in on individual moving prey.