What Are Dolos?

Dolos, belonging to the subfamily Longuderidae in the family Pescanguidae, are divided into six distinct genera. Each genera has its own unique characteristics and behaviours that contribute to their vital role across the marine, freshwater, and estuarine ecosystems they inhabit. Dolos are also one of the most diverse subfamilies within Pescanguidae, occupying a wide range of environments from deep freshwater lakes and river systems to open ocean pelagic zones to tropical coral reefs and the morphological variation between genera is substantial enough that a casual observer encountering a swampneck dolo and a diving dolo side by side would probably struggle to see them as related. While they have impressive numbers today, fossil evidence suggests the subfamily once contained nearly twice as many genera as survive in the present and the loss of these lineages was less the result of human activity and more connected to the rapidly changing climates of the ice age that many groups couldn't adapt to. All dolos are most readily identified by their thick reinforced skulls and powerful bite forces which are the characters that have defined the subfamily since its earliest fossil appearances. The specific dentition and jaw architecture varies between genera in ways that make clear their dietary differences. The bite forces dolos possess are among the strongest of any vertebrate animal alive today, sufficient to crack the most heavily mineralised shelled prey or to sever bones in a single closure and in the larger species, the forces measured are easily able to sever human limbs, a fact worth bearing in mind for any researcher or member of the public conducting close-range observation. The fossil record suggests dolos diverged from the ancestral pescanguid stock earlier than either tikos or hemots, retaining the ancestral reproductive strategy of semi-precocial young capable of early independent foraging in contrast to the buccolactating extended dependency of the other two subfamilies. Dolos are some of the most commonly recognised aquatic animals next to sharks and their cultural presence across the mythologies and religions of coastal and riverine communities worldwide is among the most extensive of any cetomorphian group with the spotted dolo, the loch ness dolo, and the mimic tiko in particular carrying centuries of accumulated folkloric significance in the regions they inhabit. While dolos are generally smaller than the larger tikos and the massive hemots, the size range within the subfamily is considerable with the smallest species at under two metres and the largest approaching twelve metres and the casual generalisation of dolos as "small" pescanguids understates the substantial variation the group encompasses.