Straight-Tusked Terrasuchus
This descendant of Terrasuchus gigagammas is becoming more adapted for life on land rather than in the water. Selection forces have acted upon this species, and doing so has caused this to become a new genus, Kaproceros. Kaproceros means "horned boar" in Latin, named after its piglike behavior and the spikes on its tail which are retained from its ancestors. It spends most of its life on land and not submerged in the water.
Kaproceros rectadontas has sacrificed the sail covering the back as it was no longer needed and happened to become an unnecessary waste of energy, and now uses its back to store muscle attachments that make land locomotion more effective, using their four semi-muscular legs to fully support their body weight. The skin quickly hardens after hatching and scutes have evolved as another defense from predators to make potential injuries less serious. The skin has mottled values of green to blend in with the surrounding foliage to avoid conflict with predators. The tusks on the lower jaw have straightened outwards and are now used in combat to stab opponents and whatever dares to fight it, while still being effective to root polyphs such as Lorensia clearensis, Lorensia subaquatica, Plortatus cashmonii, and Plortatus marcops. In turn the tail spikes were no longer needed to be as useful to use in fights, and are wider and longer but thin to seem larger and less desirable for hunting.
Kaproceros rectadontas can congregate in groups as high as four (4) for protection but can also be found foraging on its own. Adults can grow up to a meter (1 m) in length and are highly risky to hunt, paired up with their aggressive behavior and deadly tusks. When breeding many will herd into one area during the dry season and males ram at each other for a mate with their tusks. The males could break their tusks or risk even collapsing in their fights but easily get back up in a day or two.Once a male is accepted, a female will mate with it and she will lay up to a hundred (100) eggs in freshwater if the previous year was profitable.
Eggs take longer to hatch in this species, at around two (2) weeks of age, but the young hatch with fully developed lungs and can feed on land as quickly as possible. Gills do develop so that embryos can respirate in the water but they will fall off almost instantly after hatching. Kaproceros rectadontas will be fully mature within eight (8) months, growing more quickly to avoid predation from smaller potential predators before they can fight off. Many of the newborns are picked off and only a few will survive to adulthood.