This Clade of Spec placental mammals contains the familiar xenarthra of HE, but has members that are far more basal in one respect, they retain enameled teeth. It is speculated that the K/T impact event wiped out most of the original xenarthroid diversity. Spec had no such thing occur and the full flowering of the newly christened antarctitherians resulted in truly unique animals that have conquered a wide range of niches. The bewildering number of forms have resulted in the creation of Antarctitheria as the crown clade. Xenarthra itself is “demoted” and strictly limited to the bastardsloths and the armadillos.
Not only do the armadillos roam the Americas, so do the mind bending bastardsloths, and the funky un-gulates. Tingamarrs apparently represent a totally convergent radiation of ungulate antarctitherians completely apart from the un-gulates and the gloops are marine grazers. Once again, Spec defies expectations and easy categorization.
Gloops and Un-gulates *Antipodungulata*
The antipodungulata resemble the paraphylectic “condylarths” of HE’s Paleogene in their morphological ambiguities. Only molecular and genetic studies have placed them firmly alongside the xenarthrans. This raised a host of questions, one of which is, are they Spec’s version of the Meridiungulata? Many workers in HE believe that the recently extinct meridiungulates of our world may have shared a close relationship with the extant xenarthrans.
They retain enameled teeth and either lack the xenarthrous vertebrate that give the rest of the clade its name; or they are very underdeveloped. To top this off, the un-gulates are convergent ungulates and the gloops are Spec’s mammalian equivalents of sea cows. It took the discovery of rabbit sized late Eocene *Antipodungulatia*, however; to finally convince workers in the field that both gloops and un-gulates share a relationship exclusive of all other antarctitherians. Previously, un-gulates had been lumped in with the equally bizarre Australian tingamarrs. This means that mammals in Spec convergently evolved unguligrade posture not once, not twice, but three times. This is not as astonishing as it may seem, HE’s paraphyletic “ungulates” may have independently evolved unguligrade posture as many as 6 times. Certainly it convergently evolved at least twice, once in eutherians and once in a very recently extinct metatherian.
This has been a huge headache in terms of classification, initially, morphological structure such as teeth and certain skull bones had some of the animals studied regarded as weird, derived gondwanatheres. This ridiculous idea was promptly abandoned once genetic analysis revealed that they all were placentals and all shared a common xenarthroid ancestry.
Un-gulates *Antipodungulatidae*
The un-gulates were yet another reason for Spexplorers to reach for an aspirin, because they certainly seemed to be the sugar in the absinthe. These small animals have striking equine builds with rather long tails. The morphological resemblance to HE Meridiungulata has been remarked on in passing, especially with some aspects of their dentition and ankles. However, they also share the strange xenarthran “septomaxilla” and certain other features, such as ossified deposits in the skin along the torso. Should HE Meridiungulata DNA ever be recovered, they will certainly be compared with these strange mammals.
The Un-gulates seem to have been present in Spec’s South America and Antarctica during the Eocene as rat to rabbit sized critters. By the Oligocene, Antarctica had frozen over and Patagonia was rapidly converting into the first true grassland. Here one finds remains of the hare sized *Hippocavia*. Unlike it’s predecessors, *Hippocavia* had developed high crown teeth to deal with the abrasive vegetation. This development has been retained in modern day antipodungulates with further enhancements such as open roots and even more complex loxodont configurations of the premolars and molars. Antipodungulates also have developed an unguligrade posture, with the 3rd digit the primary weight bearing structure and the 2nd and 4th digits acting as support and balance.
The Un-gulates were more speciose and generally larger during the late Miocene and early Pliocene. They were found throughout the continent in small rabbit to hare sized forms, but also reached quite large sizes, up to 150 kilos in one montane Patagonian species. Needless to say, the Pliocene Bolide Event nearly annihilated them. Today, the majority of the 10 or so species are no more than 8 kilos. Only 3 species exceed that at some 30 to 60 kilos.
Fonies *Psuedoeculeusia*
Fonies range across the pampas and altiplanos of South America. They tend to seek out exposed forbs and tender new grass growth by following the spelk or neohadrosaurs herds.
Social structure varies, with large herds to solitary individuals. Mares breed in June and drop their single or twin foals in October.

Cerrado Fony *Psuedoeculeusia cerrado*
(Picture by Tiina Aumala)
Cerrado fonies are denizens of the rich mixed Brazilian savannahs. They are mixed feeders of the thickets and dense tree stands that are their primary refuge. One characteristic of the species is the well developed 2nd and 4th digits that help them secure a better grip in the often hilly and loose soil. Stallions live solitary lives defending territories with good forage and permanent water holes. Mares will occasionally form loose groups, but mostly roam alone or with their foals. They are the smallest of the fonies, weighing just 30 kilos.

Big Fony *Psuedoeculeusia patagonicus*
(Picture by Tiina Aumala)
The largest fonies, they can be found across the pampas up into the altiplano. Large matriarchal herds are often seen alongside spelks and nandrakes. Males form bachelor herds until the age of 4, when they become physically mature enough to battle rivals for potential mates. Big fonies are the most cursorily adapted of the clade. The side digits are extremely reduced and provide virtually no support.
Liebrayos *Alogolagonae*
Liebrayos are the dogbunnies of the South American open areas. They feed on grasses and forbs and utilize bastardsloth and armadillo burrows for denning. The 8 species range between 3 and 8 kilos in weight. They are mostly animals of the cold altiplanos and pampas, although one species is found in the llanos, cerrado and ornithischian created pathways of the Amazon. Small family groupings of 6 to 12 paired adults and their foals come out during the day light hours to graze. They rarely stray far from the safety of their burrows or thickets.
Gloops, Kelp Cows *THALASSOCAMELIDAE*
There must be something strange about the sea that attracts mammals. In our timeline, whales, sea cows, seals and certain otters live off and largely in the deep blue, not to mention the extinct desmostylians; in Spec, cancridonts and selkies have taken to the oceans. The fertile waters of South Australia were found to hold yet another funky marine mammal, the gloop, which is associated with marine, coastal, estuarine and marsh faunas. The Gloop family includes the kelpcow, one of the largest marine mammals known in Spec.
The Gloops are generalist cold water algae and kelp grazers that first appear in the fossil record in the Oligocene. These antarctitherians seem to have had their center of origin around Antarctica. The presence of the late Oligocene *Merididugongia*, a 30 kilo seashore browser of kelp and algae on a newly discovered deposit located only on Spec’s Seymour Island indicates so. The Oligocene and Miocene saw the family radiate across the sub Antarctic as far north as Australia and New Zealand. The Pliocene saw algae browsing tropical forms and the subsequent evolution of the North Pacific kelpcows.
Gloops *Thalassocamelinae*
Gloops are the most widespread thalassocamelids. They may be found in seasonally migrant herds around the Antarctic Ocean and range north into the tropics and cold Atlantic Ocean. Some 6 species are currently recognized. Most are generalist algae browsers, though the north atlantic species specializes in kelp and sargassum weed.
Gloop *Thalassocamelus thieliei*

(Picture by Timothy Morris)
The gloop ranges from the coastal waters of northern Aotearoa to northern New South Wales, sustained in these bountiful waters fed by the southern ocean. Gloops have a large, camel-like head, stubby, clawed forelimbs, and a tapering, cylindrical body much like a sea cow. Their tail is deep, flat and powerful, but relatively short, and their back legs are paddle shaped; they swim with horizontal undulations much like a sea otter. Gloops have a covering of long wiry hair along the back; this not only serves as insulation but harbors green algae, small crustaceans and snails (some beneficial, some parasitic, some commensal). They also have a thick layer of fat for buoyancy and extra insulation, and their belly is covered in very thick, tuberculous calluses that protect them from scraping rocks while feeding – and even sometimes from shark attack. These animals feed on a wide range of marine plants, from tender red algae to seaweed, cold water Spec “sea grass” and kelp, which they crop with their thick, muscular lips and cut with their large incisors.

(Picture by Timothy Morris) Gloops during mating season
Gloop breeding behavior is amongst the strangest of Spec's Mammalia. In the breeding season (June – August), females and males congregate around river mouths, the younger first-timers following the elders there in single file (called "caravans"). Upon arrival the males will pick and fight for a choice area upstream – the further upstream you are, the calmer the water, and the harder you have fought to get there. Naturally the stronger males are positioned further upstream. The males choose their spots in this way to "serenade" the females with their loud belch-like above-water calls of "GLOOP!! GLOOP!!" punctuated by long strains of jowl-shaking calls. The females travel upstream past the throngs of belching, blubbering males until they find a male that they see fit to sire their young. This bizarre procession, as well as the convoying and lek fighting behavior that precedes it, is a singularly bizarre spectacle.
The females travel upstream into estuaries to give birth. The solitary calf (rarely two) is dependant upon its mother for nearly a year. Out of breeding season these animals tend to either live alone or in loose aggregations depending on resources. These animals can live for as long as 40 years or so and grow to 3.5 meters in length.
Mediterranean Gloop *Thalassocamelus suboriotethyis*
Unique to the Mediterranean Sea, this animal is a typical tropical water gloop. They slurp the algae growing on vast beds of inoceramid clams and coral reefs. Often seen alongside duckgongs, the two clades never come into conflict, because one feeds on sea grasses, while the other prefers seaweeds and algal mats.
Kelp cow *Bovigalinae*
The Kelpcow is the only member of its clade. This is truly an exclusive kelp feeder. Compared to other gloops, kelp cows are rather archaic in certain details of their teeth and skull. However, they are more derived in having lost the ancestral belly tubercles and developing a more pachyostylic skeleton, especially around the ribs.
Kelpcow *Bovigale memorium*

(Picture by Timothy Morris)
The kelpcow is an impressive 6 to 7 m long beast, weighing as much as a Moby Duck. It is found primarily in the kelp forests of the northern Pacific ranging from The Baja peninsula to the Sea of Oshkosh, hugging the shallow waters. Local Alaskan and Kamchatkan populations sporadically range into the Bering Sea during the summer season.
Kelpcows subsist mostly on kelp, which they process with their formidable dentition and digest in their extensive stomachs. Kelpcows swim with powerful up and down strokes of the lower torso, which moves the paddle-like tail and hind limbs. Kelpcow forelimbs are stubby, with clawed fingers used to grasp large amounts of growth.
These animals possess both a large amount of blubber and a reasonably thick coat of smooth, slick hair. Kelpcows will mainly browse on the floating rafts of kelp when they are in season, but observing kelp cows feeding on whole belts of kelp is both intriguing and amusing. Firstly, the mighty beast dives down and severs the kelp from its holdfast, then the animal returns to the surface and grasps the belt as it eats, much resembling a mouse eating a whole strand of spaghetti.
Armadillos, Bastardsloths and Tingamarrs *Roroarvatherai*
This clade includes both the familiar armadillos and the bizarre bastardsloths, but it also contains a totally weird group of animals from halfway around the world, the tingamarrs.
TINGAMARRA *TINGAMARROIDIDAE*
Australia, traditionally a land of strange creatures, has surpassed itself with the unassuming tingamarrs, a group of Australian placentals whose existence ought to be considered patently impossible. Tingamarroididae forms the only group of eutherian mammals in the Australian realm. Probably tingamarroids migrated from South America before Gondwana had entirely split apart. The tingamarr fossil record is rather sparse before the Miocene. The only Paleogene site possessing any fossils have been the Eocene Murgon. The late Miocene Riversleigh records an abundance of forms, but their peculiar anatomy sheds no light on their origins. Only genetic analyses establishes a relationship with xenarthra.
The living species of tingamarrs are most common in Tasmania and the cooler, more arid regions of Australia, where they eat grasses and other abrasive vegetation. They are very fleet-footed and skittish, with excellent senses and a nocturnal disposition. Tingamarrs possess cloven hooves like those of the artiodactyls of Home-Earth, but this trait is certainly convergent.
Their reproduction is normal for placentals, they bring offspring to full term in the womb and then suckle the newborns for between four and eight months. The teeth of a tingamarr, however, are quite strange, with large, flattened incisors, totally absent canines, and a set of deep-rooted, ever-growing molars most similar to those of the extinct taeniodonts of our timeline.
Striped Tingamarr *Tingamarroides nyahnya*

(Picture by Daniel Benson)
The striped tingamarr is a typical member of the clade. Crepuscular herbivores, striped tingamarrs graze upon grasses and low-growing foliage before dawn and after dusk, when predatory dinosaurs' eyes are less sensitive than the mammals' senses of smell and hearing. Unlike the solitary Tasmanian tingamarr *Tingamarroides tasmaniensis*, striped tingamarrs travel in clans of about six individuals, sleeping in abandoned mieolanid burrows, thickets, and anything else that offers suitable protection.
Armadillos, Bastardsloths *Xenarthra*
When Spexplorers first came into South America, they were simply shocked at the huge numbers of large terrestrial mammal species present, far in excess of any other continental landmass. Much of the diversity came from invaders such as spelks, pokemurids and metacanids. The native mammalian fauna was hardly a slowpoke in this department. The multituberculate necobataarids produced the epunamun. However the bulk of the native large mammals within South America are the xenarthrans.
Spec’s xenarthrans are far more speciose than in HE, although not quite as diverse
morphologically as their recently depauperated counterparts. Armadillos represent the greatest numbers in terms of species, but the bastardsloths are the widest ranging, found from Alaska to Terra Del Fuego. They play a very important ecological role as small hunters and herbivores. Bastardsloths are particularly influential as strange taeniodont analogues. These animals in turn are heavily preyed upon by a very wide assortment of predators.
Xenarthrans probably evolved in South America, and this continent has been their traditional home, although some have migrated into North America. These creatures did not widely radiate into arboreal insectivore niches as in our timeline (these niches already having been taken by the metatherians), they became quite successful as insectivorous ground-dwellers and burrowers.
Itavykais, Bastardsloths *Babeltheridea*
As xenarthrans go, these mammals are bizarre. They possess many typical xenarthrans traits, such as a lack of enameling to their teeth, bone scutes embedded within their skin and the xenarthrales, the complex assortment of inflexible articulations within the vertebrate joints. The xenarthran trend towards bipedality is also present, to an extreme degree. Babeltherideans also possess the “septomaxilla”, lacking in all other therians, though it is not certain exactly what these nasal bones are in xenarthrans.
Here the similarities end. The babeltherideans have developed a complex pelvis, with the ischium and acetabelum extended to a great degree. The ilium flares broadly. Both seem to be responses to massive leg muscle insertions. The tail is long and like HE macropods, supports further extensions of thigh muscles at its base. The subdermal bone scutes that tend to be randomly placed among non-Cingulata xenarthrans are instead highly organized along the dorsal sacrum and torso, extending across the base of the tail. The guts also possess rows of tightly ligmented subdermal bone scutes. Both ligmentized scute complexes serve the purpose of keeping the body rigid during intensive activity. The resulting union allows babeltherideans to do something perhaps truly unique among synapsids. They can walk and run bipedally just like a dinosaur.
The babeltherideans have one of the most intriguing digestive arraignments of any mammals. They possess a multichambered stomach, secondarily simplified in the itavykais.
Their lack of enamel allows them to retain perpetually ever growing teeth. The digestive “flora” includes bacteria, fungi, and even nematode worms that are secondarily consumed much like HE macropods. The teeth are heavily derived from the basal xenarthran herbivorous/myrmecophagous ancestor. They are secondarily incisorforme, molariforme and most unusually of all, plagiaulacoforme. The plagiaulacoid isn’t quite serrated like the enameled cutters of multis or teddies. They maintain a sharp, irregularly crenulated edge thanks to the constant rubbing actions of the maxillary molariforme teeth.
Babeltherideans seem to have derivatively evolved the ability to see into the ultra-violet spectrum. Both bastardsloths and itavykais possess patterned under fur that shine under black lights when they erect their guard fur. Why this ability evolved is not certain. Perhaps the overwhelming presence of ultraviolet perceiving predators in Spec in the form of dinosaurs was responsible. Secondarily derived fur markings could’ve been selected sexually over time. The fur seems to have some intriguing pigments, as always…yet further research is needed.
Itavykais or Tarziwaks *Schizicebidae*
These are heavily derived babeltherideans. Their closest ecological analogs may be the galagos of HE. Quite small, averaging less than half a meter including the tail and just .5 to 1.5 kilos, these primarily arboreal, carnivorous babeltherideans also partake of saps and nectar when in season. Insects and microvertebrates are preferred food samples. Resting camouflaged against tree trunks or within wood burrows, they spend the day asleep. Night awakens them to possibilities of predation. Itavykais range from the dry subtropical forests of Mexico to the open woodlands bordering the pampas.
Itavykais are solitary, with a male sharing territory with up to four females at a time. Their secretive nocturnal behavior has made them very hard subjects for research. It is known that females generally have an average of two young per year by the resident male. The offspring remain with the mother for a year before dispersing.
Unlike their bastardsloths cousins, their stomachs have simplified, much reduced anterior chambers. Itavykais have a pair of prominent plagiaulacoid teeth in the lower jaws that seem to act in concert with two pairs of molariforme teeth in the upper jaws. The incisorforme teeth number roughly around 7 pairs per jaw. The outer most “incisors” are rather canineforme in appearance, used for seizing insect and small vertebrate prey. The tooth formula follows as thus. It should be recognized that this formula is being used for animals not representative of standard mammalian dentition. PL represents the plagiaulacoid.
Upper Jaw I7, PL0, M11
Lower Jaw I7, PL1, M9
The plagiaulacoid is used for shearing through tough chitinous exoskeletons in arthropods and the bony skeletons of vertebrates. The incisors are fairly prominent, though not recognizably so in living specimens, covered as they are with lips. They tear out grooves in sweet sap trees throughout an itavykais’ home range. The molariforme teeth are set within a simplified shearing pattern to further process animal matter.
Socially, itavykais are mostly loners. Males maintain territories within up to 6 females divide for their own use. Juveniles roaming away from their mothers may remain for up to two years before reaching sexual maturity and seeking out new territories far from their natal home ranges. Daytime sleeping holes usually are utilized by the resident male, females and their offspring. Occasionally, the resident male may share his sleeping hole with many of his weaned offspring.
The earliest complete itavykai fossils known are less than 40,000 years old, indicating they have been tropical rainforest and dry forest specialists for at least that long, if not much longer. However, a few Miocene mandibles and carpals have been found in Patagonian deposits. These primitive scrapes show some similarities with the modern day llorona.
Given that lloronas are the most terrestrial itavykais and also routinely hunt for food around sleeping mega fauna, this might well be the ancestral state of affairs for the clade. Molecular and morphological evidence indicates that itavykais split off from the bastardsloths no later than the Oligocene. Some four species are so far described, with one species fairly cosmopolitan across the tropical rainforest and dry forests of the Americas and the other three much more limited in distribution. They seem to not be really in competition with strigosaurs so much as they are often preyed upon by them during crepuscular hours.
Llorona *Schizicebus phasmatis*
A ghostly white furred itavykai that is renown for its wailing calls akin to a bereaved woman. Scientists camping in the cerrado region will often see these fearless xenarthran bush babies leaping or walking about on their hind legs grabbing insects attracted to the warmth and light of the fires. Lloronas are simply carrying out an extension of their natural behavior in this respect. They are often seen congregated around herds of sleeping neohadrosaurs or pachamas during the nighttime hours. Lloronas also maintain more typical itavykai dietary habits. They leap from tree limb to limb catching insects with their excellent eyesight and good hearing. Daylight hours has them curled up within tree holes, often with several mates.
Bastardsloths *Nothusasimiadae*
These are familiar mammals throughout the Americas. Bodily, bastardsloths resemble the viriosaurs they share their ancestral homeland tropics with. Several key differences exist. Bastardsloths have powerful forelimbs with large claws for digging into soil and climbing up trees. They are of course furred with prominent ears. Whereas viriosaurs are obligate bipeds, bastardsloths are facultative bipeds. Most bastardsloths amble along on all four limbs searching for food. They usually rear up and run on their hind limbs in response to a predatory attack. Small species race to the nearest trees to climb up into for protection. Larger species may seek out burrows or dense undergrowth to lose the predators. The giant species may stand their ground within a circle or against trees or rocks and brandish their claws.
Bastardsloths tend to be herding species that are rather diurnal in habits. Herd structures may be variant from open mobs where unrelated individuals loosely join and leave at anytime to male led family groups of many females and their offspring in various stages of maturity. Herds may range from less than a dozen to upwards of hundreds in some species.
Most bastardsloths are relatively small animals between 5 to 50 kilos in weight. Species found in the cold forests and plains may be much larger. Bastardsloths have four digits on their hind limbs, with the 2nd and 3rd digits bearing the primary weight. The forelimbs generally have five digits, with all five bearing fairly robust claws akin to badgers or coatis.
Females normally bear 2 to 4 well-developed offspring at a time after a gestation of roughly four to nine months depending on the species. Weaning usually takes place some four months afterwards, with the young staying with their mother for up to a year.
Bastardsloths have a fairly extensive fossil record within South America. The first recognizable bastardsloth is a late Eocene mandible coming from an animal just a meter in length and perhaps 8 kilos in weight. The fossils remain rather small, but common until the Pliocene, when size shoots up. Interestingly the earliest North American bastardsloths show up in the Miocene. They are quite close morphologically to virtually all modern day bastardsloths. This similarity posits the intriguing speculation that the Pliocene Bolide event wiped out the majority of bastardsloths in South America. After the impact event, the North American bastardsloths may have re-invaded their ancestral homeland to radiate into the current 8 species recognized today. The only modern day bastardsloth with closer similarities to the pre-Pliocene animals is the trunk-lip.
Bastardsloths have molariform teeth very similar to glyptodonts, their cousins on HE. Roughly 8 to 12 molars in each jaw row are present. They also have a pair of plagiaulacoid teeth in the lower jaws buttressing the anterior molars. Generally, two incisors are present in each jaw row. The trunk lip seems to have lost these, indeed, most South American bastardsloths before the Pliocene were in the process of losing or had lost them.
Trunk Lip *Labiomanae*
These bastardsloths are an ancient line that separated from the main body as far back as the Oligocene. They are montane dwellers, preferring the high scree ringing altiplanos all along the Andean chain. Their size is quite impressive, with adult males reaching up to 200 kilos.
The most unusual feature of these bastardsloths is of course, their muzzle. Trunk lips possess massive jaws that have many insertions for lip muscles. The trunk is quite dexterous, akin to a tapir’s though located on the lower jaw instead of being formed from the upper naris and labia. The sole surviving species is *Labiomanus morrisi*. Trunk lips feed on tubers and browse scrubs within home ranges of roughly a few square miles or so. Both sexes lead solitary lives. Females share their territory with their young for roughly a year after birth. Oddly, the trunk lip is the only bastardsloth to actually have curved claws that require obligatory bipedality. Other bastardsloths are perfectly capable of walking on the flat of the manual metacarpals much like HE bears.
Bastardsloths *Nothusasimianae*
The bastardsloths are among the most wide ranging groups of xenarthrans in the Americas. They can be found virtually in every type of environment except the most open stretches of the arctotitan steppes of boreal north america. Bastardsloths have very diverse feeding strategies. Some are browsers, others rooters or grazers. Many employ all three. Size range is also quite diverse, with some species under 10 kilos but most species in the 20 to 150 kilo range and one pampas/altiplanos species reaching close to 500 kilos, rivaling many of the local maniraptorans and the glory elk. Total species numbers are not yet known, with an estimated 20 or so species to eventually be named across the Americas. Bastardsloths are so named because the first sighting of one elicited a cursing response at yet another weird mammal clade in Spec with no clear parallel.
Bastardsloths are most diverse in North America, where they seem to have filled in the niche of hogbirds and dinoceratopsians as small pig/tapir like rooters and browsers. However, all bastardsloths under 50 kilos routinely climb trees to forage for leaves and fungi. Carnivorous behavior is rare, though they will occasionally scavenge carcasses or abandoned eggs.
Three genera are recognized, *Nothusasimius*, *Eunothusasimius* and *Improceritherium*.
Pataguari *Nothusasimius grandis*
The largest of the bastardsloths, the pataguari lives in immense herds numbering in the hundreds ambling across the pampas and altiplanos. They forage for grasses and forbs and scrape up shallow tubers and roots. When saber tyrants or other predators threaten, they rear up on their hind legs and thunder across the landscape until either they have outrun the threat or one of their number has fallen prey. They often graze in mixed association with spelks, un-gulates and nandrakes.
Pine Bastardsloth *Eunothusasimius pinus*
This North American species of bastardsloth lives in small herds of roughly 12 related females and a single dominant male. These 40 kilo animals are quite arboreal, foraging for conifer needles and fungi throughout their range. They also dig up subterranean fungi, roots and tubers as well as browse twigs from angiosperm and gingko trees found in the understory or clearings. Pine bastardsloths experience winter torpor, with herds sleeping for weeks at a time in caves and dens dug out for the harsh conditions. The 2 rarely 3 or 4 offspring are born communally when spring arrives. When foraging, predators cause them to race up the nearest tree. However, only the most foolish drak would attempt to enter the sleeping burrows of a pine bastardsloth family. Those great claws are very effective at ripping flesh and breaking bones.
Little Bastardsloth *Improceritherium brasiliensis*
These were the first described bastardsloths although not the only known species at the time. Their size is typical of the Improceritheres, at some one meter and 6 kilos. A dweller of the Amazon basin, they live in loose associations of roughly 6 to 12 with interchangeable membership. The flooding season sees them stranded on highlands, where they become more vulnerable to fellow marooned predators like ocelotars and cockatrices. Little bastardsloths forage for corms and tubers in open meadows and hmungo halls. They will climb quite high into the understory for choice fruits and leaves as well as steal abandoned eggs they come across.
“True” Xenarthrans *Xenarthradea*
These animals, for the most part, are the typical rather odd yet mundane armadillos known in HE. They contain well over 30 species in Spec, with perhaps many more to be described.
Nufflers and the Pangodillo *Echinomanidae*
Spec's "anteaters" are the dominant small insectivores of South America, and are clearly xenarthrans, possessing the clade's slow-growing, enamelless teeth and supplementary articulations between their vertebrae. However, these hedgehog-like creatures are not true myrmecophagids (the familiar anteaters of our home timeline), but a more generalized group that often mimics the pangolins (Pholidota) of Home-Earth.
Nufflers *Notechinogalinae*
Bristly nuffler *Notechinogale minor*

(Picture by Timothy Morris)
Nufflers are common, but cryptic, insectivorous denizens of the undergrowth of the south american scrub. The bristly nuffler found in the drier Amazon region, is the smallest and most common species, the size of a kitten. Adorned with stiff bristly hairs that can sometimes break the skin, even more often they irritate the mouths of a would-be predator. The clade Notechinogale consists of numerous species of "bristly nufflers", though they are relatively conservative in their differences.
Spiny nuffler, *Dendrechinogale scansor*

(Picture by Timothy Morris)
The spiny nuffler climbs more often than its smaller relatives, and frequently grows to the size of a sut, which it resembles in behavior and diet. It has sharp spines on its back, deterring strigosaurs and other predators. A denizen of the Amazon rainforest, this animal is in many ways transitional between the bristly nufflers and the pangodillo.
Pangodillo *Echinomaninae*
Bizarre pangolin mimics, they caused quite a few headaches until the first specimens were finally procured. The results of genetic and morphological studies place them within xenarthra, among the nufflers.
Pangodillo *Echinomanis echinis*

(Picture by Daniel R. Heald)
The first mammal researchers to explore Spec's Central America were startled to discover the pangodillo, a creature that at first glance appeared to be a pangolin. Not only did the creature possess razor-sharp blade-like 'spikes' instead of the flat but very tough scales of Home world pangolins, its mere existence in the New World, in fact its mere existence at all, was a major puzzle. In our home timeline the Pholidota have an exclusively Old-World distribution and are not found in South America. On top of that, they belong to the Laurasiatheria, a clade of placentals whose Spec diversity is rather miserable.
Fortunately, after trapping and further examination, the mammal researchers could breathe a sigh of relief. *Echinomanis* was, in fact, a kind of armadillo – a very strange, partly arboreal, ant- and termite-eating spiny armadillo, but much more easily accepted than a Spec-Panamanian pangolin. The spikes were found to contain ossified cores overlain with typical alpha keratin, instead of the weird mixture of alpha and beta keratin present in HE pangolins. Pangodillos range from the Mexican dry forests down into the north banks of the Amazon.
Armadillos *Cognatadasypodidea*
The most diverse clade of xenarthrans, armadillos are small generalist/insectivores that range from South America to southern North America. Many species (though not all) are covered with an articulating armor of flat bone plates. All armadillos are burrowers to some
extent.
Armatell *Carnodasypus horridus*

(Picture by Daniel R. Heald)
The armatell is a large (almost a meter long in some regions), burrowing, nocturnal carnivore of the Amazon and Central America. The species has an excellent sense of smell with which this badger-like animal uses locate its prey of small mammals and reptiles. Prey is usually unearthed with the digging claws on the forefeet and dispatched with a swift bite. Armatell teeth are, like those of other xenarthrans, naked dentine, but much sharper and more robust than usual. These teeth grow slowly, even though they are open rooted. Armatells dig extensive burrows ("sets") that many other species will inhabit if abandoned. However, they are not social. Younger individuals may inherit a set, but only after the current resident dies or is driven away.
Armies *Paradasypodidae*
This clade seems to encompass many of the more traditional armadillos of Spec; their resemblance, though in many ways strikingly similar to armadillos, is superficial, as the scute arrangement and internal anatomy shows.

(Pictures by Timothy Morris)
These are examples of the more mundane armadillos that inhabit the Americas of Spec. Both grow no larger than a small cat. Top is the knuckleball *Bolotherium hoploscutatum*, a common insectivore of the pampas capable of curling into an impenetrable ball. It is well named; its rounded, rivet-like scutes are the thickest of any armadillo. Below is the common army *Paradasypus populator*, known to be widespread throughout South America, north through to warm-temperate North America.
Mongoose army, *Dolichodasypus herpestoides*

(Picture by Timothy Morris)
On the South American pampas of Home-Earth, one will occasionally see an armadillo trundle slowly from place to place. But in the pampas of Spec, the mongoose army (Dolichodasypus herpestoides) is far from slow and cumbersome, in spite of its armour. Cat-sized, and far sleeker in shape than most other xenarthrans, it still carries trunk armour as protection against cazadins. Its diet consists of practically any small animal it can find, though it has a penchant for reptiles. Like the far heavier armatell, it digs "sets" in which to sleep and raise young. Its dentition is unique, showing differentiation from thin conical teeth at the front, to rounded teeth further back in the jaw line.
Bullettes *Buliidae*
Bullettes are small and (not surprisingly) bullet-shaped burrowers that range from Argentina to the great plains of North America. The family sports armadillo-like armour, but this plating has been reduced to a carapace over the top of the skull – used to push earth aside as they burrow – and scattered bony nodules over the shoulders. Bullids are adapted to eat colonial insects – termites and ants – which they dispatch by burrowing under the insects' nests and then bursting into the upper chambers from below. Many species of termite defend against this behavior by spitting poisons at attacking bullids, and by extending the hard walls of their fortresses far below ground level, but the sharp claws and impervious head shield of the little insectivores are proof against the strongest wall or poison. Swarming ants, which seek to escape predators by leaving their nests and forming large, mobile bivouacs, are not safe from bullids either, as the these xenarthrans will often construct conical traps, in the manner of an ant-lion, in which they can catch swarms of walking prey.
Argentinean Bullette *Bulia argentiniensis*

(Picture by Daniel R. Heald)
Argentinean bullettes are small burrowing insectivores, thriving on (or rather under) the South American pampas. This species is rarely seen on the surface, and has small eyes and ears – the latter protected by small bony hornlike extensions of the "skull cap". These horns are slightly larger in the males, but do not appear to be used in any offensive function.
Arbourarmour *Hoplotamandua recurvonychus*

(Picture by Timothy Morris)
One of the most unusual inhabitants of the Amazon rainforest is the arbourarmour. This large-clawed, rat-sized bullette has a prehensile tail and is an extraordinarily good climber and swimmer. Unlike its relatives, it has pursued a lifestyle similar to the “true” armadillos, albeit with caveats. When the rainy season hits the Amazon, this animal undergoes a niche change. Its claw sheaths lengthen very quickly in the weeks preceding the rains, during which the keratin growth on the carapace slows; when the rains come, it transforms from a low-level forager to a climbing inhabitant of the treetops. The evolution of this incredible trophic transformation has allowed this animal's ancestors passage into the seasonally flooded Amazon basin, where their ground-dwelling cousins could not. The prehensile tail is equal or greater in dexterity to that of the tamandua of our timeline, the tail morphology of which is paralleled in the arbourarmour.
Daniel R. Heald, Daniel Bensen, Timothy Morris, David Marjanovic, Tiina Aumala, Karl Zimmerman and Raymond Tobin
posted by Raymond @ 11:20 PM
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