Gec Saurohound

The migration into the waterways of Gec was a gradual one, but over time the saurohound population around the Chum coastlines began to split, as some found the swamp waters around Gec a safe place to rear young. Decreased competition and abundant food and shelter allowed them to dominate the waters, and soon they became the apex predators of the region.

Significantly smaller than their coastal relatives, they have shrunk in response to the thick vegetation and limited space available in the riverway. Adults' snouts and jaws have become comparably stunted when examined next to their coastal ancestors, but the deeper set jaw has become significantly more muscular, aiding in their ambush predatory lifestyle. A gec saurohound will wait motionless while hunting, before exploding forward and biting down with a force of 1,200 psi. They have been documented waiting by the river's edge for prey to wander towards the waters edge, snapping their jaw around their catch, and dragging it into the water to drown it.

Adults reach reproductive maturity in five years, and have a lifespan averaging eighteen to twenty years. Individuals have been found capable of living as old as 26, though these appear to require optimal conditions.

As with their ancestors, there appears to be no set mating season exactly, however mating does appear to become more frequent in the late summer and late winter months. This staggered mating appears to be a mechanism to ensure less direct competition with sired pups, allowing them to maximize available food. Gestation is over a period of seven to eight months, with the range affected by available food. Mothers that have a harder time acquiring food during pregnancy appear to gestate longer as a stress response. Adult females will typically mate ever eighteen months, and are capable of breeding their entire lives.

Pups are about 50 cm long at birth. At this point, they hunt frabukis, larvabacks, scuttlers, krillpedes and gilltail young. Their diet changes to progressively bigger prey as they grow. Their eyes aren't particularly useful until the are about 2 months of age (an evolutionary holdover from their ancestors) so it relies on its sensory tentacles. Once they reach a large enough size at about 6 months of age, they will become young adults and strike out on their own.