Chwinhorn

Chwinhorn
(Oculepus bicornis)
Information
Creator	Disgustedorite Other
Week/Generation	27/167
Habitat	Central Wallace Veldt, South Darwin Highvelt, Central Darwin Rocky, South Darwin Rocky, South Darwin Chaparral, South Darwin Plains, Wallace Volcanic, Wallace Bush, Wallace Chaparral, Verserus Rocky, Verserus Highvelt, West Wallace Veldt, Raptor Plains, Raptor Veldt, Raptor Highvelt, Raptor Chaparral, Raptor Volcanic, Darwin Temperate Desert, Wallace Desert, Raptor Badlands
Size	1 meter long
Primary Mobility	Unknown
Support	Endoskeleton (Bone)
Diet	Herbivore (Wallace Puffgrasses, Crystal Entourage Swordgrasses, Rainbrash, Yanisflora, Crunchy Trufflegrass, Pioneeroots, Marbleflora, Quaxaca, Sprawling Quillball, Fuzzyfan, Yuccagave, Snow Windbulb, Arid Puffgrass, Inda, Pioneer Quillprong, Sandy Orbibom, Dixon Olshkra, Prongoli, Quassagule, Quillfence, Moleroot, Quilbil, Pinprong, Sapprong, Piomike, Raptordrak, Desert Carnofern, Coastal Goth Tree, Fuzzyplate, Ferry saplings, Rocky Ferry Saplings, Pinoke saplings, Snowflake Obsidioak saplings, Plume Shrub saplings, Robust Arid Ferine saplings, Crystamble saplings, Scrubland Tubeplage saplings, Scrubland Quhft saplings, Bangsticks shoots, Chameleon Obsidishank saplings, Contorted Volleypom saplings, Bristlepile saplings, Cliff Bristler saplings, Fuzzpile saplings, Crystal Brambley saplings, Signpost Crystamboo saplings, Boreal Tubeplage saplings, Gecoba Tree saplings, Cragmyr saplings, Coniflor saplings, Cartainpalm saplings, juvenile Arid Plyent)
Respiration	Active (Lungs)
Thermoregulation	Endotherm
Reproduction	Sexual (Male and Female, Hard-Shelled Eggs)
Taxonomy
Domain Kingdom Phylum Superclass Clade Class Subclass Order Suborder Family Genus Species	Eukaryota Carpozoa Spondylozoa Anisoscelida Pentapodes Caudapodia Eucaudapodia Lophocula Aurocula Polyplacodorcadidae Oculepus Oculepus bicornis

Ancestor:	Descendants:
Ramchin

The chwinhorn split from its ancestor. It is a generalist grazer which lives mostly in open, southern parts of Wallace. It is named for the double horn present on the lower jaw of the male. Mostly hollow, this serves primarily as a mating display rather than being used in combat, its interference with feeding indicating that a male with an impressive set of them must be especially fit to compensate. They can also be used for defense, as needed, though its armor is also often sufficient.

The chwinhorn also, clearly, has rather different ears from its ancestor. As it must bend down to graze, it struggled to see or hear over tall grass. The boney ear crests evolved into an elongated funnel shape, which transfers the sound waves to the vibration-sensitive bones of the eye socket. The funnels are slightly mobile, though not as much as, say, the pinnae of a shrew or sauceback.

The chwinhorn does not mind thorns or quills in what it grazes, and in fact its indiscrimination somewhat suppresses thorny flora in the grasslands. Thus, its presence helps keep thorny flora in check. It also somewhat influences tree populations, as it will also happily gobble up saplings.

The chwinhorn's sexual display strategy has had an influence on its herd structure. Males, as an inherent hindrance to a herd, are usually solitary, though they may form bachelor groups with other males outside breeding season. When breeding season comes around, males will approach herds of females to court. Sometimes different members of the herd will mate with different males, but if there is one especially impressive male, he may sire all eggs laid by that herd that season. This will sometimes result in populations where the males have ludicrously exaggerated chin horns.

After mating, the males will go on their way and the females will lay their eggs communally in nests scratched in the ground and softened with flora. Older juveniles in the herd may help guard and incubate the eggs while the adults search for food. Babies are fed regurgitated food which has already been softened up a bit in their mother's rumen. By the time the weather starts to cool, the next generation is old enough to follow their parents away from the nesting site. Chwinhorns take about 2 years to reach maturity.

The chwinhorn varies in color across its range, usually being pinkish or champagne, but also coming in yellow and white variants to blend with different soil conditions.