Bumblebadgers

12 million years has been sufficiently long for the bumblets - that last surviving, ever so strange clade of the vivas - to further diversify. By 228 million years PE, a group of snuffling, spiny, four-legged insectivores known as snoots had appeared. They were the result of ancestrally burrowing animals moving above ground in search of new food sources. Because they were clumsy and slow, they developed quills from their plumage as a deterrent to predatory attack. They exhibited long bills which were partially covered in a sensitive fleshy cere, and the remnants of their ancestor's serrated tongue and bill teeth, which gave them a firm hold on slippery invertebrate prey.

Now the snoots have given rise to a further group of descendants known as bumblebadgers. Though they still nest in burrows, these birds are now even less specialized to life underground. Though their forearms still consist entirely of a single joint, with a highly elongated wrist being all that remains of the wing, they are faster and more competent runners than their predecessors, their vision is acute, and their snouts have shortened. Their beaks are now fully covered in a fleshy sheathe which hides larger and better developed keratin teeth inside the jaw, which are used to kill a variety of small animal prey, including large insects, tribbets, and small ground birds. Because they are better able to avoid and escape predators, they have greatly reduced quills on their back and their plumage is now predominately consistent of stiff hair-like fibers overlaying an insulating downy undercoat.

above: a bumblebadger forages along the forest floor.

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Bumblebadgers, which weigh between five and fifteen pounds, are now most generally creatures of forests and woodlands from the equator northwards, where they scurry through the undergrowth and beneath logs, rocks and brambles in search of small prey. They are aggressive and highly reactive, often turning back on any larger predators that attempt to catch them and latching on with a very strong bite, and thus despite their size they have few regular predators; the bumblebadger's bold markings in various patterns of black and white may serve as a warning to predators that there may be easier prey found elsewhere. They are primarily crepuscular, sheltering in burrows dug out beneath tree roots or in hollow logs during the day and parts of the night, but when raising young can be seen foraging at any time of day. They are primarily solitary, territorial, and often confrontational if they come across another of their kind, with their markings possibly also serving to let them easily spot each other from a distance and avoid a fight. Nonetheless, males and females in fact form long-lasting pair bonds and maintain overlapping territories, even though they do not regularly interact except when rearing chicks. At this time of year, however, males and females spend several weeks cavorting and mating, sharing food and preparing a den in which the female will give birth. Her pregnancy is very brief, only twenty-three days, and her young are born naked and defenseless in the burrow. The female spends the first two weeks in the den with her young, keeping them warm, while the male becomes the sole provider and brings back prey for the female, who in turn eats and regurgitates for her chicks. As the young grow and begin to open their eyes and explore outside the nest, the male gradually assists less and less and leaves the family by the time the chicks are six weeks old. By this time, they are able to follow their mother in search of food outside the burrow. They are fully independent by four months of age, but may stay with their mother for nearly a year before she drives them out of her territory.

Bumblebadgers have very broad dietary preferences, and will eat almost any small animal they can catch as well as a smaller amount of fruit, nuts, and fungi. Though they feed predominately at ground level, they are also able to climb leaning trees, and may there also raid birds' nests. The bumblebadger's jaws are very strong and fitted with several dozen needle-sharp teeth on the tongue and upper jaw, and suited to delivering a rapid killing bite to small prey such as molodonts by crushing the spine. They hunt primarily by sight but also have a good sense of smell which allows them to locate buried food sources. In winter, bumblebadgers are unable to hibernate as much of their prey does and thus must remain active and feeding, relying heavily at this time on such varied food sources as carrion and buried stashes of nuts and seeds deposited by other animals, which they locate by scent. They will also use their long claws to break open the dens of hibernating molodonts and the nests of certain ants which, similarly to their Earthly bee relatives, produce a highly nutritious honey-like substance to feed their young. They are also decent swimmers and can be found in wetlands and marshes, where they may feed largely on crustaceans found in shallow water.