Hypoemtasia Bestiary - Arbrothylus by Hypoem87 on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

Austrotasia, home to some of the largest marsupials in the world of Hypoemtasia, has certainly earned itself the title of being one of the more unique continents in the world of Hypoemtasia as it is a place in which both dinosaurs and marsupials coexist together, similar to Antarctopia where the xenarthrans and the dinosaurs are sharing the same continent with one another. Unlike Antarctopia however, Austrotasia has her own collection of predators, both of mammalian and archosaurian origin. Most of the diprotodonts like the Gunni and the Yowie play the role of herbivores on the continent alongside with the dinosaurs like the Thrullostrus and the Austrostegus, there is one genus of diprotodont that deviated from the norm: instead of being a herbivore, they switched to a diet of carnivory and plays the role of one of the southern continent's top predator.

Reaching at a length of between 140 to 180 centimeters long and weighing around 40 to 120 kilograms, the Arbrothylus is the largest carnivorous marsupial on the continent of Austrotasia and the apex predator of the Eastern and Southern Territory. Unlike the terrestrial Thylacolanus, the Arbrothylus seems to have converged with that of a leopard: they spend most of the time roosting on the tree branches or on rocks 2 meters above the ground. Adept climbers like leopards, their strong limbs tipped with sharp claws allow them to scale trees with ease, along with a long tail which aids them in balancing. Not unlike the Thylaceleo, the Arbrothylus's hind limbs are powerful but not suited for sprinting, with the structure of their hind limbs being more similar to the macropods, which makes them slow-to-medium-paced predators. They are believed to be the close relative of the cryptic drop-bears, known for their habit of roosting on top of tree branches laying there for up to hours before descending to the ground. Unlike their enigmatic relatives however, they are terrestrial ambush predators that will stealthily move closer towards their prey using the underbrush or vegetative growth to conceal themselves, before pouncing from their cover and land the killing blow on their prey using their incisors with the assistance of their powerful jaw muscles. After killing the prey, they will either directly consume them or drag them up and cache them in the trees, keeping them away from potential stealers.

During the mating season around August to October, the males will begin to fight viciously to mate with the female. Gestation usually lasts around 5 weeks, and females can give birth between 4 to 6 youngs. The young will stay in the pouch of their mother for 3 weeks until they are fully developed and able to move on their 4 limbs. Over the next 3 months, they will stick close to their mother for milk with the father hunting for prey to feed the entire family. The young marsupials will continue to stick with their parents for another 2 months venturing outside of their den and learning on how to hunt their prey until they are ready to leave their parents and live on their own.

These carnivorous diprotodonts are known to occassioanally steal livestocks that were brought in by the Atlantenian settlers from Occidentia and Agartha, when they colonized the continent several decades during the latter periods of the Golden Exploration Era. Unlike the Austrothanonychus however, the leopard-like marsupials usually keep their distance away from both the Austrotasian aborigines and the Atlantenian settlers and continues to hunt on the native wildlife for most of the time, unless they are not as able-bodied as before. As such, they were not driven to the point of being nearly extinct like their megaraptor counterpart. However, a number of cases in which an Arbrothylus trying to steal a livestock from the farmers still occurs at the rural areas. Most of these cases usually ended up with the marsupials having their luck, though some individuals do ended up being shot by the farmers and hunters.
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Inspired by the leopards (in terms of life style); based on the Thylacoleo with some minor changes to its bauplan
At long last, a carnivorous diprotodont in my Hypoemtasia Bestiary series!
I have taken a liking with the Thylacoleo for the past few months, with its feline-like body plan and its place of origin being one of the things that got me, which got me to work on something similar in this fictional world of mine

More GUUD STUFF to come soon BOIZ and GURLZ
Hold on to your butts and stay safe!