Pacific Mordak

     Ask any pseudo para-biologist what the most distinguishing feature of M. Occidentalis is and chances are they will answer the artificial dorsal carapace.  However an ingenuous adaptation as this physiological modification may be, it is still only one of a great many remarkable traits of this unique species.  

     Lacking the protective armour of armadillos, pangolins, echidnas and porcupines, the mordak has adapted its own compulsive behaviours to address the problem of self defence.  The hair on the back of a mordak is naturally longer than elsewhere on its body, and naturally mats.  Likely in an attempt to relieve the discomfort of this matted mane, earlier mordaks developed an obsession with wallowing on their backs in mud (ironically being fastidious in their grooming for their abdomens, limbs, head and short tails), quickly building up a near rock hard clay "shell", which becomes further reinforced by the inclusion of actual pebbles, sticks and even beach glass!  This body modification was so successful as a defence that it quickly became selected for as the various species of mordaks evolved and radiated out from their original range in Central Asia.  Only the critically endangered Paragon Mordak lacks the mud carapace and wallowing behaviour which underlies it.  

     Like all mordaks, the Pacific Mordak is an omnivore, and may be distantly related to the primitive old world insectivores, typified by the hedgehogs.  The latter conclusion is reinforced by the extraordinary lengths that M. Occidentalis will go to, in pursuit of their favourite food: Carithimin Grasshoppers.  Highly social, M. Occidentalis live in colonies of up to two hundred individuals (although colonies of such a size are increasingly rare) near to, or even straddling, flowing fresh water sources.  They can be quite aggressive to any trespassers they deem a threat.  In the wild M. Occidentalis live anywhere from twelve to twenty years, having one litter of four to six kits per female in the late spring.  Pacific Mordaks reach sexual maturity around the age of four. Classified as vulnerable, M. Occidentalis has been known to be tameable, although not to the same extent as its Old World relatives, particularly the more fluvial Thames, German and Siberian species.