 Reedstilt Temporal range: Posthomic | |
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| After Man: A Zoology of the Future (1981 edition) | |
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| After Man: A Zoology of the Future (2018 edition) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Eulipotyphla |
| Genus: | Harundopes |
| Species: | H. virgatus |
The reedstilt (Harundopes virgatus) is a large, abberant eulipotyphlan—a relative of moles and desmans—native to the fens and marshes of the Northern Continent in the Posthomic.
Description[]
The reedstilt is a fairly large animal, particularly for an insectivore, standing nearly 1 meter (3'2'') high at the shoulder, mainly thanks to its long legs. In body plain, it is reminiscent of a deer or even a small sauropod dinosaur, with very long and thin legs, and long curved neck, and a long head with jaws bristling with teeth. Its fur is mainly yellowish, brindled with vertical black stripes, camouflaging its upper body among the reeds. The hairless lower parts of its legs and ankles are covered in hairs, camouflaging the reedstilt from its underwater prey.
Although most mammals have just seven neck vertebrae, the reedstilt has fifteen. This is a fairly recent adaptation which arose from the natural advantage of a long neck in fishing. Another unique adaptation is that its incisors, canines, and molars are all the same shape: needle-pointed and sharp.
Behaviour[]
The reedstilt is a piscivorous predator which inhabits shallow water in wetlands, fens, and marshes, mainly staying around reed thickets, where its striped coat provides effective camouflage. To hunt, a reedstilt stands motionless in the water, waiting, until an unknowing fish swims beneath it. The predator will then dart out its long neck, plunge its head into the water, and snap its jaws around the fish, catching it with its needle-pointed teeth. To swallow its prey, the reedstilt throws its head back and holds its neck straight up.
Trivia[]
- The reedstilt prominently appears on the cover of the first (1981) edition of After Man: A Zoology of the Future.
- Although it is frequently called a talpid online, the reedstilt's affinities are not actually stated in the text. The tree of life in the appendix to After Man places it in its own branch of the insectivores, distantly related to the testadon, tusked mole, tree drummer, truteal, pfrit, parashrew, leaping devil, desert shark, trouvamp, and nightglider. According to the tree, the reedstilts diverged only recently, after the carnivorous insectivores like the shrock and khilla.
- The reedstilt receives a slight redesign in the 2018 edition of After Man. Its legs and neck are much longer, and the black stripes on its neck are replaced with black-and-white bands.
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