The Cavras

Okay here's an idea, if you like it feel free to use it, if you don't thats ok to I just had to get this out of my head

The Cavras
the Cavras (Cav-Rass) is a member of the order Ornithorhynchus a relative of the Platypus, and bears a passing resemblance to its smaller cousin, thou its "duck bill" mouth is comparativly shorter and wider, and its limbs are longer proportianally to its body size than the Platypus. Cavras are semi aquatic ambush predators, filling a niche normally occupied by members of the Crocadile family. It evolved on a parallel Earth were Antarctica never froze (at least not to the extent it did on ours), As the Crocodiles and there relative perished under the still cool climate, the Cavras filled the vacated niche. over a period of several million years, the ancestors of the Cavras branched of from the Platypus line, (itself a some what recent immigrant from the Australia, which had separated from Australia around 20million years prior to the lines emergence), the modern Carvas is a large (5-7ft long, upto 250lb) semi aquatic predator, like some the older extinct Ornithorhynchus lines the Cavras possesses teeth, though they are specialized to slice flesh and crush bone. Like modern Platypus, the Cavras is venomous, the venom is administered thru special claws on the front feet and is potent enough to kill a adult kangaroo. The favored tactic of these predators is to spring from the water using their powerful rear legs and tails, attempting to gouge their prey with their poisoned claws, once the prey is killed, they will drag it into the river were it can be consumed in relative safety a way from scavenging marsupial predators

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Sounds good, the Cavras is in.

The Platypus seems to have been a very durable critter, I believe it dates back to the Mesozoic era, and Platypus fossils have been found in South America. The fact that Platypoi were native to both South America and Australia means that they were certainly a feature of the Gondwanaland biology and were definitely native to Antarctica as well.

The retreat of crocadilians would have opened up a niche to possible exploitation.

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Thanks, I'm thinking of stating it as a d20 creature and springing it on my gaming group some time. I forgot to mention in the post, they usually live alone or in mated pairs, with both parents taking turns caring for the eggs/young, and will sometimes congregate in large groups, like crocodiles.