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There are currently only 4 to 5 (including the Managarmr) synapsids or stem-mammals and stem-reptiles present in Ark Survival Evolved, though. While gorgonopsid has been featured in around 5 creature submissions so far, of the creatures requested for addition to Aberration in Ark Survival Ascended. One unique addition to Ark recommended by myself and my team, would be a fictional species of the popular Diictodon. A small therapsid that lived in Africa and Asia in the Late Permian and was one of the most widespread Permian species found to date. This idea is based on my team’s suggestions, though shares similar concepts present in artwork from DracoSerpentor77 at https://survivetheark.com/index.php?/forums/topic/966-introducing-the-burrowing-messenger-diictodon, and RyuouShenron with the Bulbasaurus at https://survivetheark.com/index.php?/forums/topic/687803-bulbasaurusa-slightly-larger-dinosaur-resembling-lystrosaurus. They deserve credit and reference for similar yet great ideas and I would definitely recommend checking their ideas out. Common Name: Diictodon Species: Diictodon aberratios Time: Late Permian Diet: Herbivorous Temperament: Colonial Tameable: Yes Rideable: No Breedable: Yes Torpidity Immune: No Taming Method: Passive Preferred Kibble: Regular Preferred Food: Savoroot Equipment: “Diictodon Burrowing-Satchel” (Level 40 - Crafted at either a Smithy, by hand in a Player’s inventory or on an Argentavis saddle) Rider Weaponry: No Humans Can Carry: Yes https://nixillustration.com/science-illustration/2020/diictodon/ Wild "On guard, a Diictodon aberratios scout watches from a mound, monitoring in awareness of its surroundings. About 1.6 ft in height, these small subterranean specialists are abundant in their tunnel systems throughout the bioluminescent marshes and element falls throughout the Aberration. Colonial animals, Diictodon are endurant and able to survive the harshest conditions, mainly through their social networks and behaviours, thriving off the roots, water-filled tubers and aquatic plants that line the riverbanks, floodplains and hills. Their unique muscle anatomy and tusks in males are designed for a fossoriality lifestyle, allowing them to avoid predation and fill the niche as perfect subterranean herbivores' '. Domesticated "Being quite social and only becoming aggressive if disturbed or threatening their offspring, Diictodon are curious animals, and can be easily domesticated. They are very loyal and tend to bond easier and faster in the presence of other Diictodon. Their complex social bonds create hierarchical and role-based occupations within these communities designated to each Diictodon member. This behaviour can be used by a survivor to access materials from underground and expand their territory. Anatomy Discovered originally and named in 1876 by Richard Owen, Diictodon or “two-weasel toothed” is an extinct genus of pylaecephalid dicynodont synapsid or stem-mammals that originate from the Late Permian on the supercontinent of Pangaea. More than 6 species have been considered under this genus, including D. galeops, D. feliceps, D. grimbeeki, D. ictidops, D. palustris, D. parrington, and D. psittacops, mainly from digsites in Zambia (the Madumabisa Mudstone of the Luangwa Basin), South Africa (the Tropidostoma Assemblage Zone of the Teekloof Formation, the Tapinocephalus Assemblage of the Abrahamskraal Formation, the Dicynodon Assemblage Zone of the Balfour Formation, and the Cistecephalus Assemblage Zone of the Middleton Formation), and China (Guodikeng Formation). Diictodon was one of the most successful and widespread species of synapsids to have lived in the Late Permian, with approximately half of all South African Permian fossil specimens belonging to the genus. Their elaborate tunnelling and digging behaviours allowed them to fill a vacant niche and resulted in a widespread range, primarily present in floodplains and the arid scrublands that dotted the supercontinent. Diictodon is one of the most popular “stem-mammals' ' or therapsids, sharing many features prominent in mammals, and convergently in subterranean species. Diictodon had disproportionately large heads with a horny beak, short, round/cylindrical body, stubby yet highly developed muscular legs and 5 sharp claws on each wide hand. Males bear erupted and downward facing tusks (and being larger - sexual dimorphism) from the upper lip, while the females were tuskless. Their jaws were quite simplified with some bones dedicated to hearing, and their humerus/humerual bone shows no signs of growth marks, suggesting further digging adaptations. Their beaks and skull anatomy were designed for uprooting water-rich tubers and underground root systems. The tunnels of Diictodon were quite large and would spiral down in a corkscrew (convergently similar to the rodent Paleocastor) into the ground (at depths of a maximum of 1 ½ metres, though most were on average 0.5 metres or 1.6 feet in depth), eventually reaching a terminal chamber where the young were nurtured. Most Diictodon burrows also belonged to other species, usually being abandoned. Diictodon lived more gopher-like lifestyles when compared to other subterranean organisms (including the fictional species), living in deep solitary burrows that were not connected to other Diictodon tunnels. Their burrows played a crucial role in surviving the Permian’s drastic and arid climate with the intense thermal heat present in the deserts and scrublands of Pangaea. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diictodon#/media/File:Iziko_Diictodon_Corkscrew.JPG Of the habitats that Diictodon has been uncovered, one paleoenvironment of focus would be the Balfour Formation. The Balfour Formation contains a wide variety of Late Permian fauna, primarily burnetiamorph biarmosuchians, rubidgeine gorgonopsians, therapsids like Inostrancevia, therocephalians like Moschorhinus kitchingi, the primitive species Charassognathus gracilis, parareptilia, captorhinidae reptiles, younginiformes such as Youngina capensis, fish and temnospondyl amphibians. Flora such as the genus Glossopteris were also abundant at the site. The site is sandstone-rich and contains the remains of meandering rivers and foreland basins. Design The design of Diictodon should be similar to the original species, containing the same basic anatomy: https://www.pbs.org/video/how-dinosaurs-coupled-up-knepg5/ The species of synapsid should also contain features that correlate with the map Aberration, that being a small bioluminescent organ on the top of the snout, similar to Bulbasaurus: https://thecreaturecodex.tumblr.com/post/174445236519/bulbasaurus Its colour palette should consist of more vibrant blues, greens and sometimes dark purples to blend in and camouflage with the terrain and ground of the habitats it thrives in. Abilities - Diictodon and their Dicynodontid relatives are social organisms, living in communities similar to meerkats or ground squirrels. Diictodon aberratios are known to settle in communities, usually with tunnel systems and burrows that connect to different hubs or nests. This behaviour grants tamed Diictodon an imprinting and “social boost” on specific states such as health, stamina and movement speed. - Within these communities, females do not nurture their young. In fact infant Diictodon specimens preserved in discovered brood chambers suggest that males might have raised the infants and provided parental care within this genus. This is due to males being tusked and being able to dig burrows and protect said burrow, unlike female Diictodon specimens that are tuskless. - Using humeral exertion in rotation thrusting and the strength of their tusks, Diictodon are able to burrow. Unlike a Purlovia, Diictodon will burrow and move underground in a given direction similar to rollrats. Diictodon can be given specific items that they will search for, either on the surface or underground, including blue, red and green gems, metal, stone or (2.5% chance) element ore. Any materials found in a specified area will be returned back to its delivery points (which is located outside and away from a burrow). Their movements can be tracked using a Transponder Tracker paired with a Diictodon Burrowing-Stachel, this can allow a player to approximate the location of Diictodon underground and increase carrying capacity by 50%. - Diictodon has an imprinting level system. - Diictodon can be taught (in their behaviour menu) to scout based on imprint levels. The higher imprint and social boost from other tamed Diictodon members grants certain Diictodon the ability to scout. By creating small holes in the Ark’s surface, Diictodon scouts will stay on high alert and send calls to the rest of the community. These messages are then transferred to the nesting points, which in the case of an attack on a Diictodon colony. Diictodon will retreat back into their burrows, or send calls that can be heard and relayed by either another Diictodon or a tamed Parasaurolophus. - Certain males based on imprinting levels can be designated to work as caretakers, protecting the young and tending to their food. Food in their inventory works as a miniature trough in times of hunger, when offspring are starving. - At max imprinting, a set of Diictodon can be relocated out of a colony as a mob (a traditional colony) or form at random a separate mound system known as “soil plugs”, a behaviour (which can be cancelled by the player) present in gophers and large burrowing rodentia (as well as the actual genus Diictodon). This form of colony is more individualistic, with certain Diictodon living in mating pairs within a single burrow. This enhances a mating boost by 10% (influencing mutations and dedication in raising offspring - nurturing), but does not increase social bonding amongst other Diictodon. - In the scenario that offspring are fatally vulnerable, male and female Diictodon will fight back predators given the chance. A colony of Diictodon can easily overwhelm and scare off smaller predators, mainly through the use of sharp shear-like teeth (once a predator is injured, Diictodon will not chase the predator and rather regroup in their tunnels). - If paired with a wild roll rat, Diictodon can burrow underground and follow roll rats as they search for food, picking up any scraps or drops unrooted by the emerge of a roll rat. Weakness - To balance out the abilities of the Diictodon, these animals are quite small and can be picked off by larger carnivores if they are outside of their burrows (ranging from Raptors to Sarcosuchus). - Aberrant and normal Purlovia are specialised in uprooting tunnelling Diictodon. If a Purlovia stumbles across a Diictodon while it is underground, it can dig the small dicynodont out and quickly ensnare and kill the animal. This still applies if the Diictodon tries to dig itself underground, being applied a slowness and cancellation ability for burrowing. - In the settling of colonies, Diictodon located too close to certain river bodies are both at risk from sarcosuchus, kaprosuchus, baryonyx and spinos. Diictodon can also drown if trying to swim across certain water bodies, and in a 5% chance. Colonies built on riverways can flood, causing a debuff that can destroy nesting sites and kill offspring within the nests. Specimens of Diictodon have been uncovered in and around Permian floodplains, with some being suggested to have drowned from water flowing into the nests during the wet season with river bursts. Stats Attributes Wild - Level Increase Additive Multiplicative Health 70 +14 +6.4% 0.07% Stamina 80 +8 +10% Oxygen 100 +10 +10% Food 300 +30 +10% Weight 40 +2 +4% Melee Damage +0.4 +1.7% 7% 17.6% Movement Speed 100% +1% 300% Torpidity 50 +4 class = “grey” 0.5 Spawning Locations Diictodon aberratios primarily lives within two specific layers of Aberration, this consisting of the bio-luminescent layer and the molten element layer: https://ark.fandom.com/wiki/Luminous_Marshlands_(Aberration) and https://ark.fandom.com/wiki/Aberration Any suggestions and comments please reply below. These are mainly my team's suggestions, though concepts are similar to DracoSerpentor77's at https://survivetheark.com/index.php?/forums/topic/966-introducing-the-burrowing-messenger-diictodon, and RyuouShenron's with the Bulbasaurus at https://survivetheark.com/index.php?/forums/topic/687803-bulbasaurusa-slightly-larger-dinosaur-resembling-lystrosaurus/ for their similar ideas and concepts. Thanks. - MonstersHunters References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balfour_Formation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diictodon https://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/species/d/diictodon.html https://fossil.fandom.com/wiki/Diictodon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meerkat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopher