Spadetusks

Spadetusks are large, hairless social animals that live in Roamel plains, grazing in a similar role to cattle.

Characteristics
Spadetusks fit into the broad category of rotamoids, or wheeled animals. The spadetusk's body is bulky and barrel-shaped, supported by a large egg wheel, and it bears a muscular and long tail used for stabilization and balance. The most prominent feature of the spadetusk are its two prehensile tusks, jutting out from its lower jaw and terminating in flattened shovel-like projections of bone. The neck is thick and shorter than the tail, and the head is topped by four gyroscopically-stabilized eyestalks.

Spadetusk males are larger than females, typically weighing 2,000 pounds and 1,500 pounds, respectively. A significant portion of this mass lies in the egg wheel itself - during ovulation, which both males and females undergo, the wheel may be briefly lost and replaced by another. The egg often makes up as much as a third of an adult's weight.

Behavior
Spadetusks spend the majority of their time grazing, cutting up slabs of roamel to eat with their tusks while remaining on the watch for predators. Spadetusks have a demonstrable understanding of roamel reproduction, leaving pockets of roamel in grazed areas to regrow. During most of the year, spadetusks feed in small groups, typically emerging from their caves in bands of three to seven individuals. During the winter, pregnant females become immobile and their mates search for food - males at this time typically travel alone, spearing chunks of cold roamel on their tusks like kebabs before bringing it back for food.

Spadetusks mate in late autumn, typically right before the female ovulates and produces a new egg wheel. In the later stages of pregnancy, the female spadetusk becomes reclusive and does not move outside of the cave for fear of harming the baby. For the duration of winter, the wheelless mother and child remain together until spring comes, and with it, new wheels.