Renzhuyo

Disclaimer: The Renzhuyo is a fictional animal from Keenan Taylor's Tales of Kaimere.

## Description

Renzhuyo are semiaquatic hyaenodonts which resemble seals, they are quite large animals, with females reaching 3 meters and half a ton on average, with males growing around a meter longer and sometimes reaching twice the weight of females.     Male renzhuyo are usually solitary animals. They mark their territories with resonant screams. Females will often have several cubs at varying growth stages living with them, and will themselves have territories that intersect with their sisters and other related females. They sometimes look after related cubs, or at least tolerate their presence while the mother hunts. Part of this appears to be driven by the slow growth of renzhuyo: like most hyaenodonts, their last teeth rupture at the age of 3-4 years, and their growth slows at this time as well. Subadults can survive on their own, and don’t entirely rely upon mother for food, though especially as their teeth are in replacement, it is helpful to have a steady source of easy meals. Protection by mothers and related females is suggested to be one of many keys to their success over big cat competition, though the faster growth and larger litters of the latter may be a competitive advantage in other regions. Until more detailed studies can be conducted, much of this remains conjecture.

An adaptation to shallow river predation is arms less devoted to steering and more for crawling while in shallows and on land, meaning they don’t need to ripple along their bellies. They cannot maintain this strenuous form of locomotion for long, but in short bursts it allows them to rapidly close distance, using shock and brutal injury by bone-crushing bite and raking claws to quickly subdue prey.

A renzhuyo, aquatic hyaenodont, chases its next meal: a month-old jugashen. - Keenan TaylorA renzhuyo enjoys the warm sun- J Stocky
## Habitat

    Although found throughout the northern freshwater ecosystems of the Crescent, mostly in the Seridic wetlands with a small population to the west, renzhuyo are not found anywhere else in the known world. A poor tolerance to cold is suggested as to why they have not circled south around the southern peninsulas of the crescent to then spread to the wetlands of Arvel and mainland Ni’Khar, meaning their ancestors probably passed through rivers near various gulfs along the east coast. Whatever their origin or barriers, they are among the most abundant predator of their size and niche in the Seridic wetlands, outnumbered only by crocodiles which can get as large on a much less demanding diet. Renzhuyo are cited as a likely reason for the relative low abundance of big cats like tigers and red panther common in other wetlands of the known world.

## Phylogeny

Though long classified by the Assembly as a freshwater seal, likely related to the panther seal of the inland sea, the Great Library has long classified them with the mud bear of Qajar and southern islands and dire otter and similar shear-jawed predators of Kaishel. The two organizations came to a more comprehensive understanding while comparing fossils of these animals throughout Kaimere’s history with those from Earth. Renzhuyo are hyaenodonts belonging to the unique kaimeran family Phocapotamidae, which are descended from Apterodontine hyaenodonts harvested during the Oligocene harvest 31mya.

## Human Relations

  Although renzhuyo are not naturally man-eaters, it seems they can quickly develop a taste for people in their habitat thanks to already possessing a highly adaptive diet. This has naturally given them a legendary status in the folklore of the Serid, speaking of them with great fear and reverence. There is a creature called the Zhere Kun, the Drowned Children, which are spirits of children dragged to a brutal death by these beasts. The endless fear of these children and this most terrible end manifests as a demon that forms the body of a seal and man, stalking the marshes and seeking to drown the parents who could not save them. It is not known to the Assembly if these are true creatures, either wild demons or homunculi, or perhaps simply folklore, though the frequency of magical creatures and comparatively unexplored nature of these wetlands by Assembly and Great Library means there is certainly a plausibility of such a creature to exist…

The Zhere Kun- Keenan Taylor

## Redesigns

The renzhuyo is a creature that was originally designed with the help of Devin, a winner of a creature design contest on Instagram Keenan Taylor hosted in 2020. It was originally a seal, but with Devin’s consent it was lumped in with the aquatic hyaenodonts.