tagmeth @ 2011-12-26T13:42:00

Now I'm thinking about Diprotodon, the giant (and long-legged) wombat, or Dinornis, the giant moa. Reading suggests that both of these were hunted to extinction (the moa certainly was), meaning in an alternate world they might have survived. I don't want to deal with a complete ecosystem as "Dune" did, or at least in only as much detail as to make it believable. With webbed feet, the latter could walk on sand; the former already has big if pigeon-toed paws. Either might have a special organ like an internal hump that could conserve water and fat. I could see either as quite blob-like at the beginning of the trek (imagine an inflated moa tottering on its long legs), but deflating as it continues. On the whole, I tend more toward the giant wombat. It's easier to imagine as a draft animal and sufficiently weird. Maybe I could even get away with calling it a wombat. One can't call a rabbit a smeerf, but one can make the rabbit a giant carnivore. Whoa. There's another idea ...