An order of odd-toed ungulates (distantly related to horses and tapirs) which evolved in South America during the late Paleocene. They thrived in the warm climate of the Paleocene and Eocene, but as global temperatures dropped, their numbers declined. Nevertheless, some survived as late as the Holocene and were hunted by humans.
Protolipternidae
Early litopterns resembled chevrotains (also known as mouse-deer), with slender legs, short tails, and fang-like canines. Their feet were closer to tapirs’ paws than hooves, however, and they were omnivorous. Protolipterna was a rabbit-sized animal, while its larger relative Asmithwoodwardia was as big as a hare. Both lived in South America during the late Paleocene and early Eocene.
Protolipterna
ST 3;
DX 13;
IQ 3;
HT 11.
HP 3;
Will 10;
Per 12;
FP 11;
Speed 6.00;
Dodge 9;
Move 6.
SM −4, 2 lbs.
Bite (13): 1d−6 impaling. Reach C.
Traits: Bad Sight (Low Resolution); Discriminatory Smell; Enhanced Move 1 (Ground Speed 12; Costs Fatigue, 1 FP/Second); Night Vision 2; Quadruped; Wild Animal.
Skills: Stealth-14; Survival (Woodlands)-12.
Asmithwoodwardia (10 lbs.) increases ST and HP to 4, and SM to −3.
Sparnotheriodontidae
A family of browsing herbivores. They are the only litopterns known from outside South America, having crossed the land bridge to Antarctica. Sparnotheriodon (from Argentina) and Victorlemoinea (from Antarctica and South America) are either different names for the same genus, or close relatives. Both were moose-sized animals and lived during the Eocene. Notiolofos was an Antarctic genus, consisting of the large N. arquinotiensis, which lived through the Eocene, and sheep-sized N. regueroi, which is only known from the early Eocene.
Sparnotheriodon
ST 19;
DX 11;
IQ 3;
HT 11.
HP 19;
Will 10;
Per 12;
FP 11;
Speed 5.50;
Dodge 8;
Move 5.
SM +2 (3 hexes), 900 lbs.
Kick (9): 2d+1 crushing. Reach C-2.
Traits: Bad Sight (Low Resolution); Discriminatory Smell; DR 1 (Tough Skin); Enhanced Move 1 (Ground Speed 10); Night Vision 1; Quadruped; Wild Animal.
Skills: Stealth-11; Survival (Woodlands)-12.
Use the same profile for Victorlemoinea.
Notiolofos arquinotiensis adds Temperature Tolerance 3 (Cold). N. regueroi (90 lbs.) reduces ST and HP to 9, SM to 0, kick damage to 1d−1, kick reach to C, 1, and adds Temperature Tolerance 2 (Cold).
Macraucheniinae
The largest litopterns all belonged to this family. Their diet seems to have been a mixture of grazing grasses and browsing from trees and shrubs. They are notable for having nasal openings at the top of their skulls, surrounded by attachment points for some soft tissue structure. This has sometimes been reconstructed as a short trunk, but more recent attempts favour a large nose (such as that of a saiga antelope) and maybe highly mobile lips (like a moose). Otherwise, they seem to have resembled large, heavily-built, hump-less camels with three-toed feet. Despite their size, their simple but strong ankle bones suggest considerable agility.
Macrauchenia inhabited the arid scrublands of Patagonia throughout the Pleistocene, while Windhauseria occupied even drier regions of Argentina. Their earlier and smaller relative Huayqueriana lived in the mountains of Western Argentina during the late Miocene. Xenorhinotherium lived later and further north, surviving in the temperate forests of Brazil until the early Holocene.
Macrauchenia
ST 26;
DX 12;
IQ 3;
HT 11.
HP 26;
Will 10;
Per 12;
FP 11;
Speed 5.75;
Dodge 8;
Move 5.
SM +2 (3 hexes), 2,200 lbs.
Kick (9): 2d+4 crushing. Reach C-2.
Traits: Acute Taste and Smell 2; Bad Sight (Low Resolution); Discriminatory Smell; DR 2 (Tough Skin); Enhanced Move 1 (Ground Speed 10; Costs Fatigue, 1FP/Second); Night Vision 1; Reduced Consumption 1 (Water Only); Penetrating Voice; Temperature Tolerance 1 (Cold); Quadruped; Wild Animal.
Skills: Survival (Plains)-12.
This profile assumes a relatively small and immobile snout. To represent a trunk, remove Acute Taste and Smell, Penetrating Voice, and Quadruped, then add Extra Legs (Four Legs), One Arm, and Ham-Fisted 2.
For Windhausenia (2,000 lbs.) reduce ST and HP to 25, increase Reduced Consumption to 2, and change Survival speciality to (Desert).
For Xenorhinotherium (2,000 lbs.) reduce ST and HP to 25, remove Reduced Consumption, and change Survival speciality to (Woodlands).
For Huayqueriana (550 lbs.) reduce ST and HP to 16, SM to +1 (2 hexes), DR to 1, kick damage to 1d+2, kick reach to C, 1, and change Survival speciality to (Mountain).
Proterotheriidae
This family was characterised by bearing their weight on a single hoof on each foot, like horses. Unlike horses, they used a rotary gait to run, in the manner of dogs and pronghorns. Most seem to have been herbivores, but had tusk-like teeth which could deliver a nasty bite.
The sheep-sized Diadiaphorus lived in the mountains of Argentina and Bolivia during the Miocene, while the smaller Tetramerorhinus was found further north and west in Argentina and Peru. The tiny early Miocene Thoatherium also lived in the mountains of Argentina and had only a single toe, lacking even vestigial traces of others. From the late Miocene to the early Pliocene the large Displasiotherium lived near Buenos Aires. Megadolodus, from Miocene Columbia, was more pig-like in its habits and possibly an omnivore. Neolicaphrium, the last survivor of the family, lived in northern Argentina and Uruguay from the late Pliocene to the late Pleistocene. It seems to have adapted from living in grasslands to retreating into forested habitats.
Diadiaphorus
ST 11;
DX 12;
IQ 4;
HT 12.
HP 11;
Will 10;
Per 12;
FP 12;
Speed 6.00;
Dodge 9;
Move 6.
SM 0, 150 lbs.
Bite (9): 1d−2 cutting. Reach C.
Traits: Bad Sight (Low Resolution); Discriminatory Smell; DR 1 (Tough Skin); Enhanced Move 1 (Ground Speed 12); Night Vision 1; Quadruped; Wild Animal.
Skills: Survival (Mountain)-12.
For Tetramerorhinus (90 lbs.) reduce ST and HP to 9, and bite damage to 1d−3.
For Thoatherium (30 lbs.) reduce ST and HP to 6, SM to −1, bite damage to 1d−4, and remove DR.
For Displasiotherium (900 lbs.) increase ST and HP to 19, SM to +1 (2 yards), bite damage to 2d−1, bite reach to C, 1, and DR to 2. Change Survival speciality to (Plains).
For Megadolodus (160 lbs.) change Survival speciality to (Jungle).
For Neolicaphrium (60 lbs.) reduce ST and HP to 8, bite damage to 1d−3, and remove DR. Change Survival speciality to (Plains) or (Woodlands).
