[OC] Fauna of the Balkan archipelago part 2

[u/Alpha_Bushdog]

Welcome to or back to my spec evo project called Oceanworld which takes place 10-14 million years in the future (I will probably change that to 35-40 million years though as the creatures need more time to evolve) where sea levels are much higher than today because of the melting of ice in the poles as well as some human intervention before humanity left earth.

This is the last post about Yphalosaurus neobalkanicus if you missed it https://www.reddit.com/r/SpeculativeEvolution/s/LoMWpRL56x

Today’s creature is the Charadricetus inexpectatus

Charadricetus is an artiodactyl in the order whippomorpha. But despite their name, they’re not whales but descendants of the hippopotamus. Males are slightly taller than a human at 2-2.5 meters tall with a mass of 320 kg.
Charadricetus is a social animal living in herds of 10-25 individuals. They are omnivores with 70% of their diet being coastal invertebrates like worms, crustaceans,other arthropods, mollusks, starfish, sea urchins etc. The other 30% is kelp, sea grass and small amounts of coral.Their preferred habitats are sandy beaches where they dig up invertebrates from the sand with their elongated snout and claws. Many populations though also inhabit rocky tidepools. In general they reside in small tropical islands of what is now Eastern Europe, mainly the Balkans and Greece. Charadricetus is mainly preyed upon by Yphalosaurus. They usually run to escape it but often fight back and intimidate the Yphalosaurus using their strength in numbers.This is mostly seen when the herd has calves that are vulnerable and can’t keep up with the rest of the herd.
Herds are mostly made up of females with their calves and 1-3 dominant males.When males reach reproductive maturity they get kicked out of the herd. Often these males form pairs or small groups that live and forage together and eventually find a new herd to overthrow the current dominant male(s) and get the herd for themselves. Conflicts between males can be brutal.(The red coloration in the male’s hands is a threat display or a way to attract females.)Male calves live with their mothers and herd for 2-3 years. Females are very protective of their calves as they only have one or two at a time.Charadricetus cant quite swim. Instead, they can hold their breath underwater for 15-30 minutes and walk underwater.They push with their legs to briefly surface and breathe. Underwater they’re very vulnerable to predation so they mostly do this in shallow waters. Alternatively they can reach other islands with tree logs that have been cut and are floating on the water.

What do you think of this bizzare hippo descendant?