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Description
(i changed its name if you're wondering.)

Class: Synapsida (paraphyletic)
Order: Therapsida (paraphyletic)
Suborder: Therocephalia
Clade: Bauriamorpha
Family: Bauriidae
Genus: Neobauria
Species: Neobauria toxicodon

The Ophaur (Neobauria toxicodon, literally "New bauria with venomous teeth") is a species of derived therocephalian. it is the sole living member of the therocephalia.

Anatomy: Ophaurs are built much like a weasel or similar mustelid, having a long body with short limbs. their fingers are adapted for grappling and grasping, and are tipped with retractile claws, similarly to a cat. they have rhinarium-like tissue on their nose, which is more of a proto-rhinarium. their skull is rectangular and long. they don't have a true mammalian inner ear, but one of their jaw bones evolved into an analogus structure. they also evolved pinnae (external ears) independently of mammals. similar to their ancestor, bauria cynops, they have a bit of a bony ridge above their eyes. their dentition is specialized compared to their ancestor, being adapted for carnivory with large carnassial-like teeth created from 4 fused "premolar" teeth. the inscisors are quite large, canines saber-like, and simple molars. their upper canines have grooves on them to deliver a venomous bite, which is both hemotoxic and myotoxic, while their lower canines are used as inscisors due to them being greatly reduced. despite weighing on average 50 pounds, they can easily hunt prey twice their size. females tend to be a bit larger than males. their dentition is 3.1.8.3 (top set) and 3.1.7.3 (bottom set) for a total of 29 teeth. all teeth can regrow once lost besides the carnassials, premolars, and canines. they have a cloaca and lay eggs (like all non-mammalian synapsids) and they produce a milk like substance from special pores (not true milk) to feed their young. the dentary bone makes up most of the lower jaw, and isn't as curved as their ancestors. similarly to reptiles, they swallow small enough prey whole. they also have a much lower metabolism than mammals, but a much higher one compared to reptiles. their body temperature is extremely low compared to many mammals, so they cannot get rabies. they have rather simple brains compared to mammals.

Taxonomy: being therocephalians, they are related to things like the massive Moschorhinus , the Whaitsiidae , and the likely venomous Euchambersia . in fact, scientists thought they were decended from adkidognathidae, including relatives of euchambersia and moschorhinus, but further studies proved otherwise. before its therocephalian origins were revealed, they were thought to be primitive monotreme mammals, distantly related to the platypus and echidna, until various features showed they weren't mammals at all. the taxonomical synonym for this species is ophiofelis toxidon, with ophiofelis meaning "snake cat". referring to its long body and venomous bite.

Evolution: there seems to be a ghost lineage of therocephalians that gave rise to the modern ophaur, with the earliest fossils being found in the early paleocene. it is unknown how they survived past the triassic, but it was likely due to their ancestors becoming much smaller than their cynodont competitors, and they filled a slightly different niche to the later mammals. these early paleocene fossils show the transition from non-retractile to fully retractile claws, and it turns out that their lineage evolved venom since the early cretaceous.

Behavior: they are rather territorial, but they can be tamed with enough socialization. females are especially agressive when something goes near their nest.

(this is the first spec evo creature i made EVER, before i even got into the community.)

Description
(i changed its name if you're wondering.)

Class: Synapsida (paraphyletic)
Order: Therapsida (paraphyletic)
Suborder: Therocephalia
Clade: Bauriamorpha
Family: Bauriidae
Genus: Neobauria
Species: Neobauria toxicodon

The Ophaur (Neobauria toxicodon, literally "New bauria with venomous teeth") is a species of derived therocephalian. it is the sole living member of the therocephalia.

Anatomy: Ophaurs are built much like a weasel or similar mustelid, having a long body with short limbs. their fingers are adapted for grappling and grasping, and are tipped with retractile claws, similarly to a cat. they have rhinarium-like tissue on their nose, which is more of a proto-rhinarium. their skull is rectangular and long. they don't have a true mammalian inner ear, but one of their jaw bones evolved into an analogus structure. they also evolved pinnae (external ears) independently of mammals. similar to their ancestor, bauria cynops, they have a bit of a bony ridge above their eyes. their dentition is specialized compared to their ancestor, being adapted for carnivory with large carnassial-like teeth created from 4 fused "premolar" teeth. the inscisors are quite large, canines saber-like, and simple molars. their upper canines have grooves on them to deliver a venomous bite, which is both hemotoxic and myotoxic, while their lower canines are used as inscisors due to them being greatly reduced. despite weighing on average 50 pounds, they can easily hunt prey twice their size. females tend to be a bit larger than males. their dentition is 3.1.8.3 (top set) and 3.1.7.3 (bottom set) for a total of 29 teeth. all teeth can regrow once lost besides the carnassials, premolars, and canines. they have a cloaca and lay eggs (like all non-mammalian synapsids) and they produce a milk like substance from special pores (not true milk) to feed their young. the dentary bone makes up most of the lower jaw, and isn't as curved as their ancestors. similarly to reptiles, they swallow small enough prey whole. they also have a much lower metabolism than mammals, but a much higher one compared to reptiles. their body temperature is extremely low compared to many mammals, so they cannot get rabies. they have rather simple brains compared to mammals.

Taxonomy: being therocephalians, they are related to things like the massive Moschorhinus , the Whaitsiidae , and the likely venomous Euchambersia . in fact, scientists thought they were decended from adkidognathidae, including relatives of euchambersia and moschorhinus, but further studies proved otherwise. before its therocephalian origins were revealed, they were thought to be primitive monotreme mammals, distantly related to the platypus and echidna, until various features showed they weren't mammals at all. the taxonomical synonym for this species is ophiofelis toxidon, with ophiofelis meaning "snake cat". referring to its long body and venomous bite.

Evolution: there seems to be a ghost lineage of therocephalians that gave rise to the modern ophaur, with the earliest fossils being found in the early paleocene. it is unknown how they survived past the triassic, but it was likely due to their ancestors becoming much smaller than their cynodont competitors, and they filled a slightly different niche to the later mammals. these early paleocene fossils show the transition from non-retractile to fully retractile claws, and it turns out that their lineage evolved venom since the early cretaceous.

Behavior: they are rather territorial, but they can be tamed with enough socialization. females are especially agressive when something goes near their nest.

(this is the first spec evo creature i made EVER, before i even got into the community.)