#MAAAJOR yap warning and there's still sm more

[splatcat64]

OK back with now some specific, isolated skag facts about Tusk's skags!! They were both found locked in a cage behind a skag on a stick stand as pups/juveniles, and had essentially been trapped there most of their life. Tusk, naturally, stole them [cage and all], and ran. Skewer, who was a little older, was a juvenile at the time. She was missing a leg [chopped off]m and is a Howler skag! [A fan-skag species made by @doglintime for Tusk, ty bestie!] Here's some art of them real quick before the super yap.

Jackwes was younger, only a pup, and a normal skag at the time Tusk got them. Both of them have their own respective personalities, and animals they're based off of, but both of them started out as wild. undomestic skags. [To my knowledge, both were taken from their families in the wild] And you may be asking, Splat, why does this matter? Wouldn't Tusk just be able to tame them as wild skags? And the answer is yes, however, it would be a lot harder to do so, with a lot more complications. Which leads into this, that I believe that many, tiny subsets and subspecies of skag exist, and in this specific case, Jackwes and Skewer evolved their own sort of domesitcation under Tusk's care. All of because of environmental pressure. Side note, these are the animals both Skewer [Spotted Hyena + Camel/Horse + Monitor lizards] and Jackwes [Striped Hyenas + Three banded armadillos + Elephants/Bloodhounds]. But Splat! The pressure to evolve wouldn't be too bad, right? WRONG! Sort of, at least. While Tusk, nor anyone else in tftbl put any pressure under the skags in that manner, everyone in the story still are running from Vallory's gang. The skags have to live in an environment with strictly humans [and robots], while on the run. While it's a different type of pressure from the wilds of Pandora, it's still a subtle one. And, since it's still pandora, it isn't exactly the same as domestication here. [They're still gonna eat other skags, etc, etc.] Skewer, I theorize would evolve in a more subtle way, but quicker than Jackwes. She is older, has more pressure on her to change and adapt. All the most common signs of domestication would develop, heightened intelligence, etc etc. Her species is normally territorial, and more solitary than normal skags. [Funfact, the females of her species also grow antlers/horns and all of them can make piercing screams.] It made her training, in the beginning a lot, LOT harder, but she ended up being extremely loyal, just as much so as Jackwes. Near the end of her juvenile she's large enough to be ridden by everyone but Rhys and Tusk [who are both too heavy/tall at that time]. But still retaining her species as compared to the skag riders in the general knoxx dlc and lynchwood. The technical progression would look like this, let's use just a stand in scientific name for Howler skags Skag ululatus -> Skag uluatus familiaris. Not much changes other than the fact Skewer is now a domestic version of a Howler skag. Jackwes, on the other hand, is just a normal skag. The kind you see running around as adults all the time. On top of that, his growth is stunted, and he's about half a head/a head shorter than a normal skag during most of his development. He's often too fast to be hit, and can rely on Tusk, Skewer, or anyone else to protect him. He doesn't need to change, and doesn't. At least to start out. Jackwes, as a normal skag would be used to a large pack dynamic. No problem, seeing as he's in a van with a bunch of other people all the time. But there are times were it's just the three of them. Tusk gets sick, Skewer can get hurt despite her size, and slowly over time, boom, pressure. Jackwes, for a while, would just adapt like this. Skag cunicidae -> Skag cunicidae familiaris. But I thought it would be cool if he went on to evolve to something that wasn't really found in the wild. And while it could happen, it's more a specific product of him being raised around humans and a different skag species. Skewer for the most part has a lot of physical differences compared to a normal skag. Antlers, a longer, more muscular neck, sensitive hearing, worsened eyesight and a terrible sense of smell.

Jackwes, on the other hand, barely has any differences, other than his smaller size. And that gave me an idea, what if he filled in that kind of pack role? A tracker skag, [hence the previous elephant and bloodhound base, which I am SO sure does not make sense other than in this context, just for their olfactory senses.] He could fill in for what Skewer absolutely can't, and that would make his full "evolutionary line" Skag cunicidae -> Skag cunicidae familiaris -> Skag vestidae familiaris. "These Skags have shown subtle, yet significant changes upon living and pack bonding with six humans."