Siv - Neocene Adventures in New Zealand.

Desecendants of introduced animals in Neocene New Zealand.

Wart-kuni - A small grazing pig of the lowlands, with large, wart-like callouses. Descended from wild pig.

Monster-kuni - A giant, rinocerous sized browser and grazer of swampy areas, with giant tusks and a wart-callosued face and back. Descended from wild pig.

Boulder-bullock - A small, cryptic bovine grazer, which feeds among the boulders and scree, and at a distance resembles a boulder. Descendant of domestic cattle.

Deer-gazelles - varieties of deer that live similarly to gazelles, grazing mostly, being social and fast running. Descended from red-deer.

Bush lion - A lion-sized cat that lives in most open habitats, upland and lowland, and hunts big game. Descended from domestic cat.

False puma - Forest and upland dwelling leopard like cat. Descended from domestic cat.

Hedgehog-racoon - A racoon-like omnivore found all over New Zealand. Descended from Hedgehog.

Stoat-wolf - A predatory, pack hunting, dog-sized mustelid. Descended from stoat.

Stoat-fox - A sleek, small game hunting mustelid. Dsecended from stoat.

Gulo-ferret - A hyaena like, and hyaena sized big game hunter and bone-crusher. Descended from ferret.

Castle-rabbit - A small rabbit that lives in huge colonies, which have a social system of "digger/food-gatherer- (adolescent/subservient both sexes)" "breeder/excavator/defender-(mature/dominant males)", and "breeder/nurser/denmother-(mature/dominant females)". They build immensely complicated and extensive burrows with compartments for dens, food-storage, and causeways. Burrow openings usually have mounds of dried soil-excrement (which forms a hard, cement-like surface) around them which act as fortifications and lookouts. The smaller mounds are only half a meter high, but the largest, known as "castles" have multiple openings for look-outs and burrow ventilation, and are up to four metres high. The combination of dried mud, faeces and urine, combined with stones and branches, dry to form a tough, cement like fortification.

Man-child frog - Frogs that mature at a stage of metamorphosis partway between tadpole and frog, having four legs like a frog, but a fish-like shape and powerfull tail like a tadpole. Various species range in size from that of a sardine to that of a trout. They are omnivorous and specialise in weed-choked water habitats that are unfit for more conventional fish. descended from introduced banjo-frogs.

Ostritch-peafowl - Large, cursorial pheasants that are flightless, and like an ostritch in habits, dwelling in medium sized flocks. They eat mainly grass and browse, but readily eat small animals. They are very ornately feathered, and xtremely vocal. Descended from Peafowl.

Grouse-partridge - Grouse like birds found all over the two island's open areas, males have a harem of females within a flock, and defend them from roaming bachelors. Descended from partridge.

Moa-goose - Giant, quarter ton, high browsers found in all forested habitats of New zealand, flightless and very tall. Descended from cape-barren geese. Very capable of self defence.

Turkey-emu - Emu sized, emu-like flightless turkeys, dwells mainly in lowland scub and savannah. Convergently similar to ostritch-turkey of america. Descended from introduced turkey.

Hellhorse - Huge (3 meters at the withers), grazing/browsing horse found mainly on savannah and scrub of uplands and lowlands, where the soil is not marshy.

Garbage-carp - Ubiquitous freshwater carp, eats mostly vegetable matter, but also consumes carrion. Size of large Koi carp. Descended from introduced Koi carp.

Herring-trout - Herring sized trout species that fills the role of herring like freshwater fish. Desecended from introduced trout.

Drifter-trout - Omnivorous large trout, descended from brown trout, and of similar maximum size.

Pike-trout - Pike like lurking predaceous trout, similar in size to muskelunge. Descended from brown trout hybrid.

Monster-trout - Huge, 6 metre long carnivorous trout. Found in numerous bountiful lakes of south island, eats mainly large fish and eel.

Demon Swan - Giant, moderately flighted swan. Mainly feeds on water plants, thrusting their neck underwater. Destructive, strong beak can tear at almost any plant matter, as they occasionally also eat land plants. Height is 1.8 metres, wingspan is 4 metres, weighs as much as a large bustard. Descended from Black swan.

Red-water-shrimp - Ubiquitous. Dsecended from introduced crustaceans that were used to farm salt in the time of man. Tiny in size, feed on phytoplankton and algae, found in marshes, rivers and lakes. Similar species found in Eyre gulf of Australia.

Decendants of native animals in neocene New Zealand

Tramper-parrot - Goose sized, omnivorous parrots, ground dwelling. Frequently scavenges, cracking bones. Also very good at killing small prey, and can defend self with jaws and feet. Flies fairly well but not very often, walks and runs quickly and powerfully. Cranial kinesis limeted. Desecended from kea.

Shore-parrot - Turkey sized shore-dwelling parrot. Mainly eats shore dwelling mollusks, aswell as dead fish and carrion. Can fly fairly well, but runs and swims very well and very often. Seraches for and crunches up all types of shellfish. Can dig out shellfish from the sand. Cranial kinesis limeted. Descended from kea also.

Bustard-gull - Bustard sized omnivorous, ground dwelling gull. Found in most habitats, forages for all manner of food, particularily invertebrates, frogs and lizards. Long legged and long billed, with moderately long neck. Desecended from Silver gull.

Heron-gull - Heron sized, heron-like piscivorous gull. Found around fresh and saltwater, particularily swamps. Long legged, long necked, and long billed. Desecended from Silver gull.

Mountain gull - Omnivorous ground dwelling gull, found mainly in mountain habitats where water is abundant, and also found close to the snowline. Eats almost anything. Feathered everywhere except beak and eyelids. Can dig well with feet and stout bill. Runs well, and climbs over scree and outcroppings very well, flies well but seldom. Extremities stout, powerfull, and fairly short, to retain heat. Descended from Black billed gull.

Ram-pukeko - Giant flightless swamphen, the size of an emu, found in montane wetland, scrub and grassland. Feeds on all forms of vegetation with powerfull bill, but especially flax, tussock, reeds, and other grasses, it lays it's head sideways and shears off grass at it's succulent base. Skull and neck reinforced, has a horny helmet (extention of bill base) which it uses in tusles over mates and territory. Cranial kinesis limeted. Desecended from purple swamphen.

* A fairly conservative variety of swamphen still exitsts throughout Neocene New Zealand and Australasia.

Monster eels - Giant (3-9metres) eels of various species, eats anything, especially live or dead animal matter. Found mainly in large lakes, but smaller species also exist in rivers and streams. These eels breed entirely in feshwater, unlike their ancestors.

* Normal, salt water breeding small eels also exist in Neocene New Zealand and Australasia.

Flamingo-gull - Widespread, duck-sized gull. Strains water with whale like jaws while wading or swimming. Found in any well watered area where planktonic organisms thrive. Also common in southern Australia, especially eyre-gulf. Staple food is Red-water-shrimp. Can be found in fresh and salt water, runs, flies and swims well. Similar species found in Arafura and other inland salty lakes and marshes of northern Australasia. In australian waters, mainly strains plakton from water while swimming.

Flightless flamingo-gull - Flightless, emu sized relative of Flamingo-gull, found in brackish marshes and shallows of eyre gulf in Australia. Seldom competes with other flamingo gulls because of larger size and being restricted to marshes and shallows, whereas the flighted flamingo-gull feeds mainly in deeper water while swimming.

Blind cave eel - Detritivorous/omnivorous, small, pink eel found in underground waterways across New zealand.

Elephant weta - One of the remaining wetas, giant, flightless omnivorous crickets. Heavier than any holocene or neocene insect, 22 centimetres long, excluding tusks and antennae. Feeds on almost anything. Main mouthparts very powerfull, often gnaws at woody shrubs and chews on bones. The other mouthparts have developed into huge tusks, often used in territorial tussles, and for moving stones or soil to find food. Found mainly in mountain scrub, occasionally found in the open. Males can occasionally be seen sitting atop rocks or bushes looking out for intruders, mates or other males. For competing for mates, males clear vegetation to form a dinner-plate-sized arena in the center of their territory, which he then lines with rocks, piling a large rock in the centre. The males fight with competitors here using the tusks to throw eachother around, the winning male can mate with all females in that patch of territory. They breed all year, and the female lays thousands of eggs, which are buried underground.