[The Lost Gremlin]

Just a slight re-do of a totally original species I did a while back in March 2015 since I've recently started doodling them again. I sort of just edited the faces of the adult lines a bit so the eye placement and forehead didn't look quite so... bad.

I also started drawing in some manes, though I'll need to go back to finish those.
The manes are pretty much done. I'll go back and add some more another time. Now I'm onto working some of the preset markings.. Markings will be entirely natural-based, though with some alterations to make them a bit more unusual.


About
Sabre-tooth Munchkins are small short-legged feline species that originate in the tropical forests of the Congo basin in Africa. They appear to be a fairly primitive species, with their enlarged upper canines, but despite this they are very closely related to modern Wildcat species. STMs are capable of hybridising with other small cats under the Felis genus, the most common being domestic cats.

STMs are a small species, males weighing 11 - 13kg and females 9 - 11kg. Males also exhibit a short cape-like mane that runs along their back.

Social
STMs live in small prides comprised of 2 - 20 mature females, plus their offspring. The prides are led by a single matriarch, who is typically the oldest most experienced female of the group. She controls the prides movements and dictates who may and who may not enter the pride. The matriarch is a rank that the female typically holds on to for life.
Although uncommon, females can challenge the matriarch for her position if she is believed to be an unfit or otherwise useless leader. Unless she is accepted by her subordinates she may be chased from the pride, even if she successfully defeats the previous matriarch. Upon her defeat after being challenged, a matriarch may be killed, chased or demoted dramatically in rank by her successor.

These female prides are stationary, controlling a single territory that is based around or near to a prime hunting spot where prey is abundant, such as a lake or near fruit trees.

Males on the other hand will normally roam between territories, either alone or in groups of up to 4 individuals where they may settle for several weeks or more on the outskirts of the resident pride, looking for opportunities to find a mate or muscle in on a kill. They'll usually stay for as long as they can until the pride chases them away. In these male groups (known as coalitions) one male acts as the alpha. He uses his size to dominate his subordinates and monopolise all the females of an encountered pride for himself.

Reproduction
STMs breed all year round. After a gestation period of around 3 months females will give birth to a litter of 1 - 3 kittens in a concealed den. Female pridemates will typically breed at the same time so that they may rear their litters together, with some queens even sharing dens. Kittens are born blind, deaf and virtually helpless, relying solely on their mother for the first few weeks of their life. Within 24 hours of birth a kitten's canine teeth will erupt through the gums. These teeth will grow throughout their lives, later becoming the 'sabre-teeth' that their species is renowned for. Kittens are also born with spotted coats and although these may fade with age, most adults will retain some spotting at maturity. The spotting is believed to help with camouflage.

Kittens grow fairly quickly in the first few months, reaching approximately a third the size of an adult by the time they are about 6 months old. Females are typically fully matured at three years, males at four.

Due to their size SCCs hunt smaller prey. They commonly feed on small mammals like rodents, monkeys, bushpig and antelope as well as any small birds, reptiles and amphibians that they can catch.

Human Interactions
In recent years STMs have become fairly popular exotic pets due to their chunky size and easy nature. Some breeders have gone as far as hybridising them with domestic cat breeds and then breeding the offspring back to other STMs to create interesting hybrids and adding new colours and variations to the otherwise plain genepool. After many, many generations of breeding back to pure-type STMs the hybrids have become much truer to the wild-type and as a result are hard to distinguish from purebloods without genetic testing or viewing family history.

An easy way to distinguish if there is any domestic cat blood in the breed is to see compare the canine teeth of an adult to a pureblood specimen; F1 and F2 hybrids may have smaller fangs, or they may even be missing them entirely. Fur length, eye colour and texture is also an excellent indicator, particularly if one of the parents was of a certain breed that exhibits such characteristics. Some colours, such as calico, tortoiseshell and siamese only usually appear on F1 and F2 hybrids.

Although they are extremely social with familiar members of their own species STMs are typically quite shy around humans, though hybrids and those well-socialised as kittens will often grow up to be affectionate and sociable felines. They aren't considered to be dangerous they can still cause significant harm when frightened or mishandled, so care is advised if they are to be kept as pets. Though they'll never be truly docile, if brought up around humans and allowed to socialise with other animals they can make good pets. It is strongly recommended that SCCs are kept in groups or pairs.