Andrewsarchus

Giant Long-jawed Hyena

The years between the extinction of the dinosaurs and the rise of human civilization are called the Cenozoic era, or the Age of Mammals. As the reptiles vanished, mammals expanded rapidly to occupy the vacant niches in the ecology. Cattle, antelope, and horses replaced the herbivorous duckbills, sauropods, and horned dinosaurs. Bears, cats, and dogs preyed on the new herbivores, since the carnivorous dinosaurs had died out. Whales, seals, and dolphins took to the seas to replace the mosasaurs and plesiosaurs. Only in the air did the mammals lose out, as birds largely replaced the pterosaurs.
The mammals’ greatest asset is their flexibility. In time, they went far beyond the reptiles’ capabilities and entered new environments, such as the high mountains and polar regions. Compared to dinosaurs and related creatures, mammals developed a variety of new forms very quickly.
The Cenozoic era was also the age of mammalian giants. Almost every family of land mammals existing today had giant relatives in the past. There were huge versions of bears, lions, wolves, hyenas, kangaroos, beavers, apes, horses, hippos, rhinos, tapirs, deer, swine, and even dormice. After the last Ice Age, these giants vanished suddenly and in huge numbers. The cause of this mass extinction is just as mysterious as that of the dinosaurs earlier, but the result was not as devastating; mammals are still on top today.
This article supplements an earlier one, “Into the Age of Mammals” (Dragon issue #137), with descriptions of ancient animals that can be used in AD&D games. The creatures from both articles can be used in a prehistoric campaign, time-traveling adventures, or the normal campaign world. Additional statistics for prehistoric mammals and birds appear under Boar, Cats, Great, Elephant, Hyena, Pleistocene Animal, and Wolf.
Scientific names can be clumsy to pronounce or might sound too modern for use in AD&D games. Alternate names have been given to each creature herein, as laymen in fantasy worlds might name them due to their appearance.
The Cenozoic era began 65 million years ago. It is divided into seven periods or epochs. From earliest to latest, they are: Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene, and Holocene (Recent). The Pleistocene is noted for its Ice Age and the rise of early man.
It is not totally farfetched to include Cenozoic creatures in a medieval world. Some of these creatures survived into the historical world, where we barely missed seeing them. The moas, a species of giant flightless birds, survived in New Zealand until the late 1700s. Another giant, the elephant bird, may have lived into the 1600s on Madagascar. Sivatherium (see “Into the Age of Mammals”) died out in the Middle East at the beginning of civilization. The giant hippopotamus died out in Egypt at the beginning of that culture. Cuvieronius, a spiral-tusked mastodont that was the last of the American elephants, vanished around A.D. 400 in Argentina. The huge cave lion, the largest feline ever, died out in the Balkans around 100 B.C. The dire wolf, cave bear, ground sloth, and Irish deer all survived the end of the Ice Age, but died out soon thereafter, some only a few thousand years ago.
Andrewsarchus was the largest known carnivorous land mammal. Unrelated to any modern or past carnivore, it was more closely related to the animals it fed upon than anything else. Andrewsarchus looked vaguely like a hyena but had a huge skull nearly 3? long. Its tail appeared feline.
Combat: Andrewsarchus can attack with its strong jaws, but prefers to feed on carrion.
Habitat/Society: Large carnivores are usually solitary, and Andrewsarchus is no exception, pairing only once a year to mate. It is mainly a scavenger but can attack large game, including Coryphodon and Uintatherium (see “Into the Age of Mammals” for details), as well as hornless rhinos and tapirs. This beast is at the top of the food chain, having no enemies.

Andrewsarchus (Giant Long-jawed Hyena)

Climate/Terrain:
Alignment: TN
Organization: Solitary
Activity Cycle: Day

Intelligence: Animal (1)
Treasure: Nil
Diet: Carnivore

# Appearing:
XP Value: 1,400
Mvmt: 15

Size: L (13’ long)
Morale: Steady (11-12)

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Spoken Languages and Dialects

Hit Dice 9+9

Base THAC0: 11

PSP(Chi)

Armor Class 6

Magic Resistance: Nil Armor Notes:

Number of Attacks

Attack Forms

Martial Art Style(s):

Type	THAC0	Damage	SF	Effect
Bite	11	3d6	6	None

Spells and Psionics:

Disciplines: | mTHACO | mAC

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Campaign Notes:

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Associates:

NPCs, followers, pets, mounts, etc.