Duugath

Duugaths are semiaquatic animals that are native to the Tsargis Mountains. They weigh about 10-15 pounds and stand to be about 12in tall. Duugaths are notable for having hard shells that cover their bodies and long armored tails. Their legs, neck, and head are covered in dense, oily fur. They eat fish and weeds that grow at the bottom of ponds, lakes, and rivers. They lay eggs on land and bury their nests to keep the eggs safe. Both males and females have shells with bright red or orange markings, but outside of mating season, the shells mostly black with green and yellow stripes and swirls.
They live to be about twenty or thirty years old in the wild, but captive Duugaths can live to be double that. They grow continuously throughout their lives with the largest specimens being the oldest. They tend to be mostly solitary creatures that only come together to mate in the spring and summer. The eggs hatch in the fall, and the baby duugaths eat insects which crawl down towards the nest to escape the cold for their first meal. Then, they hibernate until spring and emerge from the mud. Many large birds of prey try to eat duugaths, and as a defensive measure, they curl up so that their tail covers their head, and their limbs are hidden away in the shell.
Duugaths can be commonly found in the wild in Dutan, Kealriv, and Deejs. In Ivran, Duugath racing is a very popular sport which involves catching a wild duugath and then setting them on a straight track with kids holding out food for the duugaths to lure them closer. The first one across the finish line wins. In Kealriv, the duugath is seen as one of the first indicators of spring because they hibernate in winter. The emergence of baby duugaths means that the ground has fully thawed.