Alofenx (Lattice Fauna)

Alofenx is the name of a fox-like scavenger in the family Vargidae native to Lattice. There is only one known extant species, though dead gemstones of possible relatives have been found across the entire planet.

Description
(to be written)

Behavior
Alofenx are mostly solitary, but do not mind the company of other alofenx as long as they have plenty of food. They are neutral towards larger species. They dig dens for themselves under the roots of large plants.

Diet
The alofenx mainly eats shards, unguarded gemstones, and smaller animals. Its tendency to eat Gems who had retreated into their gemstones has caused it to be labeled as a dangerous predator, despite it only being a scavenger.

Reproduction
Alofenx lack separate biological sexes, so both parents carry their offspring. Each parent can hold 3-5 seeds, so 6-10 new Alofenx are produced per successful breeding.

Like all geovores, Alofenx incubate inside their parents for the majority of their development period, in this case for about 4 weeks. When they are ready for the last stretch of development, their parent digs a deep hole in the ground in a safe area to bury them. They spend one more week incubating in the ground, and emerge at full size.

Abilities
Like most Vargids, alofenx have long bristles on their backs which generate electricity. However, being scavengers, they don't use these for detecting prey and instead use them purely as a defense mechanism in case something bigger wants to eat them. Anything that bites an alofenx gets hit by a powerful electrical shock strong enough to stun larger animals and possibly render a smaller Gem (such as a Ruby) unconscious.

Trivia

 * The name "Alofenx" combines "Alopex" and "Fennecus", two genera of fox that were later reclassified under Vulpus.