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Description
Tarascos (Testudopanthero tarascos)

Base Species:
-African Lion (Panthera leo)
-Nine-Banded Armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus)
-Regal Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma solare)

Type Ranks:
Earth: 3x
Stone: 1x
Fire: 1x
Poison: 1x

Statistics
Attack: 9
Defense: 10
Speed: 7
Agility: 5
Intelligence: 7
Aggressiveness: 9
Average: 7.83

One of the most unusual and popular of the mammalian HyBreeds, the Tarascos is a pinnacle in both offense and defense. Developed in HyBreed's division in Paris, it has found plenty of territory throughout much of central Europe, and has slowly started to spread westward toward the Iberian Peninsula. Authorities are desperate to keep the beast under control, but considering that it can measure in at up to 8 feet long, excluding the tail, and weigh in at up to 2,000 pounds, it is widely considered to be nearly unstoppable, which has made it a valuable creature in HyBreed combat.
While this creature's range echoes that of the recently extinct European Cave Lion, it is more similar, in terms of general anatomy, to the modern African Lion. Males are larger and have the characteristic mane of normal lions, but both genders have the classical feline hallmarks of high-domed skulls, powerful muscles, and retractable claws. But this is where the similarity ends, because the rest of the Tarascos' anatomy is most unlike regular lions, and more similar to the Tarasque of rural French myth.

The first and foremost distinction is the armor on its back, head, and tail. Like the carapace of an armadillo, it is made of plates of bone covered in epidermal scutes; these bony scales with a covering of horn are also found in many reptiles. The armor forms a rigid shield over the shoulders and hips, while the middle torso has varying numbers of armored bands for the sake of flexibility. Uniquely among Tarascos, the number of armored bands varies with age. Young cubs that are less than a year old have three bands, and can curl up completely into a ball to hide their soft furry undersides. Older males develop an additional band every six months, preventing them from doing this; this means that a fully-grown adult of 4 years or older has nine bands. The Tarascos's armor is also distinctive in that some of the armored scutes develop into large spikes for additional protection. These spikes are formidable weapons, as they transform this beast from a passive hulking mass of fur and armor into an extremely dangerous obstacle. The armor and spikes are lightweight and very strong, and while it reduces the monster's agility, it allows it to strafe an opponent with its spikes at close range. Due to some relatively latent genes being activated in this creature, the spikes on the tail have become very large and hollow, and the tail has become extremely powerful. This enables the creature to use its deadly spiked tail club as an offensive weapon.
When attacked, a Tarascos will rely on its armor as its first line of defense. Despite some urban legends, the general consensus is that older specimens cannot curl up completely, and they prefer to hunker down and keep their carapaces as close to the ground as possible. Two other urban legends that claim that their spikes can be fired like missiles and that they can inject poison are also false, but one subspecies, the Provencian Tarascos, is able to squirt an aimed stream of blood from the corners of its eyes as a ranged attack. By restricting the flow of blood leaving its head, it can increase its blood pressure, rupturing specially designed vessels around its eyelids, to such an extent that it can shoot this foul-smelling spray over 20 feet with pinpoint accuraccy.

The Tarascos is almost exclusively carnivorous, due to its leonine basis. Young individuals are known to feed on insects and other invertebrates, but adults prefer to choose their meals based on size, and will not hesitate to attack any large prey animal, even other HyBreeds. Its primary weapons are its enormous double set of reinforced dagger-like fangs, which can measure at up to 4 inches long. Its powerful jaws exert up to 6,000 psi in a bite, enabling these fangs to punch through skin, flesh, and bone without breaking. The Tarascos's tongue is also useful as a dietary tool, as the papillae on its surface, like in all felines, have developed into a sandpaper-like series of hooks which it uses to scrape skin and meat off the bones of its meals, lap up water, or capture ants and termites should there be no other food source available.
For an adult Tarascos, any large animal within its territory is fair game. Hunting grounds can stretch over up to 50 square miles of land, and the varied terrain allows a diverse selection of food, from wild boar and roe and red deer to horses and ibex. Chief rivals include bears, wolves, and HyBreeds based on either of these, but because the Tarascos has higher defense than other HyBreeds in its range, it is considered top predator in its habitat. There are currently three known subspecies: the Iberian Tarascos (T. t. iberius), an agile breed which lives in the Pyrenees mountains and primarily hunts mountain sheep and ibex; the Galatian Tarascos (T. t. onachus), which ranges throughout Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece, where it attacks deer and wild boar; and the Provencian Tarascos (T. t. provencus), the most famous and least specialized of the three, which haunts the countryside of France, Austria, Germany and Belgium, and primarily feeds on sheep, cattle, and horses.

Like regular lions, Tarascos live in large groups, often consisting of around a dozen individuals. Females outnumber males by a 3:1 ratio, so as with lions, Tarascos form prides, consisting of a coalition of males governing a larger harem of females. There are several differences from lion prides, however; while male coalitions migrate from time to time, they usually do not kill the cubs sired by females of rival prides, but rather expel them as soon as they are more than two years old. This ensures that more cubs will survive and form coalitions and prides of their own. While females do perform a majority of hunting, males often participate as well, for although their heavier armor prevents them from running as fast as females, they are stronger and can use ambush attacks to greater effect. As well as hunting together, both genders also raise their cubs equally, usually in burrows for extra safety. The Tarascos' large claws are relatively straight and are useful tools for burrowing as well as battle, but the pads on their paws are also covered in rough skin that gives them grip as they excavate the soil. Cubs are born in litters of around a half-dozen, and can take three to four years to develop into full adulthood. Since their armor allows them to withstand battle more easily, Tarascos can live for up to 15 years, barring illnesses, fights with rival HyBreeds, and accidents or human interference.

The Tarascos is currently a mildly endangered species due to poaching and habitat destruction; indeed, the Provencian and Galatian subspecies have been hunted to near extinction out of fear for loss of life and property. However, many specimens have survived in captivity, and the species' strength in battle has made it popular among European trainers. Despite governmental regulations and the occasional environmental movement, the Tarascos has enjoyed increasing esteem in HyBreed combat, and its escalating use on the battlefield may be its escape route from the brink of extinction.

*********
Yay, a new and improved HyBreed!
I sketched this guy over the weekend while hanging out with my brother and his friends at his favorite shop. It took around half an hour, scales, spines and all. I'm proudest of how the tail club and teeth turned out.
I based the overall premise of this guy on the Tarasque, a legendary beast of French legend. Things I integrated were the head of a lion, the armored spiked carapace, and the dragon-like spiked mace tail (I used the prehistoric Glyptodonts as inspiration here). Things I left out were the six legs and of course all that maiden and cross crap from the original legend.
I should add that in the HyBreed universe, the Tarascos actually can breathe fire, thanks to the Flame Sac gene marker. There's a few extra gene markers that enable you to add flame sacs and other fire abilities to HyBreeds that are of the Fire element (e.g. the ones that live in hot climates such as desert lizards, the fennec fox, and camels).
I'll be making a few more HyBreeds sometime during the summer break. If there's anyone who's willing to make a club for HyBreeds and other fused fauna, then by all means, let me know.

The Tarasque is copyright to Provence and rural French folkore. HyBreed and the Tarascos are mine.

-Fawkes

Description
Tarascos (Testudopanthero tarascos)

Base Species:
-African Lion (Panthera leo)
-Nine-Banded Armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus)
-Regal Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma solare)

Type Ranks:
Earth: 3x
Stone: 1x
Fire: 1x
Poison: 1x

Statistics
Attack: 9
Defense: 10
Speed: 7
Agility: 5
Intelligence: 7
Aggressiveness: 9
Average: 7.83

One of the most unusual and popular of the mammalian HyBreeds, the Tarascos is a pinnacle in both offense and defense. Developed in HyBreed's division in Paris, it has found plenty of territory throughout much of central Europe, and has slowly started to spread westward toward the Iberian Peninsula. Authorities are desperate to keep the beast under control, but considering that it can measure in at up to 8 feet long, excluding the tail, and weigh in at up to 2,000 pounds, it is widely considered to be nearly unstoppable, which has made it a valuable creature in HyBreed combat.
While this creature's range echoes that of the recently extinct European Cave Lion, it is more similar, in terms of general anatomy, to the modern African Lion. Males are larger and have the characteristic mane of normal lions, but both genders have the classical feline hallmarks of high-domed skulls, powerful muscles, and retractable claws. But this is where the similarity ends, because the rest of the Tarascos' anatomy is most unlike regular lions, and more similar to the Tarasque of rural French myth.

The first and foremost distinction is the armor on its back, head, and tail. Like the carapace of an armadillo, it is made of plates of bone covered in epidermal scutes; these bony scales with a covering of horn are also found in many reptiles. The armor forms a rigid shield over the shoulders and hips, while the middle torso has varying numbers of armored bands for the sake of flexibility. Uniquely among Tarascos, the number of armored bands varies with age. Young cubs that are less than a year old have three bands, and can curl up completely into a ball to hide their soft furry undersides. Older males develop an additional band every six months, preventing them from doing this; this means that a fully-grown adult of 4 years or older has nine bands. The Tarascos's armor is also distinctive in that some of the armored scutes develop into large spikes for additional protection. These spikes are formidable weapons, as they transform this beast from a passive hulking mass of fur and armor into an extremely dangerous obstacle. The armor and spikes are lightweight and very strong, and while it reduces the monster's agility, it allows it to strafe an opponent with its spikes at close range. Due to some relatively latent genes being activated in this creature, the spikes on the tail have become very large and hollow, and the tail has become extremely powerful. This enables the creature to use its deadly spiked tail club as an offensive weapon.
When attacked, a Tarascos will rely on its armor as its first line of defense. Despite some urban legends, the general consensus is that older specimens cannot curl up completely, and they prefer to hunker down and keep their carapaces as close to the ground as possible. Two other urban legends that claim that their spikes can be fired like missiles and that they can inject poison are also false, but one subspecies, the Provencian Tarascos, is able to squirt an aimed stream of blood from the corners of its eyes as a ranged attack. By restricting the flow of blood leaving its head, it can increase its blood pressure, rupturing specially designed vessels around its eyelids, to such an extent that it can shoot this foul-smelling spray over 20 feet with pinpoint accuraccy.

The Tarascos is almost exclusively carnivorous, due to its leonine basis. Young individuals are known to feed on insects and other invertebrates, but adults prefer to choose their meals based on size, and will not hesitate to attack any large prey animal, even other HyBreeds. Its primary weapons are its enormous double set of reinforced dagger-like fangs, which can measure at up to 4 inches long. Its powerful jaws exert up to 6,000 psi in a bite, enabling these fangs to punch through skin, flesh, and bone without breaking. The Tarascos's tongue is also useful as a dietary tool, as the papillae on its surface, like in all felines, have developed into a sandpaper-like series of hooks which it uses to scrape skin and meat off the bones of its meals, lap up water, or capture ants and termites should there be no other food source available.
For an adult Tarascos, any large animal within its territory is fair game. Hunting grounds can stretch over up to 50 square miles of land, and the varied terrain allows a diverse selection of food, from wild boar and roe and red deer to horses and ibex. Chief rivals include bears, wolves, and HyBreeds based on either of these, but because the Tarascos has higher defense than other HyBreeds in its range, it is considered top predator in its habitat. There are currently three known subspecies: the Iberian Tarascos (T. t. iberius), an agile breed which lives in the Pyrenees mountains and primarily hunts mountain sheep and ibex; the Galatian Tarascos (T. t. onachus), which ranges throughout Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece, where it attacks deer and wild boar; and the Provencian Tarascos (T. t. provencus), the most famous and least specialized of the three, which haunts the countryside of France, Austria, Germany and Belgium, and primarily feeds on sheep, cattle, and horses.

Like regular lions, Tarascos live in large groups, often consisting of around a dozen individuals. Females outnumber males by a 3:1 ratio, so as with lions, Tarascos form prides, consisting of a coalition of males governing a larger harem of females. There are several differences from lion prides, however; while male coalitions migrate from time to time, they usually do not kill the cubs sired by females of rival prides, but rather expel them as soon as they are more than two years old. This ensures that more cubs will survive and form coalitions and prides of their own. While females do perform a majority of hunting, males often participate as well, for although their heavier armor prevents them from running as fast as females, they are stronger and can use ambush attacks to greater effect. As well as hunting together, both genders also raise their cubs equally, usually in burrows for extra safety. The Tarascos' large claws are relatively straight and are useful tools for burrowing as well as battle, but the pads on their paws are also covered in rough skin that gives them grip as they excavate the soil. Cubs are born in litters of around a half-dozen, and can take three to four years to develop into full adulthood. Since their armor allows them to withstand battle more easily, Tarascos can live for up to 15 years, barring illnesses, fights with rival HyBreeds, and accidents or human interference.

The Tarascos is currently a mildly endangered species due to poaching and habitat destruction; indeed, the Provencian and Galatian subspecies have been hunted to near extinction out of fear for loss of life and property. However, many specimens have survived in captivity, and the species' strength in battle has made it popular among European trainers. Despite governmental regulations and the occasional environmental movement, the Tarascos has enjoyed increasing esteem in HyBreed combat, and its escalating use on the battlefield may be its escape route from the brink of extinction.

*********
Yay, a new and improved HyBreed!
I sketched this guy over the weekend while hanging out with my brother and his friends at his favorite shop. It took around half an hour, scales, spines and all. I'm proudest of how the tail club and teeth turned out.
I based the overall premise of this guy on the Tarasque, a legendary beast of French legend. Things I integrated were the head of a lion, the armored spiked carapace, and the dragon-like spiked mace tail (I used the prehistoric Glyptodonts as inspiration here). Things I left out were the six legs and of course all that maiden and cross crap from the original legend.
I should add that in the HyBreed universe, the Tarascos actually can breathe fire, thanks to the Flame Sac gene marker. There's a few extra gene markers that enable you to add flame sacs and other fire abilities to HyBreeds that are of the Fire element (e.g. the ones that live in hot climates such as desert lizards, the fennec fox, and camels).
I'll be making a few more HyBreeds sometime during the summer break. If there's anyone who's willing to make a club for HyBreeds and other fused fauna, then by all means, let me know.

The Tarasque is copyright to Provence and rural French folkore. HyBreed and the Tarascos are mine.

-Fawkes