u/YogurtclosetNext2188

Ancestor vs descendent. Anatomical differences to make note of:

- retracted nares to support prehensile trunk

- Enlaged orbit

- Smaller and fewer teeth due to processed, cooked foods making up majority of diet

- Weaker, smaller mandible for similar resons

- Enlarged, rounded brain case due to larger brain

Also, this is my first time really drawing skulls like this. If anyone viewing this is knowledgable about equine skulls and has feedback, please share it and I will try to apply it to future drawings of the hyne.

The above image depicts a bay stallion with white markings.

A hyne is a trunked horse sophont. They are descended from feral horses left to their own devices on Demeter, a terraformed planet left abandoned by spacefaring humans. Over the past 15 million years, horses are one of many formally domesticated animals to have claimed this new wild planet as their home and have diversified tremendously as the supercontinent Arion begins to pull apart.

Hyne range roughly from small pony to medium sized horse, approximately 10 to 15 hands at the shoulder and 275 kg to 450 kg. These ranges only represent an average and size varies based on genetics, nutrition, and sex (stallions are 5-10% larger than mares). They have compact bodies and long legs, enabling efficient overland travel and great endurance. Historically, they were a nomadic people who dwelled in herds but have taken up agriculture and permanent settlements. Currently, they have access to bronze age technology. While much of their anatomy is conservative and comparable to their ancestral horses, it is at the skull where they diverge considerably.

Trunked horses form a diverse subfamily ranging from small tapir-or-pig-like forms rummaging through the forest to giant elephant-mimics that have transitioned to a high browsing lifestyle. Hynes and their direct ancestors are desert-dwelling generalists. The long trunk improved their sense of smell, allowed them to filter out dust and sand, and even manipulate their environment. Enabling problem solving and novel behaviors. With greater dexterity came a need for greater brainpower and thus more nutritious foods. Hynes supplement their herbivorous diets with insects and small vertebrate prey like bird eggs, lizards, and rodents. 50% of their diet is still made up of grasses, mostly in the form of redomesticated cereal grains. However, they are mixed feeders, readily taking leaves, needles, twigs, and fruits as well.

Behaviorally, hyne are extremely social people. Allogrooming, aided with their trunks and small brushes and combs, is a popular pastime. The hynes care deeply for cleanliness, comfortability, and social cohesion. Innately, they are still herd animals. Self-awareness and high intelligence has only sharpened their senses and weariness. They can be hypersensitive, quick to anger or fear, and xenophobic. But at the same time, they evolved to traverse deserts and seek out new solutions to old problems so they can be curious and eager to learn. Like the humans who came before them, hyne nature is complex and full of contradictions.