Loroon

A loroon, also known as kojo or true loroon, is a predatory marsupial in the genus Loroon. All species are native to Vidina, though feral populations exist elsewhere. The name "loroon" is often applied to several other species in the family Loroonidae, but cladistically only members of the genus Loroon are considered true loroons. Currently, four species are recognized; the western or common loroon (L. loroon), the eastern or Vutapatic loroon (L. vutapicus), the bat-eared loroon (L. chiropterus), and the arctic loroon (L. arcticus).

Etymology
The name "loroon" comes from Rálahoan word luróne, which means "hopper" or "he who hops". Due to interactions with Salia, this is the name most commonly used outside of Vidina. Other regions of the continent use different names for their native species. The Kanasa name, posevói, translates to "one who hops".

Taxonomy and Evolution
The genus Loroon dates back to the late Miocene. The oldest species, L. antiques, is found in the Yvaty Morotî Formation in Ta'aroha. Morphologically, it closely resembles modern species, with possible affiliations with the arctic loroon. Loroons as a whole are an early offshoot within Dasyuromorphs, which include the marsupial hyenas and numbats. They likely evolved from arboreal predators, but as the forests began to diminish as the Cenozoic progressed, early loroons began to spend more time on the ground. When saltatory locomotion first appeared is not fully known, as the first known fossil Loroonidae (Paleolurone eosaltor from the middle Oligocene) shows clear adaptations to hopping.

Before humans arrived, loroon relatives, the greater loroons (Megaloroonini), were among the largest land predators on Vidina, some growing nearly as tall as a full grown human. Humans likely played a part in their extinction, hunting the megafauna they relied on.