I was digging through my archives when I ran across an incomplete version of this character, one Broad Heart Lepti, Care Bear Cousin. At the time when I drew this, I was wanting to make a leptictidium and thought one in the '80's Care Bears style would be amusing. Presumably, Broad Heart's schtick would be something along the lines of diversity is a good thing, that just because something is different doesn't mean it's a bad thing, or some such. Were I to revisit this character, I'd probably tweak the name and tummy symbol.
I took so long in finishing this one because I originally wanted to try coloring it up in the actual style of the original catalog art, with its definite fur patterning. Finally, I realized I probably wasn't going to get around to imitating the old art style and decided to just finish it as is so people can look at it.
In my CASPER IN WONDERLAND, I believe I have firmly established that Litopterns live in Wonderland & LookinglassLand (suggesting the 2 broke apart after Litoptern colonization. Casper did not have time or opportunity to see if sentience had been developed in any). Prior to human colonization, the two realms,once Asylym, were dominated by the bivalvulars, the Headmen and by the Sealiontaurs. These still live at the Western Seas (see Hunting of the Snark).
In my CASPER IN WONDERLAND, I believe I have firmly established that Litopterns live in Wonderland &
They were probably migrating from South America sometime after the establishment of the Panama isthmus some two million or so years ago, perhaps fleeing from pressure during the American Faunal Interchange (which wasn't entirely to the detriment of South American animals; armadillos and the Virginia opossum have been quite successful here in North America, loads of sloths used to inhabit the Caribbean islands, and the last of the terror birds may have met early humans immigrants).
However, I would like to point out that Broad Heart isn't a litoptern but a leptictidium, a mammal from 52 million years ago, when Europe was mostly an archipelago and before the litopterns had evolved. Leptictids didn't last beyond the development of open grasslands at the end of the Eocene some 35 million years ago. The trunk-like snout has also evolved in other mammals such as the elephant shrews.
They were probably migrating from South America sometime after the establishment of the Panama isthm
