Swampert

Name: Swampert
Classification: Mudskipper
Type: Water/ground
Number: 009
Evolution: Mudkip – Marshtomp (level 16) – Swampert (level 36)
Height: 1.50 meters
Weight: 80-85 kilograms
Animal type: Amphibian
Habitat: sea shores and the shores of large rivers
Description: Swampert strongly resemble Marshtomp, especially concerning their hunting methods. Swampert have excellent vision and have no trouble discerning their prey in murky water. The most obvious difference is of course their size: Swampert can become twice as large as their pre-evolutions. When a Marshtomp evolves, it will often leave its former habitat. Because Swampert need a lot of food, their habitat is large and they live solitary outside the mating time. They live in coastal areas or along great rivers; biologists have not yet decided whether there are two species of Swampert (a salt water and a fresh water variety) or if Swampert can just survive in salt and fresh water alike. Swampert’s jaws are very flexible and can open so far that he can swallow even the largest prey whole. If Swampert are not hunting and eating, they work on their nest. In the mating season – one or two months before the wet season in tropical areas and the beginning of spring in Mediterranean areas – every Swampert seeks out a partner and, next, a nest. If no existent nest can be found, the couple will build a new one. In the middle of the nest there is a sandy circle where the female will lay forty to sixty eggs. Around this, the male builds a circle of rocks, which it rolls to the appropriate place by standing up on his hind legs and using his front legs to push. These stones protect the nest from floods and storms. If a storm is coming, the male will sometimes put even more rocks around the nest. Sometimes the male has to walk miles land inward to find suitable rocks. Mostly, however, he dives for rocks in the river or sea. The female will stay with the eggs until they hatch. During this period, usually about five weeks, she eats nothing. Why the female stays with the eggs, is still unknown, but it probably has something to do with protecting the nest from egg eating birds like Spearow and Fearow. In the meantime, the male protects the nest from the outside. When the little Mudkip hatch, the male breaks down part of the stone circles, so that the mother and young can reach the water. Every year the nest is fortified with another stone circle and the passageway is blocked when the female has taken her place in the nest. So far, the largest nest that has been found is the so called Titans nest, with a diameter of just over 72 meters. The age of this nest is estimated to be about 65 years. A nest is not always used by the same Swampert. In fact, the moment the eggs have hatched and the mother is freed from the best, both parents depart and leave their offspring to fend for themselves. The chances are small that they’ll ever see each other again. The newborn Mudkip are an easy prey for predators like Rattata and birds of prey on land, and to other fish in the water. Very few will mature into Swampert.

Pokémon is copyrighted by Nintendo.