Deviation Actions
Description
Hello everyone, here's another one of those fan doodles for Kazanlak's project Araea, which is a pseudo speculative evolution world that is an extremely fun and interesting project featuring sapient dinosaurs, nocturnal crocodiles, unscrupulous people, and a lot more. I would recommend anyone to read about it.
Anywho, let's talk about these two azhdarchids. So first, the inspiration for these guys was taken when I went to the Karoo Basin for research. Over there, I saw a large group of Blue Cranes that were foraging in the grasslands and the wide open landscape and the birds made me think that Kazanlak's idea for the Araean interior was to look like the location. So one thing led to another and I made up two species of Azhdarchids of the same genus that I could imagining existing there (HINT HINT). I imagine that the differences in these pterosaurs compared to their ancestors is that they have evolved more flexible necks and aren’t quite as good fliers as their ancestors. Oh, and I don’t really know who anatomically accurate these guys are, because I didn’t really use a reference for them. I also have no name for them, since I can’t come up with good names.
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So the first pterosaur is a predator that tends to hunt medium sized prey like large species of tik-tiks, ornet species from the Leptolophine lineage, and Korrikals; they also occasionally hunt larger species such as juvenile oriya or ornets of the larger variety. Being able to run at 30 miles per hour for a decent amount of time, they can usually chase down all but the fastest prey. For their smaller prey items, the pterosaurs dispatch them by biting down on their back and breaking it by twisting its head. For larger prey items, the pterosaur tends to tackle them down with its powerful forelimbs and using the hook on its bill to tear out the prey’s throat or flank.
Like past azhdarchids, the juveniles are not really cared for by the adults and are produced in bulk. The parents will guard the nest made out of litter but once the eggs near hatching, the parents abandon the nest and seperate. The juveniles then have to fend for themselves as they slowly grow to adulthood. Most of them don’t make it as they are eaten by a wide assortment of predators, from birds to agilisuchians. However, for the few who make it to adulthood, they are mostly immune to predators. While a pack of skrykes and vorgas could bring one down in theory, its ferocity and tenacity makes it unfavorable choice of prey. Dune tyrants are the most dangerous predators, but even then the pterosaur can launch into the air and fly for quite a distance, certainly long enough to outrun a dune tyrant.
The encroachment of humans has caused their populations to somewhat diminish in areas of heavy human settlement. They frequently hunt all forms of livestock and occasionally humans in farms, which understandably cause humans to shoot them on sight. Needing wide ranges, they can be fairly easily cleared out of wide swaths of land. Despite the fact that they lay a lot of eggs, they don’t mate often enough to replenish their numbers more of the time.
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The other species is notably smaller and usually hunt as mated pairs. They don’t necessarily aid each other in their hunts but they remain within sight at all times. They usually hunt smallish prey, mostly consisting of tik tiks, darters, agilisuchans, and metatherians. They also supplement their diet with small reptiles and insects. Their hunting style is not too strange, as they usually end up just snapping up prey and swallowing them hole. For some of the larger prey items, they usually with stab them or claw them to death before gobbling them up.
Unlike what it seems that pterosaurs did, this species actually cares for the hatchlings. While they wouldn’t be called dotting mothers and fathers, the pterosaurs do protect the smaller clutch of hatchlings fairly competently and while they don’t actively feed the chicks, they’ll allow them to feed on something they killed or found if they wish. Because of this, not as many hatchlings die before reaching adulthood, however they are still in danger from predators even as adults. A single skryke and vorga can kill them, although their fast running speed of 35 mph and the fact that they are fairly aggressive and live in pairs make them more of a nuisance than they’re worth. Dune tyrants can kill them easily if they could get a bite on them, but since the pterosaurs can take off in a moment’s notice, it doesn’t have too much of an effect on them. In fact, their primary predator comes from their larger relative. This is mainly because their one advantage of flying doesn’t really work when the predator can launch into the air as well. Since the larger species tend to attack the smaller pterosaur by swooping down on it, the best defense the smaller azhdarchid can muster is by running in an irregular fashion to the point where the large one is forced to land and try to pursue the prey on foot, where it can outrun it with much greater ease.
Since they have a much wider range then their larger relatives, they are in general doing better than their relatives. The smaller pterosaur also hunts a lot of vermin in farms which cause some farmers to try to promote their habitation in their areas. However, they do occasionally prey on small livestock and have occasionally been known to eat small children, and can occasionally be viewed as a nuisance to be rid of. Likewise, invasive species do cause quite a bit of pressure on their children.
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So yeah, there we go. Sorry for not giving them names, but I can’t name things for crap. Hope Kazanlak enjoys/considers this! Of course, I won’t blame him if he doesn’t take any of the ideas in this, since it is requiring the presence of a whole new group.
