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[Scourge Files] Widecrest Weeping Wyvern
DA Bio
remake of this
Weeping Widecrest Wyvern
A social omnivorous genus of Weeping Wyvern found in the Jungle Regions of the lower-middle zone
Domain: Scourgian Eukarya
Kingdom: Scourgian Animalia
Phylum: Scourgian Exochordata
Class: Draconis (Dragons)
Order: Wyvera (Wyverns)
Family: Klama (Weeping Wyverns)
Genus: Chromaskul (Widecrest)
Species: C. Klama (Common Widecrest), C. Tauros (Notched Widecrest)
Physique
Widecrests are one of the largest Wyverns I have witnessed in the Middle Zone, and by far the largest Weeping Wyvern we currently have documented. Their bodies are much thinner than their bulkier brethren, with a far slimmer body shape similar to that of Snake-Dragons. They have very little exoskeleton reserved only for their claws, spikes, crest and the front half of their beak-like muzzle. The branches of their wings are almost exoskeletal save for the covering of wing leather, but underneath this is hollow exoskeletal-like bone. At the back of their skull is their namesake Crest which boasts a large ax-like shape on males but is small and more like a spike on females. At the first knuckle of the outer wing branch they have an extra set of 3 small fins, which are usually kept tucked away and only flared open in the face of opposition or a potential mate. They can also be used for increased steering during flight, but are generally to thin and weak to be of much use.
Like most creatures of Scourge they are a dim red, and have many faint stripes that may assist in visual identification. Their undersides are a darker black-like color. Males have widely variable and brightly colored designs on their head crest and similar designs on the topside of their spare fins used for impressing both rivals and mates.
Species
The most common species is the C. Klama. A subspecies, C. Tauros or Notched Widecrest, is slightly smaller in size, possesses a large horn on the males, and has a scaled crest with a small notch. It is far less common, though their populations tend to be near each other; occasionally their species may mix, though due to their smaller size Notched Widecrests tend to not fair as well in a herd of Commons.
Distribution
They populate the Jungle Islands of the Middle Zone. They may occasionally live in the upper parts of the Lower Zone, but generally can't survive there for too long and only stay for a brief time on vertically mobile islands. They tend to fear leaving their islands, and so an island's sinking can easily result in the death of entire groups that fall victim to the radiation of the Lower Zone.
Diet and Feeding Behavior
Despite being wyverns and having large wings they spend a large majority of their life on the ground, gathering in open clearings within the Jungle to graze for nuts, seeds, fungus and fruit pods. Though having a very herbivore-like lifestyle they can be voraciously carnivorous when the opportunity arises, chasing down small creatures that pass by, savaging any weak or injured animals they come across, and being able to ingest old rotting carrion. They seem neither averse to nor eager for cannibalism, considering the possibility but usually abandoning their dead kin. On the other hand it's not unusual for mothers to eat stillborn eggs that never hatch, as well as eat the shells of their hatched young. For the early parts of their lives, juveniles eat a diet similar to their parents but moreso consisting of soft fungi and fruit pods opened for them by others.
Lifestyle & Social Behavior
They are very social creatures, living in groups of 5 to 30 with a majority (2:1) female. Most of their time is spent grazing as they move around their island, and islands rarely have more than one pack (especially because most islands of large enough size sink into the Lower Zone). They remain in their Island for as long as they can, seeming to fear the open outer world even to the point of dying should their island sink too low.
Their strict social hierarchies are divided between males and females. Flocks are primarily matriarchal with females generally being the largest in size, claiming the highest ranks, having access to the best feeding areas and handling territorial disputes with other packs. All males are below the females with only the highest-ranking males able to compete with the lowest-ranking females. Males challenge each other with a display of head-turning and wing-flaring to show their impressive colors, resorting to violence should neither back down from intimidation alone. Only a handful (1-5) of the most victorious males are allowed to live within the harem while the lesser bachelors are forced to live in the outskirts where they must resort to lesser feed and are more exposed to predators. The lead males claim not only access to breeding rights, but the safety and luxury allotted to them by being within the security of the matriarchal harem. Nonetheless females still assert their authority over pushy males and make it clear that their acceptance is by the females' generosity; a very high-ranking male may occasionally, riskily, aggress a very low-ranking female for grazing privileges.
Aggressive and Defensive Behavior
Both genders challenge each other for territory or social status by hissing and flaring open their impressive fins. Males generally have far more intimidation-based tactics, turning and bobbing their heads in a dance that usually ends in bloodless forfeit. Females tend to be more aggressive, and their ranking is often notable by size, with the higher ranks being larger. Flocks rarely encounter, but encounters with rival flocks or banished individuals is handled by the lead matriarch and her posse. This form of intimidation is often a group effort. Submission is given by lowering the head and curling the neck in a C.
Despite being the largest predators around, they are far from being the apex. They often flee from predators large enough to attack them and rarely stand their ground, though males tend to bravely bother the predators with tail nips to allow easier escape for others. The Jungle is their main source of protection as it is a dangerously cluttered environment for most large predators.
Family Lifecycle
With the lack of seasons or consistent migratory routes among Scourge's floating islands, Widecrest Wyvern's breeding season is simply based on the estrous cycles of its females (around 9 months), and all females of a flock will eventually match. Should eggs be laid outside of the cycle to which all others in the flock are adjusted the lone mother will generally be abandoned to raise the young on her own, but will be welcome to rejoin the flock if she and her young can keep up with them.
Once a male has acquired enough status to live among the females, impressing them is not based on rank but on appearance, which is the other main area that their colorful features come into play. A harem male's attempts to impress a female involves a display of turning their head from side to side to show off their crest as well as flaring and closing their colorful fins. Remarkably the harem males seem to rarely compete with each other once they've established their rank, and leave subsequent decision making to the females alone.
Gestation takes many months and most development is made before the egg is laid. Shallow nests are dug from the ground and insulated with Cleurke twigs where the eggs are laid in 1-3 a batch; for around 2 weeks the females will take turns covering multiple nests with their wide wings, though all females will remember their own nest. Juveniles hatch with the assistant of their own mothers are rather developed from birth, travelling and grazing with the flock. Until their exoskeletal maw hardens enough to eat tougher food the young consume mostly soft fungi and fruit pods broken open by adults. Females with young will be aggressive towards all males and during this time all males are pushed to the boundaries of the flock while the young secure the best feeding grounds thanks to the guidance of their mothers. At this point the males are not aggressive towards the young, but the impressive colors of males are extremely diverse, recognizable, and genetic; when the young males begin developing their colors, adult males will often kill those they recognize as the child of a rival. This is of course at the risk of upsetting the larger and stronger mother, but multiple males will often work together to mob the offspring of their enemies. This, along with predation and parasitism, are the main causes of mortality in young.
In around 1.2 Earthen years, the young are old enough to leave their flock. Siblings will generally leave together along with others, though each only leave exclusively with their own gender, to find a new flock on a new island. Aside from their earliest days this is the next highest area of mortality among their species as they fall victim to frighteningly superior predators such as the Weeping Blood Wyvern before eventually securing safety with a new flock in the shelter of the jungle.
Field Observations
Due to their flightful nature and not having any human-sized prey or predators, we find that they are very safe to be around. They generally do not recognize humans as enemies and, should they be aggressive, are easily scared off with a flare or gunshot, making them low-risk to approach despite their intimidating size and appearance. Nonetheless we are sure to keep respectful distances.
They are relatively common in the Jungle Islands and are the first new wyvern species we encountered in the Jungle. Most islands, except those that are exceptionally small or cluttered, have a handful of Widecrests. As such we observed many flocks--too many to name--though those we labelled and studied closely are Flocks A-G, the largest of which was Flock D at 25 adult members (though we witnessed and passed herds of 25-30 adults).
The only flock-to-flock disputes we witnessed were between F (7) and an E (4). Though both flocks were definitely of a size that they could easily merge at, the vast difference in the females' estrus cycles seemed to be the divider that kept them from merging, as the cycles of either Flocks' young-rearing were completely incompatible.
On several different occasions we've witnessed adolescent Widecrests, who must have just recently left their flock of origin, traveling beyond any Jungle. At first we thought they must be lost and inexperienced, but figured it must be a part of their life cycle--or even considered a the possibility of a small migratory subspecies--after repeated sightings of travelers at similar sizes. Observations of young leaving Flock D confirmed this.
On numerous occasions we have seen them displaying dominance and impression challenges, which is a very frequent behavior to their lives.
remake of this
Weeping Widecrest Wyvern
A social omnivorous genus of Weeping Wyvern found in the Jungle Regions of the lower-middle zone
Domain: Scourgian Eukarya
Kingdom: Scourgian Animalia
Phylum: Scourgian Exochordata
Class: Draconis (Dragons)
Order: Wyvera (Wyverns)
Family: Klama (Weeping Wyverns)
Genus: Chromaskul (Widecrest)
Species: C. Klama (Common Widecrest), C. Tauros (Notched Widecrest)
Physique
Widecrests are one of the largest Wyverns I have witnessed in the Middle Zone, and by far the largest Weeping Wyvern we currently have documented. Their bodies are much thinner than their bulkier brethren, with a far slimmer body shape similar to that of Snake-Dragons. They have very little exoskeleton reserved only for their claws, spikes, crest and the front half of their beak-like muzzle. The branches of their wings are almost exoskeletal save for the covering of wing leather, but underneath this is hollow exoskeletal-like bone. At the back of their skull is their namesake Crest which boasts a large ax-like shape on males but is small and more like a spike on females. At the first knuckle of the outer wing branch they have an extra set of 3 small fins, which are usually kept tucked away and only flared open in the face of opposition or a potential mate. They can also be used for increased steering during flight, but are generally to thin and weak to be of much use.
Like most creatures of Scourge they are a dim red, and have many faint stripes that may assist in visual identification. Their undersides are a darker black-like color. Males have widely variable and brightly colored designs on their head crest and similar designs on the topside of their spare fins used for impressing both rivals and mates.
Species
The most common species is the C. Klama. A subspecies, C. Tauros or Notched Widecrest, is slightly smaller in size, possesses a large horn on the males, and has a scaled crest with a small notch. It is far less common, though their populations tend to be near each other; occasionally their species may mix, though due to their smaller size Notched Widecrests tend to not fair as well in a herd of Commons.
Distribution
They populate the Jungle Islands of the Middle Zone. They may occasionally live in the upper parts of the Lower Zone, but generally can't survive there for too long and only stay for a brief time on vertically mobile islands. They tend to fear leaving their islands, and so an island's sinking can easily result in the death of entire groups that fall victim to the radiation of the Lower Zone.
Diet and Feeding Behavior
Despite being wyverns and having large wings they spend a large majority of their life on the ground, gathering in open clearings within the Jungle to graze for nuts, seeds, fungus and fruit pods. Though having a very herbivore-like lifestyle they can be voraciously carnivorous when the opportunity arises, chasing down small creatures that pass by, savaging any weak or injured animals they come across, and being able to ingest old rotting carrion. They seem neither averse to nor eager for cannibalism, considering the possibility but usually abandoning their dead kin. On the other hand it's not unusual for mothers to eat stillborn eggs that never hatch, as well as eat the shells of their hatched young. For the early parts of their lives, juveniles eat a diet similar to their parents but moreso consisting of soft fungi and fruit pods opened for them by others.
Lifestyle & Social Behavior
They are very social creatures, living in groups of 5 to 30 with a majority (2:1) female. Most of their time is spent grazing as they move around their island, and islands rarely have more than one pack (especially because most islands of large enough size sink into the Lower Zone). They remain in their Island for as long as they can, seeming to fear the open outer world even to the point of dying should their island sink too low.
Their strict social hierarchies are divided between males and females. Flocks are primarily matriarchal with females generally being the largest in size, claiming the highest ranks, having access to the best feeding areas and handling territorial disputes with other packs. All males are below the females with only the highest-ranking males able to compete with the lowest-ranking females. Males challenge each other with a display of head-turning and wing-flaring to show their impressive colors, resorting to violence should neither back down from intimidation alone. Only a handful (1-5) of the most victorious males are allowed to live within the harem while the lesser bachelors are forced to live in the outskirts where they must resort to lesser feed and are more exposed to predators. The lead males claim not only access to breeding rights, but the safety and luxury allotted to them by being within the security of the matriarchal harem. Nonetheless females still assert their authority over pushy males and make it clear that their acceptance is by the females' generosity; a very high-ranking male may occasionally, riskily, aggress a very low-ranking female for grazing privileges.
Aggressive and Defensive Behavior
Both genders challenge each other for territory or social status by hissing and flaring open their impressive fins. Males generally have far more intimidation-based tactics, turning and bobbing their heads in a dance that usually ends in bloodless forfeit. Females tend to be more aggressive, and their ranking is often notable by size, with the higher ranks being larger. Flocks rarely encounter, but encounters with rival flocks or banished individuals is handled by the lead matriarch and her posse. This form of intimidation is often a group effort. Submission is given by lowering the head and curling the neck in a C.
Despite being the largest predators around, they are far from being the apex. They often flee from predators large enough to attack them and rarely stand their ground, though males tend to bravely bother the predators with tail nips to allow easier escape for others. The Jungle is their main source of protection as it is a dangerously cluttered environment for most large predators.
Family Lifecycle
With the lack of seasons or consistent migratory routes among Scourge's floating islands, Widecrest Wyvern's breeding season is simply based on the estrous cycles of its females (around 9 months), and all females of a flock will eventually match. Should eggs be laid outside of the cycle to which all others in the flock are adjusted the lone mother will generally be abandoned to raise the young on her own, but will be welcome to rejoin the flock if she and her young can keep up with them.
Once a male has acquired enough status to live among the females, impressing them is not based on rank but on appearance, which is the other main area that their colorful features come into play. A harem male's attempts to impress a female involves a display of turning their head from side to side to show off their crest as well as flaring and closing their colorful fins. Remarkably the harem males seem to rarely compete with each other once they've established their rank, and leave subsequent decision making to the females alone.
Gestation takes many months and most development is made before the egg is laid. Shallow nests are dug from the ground and insulated with Cleurke twigs where the eggs are laid in 1-3 a batch; for around 2 weeks the females will take turns covering multiple nests with their wide wings, though all females will remember their own nest. Juveniles hatch with the assistant of their own mothers are rather developed from birth, travelling and grazing with the flock. Until their exoskeletal maw hardens enough to eat tougher food the young consume mostly soft fungi and fruit pods broken open by adults. Females with young will be aggressive towards all males and during this time all males are pushed to the boundaries of the flock while the young secure the best feeding grounds thanks to the guidance of their mothers. At this point the males are not aggressive towards the young, but the impressive colors of males are extremely diverse, recognizable, and genetic; when the young males begin developing their colors, adult males will often kill those they recognize as the child of a rival. This is of course at the risk of upsetting the larger and stronger mother, but multiple males will often work together to mob the offspring of their enemies. This, along with predation and parasitism, are the main causes of mortality in young.
In around 1.2 Earthen years, the young are old enough to leave their flock. Siblings will generally leave together along with others, though each only leave exclusively with their own gender, to find a new flock on a new island. Aside from their earliest days this is the next highest area of mortality among their species as they fall victim to frighteningly superior predators such as the Weeping Blood Wyvern before eventually securing safety with a new flock in the shelter of the jungle.
Field Observations
Due to their flightful nature and not having any human-sized prey or predators, we find that they are very safe to be around. They generally do not recognize humans as enemies and, should they be aggressive, are easily scared off with a flare or gunshot, making them low-risk to approach despite their intimidating size and appearance. Nonetheless we are sure to keep respectful distances.
They are relatively common in the Jungle Islands and are the first new wyvern species we encountered in the Jungle. Most islands, except those that are exceptionally small or cluttered, have a handful of Widecrests. As such we observed many flocks--too many to name--though those we labelled and studied closely are Flocks A-G, the largest of which was Flock D at 25 adult members (though we witnessed and passed herds of 25-30 adults).
The only flock-to-flock disputes we witnessed were between F (7) and an E (4). Though both flocks were definitely of a size that they could easily merge at, the vast difference in the females' estrus cycles seemed to be the divider that kept them from merging, as the cycles of either Flocks' young-rearing were completely incompatible.
On several different occasions we've witnessed adolescent Widecrests, who must have just recently left their flock of origin, traveling beyond any Jungle. At first we thought they must be lost and inexperienced, but figured it must be a part of their life cycle--or even considered a the possibility of a small migratory subspecies--after repeated sightings of travelers at similar sizes. Observations of young leaving Flock D confirmed this.
On numerous occasions we have seen them displaying dominance and impression challenges, which is a very frequent behavior to their lives.
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Category Artwork (Digital) / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 1280 x 878px
File Size 429.8 kB
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