Class/Clade: Reptilia (Sauropsida)
Superfamily: Coelophysoidea
Species: A. kakophonia (”dissonant runner of the Arava Desert”)
Ancestral species: Coelophysis bauri
Temporal range: late Pliocene to recent (3 mya - present)
While this creature superficially resembles an odd cross between a proceratosaurid and an ornithomimid, its origins actually lie far closer to the base of the theropod family tree: this odd creature is, in fact, a highly-derived coelophysid. Outside of its appearance, however, it has one notable difference: at some point within the last 30 million or so years, its lineage has made the switch from carnivory to herbivory. While the desert banshee feeds primarily on desert shrubs, fruits, leaves, and grasses, facultative carnivory has been observed: they are known to occasionally hunt and eat small birds, reptiles, and mammals, and females may do this leading up to when they lay their eggs. (But that’s a story for a little latter). As with many animals inhabiting the Arava Desert (though it also inhabits the grasslands and dry forests much further north in smaller densities and parts of the jungle to the east, though the latter may actually be a distinct but closely-related species), it is quite hardy, able to go long periods without food or water by storing fat in its tail.
In addition to their dietary switch, they have also developed unique behaviors to accommodate such changes: as the desert banshee is rather small, only around 8-9 feet in length, 3-4 feet at the hip, and around 70-80 lbs, it is a prime target for many desert predators, including the many species of carnivorous theropods and synapsids (including humans) who inhabit the region. As such, this animal is built for speed, being able to run up to 40 miles per hour in short bursts and preferring to flee from predators. However, if cornered or injured, it will not hesitate to put up a fight, making use of its two large ankle spurs to slash at its attackers. Additionally, it is nocturnal, preferring to travel at night to both avoid the scorching desert sun and to find new feeding grounds. While the obvious assumption would be that these animals would additionally flock together for protection, desert banshees deeply detest sharing space with congeners, and territorial confrontations can get bloody very quickly. However, it frequently travels with large flocks of ornithomimids for protection. The relationship this creature has with its larger distant cousins may be described as a form of commensalism: in exchange for protection, the desert banshee acts as a watchman of sorts to the ornithomimids, alerting the flock when predators are near with the deafeningly shrill, shrieking call that gave it its name. (Among its repertoire of other sounds are clucks and “drums” to communicate with its ornithomimid protectors long-distance and hissing when threatened or otherwise angered). In a rare example of non-primate social grooming, this creature will readily allow the ornithomimids it lives around to groom its feathers and remove parasites.
Just about the only time when these creatures will tolerate one another is when they are ready to mate: while these animals mate year-round, most mating occurs in late spring to early summer. With only slight sexual dimorphism, the males and females are not always easy to tell apart. Both have the same coloring: a white crest with black stripes, a white beak with black spots, creamy blue skin, dark blue spots on the wattle, grey feathers with black bands, and brown-to-black eyes. However, the female being able to distinguish herself by her warbling call which signals she is sexually receptive. Flashing his bright wattle, the male will flick his head up and down as part of a mating dance to get the female’s attention. If she accepts his display, the pair will walk side-by-side in synchronized movement, warbling and cooing while bobbing their heads up and down. After this display is over, the pair will mate and go separate ways. In the few weeks leading up to laying her clutch, the female may become facultatively carnivorous in order to obtain the calcium needed to produce her eggs. She will lay a clutch of 3-5 eggs in due time, and after a few weeks, they will hatch. However, she can retain the eggs inside her for an extended period of time until conditions are favorable or to synchronize the birth of her chicks with those of the ornithomimid flocks she follows. For the first 1.5 years of their life, the young are dependent on their mother as they reach near-adult age, at which point they are chased away and must find their own herd to follow. By 2.5 years, they will have reached sexual maturity and will be ready to mate, and if they can successfully avoid predators, they can expect to live 12-14 years in the wild and, if born in captivity, 20-30 years.
This species’ relationship with humans is one which is both riddled with mutualism and marred by tragedy: the desert banshee’s naturally social nature makes it exceptionally tame when raised in captivity, and some nomadic Lowland Xenogaean tribes keep them as their equivalent to sheepdogs. They are also known to be quite affectionate with their caretakers. Their ability to run fast in short bursts has also made them quite common as race animals which betters will gamble on. This species is also a frequent pest in the desert city of Tairokôna, where its habit of eating local crops and decorative plants have put it at odds with the city’s denizens. In addition to being used as a shepherd animal by Lowland Xenogaeans, they have also long been a source of food, with cut marks on fossil bones dated to around 50,000 years ago indicating that ancient humans in the area butchered and ate these animals. At one point, wild desert banshee numbers were driven so low due to pressures put on them by human hunters, that these animals experienced a bottleneck where smaller animals went on to breed and pass on their genes, meaning the modern population may be as much as 15% smaller than the Plio-Pleistocene variant of this species. Thankfully, its numbers have rebounded significantly in modern times, albeit they are still proportionally small and at risk of extinction in the wild, with only around 30,000 wild specimens across their entire range. At one point, this animal was also one of most trafficked and poached animals in the entire region, being hunted specifically for its bony crest in addition to its meat. Though its numbers rebounded significantly, there are a number of zoos and private collections across the world which still have illegally-bought desert banshees and their goods, particularly in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Even amongst Xenogaean aristocracy (Xenogaea being the larger of 1 of 2 nations inhabiting the archipelago), this animal is frequently seen as an exotic pet, and the King of Xenogaea, Tlahula I, has an entire stable of captive-bred desert banshees which have been selectively bred for several generations. Nowadays, most desert banshees killed for human consumption are captive-bred, with some debate over whether or not they may be undergoing domestication and if the captive-bred populations should be counted as a distinct species or subspecies from the wild one. However, the lack of morphological differences would seem to suggest that the captive-bred population are merely just that: captive-bred specimens of a wild species. Fossils of this species go back to at least the late Pliocene around 3 million years ago, though similar species are known from fossils in what is now the western grasslands as far back as the Eocene some 34 million years ago. Genetic divergence suggests it diverged from its closest living relatives over 150 million years ago, predating the split of most modern mammal lineages.
