#paluboligo

[paluboligo]

Species Profile: le'Mestrei's Cat

The sharowy le’Mestrei’s Cat (Umbraculmus le’Mestrei) is a very large carnivore living in the Abyss. This probable relative of terrestrial cats is known for two things - their numerous prides of up to 60 females and up to 6 males and the fact that Brvas breed in their fur.

While strong hunters, these cats aren’t teritorial - their prides sometimes mingle, live together for some time and then move on. Their gregarious behaviour is actually more akin to domestic cats than lions they resemble. While the Abyss changes animals in many ways genetic research implies these animals are either descendants of Eurasian Lynx or the Caracal… it is also possible the Umbraculmus genus is literally chimeric of the two mentioned species, it wouldn’t be the strangest thing the Abyss has brought.

These are also the only known predator of the Umbradelphis, the highly intelligent shadowy dolphin species confirmed to be a chimera of a Beluga and Russian Sturgeon of all things. Both fall prey to the Angallah though…

I will redraw this animal when I get the chance, I really like them. On another note - Hanz le’Mestrei was a Furiosa who lived on Earth during and after WW2 and he described this animal, at the time his publication was seen as a prank. The existence of the Abyss was not widely accepted by the scientific community until after the Mass Coma period of history when humanity slept through the worst of climate change.

[paluboligo]

Species Profile: Carrion's Circlehorn

The Carrion’s Circlehorn (Circuloceratops Carrioni) also known as Screaming Murder Drake is probably the largest Psittacoterror found on Palubolígo. This absolute unit of a dinosaur has the personality of the Honey Badger. While most Paluceratopsians are either herbivorous or omnivorous, the Circuloceratops is an obligate carnivore.

While too slow to actively hunt, these animals are known to raid bird and crocodile nests, eat unacompanied baby mammals and even to bite through the shell of the large water turtles it shares it's habitat with. This scavenger will bully of almost any predator off their kill. The only animals that can stand up to this monster are the biggest of Palutheropods and a few species of dragon. This ferocious animal can hunt though, among its prey are animals such as Giant Sloths and Rhinos.

The Circuloceratops will run at the predator who just brought down it's prey and shake it's head from side to side and roar in very low and high frequencies. If the opponent doesn't back down the Circuloceratops will simply impale the opponent with it's it and horns and eat both predator and prey.

Perhaps surprisingly the Circuloceratops is currently undergoing domestication for exploration purposes by collaboration between the Niikii and the Apokalypsa Research Institute. They are highly protective of humans that raise them and are willing to fight threats much larger than themselves.

My friend Hannaconda helped me with the colours (Javanese Jungle Fowl) and @kiatrasaurus pitched in the protoceratops like body shape (very common on Palubolígo)

[paluboligo]

Species Profile: Bonebill

The Bonebill (Palubucorvus Gore) is a large Clawed Bird native to the Ponelis Savannah and multiple species of the Supergenus can be also found in the Midraib region and the Siman Forest.

Like other Social Scavengers, this bird also a highly social animal, they can be usually seen patrolling in groups of 7-9 individuals, hunting small prey or collecting fruit and seeds. They are known for swallowing bone and perhaps surprisingly the skulls of dead animals. While they are a common sight among the Gore scavenger crew, these birds are usually seen without other scavenger species around.

These animals are very affectionate, unlike True Palubolígolian Birds they are very Palutheropod-like in their behaviour and are quite happy to bond to people. Falconers of Apokalypsa describe them as the best companion of their size range.

[paluboligo]

Species Profile: Deathly Cuteness

The Deathly Cuteness (Cutius Mortem) is the largest terrestrial predatory mammal on Palubolígo. This Pseudomarsupial keeps thhe ancestral octapodal condition, which which the vast majority of Palubolígolian mammals lost in favour of a more compact tetrapodal condition.

The Deathly Cuteness stands right on the line between being an animal and being a person. Their inteligence is higher than that of Earth’s Cetaceans, with some tool use and even deep understanding of written language. Because of this the Deathly Cuteness is considered a Near Sophont and may in the future join the unity of Palubolígolian sophonts after its species becomes enlightened.

The females can reach up to 35 meters in lenght and are considered the largest arboreal animal of Hech. They are solitary apex predators and usually hunt during the day. The smaller males are usually nocturnal. They are social with other males and usually only the most fit males can survive the brutal mating ceremony, after which the Cuteness enters life long monogamous relationship.

They take care of their offspring for around 15 years, this is not true for the Luca’s morph (Cutius Mortem Furiosa). This subspecies lacks sexual dimorphism and matures at the age of five. Luca’s Cuteness is an odd version of a domesticated animal, these Cutenesses are nearly Thralls by Furiosa standards and there are very few of them. While more intelligent than their wild ancestors these domesticated individuals lack certain individuality.

This animal doesn’t attack humans, as they usually feed on seasonal fruit, the largest of Palutheropods, Therosuchids and surprisingly even fish. They are also known for playing with vehicles, if they can move them, entering human settlements and causing great damage while playing.

This is the first digital drawing, one day I might post the traditional drawings of this creature. The Deathly Cuteness was actually a lego creation of mine, which I made as a child playing with the co-creator of Palubolígo, with whom I have deliberately lost contact due to his transphobic and racist views.

Link to Pí’s field description of the animal.

[paluboligo]

Random Lore Post: Pets

WARNING - SOME DISTURBING LORE REGARDING ANIMAL ABUSE

Something I may have mentioned from time to time are Palubolígolian animals kept as pets. In most citystates (with the exception of Apocalypsa) pets are highly taxed. This is mainly due to very few animals being successfully transported to Palubolígo (multiple livestock ships broke down along the way to Palubolígo and some were compromised by the slave trade).

The keeping of native animals is usually seen as a legally gray area, while some animals are allowed many are acquired through the black market and lack even the lacklustre legal protection of the legal pets.

- Lesser Poserbird (Tamodon Mansuerta) is a small Pterosauroavialan which has an intersection relationship with the animals around it, this highly intelligent animal practices “reverse falconry” and makes basic bonds with apex predators around its nest. In captivity these animals are paired with a Macrotheropod and then used as bait to make the giants fight.

The Oya Oya (Oculosaurus Campusius) is often kept as a house pet. This social animal bonds easily to humans and its diurnal nature makes it quite well suited to playing with children. These animals do not take well to guests, any new person or animal in their home is met with panic and suspicion.

The Palubolígolian pigeon seems to appear in large colonial cities while being unknown to any species of Folk. This animal seems to be unnatural, as they appear only in large groups, with individuals bonding to people with ease and inexplicably slowly molting their natual brown and gray feathers into fancy multicoloured forms. These pigeons do not breed or die and are impossible to be studied as they seem to disappear while transported to a laboratory and have inconsistent behaviour under observation.

Levi’s Runfisher (Levidromaeus Pisceri) is a very hard to keep animal. They are very social but their dietary requirements make them prone to dying if any of their needs aren’t met. Rich people, especially in the citystates of the Great Republic of China keep these animals as a status symbol.

Spinopteryx Roseus is also a social animal, with behaviour akin to Earth pigeons when raised by humans. They will fly to you for food and cuddle with you, but often their bond with you is forgotten if they are allowed outside.

Vulgarbird (Troon Microensis) is a rare member of Hexaves found on Hech. These small animals are very clever - akin to crows and will use some tools to get to food if needed. These animals are expert mimics of sounds and voices and perhaps surprisingly tend to understand which words are profanities and take to them much quicker than to others. These animals are subjected to a particularly disgusting sport - the animal is placed into a cage with multiple keys and locks, which is slowly being lowered into a water tank. Two animals race to escape the enclosure, with the loser being fully submerged and drowned. The Vulgarbirds are very empathetic towards each other and their vocal suffering is the point of this bloodsport.

[paluboligo]

Clade Profile: Neoaini

The New Aids, members of clade Neoaini are quite derived Aviodrakans with much greater intelligence and sociability than their sister clade Archaeoaini exhibits.

The clade currently holds two supergenera:

Supergenus Blakgai - which holds the near sophont parent species Blakgai Picolorata and its daughter species Blakgai Picolorata vulgaris, Blakgai Steai and Blakgai Gore.

The parent species has odd social behaviours which I will explain in a later post. The less derived species of Blakgai Steai looks similar, though more robust and lives in united society with the Stekot.

The Gore are nomadic peoples and work closely with multiple sophonts, though their closest relations are with the Niikii and Tukku Korvid Folk. Gore are prolific domesticators of both fauna and flora and even protists, as they are known to eat organism rich mud.

The other supergenus - Zrai holds multiple species.

Zrai Salivator is a genus with multiple species - Z. S. ponelis, Z. S. simanensis, Z. S. midraibensis all of which hold to the same body plan, but range in colour from the yellows of the Plains Zrai, the browns of the Forest Zrai and the blues of the Midraibean Zrai. All species are highly social, though only the Plains Zrai utilises fire to hunt.

The other genera - Zrai Vrtichai voreois, Zrai Kapripai midraibensis and Zrai Lyrikai domesticus are much less common and much smaller. All of these species are social, but not as intelligent as the Zrai Salivator, with the exception of the Vrtichai.

[paluboligo]

Species Profile: Arboreal Allosaur

Arboreal Allosaur (Pallusaurus Ferox) is a species of Palubolígolian Allosaur found in the southern Ranei mountains of Hech. This animal is highly intelligent and while not gregarious it is highly social if two individuals meet. These animals are not territorial between members of the species and if they meet they are known to play, sing and even mate. Like other species of Pallusaurus even the Arboreal Allosaur is known to display same sex mating behaviour.

As the name suggests the Arboreal Allosaur is a great climber of both trees and cliffs with its long arms it can actually crawl quadrupedally and jump from tree to tree.

These predators favour hunting birds, dragons and perhaps surprisingly bears. Eating bears is so common in fact that the ancestral species of the extanct Pallusaurus Ferox arborealis is called the A. F. ursovenator, literally the Ferocious Bear Hunter. The fossils of this species have been found with many bear bones inside the stomach.

Perhaps surprisingly this animal has quite favourable relations with the two species of sophont it shares habitat with - the Chakatee, gigantic crows, will sometimes practice “reverse falconry” where they raise abandoned chicks into formidable war animals. The other sophont - Banshee Folk treat these animals similarly to how the Korvid Folk treat the various species of Zrai, they raise these animals near their villages, protect them and help the feed their chicks in exchange for their own protection.

These artworks were made by my friend @twiglypile when we started talking.

[paluboligo]

Ancient Artworks from 2021: Part 2

Avery’s Peafowlwing (Allopterus Averyi) is one of the apex predators of Archipell. This great predator is known to hunt anything from birds to dragons via ambush from above.

Desert Noai (Pallusaurus Aridus) is a small monogamous predator found at the borders of the Stromech region. These small hunters catch small mammalian prey with ease.

Mountain Noai (Pallusaurus Ferox) is an arboreal predator from the Ranei mountains which specialises in hunting bears. This animal can take down bears twice its weight.

Military Noai (Pallusaurus Militariensis) is a domesticated species kept by the Banshee Folk. With many breeds known to exist, this species is especially variable.

Ponelis Noai (Pallusaurus Paluboligolensis) is the most common Noai species with the Beige and Rusty subspecies being the most common. This social hunter utilises fire to hunt basically any prey, but each mob has different prey preference, quite like the Orca.

Forest Noai (Pallusaurus Hechi) is a colourful predator of birds and pterosaurs and lives in the dense forests of the Sarkorapt. This animal is poorly understood as the rainforest it calls home is very much unstudied.

Any questions are welcome! Feel free to send DM!