The ukasu is a derived alioramin tyrannosaur native to the island of Tlaaktu where, despite its relatively small size, it reigns as an apex predator due to a general trend towards dwarfism among the island's fauna. As with other tyrannosaurs, the ukasu's primary weapon are its long, powerful jaws; despite their wicked appearance, the male's enlarged halluces aren't robust enough to be used as weapons and are instead used in high-stepping visual displays meant to attract mates and intimidate rivals. After mating, ukasu pairs typically stay together only until the female lays her eggs, at which point she will leave the male to brood and raise the young.
The ukasu features heavily in the culture of Tlaaktu's native human population, where it is revered as a protector of the island's forests and invoked as a symbol of honor and strength.
This is a fictional species of tyrannosaur that I came up with for Gondolend, a writing and worldbuilding project that I spent around twenty years working on. I've since abandoned it for various reasons, but since I liked how this guy turned out I'm reusing it for a new dinopunk project.
I don't want to post a lot of my art on here after coming back, but I may dig up a few drawings to air out from time to time.
