My submission for the Ben G Thomas Wallace II community project!
The Felidire, sometimes referred to as the Tree Wraith, is a medium large predator descending from the Gomphiobia line. Felidire call dense jungles and thick winding tree trunks and branches their home. Felidire have a wide variety of colors on them at all times, and this color placement changes between both age, and sex. Male Felidire start their lives with a jungle green color over most of their body, with wispy fur to mimic plant life, as to better blend in, female Felidire share this color pattern mostly, until they begin to grow in their adult patterns. While female Felidire become more of a grey blue color, males first become red. Males will grow sharp quill like manes during their mating season, and along with their red coloring and bright patches of color that cover them during most of their lives, they are easy enough to spot, meaning that often, only the stealthiest and most careful of males live long enough to mate. Females grey blue varies out more. A dark pale maroon covers their spines, and forms small stripes down their sides. Green and yellow colors move up from the underside of the female Felidire and form spots on their second pair of legs. All Felidire has eyes spots on the back of their dark colored ears, behind their true compound eyes, and on their shoulders. They also grow thick callus sheets on their hindquarters and at the base of their long tails for protection from the back. Their four long whiskers help keep them from running into low branches they may not be paying attention to, as well as keeping track of which way the wind is blowing.
Male Felidire are often solitary their entire lives, however are known to group up when they are younger and less experienced. Females are the ones who claim territory, and allow males to hunt in them when they are ready to mate. Female Felidire often choose territory near to their mothers, and will communally raise offspring, overlapping their territories after giving birth so that the females can hunt and raise offspring together. It is a common sight to see a grandmother, or great grandmother taking care of their decedents offspring when the mother needs a break or to hunt. Felidire are capable of living upwards of thirty years, and elder or dominant females are often brought prey while they take care of their younger family.
Felidire hunt by ambush, stalking their prey silently through the winding trunks overhead. Although Felidire are capable of hunting on the ground, they usually choose not to, and will often refuse to even eat on the ground, pulling their prey up into the trees before eating. When hunting, Felidire use their second pair of legs and their sharp teeth to hold onto prey, using their first legs to rip at prey, or if need be, they will grab prey with their second and third legs, and kick harshly with their fourth.
As time went on, the proboscis of the Felidire’s ancestors became protected by skin and bone covering, while the proboscis themselves grew sharp backwards facing spines, that slowly became teeth as the proboscis itself went from grabbing prey to sitting in the mouth, where is fused with the skin and became like a gum line. The three holes of the proboscis became a single opening at the back of the mouth. The bottom jaw of the Felidire is split, and they are able to move both sides independently. Felidire teeth are not fully set in the skull of the animal, and can move. When opening their mouths, the teeth face forwards, and when biting down, they return to a more backwards shape, allowing the Felidire to dig in its teeth farther with its bite, and holding prey more securely in its jaws. The jaws of the Felidire are held up by their unusually muscular necks. Although this muscle isn’t to make the jaws more powerful. At the base of the head sits one of the Felidire’s eye spots. If an animal where to bite down there, expecting to break the skull, or snap the neck, they would find that to be a hard task. The base of the skull and start of the spine sit deep in the neck, surrounded by packed muscle and fat. A Felidire could have its neck shaken, run headfirst into a tree, or fall out of one and land on their neck and still walk away mostly unharmed.
Male Felidire will compete for weeks during their mating seasons for the attention of the female whose territory they have moved into. A male must drive all his opponents from the female’s territory before attempting to woo her, however even after all that, the female may still choose to reject him and wait for more males to come battle in her territory. After choosing to mate, the female Felidire will roam their territory and drive out any male she sees still lurking around, and making sure that her territory will be safe for her offspring. She will then head for her mother’s territory if she is nearby and still alive, it is believed that this lets the grandmother know that their territories will overlap soon. Felidire lay clutches of four to five eggs at a time, but often only one to three of the offspring will survive to adulthood.
Information on the project can be found here:: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=486RilrAetU
