Carta Zephyro Animalium

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Carta Zephyro Animalium

Postby TheGreciansHousehold » Sun Jan 28, 2018 3:09 am

Condensed translation of Carta Zephyro Animalium, published 2234.
Used under Z.C.C for Academic Purposes.
All credit to Jyn Caskerde, Olste Kebre, and Isa'kate Siy'eroas.


Zephyrian Reptilians

Aor
Zephyrian: Ao'dasyr (Aora'deas if enraged, literally "Wrath of The Aor")
Taxonomic Name: Aochelonis erectus
Averaging 1.9m in height for males and 2.5 for females, the aor is one of the most powerful of all Zephyrian wildlife; and yet still manages to be one of the most docile.

Aor live in most of the central band of Zephyr, stretching from the Zephyr-Austral Ocean to the Zephyr-Arctic Ocean - with a few pockets of unsuitability, such as the high current strength of the Gulf of Eo'retyr'ea. Like their Terran, Adonian and Hermean convergent counterparts, Aor bear large cartilaginous shells developed from their ribcages, are capable of retracting their necks (in the case of aor, backwards, as they are Cryptodires), and seasonally migrate.
Unlike other turtles (testudines), however, aors' shells are not used to avoid crushing in the jaws of predators; their great size makes this typical use redundant. Instead, they are used to protect the front and back, which are made incredibly vulnerable by their unique stature.

Instead of lying parallel to the ground, lowering space for stride length, aor stand upright, allowing them free movement of the limbs. They move in a manner similar to other bipeds' walking, but are dependant on their scaled tails to stop their thick chests from dragging them to the ground, resulting in a steady but firm stride.

Aor are highly intelligent, able to communicate accurately between one another with cries, chirps and roars ranging from around 12,000Hz to 120kHz. Upon the death of a relative or migratory pack leader, many are seen to mourn their dead, releasing low frequency bellows not seen in ordinary conversation - even sometimes moving the dead individual to safer areas such as caves or tree roots. They are capable of memorising complex behaviours, with one aor, named I'ea by her trainers, learning rudimentary mathematics (albeit requiring physical objects to represent values, such as rocks or nuts).

Aor are amphibian in terms of behaviours, using their 5-fingered but flipper-like arms to propel themselves (slowly, averaging around 3m/s) through water. They spend most of their time on land, gathering fruit and leaves, but move to the water to gather large algae such as seaweed and even small fish. During migration, aor can be seen to travel as much as 9,000km at a time. The average female aor can hold her breath underwater for around 1 hour and a male for around 45 minutes, but many have been observed to survive for more than this; in fact, a female aor (named Prae'i by her rescuers), found stranded in a large rain pool outside a Kea'yrysian holiday home was discovered to have survived more than 3 days of no oxygen by storing lactic acid in her shell; after recovering she survived to the age of 50 in a nature reserve but sadly died after her weakened shell collapsed while sleeping.

Aor live extremely long lives, with males averaging around 140 years and females an enormous 170.

[--✩--]

Kadier
Zephyrian: Ki'avea
Taxonomic Name: Acanthosaurus acanthosaurus
Kadiers are a relatively common sight in much of the Mainland's coastlines, particularly around Kaoe, whose rock-filled beaches are perfect for the species. Belonging to the family Iguanidae, they are quite closely related (convergently) with their Terran look-alikes, marine iguanas (Amblyrhynchus cristatus).

Kadiers are easily recognised for their incredibly long midsections; the average length of the species being an enormous 50cm, almost 3/4 of which is the section between the hind and front legs. This bizarre adaptation allows them to slide and slither through tight space between rocks, which are quite plentiful in the Kaoe area thanks to its early volcanic activity.

Kadiers are divided into two distinct subspecies; the Common Kadier (A. acanthosaurus litoreus) and the South-West Insular Kadier (A. acanthosaurus diadematus). Although appearing extremely similar before moderately close observation, they are distinguished by 3 key characteristics:

  • Crest
    The Common Kadier has a flat, stubby crest that blends in to the back by its colouration; the S.W Insular Kadier has a large, crown-like crest in bright colours of terracotta, saffron and yellow ochre to attract mates.
  • Scales
    The Common Kadier bears blunt, vaguely hexagonal/heptagonal ect. scales, which are smooth and leathery to the touch, whereas the S.W Insular Kadier bears sharp, arrowhead-shaped scales, much alike those of the rattlesnake (Crotalus and Sistrurus), flush to the skin, stiff and ridged to the touch.
  • Tail
    The Common Kadier's tail is somewhat cylindrical, suited to slinking around rock edges, whilst the S.W Insular's is pointed upward in a subtle teardrop shape, suited to temporarily swimming when required.

Although they are able to interbreed, a hybrid is a rare occurrence due to the distance between their habitats. However, when held in captivity, crossbreeds become far more common; a good example is the Eka'e'kaea Zoo, Mei'aka, which expanded from just one interbreeding every few months to hundreds of A. acanthosaurus litoreus ⨯ diadematus in a matter of weeks, resulting in new segregation procedures for the two subspecies (they were previously believed to be naturally deterred from one-another) and one of the largest mass animal exports of all time, with thousands of kadiers being shipped to Mimir and similar nearby bodies.

Kadiers live a varying 4-7 years in the wild, and generally a few years less in captivity; it is still not known why this is. Mainly preyed upon by birds, snakes and ake, South-West Insular kadiers are also hunted by the Marble Slime, a carnivorous Limoanimarean native to the islands of Copea'ne'syia and Po'ea'ni'ea. They not commonly domesticated, but are popular tourist animals in zoos.

[--✩--]

Ake (Pronounced ah-key)
Zephyrian: Ake
Taxonomic Name: Plumes
Plumes is a family of venomous snakes (Serpentes), known commonly as ake, or the far rarer "Feathered Snakes". As their anglicised name suggests, their scaled skin is covered in a coat of low length feathers, used mainly for heat control.

Ake reside in all Zones of Zephyr with the exclusion of the Polar Caps, although several archaeological discoveries in the Northern Polar Cap show that a species of Ake (Cryophilophion anopolaris) inhabited the region around 106mya in the mid-Feuchtassic Period.
Ake feathers hold a great importance in Zephyrian Saroism, representing the Sun, rebirth, life and truth.

The Ake family, Plumes, consists of 49 species in 21 genera. They are somewhat closely related (divergently) to Spring Vipers (Kinetioviperamimis).

Ake vary greatly from species to species, but all exhibit
  • Angled scales held by a more fibrous base (æchmus)
  • Feathers emerging from under scales, usually around 2mm from the æchmus
  • Proteroglyphous fangs, usually able to rotate along the sagittal plane by a few degrees to avoid damage from struggling prey
  • Raised cartilaginous extension from the parietal bones to the raised retroponal bones, which in turn lead to the squamosal (A.K.A supratemporal) bones to protect head, again, from struggling prey.
Although some ake kill their prey in different procedures, such as simply paralysing the prey like most venomous snakes, most ake kill their prey by releasing 2 different venoms; a neuromuscular paralytic to paralyse the prey and a neurotoxin to kill the prey, released from the parotid major and parotid minor glands respectively. The neurotoxin is generally released after the prey halts movement and the paraotic deinopteryx (a flap of elasticised cartilage blocking the parotid minor from expelling venom, very similar to the epiglottis) contracts, causing a roughly 5-7 decisecond delay; this pause was quite famously known to Ancient Zephyrians as the Ko'amea'eiast - the Merciless Second.

Ake lifespans vary between species, but generally average around 20-30 years depending on size and lifestyle.

[--✩--]

Spring Viper
Zephyrian: Kyea'ea'sae
Taxonomical Name: Kinetioviperamimis
Although the name of this large genus of snakes would suggest that it belongs to the family Viperidae; however, they are in fact Colubridaens. Their viperidaen appearance is thought to originate from their primitive venomous ancestors, whom they share with ake and Zephyrian legless lizards.

The name "Spring Viper" refers to their behaviour when threatened; they rise upright and lurch forwards, usually either showing their ake-mimicking frontal fangs (which are not actually attached to any glands) or lowering their heads to force the threat into unconsciousness. They are relatively common, being particularly common around Aka'lea thanks to its temperate climate.

Spring Viper lifespans vary greatly between species, with the shortest-living species, the White Stringworm (Tenora albus) surviving for just 1-2 years, and the longest-living species, the Dragonsnake (Titanokinetovipera draco) for an incredible 70-90 years.

Zephyrian Cephalopods

Zephyrian Pacific Kraken
Zephyrian: Sea'ea'ei'
Taxonomical Name: Kraken pacifica
Measuring a colossal 15m in length, the Zephyrian Pacific Kraken (Also known simply as the Pacific Kraken, Lesser Kraken or just Kraken) is one of the largest aquatic creatures in the I.G.A. They feed mainly on small-to-medium-sized fish, particularly Selosians.

As their name suggest, ZPKs inhabit the Zephyr-Pacific Ocean (A.K.A the Oinosic Ocean), usually at depths of 200-500m. Although they are extremely high in the Zephyrian Food Chain, with only one natural predator other than humanoids, they are not built to kill large prey - or, for that matter, consume any object above the size of a large pumpkin. They use their suction-cup covered feeding tentacles to latch onto prey, and then draw the prey into their mouths - often, the prey is completely unaware of the threat until caught.

ZPKs are naturally a medium red, much alike other cephalopods, thanks to their high concentration of pheomelanin to signal their presence to potential mates, which prefer the redder males (ZPK pheomelanin concentration is proportional to feeding amount). Their upper feeding tentacles, however, are usually a dark-brown or black due to eumelanin; this is thought to avoid detection by the far less intelligent Selosians.

ZPKs are incredibly intelligent, with some of the largest brains of any cephalopod in the I.G.A. They have been show to understand moderately complex mathematical values, with many zoo specimens being capable of calculating addition of numbers between 1 and 50. They have also exhibited complex behaviors of cooperation; the most notable of these was the Temei Case, in which a North Ala'kean schoolchild visiting the Oceanus Headquarters, En Temei, managed to rescue Ian Corea, who was diving for sponges, from a vagrant Zephyrian Atlantic Kraken juvenile by "persuading" a medium-sized squad of Pacific Kraken to attack it as a flock in exchange for a large portion of imported tuna.

Zephyrian Pacific and Atlantic Kraken are both directly descended from Terran Giant and Colossal Squids (Architeuthis dux and Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni respectively), after their introduction to Zephyrian waters shortly after the discovery of Terra. These precursors to the kraken are now highly endangered, with both extinct in the wild and at a population of just around 12,000, whereas their Zephyrian relatives thrive at 300,000 (ZPK) and 90,000 (ZAK), surprisingly high for their size.

ZPKs are hunted upon by only one non-humanoid species; the Zephyrian Atlantic Kraken (Kraken cetiorexatherium). They live unbelievably long lives, averaging 180 years when in the wild in a well-structured squad.

[--✩--]

Zephyrian Atlantic Kraken
Zephyrian: Dia'ea'syros
Taxonomical Name: Kraken cetiorexatherium
25-30 metres in length, there is no doubt that this titanic creature is one of the largest known to mankind. Their ridiculous weight makes long-distance travel incredibly difficult, and so they spend most of their life in one area, known as a Kraken Circle. They primarily use their feeding tentacles to catch prey, which ranges from the A'kei'ala (Mesosqualus squalus, Mid-sized Zephyrian Shark) to its characterising prey; the huge, powerful, hyperpredatory Zephyrian Pacific Kraken (Kraken pacifica).

ZAKs are a dark brown - thanks to eumelanin - with brighter patches of coffee and cedar dotted randomly, particularly around the start of the tentacular clubs and the exterior of the buccal mass. As their natural habitat is situated in the Te-evi'aie (Pronounced teh-eh-vay-ee) band, they blend in perfectly with their craggy environment when it is overshadowed by Te-evi'aieal Limoanimarean Gigaclusters.

In order to consume their enormous prey, ZAKs use quite unconventional feeding apparatus. Their beaks are thin-walled and filled with a fibrous cartilage lattice, making them highly flexible. Their buccal masses are retracted easily with exterior muscular formations. If the object is still too large to swallow, it can be shredded easily by their 6 radulae, which are capable of shredding steel.

Zephyrian Atlantic and Pacific Kraken are both directly descended from Terran Giant and Colossal Squids (Architeuthis dux and Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni respectively), after their introduction to Zephyrian waters shortly after the discovery of Terra. These precursors to the kraken are now highly endangered, with both extinct in the wild and at a population of just around 12,000, whereas their Zephyrian relatives thrive at 300,000 (ZPK) and 90,000 (ZAK), surprisingly high for their size.

ZAKs live moderately long lives, surviving to the age of 85 on average. This is despite their size, which usually would imply an extremely long lifespan; however, the amount of blood pressure required to fuel their hydraulic tentacles greatly dwarves its gargantuan heart, which is about the size of a medium-sized van.

Zephyrian Avians

Phoenix
Zephyrian: Keay'ae'is
Taxonomical Name: Phoeniformes kæaiis
Huge, formidable and covered in a sleek coat of silicate-based feathers, phoena are one of Zephyr's most dangerous and iconic lifeforms. Though near invisible at first, their faint tan outlines become obvious as they swarm around Zephyr's vast volcanoes.

Phoena are covered in a coat of feathers composed mainly of thin silica, allowing the bright light reflecting off of the water's surface to render them almost invisible. However, during breeding
season - usually in Autumn, after most creatures' breeding seasons as so to maximise energy "profit" - they abandon this cloaking effect altogether, developing huge, flamboyant Breeding Feathers in many vibrant colours, relying almost entirely on fat stores from the Hunting Season in Summer.

Phoena are one of the 2 remaining living species in the genus Phoeniformes, which is somewhat related to the genus Aquila. Fossil records show that the genus was once huge, with its members the dominant predator in many areas of the planet. However, the phoenix and its cousin, the Sunbird (Solara phoenii), are by no means endangered - the phoenix is still the apex predator in much of the central mainland.

[--✩--]

Ka'e
Zephyrian: Ka'e
Taxonomical Name: Paisa pterys
Ka'e are an iconic and unique species of flycatcher found throughout the Far, Far Range. They are easily identified by their small size, black-white-and-indigo coats and strangely shaped beaks.

Ka'e beaks bear four extending, continually flattening spikes - or, to give the technical term, faler - each protruding from the base of the beak to form a diagonal square that terminate around 80% down the beak. This allows them to easily break the protective fluid layer of pogofruit and break the fruit into smaller, more digestible pieces.

Ka'e feather coats are mostly a deep charcoal black, with a brilliant white breast and indigo underbreast. Their eyes are surrounded by circles and patterns of fainter white and a few patches of blue, which allows them to find mates easier. As they are mass breeders, they have no need for selective breeding; their survival-of-the-fittest is based on survival in non-breeding periods. Due to their low energy capacity, they generally have little offspring, usually 1 or 2.

A right-facing ka'e is displayed of the tailside of the Newöre, the centesimal subunit of the Newbuck. It represents the significance of smaller objects, and has been present since the currency's creation in 3848.

Ka'e live for around 14 months, and often die mid-flight, resulting in parts of the generation literally raining from the sky.

[--✩--]

Zephyrian Moa
Zephyrian: He'e
Taxonomical Name: Dinornis asens
The zephyrian moa is one of the most extreme cases of convergent evolution; their native environment, the two islands of Oke'e and Ane'e'ea (and, less notably, the cay of Dasana'e'ri'ai), is so similar to the terran New Zealand's Waipounamu and Ika-a-Māui that the species fits into a terran genus, Dinornis.

Moas are a large bird species almost identical to the South Island giant moa (Dinornis robustus), with a few differences in feather shape, claw length and beak shape - asens is far sharper to bite through Zephyr's abundant fruit. They are omnivorous, and feed on anything from Pogofruit to Kadiers. They are preyed upon by sunbirds, phoena, ake, paragas and other medium-large predators.

[--✩--]

Sunbird
Zephyrian: Sai'eris
Taxonomical Name: Solara phoenii
A close relative of the Phoenix (Phoeniformes kæaiis), the Sunbird is a moderately large bird of prey native to South East Zephyr and most of the Far, Far Range. It feeds mainly on small rodents and, more rarely, chickadoos.

Sunbirds are similar to Phoena for their exuberant feathers, with silica-based feathers that have great prismatic effects. Sunbirds, however, do not use their feathers for camouflage; instead, they use them for a highly unconventional purpose.

Sunbird feathers are long, angular and more crystalline than Phoenix feathers, creating a pinpoint of concentrated light when illuminated. This light is relatively weak on its own, but when all 13,000 of their feathers overlap into one huge biological lazer, the light the organism reflects is potent enough to blind prey with ease. This allows the birds to fly overhead with their broad but thin wings, literally mass blinding prey, and swoop down with great precision thanks to their hyperactive sonar - hence their iconically large folding external ears.

The sunbird is the official symbol of the I.G.A, representing many less powerful objects uniting into a far more powerful entity. It is often used to represent Zephyr, much alike Terra's eagle or Mimir's cuo, as seen in Kapi'aka's Battle of Battles, in which an eagle is shown grappling a sunbird in a symbolic representation of the second Intergalactic War.

Zephyrian Mammals

Cervier (A.K.A Greater Cervier)
Zephyrian: Ce'hea
Taxonomical Name: Aure kerrenii
Cerviers are a common sight on Mainland Zephyr, and their nearest relative - the tiny, silver-furred doe-cervier - dominates the North East, South East and lower parts of the North West. They are Cervidaens and are fairly closely related (convergently) to the Mimirian rea.

Like most Cervidaens, cerviers possess long, powerful legs (a mature female cervier is capable of jumping with an incredible 5kN of thrust), a diminutive tail and long ears. Cerviers, however, are smaller than most deer - females average 1m in height and males 1.3m - and have particularly long ears that droop down below their jaws. This allows them to easily detect their key predators, such as ake and geilfes, and bolt away at incredible speeds - hence their Zephyrian name, meaning "dust-bringer".

Cerviers are, like many Cervidaens, sexually dimorphic; the females are smaller, more agile and with sharp hooves to fight off unsuitable mates, with no antlers and a flatter forehead, whilst males are larger and heavier, with large antlers that develop in mid-winter and detach in mid-Summer, heavier foreheads and shorter ears. The males fight for mates like most deer; but as Cerviers operate individually and outside of groups, females often are forced to fight off less desirable males whilst calling for other males to ensure only the highestest quality mate.

Both male and female cerviers have silver-brown pelts, with darker spots dotting their fur. They feed almost entirely on grass, but will eat other herbivorous foods such as fruit or grains.

They have 3 currently known Limoanimarian predators; the Lion-Heart Slime, the Curare Slime, and the Boreal Slime, all of which are native to the Far, Far Range; the Lion-Heart to the Grapetree Archipelago and the islet of Kape'a in the centre of the North West, the Curare to the island of Louis and Anai'e Atoll, the Thunder Circlet (a large ring of the North East with high Limoanimarian Kinetic Activity) and the Boreal to the Ie'a Island Chain, part of the North West but very close to the West-East seperation line, and very far north. All of them only feed on them in times of great hunger, as a strike from a female's hoof or a single strike from a male's antlers will literally pulverise them.

[--✩--]

Paraga
Zephyrian: Lai'ea
Taxonomical Name: Paraga saraganis
Paragas are medium-sized felid, not dissimilar to the Terran ocelot (Leopardus pardalis). They are very widespread, being most concentrated on the island of Sternwasser (2/500m) and least concentrated on the Ea'ei'ie mountain range (0.3/500m); there is no terrestrial zone that they do not inhabit to some extent.

Paraga are known for their dog-like height and posture, hence the name - a combination of the Spanish perro and gato to parody ancient zephyrian's Lai'ea, literally "dog-cat"; this is so as spanish was the first Terran language encountered by Zephyr due to Spain's Derivador probe.

Paraga have lifespans not dissimilar to their Terran lookalikes; each lives for around 14 years. They prey mostly on small birds, fish and rodents, but have been observed to consume plorts when other sources of energy are not available.

[--✩--]

Thank you for reading. I know it's a bit of a wall of text, but I couldn't resist adding detail.
Did I make any mistakes? Do you have any questions? I have spent a lot of time writing this, and would love to see your thoughts. I wouldn't want 2 months to go to waste!
I may write another of these if I have any ideas. For now, though, my mind is completely blank.

Once again, thanks for reading!
-TGH
My Fanon-Lore Posts

"Creativity is intelligence having fun."
- Albert Einstein

Oceanus Out.

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I'm not really active here anymore. If you want to contact me, here's my Steam and my email is nala.korjo@gmail.com.
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Re: Carta Zephyro Animalium

Postby QuantumTangle23 » Sun Jan 28, 2018 7:09 am

Cool!

Can we make up our own creatures?
Quantum tangles are the hardest slimes to ranch.

But who can say no to that cute little face?
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Re: Carta Zephyro Animalium

Postby TheGreciansHousehold » Sun Jan 28, 2018 7:13 am

QuantumTangle23 wrote:Cool!

Can we make up our own creatures?

I would prefer if you posted them on a seperate thread, as this one is intended to showcase mine. I hope you understand.
My Fanon-Lore Posts

"Creativity is intelligence having fun."
- Albert Einstein

Oceanus Out.

──────────────────────
I'm not really active here anymore. If you want to contact me, here's my Steam and my email is nala.korjo@gmail.com.
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