Quilled Pinyuk

The Quilled Pinyuk split from its ancestor the Pinyuk. It has moved further down south and up into higher elevations. It has increased in size and has changed its diet to mainly feed on the Vesuvianite Tree. Its posture has also changed to a more upright stance in order to get to the crystal leaves. While it can still walk on its front limbs, they mostly use their back limbs.

Its feathers are green to mimic the Vesuvianite Tree's leaves and yellow legs to mimic its trunk. Their limbs have thick protective armor. They also have sharp quilled feathers to help protect it from predators. They are slow moving and spend all day eating and digesting food. While not tall enough to eat fully grown Vesuvianite Trees they can can at least eat the younger saplings. When eating crysalflora, they crush up the leaves and eat gastroliths to help mash any remaining pieces of food that were not crushed by their teeth.

The Quilled Pinyuk lives in groups of 15-30 members that communicate to each other with deep, bleating calls. Males fight for females by fighting with their scythe-like front hoofs. This can result in injuries or death. The male is recognized by its larger chin-spike and orange feathery crest (not shown in the picture). The scythe-like front hoofs are also used to pull down branches for eating leaves.

They build saucer-shaped nests out of mud, fuzzweeds, and their own down feathers. When nesting, the females will sit on their eggs in order to keep them warm, and remove excess feathers to keep them cool. Once hatched, females remain in the nests with their offspring and males go out to search for food. Quilled Pinyuks lay 4-6 eggs at a time. They do not grow their quills until they have reached sexual maturity, so they need to be protected by the herd.