Bannertail

The Bannertail replaced its ancestor and, with its previously developed intelligence and social lifestyle, became a prominent social predator comparable to a rather oversized wolf. Though it does not fill its ancestor’s entire range, its ancestor could not live on the beach or plains alone—in fact, at the time of evolution just a single plains population of Rainbowtail still exists, but it will soon go extinct due to there not being enough rain for consistent reproduction. Though smart, the Bannertail is notably not self-aware; it has knowledge and can have cultural ideas, but it doesn’t actually know that it knows or what that means. Its intelligence and cultural development, to the degree that the latter exists, can be thought of as a long game of follow-the-leader, as it struggles to actually invent new things on purpose like a more self-aware creature could. It is named for its unusual fin-like tail, which is banner-like and can produce color patterns of far greater complexity. A flap of skin, called the “shade”, is used to help with visibility by casting a shadow over the bioluminescent banner; this is similar to a strategy used by Terran traffic lights to improve visibility in bright sunlight.

As the unrelated Drakeshrog moved inland, the Bannertail encountered and co-evolved with it, as the Drakeshrog could learn to understand some of the Bannertail’s color-based language and imitate its warning signal. As an intelligent social creature, even though it was the less intelligent of the two, the Bannertail recognized a Drakeshrog’s value to the pack and eventually welcomed it in. As such, the Bannertail and the Drakeshrog are in a symbiotic relationship where a Drakeshrog acts as the Bannertail pack’s ears and architect in exchange for food and protection. Nearly every pack has at least one shrog, as those without one are at a serious disadvantage. Especially large packs may have as many as 3 shrogs. The Drakeshrog’s ability to build insulated and watertight structures proved vital in the Bannertail’s spread into colder montane climates.

One of the main aspects of the relationship with the Drakeshrog that allowed the Bannertail to expand its range was that the nests built by the Drakeshrog held in heat better, preventing spawning pools from freezing in the chillier parts of the mountains. However, the Bannertail still cannot live at especially high elevations due to its lack of insulating integument and because the cold would eventually win out and freeze the spawning pools overnight. The spawning pools are made of adobe. In a rare case of inter-species cultural exchange, the ability to construct adobe was also spread to the Drakeshrog, and was combined with the Drakeshrog’s existing flora-based nest-building techniques to invent earthen plaster, which is very effective at insulating and water-proofing.

Similar to its ancestor, the Bannertail forms packs consisting of a few mating pairs and their young. Sometimes, groups may have even more mating pairs, as many as 15, though such groups are prone to eventual fission. The Bannertail constructs spawning pools of abode and earthen plaster, sometimes with assistance from the more dexterous Drakeshrog. These pools are roughly two meters wide and half a meter deep. Water from rain, snow, and nearby bodies of water is transported to the spawning pools using hollowed cryobowls. Spawning occurs in the spring, when rain and snowmelt provide a good source of water. The aquatic babies feed on microbes, cloudswarmer larvae, cryobowl fruit, and parts of large kills brought to them by the adults. Juveniles gain terrestrial adaptations by summer, and they will stay with the pack and help them hunt until they reach full size. Sometimes adult offspring will stay with the pack, but most will disperse late the following spring.

New packs of Bannertails may be formed by fission, where a large pack with multiple shrogs splits apart, or by dispersers. In instances of dispersal, a young Bannertail will need to seek out a mate (a fellow disperser of the opposite sex) and a dispersal Drakeshrog. A few other young breeding pairs may join the group, creating a founding population already capable of taking on large prey, but only one Drakeshrog will be included in the initial pack. In the mountainous part of its range, sufficient nests must be constructed before winter or else the young pack will freeze to death. There will usually be a single main first-year nest which the whole pack sleeps in, and as time goes on more nests and more spawning pools will be constructed. These can resemble villages, complete with dirt paths leading between different nests worn down by the footsteps of many Bannertails.

Hilariously, the symbiosis between the Drakeshrog and the Bannertail created an aesthetic so convincingly tribe-like that it fooled the Nauceans, the alien beings which seeded Sagan IV with life. The Nauceans abducted a Bannertail, but as they tried to communicate with it they swiftly learned that it was not even self-aware, let alone sapient. Still, the Bannertail's language was complex enough that the Nauceans were able to ask it questions, from which they learned of the Drakeshrog—which they had previously dismissed as a domesticated pet. They proceeded to abduct a Drakeshrog, which they found to be self-aware, but they struggled to communicate until the Nauceans realized the Drakeshrog did not have a language. Realizing they had been fooled, the Nauceans quietly returned the abducted creatures to their pack and left them alone from then on.