Mountain Flunejaw

The mountain flunejaw split from its ancestor, following the climber crystalkrugg into the alpines. It shrunk in size to accommodate the lack of resources. Though they will sometimes venture into the boreal to eat the kruggs and related creatures there, its larger ancestor prevents any serious foothold from taking place.

They're physiology has become similar to earth's mountain sheep, which results in surefooted movement on the icy slopes. The coldness of the environment has resulted in the beginnings of endothermy in their bodies, though they still use their sail-spikes to get a boost in the morning.

They hunt their prey by living in pairs, usually a mated couple, though unmated young adults of the same sex are not unheard of. When stalking a group of crystalkruggs, one flunejaw will circle far around to the front of the group and hide while the other flunejaw chases the crystalkruggs towards the first. The flunejaw on ambushing duty will quickly crush as many crystalkruggs as it can before they all scatter, and will share the meal with its partner.

Individuals live for 10 years. When a male matures, the plates near his head will change to a vibrant set of colors and he will begin seeking out a young female. When he locates one, he will hunt down a group of kruggs and try to kill as many as he can at once while she watches; if she likes what she sees then they will share the feast and mate. They will then migrate down to the slightly warmer boreal and she will lay 4-5 eggs which are buried and abandoned. The young take a month to hatch and another 5 months to mature.