Ophan Skeggox

Replacing its ancestor in its range, the Ophan Skeggox has further specialized to make the most out of the Kleptoparasitic and scavenging lifestyle it has inherited from its Ophan Scimitar ancestor. A large thick necked brute, it will lazily approach a dead carrion and claim it for itself, initimidating other scavengers as well as the predators that made the kill. It's backplates have increased in size and now grown into each other, bringing together their mass and thick neck muscles and culminating in a large front horn, giving it the bearded battleaxe shape that is the skeggox's namesake, using the horn claim the territory around the carcass, fight rivals, and aids in cracking bone and armor pieces while it eats.

Like its ancestor, it uses the rocking motion while feeding and visible spots on its tail to create the illusion of an Argusraptor's face running towards the observer, with different breeds of Skeggox mimicking the colors of the local Argusraptor's breeds, often amplified with dark lines that broadcast the illusion from larger viewing distances, taking a form that coincidentally tends to mimic Terran Haida line art.

With a preference for open plains and a lifestyle demanding vast territories and young that require a lot of mutual investment, once they find a good mate there is no reassurance of reliably finding another one, so they settle into lifelong bonded Ophan pairs called Bikes. They judge each other by a vivid and animated mating display in which an outercoat of feathers switches places with an undercoat of feathers of a contrasting color using the small hydrostatic muscles at the base of the feather, resulting in an animated display of moving stripes across their plumage in all but the thin bristle feathers covering their lower half. They will take turns protecting the nest, brooding the eggs, feeding their young regurgitated food, and eventually start bringing the older juveniles with them to learn how to find and secure food. The juvenile's backplates do not yet grow into each other, providing a spikey defensive measure, and their tail feathers delay the growth of barbs, allowing them to function as quills and making the juveniles a difficult meal to eat without injury.