Spotted Drakeflune

As Drake moved further and further north and the land cooled, the forests to the south were shrinking more and more, giving way to open scrub and grassland. While some species like the lizalopes and signaltails have greatly benefited from this gradual change, others would instead suffer and decline. For the populations of finback flunejaws that were present on Drake, the changing climate and increased pressure from competition that have better dealt with these changes meant they had to adapt or die. This would result in the evolution of the spotted drakeflune, which has replaced their ancestor on Drake.

As so many large carnivores were present out in the open plains, the spotted drakeflunes avoided competition with them by shrinking down in size and feeding on overall smaller game. To better blend in to more open habitats, the spotted drakeflune has a more yellowish hide to better blend in with the brown and golden soil and has purple spots to break up its outline. For the most part, the spotted drakeflune hunts small game such as crystank walkers, small nodents, and uktanks, ambushing them from cover and snapping them up. The head has grown slightly larger, with larger jaw muscles that power a strong bite. The serrations along its jaw help with applying large forces, crushing bone and armor to kill the prey quickly. While such small game are enough to satisfy the snapper, they will also go after prey such as lizalopes and young lipped saucebacks in areas where the species coexist.

To hunt such fleet-footed prey, the spotted drakeflune relies on various cursorial adaptations inherited from their ancestors. The long legs of the snapper can cover a lot of ground in a single galloping stride, while its large nostrils and lungs can quickly pump air in and out so it can keep up a pursuit. The dark purple pattern on its face still helps the spotted drakeflune with keeping the sun out of the snapper's eyes, so they can remain focused on a target. A moderately long tail helps with maintaining balance and the claws on the spotted drakeflune’s feet help grip the ground when making sharp turns. These all culminate in the spotted drakeflune being able to keep up a pursuit for about an hour, often chasing its prey into exhaustion. If the prey is too exhausted to keep going or trips and falls down, the spotted drakeflune will rush in to deliver a killing bite. The teeth of this snapper have small serrations along their edges, helping to slice off chunks of flesh to then be swallowed whole. Swallowing the meat whole means the spotted drakeflune can eat in bulk relatively quickly, being able to eat as much as a quarter of their body weight in one sitting if they can. They usually don’t get the chance, however, as the smell of a fresh kill will quickly attract larger carnivores such as signaltails and other flunejaws who in turn can bully a spotted drakeflune off the carcass.

When it comes to hunting phlyers, a spotted drakeflune will try to get as close as possible before rushing in. Large muscles that allow the spotted drakeflune to gallop at a decent pace also help power large jumps, which means the spotted drakeflune can leap into the air to either snap up a phlyer taking off or to smack it out of the sky and back to the ground where it can then finish it off quickly. Though it will usually hunt down prey like phlyers, lizalopes, or small nodents, the spotted drakeflune will feed on carrion when the opportunity arises. The species does need to feed fairly regularly, as it has shifted towards a mesothermic metabolism to better power its active lifestyle.

In terms of reproduction, the spotted drakeflune is pretty similar to its ancestor. Females will dig out a shallow pit in the dirt before laying about 5-10 hard shelled eggs. From there, the mother will bury the eggs and remain in the area, keeping watch for any potential nest raiders. After about a month incubating, the young will hatch and dig their way out. While they can catch their own prey from the get-go, the baby spotted drakeflunes will still stick around their mother for protection and will share any kills made by her. For about 9 months, the young will remain under the mother’s protection, even assisting her in hunts for the last 2 or 3 months. By assisting her in hunting prey like lizalopes, the youngsters will learn the skills needed to tackle such fast moving prey, increasing their chances of success when they are finally driven away by their mother and start lives of their own.