Flyabovi
| Flyabovi | ||
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| (Xylopterotherium aerobrachion) | ||
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| Information | ||
| Creator | OviraptorFan Other | |
| Week/Generation | 27/167 | |
| Habitat | Wallace Savanna, Wallace Tropical Scrub, West Wallace Tropical Woodland, Raptor Chaparral, Dixon Subtropical Woodland, Dixon Tropical Woodland, Central Wallace Tropical Woodland, Central Wallace Tropical Scrub, Darwin Tropical Scrub, North Darwin Chaparral | |
| Size | 32 centimeters long, 64 centimeter wingspan | |
| Primary Mobility | Unknown | |
| Support | Endoskeleton (Jointed Wood) | |
| Diet | Omnivore (Xenobees, Minikruggs, Cloudswarmers, Silkruggs, Xenowasps, Gsuhitos, Dartirs, Sapworms, Sapshrooms, Floraverms, Sweetworms, Leepi Meepi, Vermees, Larands, Gamergate Gundis, Uniwingworms, Dragonworms, Minibees, Hanging Frabooballs, Oozocorns, Neuks, Mudfish, Krikree eggs and chicks, Crystal Entourage Swordgrasses, Ferries berries and seeds, Crunchy Trufflegrass, Rock Ferries berries and seeds, Fieldzeug spore pods, Poison Shroom berries, Royal Doubleshroom, Pinoke berries and seeds, Cartainpalm fruits and seeds, Coniflor capsules, Cragmyr fruits and seeds, Robust Arid Ferine berries and seeds, Nightcrawler Borvermid, Lazarus Soriparasite, Fruiting Grovecrystal fruit, Scrubland Tubeplage fruit, Scrubland Quhft fruits and seeds, Fuzzpile berries and seeds, Communal Janit, Infilt Pewpa juveniles, Ferry Quail eggs and chicks, Mainland Fuzzpalm berries and seeds, Tropical Gecoba Tree fruits, Weird-Boned Twintail, Madamedusa Vine seed bubbles, Carnossamer fruits and seeds, Hydrabowl fruit, Mouse Gryphler, young Glideabovi, Berry Arbourshroom, Tamed Berry Arbourshrooms, Sruglettes) | |
| Respiration | Active (Lungs) | |
| Thermoregulation | Endotherm | |
| Reproduction | Sexual (Male and Female, Live Birth) | |
| Taxonomy | ||
| Domain Superkingdom Kingdom Subkingdom Phylum Class Subclass Superorder Order Family Genus Species | Eukaryota Viridisagania Mancerxa Phytozoa (info) Chloropodia (info) Phyllauria (info) Xylodonta (info) Formicomures Monobiotheria Xylopterotheriidae Xylopterotherium Xylopterotherium aerobrachion | |
| Ancestor: | Descendants: |
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As some populations of glideabovi inhabited more open woodland rather than dense tropical rainforests, they generally had to cover larger distances between individual trees. As their extensive membranes acted as a parachute to drag out their descents, some individuals would try to beat their limbs to obtain just a little bit of height and increase the overall distance they could travel. Over time, those who could better beat their forelimbs to gain extra height during their traversal between trees would be selected for, until eventually these nodents split off from their ancestor and became a unique taxon. While the glideabovi was the first ever nodent to take to the air, this new species known as the flyabovi, is the first member of the group to have developed powered flight.
While the glideabovi can be generally described as a treedundi that developed membranes between their digits, the flyabovi has developed many adaptations that heavily distinguish it from the small arboreal dundis they once evolved from. For example, the forelimbs have become fully specialized as wings, with the four long fingers being connected by membranes that form the shape of the wing. Since it was already vestigial in their ancestors, the flyabovi has fully lost its fifth finger, and the claws on the other four fingers have been heavily reduced in size. While the forelimbs have become even more specialized for movement in the air, the hind limbs have gone the opposite direction. The skin membrane is heavily reduced on the hind limbs, granting them better mobility for things like walking, while the toes have mostly reduced in size and the two upper digits have moved down to be closer to the three lower digits. This all makes it better for the flyabovi to walk around with their feet while not sacrificing their grasping ability, allowing the dundi to hang upside down from branches when in rest. While the feet are still good for holding onto branches, the lack of any grasping appendages on the forelimbs means the flyabovi is actually a poor climber, unlike its primarily or even strictly arboreal ancestors. On the flipside, the flyabovi is pretty good at walking on the ground, as the wing will fold up backward and the nodent rests on its wrists which have developed wooden pads to prevent damage when on the ground. All of this means that a flyabovi can comfortably walk around on all fours and can even move with quite some speed, being able to obtain a fairly respectable gallop.
The dentition of the flyabovi has hardly changed from their ancestor with the two buck teeth of this species still acting as grinding plates to help crush up their food into small pieces for their back teeth to then further process. The large canines directly in front of the other back teeth on the upper jaw in the glideabovi are still quite prevalent. This is because the canines are still used for their original function, being used for intraspecific combat over resources and roosting spots and for killing small prey, though the latter function has become much more prevalent than in their ancestor. Indeed, meat makes up a larger part of a flyabovi's diet than what can be seen in their ancestor with the species readily snatching small flying prey on the wing or snapping it up when foraging on the ground. Despite this, the flyabovi does still feed on a good portion of fruit and seeds, since they provide large amounts of energy and their dentition is well suited to processing it. Much like their ancestor, the flyabovi relies on its sharp senses of sight and hearing to both find food and avoid potential predators in the area. If it senses danger on the ground, the flyabovi will lean back and then vault itself into the air within a second using its strong forelimbs. The naturally bendy nature of its wooden skeleton makes this task somewhat easier compared to a creature with a skeleton made of bone. While it will take off this way when on the ground, a flyabovi hanging down from a branch can simply let go and open their wings as they drop.
Like the glideabovi and the handlicker dundis, flyabovis are strictly solitary creatures, only coming together to mate during the two week mating season in late spring. In a similar fashion to their ancestor, female Flyabovis produce large litters of young that are independent from birth to keep up with predation rates. Unlike the glideabovi, young flyabovis can easily cover a good amount of ground since their ability to fly means they can safely make it from tree to tree in their fairly open habitats. Despite this, a good amount of the young do get eaten from a variety of predators, ranging from biats to small skysnappers to even certain varieties of large wingworm such as the dragonworms. Adults themselves don't have it much better, with flyabovis being lucky to live over six years and more often falling victim to predation in just three to four years. Flyabovis also experience a fair amount of competition from the ferry quails and krikrees, both of whom have a good amount of overlap in terms of diet. It is this competition that has caused flyabovis to develop the habit of breaking into the nests of these little saucebacks to consume their eggs and chicks, as it both eliminates future competition and gives them a relatively easy meal. This in turn has resulted in these small biats to seek out and kill young flyabovis when they get the chance.