Couatl

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The Couatl is an ophidiosk native to Arrathen. It is an apex predator in its region.

Physiology

Up to six metres long and massing up to sixty kilograms, the Couatl is highly divergent from all other ophidiosk forms. While aerial and possessing an endoskeleton, it seems these traits evolved convergently with those of the other, smaller aerial ophidiosks. The possibility that it is a survivor from a far older group of animals is currently the one most favoured by scholars, though there is a significant body of evidence suggesting that it evolved along its own lines from a long-separated branch of the group on islands off the main continent. It is intriguing that no similar fossils have been found on the planet dating further back than 3MYA, though this may be due to the structure of its bones, which make them very unlikely to have been preserved. In addition, the islands are not conducive to fossil formation.

Molecular evidence may prove or disprove any of these theories, but as of yet it has not been studied. Researchers are advised to stay away from couatl specimens due to the hazard they present and the difficulty of finding them on Arrathen.

The couatl has six wings, adapted for soaring with deep slots. The first two are mounted on front limbs, with many hooks along their edge and are, like the rest of the body, covered in downy fluff. Here however, it toughens and lengthens, producing an alula. On the back of each wing are widened filaments that act like 'flight feathers'. The couatl can produce large amounts of thrust, rotating each wing in its socket. The middle wings are very similiar, and the hind wings are much the same as the front wings though weaker and shorter.

They are flapped sequentially, though the animal prefers to glide when possible. It can reach air speeds of 69km/h, and when diving almost double that. Powerful pectoral and pseudopectoral muscles anchoring each wing limb allow this. The animal possesses a very rapid and efficient metabolism, even possessing a kind of pseudo-endothermy where it rapidly shivers internal and otherwise minor muscles inside its body to keep its core body temperature higher than that of the environment.

The couatl's head is thin and narrow, bare of down that would otherwise become matted with blood and gore. Many shearing teeth, along with two retractible fangs in the upper mandible, occupy its jaws. Its eyes, formed from seven rows of ommatidia, are exceptionally acute, and the couatl can allegedly spot movement on the ground from five miles away, and distinguish between thousands of colours even in dim starlight. They are iridescent.

Many long filaments, of varying colours, make complex patterns on the couatl's side. They are formed in such a way that they break up the creature's profile, particularly in darkness. The tail bears a brush-like tip. Underneath the filaments there is a thick protein matrix suffused with fibres that provides great toughness, but low weight. The creature's internal bones are also very light.

Its fangs contain a very fast acting neurotoxin. They are adapted to find gaps in ophidiosk armour and break through into the bloodstream.

Couatl specimens have been shown to sleep with half their brain at a time, so avoiding the need to rest their bodies completely at any point.

Diet

The couatl is exclusively carnivorous, eating only animals. It shuns carrion, consuming exclusively fresh meat.

Reproduction

Couatls mate in the air, wrapping around each other to copulate. The female lays a clutch of one to four eggs in the treetops, in a nest made from leaves and twigs. This nest can be a metre across and weigh a hundred kilograms. A layer of detritus then goes over this, to incubate them.

The eggs take around two months to hatch, and the offspring are around 30cm long. They grow rapidly, and can fly from the age of five months, catching small prey on their own at this time. Their fangs are not well developed at this point, and their teeth needle-like. As they mature, they develop adult colouration and teeth.

Intelligence and behaviour

Couatls show great intelligence. They have been observed to hunt large prey in packs, and set up ambushes from the trees where other members of the group funnel animals towards their hiding place. Some specimens have also been seen pulling down branches from trees to act as obstacles in the progress of the prey.

They have also been seeing dropping used nests and branches on other animals to stun or kill them.

Groups of couatls occasionally 'wage war', systematically killing off members of the other group and abducting eggs and young.

Distribution

Due to their great effectiveness as predators, couatls are present in many locations on Arrathen. However, their success can work against them, as they often rapidly exhausting areas and being forced to move on. This means "wars" are common, resulting in a steady population of couatls. However, some scholars theorise this will actually result in a few extremely large groups of couatl which will pose an ecosystem-destroying threat to any region they inhabit.