Petrified Forest Thanator

The Petrified Forest Thanator is a thanator subspecies.
Can only be found at A Fool's Retreat in the center of Rider's Stretch in the Heart of the Plains.
==Behavior==
An extremely dangerous predator that will stalk and ambush its prey.
==Anatomy==
Armored head and massive distensible armored jaw.
Teeth are twenty-three centimeters long.
Burnished black skin banded with stripes of yellow and scarlet.
Ten external sensory quills.
Upper lips fold back for maximum tooth extension
Armored plating over dorsal area.
Apex land predator, omnivore with preference for nocturnal hunting.
==Description==
The most fearsome of all Pandoran land predators.
Wide, armored tail can slam prey or defend against other thanators.
Cartilaginous plates around its neck that can flare, possibly as a threat display but more likely as an echolocation or other sensory pinpointing system.
Given its anatommy, it is likely that thanator is evolutionary relative to the viperwolf.
Although many regions of the moon have yet to be explored, Xenobiologists currently believe that the thanator may be the apex land predator on Pandora.
Reminiscent of a Terran panther, this enormous, powerful animal is unisuqe in its ability to lord over its territory and strike fear into the largest and fiercest of Pandaora's creatures.
Even the Na'vi, who are renowned for their courage, are shaken by the approach of the creature.
Its musculature is pronounced and impressive, providing power for protracted runs and leaps.
The speed of its neck and jaw strike is as swift as a camera shutter.
In addition to conventionnal ripping and tearing, the thanator can also deliver a lethal blow from its armored tail.
The thanator's senses are so highly developed that, depending on atmospheric conditions, it can detect prey up to thirteen kilometers aways.
The thanator appears to hunt alone and normally does no stray outside of its territory, which is believed to be roughly 300 square kilometers.
It appears to hunt mainly at night, although seems to make an exception if hungry enough.
Surprinsingly, the thanator has ten sensory quills, two each sprouting from armor plating that encircle the reat of the skull.
The function of the quills is poorly understood, but it has been hypothesized that they may be tied to an internal mechanism of prey location.
==See also==
*Kinglor Wetlands Thanator
*Boulderlands Thanator
*White Moss Forest Thanator
*Feathered Grasslands Thanator
==Sources==
*Hunter's Guide in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.
Category:Creatures
Category:Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
Category:Carnivore