Manicasauria

**Manicasaurs** are a clade of celernantids that are alive today.

## Evolution and taxonomy

Manicasaurs are a slightly more diverse group of terrestrial celernantids, belonging to the Terrarmia clade, also known as the "second wave of terrestrial celernantids". They are found in Virtu, Occidentis and Media Insula, as relevant ground-dwelling terrestrial creatures, in contrast to the more basal terrarcaulians, which are native to Terra Septentrionis. Manicasaurs are however, a sister clade to Septevola, a clade of terrestrial celernantids that evolved to become powerful flying creatures. Manicasaurs share a clade, alongside septevolans, called Brevisurisupia, which originated in the continents south of Terra Septentrionis, in the late Scelusian, 157 million years ago. Manicasaurs themselves evolved in the Variagene, 120 million years ago. The basalmost manicasaur, the altosaurs, are currently found in Virtu, a secluded cold region, where these ancient manicasaurs still inhabit. The biggest manicasaur clade is the Sustansurisupoidea, which originated in the Compsogene, 83 million years ago, characterized for being found in the tropical continents, and for having a defined central proboscis mouth. The basalmost sustansurisupoideans, are the lutrinsidus, which are semi-aquatic and the only ones found in Occidentis, still relying on egg-laying. Then there's the sustansurisupians, which first evolved in isolation, in what is now Media Insula, 46 million years ago, in the early Recensgene. These are viviparous, the only celernantids to be that way, which allowed them to not rely very much on laying eggs in the water, and therefore be able to explore large fast-dwelling guilds on land.

Brevisurisupia (157-0)

* Manicasauria (120-0)
	+ Short-necked altosaur
	+ Sustansurisupoidea (83-0)
		- Lutrinsidus
		- Sustansurisupia (46-0)
			* Manica brachium magna
			* Sustansurisup
* Septevola (118-0)

## Characteristics

Manicasaurs display various interesting characteristics, including several adaptations for the proliferation on land. Starting with their mouths. The mouths of the manicasaurs display a large amount of variation. Unlike terrarcaulians, whose lateral proboscis have no purpose for the consumption of food, the loss of the consumption potential of the lateral proboscis has evolved independently in manicasaurs, though in the species where the consumption potential is not fully lost, its still very residual, indicating, they were already serving less of a function in feeding, in basal manicasaurs. Altosaurs use their lateral proboscis to manipulate the polyspeculate material, and uses the central proboscis to feed. Curiously, it has evolved a trunk, that ends in two hardened appendages to form a beak. This muscular trunk is supported by elongated facial muscles, and has a cavity where the altosaurs use to store food. The central proboscis then slithers to feed on the stored food. Lutrinsidus also lost the abbility of feeding through the lateral proboscis independently, though it is known to absorb some fluids. The central proboscis has become shorter and much, much wider, filled with several internal teeth, to crush, manipulate and bite their prey. The lateral proboscis, lack teeth, and are however used for other purposes, such as somatosensory purposes, and also for the production of an irritating slime. This slime is stored in slime glands in the lateral proboscis of these creatures, and these slime glands are actually common characteristics in every terrarmian. They are either vestigial in some, or used intensively, specially in aquatic creatures, to disincourage predators. The eggs of terrarmians are usually covered in slime, to allow them to be less of a meal for predators. Great grapple-arms retain the abbility of consuming food from the lateral proboscis, albeit they can only eat small pieces of food, using their main proboscis as a means of chewing large chunks of food, thanks to their multiple internal teeth. Sustansurisup has a central proboscis with a beak, to feed on polyspeculates, while the huge and long lateral proboscis are filled with sensory hairs to sense the surroundings. The eyes of manicasaurs have also evolved greatly. Basal ones, like altosaurs, have just one pair of simple eyelidless compound eyes. Lutrinsidus has gone to another step, having divided each eye into two, essentially having four eyes. One pair of eyes sees in a color spectrum that approaches ours, while another pair is used to see in infrared. Sustansurisupians lack the split eyes, only having one pair. However they do have eyelids, to protect their eyes. Sustansurisup has evolved a more advanced compound eye, filled with complex cones to better distinguish the colors that surround them. Manicasaur internal respiratory system has evolved into a complex organ with air sacs and tubes, serving as obvious adaptations for life out of the water. Altosaurs and grapple-arms are known for having rows of spiracles on the belly, below the legs. Lutrinsidus only has one row of three dorsal spiracles, the first two inhaling air, and the last one exhaling air. Sustansurisup also has spiracles on the back, though those are positioned between the third and fourth pair of limbs, with just two pairs of large orifices, with the frontal inhaling pair being able of simple olfactory abbilities. The great grapple-arm has four pairs of spiracles in the belly between the second and third pair od limbs, and another row of four pairs just behind the fourth pair of limbs in the underside.. The limb configuration of manicasaurs is also extremelly variable. They all have eight limbs, but the pairs that are atrophied or elongated are variable and inconsistent, almost. At least one pair of limbs is commonly used for locomotion: the fourth pair of legs. Altosaurs, being the basalmost, retain the largest amount of weight-bearing limbs, with the six last pairs holding the creature on the ground, while the first pair is atrophied and held off the ground. Sustansurisupoideans share the characteristic of having the third pair of limbs held off the ground. Lutrinsidus swims like a frog, using the elongated second and fourth pair of limbs, but having small atrophied first and third fin-like pair of limbs. Most of the times, Lutrinsidus however locomote thanks to their horizontally flattened tail, moving like a typical aquatic mammal, underwater. Sustansurisupians are known to basally walk quadrupedally with their first and fourth pair of limbs. Grapple-arms eventually became bipedal, using their first pair of limbs as scythe-like weapons. The second pair of limbs is super atrophied and serves little purpose in the grapple-arms, though the third pair of limbs is held vertically and ends in menacing claws to attack prey. The first and last pair of limbs of sustansurisup are super long and articulated, and support spurs for defense. The second and third pair of limbs support fans for display. The skin of manicasaurs is largely leathery, lacking external armour. They do have some feathery filaments, but they are largely not covered in filamentous structures. The grapple-arms are the exception with ocre-colored feathered pelts in their body, that get super colorful in the males, during mating season. Their endoskeleton is simple, yet ossified, an adaptation that all major terrestrial celernantid lineages adopted, to support their weight on land, as bones are good for terrestrial support. This ossified endoskeleton is shared by all terrarmians, including terrarcaulians and septevolans, as a part of their land-dwelling adaptations.

Manicasaurs are variable in size. Lutrinsidus, for instance, includes various aquatic creatures, ranging from 1 to 5 meters long. Grapple-arms were descended from small parasitic creatures, that eventually evolved to huge predators, measuring up to 6 meters in length, and 1,5 meters tall at the shoulder. Sustansurisups also are variable in size, the smallest species reach a little over 3 meters in length, while the largest can reach to 7 or even 8 meters in length.

## Distribution and habitat

Manicasaurs, with the constant suffocation of other creatures wandering around in the world, hardly had a cosmopolitan proliferation. One of the big constraints of manicasaur diversity was the reliance in laying eggs on the water, which either placed old terrestrial species enter into competition with other creatures, or forced them to become aquatic, like their earliest ancestors. Altosaurs survive in the secluded regions of Virtu, a relic of more abundant prehistoric egg-laying terrestrial manicasaurs. Lutrinsidus eventually evolved to become aquatic. They currently live in oceanic and freshwater courses around Occidentis. The sustansurisupians, however, by developing viviparity, their young were already born, capable of air-breathing, which allowed them to, with less constraints, conquer various guilds in the mainland. However, sustansurisupians evolved isolated in Media Insula, but large predatory forms, like the grapple-arms and the namesake of the group, the herbivorous sustansurisups, have laid a bright descendance, as the aftermath of the Compsogene-Recensgene extinction event, also provided vacant niches.

## Diet

Manicasaurs display a large variety in diet. Altosaurs are herbivores. They use their mouth to scrape the "bark" out of bone trees and feed on the fleshy leaves. They are not very big, but they are decently tall. Extinct relatives could reach to even bigger heights, and feed on the largest bone trees. Lutrinsidus are aquatic carnivores. They usually pursue underwater prey, but they have been observed hunting prey in the shores. They restrain their prey with their large muscled central mouth. Grapple-arms are pursuit carnivores, hunting in packs, using their limbs, with sharp appendages, to restrain prey. Their ancestors were parasites, but they eventually evolved to become authentic ground-dwelling hunters. Sustansurisup are herbivores, eating sidobosians and other polyspeculates, both on the ground and on the treetops.

## Behaviour and sociality

Manicasaurs display different levels of sociality. Altosaurs live in herds, for mutual protection. They defend themselves using their long tails, that they can use as whip-like weapons. Lutrinsidus is the only manicasaur that prefers to live solitary through most of its life. They may tolerate each other at times, but they prefer hunting alone. Grapple-arms live in packs from 5 to 15 individuals. These packs are not organized by a defined hierarchy, in fact the pack dissipated during mating season, so that each individual can find a mate that is not on their own defined group. Once the mating season ends, the group reunites again, often with new group members rejoining. Sustansurisups also do this, living in groups of three or more individuals, where the groups dissipate in the mating season, and randomly form again as it ends.

## Reproduction

Manicasaurs are basally oviparous, like almost all celernantids. Their fertilization is internal. Altosaurs and Lutrinsidus share egg-laying traits. Altosaurs are part of an old lineage of manicasaurs, which developed mainly terrestrial habits, at the suffocating expense of having to go to the water to lay their leathery eggs. They cover the eggs with slime in a stream of freshwater, that can be monitored by the herd. Once the babies hatch, though, they are able of breathing atmospherical air, unlike the terrarcaulians, which still require being in a larval stage, where they breath underwater. The babies hatch out as miniature versions of the adults and will follow their mother for several months. This reproductive strategy has been used by many terrestrial celernantids, but it has made them specially vulnerable in harsh climatic conditions, making them vulnerable against the changing times. Lutrinsidus overcomes the necessity of laying eggs on the water, to instead evolve an aquatic lifestyle. They still breath atmospherical air. The mother will lay eggs in a stream or in a marine iceflow, cover the eggs in slime, and then the babies hatch out fully developed and capable of air-breathing. The mother will take care of the offspring for a few months. Sustansurisupians have used another strategy to overcome the need of laying eggs underwater, and instead became viviparous, truly the only celernantids known to do this. This allows the embryos to develop in an internal chamber, filled with liquid, that the underdevelop chicks can breath in. Once the live birth occurs, the babies come out fully able of walking and running after a few minutes, which guarantees their adaptation to conquer more inland environments. Grapple-arms, after leaving their group in the mating season, display their sexual dimorphism at their best. While altosaurs and Lutrinsidus males are slightly larger than females, and display very little sexual dimorphism, grapple-arms, just like sustansurisups, have females larger than males. The males of the grapple-arms, however, have a very vibrant sexual dimorphism. In the mating season, males develop super colorful feathers to attract mates, which fade outside of the mating season. This makes them vulnerable to predators and to being spotted by prey, during this epoch... a necessary sacrifice. They also possess a crest supported by bony spikes on its head and neck, which the females lack altogether. Sustansurisup display their small fan-like limbs to the females. Once the mating occurs, the pregnant females of sustansurisupians rejoin in their group, where the mutual protection helps them protect the babies that are born afterwards. Each female, will have two to three babies, that she will take care for a few months.