Arborecursor

Arborecursor (trees runner) is a genus of giraffapiscatorid, gomphiobioan, dispeculates. It is a carnivorous genus very well adapted for the "tree" life on the celestiphytans that populate the great jungles of the Media Insula continent, especially the abundant Keratodermata. They are also very effective animals when it comes to capturing small ambulospeculids, so it could be said that it has an “insectivorous” diet.

Three species of this genus are known; A. cristatus (the type species), A. viridis and A. silvestris.

## Description

They can reach sizes of 1 m in length and 40 cm in height but this varies with the species being the largest A. cristatus and reaching the others lower measures than those described.

The main features of the genus are:

-A moderately long neck, although not as much as in other members of Giraffapiscatoridae.

-Three pairs of limbs, having lost the fourth pair typical of other Giraffapiscatorids.

-Extremely long and flexible fingers, even longer than the rest of the leg.

-A long prehensile tail that is half the length of the animal although it is usually wrapped on itself.

-A kind of hump-like structure on the back.

-A head composed of bony plates, which ends in a very sharp syringe-shaped plate, with an internal channel that connects with the animal's digestive system. The bowl-shaped mouth has been lost in this genus.

-Two tentacles with a bone tip at the end that leave the head, which is typical of the family, but coming from the sides of the head instead from the bottom in this genus. The bone projections are long, straight and not serrated as in the genus Giraffapiscator.

-Two very colorful D-shaped crests that come from the sides of the head and another less colorful dorsal crest that goes from the head to the hump. These structures are only observable in males being totally absent in females.

-Two breathing holes in the typical dorsal position of the Giraffapiscatorids.

## Lifestyle

These animals spend their entire lives on celestiaphytan organisms, making slow movements and taking advantage of their green tones to camouflage themselves and avoid the abundant jungle predators such as the Paper Hawk. To hunt they rely completely on their excellent vision to locate their prey and on camouflage to get close enough to stab them with their sharp tentacles. Subsequently they nail their syringe-shaped mouth into the dam and suck out the internal fluids. From this species someone would expect an strong competition with the members of Arborserpereidae, as both groups occupy a similar niche in the ecosystem, however the second ones are more specialized in removing the ambulospeculids from their hiding places within the celestiphytans while the Arborecursor prefer to capture to the most agile “insects”. Due to this partition of the niche both species can coexist peacefully.

These animals pair for life and the female and the male rarely separate. They mate once a year and when the time comes to lay the eggs the female descends to the ground and deposits the eggs in a hole while the male watches from the heights. The eggs are abandoned and 5 months later the pups are born and climb to the nearest “tree”. Males will never leave the "trees" while females will do it once a year to lay eggs.