Exipteryx

Juvenile hunting a gliding ambulospeculid

The Exipteryx (six wings) is a flying creature native to the mediterranean climates of the planet Wallace II. The name comes from it’s number of wings, situated in the next way: 2 big ones coming from the front of it’s chest, which are the principal wings for flying, then a pair of smaller ones on it’s pelvic region, which help the creature glide and change directions easier, and finally, another small pair situated on the tail, perfect for making precise changes, giving the Exipteryx really good agility when flying.

The ancestors of the Exipteryx are the Gomphiobians. As these animals made their way onto land, they evolved limbs to support their weight, but keeping some fins, since they were still amphibians. Some of them started climbing the trees, developing special claws on their feet, which allowed for both running on the ground and grabbing on branches. This claws transformed into deadly sharp weapons perfect for holding prey.
The display structure on top of the Gomphiobian became a membrane sensible to vibrations, and it ended up becoming an “ear” located on the superior part of the Exipteryx’s skull.
Because the creatures were amphibians, they had to return to the water every once in a while. Because of this, they kept their fins. Developing lungs for air breathing allowed the creatures to reside on the trees full time. Their fins, once used for swimming, were now used as a gliding structure, reducing the chance of damage when falling from the trees. Eventually, the gliding fins became wings capable of pushing the creature through the skies. The extra limbs ended up disappearing, because they increased the animal's weight and were just an extra load.
The head evolved into a triple sided prehensile mandible. With this change, the Exipteryx didn’t need a heavy mass of muscle on its neck, making the animal lighter. The number of proboscis on the mouth also reduced to only one. However, the mucus on this proboscis has an anticoagulant effect, making the Exipteryx’s bite very dangerous.
The compound eyes developed a thin membrane to keep the eye moist out of the water. With time, the membrane evolved into a lens-like structure, providing the Exipteryx with exceptional vision for accurate flying. Some compound eyes are still present on the animal’s head, acting as movement sensors.
The size of the Exipteryx is relatively big for a flying creature on Earth, but still pretty small for a creature in Wallace II. At max, they will reach 2 meters in length and will have a 3.5 meters wingspan.

The Exipteryx male and female appear no different from one another except for their reproductive organs and their colour. The males have bright reds, yellows and blues (like the one showcased in the drawings) while the females are basically black with a few red spots.
The females will lay from one to three eggs on top of a tree. There’s a 65% chance the newborn will be a female. When the eggs hatch, the baby Exipteryx are not ready to fly yet, but they are already capable of short distance gliding. This is a great method to escape predators when they are still too weak to defend themselves.
When they are big enough, they will leave the tree and go exploring by themselves. In this adolescent phase, they hunt small creatures and develop their adult colours. Once they have completely matured, they start to search for other Exipteryx to form small groups of 3 to 5 individuals. In this groups, there’s usually only one male, that will mate with the females when season comes (the mating season occurs at the end of winter: this way, the newborn hatch at early summer, when they have more chances of survival). Living in groups allows the Exipteryx to hunt prey bigger than themselves. The members of the pack will bite the prey a couple times and then let the animal bleed to death. The male will also defend the pack’s territory in case other Exipteryx show up. This results in spectacular mid-air battles between the males.