Flagelladraco sylvaris

Disclaimer: Flagelladraco sylvaris is a fictional animal from Keenan Taylor's Tales of Kaimere.

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Earth Ancestor: Debated

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Dinosauria

Order: Sauropoda

Family: Flagellosauridae

Genus: Flagelladraco

Species: F. sylvaris

### Description

Most common of these is the whip-tailed *Flagelladraco*, these elephant-sized sauropods live in small groups and keep contact through a vast auditory network, leading some to suggest that their herds are debatably much larger than they initially appear. They are specialist browsers of low-growing vegetation.

   The ends of their tails are mostly comprised of keratin, not bone. The bulky muscles at the base of the tail can be employed to make the tip of the tail snap like a whip. As it is comprised of dead skin, regular cracking leaves the tip frayed and can diminish its efficacy until the distal layers shed, but it doesn’t damage the living tissue further up the tail. Although there are a few instances of them using their tails to deter predators either by auditory snaps or physical contact, which can leave debilitating injuries, they are mostly used to feel nearby members of the herd and to communicate by letting out a distinct crack which can be heard up to fifteen miles away, and the Assembly have identified seven different types of crack patterns. It’s hardly enough to constitute a language, but the herd does seem to respond differently to each ‘word’, and the Assembly has marked this as a subject to investigate further with future missions.

Flagelladraco sylvaris can be differentiated from its cousin by it's significantly smaller size, brown scales, and blue striped tail.

### Phylogeny

Though they have a striking resemblance to Earth's Apatosaurus, it is a member of sauropods unique to Kaimere called Flagellosauridae. As is the case with most animals on the island, their exact ancestry is unknown. Some argue for such derived whip-tailed clades as Diplodocidae, Dicraeosauridae, or Rebbachisauridae, while others think their ancestors were more basal and converged upon the respective bodyplans later in their evolutionary history. That these are descended from small forest sauropods that survived the Dynastic Extinction and recently underwent an adaptive radiation when the giant stegosaurs died out 15 million years ago does lend credence to the latter theory.

### Ontogeny

All sauropods need to nest in dry soil. *Mandosaurus* and *Flagelladraco* both congregate to the southwest, where warm climates combined with cool offshore currents make for a perfect dry, hot climate. It is here that males of both species do battle to impress the female herds. When giants of this size do battle, it is often to the death. Surviving bulls leave as soon as mating is done, while cows depart once their eggs are laid. The bulls who perished serve as a lure from scavengers from all around. *Carnosuchus* in particular gather for the feast. With their sacrifice, the bulls who lay down their lives inadvertently provide a scent distraction from the eggs while the nests are fresh. By the time their bodies have been consumed, the scent of eggs will be masked by weather and decay, and most predators and scavengers depart. When the eggs hatch six months later, it is just as the rainy season begins, and there is a boom of food and underbrush which will guide them to the closed forests, where they will grow over the next years into giants.

### Human Relations

Antiqua Major is constantly rumbling with calls of sauropods. Many of which humans can’t hear because of the lower frequencies, although by all accounts it could be nauseating to be exposed for too long, something also reported to Pakardiant and Arvelith who live amongst titans. Due to their size, aggression, and destructive capabilities, sauropods like Flagelladraco are avoided at all costs by the natives of the islands.