Kong-ape

The **Kong**, *Megaprimatus kong*, is a large, rare, gorilla-like pongine great ape, originally from Skull Island but rediscovered alive on Scar Island. The humans who settled on the island long ago were a devoted culture that revered the giant Kong apes that abound throughout their art. Some have speculated the nonhuman great apes may have arrived with the colonists, alluding to a symbiosis between the humans and the ancestors of Kong. It is an omnivorous ape that measures 18-25 feet tall.

## Obscure origins

The origin of Kong’s species is as obscure as Scar Island itself, but what seems certain is that his kind arrived no earlier than a few thousand years ago and was not originally native to the island at first, but they later evolved into an indigenous species. Mainland Asia is the likely point of ancestral origin.

Though a Kong’s physiology bears strong resemblances to that of African gorillas, some have theorized that the giant pongine great ape *Gigantopithecus* is a possible ancestor.

If so, Kong’s kind has increased in size dramatically in a short space of time. Perhaps this was a natural response to the dangers of the island – the predatory dinosaurs and other aggressive inhabitants? Or perhaps it was evidence of selective breeding? Ape-effigy-bearing ruins abound, supporting the theory of Kong’s kin being revered by the ancient humans of the island. Perhaps the massive apes were also bred by them? Perhaps they were brought with the ancient human colonists from some lost empire in Asia? The answers to these questions may someday be known in the distant future.

## Living together

Kong's species live in small familial units. While Kong’s home is in the mountainous uplands, the rest of his kind lives mostly in the jungle, where food is more abundant.

Adults protect the young from dangerous predatory animals like *Foetodon* and guide them in finding food. While young are vulnerable, the huge adult males are easily a match for the most dangerous carnivores on the island. The apes are able to combine massive strength with incredible dexterity. They also have the added advantage of grasping hands on all four limbs and, as any kind of ape shows, the intelligence to strategize and outthink opponents.

In their groups, strong emotional connections between individuals yield tight alliances, and the communicative skills of the apes serves to reinforce their bonds. Vocalizations form a strong part of the species’ communication, but subtleties of body language and posturing are as important. At their most subtle, these can be a flash of the eyelids or a glance to acknowledge another individual. At the other end of the spectrum, the mighty chest-pounding, a standing roar is an unmistakable proclamation of power and dominance. Some of these many behaviors are similar enough to complex human behavior to suggest strong emotional development in the pongines.

## Age-old rivals

There is an age-old enmity that exists between the giant Kongs and the D. rexes. Both immensely powerful animals, these great titans clash again and again in ground-shaking contests of tooth versus fist, tyrannosaur bloodlust versus primate cunning.

D. rexes view young and weakling Kongs as food and are brave or foolish enough to risk injury to get at them. Both species take the opportunity to kill the young or weaklings of the other in an attempt to eliminate future threats and neither would accept the encroachment of the other into their territory. Subadult D. rexes, less wary than their seniors and in a hurry to establish territories of their own, will be led into conflict with the apes.

The apes use whatever lay at hand as weapons, and the D. rexes come armed with massive, crushing gin-trap jaws. The beasts can inflict savage wounds upon one another. Most clashes are short – one party backing off when the odds are evaluated as out of their favor. But when the stakes are high enough, the conflicts become battles to the death.

Like other great ape species, they usually breed seldom and the young take years to attain self-sufficiency, so family life is recommended.