Motomazor

Disclaimer: The Motomazor is a fictional mosasaur from Keenan Taylor's Tales of Kaimere

## Cladistics

### Earth Ancestor

Earth Ancestor: Mosasaurinae or Plioplatecarpinae sp.

### Family

Superfamily: MosasauroideaFamily: Unknown

## Description

The motomazor is the apex predator of Kaimere's oceans. At 45-55 feet in length and weighing 30-45 tons, they are among the largest animals in their environment, with the sperm whale of southern seas, a few baleen whales, and occasional megalodon individuals being the only animals to surpass them in size. They have a generalist diet, although show a preference for mammalian prey such as cetaceans and pinnipeds with high lipid content. Likely due to this dietary preference, they demonstrate much higher intelligence than other Kaimeran mosasaurs. Their bites are exceptionally powerful. A lot of convergence is seen between them and *Tyrannosaurus*, with bone-crushing force and flesh-cutting serrations. The muscles that open their jaws are also strong, which is employed in the rapid opening that creates a vacuum to suck smaller prey in. Unlike many mosasaurs, such as the Katabo that swim with a serpentine full-body undulation, the motomazor swim with their tails, which is more energy-efficient. They prefer warm waters, usually between 100-500 meters in depth, and therefore are rare in the polar seas and inland seas of the known world.

These massive endothermic mosasaurs are gregarious, giving live birth and demonstrating long-term parental care. Although they generally hunt alone, they keep tabs on other motomazor in their range, and show a fission-fusion lifestyle of traveling together and cooperatively hunting now and then. Nonspecific conflict is known though, although is usually to assert social status, and is rarely lethal. Offspring are protected, and there are even instances of unrelated animals protecting young from other predators. They also readily hunt and kill young of competing species. This habit is particularly common with young *megalodon*, the species most likely to hunt young motomazor. Indeed the few times they travel to the inner sea is males seeking out and killing young of this shark. This combination of versatile diet and nonspecific cooperation is why they have outcompeted other large mosasaurs, which niche partition with specialized diets.

Motomazor also exhibit moderate color change depending on habitat, with individuals in shallow waters showing the familiar tan coloration, and those in open water habitats exhibiting a much darker contrast.

Pelagic morph of the Motomazor- Keenan TaylorAnother Pelagic Motomazor- Keenan TaylorMotomazor hunts beaked whales- J StockyA pod of male pelagic Motomazor strategically take down a Whaler Shark- J Stocky
## Habitat

The Motomazor is prevalent throughout the the equatorial seas of Kaimere and occasionally ventures into the inland sea. They prefer warm waters, usually between 100-500 meters in depth, and therefore are rare in the polar seas and inland seas of the known world.

## Phylogeny

Motomazor are apart of the 'whale lizard' clade of Kaimeran mosasaurs.

## Ontogeny

Motomazor, like other mosasaurs give live-birth, they have also been documented to demonstrated prolonged parental care. Offspring generally live with and are protected by their mothers until they reach a stage of adulthood where they must make their own family. Young Motomazor sport a hide of leopard patterned scales which as the individual grows older, transitions into a tan coloration and developing the 'eye spot' and 'false gill' characteristic of the species. The bloated jaws and nasal crest of males also only show up when they reach sexual maturity.

## Sexual Dimorphism

Males have pronounced jaws (mostly fat for display) and a small nasal crest which makes them look quite different in profile compared to the more streamlined females. They can take on the sandy color when hunting in shallows but since males are more pelagic they are almost always the darker hue.
Males tend to be a lot less territorial than females (their size meaning they often have to keep on the move to get sufficient food) so getting enough food for such a display signal while on the move means they are in excellent shape. They still fight each other if there are multiple receptive cows in a region, but usually they arrive alone due to their wanderings and the jaw fullness is indicative of virility.

## Human Relations

Interestingly and unfortunately, Motomazor show an awareness of humans on ships, and are especially prone to attacking ships in the open seas. Scholars believe this is a relic passed down from when the First Children may have hunted them, likely derived from their instinct to kill predators that hunt their young. Whatever the reason, their attacks are especially common in oceans, and this is cited as the primary reason that Kaimeran civilization has not expanded beyond the known world. Kaimerans are rarely eaten in these events, but almost always killed, in much the same way that they do young of competing predators.

## Redesigns

The Motomazor has had 3 redesigns, it was originally depicted as an eel-like placoderm, but later on was redesigned as a mosasaur, and could also be referred to as Katabo, an animal which would later get its own design. The Motomazor was yet again redesigned with a more cetacean-like appearance, with a melon to boot. In its' most recent design, (at least in males) the skull has become far more robust and lizard-like.

Original vision for the Motomazor- Keenan Taylor circa 2005First mosasaur Motomazor- Keenan Taylor3rd redesign of the Motomazor- Keenan Taylor