Quetzal Uxoriae

This group of gomphiobia are native to equatorial areas, They are predators that are adorn in feathers and have a common ancestor with another group, the tree scrapers. There are 6 species in the Quetzal Uxoriae family: Quetzal Custos, Quetzal Viatorem, Quetzal Rebus, Quetzal Necrum, Quetzal Castellum and Quetzal Insidiis.

## Description

### Body Shape and Features

The Quetzal Uxoriae family is very similar in body shape, the head of Quetzals starts in a large axe shaped crest with a sharp turn under the chin and a broad plain on top. The mouth owns 18-46 pairs of incisor teeth, getting denser in concentration the further back into the mouth. All species own 3 pairs of large nostrils that grant them a sense of smell nearly unmatched by creatures of Earth. The top of the head is crowned by brightly coloured feathers on males but no such crown exists on females. These feathers usually lay relaxed on the top of the head but muscles on the head can contract, standing these feathers upright in quite flashy displays. the end of the jawbone has 2-4 pairs of teeth that grow out off the skin which is assumed to be the remnants of an ancestor. A medium-long neck attaches the head to the bulky shoulders, With skin covered with small,light feathers, and to the first set of arms. These arms typically serve as a form of locomotion for when in walking speed. On males, these arms are adorn with long brightly coloured feathers, much like the crown, used for displays and courtship. These arms end in 2-4 fingers and long, pointed claws. the second pair of arms also sport longer display feathers on males but are used very uniquely by females (see Life and social structure). The next pair are simple legs with a lot of muscle mass, letting some species reach top speeds of 52 kmph. The back of the abdomen and neck usually has camouflage matching the biome that each species lives in and this pattern run half the length of the tail. The last pair of limbs are very small, used originally as climbing legs by their ancestors but has just not had the time to reses back into the body.

Quetzal Custos averages 642 cm in length from head to tail and weighs 220 kg

Quetzal Viatorem averages 1166 cm in length from head to tail and weights 1006 kg

Quetzal Rebus averages 66 cm in length from head to tail and weights 4 kg

Quetzal Necrum averages 835 cm in length from head to tail and weighs 473 kg

Quetzal Castellum averages 772 cm in length from head to tail and weighs 444 kg

Quetzal Insidiis averages 651 cm in length from head to tail and weighs 260 kg

## Life and Social Structure

### Quetzal Custos

Quetzal Custos starts life as a small featherless pup, that drinks a regurgitated juice from it's mothers mouth. Being the only pup the mother gives birth to, it forms a strong bond with her and it's half siblings. depending on how early into the year it was born, the pup will either spend all its time with its mother or be cared for by a siblings mother until his/her mother returns from her hunt. After 21 wallacean days, a full coat of infant feathers grow in, being deep yellow if female and dark red if male. At 68 days old, it has grown a set a "pre teeth" that let it start to eat solid foods. At the age of 3 years, the infant has either gained its fathers respect and is able to eat directly from a catch or it still relies on its mother to bring it pieces of the corpse. Around 2 years later, it's full coat will grow in, along with teeth and its crest. Females will be absorbed into the colonie and males will go off to find other females from other colonies. A male find a 1 mate each year for 3 years and if successful will have 3 mates by the age of sexual maturity. The male will mate with each female 30 days apart from each other during the middle stage of a wallacean year and each pup is born approximately 153 days after pregnancy and the cycle repeats. Often, when a nesting ground has become unsuitable due to a lack of prey, a mother will need to carry her pup. Since she needs to be prepared in event of an attack, she uses the 2nd pair of arms to carry her pup. When in a suitable environment, the 2 mothers who had their pups first go out in hunting duos, ambushing their prey. An average lifespan of Quetzal Custos is 28 years and top speed is 50 kmph

### Quetzal Viatorem

Quetzal Viatorems life cycle is near identical to Quetzal Custos, with some important differences. pregnancy lasts 266 days, the infant feather coat takes 25 days to grow in, young only grow teeth instead of growing "pre-teeth" first but it takes 84 days. An infant female's coat is dark green and a male's is brown with yellow rings. At the age of 5, an Infant will get the chance from its father to eat from a catch, but it is unlikely that the father will allow the infants to continue to eat from the corpse. Hunting parties of Quetzal Viatorem consist of 4 females instead of 2 to accommodate for the larger prey and more mouths to feed. Colonies of Quetzal Viatorem usually consist of around 14 families, while each family is responsible for themselves, they live in large groups to avoid attacks from E. Vulgaris, a species of common climber which live in the same areas as Quetzal Viatorem. As aforementioned, Quetzal Viatorem males mate with 5 females, which takes 5 years, one for finding each mate and growing to sexual maturity. Quetzal Viatorem owns its name due its most prominent behavior, it massive migrations between the eastern and western area of southern Thron, often lasting several weeks of walking, with breaks to hunt. Quetzal Viatorem often marks where its been walking and where its territory lies by biting trees. It's saliva has bone dissolving aspects that burns the bone trees and releases a smell unique to each family but is recognized as belonging to certain colonies. The average lifespan of a Quetzal Viatorem in 56 years and top speed is 42 kmph

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### Quetzal Rebus

Quetzal Rebus hatches in a small brown and black striped egg after 41 days of incubation, it hatches with its infant feathers and pre-teeth. This pup is one of up to 3 of its mothers hatchlings and will have to either eat the other pups or defend itself long enough to be able to leave its nest. After around 370 days, the Hatchling will have grown to be its full size and has left the nest. It searches through its home forest to find a suitable tree to build nests in and starts construction. Males build 3 nests one for each mate it will find, sharing a nest with its most recent mate. Rebus lives in the south of the Micha archipelago, being one of

the few arboreal species. Each adult needs to find food for itself, mostly digging into trees for parasites and jumping down on small foods. Much like some earth creatures, Rebus was a large carnivorous predator until a large subduction of micha changed the large island into many smaller islands. because of the shrink is territory and food, Rebus became a pygmy of its former prime. It own many tunes of the rainforest, calling out for mates or identifying dangers. average lifespan for Rebus is 9 years and top speed is 27 kmph, although tis speed can also be achieved running up trees.

### Quetzal Necrum

Quetzal Necrum's life is (much like Viatorem) almost identical to Custos' lifestyle. Only a few changes to the lifestyle have been observed. For 1, Necrum is a detritivore, only eating dead or weakened creatures. while still constricted to a carnivorous, Necrum can eat meat that's well rotted past dangerous levels of bacteria and mold. Necrum is also a wildcard in the quetzal family as its not covered in feathers (other than display feathers), instead being covered in thick scales. This is due to the tough living conditions and and extreme environmental pressures. This becomes evident when it is revealed that Quetzal Necrum lives on inferno island. It's unknown how the Quetzal Family has reached most of the Eastern planet but most hypothesize that there was once just one species of Quetzal Uxoriae that then were separated by continental drifts. Since Necreum is mainly a scavenger, it can't run very fast, maxing at around 24 kmph, but due to its light frame and the amount of food it has access to , it can run at 24 kmph for over an hour. Necrum Lives for around 39 years.

### Quetzal Castellum

Quetzal Castellum is a medium sized hunter, that lives on Neveau Madagascar, a large island to the east of Media Insula. Castellum, Like all (exception: Quetzal Rebus) Quetzals Follow the life plan of Quetzal Custos, who is generally accepted as the base of the Quetzal family. Castellum has a more muscled jaw and its 4 larger limbs have increased muscle mass as well. Castellum has gained such muscle mass to accommodate it's transformation into a terraforming species that litters the landscape with their fortresses. These fortresses are made of the shells of bone trees that have been cut down with the immense power of their jaws which can bite down at 2800 PSI. Castellum's fortresses act as a nest that can facilitate 4 females, their pups and the male who builds them. these forts take around 2 weeks of 13 hour work shifts when built alone, but some Castellum have been documented building connected Fortresses that have enough rooms for each family who was included in the building process. While no fortress is the same, most share the same properties like 2 entry ways, an open room, 5-6 sides and and a large pocket for the pups to hide in while the mothers go hunt. Unlike all other species, Castellum females all join in the hunt while only the male guards the fortress. it is assumed that building a fortress is a behavior passed down through instinct as research shows that most fortress are not even build by the resident male and instead built by a forefather although ten families which were recorded for 3 generations showed structural similarities between their birth fort and the one themakes built when they grew up, the 3 males who grew up in a connected fort even built connected forts with each other. Castellum females hunt during nights and frequently climb trees to eat Swinger Octichins and other arboreal life. Castellum's average life span is 30 years and can run at up to 52 kmph.

### Quetzal Insidiis

Quetzal insidiis is the only member of the Quetzal family that lives in the western hemisphere of the planet, living in the tropical rainforests of the Sera region. Insidiis is an ambush predator that seems to have abandon most of the behaviors of the rest of its family. Insidiis lives on top large trees and often jumps down and strikes unsuspecting prey while its walking below. although Insidiis is not very large, it has been observed attacking other creatures 5 times its size. These attacks usually end in severe damage to the target and minimal to no injuries on the Insidiis. Insidiis males only mate with one female, but afterwards, leaves the female and finds another female to mate with. The jaws of Insidiis are almost as powerful as Castellum, being strong enough to break spinal structures and snap necks. Insidiis is an excellent climber, being able to climb faster than it can run. Insidiis females will have a pup every 2 years, rejecting the previous pup and building a new nest. Insidiis's average lifespan is 18 years and can run at 48 kmph.

## Hunting and Feeding

As previously described, all species of quetzals (exception Rebus) are well known for their females hunting in coordinated packs that are during hunting periods of opportune weather, are quite efficient. Hunting normally takes place every 3 days, and on return to the colony it is almost certain that the females have caught food, with individual hunting sessions having a 20-25% of success.Prey includes Aquaovium schnorchelii, Fuzzbuckets (bearded muppet in particular),Bouncers , on a few occasions giraffapiscator, Insiidis commonly hunts lumbercows, and Viatorme can hunt Aervenator and Bonedogs during migrations.

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### Hunting Strategies

Most species of quetzal are excellent at remembering geography and working with their location. This is evident by the avid use of terrain in hunting strategies, where the utilization of cliffs, fallen trees and large rocks are use when herding prey, usually water sheep into tight areas where other quetzals can jump down on them from above. Quetzal Viatorem is a strange case when it comes to hunting as its home life consists of sleeping for 15 hours a day until it senses a storm approaching, it's notable that viatorems ears, while not very strong in hearing, is well equipped to sense the pressure changes accompanied by tropical storms, which they use to effectively hunt Water Sheep. While not good swimmers, Viatorem will wait until at least one sheep has left the water and will then one will rush the group near the water line while the others circle the targets at a distance to coralle them. Due to the low intelligence of water sheep, as long as viatorem continue threat displays, the sheep will recoil with fear. Viatorem will slowly close in on the water sheep until a sheep tries to kick at its attackers, where at the height of the kick, the closest viatorem will reach out and bite down on the leg, usually mangling it.

### Feeding Young

After catching food, quetzal females will eat the limbs and sometimes tail, making bringing home chunks easier. Each female can normally carry 1/3 of its own body weight which in some species means that the food brought back to the colony is more than a metric ton of food. When the females return to their family, they dump the pieces of body that had been carried back in a pile before the male. while the male eats, each female takes small pieces to their pups and then eat for themselves. If the food that is brought back is sufficient enough, the male will even encourage its pups to eat from the pile, though when there is less food to go around, the male will scare away any pups trying to make the attempt.

## Competition

A war between Exhibuita Vulgaris and Quetzal Viatorem. After a hunting pack of Viatorem had attacked a weakened hunting party, and as more e.vulgaris arrived to help, the attacking viatorem fled with what body parts they could. Because of the immense intelligence of e.vulgaris, they realized how dangerous of threat these creatures are and so actively hunt out q.viatorem and cause as much harm as they can. Attacks usually consist of throwing spears down from the trees and running away from the retaliating viatorem by climbing through the trees.

## Danger To Man

All personnel are to exercise increased caution when operating with or around any species of Quetzal Uxoriae, especially when in proximity to large groups. On several occasions, there have been attacks which in one case, ended in 13 fatalities. due to this event, no contact with pups is permitted.

## A Few Random Facts

-A group of Custos is called a Riot, a group if Viatorem are called a Rampage, a group of Rebus is called a Nimbus, a group of Necrum is called a Burial, a group of Castellium is called a Cavalry, and Insidiis doesn't form in groups large enough to grant a name for them.

-Quetzal Viatorem are quite worrisome, any threat detected is partnered with a call that mean "Hey, i saw something!", this call sounds like a flute counting down. A second call meaning "Danger! Run!", sounds like 3 flutes trying to play a higher tune than the other 2

-Any sign of deformation in a newborn results in the male eating the infant, while most mothers will try to protect the child, the male will either eat the child or the infant will grow and its deformity will become more prominent and then eaten by the mother, this is the only time a pup is able to be injured without other mothers rushing to rescue it

-The more elevated the tail, the more interested and happy the individual

-only Quetzal Rebus hatches from an externally laid egg