Barorhamporidae

The Aliulocorex (red, background) & the hyenicharox (yellow, foreground) are both bororhamporids

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### Original Creator

Sammywhiskers

**(WIP) Barorhamporidae** or **true charoxes** or simply **charoxes** are a diverse family of small to giant carnivorous bipoditheres that are found on every major land mass, including Aliuloco and Australius, charoxes are characterized by two pairs of eyes, a large, ossified "beak", two powerful limbs and a flexible tail, there are multiple subfamilies of Barorhamporidae, with the family itself appearing 82 million years ago.

**Ecology**: Charoxes fill a variety of niches across Elonios; on mainland Verticala and Kuraccao, they are typically small carnivores similar to weasels, stoats and other small mustelids, not getting very large on either landmass, but still larger then a majority of other terrapods, some of which have no living members on the continents. On Aliuloco and Australis, however, charoxes fill the niche of apex predators, mainly preying on xenelephantiforms, veranosas, xenocephalotheres and other large herbivorous terrapods. They may also go after saws, however this is only when the charox in question is starving, as saws, especially those of larger genera such as *Megaloprionotherium* can easily fight back with their larger size. Mid sized charoxes may go after baby prionotheres if the opportunity arises; however such hunts are risky, as any nearby parent prionotheres can easily kill a charox.

**Ethology:** Charoxes, like their relatives the prionotheres, are intelligent, monogamous and show great care to young charoxes, teaching them how to hunt for prey and other survival skills. In the case of the fantastical charox (*Sarkastognathus prodigialis*), they will leave their parents after 3 years to live off in the wild, where they will eventually find another charox to mate with. Charoxes vocalize using low grunts, growls and pops, which they make by shutting their beaks, similar to a crocodile's jaws. Typically, grunts are used when they're calm or playful, growls are when deterring other rival charoxes or other predators, and pops are used in mating, in which they will attract females from upwards of 6 kilometres away.

**Biology:** While charox physiology can vary depending on what subfamily they're from, typically they share the same body plan, with two pairs of eyes, a pair of gills/nostrils, a heavy ossified beak, two limbs and a long flexible tail. Charoxes can vary in color, some being dull while others can be bright, flashy colours. Unlike most terrapods, charoxes have flexible limbs, allowing them to bend in more complex ways; this allows them to run at much faster speeds then most other terrapods and makes it easier to grapple onto prey. Typically, a charox will use its tail to interact with objects; when moving, the tail can stiffen up, making the charox more stable while running. These flexible limbs also make charoxes sleep similar to cats on Earth, curling up their limbs as they slumber.

Charoxes are known for their strong bites, with the largest species, in particular those of the genus *Aliulocorex*, being capable of biting down with a bite force of 6 tons, comparable to the extinct *Tyrannosaurus rex*. However, the strongest bites come from the extinct *Calvaops meganathus*, which is believed to have a bite force maxing out at over 13 tons, stronger than the also extinct Eloniosan superpredator *Epachthotyrannus magnus*, believed to have a bite force of 11 tons. However, charoxes have very weak muscles to open their mouths, similar to crocodilians. To aid in such bites, charoxes exhibit ossification of their lips, resulting in a beak-like structure.

Some subfamilies also show sexual dimorphism, usually resulting in brighter colors in the males and a so-called "mohawk", a crest-like display structure stemming from the ossified beak of a charox.

**Etymology:** The word "Barorhamporidae" comes from the latin words "Bary" meaning "Heavy" and "Rhamphus" meaning "Beak", stemming from the hard beaks charox have. The word "Charox" has multiple meanings: the main one comes from Graxen mythology (The Graxen, being an intelligence race of echinoderms, and their language being common use within Eloniosan fauna and flora names); alternatively, "Charox" derives its origins from the name of a mythical mace, said to be able to break any material it gets smashed on, but has the drawback of being extremely heavy.

Charox may also refer to the moon Charox, a small asteroid moon around 57 km in diameter and is currently the 3rd closest orbiting moon of Darius.