Altufonsia

**Altufonsians** are a clade of ambulospeculids that are alive today.

## Evolution and taxonomy

Altufonsians are an interesting clade of ambulospeculids that display interesting adaptations that allowed them to adapt more to terrestrial lifestyles. They have the common characteristic of being largely beach-dwellers and/or playing around with techniques to conserve moisture as much as they can in species that explore arid environments. Altufonsians are the basalmost desererpedeans, which are the most derived edurulealians. Edurulealians originated 280 million years ago in the early Tenerian, as potentially semi-aquatic ambulospeculids, having split into two clades: the edurusconchoideans and the desererpedeans. The edurusconchoideans originated around 275 million years ago, shortly after, but desererpedeans originated much after in the late Tenerians, 249 million years ago. These had more adaptations for life on land, but were still largely coastal dwellers at their inception. Two lineages came from the desererpedeans: the altufonsians and the much wider and diverse caesarsolioideans. Caesarsolioideans evolved after the Tenerian-Accomodatian extinction event in the Accomodatian, 218 million years ago, while altufonsians originated in the Scelusian, 187 million years ago, in Cheru. Altufonsians eventually split into two clades: the teratograllatorians and the sanguisavahnians. Teratograllatorians evolved 93 million years ago in the Compsogene as properly terrestrial megafaunal dispeculates, initially wandering in the beaches, as grazers, beach combers and scavengers, like the gunnaluk, though more hyper-terrestrial and titanic forms evolved, like the Desereregrallatoris. The sanguisavahnians (also known informally as the tide springer clade), originated in the Variagene, 125 million years ago, as bipedal beach-dwelling runners with very specific anatomical, behavioural and developmental characteristics. They are called the tide springer clade because the most abundant members of this clade are precisely the tide springers, which serve as the main bauplan of this group, but eventually the most derived sanguisavahnians, the mantimimians, evolved, adopting larger bodyplans and widespreading themselves to different habitats beyond the sandy beaches. The mantimimians originated in the Compsogene, 63 million years ago, as they developed more terrestrial lifestyles, ranging from the rather primitive sanguinids up to the hyper-terrestrial Mantimimus.

Desererpedea (249-0)

* Altufonsia (187-0)
	+ Teratograllatoria (93-0)
		- Desereregrallatoris
		- Gunnaluk
	+ Sanguisavahnia (125-0)
		- Tide springers
		- Mantimimia (63-0)
			* Mantimimus savahni
			* Sanguivenandi pictacaerulealis
* Caesarsolioidea (218-0)

## Characteristics

Altufonsians have developed a large variety of unique characteristics that grant them their evolutionary uniqueness and/or relevance. The mouth apparatus of the altufonsians have taken a long way and have diverged a lot differing on the species. Basally they have three simple retractable proboscis with small teeth to grind their food, as well as elongated hyoid bones to direct and support the proboscis more easily in a determined direction. This primitive condition is well seen in the gunnaluk which displays these simple proboscis for that effect. Gunnaluk utilizes all the three proboscis to eat food and can be retracted and protruded for display purposes as well. They have very small hairs at their tips that can sense vibrations and are highly sensitive to touch, so they even use it to navigate and forage in the ground, as well as identifying surfaces by touching including even other members of the same species. All other altufonsians, however, invested in heteromorph proboscis, using the lateral ones for different purposes than the central one. Desereregrallatoris has two huge lateral proboscis filled with stratificated sensitive hairs, used mainly as grabbers, while the central proboscis is the one that receives the food. The central proboscis is branched in two ends that have some fairly large teeth at the front which serves as a very rudimentary jaw-like toothed mouth to manipulate the food before being eaten. It has a more elongated and fused club-like mouth flap, below the base of the proboscis, made out of stiffened hyoid bones. The proboscis are semi-retractable, being able to retract up until the fat ends of them, which can't be tucked inside the head. Sanguisavahnians can't retract their proboscis, however. They only feed through the central proboscis as well. The tide springers are unique for having an extremelly short central proboscis, however they have comparatively long lateral proboscis that can manipulate food and lead it to the central proboscis. They are also capable of expelling considerable amounts of air, produced by their reverse-system respiratory system, that is ultimately used to replenish the bubble that they have on their chest. Some derived species of tide springers have elongated their hyoid bones (which in sanguisavahnians retain some level of articulation) and have been expanded as grapoids, two large serrated bony plates that can bend and grab larger prey if needed. Sanguinids retain all three proboscis as elongated apparatus, however. The lateral proboscis are large sucker-like organs that can expel air, but also suck it, to the point that they can be used to attach themselves to prey. Its central proboscis is large and ends in a hardened but flexible tip that is used to balance the creature's body while walking on its fragile feet, but is also used as a needle to suck blood out of their prey. Venom is injected to ease down the proccess of paralyzing the prey, to obtain the blood, though small prey die instead from the venom. Mantimimus have one large central proboscis, with its lateral proboscis being vestigial and not used for any purpose in their lifestyle. The central proboscis has large cartilaginous teeth to grind and strip soft food, usually polyspeculates. However there is a Micha resident variant that is carnivorous. Mantimimus have reduced venom glands at the end of their teeth, but they don't seem to attain a relevant use in their lifestyles, even though the venom they possess isn't particularly weak. Olfaction in altufonsians is well developed. Their olfactory pits are usually extensive, which makes them very good at detecting smell, in the good old fashioned mode of the early ambulospeculids. They may have sensitive hairs that can sense and trap scent particles and are also good temperature indicators. Probably the most derived are the ones from the sanguisavahnians, which have evolved more nostril-like olfactory pits that breath air to capture more scent particles, and in the case of Mantimimus, may even have lids to protect them. Sanguisavahnians basally have six large olfactory orifices for that effect, though the sanguinids have reduced these to a few small orifices surrounded by a more porous surface that surrounds it, reminiscent of the original olfcatory section of the ambulospeculid skull. That section is retained in tide springers, but has since been fused to the main skull in sanguinids and highly reduced in Mantimimus. Altufonsian olfactory pits are also highly sensitive to air and water pressure. Hearing apparatus are made via the creation of a vibration sensitive organ behind their heads known as the Doug's organ. This organ is simple in teratograllatorians, but are usually more advanced in sanguisavahnians, having very derived muscular ends close to them. These are derived from the simple ear muscles that have developed into retractable skin flaps in tide springers, which are used to communicate. Mantimimus have grown the Doug's organs along the elongated skin flaps and made enormous ear-like tubes, filled with sound-sensitive hairs. Sanguinids have reduced the length of their ears altogether, however, but they are still very good in their sense of hearing. All altufonsians have a Doug's organ that is attached to ear muscles, a orifice and/or membrane (the latter being the case in teratograllatorians and tide springers), with hairs to sense the vibrations. Altufonsian eyes are compound eyes, however these present themselves as very well developed, being able to recognize a good portion of the color spectrum, and even see colors beyond what our human eye can detect. The eyes tend to be very large to attain a large field of vision to see if there is any threats around. The gunnaluk might be the one with the most derived eye placement, as their eyes are proportionately much smaller than other altufonsians, and are positioned at the top of long immobile eyestalks. These allow them to see the surroundings at a wide array of vision, but weirdly put them incapable from seeing what is in the ground They are strategically positioned close to a large fan of filaments that grows below the first armor plate, so that they can be constantly cleaned and protected. Desereregrallatoris, simillarly, also has eyes that point mostly to the top, and to the sides, but being virtually unable to see what is below itself. That is why teratograllatorians tend to use their proboscis to locate the proximities with frequency. The internal anatomy of altufonsians respects that of the typical antecaptorians. They have a brain located in their head, with a proper olfactory bulb positioned at the front (olfactory bulbs are naturally enlarged in altufonsians). A spinal cord runs down the length of the dispeculate, protected by a proper vertebral column, their only proper ossified endoskeletal structure, with their legs being instead supported by cartilaginous and semi-ossified, highly pneumatized, ligaments. The lungs (usually antecaptorian lungs are merged into one communal branching sac, that gives the appearance of a singular lung) are positioned right behind the head and above the stomach. The intestines runs below the stomach. The heart is positioned below the intestines. The kidney, the liver and the reproductive organs are positioned at the back of the body, behind the lungs and the stomach and above the intestines. The kidney is in front of the liver, and the liver in front of the reproductive organs. They have a complex respiratory network on the inside of their bodies to maximize air exchange throughout their body. Usually they have lots of fluid and air exchange mechanisms to keep themselves balanced, one of the best balancing methods that allow altufonsians to stay well balanced in their stilt-like legs. Their digestive system and reproductive system, basally, have one output opening, though in the case of sanguisavahnians, they have multiple output openings, with two pairs of salt excreting orifices just behind the back legs, and three pairs of excrement excretion further down the tail. The organization of the respiratory orifices of altufonsians is well defined. Basally they had three pairs of spiracles between the first and second pair of limbs, four pairs between the third and fourth pair of limbs, and three large pairs of spiracles just below the dorsal armor plates, two pairs between the third and fourth pair of limbs, and one pair above the second pair of limbs. That eventually changed as they evolved. Teratograllatorians have lost their belly spiracles, and only retain their three pairs of spiracles located just below the armor plates. Sanguisavahnians, basally, lost the first pair of dorsal spiracles, however. Sanguinids have two small dorsal spiracles, and three pairs of spiracles between the third and fourth pair of limbs. Mantimimus has four spiracles between the third and fourth pair of limbs. Tide springers only have three pairs of spiracles overall, located between the first and second pair of limbs, which are surrounded by a air bubble, that they produce to breath. They are pretty odd to the point that they are strongly dependant on this mucous bubble, that surrounds the spiracles with air-filled fluid and is held together by the two first pairs of limbs. This mucuous bubble feeds their fragile thin eggs with air and fluid, and even when they come out they survive in this fluid for a while. If the bubble ruptures it is common for the tide springer to die of suffocation, and because the young must emerge, females only reproduce once, because they die once they hatch. It is hypothesized this specific form of breathing is ancestral to sanguisavahnians, and a strategy they found to conquer terrestrial ecosystems, while maintaining their moisture-based breathing apparatus. It is believed larger forms of altufonsians eventually lost these, because their size facilitated the respiratory system requirements and allowed them to easily breath in dry land. That explains why primitive antecaptorians (besides tide springers) are barely smaller than 70 cm in length as adults. The spiracles of several altufonsians is covered in millions of hairs to protect the nostrils from debris, like sand grains, and also evolved into complex methods of water retention, sometimes even able to filter water from the air and feed the altufonsian in areas where drinking isn't favourable, although altufonsians have a great resistance to several forms of drinking water, being capable of drinking saltwater, specially in sanguisavahnians. Altufonsians basally have eight limbs. No species of altufonsians have lost any pair of limbs. The basal form is believed to have walked with all eight legs, but extant species walk with six or two limbs. Teratograllatorians were basally octopedal, but eventually repurposed one pair of limbs to be held off the ground. Desereregrallatoris has titanically tall stilt-like legs, composed of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th pairs of limbs, that balance the giant creature in the sand dunes. The first pair of limbs is much smaller, yet properly articulated, but does not serve any purpose in locomotion. The gunnaluk utilizes the first, second and third pairs of limbs to walk, however, with the fourth one being held off the ground. The legs of teratograllatorians tend to be properly sensitive to vibrations on the ground, which is important as they require ways to locate food and other objects on the ground, without the possibility of seeing them. The gunnaluk's 4th pair of limbs, however, has been repurposed to a much more extravagant and super important organ. These are large broom-like limbs that tend to bend below the creature and extend between the second and third pair of limbs. These have lots of filaments at the front that are very sensitive to touch and pressure and are even able to transfer the sperm to the female, as they are anatomically unfit for mounting each other. These also have a shovel-like end that is used for digging in the sand, to make nests and to dig for subterranean food items. Males also display reddish patterns in these limbs that attract females, which have simple bluish patterns instead. Sanguisavahnians, however, retain a very solid common bauplan. They are basally bipedal, using the fourth pair of limbs to support themselves, while all other three are held off the ground. The tide springers must have one of the most repurposed limbs of altufonsians. While the fourth pair of limbs is very long, allowing for fast running and jumping on the wet sand, the third pair of limbs is sometimes equally longer and has shovel like hands to rudimentarily grab objects and food. While running these are held backwards, creating a sort of "Naruto run" while gives these arms the curious name narutorus. The two first pair of limbs are smaller and hold a moist bubble where conditions for their breathing are maintained. Because these support the bubble and maintain its stability, these are called bubblers. Sanguinids, being larger than tide springers, lost their bubbling method of breathing and are perfectly capable of breathing on their own. They have as a result atrophied 1st, 2nd and 3rd pairs of limbs, held closely around the chest, while a massive fourth pair of stilt-like limbs maintains balance in its active lifestyle. Mantimimus also has derived limb morphologies. The first pair of limbs is stupendously vestigial, only forming as stub-like protuberances in adults (youngsters don't even have them visible). The second pair of limbs is longer and articulated but it does not serve much function. Beyond the fourth pair of limbs, which is used for walking, the third pair of limbs if held off the ground and it portrays massive arms, with enormous serrated claws that are used for defense and to break hard food before consumption. The integument of altufonsians is composed by smooth skin, with the presence of some form of external armor, and extensive patches of filaments around olfactory pits, proboscis, cloacas, spiracles, limbs and between armor plates for detection of vibration, particles, heat, and pressure, protection from debris, retention of moisture, etc. Desereregrallatoris presents seven armored segments on their back for protection of their dorso, though retaining a soft belly. Its limbs are segmented with armor. The presence of filamentous hair is present around the ends of the lateral proboscis, the olfactory pits, between the armored plates, in its spiracles as well as around the cloaca. The cloacal filaments are enormous feather-like tendrils that are used to dust off sand from the back of its body, but also has various methods of moisture retention and are also capable of transferring the sperm of the male towards the cloaca of the female. Gunnaluk have just three armored dorsal plates at the front of their body, with a row of armored spikes further down up until the base of the tail. The elongated flexible tail itself is used as a whip-like weapon against attackers. Its first armor plate protrudes up into an enormous horn, where various fibrous and retractable filaments come out from underneath. These filaments come out sometimes to protect and clean their eyestalks. Small hairs are found around the olfactory pits, very small ones at the tip of the proboscis, in the spiracles and even some around the cloaca, the latter serving, naturally, higienic purposes. Tide springers are well armored, with rows of armored dorsal plates running down from the neck to the tip of the tail. The tail armored plates are flattened, serving as rudimentary steering during running. They have also a few armored round plates around the rest of the body for extra armored potential. In their fourth pair of limbs, they tend to have spikes on their joints (sometimes these are serrated) for protection against predators. Sanguinids have less dorsal armor, but have a row of spikes running down the dorso and running down the tail as well. A few small serrations are also detected in the underside of the tail. At the back of the head, an enormous spiky rigid frill is located that is served as a powerful visual display during mating season. It shows itself as a particular extra challenge for balance, but the sanguinids find their way around. Mantimimus have some armor plates on its back, with enormous colorful spines and plates developing behind the neck and at the tip of the tail for defense and display. Usually males have the largest and brightest spikes. Youngsters of these don't have the spikes or relevant amored plates.

Altufonsians have large variations in size. The smallest ones are definetly the tide springers, ranging from 2,5 to 70 cm long. Sanguinids reach 1,75 meters long. Gunnaluks typically reach 4 meters long. The largest Mantimimus savahni reach 6 meters long. The absolute largest altufonsian is the Desereregrallatoris, one of the largest dispeculates of Media Insula, at 10,5 meters long and 9 meters tall.

## Distribution and habitat

Altufonsians have originated in Cheru. Already Cheru is believed to have been the birthplace for the first desererepedeans. Cheru has proven itself to be a point of proliferation and evolutionary isolation for the altufonsians. Nowadays, altufonsians are exclusive to Media Insula, save for a few exceptions. Thron eventually collided with Cheru allowing for their spreading to the new land. Micha's geographical proximity eventually allowed some altufonsians to reside in the surrounding islands. The smallest species of tide springers gained the privilege of being easily rafteable creatures, which allowed them to spread to distant islands and continents, including southern Terra Septentrionis and the Luci archipelago of Auth. Desereregrallatoris lives in the deserts of Media Insula. Gunnaluk lives in coastal and swampy areas of Media Insula, mostly in the south, including in some Gabre islands. Tide springers are by far the most widespread, existing in coastal and moist areas around the coasts and even inland, in Media Insula, Micha, Gabre, Luci and southern Terra Septentrionis. Mantimimus exist in northern Media Insula's savannas and arid regions, but also inhabiting the largest island of Micha. Sanguinids inhabit the southern region of Media Insula and Gabre, around shallow lagoons and rocky coastlines.

## Diet

Altufonsians are derived on their diet, ranging from herbivores to omnivores to carnivores. Desereregrallatoris is a foraging carnivore, using its enormous lateral proboscis to grab any prey that has the mishap of encountering this creature. Due to its slow speed, the Desereregrallatoris rather procures dispeculates that are easy to catch or is a scavenger, eating carcasses, with its large size playing a role in scarring away even some of the largest predators of its habitat. The gunnaluk is much more of an opportunistic and generalist grazer. It is also a slow-moving creature and as a result it uses its long proboscis to graze on polyspeculates and small dispeculates, including carcasses of each. They do often dig for subterranean "tubers" or hiding creatures, so that they can be eaten. To sense the presence of food, the proboscis and the broom legs are used. Tide springers are variable in their diet. The smallest ones are filter feeders or necrophagous, in the sense that they filter sand in search of organic matter and detritus that they can feed on. The inorganic material that isn't consumed is used to make the sand bubble that keeps its spiracles moist enough for breathing. Large tide springers are more carnivorous, chasing them and subsequently handling small dispeculates with their hyoids or their narutorus. Mantimimus are naturally herbivores, feeding on soft polyspeculate matter with the proboscis. They may use their third pair of limbs to break down much harder food material for easier consumption. The populations that have reached Micha have had a radical shift in diet, possibly as a response to the floral differences of the environment, forcing the creature to hunt for dispeculates as a carnivorous creature. They are very tolerant to different salinities in the water they consume, being able to drink saltwater. Sanguinids are carnivorous, utilizing their central proboscis to inject venom as it stings into prey. Small prey die easily from the venom, and its insides are consumed by the needle-like proboscis. Larger "prey" are "hunted" in other ways, utilizing the lateral proboscis to stick itself to the creature and using its needle like central proboscis to burrow under the skin and suck the blood. The venom serves as a mild tranquilizer or paralyser so that the creature can remain immobile as the blood is consumed. Once the sanguinid is finished it leaves the large creature alone. Larger species of tide springers are known to hunt other smaller species of tide springers, as well as phalangesdontids and Algamimus. Sanguinids are also observed hunting tide springers.

## Behaviour and sociality

Altufonsians, outside of the mating season, don't engage in well defined groups, being either solitary or gathering in groups with no hierarchy. Male teratograllatorians may be slightly less tolerant to each other even outside of the mating season, but usually they can coexist fine. Gunnaluks may or may not use group living as a benefit for their lifestyle and safety. During a predatory attack, gunnaluks will engage in a threat display created by their fourth pair of legs, also waving its proboscis and its tail for warning. Its large whip-like tail is used as a rudimentary mode of an offensive response to any bold attacker. Tide springers don't engage in any territorial, hierarchical or social imposition, though they tend to be more social during mating season. However, due to their small size, tide springers engage in larger groups more commonly than other altufonsians. Tide springers use their speed and agility to avoid predation, being the fastest altufonsians per body size. They have some sharp spikes in their fourth pair of limbs for rudimentary defense however. Mantimimians defend a more cohesive territory as females. Females are larger than males and tend to defend a mating territory where males will display themselves. Outside of the mating season. Males may be solitary or live in non-hierarchical groups, sometimes hanging around a female, even when not during mating times. Mantimimus have a good set of defenses against potential predators, being able to whip its large fat tail that ends in large sharp plate-like triangular spikes, and it can also use its large third pair of limbs to engage in slashing and crushing actions against a predator that comes too close.

## Reproduction

Altufonsians are all oviparous. Their egg structure and brooding techniques are however varied across the clade. Many evolved eggs with fibrous and even flakey, yet flexible, eggshells to allow for them to be safely laid on land while maintaining all the necessary moisture. This is specially true for the larger altufonsians, while the smallest ones retain smaller eggs that need to be kept moist to properly function. Desereregrallatoris uses its proboscis and its enormous back tendrils for display. Just like gunnaluk, the males are larger than females and may sport more vivid colors. Males try to avoid fighting, showing off themselves and scaring away rivals to gain mating rights. Due to their peculiar anatomy, they can't mount each other, so the male passes the sperm to their large tendrils and passes them on to the female. The female will eventually lay what's called an egg chain, a fibrous chain that contains the eggs. These are burried and abandoned by the mother. The eggs release a bitter taste to any predator that may want to eat them, and the eggs with slowly bloat when ready to hatch. The young hatch out as precocial creatures, hiding under sand and rocks when they feel they are in danger, procuring moist areas with more frequency than adults. The gunnaluk engages in very similar mating rituals, with the males showing off their attributes to impress the smaller females, namely their fourth pair of limbs that holds bright red markings. The male passes the sperm to these broom-like legs and passes them on to the female's cloaca. Later the female lays an egg chain, digging it into the sand. She will abandon the bitter eggs, and later these will bloat and hatch into small precocial young, that hide from danger up until they grow into the impervious adults. Unlike teratograllatorians, sanguisavahnians defend their young up until a certain point, after hatching. Additionally, males don't tend to fight for mating rights, given that its the female the one who subordinates them in the choice for a mate, in fact females are larger than males. Tide springers display themselves via their ear flaps. The males engage in this mating display and the female eventually will choose the male for which she wants to reproduce. They reproduce via cloacal kiss. The eggs of tide springers are too small to properly develop a protective shell, so they take the risk of drying up with ease, so they are awkwardly placed inside the breathing bubble they have. There the eggs will be oxygenated and cleaned, and when the young hatch they will breath in this moisty environment for a while, up until they hatch out from the bubble. Although it was believed the proccess of releasing the young outside of the bubble was deadly to the female, it has since been discovered this only happens on the smallest species of tide springers. The largest don't rupture the bubble at such drastic effects and the young come out clean, with a living mother. When the young come out of the bubble, howeverm they are not taken care of, anymore, and are abandoned by the mother. The smallest species of tide springers have females die with their first brood, while males live for a longer while, though usually not more than a year in total. Larger tide springers can live for a while longer. But in general, tide springers grow very fast, reproduce fast and die very fast as well. Sanguinids inherit a bit of this ancestral reproductive strategy, though it does not involve a respiratory bubble, as these are large enough to engage in autonomous aerial respiratory actions without the aid of such a bubble. However, unlike tide springers, its the male the one who takes care of the brood, a characteristic it passes to Mantimimus. During mating season, the larger females grow a strong brilliant blue in their frill that she shows off to males that pass on to her territory, a unique female-leading sexual display that other altufonsians lack. She will mate with multiple males that she attracts, and the males will eventually stay around with the female until she is ready to lay the eggs. She only mates with one male at a time, however, so that the male can receive its egg clutch properly, which is laid on its chest plates. The eggs are soft but slightly flakey, and are held by a sticky egg sac, which in turn is held by the three frontal pairs of limbs it has. Sanguinids display the most parental care towards their young, among altufonsians. The young pups are born and stick around with their father, with the latter actively teaching them how to find food and how to avoid threats, before they grow into favourable sizes to become indepedent. Mantimimus sexual display is made simillarly, though its the males attracting the female, with the female being ultimately the one to choose. The males utilize their larger and brighter spikes to attract the female. Once mating occurs, the male will stay around with the female, until she lays a clutch of eggs, with a flakey soft shell, in the soil. The male will stay around to protect the eggs, until they hatch. Once they hatch, the young are born semi-precocial, they can't run properly away from predators, relying in hiding in mud or under rocks, with the father attaining mild protection to them. Once they grow more mature, the young are ready to feed and run away from predators independently from the father's protection, and at that time, the father abandons them to live on their own.