North Serinaustra Life Beyond the Longdark

North of the polar circle on Serina's southern continent lie a variety of habitats, most of them similar to the polar swamp, but lacking in such seasonal extremes of day length. Here, trees grow the year-round and leaves never fall. It is a more productive biome overall, and one that supports a variety of life forms which would not be able to survive without at least a little daily sunlight. Strictly nocturnal animals are, perhaps unexpectedly, more common here, for the longdark swamp is really only a world of night for part of each year - in summer, it becomes a world of constant sun. But truly diurnal wildlife, which lack adaptations for getting around in lasting darkness, are more abundant in these more northern regions, too. 

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Griffons are a paraphyletic group of several different branches of large, carnivorous skueasels, which make their home here north of the longdark. They are medium-sized predatory animals with a mix-and-match appearance, and are allied together not by a strictly close genetic relationship, but rather convergent evolution toward similar roles in the ecosystem (smaller skueasels are generally not referred to as griffons, even though they may be closer related to some griffons than the latter are to one another.) With strongly hooked bills, whip-like pointed tails, and strong upright limbs ending in sharp talons that are useful for climbing, they have some resemblance each to birds of prey, to reptiles, and to feline predators like leopards, and behave in a manner intermediate to all three. Multiple species of griffon live on Serinaustra, ranging from about 80 to 200 lbs. Skigers are one of the larger species at 150 lbs, with males being slightly smaller than females, with a wide range across coastal areas of the continent where they make their territories in thick reedy areas near water. Vertical stripes across their bodies help break up their outline among grass stems, while a yellow splash of color on the necks of adult males serves to draw attention to themselves to the opposite sex. Both males and females have bright blue tails, which are used for territorial display. They can be lifted above the vegetation and wagged to intimidate rivals, and this is easily visible, for they are diurnal predators. Most conflicts between adults are resolved through posturing in this way, with physical confrontation rare. When this is not enough, the rivals progress to rising on their hind legs and trying to push the other down. If they are still well matched, the worst battles become no-holds-barred, violent biting and scratching showdowns where both members are likely to sustain injuries.

Juvenile skigers are mostly tree-dwelling, hiding above ground from adults that would kill them if they caught them, while adults of many species are more terrestrial. Largely solitary by nature, these animals stalk their food by ambush and make use of dense cover to approach closely before pouncing. Yet though skigers are fairly sizeable and seem able to threaten even human-sized creatures, they are lightly-built, somewhat fragile animals, and their prey species are much smaller than might be assumed, for both the jaws and the talons of this particular species are relatively weak. They target mostly animals less than 25% of their own body weight which can quickly be killed with a bite to the neck, and if they miss their first strike they are likely to turn and give up in order to avoid an injury themselves.

Female skigers are socially dominant to males and capable of taking their food and even killing them in direct confrontations. Males will thus defer to females in their territories. The distribution of territories is opposite most large predators, with the largest and oldest females having ranges that cover several smaller, non-overlapping male ranges. Young females, however, don't hold territories at all and are transient, moving between the territories of both larger con-specifics of their own sex and of many males. Skuorcs continue to grow after sexual maturity, and so these females will mate with different males they come across during their nomadic phase. Only a small percentage live long enough to reach their maximum size and claim a permanent territory of their own. Though both young and old females can reproduce, their strategies differ; younger ones have smaller litters with many males, that may or may not have access to ideal habitat in which to grow up after birth, while older ones have very large litters but sired by just one or two resident males, in a stable territory with abundant resources. 

Grumplumps are large (1,500 - 2,000 lb) land-living sealumps that evolved from the hoglump, which live in the tropical open forests and wetlands that never experience seasonal darkness. Like the skiger, they are diurnal, having evolved vibrant display colors for social communication that would not be visible for much of the year if they lived any further south.

These trunkos are highly social grazers that avoid thick tree cover, and are one of the most common large herbivores in more open environs. Herds are nomadic but may gather into the thousands, comprised of smaller units which are controlled by a large dominant male. Though social for protection from their predators, grumplumps as their name suggests are not particularly peaceful creatures. Colorful males always push and shove one another with their face flanges, now fused into solid bone shield-like structures that are extremely brightly colored with varied patterns unique to every individual. Females have shields too, and they also bicker amongst one another to determine hierarchy, though theirs are not quite as large and lack the bright coloration. Both sexes use their horns defensively, and grumplumps also use them to dig roots up from the earth in combination with their claw-tipped trunks, which are primarily used to rip grass up and lift it to the mouth. The horn arrangement of females is wider than in males, so that their eggs can be lifted and set into their incubating pouches below the chin without the horns getting in the way.

Grumplumps, despite ornery dispositions, do face enemies; descendants of the mordax are one of few land animals strong enough to kill adults of either sex, and squabgoblins - which are wide-ranging and not restricted to more southerly latitudes, can bring down females and young thanks to their tool use. Herds of these belligerent beasts usually do a good job of putting aside their feuds to cooperate for the common goal of protecting the much more vulnerable young, encircling them and interlocking their shields to form a wall against predators. 

The squabgoblin is a widely successful predator, and its success does not only endanger the herbivores it hunts to feed itself. It also competes strongly with other, much larger predators, many of which struggle to compete with its cooperative, innovative lifestyle where they now meet. Not true, though, for the sphinx, another griffon which diverged earlier than the skiger, from a more basal skueasel common ancestor. it is now slightly longer and taller than the skiger, but more lightly built - but paradoxically, having a much stronger bite, and the means to kill bigger prey by dropping on them from a height and using gravity to their advantage, for this species is arboreal throughout its life.

The sphinx is most common across northern Serinaustra, favoring non-polar, wetland regions where tall trees used for shelter are intermingled with areas of open grass that support large grazing prey species (young grumplumps among them), but occasionally does occur much further south, demonstrating that habitat boundaries in this region are only loosely defined and often overlapping. Weighing as much as 200 pounds and evolved as an ambush predator, sphinxes are the biggest griffon, and are both large enough and sneaky enough to threaten the squabgoblin and kill them by surprise, and mobile enough when pursued to escape their hunting parties by ascending upward into the forest canopy. The two animals are thus mortal enemies; though the squabgoblin is most common further south, the two species have a broadly overlapping range in the northern part of the continent and there seek much of the same food and territory, with either capable of killing the other: the sphinx through superior strength, and the squabgoblin through its sheer numbers and tool use.

Sphinxes are social too, though, which also gives them a competitive edge against many other contemporary predators including other related species. They are much more gregarious than skigers, hunting in bonded pairs or even small groups, the latter usually made up of same-sex siblings or parents with grown offspring. While these groups regularly disband if the situation requires, such as if small prey is the most available resource, they continue to share a territory and rejoin daily to roost together in preferred trees which provide an abundance of wide, horizontal perches to sleep on. Sphinxes utilize cooperative techniques to bring down more dangerous game such as the grumplump and its relatives, which can only be killed by isolating an individual from its herd, and when such an animal is killed they work together to butcher it and carry it piecemeal up into the trees before competitors such as squabgoblins catch wind and try to usurp their prize. Powerful and well-muscled, an adult sphinx can lift almost its own body weight up a nearly vertical tree trunk to get its food to safety.

Sphinxes show considerable adaptability and variation in nesting behavior; cubs in more southerly regions are raised as high above the ground as possible, though this is a recently-adapted shift from denning in the earth that has been forced upon them by squabgoblins killing their young here, and where this rival isn't common, such as in the clearview mountains area, terrestrial nesting still occurs, usually in rocky areas. Because nesting above ground is new to them, they are not ideally adapted to it, being so large, and they often need to expand available tree holes considerably to accommodate the mother and her young litter in their first few vulnerable months. Holes produced by other birds in well-rotted trees are most useful, which can be dug out with their large beaks and claws and so expanded as necessary, and such breeding sites are coveted and defended year-round so that they are always available when needed. Sphinxes bear only two to four cubs at a time, and pregnant sphinxes retain their young for longer in utero than is common for skuorcs. Their offspring develop slowly, but ultimately are larger at birth relative to the mother than is possible for species with larger litters, thanks to a strong placental connection that forms early in their development. This also means that they are more altricial, much more so than is typical for skuorcs, and depend on their parents to provide them food and shelter for over two months before they even begin to leave their den site. This vulnerability is actually a benefit, as it ensures the young do not stray from their safe nests and come to the ground where enemies threaten before they have the mobility to escape danger. Young can hunt small animals independently by three months but remain with the adults for a minimum of eight, and where competition is strongest may stay for over a year until after a second litter is born in order to help provision the next generation. Cooperative hunting is not instinctive in the sphinx but must be demonstrated early in life; some sphinxes, especially in the northernmost edges of their range, live solitary lives, either by choice or by orphaning early in life, and these animals don't live together or hunt as a unit. Usually, they fare poorly against social examples of their species in defending territory in areas with larger prey species, but can be more efficient where the only food available is smaller.

A lineage that arose independently from the three giant carnivores that appeared in the early hothouse, toucrows are a clade of aukvultures descended from the aukrow that evolved toward a smaller size and more omnivorous diet, particularly specializing to move easily in an arboreal, tree-top environment as forests evolved first in Serinaustra and then throughout the world. Their closest relatives are now known as rhynchodons, a sister group that evolved at the same time in these early forests, but which remain predatory, killing prey in massive serrated beaks. Both of these bird lineages have large, elongated beaks and long grasping fingers plus a reversed inner toe that improves their ability to climb through trees, but many still remain powerful flyers with long wings that can be folded closely together at rest to keep them from snagging. Like the ancestral aukvulture, most of these birds can alternate between a quadrupedal and a bipedal stance with ease.

Toucrows are omnivorous, with most of their diet comprised of fruit and the remainder mostly made up of fungi and insects, with some smaller birds taken opportunistically. These birds include the smallest aukvultures - some weigh less than one pound, but many are still substantial. The resplendent toucrow is a bigger species which can weigh up to 22 pounds - a far cry from its ancestors, but now considered large among its closest relatives. These beautifully iridescent birds, the plumage of which shimmers in the sun like a rainbow, live in mated pairs or small family groups and are migratory between northern Serinaustra and the longdark swamp, following crops of fruit that are only available further south very seasonally. But smart and resourceful, toucrows can eat almost anything they can find, if they must. Their beaks are multipurpose, and can be used to rip up bark to catch grubs, to cut into carcasses, and even to strip leaves from twigs - the toucrow's digestive system is generalized too, though it is unable to digest coarse plant foods or to chew up the harder parts of large animals such as bone, as its larger relatives can do. These birds generally avoid competing with other generalists like chatterravens by their choice of habitat - the high, dense canopy of closed jungle - which are an environment they are better-adapted to move through with their superior climbing abilities. Though bogglebirds are widespread in the same environments, they are much more comfortable nearer to the ground.

One way that toucrows are not very competitive is at taking nest sites. Tree holes are the quintessential nest for birds in Serinaustra, but competition is intense for them between the many forest animals. Toucrows instead avoid the conflict and construct  their own stick nests in the tops of trees, and are one of the largest extant birds to do so. The structures they put together can extend 25 feet across and over 15 feet deep, taking multiple years to perfect - and constant repairs - and being used throughout a pair's lifetime. The nest of the resplendent toucrow is notable for its complexity, for its builders even add a roof to protect against weather and aerial predators, weaving the dead, thatch-like leaves of certain grasses into a waterproof covering to keep their nestlings sheltered. The female broods a clutch of four to eight pupa while the male delivers her tidbits of food for a month, then both partners alternate foraging trips to find food for their chicks, which are kept in the nest for over 8 weeks for their safety, unlike many other aukvultures, as the forest is rife with danger. Even after the chicks begin branching and learn to fly, they remain with their parents and return to the nest to roost at night for as long as two years; like many birds in the hothouse, older chicks frequently help provide food for the next brood of younger siblings, gaining valuable parenting practice in the process.

The meowl is a small moonbeast which lives at lower latitudes where there is always sunlight even during shorter winter days. As a result, the meowl is always a mottled brown color and does not molt into a dark winter coat like its unexpected closest relative, the far more formidable spook, which is some fifty times larger. While spooks are predators of relatively large vertebrates, meowls eat almost entirely insects, of which there is no shortage in the jungle night. They are good fliers, and silent like all moonbeast due to noise-dampening hairs on their wing membranes, yet meowls curiously like to hunt on the forest floor where they scurry along and pounce upon large bugs and occasionally small vertebrates. They are fast and energetic, with a kitten-like energy, and indeed their face is short and round and very cat-like, with large eyes and a pigmentation reminiscent of a Siamese cat, where the forehead is nearly white and the snout is darker.

Meowls, like most moonbeasts, are fairly solitary and do all their hunting alone, though these are less solitary than most and may share roosts during the day, cuddling close together and hiding themselves in nests made from dried grass, feathers and leaves. Pairs come together to breed and may remain together even after raising their offspring, with some partnerships lasting years. The female spends several weeks in her nest with her young after they are born, during which time the male catches food to feed both his mate and their young.

Where their ranges overlap, spooks will prey upon meowls if the opportunity presents itself, not seeming to care at all about their close evolutionary relationship; these two species diverged only four million years ago. They now represent extremes of specialization toward large and small food sources.