The Wounded Wumpo and the Elegant Manticore

There are a lot of types of animals in the world, but most of them fit into either of two broad categories. There are the prey, often plant-eaters, which live in fear of the predators that eat them. But in the hothouse of Serina, where intelligence is still widespread across animal lineages and behavioral complexity continues to accumulate, there are some animals that subvert all expectations and which refuse to be categorized so neatly.

The wounded wumpo is a relative of the tree trunks of the nightforest, and so too is a hybrid descendant of the watchtower and jumpo wumpos, with some genetic influence from other earlier species as well. Much smaller than its closest relatives, it is still a grasslands species like both its earlier parents, and most resembles the jumpo at a little less than 6 feet tall, and weighing about 90 pounds. At this size, it should have a lot to fear, for it would seem to be the ideal prey for countless savannah hunters. Yet the wounded wumpo is confident and fears very little, for it is never far from some unexpected allies. This trunko is closely symbiotic with a pack-hunting sawjaw known as the elegant manticore, which itself is one of the most efficient smaller predators of the plains. This arrangement originated in the interactions of both species' ancestor back in the early hothouse, when some watchtower wumpos would allow sawjaws to take a calf from the thorngrazer herds that they were supposed to be shepherding, in exchange for a bit of the meat. The wounded wumpo now lives full-time with these predators, and the role it plays for them has grown more complex, too. Wounded wumpos serve their pack mates in multiple strategic ways, most of which involve deception.

Wounded wumpos, you see, are excellent liars. And they can tell different lies, depending on who is listening. This species has evolved the remarkable ability to feign grave injuries, stumbling and moaning in apparent agony, in order to draw in smaller, less intelligent predators or scavengers such as soghog thorngrazers and vultrorcs. When putting on such a show, it will even paint its feathers with the blood of some other hapless prey animal killed by their pack to really sell their trick, as it drags one leg limply over the ground, and may even imitate neurological damage, spinning its head around at strange angles. When pursued by a predator, just as it intended, the wumpo will lead it in the direction of its pack, keeping up its charade just enough to keep the hunters' attention while being sure to keep up a faster pace. Lying in wait, the sawjaws then spring from cover and surround and attack the predator, which might not have been an easy target if it were not so distracted and lured into a place where it cannot find an easy escape. The manticores then share the kill with their partner. Sometimes, the wumpo may even be able to lead its pursuer to its death entirely on its own, leaping from the edge of a hard to see drop-off and sliding harmlessly down the embankment thanks to its lightweight body while its larger, clumsier pursuer stumbles off the edge and tumbles to its death or mortal injury at the bottom.

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This wumpo can also aid its pack by tricking other wumpo species into ambushes, and the behavior around this may be even more unusual than its predator baiting techniques. Many wumpos form a complex of species and forms, many of which can still interbreed, and males of most wumpos will mate with females of any other if they can. This means that males of pure species regularly breed with swarm females (as they can find a very wide variety of traits appealing) and so add new genes to the melting pot, while normally, it is the female of those same species which is more selective and wants a mate to look a specific way, and so limits the introduction of hybrid genes into pure species. The wounded wumpo exploits this already complicated social system by playing the role of a single wumpo seeking a mate, and flirting with other trunkos that it comes across, playing either a male or female behavioral role as needed. Because the wounded wumpo lacks any sexual dimorphism, other wumpos cannot tell its sex outside the changing behavioral cues it gives off. By leading on other hopeful, lovestruck wumpos, especially female swarm wumpos and males of harem-forming species that have not yet acquired a mate of their own because of competition, the wounded wumpo plays a cruel trick by leading them to their sawjaw pack, where they are slaughtered and later eaten by the wounded wumpo alongside them. Because the wounded wumpo looks very non-distinct from many other wumpo species, especially swarm populations, males of other wumpos cannot evolve to recognize it as a threat, and continue to fall for its tricks.

The more selective mate-choices of female wumpos applies to the wounded wumpo, too, females of which typically would never actually consider any other species as a partner - for them, it is always a trick to kill the other wumpo. Yet the male of this species is not quite so picky here, either, and sometimes its flirtatious behavior - initiated to lead a target to slaughter - can lead to genuine affection for a female of another type. Sometimes this deceitful creature truly is overcome with affection for its would-be prey, and does not continue its ploy to kill them, instead mating with them, and this changing of sides occurs fairly regularly with the male. This might seem like something the sawjaws would discourage, for it means that their partner is failing them on its duties. But by interbreeding with the prey population, these males actually cause it to more closely resemble themselves, and so makes the wounded wumpos less obvious as a threat, and lets them hide in plain sight without being detected by their prey as a danger. Further, by mostly killing males of other wumpos but sparing more females, the population can continue to grow and so be "harvested" more regularly. This interspecies mingling thus benefits the sawjaws, too.

For the female wounded wumpo, though, she knows what she wants in a mate. And just what that is is especially unusual. For living in sawjaw packs has lead to some strange behaviors and interests in this species, namely the gory, yet creative habit of painting their mostly white plumage with blood not only to appear hurt, but to attract a mate. Females are drawn to bright red colors, and nothing is sexier to her than a male covered head to toe in red. During the mating season - the only time the female of this species will be receptive to mate, while the male can do so at any time of year - these wumpos - which typically live singly within different sawjaw packs - briefly leave their groups and court one another. Females choose the best-dressed males who have painted themselves with the most intense blood pigments. But their flings, like those of males with females of other species at other times, are brief. Because their packs provide them with so much food and safety, there is no need for wounded wumpos to pair bond or for males to help raise their young. After mating, females return to their packs and the male to his. The sawjaws provide more care to her eventual offspring than its own father, and are so tolerant of this species of wumpo in their vicinity that it is only the solitary nature of the wumpo itself that keeps them from forming larger groups together. The reason for this unusual lack of sociality is simple: by keeping an entire pack of sawjaws to themselves, each wumpo gets more food to itself.

The elegant manticore itself is a mid-sized sawjaw of the savannahs, fairly typical among its group. These social predators are almost invariably found in association with the wumpo, which help their adopted packs to catch prey through various means, often by siding against their own close relatives for their own selfish gain. The manticore does not feed on the wounded wumpo in exchange for the improved hunting success it gains by associating with the wumpo, and the pack even watches the wumpo's own young while it is out doing its duties, creching them with their own cubs; doing so serves to imprint both species scents on the other, and form the basis for their recognition of one another in adulthood.

This sawjaw genus descends from a branch of early subjugator relatives which evolved from the hookclawed sawjaw on the upland plain 15 million years ago. They are larger than most descendants of the viridescent sawjaw while being far smaller than all of their closer relatives, filling a middling predator role between them. Despite their special tolerance for one species, elegant manticores specifically hunt fairly fast avian prey such as wumpos more than anything else. Long-legged and fast, they have just three weight-bearing toes on each foot, an adaptation to their cursorial lifestyle. They are cooperative and work together to cut off prey from its herd and drive it into an ambush of waiting companions, which try to shove them over and keep them down with their hooked arm claws and single tail claws, then get a killing bite on the throat. The social structure of the elegant manticore differs from those of most other sawjaws large and small in being polygamous. A dominant male leads a harem of up to ten females and some subordinate, usually related males, and is visibly distinct for its larger size, white facial markings, and dark mane, all traits that only develop to their full extent in the alpha of the pack. Male elegant manticores frequently battle over control of a harem, and a new leader may kill the offspring of the former. Yet this infanticide is much less likely to occur if a pack's creche of young includes a wounded wumpo chick than if one is not present. There is no benefit to kill the young of their symbiotic species, as there is to ensure it sires all young manticores in its pack, and the presence of a young wumpo with the manticore cubs may be confusing or distracting to the new leading male, as its scent will have spread onto them as well. Female manticores take advantage of this to the fullest extent they can, and will position the wumpo chick, if present, between its own cub and the male as a living shield. Infanticide, if it will occur, will happen within the first few hours of a pack take-over. If the cubs can survive this dangerous introductory period until the male settles in, he will eventually accept them as if they were his own, particularly once they take on his own scent. 

The Hunt

A thornsaber is a fierce creature. Though far from the biggest hunter on the savannah, it is cantankerous and scrappy, and can take down surprisingly large prey relative to its size - especially if they have a number advantage. Females live in groups, their hierarchies defined by frequent in-fighting, but males usually live alone, visiting females only when they are receptive to breed. This means that their lives are somewhat more difficult; it is much harder to bring down big game alone, and so the male is more so a predator of other thorngrazers' calves and of already weakened or wounded adult animals. 

So for a hungry single male thornsaber, the scent of wet blood is a beacon that it picks up and follows for almost a mile. When it comes within range to spot its target, the crippled wumpo moving slowly over the grass, dragging a broken leg behind, is like a ringing dinner bell, and the hunter comes in for the kill. Yet this prey is not quite as close to death as first it seemed, for it manages to quicken its pace each time the hunter nears it, jaws gnashing - and yet, its burst of speed is only enough to carry it just a few strides further ahead, and so the thornsaber continues to give chase, expecting to soon wear it out. The bird gradually runs in a wide circle, always just a body's length ahead of its pursuer, always just tantalizingly out of reach and yet clearly - dramatically, even - demonstrating its injury the very second its enemy pauses and contemplates giving up. At the last moment, it dashes sharply right and disappears down a sandy stream bank - and there emits a shrill wail of anguish as if at last succumbing to its wounds. 

The predator cannot help but investigate, and swiftly follows its quarry down the bank to see it looking smugly back at it, standing within the shallow water - still not given up. But the wumpo's stare is not the only set of eyes that now looks down upon the thornsaber, conveniently corralled alongside the stream. A larger, stronger, smarter, and faster hunter locks eyes with the saber and snaps its own jaws- long, toothy, and white as bone. A male elegant manticore. The wumpo and the manticore exchange a brief glance, communicating without words in a way the thorngrazer cannot comprehend. It decides this meal is not worth it, and turns to flee back the way it came. But it is stopped in its tracks by another manticore, running up behind and standing, blocking its route. It turns to run between them both, only for a third to rush out from the tall grass and block its way. 

The thornsaber is not a smart animal, and yet even it knows now that it has made a fatal error. Penned in from all sides, it can do nothing but bravely - and hopelessly - stand its ground as the manticores close in around it. For a moment they seem to respect its show of defiance, the saber snorting and kicking the ground, turning to face all three of its attackers. But then the smallest one lunges from behind, sinking its jaws into its hind leg; the saber turns to face its enemy, but by then it had already let go. The thornsaber then has just enough time to turn its head slightly and see the real killer making its move. The male manticore cleaves its jaws around its throat, and the saber's world fades to black. The first bite was just a distraction - and the wumpo a lure for their waiting trap. Her role complete, she runs to join her partners as they quickly dismember the carcass of her would-be predator, and begins tearing mouthfuls of flesh - her reward for her role in the hunt.  A thornsaber would never approach a pack of adult sawjaws on its own, but would be a potential menace to their young and a competitor for food. By working with the wounded wumpo, the manticores rid themselves of future problems, and gain a meal on top of it. The wumpo, small and light, eats an insignificant amount of the kill which they would not have gotten in the first place without her tricks, and so she enjoys a privileged life among her adopted pack, in one of Serina's most remarkable examples of symbiosis.