Pteroti

The pteroti (Pterotis sarcungulus - rake-clawed wing-ear) is a strange tribbethere of the cool, damp temperate forests of North Anciska in the Mid-Pangeacene. Solitary and shy, it is a strikingly colorful animal with bold red and white fur patterns and - in the male - dramatically lobed ears which perform a function of display, similarly to the tail of a peacock, and are used to attract a mate. Vibrant coloration serves to let these solitary animals see each other from afar and avoid confrontation, especially in winter when leaves drop and there is little to obscure them; this coloring does little to hide it from predators, but it has few of them. Standing up to 6 feet high when on three legs, the pteroti is a large but very slender animal, and one which often reaches even greater heights - up to ten feet - by standing upright on just one leg in order to reach the branches of sunflower trees with its very long arms and rake-like claws, with which it grasps food and delivers it to the mouth, and with which can slash enemies in close combat before climbing safely out of reach into the trees. Feeding mainly on plants, it favors tender leaves and new buds, but in winter must content itself on meals largely comprised of bark and twigs. Fruit is taken when in season, and the eggs and chicks of birds and an occasional insect round out its diet. 

Pterotis are a branch of tribbetheres with no immediate relatives. Their closest kin are the canitheres and tribbats, but they diverged shortly before either of those lineages became distinct. The pteroti is quite different from both in its plant-based diet, yet resemblance is not entirely absent - like canitheres, pterotis have reduced their forearm finger count to four, only two of which are very useful in feeding, with the smaller dewclaws being used to groom. Like some tribbats, the snout is bare of fur and is layered with thick, keratinized skin, becoming vaguely beak-like. Lower incisors are present, but upper ones are absent; when browsing, this animal crops twigs and stems between its bottom incisors and the hard skin of its upper lip, which is slightly downturned; this method of feeding is shared with deer, but is otherwise not seen among any Serinan lineages. Canine-like fang teeth in both jaws are still present but are now little used in feeding, but may be used in self-defense.

Female pterotis are smaller than males and more arboreal. Though both sexes are solitary, males compete for mates in early winter, engaging in largely ritualistic mock-battles where they circle their opponent and try to intimidate them. Females, with slightly paler fur and smaller ears without ornamentation, gather at the sidelines, quietly accepting the winners as the ousted males slip away into the forest. Two pups are born in mid-spring in a den in a thicket and initially visited just once per day to be fed and cleaned. Once a few weeks old, they begin to become mobile and will then follow close behind their mothers for the next 11 months or so until another litter is born, and their mother chases them off. Young are more gregarious than adults and engage in some social play, but quickly outgrow it; by six months of age, they are little different from the adult except in size and must spend much of their time foraging in order to find enough to sustain themselves. Not a spectacularly clever animal, this species may resemble in some ways a fox and even perhaps a primate, but with little need for problem solving as a result of their lonely lifestyles and simple diet, they are no more intelligent than a sheep. An interesting oddball among the budding tribbethere clade, they represent many new offshoots specializing toward unusual lifestyles in a time of plenty. But if conditions were to change - and eventually, they will - most such species will ultimately be short-lived experiments in evolution, to be succeeded by more efficient competitors in the eras to come.