Sand Wyverns

Like all Crested Wyverns, they are quadrupedal and walk using their wings as their forearms. Similarly to their relatives, _, Sand Wyverns are characterized by long, thin and agile bodies. Their necks alone make up to a third of their body length, capped by a small and blunt-nosed head.

Subspecies

Distribution

Sand Wyverns are found exclusively in the Red Sea. Sometimes they venture further into the Red Sea Barrier, but they don't make it far without the presence of Gurocs, their primary source of prey.

Lifestyle

Sand Wyverns live mostly solitary but mildly social lives. Their hunting strategies reward solo behavior and thus they have little reason to socialize with others of their kind, but the shifting nature of Red Sea islands makes territorial behavior not worth the effort.

Sand Wyverns claim a single den site on an island which they are fiercely protective over, refusing to allow competitors on or near that island. Around this island they travel a much larger home range in which they hunt and search for mates. The tendency of Red Sea islands to move makes the contents of this territory unpredictable, and thus they have little reason to be territorial over larger expanses.

The gregariousness of an individual depends on their current task. When hunting they avoid each other, but at other times they can be far more amiable and enjoy social basking occasions.

• Fiercely territorial over a den site

• Travel a wider home range surrounding this densite

• They travel between moving islands hunting Gurocs. Since the islands they travel to and live on move, they can't really afford to be territorial as their territories are shifting. However, they get no benefit from hunting socially either--relying on solo ambushes to capture their prey--and thus they live relatively antisocial lives, disliking each others' presences but seeing no gain in driving others out of areas.

Communication & Aggression

Territorial Behavior

Hunting Behavior

Sand Wyverns' primary prey are Gurocs, making up to 50-70% of their diet; the rest consists of an opportunistic myriad of small terrestrial creatures relative to the Red Sea, as well as the corpses of sea creatures (such as fish, crustaceans and arthropods) that have washed ashore.

They will travel to neighboring islands in search of Gurocs using exemplary sight to watch for their colonies along the shorelines. Upon locating a colony, they will circle around behind the island and attempt to land without being seen; should their prey notice them, the colony would flee into the water out of reach. They then approach the colony using the cover of the forest, approaching slowly and silently. At a close enough distance they flatten their bodies to the ground to maximize their stealth as they attempt to creep as closely to the colony as they can without being noticed. They use their long, snake-like neck to scout their head forward while obscuring their bodies with obstacles such as stones, trees and tall plants. The hunt is a slow and patient ambush preparation, moving forward only when the opportunity arises to do so without being noticed. When it seems the time is right they will launch forward and sprint at the Gurocs over land, spurring them to flee to the water in a fright. Hopefully the wyvern will have struck one using its maw of sharp teeth before they all escape.

Other prey may include species of small crane wyverns or island boars, though Sand Wyverns are generally less successful at hunting these and consume them opportunistically more than anything. They will also consume bodies of sea creatures that have washed ashore, though they can't stomach heavily rotted carrion and will only eat meat that is relatively fresh.

Lifecycle