Creature:Grendon

The Grendon are distant cousins of the Aurix, residing in the same general area of the planet  Vuunega. They are the only known descendants of the original Zocellium strain to have remained as terrapods. They are a major rival of the Aurix, as well as a prey item to them.

Scientific Classification
Domain: Monocentralis (Single-Nucleus Complex Organisms) Kingdom: -- Subkingdom: -- Superphylum: -- Phylum: Unspecified ("Animals" with Notochords) Subphylum: Unspecified (Vertebrates) Infraphylum: Gnathostoma (Jawed Vertebrates) Superclass: Bipodomorpha (Two-Legged Vertebrates & Their Descendants) Series: Ovozoan (Animals possessing amniotic eggs) Class: Unspecified Subclass: Unspecified Infraclass: Unspecified Superorder: Unspecified Order: Unspecified Suborder: Unspecified Infraorder: -- Family: Unspecified Subfamily: Unspecified Genus: -- Species: Unspecified Binominal Name: Unspecified

Statistics
Species Type: Cold-blooded Terrestrial Terrapod Lifestyle: Diurnal Social Pack-Hunting Hemophage Hunt/Forage Success Rate: __% Hunt (40% success rate), __% Photosynthesis (99.7% success rate during day, 5% success rate during night)

Armor:

Screek, being nocturnal creatures, never evolved armor, and instead rely solely on their leathery skin. This makes them primary targets for certain species, but even so, their nocturnal habits give them few actual predator species to have to contend with.

Defenses:

Like their cousin species which include the Aurix, they possess  electroplaques which are stored within their tails. These produce a low amp voltage capable of little more than a dizzying discomfort and weak headaches, and are typically used to incapacitate foes of roughly their size. However, since they are very ill-equipped to survive in aquatic environments, these electroplaques are almost never used to physically harm an opponent. Their skin also utilizes a weak poison, which when combined with their weak poison resistance and bony skeleton, can deter certain foes from killing them. Their skin is also black, to help them blend in with the night air as well as the shadows caused by daylight.

Weapons:

Screeka are relatively ill-armed for offensive combat in terms of the multitude of their arsenal, but they are not exactly a violent race and will only fight if necessary. The first of the two weapons they utilize is their proboscis, which they can use to cause jabbing, bleeding wounds. This is more often than not used in situations when they are in close-combat range, but it is also used to bleed and suck blood from their prey. For attacks meant to cause actual physical harm, they utilize a bone ring, which extends from the tip of their long, stiff tail. This acts as a razor-sharp blade that can gouge out large openings in foes, and can even cause death if enough damage is inflicted with them.

Tools:

While they do in fact possess a pair of tentacle-arms, these have been fully adapted into a set of wings and much smaller stabilizers, respectively. This brings their manipulative abilities to an all-time low, with only two 'clasper' like appendages at the end of the wing-tentacles. That being said, most Screek can go their entire life without manipulating anything other than mates during copulation.

Method of Eating:

Unspecified

Reproductive Rate:

While adulthood is reached after about 13 months, sexual maturity itself isn't reached until after 2 years. They reproduce during the windy autumn months.

Gestation:

25 days then lays eggs -- eggs are laid into the colony in nest clutches within the colony and dug out slightly if possible, where one of the mated pair will remain over the eggs to protect them from the numerous other Screek that might accidentally crush them, gently pecking at any would-be intruders. Mates will take turns feeding each night, allowing each mate to feed only once every other night when brooding.

Offspring Incubation:

1.5 weeks until eggs hatch after being laid.

Number of Offspring:

5 screeklings per litter.

Offspring Survival Rate (before age of maturity):

75% -- Egg thieves specializing in feeding off of Screek eggs are relatively rare, and when combined with the fact that young screek aren't allowed to feed outside the colony, few are killed. Therefore most deaths occur during accidental crushing under the weight of the colony itself, or with inexperienced parents.

Singular/Plural/Possessive: Grendon/Grendons/Grendoni

Prey
Grendon are exclusive predators, feeding on a single organism partially thanks to specialization.
 * Quirlax

Predators
Few predators are known to exist for the Grendon, although this could be due to the lack of thorough exploration of the catapult forests by the Aurix.
 * Aurix
 * Gargantua Ray

Physiology
Below in this next section, you will find information on the Grendoni physical appearance, and explanations of things including, but not limited to, their skeletal structure and their senses.

Skeleton
Grendons utilize a simple skeletal structure consisting mostly of a vast ribcage, a skull, and the vertebrae that attach the two. Various smaller bones can be found in their whip tentacles and in their sails as support rods, as well as in "eye cup sockets" similar to the Aurixan cousins.

Musculatory System
Grendons are extremely powerful creatures, as they are heavily muscle-bound. However, much of this muscle makes up the legs, which are in fact modified tentacle-arms, and thereby lacking entirely in bone material. Much muscle makes up the main body, as well, thanks to its relative bulkiness. Their most limber muscles in their bodies make up those that allow their three sails to move up and down for communications and sunbathing purposes.

Brain & Nerve Center
Like many of the Aurixan relatives, Grendons are incredibly intelligent creatures, possessing an intelligence level comparably equal to that of Terran  dolphins.

Digestive System
Because they remained hemophages as opposed to their cousins who - with the exception of the Vrennum and the  Screek - all adapted new feeding styles, they had little need for an actual stomach, and therefore their digestive system is ruled by their Blood Processing Organ. Their enlarged size and bulky body allows for a significant amount of space available for this organ, making it quite large. This aids them in being able to process large quantities of Quirlax blood from a single take down.

Their intestines wrap unconventionally between the other, larger organs. Like other intestines, they are intertwining ropes which leech any and all nutrients left over from the blood processor's work. Amazingly, almost no waste product seems to exist.

Respiratory System

 * Under Construction

Circulatory System

 * Under Construction

Senses

 * Under Construction

Evolutionary History

 * Under Construction