Anatomy[]
C'ss'k raptors are very similar to the Apekian of Kowak in that they are carnivorous, and have mammal-like ear flaps. However they are also significantly smaller and faster than their ancestors, and as such they hunt quicker and smaller prey.
The C'ss'k raptor fossil record shows that originally the C'ss'k were nearly identical to the Apekian (genome mapping confirms this)
ancient C'ss'k Vena-raptor (Vena is a prefix for ancient, in the C'ss'k language)
. Over time however, the C'ss'k began developing protrusions from their cranium and their ear-flaps became increasingly shorter. In the forests of C'ss'k, there was no urgent need for strong auditory senses, and instead their evolutionary progression was towards their olfactory senses. It is said a C'ss'k Raptor (called Venaraptors by outsiders, many of which to not know it is a insult in C'ss'kian). Later in their evolution their feet became less robust and heavy and far more nimble, with thin toes. While they retained their recurved claw on their
innermost toe, it also began to take on a new composition, making it less brittle and more soft. The new composition of the toe made it less prone to fracture, and allowed the C'ss'k to also use to dig for worms and food. This became a large part of their behavior in the future, as even civilized C'ss'k live in darkened homes reminiscent of caves and burrows. Perhaps the most noticeable of adaptations however, is the C'ss'k horns. They are curved inwards, and while they may seem to obscure vision, they actually serve a reference point from which C'ss'k can determine the distance of objects. Raptors who have the horns amputated have trouble with depth perception.
The horns, in the archaic past of the Vena-raptors, were used for mating displays. The male with the biggest horns, or the male who could head butt other males into submission, would get the rights to mate. This behavior is also showed in Apekian, however they instead use bony plates along their foreheads, which are still present in the C'ss'k. However even while the Apekian weighs nearly 7 tons more than the Venaraptors, proportionally they use only a fraction of the potential kinetic energy their
Kowak Clopgrazer. One of the most massive species on Kowak. At nearly 20ft tall and weighing nearly 7 tons. Its leg bones are incredibly thick to support its monstrous weight
smaller cousins use. This is because of the special way the Venaraptors spines are constructed. Much like the Pachycephalasaurus of Sol-III, the Venaraptor's spine forms up perfectly for shock absorption when its head is in butting position. This allows for incredible striking power by the Venaraptors, enough to topple the immense Kowak Clopgrazers of their cousin's homeworld of Kowak.
Behavior[]
The C'ss'k are nearly as varied in personality as humans, however several differences obviously remain. While the C'ss'k are intelligent, imaginative beings, they are not familial organisms. Unlike the Beekmen, and other creatures with strong familial bonds, the C'ss'k group their society in hierarchy alone. In dawn of civilization this meant that once a child was born it had to leave its mother and find a group willing to take it in. This behavior was further shown in the epoch of exploration which swept their planet. Many groups of Raptors would band together to en masse and form exploration groups. Eventually these groups based on class and importance rather than familial clans began to dominate until all of the C'ss'k were unified under one rule.
The C'ss'k also are far more concerned for the preservation of their world and environment and its biodiversity than their closest intellectual counterparts, the Beekmen, and Draconians. Both of which, on at least one occasion, caused the mass-extinction of nearly every animal on their respective planets of Kuak'ii and Versailles-III.
Homeworld[]
Like the Beekman Spart'ii, the C'ss'k are thought to be a transplant species. Put on their planet of the same name by the Ursa Minorities. They seem to be descended from the Kowak Apekian, a extremely large raptor comparable to the ancient Tyrannosaurus rex of Sol-III.
Kowak Apekian, the ancestor of the C'ss'k Raptors
The world of C'ss'k is a massive planet, however it is mostly made of low-density materials and as such has a gravitational field much like Earth. It is covered mostly in lush jungle-like terrain and red clay plains. It has a medium level biodiversity for its size, however after the C'ss'k were transplanted onto the planet in their original forms (the Kowak Apekians) they quickly diminished the population and triggered a evolutionary arms race that would eventually lead to the sentience of the C'ss'k Raptors.
Once sentience was achieved the C'ss'k left the jungles and moved to the clay plains, building underground cities, and later once space travel was achieved, they build immense space-cities creating a ring around their massive planet of shipyards and residential housing.
C'ss'k is now the most important single location in the entire Villipax Galaxy. The number of Space Stations, docking stations, defense moons, and other artificial orbiting bodies number in the thousands. The ring around C'ss'k alone is more expensive than the yearly output of the second most economically booming shipyard in the galaxy: Kuak'ii Drive Yards. C'ss'k's Gross Domestic Product output is nearly (5 Duodecillion) Draconian pieces (each equivelant to about 1000 US dollars as of May 16, 2009).
.png){kind=link}
