#duramboros

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My phylogeny of brute wyverns as of the release of wilds

Pantyrannosaur brutes

Anjanath: A belligerent and snotty species of monster. Anjanath are forest creatures that navigate the rough terrain with their narrow bodies and opposable first toes.

Two subspecies exist, the Ancient Forest Anjanath and the Fulgur Anjanath. Despite being labeled a subspecies of the forest variety, Fulgurs are in fact the original species from which Ancient Forest Anjanaths descend from. While they are nomadic, Fulgurs have a preference for boreal forests, where their large size and feathers insulate themselves. They’re notable for their electrogenesis, which is produced by a subcutaneous layer of tissue between the skin and muscles. The sails serve as threat displays and aid in electrical management. Their electricity is transferred to their bite and nasal passages, electrifying their snot as they lob it at opponents.

At some point a population of Fulgur Anjanath in the hoarfrost reach found their way to the ancient forest and adapted. They gave up their extravagant silver orange and blue colors for a black and pink vulture-like color. They also switched from electrogenesis to fire breathing, and this is accomplished thanks to a bioluminescent fluid Ancient Forest Anjanaths produce in their throats. When regurgitated into the mouth, mixed with snorted up snot, exposed to the open air and charged with electricity, this fluid ignites and produces the flames the subspecies is known for. Forest Anjanaths have also repurposed their sails for thermoregulation in their hotter habitat.

The head of the Anjanath is perhaps its most striking feature. The tooth row on the bottom jaw is zigzagged with some of the teeth sitting outside of the mouth and adapted into tusks. The Anjanath’s sense of smell is among the best in the animal kingdom and nasal system is vast and accordion-like. The nasal bones are not ossified and can flip back to allow the nasal passages to extend out the skull when flushed with blood and improve its scent. They often mark territory with snot.

The cartilaginous nature of the nasal bones is interesting as these bones are usually very robust within the tyrannosaur family due to their importance in bite stress handling. This indicates that Anjanath may have a proportionally weaker bite than its kin, and it does seem to have adaptations to compensate. The mandibles, normally not fused and kept separate in most diapsids, fuse together at the front like a crocodilian or mammal and have many stress handling adaptations, meaning that when biting most of the stress is transferred to the mandibles and not the cranium. And instead of overwhelming crushing bite force the species may opt for a good grip and to thrash prey like a crocodile.

The species is normally solitary but when confronted with its own kind it has a very complex series of behaviors meant to ward off competition. Interactions usually start (and end) with the sizing up phase, where either party flairs their sails and nostrils, mouths open and roaring to appear bigger and meaner. If that doesn’t work then they begin nipping each other’s sensitive snouts. If either party fails to back down then all bets are off and a full blown fight takes place, complete with them cutting each other with their spiny tails and leg spurs.

Anjanath offer a glimpse into the evolutionary history of pantyrannosaur brutes. It seems like the group split off from other tyrannosaurs right before they lost their third fingers, but just as they were developing powerful jaws.

Deviljho: A ravenous and dangerous species of tyrannosaur known to inflict terror within the ecosystem and hearts of hunters.

Deviljho are notable for two major things. Their insatiable appetite and production of dragon element. Deviljho are never not hungry and will attempt to eat anything that moves or smells semi edible. Their powerful jaws and numerous chin teeth propelled by a massively muscled neck serve as a deadly mace that can easily kill and cripple. Hides unable to be opened by their bone crushing jaws are melted by their acidic saliva. Deviljho are not opposed to eating rotting carcasses either, which their powerful immune system can deal with thanks to dragon element (dragon element is likely something produced by the immune system of monsters often in contact with things such as rotting flesh, as well as having thermoregulatory purposes). The presence of a single Deviljho creates a massive landscape of fear and many species will flee their habitats just to get away from the cetacean sized tyrannosaur. One case of a Deviljho that was stranded on an island ended in the elimination of all other megafauna. The species is nomadic, and can walk for days on end thanks to hypertrophied caudofemoralis muscles that give their tails such a thick shape.

Most fascinating however, are the numerous indications that Deviljho as a species is not doing very well and either suffered a horrible population bottleneck in the past or may very well be on its last legs.

Deviljho do not live very long, which is the opposite of what’s expected from such a large animal. Numerous cranial adaptations also seem to indicate inbreeding. Deviljho have poor hearing, vision, and smell which is the opposite of what it should be for a tyrannosaur. The teeth grow at a near cancerous rate, especially on the mandibles, and this causes much pain and discomfort. In old world populations teeth grow out of where their lip muscles would attach to the cranium and their liplessness might indicate that their lips were ripped off their face by their own teeth. New world Deviljho are doing even worse. Nearly 50% of their cranium is the maxilla bones, which their teeth look like they’re exploding out of and give them a lobed look. The maxilla are so hypertrophied that they’re enveloping the premaxilla and pushing back the nasals and jugal bones, scrunching up the nose like a brachycephalic dog.

Generally if an inbred animal looks bad on the outside, it’s doing even worse on the inside. Their horrible digestive efficiency is likely a result of inbreeding, and many Deviljho are noted to be sterile. Their dragon production can even become dangerous, with the deleterious mutation resulting in the terminal Savage variant being common.

Why might such a powerful species of animal be doing so poorly in the world? Well, it could be that this just isn’t Deviljho’s world anymore. One hypothesis by UHC suggests that in the last ice age Jhos were predators of large proboscideans and sauropods like Gammoth and Larinoth. Deviljho are nomadic simply because they followed their food for days via their caudofemoralis muscles and used their face (which likely had less teeth and might resembled something like a robust Anjanath) to inflict crippling wounds on prey which they would eat for days on end. But now large elephants and sauropods are a rarity and with its main food source gone, the once mighty Deviljho is not far behind…

Glavenus: Striking and flamboyant carnivores who’re best known for their heavily biomineralized sword tails. Their placement in this group is controversial, but it seems they are the closest living relatives to the Rugu family, which are themselves related to Deviljho and Anjanath.

Much of what we know of the species actually comes from males, as those are the only individuals ever hunted. Glavenus are much like peacocks in that they invest heavily in their appearance, with large horns, back plates, and their iconic tails (it’s presumed that these features are less prominent on females). The tail sword is formed by metal that is secreted into the skin, and this ore is ingested by the Glavenus. Males are very choosy over the metals they eat for their swords and fiercely guard their favorite ore spots. In the months leading up to mating season they even migrate to volcanic environments for the high quality metals found within.

So precisely maintained are their swords that they even have anti rust and sharpening adaptations. The armored face of a Glavenus is an adaptation for tail maintenance, complete with ridges to prevent sparks from getting in the eyes and clamp like structures on their armor. When their sword gets dull or rusty they bring their tail to their mouth, and these clamps both scrape away rust and sharpen the blade. The waste is then collected within their mouth and stored in a special gizzard called the Bursa.

While the sword tail is mostly for show, Glavenus are not afraid to use it for defense. Swinging it around with remarkable dexterity and even jumping to slam it down, and they have wide feet and ankle spurs to help stick their landings and to allow the footwork necessary for their twirling. If push comes to shove they can even drive up their metabolism and heat up their tails (which they also heat with friction) and the contents of their bursa, making the former hot enough to glow and making the latter hot enough to take a liquid form that can be regurgitated at threats. They have special heat resistant tissues in these areas to combat the burning temperatures, and their back plates flush with blood to help thermoregulate.

A subspecies is known to be native to the rotten vale of the new world, known as Acidic Glavenus. While still fussy about the ores on their sword tails, they also secrete crystal sulfur onto their tails filtered from the effluvium they breathe in. This crystal sulfur acts as a protective sheath and further indicator of fitness, as a male with a powerful immune system can better filter effluvium and thus extract more sulfur.

This sulfur has defensive properties as well. The rotten vale is a wet environment, and as an Acidic Glavenus rubs and swings its tail around the acid crystals come in contact with water and oxygen, forming sulfuric acid. If sufficiently pressed, an Acidic Glavenus will shed the sulfur and engage property with its sword, and their attacks feature more jabs and half swings than their cousins due to the cramped environment of the vale.

Glavenus do not hunt with their tails and instead kill with their bone crushing jaws.

Giaorugu: A poorly studied arctic species. Giaorugu take whatever they can in their harsh habitat, killing with their large tusks and making short work of kills with their acidic saliva. They defend themselves from larger predators with their sword tail and water they store in a gizzard that freezes in the open air due to the extreme temperatures of their surroundings.

Males have a larger frill and back plates.

Abiorugu: A species descended from Giaorugu populations around the new world and have been encroaching eastward. They have repurposed their gizzard into a flame sack. The frill present in Giaorugu does not fully come together in Abiorugu, instead forming brow crests. Mated pairs stick together.

Neoceratosaur brutes

Barroth: Theropods that live in arid regions and are known for their distinct heads and diet of bugs.

Barroth are found in deserts and not far from water. They live in ponds and watering holes which they diligently maintain and transform with their crowns and broad hands into muddy homes where they spend most of their time. Fitting for something that spends a lot of time submerged, the species has semiaquatic adaptations. Their feet are flat, broad, and each have two fleshy lobes to increase their surface area. This helps Barroth both swim and not sink into mud they’re standing on. Their nostrils are also situated at the top of their crown, and when submerged the tip is all that’s visible.

These mud holes are primarily for protection against aggressors such as members of the parave blos genus and against the heat of the sun, and Barroth are violently protective of their mud holes.

Despite spending most of their time in mud, they do not eat anything in it. Barroth are in fact myrmecophages, and they must leave the safety of their beloved mud holes to search for food. Before leaving their homes, they roll around in mud to affix large clumps of it to their thick carapace. This mud armor serves many purposes. It acts as a shield against the hot sun, protection against parasites, and even hides their scent. Bits may occasionally fall off and these provide important sources of minerals and water for any flora growing along the path a Barroth might take.

Upon finding an anthill they smash it with their crown and eat any ants coming out at their leisure. Unlike many other myrmecophages, Barroth lack a long flexible tongue, and this is because in the old world where they evolved they primarily target Altaroth which are large enough to negate this issue. New world Barroths get around this not because their prey is large enough to not warrant a tongue, but because Carrier Ants are so numerous and omnipresent it’s not an issue. Like many myrmecophages, Barroths have very specialized guts and actually need to ingest dirt with their prey in order to digest them properly, and may even have a trick to extract energy from chitin.

When threatened, Barroths hit their attackers with their tail clubs and lower their massive heads and charge with the force of a freight train. But because they have such poor eyesight they may become hostile to things that don’t pose a threat or things that are protected by a threat, such as blos young. Barroths have five nostrils, or rather one trifurcated nostril and one bifurcated one. It’s unclear why this is, but it could be that when charging at objects they risk damaging and collapsing their nostrils and being unable to breathe through them, and by simply having more they can negate this issue.

A poorly studied arctic species has been documented, and has a vibrant blue and green hide and even bigger crown, but it’s unclear what it might prey on.

Both Barroth and the surprising relative Brachydios can trace their evolutionary history back to small omnivorous swamp dwelling ceratosaurs that rooted around for bugs, mushrooms, and tubers. As the environment changed, some decided to maintain their swamps while others adapted to the harsh volcanoes.

Brachydios: Agressive ceratosaurs famous for their pounders, blue obsidian-like carapace, and symbiotic slime mold.

In the harsh environment of volcanoes, Brachydios have become carnivores that prefer burrowing animals, but if a golden opportunity presents itself then they will take prey as large as Uragaan. Kills are processed by the two large claws on each hand, normally kept tucked away under the pounders.

Brachydios have a unique relationship with a species of myxomycete with possible relation to Physarum polycephalum, and this can be traced back to their evolutionary history. Because their ancestors were rootling creatures that searched in dark damp places for food such as under logs, they would have occasionally come into contact with the slime mold. This frequent contact would result in this amoeboid eventually growing on the ancestral Bracy’s carapace and sometimes eating it. Becoming a hitchhiking nuisance. But this slime also had a very literally explosive reproduction, which would be beneficial for unearthing food. Brachydios eventually learned to tolerate the amoeba eating its skin because it could be used to better forage. Modern Brachydios grow the carapace on their horn and pounders quicker than other parts of the body since that’s where most of the slime lives, with most of it living within the spongy bone and keratin of its forehead pounder and requiring compounds in its saliva to reproduce.

Exceptionally large and old Brachydios may acquire the poorly researched Fashpoint Slime and become known as Raging Brachydios. The flashpoint dazzles potential mates with its bright colors, but this may prove to be a detriment to the population in an area. Only the individuals that carry flashpoint can survive its blasts, and if any normal Brachydios survive mating with a raging then any young will certainly be killed by flashpoint slime that takes root on their shells.

Heterodontosaur brutes

Quematrice: A recently discovered species native to the forbidden lands that is exclusively a scavenger.

Despite their theropod-like appearance they and others like them are actually descended from heterodontosaurs. The ancestor of the entire family was likely primarily herbivorous with carrion and insect eating habits; essentially being adapted to a low protein diet rich in macronutrients. Many different taxa would either retain or lose the predentary or tusks.

Quematrice itself has lost the predentary but kept its tusks. The rest of the teeth have minimal serrations but are thick and sharp, perfect for piercing and cracking bone. This diet of dead flesh and bone may provide insight into how Uragaan gained its unique diet. By eating the bones of other monsters, which in the world of monster hunter are highly mineralized, the ancestors of Uragaan might have gradually evolved a gut microbiome that could better process other metals.

Quematrice are able to secrete an oil onto their skin on their tail, and use friction to ignite it and create threat displays. This unique oily skin secretion is a further link between it and the aans.

Radobaan: A member of the aan genus native to the rotten vale.

Radobaan has pointed spike scutes on its back as opposed to the flat studs of Uragaan, possibly as an adaptation for traction in the vale, and instead of cranial bosses it has horns. Outside of these physical differences though, Radobaan are outwardly the same as their sister species, with the biggest difference being internal. Radobaan has a different gut microbiome than Uragaan, and it can be thought of as somewhat in between Quematrice and Uragaan’s guts. Radobaan primarily feast on bone which is abundant in the vale, as well as the occasional plant and fungi to round out their diet.

Both anns process their food via their very unique cranial anatomy. Their mandibles are incredibly robust and the bones have largely fused together. This massive bludgeoning chin, while excellent at defending them from danger, can also crush meals into more manageable chunks. Their predentary forms a “lip” that can hook food and debris, and food shoveled into the mouth is processed by the teeth. The teeth of Uragaan and Radobaan are large, flat, and arranged in a zigzag, with two noticeable tusks. These teeth can grind food down into a fine powder and have deep roots.

Food is gradually broken down by a multi-chambered stomach. Gases extracted from the digestive process have narcotic effects and can be released through abdominal vents in self defense.

Both species can secrete a tar-like oil from their skin that they use to affix their food to their bodies for defense and to carry a portable meal.

Both species can curl themselves into a wheel shape to move quickly and efficiently across slanted terrain, and have appropriately tough backs for this task. It’s possible that their ancestors merely curled into a ball for protection like an armadillo or pangolin, but in the uneven terrain of volcanoes this might have accidentally resulted in rolling down hills away from danger. This eventually became an instinctual behavior to roll from danger and was further expanded into a method of movement.

Uragaan: A sister species to Radobaan found anywhere in the world with a volcano.

As explained above, Uragaan differ from Radobaan in that their back and cranial armor form flat pegs (which grow continuously throughout their lives), but their diet and gut biome are different as well. Uragaans are ore eaters, using the same tools useful in cracking and grinding bone to crush rock. To digest their meals they have an incredibly complex gut biome able to consume inorganic material and create organic byproducts that Uragaan itself can consume, much like the symbiotic microbes of creatures living around hydrothermal vents. The caveat to this is that these heterodontosaurs are choosy eaters and live life slowly. Much of their time is spent just digesting their meals.

Because of their diet of ore, Uragaan decorate themselves in metal as opposed to the bone of their sister species, making their bodies heavier. They also affix explosive rocks to their tails, which they can fling at threats and set off with an earth shattering chin slam. The chin itself is coated in melted metals. The gases they extract from digestion are also more diverse, and on top of narcotics they can also vent a hot combustible gas.

Uragaan start life small and herbivorous and don’t begin eating ore until strong enough to crack it. But juveniles may habituate themselves to ore eating by eating metallophite and hyperaccumulator plants which are rich in minerals, and their parents cultivate these plants with their poop. The species is also somewhat social and may engage in rough shoving matches as a form of play. During breeding season males dress themselves in colorful jewels and ore to impress mates. Particularly old individuals may even have crystals growing on them.

A subspecies exists called Steel Uragaan which makes excursions deeper into volcanoes for sulfur rich minerals. Because of this diet it cannot make sleep gas but can create foul smelling sulfuric gas. This repeated traversal between cooler and hotter areas of volcanoes effectively heat treats the metals on their bodies, which explains the colors.

Duramboros: A massive Heterodontosaur that lives in large forests.

Duramboros are primarily tree eaters, felling trees with their tails and eating the bark and other woody tissue. Like the aans they have multi-chambered stomachs for ruminating, and Duramboros do spend a lot of time just digesting food, and can sit in areas for so long that moss and fungi can grow on their shells. The species will also round out their diets by eating dead trees for the arthropods and fungi within. Their feeding can create open areas in dense forests, making them ecosystem engineers. Excess nutrients are stored in large fatty humps on their backs for lean periods.

Duramboros are incredibly well protected even outside of their sheer size. Their hide alone is like that of a rhino, and their massive horns supported by huge muscles on their humped back can gore and throw any lesser creatures with ease. Their massive tails are their greatest weapon, and sport a large club with axe-like thagomizers to completely obliterate any threat. They infamously use these tails as a counterbalance while spinning in place before launching their massive bodies at whatever it is they want to die.

The species usually lives in small herds composed of a few family groups, and newborns eat the dung of their mothers to gain the gut bacteria needed for fermentation, as is common with many fermenting herbivores.

A desert dwelling subspecies known as Rust Duramboros exists and is the largest brute wyvern on average. Due to their environment they are absent of any moss on their hide, and their tail club forms a double edged axe that they use more violently.

Dalthydon: A recently discovered species native to the windward plains and other savannas.

These small relatives of Duramboros primarily eat grass, which they graze using remarkably mammal-like lips which are only possible due to the complete loss of the predentary. Their social dynamics and method of digestion is largely the same as their bigger relatives.

Their head is adorned with a shield made entirely of horn, which is supported by large muscles that anchor to their humpback. Their tails also have rhino-like plating. Both are like duramboros.

Dalthydon are unusual for their production of milk, something dinosaurs can’t make as they lack sweat glands. It could be possible this structure is derived from a preening gland of some kind.

Banbaro: These heterodontosaurs inhabit regions with drastic seasonal differences.

These herbivores eat wood, other plants, and fungi which they ferment in their stomach. In terms of niche they’re like a more cold adapted Duramboros, and sport a thick coat of feathers and subcutaneous fat. During warmer periods they can raise their feathers and their carapace to better release heat. They also have a small nasal crest that lays flat but can be flipped up when angry as a form of display.

Duramboros, Banbaro, and their relatives all have hoofs, likely as a better method of shock absorption and weight bearing than normal toes.

Gastodon: A volcanic species with a puffy feather mane.

Both it and Kestodon have retained the predentary. Unlike the robust buffalo-like cranial structures of their relatives, their three curved horns are mostly for display but can gore threats.

Kestodon: A close relative to Gastodon with distinct sexual dimorphism and cranial anatomy.

Kestodons lack horns and instead have domeheads like pachycephalosaurs, and are used much the same way. Males are much bigger than females, and a typical heard consists of two sibling males and a small harem of females.

Other notes