#melo lore

[Image ID: Four images of a mammalian raptor-like creature with a numbat-like head. The first image shows it without feathers, the second shows it with tail feathers, the third shows it with the hind wing feathers and the final image is some sketches of its head anatomy. /End ID]

Updated Thylaraptor design is done! In order, the images are

Basic bodyplan without any feathers

Showing the tail feathers

Showing the wing structure

Head/ skull anatomy

They're descendants of GMOs, specifically a Dasyuromorphia/ Corvid hybrid of sorts, with some traits modified even further. They do have distant relatives, but those are small insect-eating and fruit-eating creatures, filling a similar niche to small bats species. Thylaraptors, however, are much larger and are omnivorous, but lean moreso towards meat. Sapient and social, they developed tools, tamed animals and planted crops, rapidly learning new techniques and becoming even more complex.

Melo has three continents; Edla (Left), Revo (Top Right) and Zurva (Bottom Right).

Edla is mostly tropical rainforest, with a few grasslands and deserts to the South. The Barusai Island chain is also located to the West of it.

Revo is mostly Temperate rainforest and Woodlands, with a few grasslands. The Northern portion of it has taiga and tundra.

Zurva is mostly deserts and grasslands, with some rainforests near the Southern Coastline. The Ninua Islands are also located to the Northwest, while Denuso is located in the Southwestern seas near Zurva.

As seen in the map, Melo has a much wider tropical region than Earth, due to the axial tilt being 14.5°, much less than Earth's 23.5°. However, Melo's orbit is slightly inclined (15°) from the elliptic, and is a bit eccentric, resulting in seasons being a bit more pronounced than on Earth.

Bonus Map with Tectonic Plates under the cut

Like humans, Thylaraptors have domesticated many species of plants to use as food. These are a few of them, namely grains and cereals.

The Blue Featherstalk is a Triticale descendant, grown in dry conditions, usually in the grasslands regions of Zurva and Revo. The grains are used to make flour and the leaves can be boiled to make tea.

The Sooty Oak is a descendant of genetically modified Avena nuda, and grows in tropical climates, usually in the extremely rainy areas of Edla and the Barusai Island Chain. Also can be used to make flour, but the grains are usually cooked.

The Swamp Rice is a descendant of GMO Asiatic Rice, and grows near shallow waterlogged soil, not swamps. However, they grow in Subtropical regions, and are extremely hardy. They are usually cooked as rice.

Melo's climate is pretty diverse, with similar biomes that can be found on Earth. However, there are a few differences.

Namely, the Tropical Region is much wider than on Earth, thanks to the milder axial tilt. Thus, the Climatic zones look like this;

Tropical: 0-40° North/South

Subtropical: 40-50° North/South

Temperate: 50-70° North/South

Polar: 70-90° North/South

Tropical rainforests and grasslands dominant the Tropical and Subtropical zones, with a lot of deserts in the interior areas. The Temperate zones are mostly broadleaf woodlands and coniferous forests, with a few Temperate grasslands as well. Closer to the polar zones, there are taiga and tundra, then true Polar climates especially close to the poles. The only landmasses that are truly close to the Polar zone are the Northern tip of Revo, as well as the "Polar Islands" close to this tip.

In regards to weather, it's pretty similar to Earth, the only "true" difference is slightly weaker hurricanes and a wider "storm belt," both thanks to Melo's gentle axial tilt and Passera's cooler temperatures. Likewise, as Melo travels along it's orbit, the weather does get MUCH wamer (or colder) depending on how close the Aphelion/ Perihelion is, thanks to both the mildly eccentric orbit and orbital inclination. This affects weather quite a bit, resulting in snow for both Temperate and occasionally Subtropical areas AND the Rainy Season for Tropical.

Thylaraptors, like humans, are extremely adaptable to their environment/ climates! Many cultures domesticated different animals and plants depending on what's avaliable, and they also used their respective resources.

A bunch of them!

Like thylacines and yapoks, all thylaraptors have pouches. While (perisex) male thylaraptors have a backwards-facing pouch for their... bits, perisex female thylaraptors have a forward-facing pouch to incubate their joeys as neonates. However, thylaraptors lack mammary glands, instead regurgitating a milk-like substance that is produced in their crop (or just using store-brought formulae).

On behaviours, preening is a VERY important part of thylaraptor cultures. On the behaviour side, it helps to remove parasites, ensures that feathers are kept in good condition and waterproofs them! Like birds, thylaraptors have a preen gland at the base of their tails, which secrete an oily-substance that is waterproof and seems to have mild antibacterial/ antifungal properties.

As mentioned in a previous post, thylaraptor eyesight is much more powerful in dim lighting than humans, and has specialised cone cells that can pick up ultraviolet light (Known as "Titho" in certain thylaraptor languages).

A thylaraptor's sense of smell is also much stronger. They can easily sniff out scents that are too faint for humans to detect, and also use this sense to their advantage. In fact, male thylaraptors have scent glands on their snout that are used during courtship, and is usually rubbed on their feathers or clothing. The scent this scent gland produces is often described as "surprisingly floral."

Likewise, some thylaraptor art pieces also uses the sense of smell to add to the piece. Their sense of taste, however, is a bit less refined than humans, but they can taste bitter, spicy and sweet stuff.

Thylaraptors also have extremely sensitive hearing. They can hear from 0.03 to 30 kilohertz, a much wider range than humans, and are almost 3 times as sensitive to loud noises as well. Their long ears can swivel around independently, allowing them to easily locate the direction of a particular sound.

Finally, a thylaraptor's sense of touch is also quite sensitive. Along with their skin, they have several pairs of whiskers. On each side of their face, they have 10 mystacial/ snout whiskers, 5 submental/ "chin" whiskers, 5 genal/ check whiskers, 5 interramal/ throat whiskers and 6 superorbital/ eyebrow whiskers.