#thylaraptors

Yep! They're the sapient species of Melo!

Their ancestors were basically these wacky chimeras of many marsupials and birds that humans made, and after Humanity left Melo, they ended up becoming the sophont/ sapient species. They can move either bipedally or quadrupedally, but prefers to be bipedal due to the leg-wings.

They also have REALLY good eyesight, being almost comparable to an eagle. Similarly, they can also see in ultraviolet light, and they DO have UV markings, like a lot of real-world marsupials!! However, a whooping 35% of the current population is actually blue-yellow colourblind. It's unknown why this is such a common mutation, but it seems to be linked to a few recessive genes.

As for other senses, they have excellent hearing and a decent sense of smell. Likewise, they have whiskers on their faces, which helps with touch and helps with communication.

The little extra "thumb" on the hand isn't an actual digit, but is instead modified wrist bones, like yapoks/ water opossums. It helps with grabbing onto things. Their hind talons have 4 digits, with the outermost toe being used to support the feathers of the wing, while the two "side" toes act like thumbs. Because of this, they can very easily climb and grab onto stuff with ease.

They are omnivorous, but prefers meat. They do practice farming, but not to the scale of modern day humans.

[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'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.

(Or... time to revive this blog again-)

Thylaraptors, as descendants of bird-mammal hybrids, have a rather interesting sense of sight.

Unlike most mammal species, Thylaraptors have specialised cone cells that detect ultraviolet light. As a result, they can see things that may be "invisible" to humans. They also have very sensitive rod cells, meaning that they have shockingly good night vision. This, combined with the UV cones, means that they have highly sensitive vision in dim lighting, or even in seemingly total darkness!

Thylaraptors also have rather sharp eyesight, being able to see for a considerable further distance than humans. However, they can be very light sensitive due to all of the above points.

Also talking about Ultraviolet light, like many marsupial and bird species, thylaraptors are biofluorescent. This means that their fur, feathers and skin could re-emit Ultraviolet light in the visible spectrum. To humans, the UV-reactive fur appears as purples and blues. To thylaraptors, this appears as different shades/ hues of Ultraviolet, which is a colour known as "Titho" in certain thylaraptor languages.

Biofluorescence in thylaraptors are seen in "hidden" markings; such as stripes, spots or patches. Occasionally, individuals may have a combination of marking types, or unique patterns altogether. Likewise, there are a few fur conditions that may result in little to no Biofluorescent markings. These markings are fully visible to most thylaraptors, and are used as identification.