#ukasu

The ukasu is a derived alioramin tyrannosaur native to the island of Tlaaktu where, despite its relatively small size, it reigns as an apex predator due to a general trend towards dwarfism among the island's fauna. As with other tyrannosaurs, the ukasu's primary weapon are its long, powerful jaws; despite their wicked appearance, the male's enlarged halluces aren't robust enough to be used as weapons and are instead used in high-stepping visual displays meant to attract mates and intimidate rivals. After mating, ukasu pairs typically stay together only until the female lays her eggs, at which point she will leave the male to brood and raise the young.

The ukasu features heavily in the culture of Tlaaktu's native human population, where it is revered as a protector of the island's forests and invoked as a symbol of honor and strength.

This is a fictional species of tyrannosaur that I came up with for Gondolend, a writing and worldbuilding project that I spent around twenty years working on. I've since abandoned it for various reasons, but since I liked how this guy turned out I'm reusing it for a new dinopunk project.

Another unused Gondolend concept that I'm repurposing for this setting is the ukasu, a species of island dwarf alioramin tyrannosaur. The ukasu is native to Tlaaktu, an island off the southern coast of Qitai with an indigenous culture inspired in part by various Indonesian and Melanesian peoples. As the island's apex predator the ukasu is both feared and respected by the people of Tlaaktu in much the same way a tiger would be, and is often used to represent such concepts as power, honor, bravery, and the spirits of one's ancestors.

Though those halluces on the male may look deadly, they're actually far too delicate to be used in combat and instead are utilized in high-stepping visual displays intended to woo potential mates and intimidate rivals.

Much like the Yazir, Tlaaktu doesn't factor into the story of Know, O Princess, and in fact the places that story is set in probably don't even know it exists. Chances are pretty good of a future story being set there however, since the island is also home to Suti Rong, a Tlaakti pirate queen whose fleet terrorized the southern coast of Qitai.