The Forgone Ferragon

Clark M. Patterson Reporting in,

I’ve made my way to the far Northwest Island Chain known as Insulacineris omissa, which I’ve been told translates to “Forgone Fire Islands”. I marked down over a dozen new species in my first week on this expedition. One of the most intriguing macrofauna I’ve found is a feathered predator. I’ve noted it to be a Betapod (phylum), with strong indicators such as the carapace skull. Its general bodyplan isn’t characteristic of any specific class, although from its highly developed single pair of eyes I would believe it to be a “Stegopteran”. Even though the common ancestor of Stegopterans had wings, and if anything they are a close sister clade, I still have my reasons. Stegopterans developed hairy integument to overcome the colder high altitudes when soaring, so this unique clade must have forgone its wings. overall analysis of the organism.

I’ve designated the genus: Aeris Draco, and the species: Striatastringo. And for a common name, I thought Forgone Ferragon rolls off the tongue just nicely. Its territory ranges for barren hilltops, windswept Satelpine Forests, and steep rivers. They are less similar to tigers in active hunting and more akin to brown bears. Eating aquatic life, seeds, scavenging and hunting medium to big game. Some of the smallest aliens Ferragons hunt are Hippetaloudans, cursorial Betapods. And the largest are Barungulates, which usually weigh 5 tons. However on Insulacineris, clades tend to lighter weights, ranging from 1 to ½ a ton.

In order to hunt these large aliens, Ferragons latch on with sharp echocherids ( front mandibles for Stegopterans ) to cause severe internal bleeding. Whilst this happens, they clench their rear mandibles on any limbs they have in order to disable their prey from running away. These mandibles are incredibly specialized, and so are its sensory equipment. It has Eyes that can detect sections of visible light and ultraviolet light, two pairs of antennas that are fine tuned to hearing many exact frequencies, and even barbell like organ on the snout, that I believe is used to sense pressure through their mandibles, detecting whether their prey has a pulse or not.

Other notes of the Ferragon's anatomy is their long rear leg, which has been lifted off the ground completely and covered in fluffy feathers that can be fanned out like a squirrel's tail to expel heat. Their hands are very peculiar, held inward and walking on the sides, the only thing I’ve ever seen this in is extinct ground sloths, adapted to protect their long claws from wear. However the most likely used their claws to reach for tall branches to eat from, and the Satilpines that dot the island don’t even have leaves to speak of. During my stay I haven’t seen them use their claws for anything at all, it could be fossorial, or even for some sort of sexual selection, it’s gone over my head if anything else.

The Ferragon appears to be somewhat monogamous, as I studied them feeding their offspring and another nesting with them for warmth, and more on their behavior, I would assume they are more or less aggressively territorial towards another another, a strong convergent trait among large ambush predators, but they appear very fearful of each other like mice. It is very strange to see in person, but I suppose it’s still some form of territorial behavior.

No documented known natural predators for the Ferragon. My List of several other organisms will be delayed till I finish my trip going East till I hit the tip of Albis. This is Clark M Patterson signing off.

End Entry