Wyvern Hawk
In the absence of large carnivores, a population of Dracowyverious gymnocephalus evolved to fill the niche. D. volturecephalus is stockier than its ancestor, with strong chest, neck, and jaw muscles and a short tail. The shortened tail makes it lighter and able to fly with far more efficiency than its ancestor. Its teeth are serrated and knife-like, perfect for ripping through flesh. Its eardrum is set inside an ear canal, giving it better hearing to listen for potential prey. It stands at about 2 feet tall at the hip, and it is about 3.5 feet long from nose to tail. It has a wingspan of about 8 feet. As it lacks a heavy counterbalancing tail, it stands in a slightly more upright posture compared to its ancestor. Its skin is dark and it has a fleshy “eyebrow” protrusion above its eyes; these adaptations reduce glare from the sun reflecting off of its skin. It also has a thin layer of downy feathers on its wing membranes, which keeps them warm as it soars through the sky.
D. volturcephalus is both a predator and a scavenger. As some portion of its diet includes rotting meat, its stomach acid is extremely acidic and can kill almost any microbes it ingests; any dangerous microbes that survive have to face its powerful immune system, long-hardened by putrid meat. As for fresh meat, its hunting strategy consists of first sneaking up on its prey before suddenly launching into the air and grabbing onto its prey with its sharp hooked wing claws and biting down on the throat. If it can’t find prey from the ground, it will fly into the air and passively soar overhead, scanning the ground for prey or carcasses. It will generally swop down low before attacking something on the ground from the sky to reduce the risk of injury.
D. volturcephalus has a mane of brightly colored feathers running down its neck, and it has a fatty dewlap on its throat. These are used in its mating dances; in the case of the dewlap, its size and fattiness is an indicator of health, so the bigger and jigglier, the better. It partially buries 2-4 eggs in the sand and guards them until they hatch, which takes 4-5 weeks. The parents raise the semi-altricial young together, bringing them food by day and warming them at night with their wings, until they are around 2-3 months old and can hunt for themselves.
D. volturcephalus primarily hunts D. azurelotus and D. gymnocephalus, but it also preys on A. tropheus when it encounters them nesting on the shore. It will scavenge any dead muscals it comes across, and when especially hungry it will sometimes try to chase others of its kind away from their own kills.
