| abstract
| - Skull Island’s pack-hunting Venatosaurus dromaeosaurs take the advances and specializations of their Cretaceous forbearers and develop them to a new extreme. Their keen eyesight, great speed, and sickle-shaped second toe claws they share with their cousins, but Venatosaurus have taken these adaptations and added a few more to make them even more effective killers. Lumbering V. rexes thunder about Skull Island as brutish analogous relics of their long-lost kin. By contrast, the Venatosaurus are a new breed of hunter, the likes of which had only begun to appear in the Late Cretaceous. With 66 million years of evolution behind them, these new predators have time to sharpen their killing tools to an unparalleled edge. Mobile hips allow the legs to swivel out farther from the body than any other dromaeosaur. While this flexibility is a tradeoff that lowers the animals’ top speed, it affords Venatosaurus vastly superior agility and flexibility (traits more valuable than a winning straight-line sprint in the labyrinth jungle). Their nimble hip joints permit them to crouch at ground level, their stomachs touching the ground, yet still be poised to pounce at a moment’s notice. This adaptation permits the large hunters to make use of surprisingly low cover when preparing an ambush. The eyes are positioned high on the head, allowing a Venatosaurus to peer over cover while still remaining almost completely hidden from potential prey like Dinocanisaurus. The pupils are catlike, slit and able to dilate to let in more light when hunting in the unbroken shade beneath the great trees. The ribcage of a Venatosaurus is reduced in length, but deepens, granting more flexibility at the waist with no reduction in lung capacity (a trait more commonly found in mammals). The deeper profile wields more muscle attachment, increasing strength to the arms and a more powerful grip on struggling prey. Venatosaurus are found throughout the heavily forested regions of Skull Island. They prefer the dense jungle to the open stretches because it affords them more cover during hunts and ample concealment for their own nests and young. Packs with territory bordering the forest edge will sometimes make sorties into the open lands to hunt, but usually only under the cover of darkness. Diurnal V. rexes will kill a Venatosaurus if they are ever to catch one. However, by sticking to the jungle, the smaller predators avoid competition and danger. Venatosaurus are intelligent and social hunters, living in small packs of 6-12 adults with their young. Coordinating their hunting sorties with impressive cunning, packs have developed specific techniques for tackling potentially dangerous prey animals at minimum risk. Venatosaurus is the only predator species that actively preys on adult Brontosaurus. No other predator on the island, including the mighty V. rexes, can match the size of the prey they bring down. Packs split, certain members strategically revealing themselves to panic and stampede a Brontosaurus herd in a predetermined direction. Flankers take up the chase, molesting the giants onto a course they have selected; across dangerously broken ground, over bluffs, or into dead ends. Injury or death among the herd lays meat upon the Venatosaurus’ table, rewarding their cunning with rich bounties of carcasses large enough to feed a pack for a week or more. In addition to the giant Brontosaurus, almost any midsized or large jungle herbivore might find itself on their menu, including any of the ceratopsians, like Ferrucutus and tree-tops, and the blade-backed Asperdorsus. A brave Venatosaurus might even occasionally try its luck with a Diablosaurus, a Kong, or a Calcarisaurus. Their strong social structure is key to Venatosaurus’ success. Meaningful communications between individuals allow for the level of coordination employed in their hunts, but also minimize inefficient competition and conflict within the pack. An alpha breeding pair dominates the pack, but breeding is not restricted to them. Chicks born into the strict hierarchy inherit the rank of their parents. Venatosaurus chicks are born live and are cared for by the whole pack. Food is brought to them in their excavated nest, usually under the roots of a large tree, until they are old and strong enough to follow the pack on a hunt. At all times the young are guarded by a low-ranking escort. This sentry will remain at the nest site when the rest of the pack hunts. A single Venatosaurus pack ranges over a large territory with well-defined borders. Tree scraping a regular marking with feces or urine reinforces these borders with rival packs. Where territory is contested, posturing and noisy displays are usually enough to defuse tensions and resolve the matter. Rarely does a border dispute turn violent. A regular on the menu for Venatosaurus, and a most curious member of the Skull Island menagerie, is the Skull Island gaur.
- Venatosaurus ("thug lizard") was a large theropod dinosaur living on Skull Island, and were the descendants of a group of non-avian dinosaurs, Dromaeosaurids. It was 16-24 feet (4.9-7.3 meters) long, but fairly lightweight for its size. Living on Skull Island's high lands, these large, vicous creatures were superb predators that could prey on animals 10 times their own size. Descended from a dromaeosaurid ancestor, the Venatosaurus had evolved into a predator well-equipped for life on Skull Island. Their hips were more mobile than those of their ancestors, allowing for greater agility and flexibility, albeit while sacrificing running speed. Their hips joints also allowed them to crouch down to the ground, which gave them the ability to use even the slightest cover if needed. Venatosaurus' eyes were set high on their heads, allowing them to peer over cover while remaining hidden. Their eyes functioned much like a cat's, allowing them to see in dim light. Their rib cages are shorter but deeper, giving them more flexibility at the waist and hips, without sacrificing lung capacity. Their deep ribs also allow for better muscle attachment, meaning their forearms were better able to hold onto prey. Venatosaurus tended to ambush their prey, getting as close as possible before bursting out of cover and chasing down it's prey. Venatosaurus were very efficient at using the island's terrain to their advantage, and would chase prey into canyons or over low cliffs. Venatosaurus were, with the exception of V. rexes, the most dangerous predators to be found on Skull Island. Pack-hunters, Venatosaurus were lean, mean, killing machines, top-tier predator, capable of tackling the largest prey items Skull Island had to offer. Highly intelligent and social, Venatosauruses lived in packs of six to twelve or more full-grown adults and assorted young. They preferred jungles to the open grasslands, as the thick forests provide cover for them and nests for their young. Venatosaurus nests were dug out amid the roots of giant jungle trees. All chicks were the responsibility of the entire pack, who brought back food for the young. While out hunting, a single guard would remain behind, watching over the nest. Hunting territories were large, and well marked, with a mixture of tree scrapings, urine, feces, and the like. Other packs may have contested territory from time to time, with a lot of posturing, roaring, and noisy displays designed to resolve the dispute before violence broke out. They sometimes will conceal themselves for ambush by burying themselves in rubble in the area. A sub-species of Venatosaurus which lived primarily in valleys and hunted in packs. They were much smaller than normal Venatosaurs.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)