Cockatrice

Cockatrice anatomy reveals adaptations to a centauroid body plan — the spine is slightly curved, and the torso is broader to accomodate two arms and four legs. Cockatrices have larger brains than herbivores like Dromolopes, as hunting requires strategy and is mentally demanding. The oviduct, where the Cockatrice's eggs are stored prior to fertilization, lies just above the egg pouch (not shown). One anatomical feature of note is the extender (16), a small spring-like muscle that extends the inner jaw out of the throat, allowing the Cockatrice to deliver a killing bite with its teeth.

Here we see a Cockatrice as it would appear in real life. Striped patterns on its skin help break up its outline, with the red stripes blending into reddish tenucaulian foliage. The arms are equipped with large thumb spikes used for ripping into the thick hides of dromolopes. A green throat sac, is used for display, especially during the breeding season. A Cockatrice can use this throat sac to produce a variety of vocalizations.

Carefully concealing itself, a Cockatrice hides amidst a Featherstem grove, watching a group of male Domeheads fighting for territory. Distracted by their head-butting contest, they fail to notice the approaching danger. Without warning, the Cockatrice erupts from the undergrowth and sprints towards the fleeing Domeheads. An old male, slower than the rest, falls behind. In an instant, she snatches the Domehead and dispatches him with a swift bite from her extendable inner jaw. The noise of the kill soon attracts other predators, but she sees them away with a deep-throated screeching call. No creature dares to get in the way of Dapsilis Planitia's top hunter.

Cockatrices are part of a group of endognathans called captolestoids ("seizing forms"). Instead of walking on all six legs, as dromolopes do, captolestoids have a centauroid body plan. They walk on four legs, using their modified front legs as grasping arms. Captolestoids are a fairly diverse group. Some species are herbivores, using long claws on their front arms to grasp tenucaulian branches like Terra's extinct ground sloths. But the vast majority of them, like the Cockatrice, are carnivores.

Cockatrices have a number of adaptations that make them excellent hunters. They have binocular vision, allowing them to judge distance when running towards prey, and their inner jaws are extendable, allowing them to use their teeth to grip struggling prey.

The mother Cockatrice carries her eggs in a pouch located on her underbelly. As the hatchlings grow, they absorb everything they can from the egg, even the eggshell itself, which is made out of a thick, nutritious protein. After hatching, the hatchlings spend another seven months in the pouch before they begin exploring the outside world. Cockatrices are devoted parents. They spend up to five years caring for their young, teaching them valuable hunting skills that will serve them well as adults.

Cockatrices will sometimes form packs, especially during severe droughts when prey is scarce. However, these groupings are nothing like Terran wolf packs or lion prides. They are mere alliances of convenience, and as soon as a kill is made any semblance of amicability fades as the Cockatrices squabble over the carcass.