#notzokideu

illustrated-menagerie:

Several years ago I started playing around with the speculative evolution concept of a pterosaur that adopted a similar lifestyle to a chimpanzee, abandoning flight in favor of life in the trees. The idea is that it evolved these traits in the 65 million years following the KT extinction. Originally this design was an ornithocheirid, perhaps descended from Tropeognathus, since I liked the look of the toothed beak. Since then I have refined the design, and chose a short necked Azhdarchid as my template.

Now I present the arboreal snatcher, an omnivorous pterosaur that lives in the canopies of the forests that dominate Pakardia. Since giving up flight, they are terrifyingly precise with their movement as they speed through the trees, investing much of their large brains into coordination. Arboreal snatchers are extremely intelligent, a side effect of their dynamic lifestyle and volant ancestry. Their shoulders and forearms have increased in flexibility as an adaptation to climbing and leaping through branches. The finger that once supported wings has now become a strong and dexterous ‘thumb’ that helps them grip branches as they brachiate. Although not normally aggressive, they are curious by nature and the villagers of Pakardia have many stories of these animals learning that children make easy meals and swiftly becoming an elusive and persistent monster…

Now with the full-color lateral!