Pycnonemosaurus

Tier: 4
Type: Terrestrial carnivore
Passive growth time: 3 hrs 7 min

Pack size: 5 sub adults/adults, 1-6 juveniles/adolescents
Hierarchy: Gerontocracy

Mating bond: Monogamous
Nest size: 1-3 offspring per pair

Diet tags: Carnivore, non-cannibalistic, opportunistic & non-scavenger
Preferred food: Tier 1-5 carnivores & herbivores.
Species specific rules: If they have at least 2 sub adults/adults, they can also hunt Tier 6 herbivores & carnivores.

Behavior

Pycnonemosaurus has very strong social bonds and often forms and lives in permanent packs. Solitary hunting and living is extremely rare in the species, since a lone individual is not a very successful hunter. In a pack, the oldest individual and their mate are considered the leaders of the pack, rest of the pack members are considered subordinates that will hunt together with the dominant pair and protect their pups. Pycnonemosaurus have been observed to communicate with the pack with “sneezing”. These so-called “sneezes” are short, sharp blows of air through nostrils that cause this deep rumbling sound often repeated 3 times in a row. With these sneezes the pack members will communicate between each other of their feeding needs. If one of the pack members makes the “sneezing” call, the rest of the pack members who also are hungry will repeat this behavior and the pack will set out to hunt.

Recommended behaviors

╸Pycnonemosaurus prefers to move in packs and has very strong social bonds.
╸Prefers to live in large grassy plains where pursuing the target is the easiest.
╸Only the dominant female in the pack will mate and lay eggs.
╸Preferred hunting targets are Iguanodon, Lambeosaurus and Parasaurolophus.

Mating

Pycnonemosaurus does not have a clear mating season, and the mating happens when the previous offspring have grown to adulthood and left the pack. Mating is strictly limited to the dominant pair and pups that do not belong to the leading female might even be killed. Lone male Pycnonemosaurus have often vibrant markings in them, to show maturity and readiness to form a pack. When joining or forming a pack, dominant males keep their vibrant markings and colors, while their subordinates lose the colors and might appear more dull.

Nesting & offspring

The dominant pair usually looks for a good sheltered spot that has a lot of vegetation around it, where the dominant female will be staying, watching over her nest. When the eggs finally hatch, the mother stays close to her hatchlings at the nest while the rest of the pack focuses on hunting. Pycnonemosaurus females are very protective of their young and will typically drive away pack members that try to approach her nest. Juveniles will leave the nest abandoned when they can finally keep up with the rest of the pack and rip pieces of meat off of the kills without their mothers help. The youngest pack members are permitted to eat first on the kills, but this privilege is stripped away from them when they reach subadult. The rest of the pack will protect the younglings after they have left the nest until they are old enough to be either driven out of the pack or to be recognized as another subordinate.