Arcoraptor

A devilish blend of speed and stealth, arcoraptors, or as they are more commonly known, sprinkleraptors, are skilled hunters of the Ink Kingdom of planet Osao. They have proven to be difficult animals to contain, particularly because they are intelligent and prolific climbers, swimmers, and runners.

Anatomy

Arcoraptors are perfectly designed animals for speed. Their legs may look thin and spindly, but they are pure muscle and bone and can keep running for days on end without tiring. Arcoraptors can reach speeds of eighty miles per hour, making them the fastest land animal on the planet.

Their heads are fairly large, containing a small node on their snout which can let out a smoke, used to lure out animals from rock cavities. Arcoraptors are one of many animals to display a gular sac on their necks, which puff out during courtship displays. Their overall feathery colouration is a bright pink, with sprinkles of other hues, typically yellows, greens, and blues. These sprinkles are inherited from parents and can change from juveniles to adults.

Feather Trade

Arcoraptors unfortunately pay the price for having such lavishly resplendent feathers. The native slimes of Osao captive-breed this species, and abuse their authorities as a more powerful species by forcing them to mate with each other to produce animals with more unique feathers.

Luckily the breeding of this species is banned in most regions, but the tradition still lives on in more remote areas. Since it is illegal to farm arcoraptors and sell their feathers, most resort to more secretive methods. See a building with a pink feather symbol somewhere near the entrance? The feather trade has infected it. Here at the A To Zoo we actively promote the fair treatment of animals, and disprove of the illegal arcorpter feather trade.

Awww, these animals are cute! Come look!
Woah, are those dinosaurs? I read a book on those a few weeks ago. Y'know the humans from Earth? Apparently they were fascinated with dinosaurs, which apparently dominated their planet millions of years before they did.

— Two visitors

Arcoraptor by Mochi

Scientific Name
Arcoraptor parvus
Home Planet
Osao
Average Length
2 metres
Average Lifespan
5 years in the wild
10 years in captivity
Sector
Theropods 2

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Scientific Classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Family: Dromaeosauridae
Genus: Arcoraptor
Species: A. parvus

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Conservation Status
Endangered

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Hah, you thought.

omgggggg

— TJ Trewin

Diet & Hunting

Arcoraptors eat mostly squid, as they are native to the Ink Kingdom of continent Aecotia on Osao. They hunt by running around tidepools, pouring smoke into small rock cavities where small cephalopods and crustaceans may lie. They are not fussy animals; with a strong bite force they can crack through the toughest of exoskeletons.

We feed our arcoraptors with a very similar diet to what they'd receive in the wild, since the food is so readily available for purchase. While they don't get native Osaoan food, they do receive closely taxonomised cuttlefish and crab from other planets with similar climates.

Distribution & Habitat

In the wild arcoraptors inhabit the Ink Kingdom, where the slimes of Osao originated. They are on the larger side of animals in this biome, and as diurnal animals they sleep in open spaces, in large groups all huddled up for warmth. During daytimes they flit around the tidepools, blowing smoke into crevices to catch food while they play around with conspecifics.

We are very proud of our arcoraptor enclosure. We were able to harvest native coral and flora from the Ink Kingdom in our enclosure, which has spread to cover the entire surface. We have mimicked the natural tidepools, even providing live prey for our arcoraptors to hunt for themselves.

Behaviour

Their behaviours inside captivity and in the wild are vastly different. In the wild arcoraptors are skittish animals, and do lots to avoid coming face to face with slimes. Especially since these animals communicate with each other and practically the entire species know to avoid slimes thanks to the feather trade.

When we were tasked with adopting two arcoraptors Rox, the zoo's curator, visited Osao alone. Rox was informed of two injured arcoraptors running rampant about a small coastal town, both suffering from severe scratches across their whole bodies. Confident she could catch them, she was quickly proven wrong when she spent a total of fourteen days capturing these speedy critters.

If being fast and skittish was problem enough, zookeepers were not in for a good time when they were in their new enclosure. According to my files, the pair of arcoraptors managed to escape seven times in the first two weeks of being introduced to their enclosure. Despite not knowing what a tree was, the animals learnt to climb the single tree in their habitat and literally launch themselves over the barriers. The enclosure was quickly equipped with netting over the top to prevent it from happening again.

Arcoraptors are intelligent. Very intelligent. However smart you think they are, they are smarter. They can figure out puzzles some adults even struggle with, and we know because it's part of their enrichment. Our visitors take pleasure in seeing our zookeepers lose to the raptors, and frankly so do I.