The Bones of Kazcallen
Hints of what's been lost
In the vibrant hostpot of life that eventually became the Desolation Plains of Kazcallen, numerous great species once roamed and made their homes. We can make our best guesses as to what sorts of creatures they were, but all we've got to go off of now are their bones.Patronsclicktaphere for bonus info
The Evidence for Great Species
The number of "Great Bones" that have been discovered number upwards into the hundreds. They've been located spread all throughout the southern parts of the Desolation Plains -- a large swathe of Kazcallen that's been scraped bare, down to the bedrock, and is generally lifeless, aside from the God-husk known as Xiuthan trudging around. Most of them are scattered across the land, a side-effect from Xiuthan's great attack that wiped the surface clean of life, which makes putting together complete skeletons an incredibly difficult task.Most often what is found first is rib-cage -- so long as it hasn't crumbled or broken into smaller pieces. These large constructs of bone are first to be uncovered when sand dunes drift across the region, and generally stand out most among the lifeless landscape.
The other pieces to the animal's skeleton are often still found within the same quadrant, a large plot of land that's been demarcated in order to better categorize the search.
Ribs... hip... Hmm. Still missing most of the skeleton. Not nearly enough information here to make an educated guess as to what it was. What we really need now is its skull.
The Symbol of What Was
Of all the bones discovered and all the ancient species reconstructed or theorized, one is the most famous -- seen as a symbol of the research into Kazcallen's past, and a goal for the future through the Kazcallen Revitalization Project. Known by the public as Collosi, these ancient species are better described as 'Giant Land Whales'. Currently, 7 complete skeletons of these Land Whales have been discovered and reassembled; through examining these remains, it's thought that the giant animals could grow to be roughly 30m in length, and had 6 muscular legs used to propel themselves across the ground. Despite their massive legs, the Collosi are thought to have not been all that mobile; instead it's theorized that they spent much of their time in one location at a time, existing as ambush predators. Their skulls show massive trap-door like mouths that can hinge all the way open, almost to 180 degrees -- they'd be able to open their maw and wait for prey to step in.Other Theoried Species
Not all of the mega-bones that have been discovered in the Desolation Plains can be grouped into one species. In fact, many of them are different enough and fit together with enough other pieces that a few different disticnt species of animals are beginning to be pieced together from this expansive region.Giants of the forest
Triclawed Greatbears
Legs, so many legs
Omniped Meadowbeast
Armed and Armored
Carcinized Titanofrog
What sort of animal would even be dumb enough to walk into a Colossi's mouth? The land whales are huge, no way something doesn't notice the trap it's about to enter!
Colossal Predators
These Giant Land Whales likely saw success as predators precisely because of their size; their metabolism was likely so slow that they'd be able to sit motionless for days, even weeks, with their gaping mouth wide open, waiting for their next meal. Additionally, it's thought that their hide may have been well suited to their environment, possibly even allowing them to blend in with the surroundings in a small way. Combining their ability to remain perfectly still with their well camouflaged hide, it's possible that after a few days of stillness, a Colossi would essentially vanish and blend into the environment, appearing simply as a cave opening, small pond, or strange structure of rocks and bushes. At this point, prey such as small mammals, various species of birds, or even larger vertebrates looking for somewhere to rest or re-hydrate might find themselves standing next to, or within, the mouth of a Giant Land Whale.Life
As with studying most skeletons, it's hard to tell just how long it might have lived for -- comparisons can be made to other similar animals, however. Various large land fauna have been found capable of living for upwards of 40 years, and whales that call the ocean home are often able to live past 80, thus a Colossi's life span is assumed to be somewhere within the range of 40-80 years.Cycle
Being mammals, Colossi are expected to have given live birth. However, no infant or adolescent Colossi skeletons are known to have been found; or if they have, they've been incorrectly identified as a different animal. Therefor scientists are not certain enough to safely claim that these animals did indeed give live birth, and they're similarly uncertain how long they reared their young for.Too Big to be Prey?
The scientific community is split on whether or not the Colossi would have any natural predators; many suspect that due to the animal's incredible size, there'd be nothing else that's able to hunt it. However, while the skeletons of these animals may be the largest found in the region, one does not have to look far to find other species that are approaching the Colossi in scale. It's not out of the question that some of these other ancient animals, such as the Triclawed Greatbears, could have been the predators to make these massive land-based whales into their prey.
Way too many legs :o
just so many legs :o