Species Bio - The Apibara

The Apibara
(Ah-pea-bar ah* almost silent ending) – A combination of the Indonesian translations for Fire and Ember, Apibarai plural.


Height: Females stand at 8 ft to 10 ft tall fully mature, Males stand at 10ft to 14ft
Weight: 6 to 10 tons at full maturity, born at .5 tons
Lifespan: 60 years in captivity, 40 years wild missing limbs, 45 years wild whole
Diet: Carnivorous – eating small to medium sized creatures and the carcasses of larger prey.
Discovered/Created by: Lhune, Adopted and Owned by: Lookin'
*these stats are average


Origin of Name/Discovery:

Walking in the wild jungles of Indonesia, Ilse Lhune Gort discovered the Apibara wandering in search of creatures that no other human being had seen. Despite the Apibara being mistaken by the native islander as the fire deity Kilmira's demented spawn, the outside world had never heard of the creatures. She first noticed an odd smell in the air upon entering a particularly open section of the jungles and upon further investigation, spotted a male of the species basking in a sunlit pond burning his meal as the waters prevented his body from overheating as the organic furnace inside him burned his meal into energy. The name Apibara was chosen based upon the distinct steam-holes upon their necks and backs allowing excess aerial chemicals from burning their food access out of their bodies to avoid potential poisonings.



History:

Genetic testing has derived that the Apibara is a crossbreed of a draconic sub species and a rhinoceros. While the exact reasons for the interspecies breeding is unknown due to the extinction of the draconic species, it can be deduced that the genetic combination created the evolutionary super predator with all the benefits of an herbivore.  

Archeological digs have found that the creatures have roamed from as far south as Australia and as far north as Indochina and has dated the evolution of the species in the late Cretaceous period. The combination of the draconic fire lung and the rhinoceros multi-stomachs created a creature without the need for sunlight to warm it giving it an evolutionary advantage over the dinosaurs it roamed with and allowing it to survive the ice age into the modern era. Being Solitary animals, when the jungles receded from the island of Australia the animals were killed off, mistaken for demonic spawn of fire goddesses. They now survive in the deep recesses of jungles away from humans who continue to hunt them based off of fear and anger at their devouring full herds of livestock.



Appearance and Personality:

Being the genetic offspring of a rhinoceros and a draconic subspecies, the skin covering of the Apibara is leather-like  with mottled boney scales on the upper shoulders, hips, back, neck, and face. They stand eight feet to fourteen feet with a very stocky, muscular build. Their forelegs shorter and thicker than their hind legs with a consistent muscle going down the leg. These are used for pulling their body weight forward to add momentum when hunting. Their hind legs are longer than the forelegs with heavier muscling in the upper leg. This enables them to push their massive forms to speeds upwards of 80 miles per hour. While their hulking forms can get up to the astonishing speeds, it takes great amounts of energy and they do this on the rare occasions where they are hunting their prey. Ordinarily, they are ambush predators, except when they are scavenging for easy meals. Their muzzles are broad and round with large nostrils for large air intake and their chests are broad chests for lung expansion. They have large eyes that are typical of predatory species and superb vision night vision due to the two layers of eye lids. One layer is used to protect their extremely sensitive eyes and a secondary exterior layer that protects them from the world around them. They have a jaw lined with razor sharp teeth with two interior tusks, much like a hippopotamus, although these are pointed meant for spearing and dragging their prey. Their ears are high up on their heads and appropriately sized for their reptilian subspecies. Their faces are covered with a plated bone that ends in small rounded knob-like horns, this protects them in territorial battles between their own species. The horns appear to be designed to assist in blunt force trauma. Their heads have the typical draconian shape and although their brains are smaller in comparison to the rest of their body, the division between thought and instinct remains at an apparent ration of 60:40. The necks and sides of their faces are also speckled with bone plating that protects their jaw hinges when defending their territory or hunting. Their necks and spinal columns are heavily bone plated so in order to protect and support their spine and to assist in the support of the flesh that contains the brachial vent openings. The bone plating continues down to the upper rear hip bones that protect the hip joints. They do not have a tail, as they are naturally balanced by their wide splayed hips. Wide feet allow their body weight to be evenly splayed and each toe has roughly three inch talons used while hunting and eating. While they do not have opposable thumbs they do have dexterous digits that assist in eating and tending to their young.

The personality of the Apibara varies from beast to beast, though they roughly are the same. Known to be excessively temperamental, even the most timid of the species are what most would call bipolar. They have the tendency of being violent and territorial to a fault. Preferring a solitary lifestyle, the Apibara will rarely seek out a mate for reproduction; it is a quick process and the two animals will separate within a few days though they will always be possessive of their partners. Select few of the species mate for life, though it is dependent upon the animals' temperaments. Taming the beasts is nearly impossible and for a life in captivity, the animal must be caught before it reaches six months of age; after that, approaching the creatures becomes dangerous as they will not hesitate to appreciate an easy meal. When cornered or challenged, they become demonstratively aggressive and will never back down from a battle. This headstrong personality makes trapping them a danger to humans and a danger to the animal, they will often claw or bite themselves in an effort to get free. Some adults will go so far as to tear their own limb off with sheer brute force if necessary. Although the gentler side of the creatures can be seen in the way that it cleans itself, often taking hours to meticulously tend to every spot of its hide; it is obvious that vanity and pride play a heavy role in both sexes personalities.



Habitat:

It is of little surprise that the Apibara chooses to live in the islands where there are a myriad of environments for it to wander throughout. For hunting grounds, the dense undergrowth of heavily forested regions where its bright patterns are not as easily seen by its prey is preferable. As an ambush predator, it is easiest to assume the appearance of the bright volcanic rock formations in the lower foothills of the mountain regions where its red coloration is not an immediate indication of their presence. The prey of the species ranges heavily as the Apibara are known to not be picky eaters and often will steal a meal from some of the smaller predators of the region. When hunting they tend to go for the medium to larger prey species as the speeds at which they hunt at are taxing upon their energy reserves. Preferring to live near shallow streams, ponds, or small lakes, they often settle into dens near rolling meadows with large trees providing ample amounts of shade. Their biometric make up requires the waters to lower their body temperatures while digesting. While the Apibara has no real natural enemies, it has not made friends with human herders. Easy meals are always preferable to any carnivore and nothing is easier than a pen of sheep and cows. In retaliation the herders will often attempt to kill the Apibara; though to the dismay of many in the western worlds, the only reason for killing it is to use the head plate as a trophy.




Language:

Communication for the Apibara is created through body language and through a wind range of vocalizations. Body language can display a lot of the internal workings of the Apibara in its general personality and its mood. Each member of the species seems to carry itself in its own unique way and is a contributor to the identification of specific animals.

When young, the body language is usually exaggerated with the over confidence of youths at play and as it matures only in the most violent rages or in the preparation of battle does the Apibara display this overly demonstrative body language. Unless hunting, mating, or battling, the visual cues seen are of a relaxed creature that deceptively appears calm and quite tame.

The vocalizations of the Apibara vary from high piercing whistles to resonating roars to the sweetest sounding chirps. The animals seem to be capable of communicating long distances, the farthest known call is the whistle which can be heard from over 15 miles away in any one direction. While it is unknown what exactly each vocalization means, it does appear that their communication contains a level of sophistication as it appears organized and direct. There is no learning curve in the language and it appears that it is known from the moment of hatching. It is believed that the hatchlings learn the language through the shells much like that of their draconian ancestors.

While no successful communication between species has ever been recorded, local legends tell of a single entity that was able to learn the language of the beasts. Any direct  information about this human is unknown as the details depend upon the tribe's fancy in telling the tale. With diligent research, a man who has successfully bred the Apibara in captivity claims that learning their language is not necessary. He states that they can understand human languages and choose to either obey or eat the speaker.




Intelligence and Emotional Capacity:

While it is obvious that they have complex thought capabilities, the exact extent of these thoughts is still a mystery. On many occasions the Apibara can be seen solving complex problems engineered by trappers. Based off of the scale of intelligence, the Apibara would rank slightly above dolphins and monkeys but still reasonably below human intelligence and cognitive thought. On the intrapersonal level, their personalities make it difficult to maintain relationships. Being virulent and selfish creatures, the concept of friendship appears to be on the lower end of the totem pole as far as importance goes. However, in certain members of their species, these intrapersonal relationships seem to be more meaningful and as a result the creatures bond with one or two beings in their lives. The bonds between the two creatures, whether they be human or beast or fowl, last a lifetime and have one of the deepest impacts of ties upon said creatures known to mankind.

While the Apibara are not necessarily bond oriented, an adult creature can often be seen seeking consoling in times of grief or company in moments of rejoicing. It is also common to see the doting upon young in what appears to be congratulations after moments where abject pride is apparent such as a youths' first successful hunt.




Reproduction:

The Apibara like any other creature has seasons in which reproduction is their only imperative. Within the last weeks of August up until the first weeks of December the mating calls of lust driven males and eager females can be heard echoing around the canyons in which they prefer to have the mating trials. The breeding months are the only time in which the monoliths gather into a condensed population for what appears to be breeding right trials, in which both males and females compete for the attention of the other sex. The breeding trials last until each of the creatures are paired off based on their places within the breeding hierarchy. The most dominant of males and females tend to be paired while the least dominant rarely survive the trials due to the ferocity with which both sexes compete. The trials can be compared to jousting tournaments where two creatures run at each other only to collide their facial bone plating together like shields as they rise to swipe at each other with their massive talons and powerful forearms. Battles can last from a few moments to hours long depending upon the combatants. Once the breeding pairs are decided they separate to different areas to begin the rituals of mating rights.

The Apibara are a selective species and once being paired off into mating partners, each creature retains the right to reject or accept their partner. The female of the pair issues a challenge to her mate for the moment to ascertain his worthiness of her, it is a deep trumpeting sound that is generated from the vibration of her nostrils and the cheek skins as her vocal chords sound. The male accepts the challenge with a display of brute force, it is a physical metaphor for his sexual prowess and the more violent this display to more potent he appears. As the male demonstrates his right to mate, the female either waits for him to prove to her he is a worthy mate or she accepts his actions as masculine enough through displaying her sexual maturity to her potential male, though she gives him a warning growl if he gets too close. In order to placate the female, the male presents her with a gift. This can be anything from a slashed tree branch, to a glowing gem, to a meal he hunted. The rituals of mating rights can last two days up to this point with many of the steps being repeated or the process started over again. When the creatures are ready to mate the male presents himself to the female as a king would, the male spends hours preparing and brings the female the final of his gifts. This final gift is almost always a shined river stone. The female has final say over the mating, she may either accept or reject the male. It is unknown why females reject their males, though once being rejected the male flees as the female is usually violent towards him from then on.

If accepted, the male may approach and mate the female. The mating is often violent, with multiple copulations and the male causing some injury to the female in his display of dominance. Like others of reptilian decent, males have a forked hemipenes, while unlike in others of reptilian decent, females also have dual sets of reproductive organs. The female Apibara are also capable of attaining orgasm and also receive pleasure from mating. Males impregnate the females with sperm and the females' body encloses each embryo within an egg shell roughly the same size and shape of an ostriches. A female Apibara can lay a dozen eggs a cycle, although, typically no more than two survive to hatch. Once the eggs hatch, the males usually raise the offspring and the females leave to begin their mating cycles again. It is rare for a pair to mate for life, though it does occur in which case the female leaves for a year until the offspring is old enough for the males to leave it and find the female again.




Life Cycles:

The gestation period from the mating to the egg laying is approximately two weeks in which they will make over 16 times a day. The amount of time between the eggs being laid to the hatching is approximately one month. The eggs will be laid in a sand pit in the by pond embankments, the female and the male will take turns hunting and guarding the nest. Once they have caught their prey, they will drag it back to the nest and feed while the other goes out to hunt; the heat from their digestion keeps the eggs incubated.

Before the hatching, the male becomes aggressive from the female and chases her away from the nest site. Female Apibarai are known to eat their young. Once hatched the Apibara hatchling will being its life with only one parent. Male Apibarai are surprisingly tender to their hatchlings, spending the first day of their lives doing nothing but cleaning the embryonic fluid from their young and watching as the newborn attempts to figure out its awkward limbs. The female Apibara will never return to her tend to her young.

The body of a hatchling is similar to the body of an adult Apibara with the main differences in the bone plating. Traditionally the bone plating that can be found along their spines and faces begin as a sail of cartilage, hardening and flattening over time to become the calcified plating seen in adults. Another difference, is the tail that they are born with. Adult Apibarai have superb balance due to their wide leg stances; the hatchlings, however, lack this wider stance and therefore are born with a tail to assist in balance. As they mature the tail is absorbed by their bodies and shortens into a little nub, which maintains its original range of movement. The hatchling stage lasts as long as 1-2 months. When a hatchling, the Apibara is pure white and  has limited vocal patterns and can only make small chirps and whistles. At this age, the adult male will chew the hatchlings food for it before giving it its food as it has no teeth.

As it matures into a youth, its physical anatomy changes as its legs and neck grow longer giving it a very disproportionate appearance with its cartilage sail still intact. Its coloration patterns can first start to be seen around 4 months and this is the age where the male adult Apibara begins taking the youth away from the nest site for limited amounts of time. It will begin to learn how to whistle at higher volumes and how to wait patiently as an ambush predator. This is also the teething age and will chew for rocks for hours, although their interior tusks are not visible yet. This stage ranges from 3 months to 6 months.

At the age of seven months, the Apibara youth enters the young adult stage and no longer appears gangly. It has grown into its neck and legs and has a barely visible cartilage sail remaining. The tail it was born with has been fully absorbed by 8 months and by 9 the beginnings of its interior tusks are visible. The level of its training has increased and it is now expected to join in the hunt with the adult male. Sparring is also seen at this stage, where the young adult now only a third size smaller than the full adult begins ramming trees and rocks with its facial bone plate; on occasion even running at the male to playfully ram its facial plate. The vocalization patterns have reached full maturity except for the full bodied roar that is common in mating ceremonies as the male and female challenge each other. The coloration of its pattern is fully visible but still lighter than the full bodied colors of the adult. At the age of 11 months, the young adult male is left to its own hunting devices but still returns to the nest site where the adult male remains.

At the turn of the first year, the Apibara young adult becomes mature enough to be chased from the nest and it will go in search of its own territory. The distance it must travel is great due to the territorial behaviors of the already established adults in the area. The average territory size of an adult Apibara is 15 miles and in order to claim a territory, the new adult must fight for its right. By 13 months, the Apibara no longer has any visible clues as to the cartilage sail or tail it was born with. It can hunt for itself and defend itself, though the first battles are typically bloody and unsuccessful leaving the creature scarred.

It undergoes its first mating rituals at the age of six when it reaches sexual maturity; although it does little more than watch the ceremonies. Without a territory of its own, it has no right to participate and its inexperience will most likely cost it its life. By the time it is eight, it will have an established territory and be allowed to participate in the mating ceremonies. It will attend the ceremonies until it is killed in battle over a mating partner or worse, poached. Over its lifetime, a male Apibara will raise over 30 hatchlings.



Bio-Organic Charring Gastric Organ System (BCGOS):

Overview: One of the things that set the Apibara apart from the rest of the animal kingdom is its extraordinarily unique digestive tract. It is generally accepted that this Bio-organic Charring Gastric Organ System (BCGOS) is an evolutionary mutation of the draconic ancestry "Fire Lung." The fire lung was an interior organ within the chest cavity of draconian species next to the regular lungs. Shaped like a second heart, the interior of this anatomical structure was lined with scales, with the molecular base of carbon. When needed the draconian species would contract the fire lung causing the scales to slap together causing sparks, like a set of flint would. The fire lung was called a lung due to the fact that it housed flammable gases which were a byproduct of the gastric system. The sparks ignited the gas and the dragon would expel it, "breathing fire."
Instead of the fire lung, the Apibarai seem to have a similar organ to the fire lung that has expanded and lowered into the abdomen near the center. It is commonly believed that the fire lung expanded and shifted downward through several species to finally adapt to take over the digestive tract, replacing the genetic code for the typical digestive tract with intestinal pouches that store fat.

The BCGOS begins with the respiratory system, allowing the animals to intake oxygen through large round nostrils. The air then flows through several small cavities of the upper lung that encircles the esophagus; the purpose of these small tunnel-like systems is to filter the air of any impurities. The clean air then passes into the lungs, of which there are three. The right and left lungs function like any other lung, the lung positioned directly behind and center the average pair of lungs is called the Respiratory Exhale Contraction Rear Lung (RECRL). When filled with oxygen this organ compresses sending the air rushing through various tubular cavities called Exhale Fascia Systems (EFS), where the originally filtered air along with any other gases have been stored, positioned throughout the beginning in the lower abdomen and continuing up to the brachial vent openings (BOV) which open and close as the air is forced out of them much like a blowhole of a whale; although unlike the whale the BOV does not intake air.

The digestive aspect of the BCGOS begins when the animals intake food. Food then passes down the esophagus and into the Pot Bellied Gas Stomach (PBGS). The PBGS functions much like a typical stomach in that it is responsible for the breakdown of food and the conversion of it into energy. Unlike the typical stomach, the PBGS does not breakdown food by way of acidic fluids. Instead the PBGS is covered by a triple layer of a carbon based scale (CBS) coated with enzyme Flammable Carbonic B (FCB) which causes a chemical reaction with flesh, the outcome is heat. The first layer of the CBS absorbs the heat creating more heat as the carbon warms causing the enzyme Carbonic Gaseous D (CGD) to evaporate. The evaporated CGD remains inside the PBGS effectively smoking the food deposited; it has been calculated that the pressure within the PBGS exceeds that of 6,000 PSI and the heat created exceeds that of 200 degrees Fahrenheit. It is approximated that each meal can take nearly two hours to digest fully. As the meal is charred, various metabolic gases are released into the atmosphere; these are passed into the EFS and safely pushed out of the BOV. The heat created in the PBGS is contained by the second layer of CBS that are also coated in a layer H2O, but causes a secondary chemical reaction to occur in the third layer of the CBS. The third layer of the CBS contains pockets of glucosamine, which is then released into the lining of the PBGS and processed like it would be in any other body, it is converted into fat. The flesh of the meal is heated until nothing remains except for the ashes of the meal; these are then deposited back into the environment by means of excrement.




Health:

Sickness in the Apibara is an unlikely thing, due to the immense temperatures that its bodies produce, most viruses and bacteria are killed upon entering the Apibara.  Injury, on the other hand, is a very often occurrence. The Apibara are headstrong and unruly creatures, often giving their own physical safety little to no attention. They have a habit of clawing, biting, and generally maiming; many are missing limbs, extremities, or have excessive amounts of scarring. Luckily due to the low probability of infection, their injuries usually heal quickly  with little complication. Due to the annoyance human beings have with the Apibarai eating their live stock, they attempt to trap them.

Trapping attempts are more common when the Apibara is in the hatchling to youth stages of life, as the more they age the more violent and aggressive they become. Most common forms of trapping are steal claw traps and wire traps, though these are rarely successful as the animals are known to tear, claw, or bite their own limbs off in an effort to escape. The only known cause of death by injury is when an animal is so badly injured it is incapable of hunting. Other than poaching or extreme injury, there are two reasons that the Apibara dies. The first is old age, although it is uncommon for the Apibarai to die in its sleep. The second is the most common. It usually dies in battle from a fatal raking of the brachial vent openings, in which the animal is unable to maintain breathing as its lungs are torn open. This typically occurs in a dispute over mating ceremonies or territory.  

The average lifespan of the Apibara is 40 years in the wild, 60 in captivity. When their lives finally end, the Apibarai bodies are never found. It is believed in local legend that the fire goddess that spawns them collects their bodies to devour. However, the scientific community believes that their bodies are unable to regulate the incredible heat that they maintain control of through the BCGOS and as a result, they burn until they are naught but ash for the winds to scatter.




Male to Female Comparison:

Male and female Apibarai  differ in a few slight ways. Male Apibarai are generally larger in height and weight than the females, nearly twice the size at the most extreme size ranges. Female Apibarai heights range from 8 ft to 10 ft at full maturity, where the male stands at 10ft to 14ft. Weight ranges from 6 to 8 tons for females, males can weigh up to 10 tons. Their color patterns are also starkly different, where the males maintain an almost white coloration at the on their bellies and insides of their legs to the brightest reds for their upper bodies; females are a deep burgundy to a darker cream in coloration. While both males and females have interior tusks, males have 10-12 inch tusks where female tusks reach 8 inches maximum in length. Egg coloration for both males and females are white, although female eggs are speckled.




Extras:

The Apibara would be the only creature on the planet that would survive a zombie apocalypse unscathed. Their unique BCGOS ensures that the impurities that cause the infection from ingestion would pass harmlessly through their bodies and out of their brachial vent openings.



New Species Template © Jezni
Apibara/Apibarai © Lauren Lottie
Physical Design   © Ilse Lhune Gort