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The Skinsailers (Volucerasauria)

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5 million years after the age of man, the birds underwent a great migration to the ground. During this time, nearly all birds lost their flight to pursue the better opportunities available on the land and in the /osea. With the mass dying of fish, nearly all seabirds went extinct and the survivors of the group colonized the water to pursue more deep-sea life and invertebrates, while a few gave up on the oceanic diet altogether. With this migration to the ground and water, a new niche was left open in the sky, although it was not very favorable with the fact that it didn't offer any oppritunities. In the next 3 million years the sky was filled with insects, which had advantages being able to fly now that their major predators were flightless, and in time, a new species was going to try their hand at the sky with this new flying food source. In the evolutionary brewing pot, geckos were experimenting with flight, first starting to glide, and developed true flying wings just 20 million years after the insects took over the sky. With almost no flying predators for 20 million years, the insects had little time to be ready as the geckos boomed into the sky impressively quick and lowered the number of insects in the sky. Some insects even went back to the ground. The insects won the arms race to the sky, but the geckos were ready to hold that position. After the flying insect population lowered by 80% in just 10 million years, the geckos expanded to fill a variety of niches, some becoming nectar eaters, some insectivores, some even swooping down into the ocean to catch meals like the ancient birds of 50 million years ago. The geckos gave birth to a new order: Volucerasauria (Skinsailers).

Volucerasauria has 3 suborders, membranascellia(which consists of Skinsailers that have elongated webbed fingers, similar to bats. Commonly called pseudobats), 
membranacruria(Which consists of Skinsailers that have an elongated leg, with a foot at the end and a web of skin stretching from the foot to the body. Commonly called Skyrats),  and membranadactylia(Which have a semi-elongated leg, with a single elongated finger that holds the membrane that attaches to the body, like pterodactyls. Commonly called Skindragons). 


1. Greater Kite-tailed Skindragon (
Kingdom: Animalia, Phylum: Chordata, Class: Reptilia, Order: Volucerasauria, Suborder: Membranadactylia, Family: maximii, Genus: Macrolingua, Species: M. spadixamaculosa ) 
The Greater Kite-tailed Skindragon is one of the largest Skindragons, having a wingspan of 6.5 feet and a length of 9 feet. They use their long sticky tongues to probe trees for insects such as ants, but also indulge in fruits and plants as well, even the occasional small reptile or bird. The 
Greater Kite-tailed Skindragon has a diamond shaped tail to help it in steering, and is camouflaged with brown skin, perfect for its rain forest habitat, for when it rests on trees predators will not see it. The Greater Kite-tailed Skindragon has a bright blue crest (existent in both genders but the females have a brown color) that is used for mating displays, along with a bright red wattle.

2.  Red Pygmy-Skyrat (Kingdom: Animalia, Phylum: Chordata, Class: Reptilia, Order: Volucerasauria, Suborder: Membranadcruria, Family: Caelumus, Genus: Longacauda, Species: L. rubens )
The Red Pygmy-Skyrat is a small Skinsailer reaching about 10 inches long. It lives in the same area as the Greater Kite-tailed Skindragon, and flies through the jungle looking for insect nests and fruit. The Red-Pygmy Skyrat uses its long sticky tongue to prod insect nests and has long arms to reach for fruit, which are tightly tucked next to its body while it flies. It lives on the far north of the jungle, where the trees are bright red, hence the red coloring, to hide from predators, especially Greater Kite-tailed Skindragons, which often make a meal of them and encompass the whole jungle.

3. Green Pygmy-Skyrat (Kingdom: Animalia, Phylum: Chordata, Class: Reptilia, Order: Volucerasauria, Suborder: Membranadcruria, Family: Caelumus, Genus: caudabrevis, Species: C. virens )
The Green Pygmy-Skyrat is a bit bigger than its red counterpart, reaching 15 inches long. It makes its home on the south side of the rainforest, where the trees are mostly green, the branches and upper canopy are matted with vines and the floor in carpeted in layers of ferns and plants. With its habitat, the Green Pygmy-Skyrat does not have to be as careful to hide from predators as there is plenty of things it can blend into. The Green Pygmy-Skyrat has green skin that matches most of the foliage in the southern rainforest, and calls the treetops home, where it can rest on branches in the safety of the curtain of vines. However, the Green Pygmy-Skyrat has to leave its safe haven every now and then to find food, which happens to be nectar. Most of the flowers that make up their diet are found on the forest floor or lower levels of the vegetation. When it needs to feed is when it ventures down to the forest floor to get some nectar. Usually they will scout the area from the top of the trees first to spot a flower patch so they wont spend as much time on the dangerous ground trying to find one, and to make sure predators aren't nearby. This can take a few minutes to hours of climbing around the canopy. Once a flower patch is spotted, they will quickly flutter down, grab on to the flower or something nearby, and start feeding. This takes a few minutes. As soon as it is done or if it spots something move, it flutters back up just as fast as it fluttered down. It does this 4-5 times a day.

4. Blue Triego (Kingdom: Animalia, Phylum: Chordata, Class: Reptilia, Order: Volucerasauria, Suborder: Membranadcruria, Family: Caelumus, Genus: Ovaliforma, Species: O. Magnus ) (also called Blue Skyrat, Triego being the common name for its genus and sister genera.
The largest of its genus being 13-15 inches long (counting the 8 inch tail) and having a wingspan of 16 inches, the Blue Triego does not live in the jungle like the 3 mentioned above, but in marshlands. The Blue Triego is brightly colored to warn would-be predators about its poisonous flesh, exclusive to its genus. The different species of this genus achieve this body poison by eating a variety of different things. The Blue Triego gets this from shallow water amphibians. The amphibians the Blue Triego eats are poisonous, but it does not harm the Triego. Instead, the poison is kept in their tissues, which render them inedible.

5. Yellowtip Skyrat (Kingdom: Animalia, Phylum: Chordata, Class: Reptilia, Order: Volucerasauria, Suborder: Membranadcruria, Family: Caelumus, Genus: caudabrevis, Species: C. gavioides )
Although belonging to the same genus as the Green Pygmy-Skyrat, the Yellowtip Skyrat calls beach-side cliffs its home. Its diet consists of invertebrates and small reptiles and mammals it catches by the beach or in the ocean. It has two vestigial arms, which unlike the others aren't used for grabbing things or webbed to serve it in flight. Its predators include small Ballaenaformes and Deceptive Birds

6. Lesser Kite-tailed Skindragon (Kingdom: Animalia, Phylum: Chordata, Class: Reptilia, Order: Volucerasauria, Suborder: Membranadactylia, Family: maximii, Genus: Macrolingua, Species: M. acutaliala )
The Lesser Kite-tailed Skindragon is the smaller counterpart of The Greater Kite-tailed Skindragon. It does not live in the jungles but instead sweeps through the grasslands and deserts, catching insects and eating them. Its main predator is the Hooktooth Sprinter, as it is very good at running and in the open plains and deserts there is little things to perch on. They have been known to chase Lesser Kite-tails until the Kite-tails get so tired they drop to the ground. Although its habitat lacks perching areas, the Lesser-Kite tails still make do. They make their homes in underground nests, making burrows were they keep their eggs and sleep.

I haven't posted any After us things in a long time, but hows this? A whole new order! Expect more of these, along with some xenocene creatures soon :)
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beingsneaky's avatar

Okay I'm now curious, what does their skeletal structure look like?