Sagan 4 Forum [Menu]

So what exactly makes up its diet? I see the Gentonna is brought up as an occasional meal and is said to "prefer prey which taste of the ocean", but what are the main kinds of organisms it consumes?

I'm not sure the pirate waxface could jump straight to chimp. I've been working on a redraw of it to make it look less like it's brandishing a spear, since people keep getting confused on this.

Note, waxfaces lack hooves; in the pirate, they're just pigmented pads.

In the rush to make this a functional work-in-progress, I forgot to mention the changes in its foot structure which made it feet somewhat like camel feet. It still has callused cartilage pads, but it's surrounded by a broad pad of softer tissue that helps it spread its weight on sand. Given it moves on beaches and not dunes, though, and the beaches have plenty of flora (even if not much generic "beach grass"), it might not be very justified.

How would I reduce its intelligence, but still make it a herder and "hypnotizer" of Gentonnas? Should I reduce the typical number of tools from 1-2, instead of 1-3?
I designed it specifically to somewhat improve is ability to handle tools, so seriously reducing its tool use may warrant image changes.

I'll try to help when I'm more awake. I don't think this is gonna get through without any art edits anyway, though.

"Too brain" issues is mni's department, but this is what the pirate waxface redraw looks like so far for reference:

I'll make a quick comparison to help...this is like if, instead of marine tamow -> tamjack -> seashrog, it was just a direct jump from marine tamow to seashrog.

Does this seem more realistic? I could use the crab-eating macaque as the closest intelligence match instead of a chimpanzee.

---

For tools, uses only spars of wood. A long, sharpened one is used for hunting big things or repelling would-be competitors. Smaller ones with broader tips are used to uncover food in the sand or silt or to flip over stones. Other than sharpening or narrowing the tips using its teeth, it has little ability to modify tools and often takes them pre-made from local Shrogs.

Does not herd Gentonnas or pull down Mangot fruit-leaves for them. It's often associated with them, and Gentonnas do not often fear them. It protects them only inadvertently: predators that would eat it are also threats to its young and have overlapping diets with it. Gentonna flesh is particularly consumed in the winter due to its fattiness, relative safety to obtain, and the fact their body condition worsens less rapidly than some other Fermisaurs.

Reduction or removal of spur on braincase.

Where would they land on the Shrog Tier List?

https://docs.google.com/document/d/18IqLUzE...FJlkauvjN4/edit

I don't actually have an issue with an extension of their hip that helps them grasp, though it would not be bony, as they do not have bone. Waxfaces lack an external sauce, though.

The other changes at a glance look sufficient, but I see mni is in the thread, so I'll wait to se what he thinks.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, the number of nostrils corresponds to how many teeth they have (counting the jaws). This shouldn't usually change.

It's capable of:
*Understands Gentonnas eat Mangot fruit-leaves
*Learns that Gentonnas can be lured away from the herd using bait (green herons can bait fish, but aren't particularly intelligent; mugger crocodiles bait birds)
*Observes Gentonnas are distracted by rapid shape-changing
*Coordinates/moves concurrently in a strategic way so one or more distract the herd while another lures a Gentonna away to kill it
*Uses tools to kill Gentonnas
(Updated conception)
*Uses 1-2 tools: variants of the same tool
*Uses a spar
*Slightly modifies tools using its teeth. Often takes pre-made tools.

It has no language, not even name-barking, and doesn't make nests. Beyond family groups, they are not social, and even then they aren't particularly social and adult offspring don't remain with them (a detail I'll add later). Its diet (though now unspecified) wouldn't be so broad as that of a Wolvershrog. I think they would be somewhere in upper C-tier or lower B-tier.

I know they lack an external sauce. The spur would grow from the sauce itself, emerging from the skin. If it's more plausible, I could make it a hardened skin growth, like a horn.

I like how big they are

And that they just like watching stuff.



This post has been edited by colddigger: Oct 9 2021, 08:30 PM

Will it be necessary to modify the description to lower its intelligence and behavioral range, or to modify the picture? Once I develop it beyond a sketch, it will be harder to modify.

I would like to complete this submission soon. Will it be necessary to modify its intelligence, behavioral range, and picture?

I don't see why the picture would need to change

Any updates for this one?