Winged giants

[Eric]

My latest beauty's exist on a rather unique planet. You see this world is almost 90% ocean, and these critters don't no how to swim!
They are flyers. At first glance they bare a startling resemblance to Terras extinct Pterosarus. The first difference you'll notice is its size. The gargantuan Hurocks have wings about the size of a foot ball field...each!
Despite their size Hurocks are not dangerous. There brain is about the size of a watermelon but that isn't much when you consider how big there body is. They are not very smart since only ten percent of there brain is used for concise thought. The rest is devoted to controling and keeping its masive body aloft. Because of its brain wiring a full grown Hurock can mantain flite indefinetly. Most will never see dry land. They are born, live and die in the air. In fact a dead Hurock has been known to remain flying for days before plunging into ocean below.
Besides the death plunge there is only one reason for a Hurock to drop below 1000 feet, and that is to feed. As you may have guessed they are carnivorous and feed primarily on fish. It takes an awful lot of fuel to keep something that big alive. So much in fact that there is no way a Hurock eat enough to sustain it's self. Xeno-biologists were even further puzzled when they saw that Hurocks only dove for food once every couple of days. This remained a mystery until one scientist discovered that the tops of the great beasts wings are covered with a kind of crystalline scales that absorb light and heat energy for the animals to use. The Hurocks are effectively solar powered.
Study of these animals is rather difficult, that's why it took so long to discover the natural solar power. Study is not hampered by the Hurocks them selves, they are truly gentle giants. And keeping up is not an issue for the great beast can support an entire ecosystem on there backs. The real danger lies with their smaller more aggressive cousins the Eurocks.

I think I'll save the Eurocks for another post.

That's all I have for now, but wouldn't mind a few questions to spark my creativity.

Let me know what you think.

 

[tjoneslo]

Green plants are also solar powered. I wouldn't use a silicon based solar power cells for the Hurocks wings. Refining Silicon to the point where is becomes a good solar cell is a strenusly energy intensive process.

Because flying is an energy intensive process, why not give the Hurocks a biological jet engine, sort of like the octopus or squid underwater jet engine. A bladder full of hydrogen (which also makes them lighter) and a ignition emzyme. When feeding, they scoop up fish and the water they are swimming in. Then they light up their jet engine to regain altitude. And occasionally to keep it, like at night when the updrafts go away.

 

[Eric]

I like your idea for the jet engine though I don't think it will work for the Hurocks. I made them to be big and slow. a jet engine kind of ruins that impression.
The Eurocks however are open to the possibility. The smaller cousins of the Hurocks need to be fast survival necessity.

 

[Falkayn]

Originally posted by Zanrain:
I like your idea for the jet engine though I don't think it will work for the Hurocks. I made them to be big and slow. a jet engine kind of ruins that impression.
The Eurocks however are open to the possibility. The smaller cousins of the Hurocks need to be fast survival necessity.

Well, not everything with a jet engine is fast. It could be the Hurocks' jet engines are just enough to move them slowly away from the surface, whilst the Eurocks have a more powerful thrust to weight ratio and thus shoot around faster.

 

[Ran Targas]

^With an anaerobic digestive tract, it could make it's own jet fuel (methane). Collect it to maintain bouyancy or inject the CH4 into a muscular combustion chamber, add O2, compress, and voom!

Maybe you weren't looking to make your prized beasties the galaxy's greatest flatulators but it could get them where they want to go!

 

[Eric]

As promised. Here is the other half of my great winged Beasties.
The Eurocks are the smaller more numerous cousins of the Hurocks. Their bodies are about three meters from head to tail, and most have a wing span of nine meters or more. Each wing supports a three fingered claw in addition to the talons on their feet. Their wings are also photosynthetic, though not as efficient as the Hurocks.
Eurocks can not maintain indefinite flight. They can sleep on wing but only in cat naps. For truly restful sleep they will simply latch onto the back or underbelly of one of their great cousins.
A full grown Hurock has been known to support a clan of seventy five Eurocks, though more than thirty is rare. A Hurocks hide is as tough as leather and more than a foot thick. They ignore the Eurocks claws if they feel them at all.
The most interesting thing about the Eurocks is a muscular combustion chamber fed by a hydrogen methane bladder. This gives the Eurocks an effective biological jet engine.

Thank you tjoneslo.

Because of their smaller size and faster metabolism the Eurocks require food more often than the Hurocks. Once per day the whole clan will leave their flying island and dive to the surface. Once there they will spend hours filling their bellies with fire lilies, small surface dwelling fish named for their natural spice. The chemical composition of these fish acutely helps fuel the Eurocks bio-jet.

Thank you Ran Targas

They also enjoy enjoy the many types of fungus that grows on various parts of the Hurocks hide, and so a symbiotic relationship is born.
During the Eurocks feeding dive is the only time when scientists can safely study the Hurocks. ?The little devils are more territorial than an Aslan on his homestead.?

Hurocks usually travel in pods of three to seven adults.
Eurocks Live in clans, size depending on the number of Hurocks.

There is one exemption. A Hurock pod containing more than forty members and a clan of nearly twelve hundred Eurocks has been spotted several times in the passed year. Migration habits are as of yet uncertain.

Well what'd you think? Keep sending I enjoy the feed back.

 

[tjoneslo]

Thinking more about the planet where these creatures live. The world is 2:3 resonance tide locked to the primary, meaning every two years the planet makes three complete rotations. The Hurocks require the continual sunlight to stay alive, putting them in darkness for a day or so makes them very hungry and irratable. So the Hurocks are continually migrating over the planet to stay in the daylight.

Mushrooms growing on the underside of the Hurock would make it less streamlined, so they require the Eurocks to keep them clean. Symbiotic relationship works well.

If the Eurocks (and Hurocks?) generate methane or hydrogen for jet engines and floating, there may be other creatures on the world that do the same.

I'm not sure the Hurocks would have foot thick hides. Flying creatures, especially big ones, need to be as light as possible. Perhaps the same silicon solar cells (if you are keeping that) becomes scales.

How intelligent are the Eurocks?

 

[Eric]

If the Eurocks (and Hurocks?) generate methane or hydrogen for jet engines and floating, there may be other creatures on the world that do the same.

The Hurocks might use the floatation part, I haven't decieded yet. But I would think football field wings would be enough.
The Eurocks are the only ones with the bio-jet.
These two are the only forms of life above the surface, besides a moderat human society liveing on dirigibles and static cities. Below the surface is a diffrent matter. Little is known about aquatic life on this planet, but I belive that Cold Blue Hell sounds about right.

Your probebly right about the Hurocks hide, but still, tough stuff.

How intelligent are the Eurocks?

About as smart as animals can get. There are a few nomadic barbarian tribes that have managed to tame the Eurocks to an extent. In clans like this an Eurock will allow one specific barbarian to ride on it's back. the two then become inseparable. Rummers of psionic influence are as of yet unconfirmed.

 

[Ran Targas]

As even the Hurock's need to be as light as possible, their hide could still be a foot thick but very spongy and filled with pressurized hydrogen/methane bubbles; strong, resilient, but light. The fungus bores into the spongy flesh using bio acids to mine the bubbles. Eurocks could find the skin just as tasty, even consuming the dander, but feeding on the fungus is the better deal.

Eurocks could also fill a form of reproductive function, passing genetic material between Hurocks.

This fungus could be a fun critter too. Think about a very aggressive slime mold, boring into a ship's hull and clogging every port, vent, or hull penetration. The locals may have an easy prophylactic, some sort of Eurock excretion, but it will cost ya! I imagine the Imp Navy would quarantine the system just to prevent an infestation elsewhere.

BTW, this is a great discussion. Please keep it up, it keeps my gears turning!

 

[Eric]

Eurocks could find the skin just as tasty, even consuming the dander, but feeding on the fungus is the better deal.

The Eurocks would Not! find the skin tasty. Remember they are symbiotic to the Hurocks, not parasitic.

Oh yeah, I made a bobo on that last post. That big pod of Hurocks, the one with forty members, well it supports a clan of twelve thousand Eurocks not twelve hundred.

 

[Ran Targas]

Please, the Eurocks are predators and predators eat meat. Cleaning shrimp on the reefs pluck parasites and dander from passing fish, but would eat fish if they could. If an Hurock dies, do the Eurocks just fly away or do they dine on the carcass until it plunges into the sea? Symbiotic relationships don't start as symbiotic.

Using Terran ecology as a guide, the Eurocks more than likely came first, then grew to enormous size to better take advantage of the abundant habitat or food sources. Maybe the Eurocks started off as predators but then found a fungus that grew on the wings of the largest Hurocks to be more nutritious and easier to get.

And don't forget the fungus; this is as much a three way symbiotic relationship as a two way. The fungus would be spread to young Hurocks by the Eurocks looking for a meal. Without the fungus, the Eurock/Hurock relationship drops back into predator/prey.

 

[Eric]

I believe I've already stated how tough the Hurocks hide is. Even if they could get a chunk off (which considering their bite, is highly possible I'll admit) it'd be hard for them to stomach.

Another thing to consider is that the Eurocks are quite intelligent. They can't maintain indefinite flight, they'd never survive with out the Hurocks and they know it. Therefor they would not do anything to harm their great cousins. This also explains why they're so territorial.

 

[Zutroi]

If you're going to make these big guys capable of utilizing solar power, consider also using bioelectricity (as per eels, etc.). The Hurocks could store their power in this way (perhaps cracking water to make hydrogen as well, to supplement the methane from the gut?), thus providing a nasty surprise for the unwary researcher! The Eurocks aren't bothered, of course, being bright enough to learn from the first bite (ok, maybe the second if they're slow) that their big cousins aren't very tasty.

As for predators, I don't think these things would really have any. As a general rule (on Earth at least, I haven't studied the biota of any other planets) Really Big Things are at the tops of food chains, generally being killed and eaten only when young, injured, or sick. Of course, there are exceptions...

 

[Eric]

As for predators, I don't think these things would really have any. As a general rule (on Earth at least, I haven't studied the biota of any other planets) Really Big Things are at the tops of food chains

Your right about that, however there are still dangers, even for the Hurocks. (ie) The unexplored ocean recently referred to as Cold Blue Hell has many predators. A few of them (though not many) are big enough to take down a Hurock.
These are few and far between, but still there.

 

[trader jim]

Zanrain...great post....these big boys sound like fun....could put the hurts on a grave car at altitude!!!.....maybe a car load of Fat Cat CEO's!!!!! hehehehehehehe