Bestiary: Abelisaurs I

ABELIOSAUROIDEA
Abelisaurs are derived from an ancient lineage, far removed from the feathered coelurosaurs that rule in the tropical climates. The family split from their feathered cousins some time during the Early Jurassic, 200 million years ago (although this fact is still under some dispute – the split may have occurred some 20 million years earlier), beginning with the generalized ceratosaurs. By the Cretaceous, when the time rifts between Earth and Yonder were at their most common, one group evolved into the modern abelisaurs, which dominated the southern hemisphere. These scaly predators diverged into two groups: the noasaurs, small fleet-footed expies of primitive coelurosaurs, and the carnotaurs, which resembled larger and heavier carnosaurs of the Jurassic. Both groups thrive in the subtropical lands of Yonder, and have occupied a wide range of niches, ensuring their reign alongside other, more advanced predators.

Weazards (Mustelesauria)
Not all abelisaurs are gigantic scaly nightmares. The noasaurs, a group which includes the Weazards and Torpoons, are smaller than any other primitive theropod. The first fossil that seems to be attributable to the Noasauridae is the fragmentary Chuandongocoelurus from the Middle Jurassic of China; after the low-slung runner Elaphrosaurus, which is known from the Late Jurassic of Africa and North America, noasaurids are only known from the southern hemisphere of Earth, with Cretaceous forms including Ligabueino, Velocisaurus, and Noasaurus itself. They constitute the earliest record of the characteristic noasaurid feet, in which the first toe is atrophied, the second and fourth are short and narrow and the third is long and strong - in advanced noasaurs the first toe has moved to the bottom of the foot, as in modern birds, leaving the metatarsals free to fuse and act as shock absorbers. They also have an unusually large and strongly curved claw that belongs on the thumb, not on the second toe as in the deinonychosaurs.
The Weazards, or mustelesaurs (Fig. 1a), are the most common type of noasaur. These are the smallest abelisaurs, with the smallest species being the same length and weight as an actual weasel. Weazards evolved in the rocky outcrops of Azuma, eking out a living by following a similar role to dromaeosaurs elsewhere. Their brains are relatively large, at least for abelisaurs, and their eyes face forward (Fig. 1b), allowing them to coordinate their movements, and these fast-moving hunters can make swift judgements as they spring and leap between spires and mountain crags, hunting birds and small mammals. The common Weazard is only about a foot long, although its balancing tail is longer than its body for balance (Fig. 1e).
Weazards and their relatives, the Houndstooths (Fig. 1d), are solitary hunters, capable of taking down prey items twice their size by impaling their skulls with the long stabbing fangs on the front of the jaw (Fig. 1c). However, Weazards are social creatures, living in colonies of up to a dozen individuals. They are primarily warm-climate creatures, since their small, featherless bodies release heat very quickly; most species are dark-colored, to absorb heat, and nocturnal so as to avoid the sun. Males are distinguished by the bright markings on their skin, and serve as sentinels that stand motionless and keep an eye out for birds of prey and pterosaurs that may attack while the pack warms itself in the sun. Females protect the young, brooding clutches of 7 to 8 eggs in the springtime, and avoid predators and rivals by remaining inconspicuous.

Torpoons (Kamakisauria)
In the aftermath of the Tempest Event, the noasaurs found that though limited to warmer climates, they could otherwise live anywhere - and they probably did. Some twelve million years ago, some of them found themselves in areas near water, in the form of swamps, rivers, and lakes. Noasaurs already were competent swimmers, routinely crossing water in search of new food sources. Swamps and rivers, however, provide plenty of sustenance themselves, if you know where to look. The ancestral weazards found that the dominant type of meat available was fish, but the fact that they were obviously adapted to life in the water was the main factor that prevented the dinosaurs from eating them. So said ancestral weazards adapted to an amphibious lifestyle so they COULD eat them, and became Torpoons. Today, over a dozen species thrive in fresh and brackish water, and some have even taken to saltwater in addition.
The true Torpoons (Kamakisaurus and Aegeasaurus, Fig. 2b) range from cat-sized to wolf-sized fishers. All of them prey primarily on fish, although they also take shellfish, mollusks, and small aquatic amphibians, reptiles, and mammals. To hunt underwater, the Torpoons evolved several unique adaptations. First, the skin is smoother than in other abelisaurs, with smaller scales and spikes and a layer of fat underneath, for less water resistance. Second, the arms and legs have become flippers, containing long digits that support webbing. Third, the tail has become muscular and flattened sideways, allowing for powerful swimming strokes.
Torpoons are pursuit hunters, and though they are competent on land, they are happier sculling about on or under the water with their legs and tails. They raise broods of 4 to 5 chicks in riverbank nests in the springtime, and both parents work extra hard in their stretch of river to feed everyone involved. They catch their prey using small sharp teeth in a long pointed snout, guided by a distinctive barb-like nasal crest that gives them their genus name, "harpoon lizard" (Fig. 2b). A Torpoon can streak through the water at up to 30 mph in short bursts, and can hold its breath for up to twenty minutes. A special valve in its throat prevents water from flowing into its lungs while it catches its prey, while its large and brightly colored throat pouch allows it to store food until it makes landfall and presents it to its offspring (Fig. 2c).
Torpoons are relatively small by dinosaur standards. Their closest relative, however, is a true giant. The Ravager (Ganeotherium, Fig. 2d) and its family diverged from their Torpoon ancestors circa 8 million years ago. Though they evolved similar adaptations to the true Torpoons, they specialized as ambush hunters of large animals. Crocodiles already gave them serious environmental pressure, but the Ravager solved the problem by returning to land during the dry season - something crocodiles could not do. On land, Ravagers are slow-moving scavengers, swallowing small carcasses whole using their unhingeable jaws. After eating, a Ravager will bask in the sun and digest its meal, protected by plates of armor evolved from the ancestral back spikes.
The scavenging lifestyle of the Ravager is completely different from its relatives, but in the water, it is a wholly different story. The same adaptations that allow the Torpoon to chase after fish enable the Ravager to glide silently through the water and lunge at anything foolish enough to drink at the water's edge.