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Ciameth In reply to BurdBrain [2011-04-10 14:07:28 +0000 UTC]

I believe they still have to fall into one of the accepted orders/families of birds. There are some cool prehistoric owls & eagles out there (like the Cuban Giant Owl). The phylogeny of teratornithidae is disputed and one of the orders they may be in is accipitridae, so when I asked the Windsonde admins about it, they ok'd it. And the other thing with prehistoric birds is the design... I used skeletal references and info about modern accipitriformes who live the lifestyle teratorns were theorized to have, since most illustrations I've seen reconstructing teratorns look exactly like CA Condors (and the skull alone is hugely different... all the quality paleoartists are into dinosaurs ). *comixqueen is designing a Haast's Eagle, another one of those birds often misrepresented in paleoart (they usually look exactly like Harpy Eagles... what's up with that? They're not even related!) and she's basing the design off the Haasts' closest known living relatives and details in Maori legends concerning the bird's appearance, which I think is really cool since it hasn't been extinct for as long as the Aiolornis teratorn. I guess for a bird nut, reconstructing an accurate representation of the extinct species is part of the fun, and you sound like a bird nut... you are BurdBrain! I'll be looking forward to seeing another person join the "prehistoric gryphon club!"

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BurdBrain In reply to Ciameth [2011-06-17 03:52:20 +0000 UTC]

Hey, Ciameth! Sorry for the late reply!

Thank you for the information. I will take that into consideration when looking at my choices!

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Ciameth In reply to ErithacusCreations [2010-12-07 03:32:50 +0000 UTC]

There are plenty of species doubles in Windsonde. Each character gets imbued with a unique personality anyways, especially over the course of the challenges. If there was another American Lion (or European Cave Lion), someone besides Titania would match Valcaur in size! I can't wait to see whatever gryph you come up with.

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ErithacusCreations In reply to Ciameth [2010-12-07 03:48:16 +0000 UTC]

Of course, of course I was really surprised to see such a unique combination. The bright orange really makes him interesting to look at. And thanks! ^^

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Ciameth In reply to Marbletoast [2010-12-07 01:39:28 +0000 UTC]

Intimidating is the look I was going for, so that's good to hear! I think is the face I might make if Valcaur were staring at me too. To think of how easily that giant beak designed for severing tough, rotted hides could go through fresh skin... but he reserves his aggression for terrified Grandesques and can be mistaken for docile within his own aerie due to his obedience to those he acknowledges as higher-ranked or cleverer than he is (Valcaur's sort of a slow, methodical thinker), which is most people when he's a young gryphon.

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Marbletoast In reply to Ciameth [2010-12-07 17:46:56 +0000 UTC]

I think I have a way to use him in one of Tanq's future challenges, if you don't mind. . .

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Ciameth In reply to Marbletoast [2010-12-07 20:20:22 +0000 UTC]

That'd be really cool. I'd like to incorporate Tanq into a drawing too.

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Ciameth In reply to atropine [2010-12-06 21:29:08 +0000 UTC]

Your terrorgryph is one of my fav gryphon designs of all the ones I've seen on DA. I had to ask about the teratorn just to make sure, since sometimes they're placed in accipitriformes (which is a-okay for Windsonde's mainland) and sometimes placed in ciconiiformes (only okay for Tookie Island). The placement of Phorusrhacidae is less well-known, so I'm not sure if they're acceptable. Most of the papers I've read think they might be Gruiformes or at least closely related, though I've also read suggestions that they might be related to the falconiformes/pscittaciformes/passeriformes clade or even hoatzins . I'd be interested to see some more extinct birds in Windsonde, particularly the exciting megafauna (like your terrorgryph) even though there are SO MANY beautiful little-known extant hawks to choose from too. The Haast's Eagle is one of my fav extinct raptors, but the equally-large Woodward's Eagle or the giant Black-Hawk Buteogallus (woot giant buteos!) would be awesome, and there's the 2-foot tall flightless Creten Owl, the Eyles' Harrier, the Giant Teratorn & the smaller Teratornis merriami, ancient New and Old World vultures in the new world (like Necrosyrtes), the ginormous Malagasy Crowned Eagle... man, I'm getting way too excited thinking about paleogryphs.

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atropine In reply to Ciameth [2010-12-08 08:27:41 +0000 UTC]

d'awwww, thanks!

and derrrrp yeah I dunno if phorusrachids would be kosher for Windsonde, but probably not.

I am now thinking some kind of palaeogryph combination with an Andrewsarchus rear would be about fifty kinds of awesome and badass.

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Ciameth In reply to Supaslim [2010-12-06 19:34:58 +0000 UTC]

The great thing about selecting extinct species was being able to envision a realistic design with only bones for reference. The teratorns are often depicted with condor-like plumage, but they weren't related and they were thought to ground hunt (like Harris Hawks sometimes do) in addition to scavenging around tar pits, so I gave him plumage that would blend in on the ground. I kept his head bald though, because I liked the idea of condor-like sexual signals--the bright color showing off his health and those ugly jowls male condors develop. I will definitely put Briggen in one of his challenges! I think young Valcaur (before he gets all melancholy about Skrekrill life) would like Briggen very much.

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Supaslim In reply to Ciameth [2010-12-06 20:07:25 +0000 UTC]

I think you did a splendid job of making a convincing design It's great that you put thought into it; a lot of people just do what they think looks attractive. The colors are kind of symbolic, too, when you think about it: he starts out dark with a bloodthirsty, nasty personality, but as he gets older he gets brighter colored, and mellows out, and abandons his life of "evil."

I think Briggen would like him too, in his own weird way. It will be interesting to see how things develop as Valcaur slowly starts turning away from Skrekrill while Briggen just just more attached. I think when he finally leaves, Briggen's stony little heart will be broken (how could his close childhood friend betray him and his aery?!), and he's get pissed off and fly after Valcaur with every intent to tear him to shreds when in reality he probably wouldn't even catch up, because Valcaur could just soar for hours while he would get worn out flapping... And then he would be hugely depressed and pissed for a very long time about the whole thing. I think it would change him forever. Definitely very interesting :3 I can't wait!

Yes, I am completely aware that I am talking about our gryphons like they have free will.

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Ciameth In reply to Bailiwick [2010-12-06 19:18:52 +0000 UTC]

He has sexy jowls, lady vultures will love him.

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