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Description
While most of Arcadia's sauropods are titanosaurs, one species represents the last member of a once widespread family. This giant is locally known as the Thundertail, the last diplodocid in Arcadia.

Found only in Astra, the Thundertail, gets its name from the thunder like sound it makes from the crack of its whiplike tail. Isolated from the rest of Arcadia, by the Aegis Mountains, they are able to thrive with very little competition away from the titanosaurs that displaced most of their relatives. Although they are smaller than the titanosaurs beyond the Aegis Mountains, they dwarf every other animal in Astra.

Their long whiplike tails, which gave them their name, are capable of breaking the sound barrier and make deadly weapons. Though their primary purpose is communication between members of the same species. The rows of spines running across their backs, serve as both defensive structures and as pockets for nutrient storage during lean times. The neck spikes along their muscular necks, are their primary offensive weapons, used in fights between bulls during the rutting season.

Despite their fearsome appearance, Thundertails are gentle giants, who only display aggression towards their own kind and only during the rutting season. With no predators capable of harming the adults in the region, they aren't very aggressive outside the rut. They spend most of the day eating large quantities of vegetation, and with Arcadia's fast growing flora, there is usually enough food to go around for them and the smaller herbivores that live alongside them. Because of their gentle nature, many smaller herbivores flock near them for protection from their predators. These smaller herbivores include deer, camelids, equids and parksosaurs.

While they have no natural predators as adults, all big things start out small and vulnerable. Like all sauropods, Thundertails lay large clutches of eggs and abandon them to their fate. Many of these eggs are often eaten by the many mammalian predators and maniraptorans that inhabit the region. After hatching, the young are vulnerable to predators like foxes, weasels, boars, wolves, bears, small dromeosaurs, oviraptorids and owls. When they reach the juvenile stage they are about the size of a small horse and often stay near herds of herbivorous ungulates. At this stage, they become ideal prey for leopards, tigers, large dromeosaurs, abelisaurs and the occasional Black Ripper, an invasive species of megaraptorid from Xochitla and Talako. In the subadult stage, they become too large for even the largest predator to attack, only a handful from a single clutch usually make it this far, but they now have to contend with competition for food with the other large herbivores in Astra. These other large herbivores include, ground sloths, sivatheres, brontotheres, and the Daggerthumb, a large social iguanodontid. At adulthood, they are completely impervious to predator attacks, and the smaller herbivores often give way to these giants.

When a Thundertail reaches the end of its life, their carcass attracts a multitude of predators for miles, across Astra. A single carcass provides so much food, that the smaller predators rarely fight one other not wanting to waste energy on fighting over such a bountiful feast. This phenomenon is called a Titan's Fall, a gathering of multiple different predators feasting on a sauropod carcass. And while it also applies to the colossal titanosaurs, the ones that happen, in Astra, with the Thundertail stand out as both mammals and dinosaurs join together to feed on the large abundance of meat.

The Thundertail holds a special place in Astra's culture. Because of their gentle nature and the fact that smaller herbivores flock near them for protection, they are known as the Guardian Shepherds of Astra. Their growth stage is often compared to achieving greatness after a lifetime of suffering and hardship. Many children's stories were written, revolving around a Thundertail as the protagonist.
With the founding of the Church of Kyrios, the Thundertail became the symbol for the God, Kyrios Soter, who while powerful, mingled with mortals and protected them from the evils of the world with His mere presence, the same way the Thundertail protects the smaller herbivores from predators. It dying and being eaten by predators, in the place of the smaller herbivores, was also compared to Kyrios offering Himself to the eldritch Sarx, in the place of humanity, which not only ended the Sarx Catacysm, but freed humanity from its tyrannical rule.

Scientific Name: Brontosaurus Opilio - "Thunder Lizard Shepherd"

Description
While most of Arcadia's sauropods are titanosaurs, one species represents the last member of a once widespread family. This giant is locally known as the Thundertail, the last diplodocid in Arcadia.

Found only in Astra, the Thundertail, gets its name from the thunder like sound it makes from the crack of its whiplike tail. Isolated from the rest of Arcadia, by the Aegis Mountains, they are able to thrive with very little competition away from the titanosaurs that displaced most of their relatives. Although they are smaller than the titanosaurs beyond the Aegis Mountains, they dwarf every other animal in Astra.

Their long whiplike tails, which gave them their name, are capable of breaking the sound barrier and make deadly weapons. Though their primary purpose is communication between members of the same species. The rows of spines running across their backs, serve as both defensive structures and as pockets for nutrient storage during lean times. The neck spikes along their muscular necks, are their primary offensive weapons, used in fights between bulls during the rutting season.

Despite their fearsome appearance, Thundertails are gentle giants, who only display aggression towards their own kind and only during the rutting season. With no predators capable of harming the adults in the region, they aren't very aggressive outside the rut. They spend most of the day eating large quantities of vegetation, and with Arcadia's fast growing flora, there is usually enough food to go around for them and the smaller herbivores that live alongside them. Because of their gentle nature, many smaller herbivores flock near them for protection from their predators. These smaller herbivores include deer, camelids, equids and parksosaurs.

While they have no natural predators as adults, all big things start out small and vulnerable. Like all sauropods, Thundertails lay large clutches of eggs and abandon them to their fate. Many of these eggs are often eaten by the many mammalian predators and maniraptorans that inhabit the region. After hatching, the young are vulnerable to predators like foxes, weasels, boars, wolves, bears, small dromeosaurs, oviraptorids and owls. When they reach the juvenile stage they are about the size of a small horse and often stay near herds of herbivorous ungulates. At this stage, they become ideal prey for leopards, tigers, large dromeosaurs, abelisaurs and the occasional Black Ripper, an invasive species of megaraptorid from Xochitla and Talako. In the subadult stage, they become too large for even the largest predator to attack, only a handful from a single clutch usually make it this far, but they now have to contend with competition for food with the other large herbivores in Astra. These other large herbivores include, ground sloths, sivatheres, brontotheres, and the Daggerthumb, a large social iguanodontid. At adulthood, they are completely impervious to predator attacks, and the smaller herbivores often give way to these giants.

When a Thundertail reaches the end of its life, their carcass attracts a multitude of predators for miles, across Astra. A single carcass provides so much food, that the smaller predators rarely fight one other not wanting to waste energy on fighting over such a bountiful feast. This phenomenon is called a Titan's Fall, a gathering of multiple different predators feasting on a sauropod carcass. And while it also applies to the colossal titanosaurs, the ones that happen, in Astra, with the Thundertail stand out as both mammals and dinosaurs join together to feed on the large abundance of meat.

The Thundertail holds a special place in Astra's culture. Because of their gentle nature and the fact that smaller herbivores flock near them for protection, they are known as the Guardian Shepherds of Astra. Their growth stage is often compared to achieving greatness after a lifetime of suffering and hardship. Many children's stories were written, revolving around a Thundertail as the protagonist.
With the founding of the Church of Kyrios, the Thundertail became the symbol for the God, Kyrios Soter, who while powerful, mingled with mortals and protected them from the evils of the world with His mere presence, the same way the Thundertail protects the smaller herbivores from predators. It dying and being eaten by predators, in the place of the smaller herbivores, was also compared to Kyrios offering Himself to the eldritch Sarx, in the place of humanity, which not only ended the Sarx Catacysm, but freed humanity from its tyrannical rule.

Scientific Name: Brontosaurus Opilio - "Thunder Lizard Shepherd"