The South American Terror Raptor is a species of Phorusrhacoid-like dromeosaur that lives in South America.
Description[]
Terror raptors get their name from how closely they resemble the phorusrhacoids of our timeline, the legs are long and thin with the signature dromaeosaur claw on each foot. The arms, unlike other dromaeosaurs, are tiny, with 2 fingers on each hand. The neck is long and thickly muscled, while the head is somewhat small. The main killing weapon is a long thin tooth, which is serrated on both sides and incredibly sharp. Behind the head is a display crest. The feathers are colored orange and black, giving it a similar coloration to tigers in our timeline. Females have long display feathers on their tail, which are unfurled during courtship displays.
Bio[]
A phorusraptor skull compared to that of Kelenken. Note the similarities in structure.
One of the last remaining Phorusaurids, the South American Terror Raptor is definitely one of the most dangerous animals on the grasslands. They get their name from their resemblance to the terror birds of our timeline. Like terror birds, terror raptors rely mainly on their heads to bring down prey, but terror raptors have a long heavily serrated tooth rather than a pointed beak. Like terror birds, they slam down the heads like axes, usually along the spine, and the point of the tooth severs the nervous system, paralyzing whatever was unfortunate enough to be at the receiving end. When the animal is paralyzed, the terror raptor delivers the final blow, a strike to the cranium kills the prey. Interestingly, when striking with their heads, terror raptors appear to drag the tooth through the skin. This is thought to help pull the nervous system apart, and is much more efficient than the straight strike that phorusrhacoids used. Like phorusrhacoids, terror raptors run down their prey, and can reach a top speed of almost 50 miles per hour, meaning that if it locks onto an explorer, there is usually no escape. Against smaller prey, the terror Raptor will use its foot claw to pin down the prey then use its mouth to scoop them up. One study concluded that these raptors can strike down with almost 700 pounds of force, all focused through the 0.1 millimeter wide point of a single tooth. To keep the skull from shattering when it hits something, the inside of the skull has multiple “bone pillars”, simulations show that without these, the skull would crack in half if it hit something.
Behavior[]
Terror raptors are generally solitary animals, though females may congregate into trios of siblings, akin to cheetahs of our timeline. During mating season, females become aggressive, chasing out other females. They are very persistent hunters, often chasing their prey for up to 30 minutes until the prey either trips or tires out. When they strike with that fang, they hit hard and repeatedly, almost seeming to take sadistic pleasure in it.
Vocalizations[]
Size compared to a human.
Like large flightless birds of our timeline, terror raptors make deep loud calls. During mating season, females use infrasound calls that can travel for tens of miles.