I have begun a short research expedition of Feran on the eastern coastline. I located a large cluster of the creature at approximately 32153 Longitude 20335 Latitude. View attachment 1613 At first apperance the creature seems to be Avian in nature, with obvious flight and hover ability, as well as a prominent beak feature in the facial region. However, after close examination of a dead specimen, I do not beleive this creature to be of the Bird family of Animal; The creature's skin is leathery and does not present feathers of any type. Flight apears possible through skeletal design, covered in skin and membrane throughout, much like that of the common Bat, of Earth. The animal also presents a long tail, composing of almost 40% of the animal's body length. I estimate the size of the largest example I have found, to be approximately 9 feet in length, from tip of tail to front of beak. The wingspan of the creature appears to be serveral feet at longest; The hide of the animal can be extracted with care, and presents an interesting pattern. It appears that ingrained in the animal's skin is a type of phospate or mineral which may be attributed by the diet. When reflecting the sunlight, this hide appears to glow in places where the hide is affected by this mineral. View attachment 1614 The creature appears to perfer a close proximity to the Ocean, which indicates a diet of sea animal and plant types. It is my belief that this diet of high Sodium enriched intake is the contributing factor to the Phosphate growth within the hide of the animal; Through processing of the Feran, I was able to extract Animal Eye Oil as well as Animal Oil Residue. In some I was also able to find pieces of Corria Timber; The Feran appear social in nature, as they gather in groups and seem to interact on a social level with one another, leaving me to believe that they conform to a type of colony structure. However, the Feran are highly aggressive towards Humanoid species and extreme caution should be applied when approching this animal; Reproduction is evident, as a large number of these Feran appear to be thriving along the coastline, though it is not apparent how to determine the sex of the creatures, nor have I discovered wether they produce live offspring or eggs; Based on my findings, I would have to place the Feran within the Mammal or possibly, the Reptillian classification. Without evidence of the type of offspring produced I will not be able to define the class further. Please assist my research by adding your own research notes and findings to this journal. cheers.
Hi Cleric, I stumbled upon these while mining and have studied them a bit, dead and alive. For sure, I'm no science nerd - I'm just another common colonist trying to get her daily meal at night, and not to get eaten while occupied with this. Found 'em N of "Ocean Lookout". First impression was "Whow, Birdies!". But this soon changed when coming nearer, and engaging the first ones. I'd see them as reptilian in nature, these leathery wings, the huge beaks - quite related to Calypso's Aetherex, right? They wasn't aggressive at all, I could walk by very near without getting attacked. When I shot at them they became a problem - often I just couldn't reach them with my sword, and was forced then to use my trusty Opalo ... They didn't give remarkable loot, but this might be due to just killing a few, trying not to eradicate a fresh species. Their hides looks like it'd be possible to create exquisite textures of it. This might not be good for these critters ... From what I've seen they are promiscuous. Seems they try to mate anything flying that doesn't hide in an earth hole when counted to 3, when they come "into the mood". And this seems to be quite often - maybe because of this they live in close swarms? Do they come on land when they feel "horny"? For the diet - I haven't seen even one to feed on something. Well, they tried to feed on me when attacked, but their beaks seems not suited to overcome any armor. They just picked a bit on the surface of my Shogun (5B), not causing any real damage. Even the one Old Alpha that I found. Maybe they usually live out in the ocean and catch some fish? Didn't see anything nearby that would suit as prey. But their beaks say, for me, clearly: "Predator". Might be that they arrived now because it's their mating season, and because mating might be dangerous over water? Well, mating & flying, water below ... Any failure might result in a slow, painful death. Much more secure above solid ground, isn't it? Well, hope that I was able to add a few facts. Have a good time, and happy researching!
Gun Chewer... Well I would like to add some additional data about the Feran.. Seems that the creature also loves weapons.. Most notably small pistols made by the Herman Company. It's favortie choice of gun to chew on is the ASI-10 Desert (Limited), and I have a theory myself as to why they see this gun as being so good in their diet. Since the Gun is made of a durable high impact Plastic/metal alloy, Thes creatures (who are not Avian in nature as I concur with Cleric's original statement), tend to use these metallic substances to floss their teeth. The plastic must be some form of roughage to their diet. Also the reason why as to the fact that the Desert model is the preferred choice of item to be consumed is that the dusty dark brown of the weapon's coloring makes it appear to be some form of rotted or rotting meat.. So this suggests that these animals are in fact definitely carnivores, and thus predators, as to your original observation.. (The Gyro Fap-6 also adds to the theory as well as it's color is also an off color brown and is made of metal. Ergo, I surmise that these creatures tend to look or forage for food that lays along the ground.. Small brown field mice, rabbits, brown colored birds, or people toting the Herman ASI-10 Desert (Limited) whatever they can sink their teeth into.. So yeah they're mainly meat eaters.. Just my observations.. Benjamin 'Ben' Coyote a.k.a. 'The Blind Sniper'.
