[The Lost Gremlin]

Twiglet, my Carnival Feathox, and currently the only one of his species.

Original species concept and lines by boat.
Carnival Feathoxes and Twiglet belong to myself.


Species Information
Carnival Feathox [CFX]

Carnival Feathoxes (CFX) are a species of omnivorous fox-like egg-laying creatures who's bodies are covered in a plumage of thick, soft feathers as opposed to fur, and have long ears that resemble the wings of a bird. Perhaps their most striking feature is the large crown of bright feathers that the adults possess which are used to help attract potential mates and intimidate rivals and predators.

Sexual dimorphism exists in this species, starting with the dramatic size difference between males and females. Males can weigh 15 - 20lbs whilst females are much smaller, often being around 8 - 12lbs. Males also tend to have bigger, more vibrantly coloured feather crowns and two pairs of protruding sabre-like canine teeth. Both sexes possess large round cheek pouches, which they use to safely store and carry food, nesting material and sometimes other miscallenous objects around.

CFXs are very agile creatures, capable of moving through the jungle canopy, in which they make their home, at incredible speed. Females tend to spend more time in the treetops than males, who are somewhat clumsier than their sure-footed female counterparts. Spending more time in the trees is advantagous; being such small creatures, they have a number of ground-level predators, namely jaguars, caiman and anacondas. However, living up high still poses a risk for them, mainly in the form of snakes and Harpy eagles.

Although there are no known subspecies or usual major physical differences amongst Feathoxes, certain feather crown colours are rarer than others. Feather crowns can come in multiple colours however there is always a base - or dominant colour. It's the base colour of a CFXs' feather crown that determines it's rarity. Each base colour covers a broad range of shades, hues and dilutes. Males are much more likely to have an Uncommon or Rare base colour than females.

Rarity List
Common; brown, white, cream, black
Uncommon; yellow, red, blue, grey
Rare; purple, pink, silver, orange, green
Legendary; Iridescent

The body plumage colour is unrelated to the assigned rarity of a CFX. Even if a CFX is born with a mutation it's rarity will not be affected. Mutations are exceedingly rare in wild inviduals but are becoming increasingly more common in captive-bred (CB) CFXs due to high demand. It is believed that there is a 25% chance of a mutation passing through breeding; 50% if both parents share a similar mutation that affects the same part of the body.


CFXs are surprisingly long-lived creatures, living to be about 60 years on average, which would account for their slow maturation.

Interactions with humans
For centuries certain Amazonian tribes kept Feathoxes as working animals. Originally the small creatures were stolen from nests as kits, then hand-reared and trained to help hunt tree-dwelling prey, particularly monkeys and other small primates. CFXs with particularly beautiful feathers were highly sought after by certain tribes, and were instead kept by high-ranking individuals to be luxury companions.

It's only been since the turn of the century that CFXs have become popular exotic pets. Much like with most modern domestic animals, humans began to selectively breed together CFXs that possessed desirable traits, which resulted in certain physical and behavioural characteristics becoming quite exaggerated when compared to their wild counterparts. An an example is that domestic CFXs are somewhat bigger and much more colourful; even the females.

Due to the deforestation of their Amazon home, wild CFXs are quickly becoming endangered. To try and counter this, some conservation efforts have been made by re-introducing captive specimens and relocating as many of the remaning wild individuals as possible to protected areas. As a result, the a majority of the wild population is highly concentrated in most inhabited areas, resulting in a rich genetic diversity.


Reproduction

Age Guide
0 - 6 days - Hatchling chick
1 week - 5 months - Chick
6 - 11 months - Juveniles/Fledglings
12 - 23 months - Adolescents
2 - 7 years - Young Adults
8 - 39 years - Adults
+40 years - Senior Adults

Whilst captive CFXs can breed all year around, wild CFXs do not. Instead their breeding season is restricted to spring and early summer. The most well-known mutations include:

Albinism - lack of pigment with snowy white feathers (sometimes with faint markings) and either red, pink or purple-ish eyes.

Melanism - excessive pigmentation, darker solid feathers (sometimes solid with lighter undersides and/or lighter markings visible) and either black, silver or yellow eyes.

Short feathers - the plumage is significantly shorter giving the CFX a smoother more streamlined look. Long feathers remain on the ears and on parts of the head.

Enlarged canines - the canine teeth of the male may be exceptionally large, closer resembling sabre-teeth. Females with this mutation may also gain sabre teeth, though only on the first set of canines.

Bob-tails/Manx - absence of or very short tails. CFXs with this mutation find it significantly more difficult to keep their balance when climbing.

Piebaldism - like partial albinism in which a CFX is covered in patches of snowy white, pigment-less feathers and pink skin.

Blindness - where the CFX is born completely blind. Often indicated with pale, milky or clouded eyes.

Chimera - the rarest of known mutations. Where a single CFX carries two sets of genetically distinct cells, meaning different parts of their body (particularly their entire left and right sides) will be very different, both in appearance and genetics.

Males will put on bright, showy displays to try and impress females. Often they'll start by singing and calling to attract the attention of any females in the area. Once they're within eyeshot the male will fluff up his colourful plumage and will 'dance' and sing some more. These songs can be very elaborate, with each male having his own unique song. If another male challenges another then they will fight for dominance - the winner claiming all present females until he is chosen by one. Females will choose their mate by responding to his song with her own.

Pair bonds are strong but not necessarily life-long. In fact, few pairs will actually stay together year after year, even in captive specimens. Some wild males will even choose to take multiple mates per season.

After carefully choosing a nest-site and building the nest itself out of grasses, twigs and even their own feathers, females will lay 1 - 3 tennis ball-sized oval eggs, with an average of 2 followed by 1 and then 3. Over the 2 month incubation period the female will stay close to the nest. She'll regulate the temperature of the nest by either adding or removing more feathers and grass. If the male is still nearby then he'll assist the female by bringing her food and taking turns protecting the eggs. If he isn't, the nest is at a greater risk as the female is forced to periodically leave it unattended to forage.

Once the eggs hatch the resulting chicks are born covered in a very thick, soft, fluffy down, which is often quite plain in colour, with or without some spotting, striping or other basic markings that might indicate it's adult plumage. Chicks are relatively helpless the first few hours after hatching, however they are soon active and capable of following their mother around. For their first several weeks chicks stay very close to their mother, learning how to forage, hunt and climb by following her lead. After 8 weeks the chicks will begin to wander farther from their mother though will always try to return to the nest. By this point the chicks will go from fluffy to scruffy as they begin to finally shed their baby down.

By about 12 weeks the chicks will be fully dressed in their first full-feathered plumage, complete with the beginnings of their feather crowns. This plumage is moulted again every 3 months. At this point the chicks will still nest together and stay close to their mother but they will spend more time away, usually with any siblings. At 6 months the juveniles will finally fledge the nest. Juveniles will commonly seek out other recent fledglings who have recently dispersed, where they will band together to form same-sex groups. Sometimes females may instead stay with their mothers for a couple of years during which time they will help their mother to raise subsequent broods before they finally leave themselves. Females who stay behind to help typically have better success with rearing their own broods in the future, but due to the fact that they don't usually have their own group to return to, they are at great risk. The older a female becomes the harder it is for her to establish herself in a pre-existing group.

From here they will begin to squabble as they try to establish a dominance hierarchy. Dominant juveniles will get the best access to food and other resources, ultimately growing fuller and more beautiful plumages and crowns. These plumages are moulted every couple months or so after 6 months until they reach adolescence at around 12 months.

By their first birthdays female adolescences will have already formed a strong tight-knit relationship with their flock-mates. They will groom each other, hunt in co-ordination and nest together. Meanwhile the male flocks will usually disperse, though occasionally some males will form cohalitions of 2 - 4 individuals to maximise success until they reach adulthood.

Full maturity is not achieved until around 8 years, though males will typically continue to grow up until they are around 12 years. By Females enter their prime at around 15 years, lasting until their 40s when they start to slow down and become much less fertile, whilst males start much later at 20 years and finish sooner at just 35 years.

Whilst CFXs are capable of breeding and raising clutches past the age of 40, the number of healthy, viable eggs per clutch is significantly smaller than in subsequent years. On average it is believed that a single female can produce up to 60 offspring in her lifetime, with more being possible. Unfortunately due to predators and other risk factors, only about 40% of all wild offspring will survive to fledging, with less than 15% of those survivors reaching adulthood. A majority of these chick deaths often occurs in a young female's first few clutches when she is still inexperienced. This high rate of infant fatalities combined with the CFXs' slow maturation is one of the reasons due to their poor population growth.

Mortality rates are much, much lower in captive and protected specimens.


Illness, Disease and Abnormalities
CFXs are prone to a number sicknesses, some of which may be similar to those seen in some types of birds and reptiles.

Stress - Although not always easy to determine, stress can be detected if the crown feathers or plumage are examined, particularly after a moult or if a feather has been plucked or shed. Whilst it normally only takes 2 weeks for a feather to grown back on a healthy CFX, it can take anywhere from 4 - 8 weeks for a sick, stressed one. These feathers often grow back discoloured, usually with pale or diluted banding or spotting.