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Ampelosaurus

Written by Tamunora for Ancient Reverie.

Ampelosaurus Image
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Group Limits

  • 10 per Herd
  • Ampelos can travel together with Amargasaurus, Apatosaurus and Argentinosaurus, but don’t group with them and do not defend these species.
  • Ampelos can group with Amargasaurus only while nesting.

Nest Limits

  • Blooming Season: 3 eggs, 5-hour interval
  • Scorching Season: 2 eggs, 5-hours interval
  • Wilting Season: 4 eggs, 5-hours interval
  • Frosting Season: 0 eggs

Sexual Dimorphism

  • Sexual Dimorphism is mandatory.
  • Bulls
    • have more spikes and have a slightly bulkier build.
    • Suiting subspecies: atacis, loricatus
  • Cows
    • have less spikes and are slightly slimmer.
    • Suitable subspecies: liraini
  • Mutations
    • Albino and melanistic individuals do not face any issues.

Habitat

  • Nomadic
    • Ampelosaurus thrive in mostly open regions and only slightly tree-covered areas.
  • Prefers: Sparse woodland, hills, valleys, deserts and beaches
  • Dislikes: Dense woodlands
    • Dense woodlands are usually avoided or at least quickly passed through.
Note:
Preferred + Disliked OR Neutral = Neutral
Neutral + Disliked = Disliked

Activity

  • Cathemeral
    • They are constantly on the move as they don’t want to remain in one place too long. Instead they only take naps here and there and prefer to travel whenever possible. During the night, they quiet down during migrations to not draw unnecessary attention from nocturnal predators.

Diet

  • Strict Herbivore: Neutral
    • Berry bushes are strongly preferred by Ampelosaurus, though they shift to flowers and other sources of food when necessary.
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Growing Behaviours

Hatchling

Ampelosaurus children are called calves. They hatch in the nest and stay there, usually rather quiet after the first few calls for their mother.
In case the Ampelosaurus herd nests together with Amargasaurus, the mother will try to push the calves into the nesting ring of the Amargas, where the calves will huddle together with other calves or Amarga hatchlings.
Calves can form deep bonds both with other Ampelo and Amarga hatchlings they grow up with. When it’s time to leave their Amarga friends, they often hesitate and try to stay with them as long as possible.
In case of an attack, the calves run back out of the circle and to their mothers.

Juvenile

At juvenile stage, the calves leave the nest, grow curious of the world and their surroundings. They start playing with each other and form bonds.
In an Amarga nesting circle they start to play with the shrubbery around the nests and often start to leave the protected nesting circle to join their parents on the outskirts.

Adolescent

Adolescent Ampelosaurus start to learn about their growing strength. Males will often play-fight with each other and watch the behaviour of other adult bulls with great interest. In this stage, they start to learn the hierarchy of the herd and how each member contributes to the herd's survival.
Females sometimes join these play-fights too, but are more reserved than their brothers.

Sub/Adult

Sub-adult Ampelosaurus count as adults.
Ampelosaurus that grew up with Amargasaurus around them will always happily greet Amargasaurus when they meet them. They show them as much affection as with one of their own kind and love to travel with them.

Orphan Behaviours

Orphaned Ampelosaurus calves will quiet down quickly when they notice that their calls are not answered. They will hide in bushes until they are juveniles.
At this point they will start to wander the lands of Gondwa in hopes to find other similar shaped sauropods they can join.
If they do not find any other Ampelosaurus to learn the typical behaviour from, bulls will not learn how to challenge an ironback until they have found a herd and watched the other bulls do so.

Social Behaviours

General

  • Ampelosaurus are nomadic herd animals that enjoy travelling alongside other sauropods.
  • Since Ampelos are too slow to flee, too big too hide, but also too small to not be seen as a prey like their big cousins Argentinosaurus, they are on constant alert. Due to that, they travel whenever possible and don’t stay in one place for long.
  • When meeting another Ampelosaurus herd, the herds usually assess each other carefully before coming closer to get in contact.
    • During those encounters, younger cows and bulls often decide to leave their herd to find a partner in the other herd.
    • Males who want to join a herd are carefully assessed by the patriarch. If the new male does not comply and bow to the ironbacks' reign, the meeting can turn into a challenge for the position of the patriarch. Cows however are directly welcomed as a new member.

Hierachy

  • The herd is led by a matriarch during migrations and when the herd has to find food, water or a place to nest.
    • The matriarch is chosen by the patriarch (called ironback) by gifting his chosen female presents. If she accepts them, she will be the matriarch until the ironback chooses another female or the position of the patriarch is taken by another bull. Often it is a female the patriarch has mated with before.
  • The patriarch is usually an older and experienced male. He is the guardian of the herd and responsible for its well being.
  • In return for him having a lot of responsibility and being the protector of the herd in case of an attack, the ironback
      • reserves himself the sole right to court multiple cows.
      • walks in front of all other males during migrations - usually next to or right behind his matriarch.
      • gets to eat first from bushes together with the matriarch, after he made sure that the calves have eaten.
    • If another male dares to assume these rights and does not back down after a correction from the ironback, it is seen as a challenge to the patriarch.
  • The patriarch can be challenged for his position by other bulls.
    • In such an event, the challenge begins with both bulls posing and trying to appear larger than the other in an attempt to end the dispute early by sheer intimidation. If this is not sufficient, the males start swinging their necks and tails at each other until one of the males surrenders.
    • The winning male will be the new patriarch and has to select his matriarch to lead the herd during migrations.
  • Despite the ironbacks stern guiding hand, especially with the other males, he takes great care of each member in his herd and often walks from one individual to another to check about their well-being.
  • If he discovers that one of the cows has taken a carnivore young into their care, he will drive the carnivore out of the herd.

Gender-specific behaviour

  • Cows are usually more attracted to the ironback than to other males, as he has proven to be the best choice to defend the offspring and the herd.
    • The cow is the main caretaker of her young, but lets the father take over when she needs to leave for food or water.
    • When searching for a mate, females prefer the ironback over other males, but also take males into account that have been attentive to them or have previously defended the herd and have shown good fighting skills.
    • Cows love to adopt young of any species, but carnivores will be driven out by the ironback on discovery.
    • While there is a matriarch, females usually have a low hierarchy and are very gregarious.
  • Bulls are subordinates to the ironback. They reside mostly on the edge of the herd or with their partner and alert the ironback of danger.
    • Bulls related to the ironback usually respect his authority and do not challenge him, but some of the patriarch's sons may aspire to take over as leader.
    • Bulls unrelated to the ironback however might be more eager to take on the position of the patriarch.
    • Both young cows and bulls sometimes decide to leave the herd in exchange for another if they happen to meet one. Some even leave to found their own herd.

Interspecies Behaviours

  • Ampelos are often seen herding with other sauropod species. Their favourite is the Amargasaurus, as they are seen as friendly companions due to their similar shape and smaller size.
  • Sometimes Ampelo and Amarga herds are seen nesting very close to each other, if not even mixing their nesting grounds. In Wilderness Peak, Sand Caverns & Rockfall Hill they find common grounds to nest and raise their hatchlings together.
    • Ampelo mothers send their calves into the Amargas nesting circle, since they know Amargas to be very caring for both Amarga foals and Ampelo calves and have a size that is closer to their offsprings’.
    • The Ampelosaurus bulls in return stand guard around the nesting site due to them being larger.
    • The Ampelo cows often sit right outside of the Amarga’s nesting circle, both to keep an eye on their calves and to serve as a meat shield against possible attackers.
    • In case of an attack, the ironback or if closer, one of the males, will be the first to attack. Once the predators reach the inside of the nesting circle, the responsibility to defend the offspring will go over to the Amarga herd.
    • Ampelo offspring panically leaves the nesting circle to return to their mothers. With this, the responsibility of defending the calves will return to the mother and the ironback.
    • Once the predators are inside the Amargas nesting circle and the Ampelo calves have fled to their mothers and it is clear that the predators are targeting the Amargas, the Ampelos will retreat to a safer distance and not interfere. Once the predators are inside the nesting circle, it would be too dangerous for the bigger Ampelos to enter the circle and run the risk of accidentally stomping the offspring.
  • Ampelosaurus are often seen traveling in the midst of Apatosaurus herds. They use the Apatos size for protection and push especially the children and elder Ampelos into the middle of the traveling Ampelo herd.
    • Calves often find playmates in the Apatosaurus offspring they travel with, and form great friendships the longer they migrate together with them.
    • Ampelosaurus do not defend Apatosaurus adults, but willingly work together with Apatos in case any of the Ampelo or Apato offspring is attacked. In this case, 2 adult Ampelosaurus or Apatosaurus may defend it.
    • Their own species always has priority when defending their own offspring, but if there is only one adult of a species, the other species may fill in to fill the 2 engagement slots.

Territorial Behaviours

  • Ampelo herds do not claim territories, except when they are nesting.
    • The territory outlines the nesting area and sometimes one or two berry bushes and possibly a water access.
  • During nesting, Ampelos do not tolerate other creatures except for Amargasaurus in their nesting area.
  • If another Ampelosaurus herd comes across their nesting grounds, the ironback reacts rather aggressively towards the other herd, as he doesn’t want the herd to become unstable when it’s time to raise the calves.
    • The ironback of the other herd will usually decide to retreat and leave them space. Only in cases where the other herd needs food urgently and the resources are scarce, the ironbacks will start a fight over the demanded resource. The first ironback to fall under half HP will retreat and leave the resource to the winning herd.

Hunted Behaviours

In a herd

  • Ampelos feel quite safe when in a herd and only get nervous when there are sub-apexes or larger around.
  • The ironback will be the one to shield his herd from the predator, making himself as large and threatening as possible. The rest of the herd will stand rather passive behind him.
  • In case of an attack, the ironback and the attacked individual (or its mother in case the prey is a calf) will be the ones to defend. If the Ironback is attacked, it is usually his firstborn son or one of the other males who comes to help.
  • The rest of the herd will try to put distance between themselves and the fight.

Solo

  • Lone Ampelos stand their ground and rarely run, as they are not fast enough to get away.

Engagement Limits

  • 2 sub-/adults

Courtship

  • Courtship can be initiated by both cow and bull. When they are ready to court, Ampelosaurus starts to slam their tails, as excitement over a potential mate of their liking takes over. They continue slamming their tail, while intently staring at their chosen partner - an invitation to follow their example.
  • If the partner accepts the courting advance, they mimic them and answer the invitation by slamming their tail as well. Note that cows are more drawn to the ironback than any other male in the herd (unless related to the ironback).
  • They then may build their nest together, though it is usually the cows that help build each other's nest. In the meantime, the bulls prefer to stay on the outskirts and watch out for danger.
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Notes

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Terms

  • Cow = female Ampelosaurus
  • Bull = male Ampelosaurus
  • Calf = Ampelosaurus offspring (hatchling to adolescent)
  • Ironback = patriarch / leading male Ampelosaurus

Stat Changes

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