Phantom Gore Magala Ecology

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A Gore Magala that never actually becomes a Shagaru Magala. Not only is it alot more fierce than it's normal relatives, but it also has few new tricks up its sleeves.

Taxonomy
Along with it's normal relatives and Shagaru Magala, Phantom Gore Magala (Rabiedraco Larua) is classified as an elder dragon.

Habitat Range
Phantom Gore Magala have been seen all over the Revalius and Aetherius Regions, in temperate zones, and even tropical zones. But they seem to thrive well in snowy areas like Bitterchilled Tundra.

Ecological Niche
It is high on the food chain. Common prey includes Aptonoth, Slagtoth, Popo, Rhenoplos, Gargwa, Bullfango, and any other smaller sized prey, though they rarely feed, due to a lower metabolism than their normally seen relatives. Despite their strength and mastery over the frenzy virus, They must compete with other large predators. These include Rajang, Deviljho, Rathalos, Najarala, Rathian, Tigrex, and even Wilolu. Despite this competition, they show no scars or injuries, due to most creatures avoiding these drakes at all costs.

Biological Adaptations
Like Gore Magala, It has the ability to use the Frenzy Virus, and has similar other adaptations, though there are notable differences.

Unlike Gore Magala, Phantom Gore Magala has a lower metabolism, which, along with allowing it to feed on less prey, also means that the hairs on the wings do not fly off like in the normal Gore Magala.

Phantom Gore Magala's Feelers are also different from the normal species. Instead of sensing heat, these feelers can allow the Phantom Gore Magala to see in the visible light spectrum, via innumerable amounts of "Occular Sensors" on the surface of the feelers. This frees the Phantom Gore Magala from having to rely on the Frenzy Virus to detect prey. The Feelers can bee seen, even when they are pressed into the head as normal in a Gore Magala, since the plates on the head is see through, which allows the Phantom Gore Magala to see at all times, to an extent, though it has to release the feelers to see fully, otherwise, their vision is near-sighted.

They also have a good sense of smell, and once they smell something, they will turn to the source of the smell.

Unlike normal Gore Magalas, Phantom Gore Magalas are unable to molt into a Shagaru Magala. If they molt, they will just get bigger in size. They can reproduce asexually via live birth to make up for this loss, however.

Behavior
Phantom Gore Magalas are violent towards threats, though not as violent as the normal Gore Magala. If given a choice, they would rather flee than fight, but if cornered, or if the same threat persists for too long, they will violently defend themselves. Like Gore Magala, this species has been also known to be very intelligent. Some Hunters reported that their supposed "Phantom Gore Magala Trophies" often were actually playing dead by faking their deaths to get the hunter to go away before the drake slips away unnoticed when given an oppurtunity to do so.

Infants and Parent
About 20 years ago, a Scientist named Dr. Palamor Reychit, who studied the Phantom Gore Magala, writes about the drake's infant and the parent.

''The Phantom Gore Magala will often, during the breeding season, travel to cetain islands in the ocean to find a place to birth their young. After the process, the Parent leaves the young at the earliest oppurtunity. The Young feeds on nearby animals and fish until they molt into an adult.''

But Palamor was wrong, on one point: The Phantom Gore Magala does not leave the young, but always stays out of sight as to not reveal it's offspring's location, and often brings a fresh kill for the young to feed on. This was discovered by a team of adventurers on Gamor Island, who saw the ferocity of a Phantom Gore Magala parent for themselves, when the team tried to take a young Phantom Gore Magala from it's home, which resulted in it screaming, which brought the attention of the parent drake in question, who uwsed it's maw to bite off the frontal lobe of the victim adventurer. The Victim died shortly afterwards before medical care could be given.

Fatalities aside, This incident shows that Phantom Gore Magalas are good parents in actuality.