Whelfin

Whelfins are small lizards that live in swampy environments in Aekor. They are a common species and prey on the insects that live in the swamps. An endangered species, there is a breeding programme to help the lizard find a stable population in the swamps.

Anatomy

Whelfins have a slim body, with three pairs of legs that stick outwards, like most lizards. Their toes end in small sticky pads that help them climb up trees and walls. Their scales are very bright, with pastel pinks, purple, oranges, yellows, blues and greens all mottled together across their body, with a cream coloured belly that follows all the way down to the tip of the tail. Their eyes are completely black, while their heads are large with a long snout. Their tails are very long and is almost fully prehensile.

Reproduction

Nests

Whelfins take over the nests of old birds and use them for their own. If no old nests can be found, then they will seek out tree cavities or holes in the ground. If a bird revisits the nest, they will destroy the eggs and lay their own. Whelfins lay up to 20 eggs every nesting season, and never lay less than 10.

Diet

Whelfins are insectivores; they consume the many small insect species in the Sarabar Swamp. It is a little difficult for whelfins to catch prey, due to their bright appearance, but some use it to their advantage by attracting the attention of insects that are drawn to certain colours.

Parisitism

Whelfins have a parasitic relationship with marsh glowshroom, where the fungi are the host and the whelfins are the parasite. When predators are around, whelfins will seek out the nearest glowshroom and dig into the cap to hide. The smell of the glowshroom will deter predators, and the lizards living inside will slowly kill off the glowshroom.

Predation

The Aar-Aori once heavily hunted whelfins, as their meat was a delicacy. When whelfin numbers dwindled to just a few hundred, the Aar-Aori halted all hunting of them in an attempt to save the species. Not only the Aar-Aori, many carnivorous animals like to snack on these lizards as they are slow and very brightly coloured.

Lifespan

5 - 10 years

Average Length

10 - 12 inches

Geographic Distribution

• Aekor
• Greenerth
• Sarabar Swamp

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