Mikailodon afridii

My mascot, the Mikailodon afridii is a dinosaurine, aquatic species of "dragon" that is a legendary chimera of different animals living and extinct, with a buffet of elements seemingly of European robin, sperm whale, Komodo dragon, alligator snapping turtle, Ankylosaurus, Brontosaurus, Iguanodon, Deinocheirus, Megatherium, Liopleurodon, Daeodon, Dimorphodon, and possibly more. The bulls of this godzillous species usually grow to around a staggering fifteen metres long and twenty tonnes heavy, with cows just 20% smaller. The great blubber is quite responsible for the mass. In some respects, the adult Mikailodon is similar to vintage sauropod and plesiosaur reconstructions and even older, "antediluvian" reconstructions of Megalosaurus and Iguanodon. It spends most of its time in water, usually of brackish salinity such as Mikail’s Gulf, paddling with its muscular, flipper-like wings and muscle-reinforced tail "cluke" (combined of an ankylosaur’s club and a whale’s fluke) over the seabed, for it is still a bit clumsier than more specialised marine reptiles. It makes up for it as a great ambush predator however, lying on the seabed, camouflaged in settled sand. It may use its blue, forked tongue as a lure, looking like a tasty worm to inquisitive prey, which when approaching, the Mikailodon quickly lunges its great maw, sucking it in. On the other hand, they’re also omnivorous, and will freely graze on the seagrass prairies, standing and marching as if it were an underwater cow. Like the inherited sloths, algae may grow on its shaggy mane of filaments, attracting a myriad of species from fish and birds to manatees and moeritheres, like a miniature ecosystem. This algae can even come as bioluminescent dinoflagellates, essentially making the Mikailodon glow. In both forms, the attractive algae also comes in handy as a lure for hungry prey, the latter being an essential in dark waters. When Mikailodons come onto land, they are cumbersome, slowly shuffling about the shore with their flippers out like a seal, and only do so on occasion, such as nesting. A Mikailodon may even do a normal walk when it needs to, albeit hulking, Knightian-ly dragging its great tail on the ground, folding its wings and striding like a pterosaur on its knuckles like a ground sloth, but this is rare. Aside from the size and robustness, males differ from females with a protruding, blue blowhole that can be inflated to appear larger and make resonant snorting growls, and longer tusks as extra weapons for duals for dominance. In these battles, they also brutally slam their necks and clukes into each other, while making guttural, Gojira-like bellows. Yet other sounds include snarling, hissing, clicking, snapping and low rumbling or growling. At Mikail’s Gulf, gulf sperm whales (Physeter afridii), half the size of their oceanic counterparts, sometimes partner with the Mikailodon as opportunists, working together in hunts. Like the whales, Mikailodons are so heavily adapted to hear underwater, that they’re not just good at it, but with misophonia, their poor hearing on land also prevents them from hearing potential horrid elephant trumpets, elephants being a major threat if encountered. The Mikailodon may act simple in behaviour, but it also is very wise. It can live to over a hundred years, and so is very knowledgable about its world, with well-thought strategies to accomplish activities such as hunting certain prey. Its curiosity also leans it to gnaw on stuff, such as shark cages, which can improve the structure of its teeth. When it is time to nest, Mikailodon cows head out to the closest safe, warm and sandy areas to their vicinity, such as isolated sandbanks scattered across the coast. They dig huge mounds with their powerful claws, and lay a dozen huge, leathery eggs in them, before closing them back in the warm sand. When the eggs hatch, the newborns instinctually work together to break out of the sand, and awake in huge murmurations into the sky, homing their way to potential sanctuary. These foot-long babies are flaplings, very much like pterosaurs, and just like them and unlike birds are already able to fly. They’re opportunists similar to gulls that will eat anything they can get their mouth around. As they grow larger over the next ten years to adulthood however, their heft hinders them from flying, and as juveniles, still lean and agile, spend their usual time on land and in water, before growing even bigger and taking nearly completely to the seas.