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PsyrapMafia β GUIDE: Psyraps [[outdated]]
Published: 2007-09-14 01:00:53 +0000 UTC; Views: 80099; Favourites: 1725; Downloads: 132
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10/25/22 - this reference has been archived as it is too outdated to be canon. please refer to the newer 2022 mini guide. a full length remake is coming in 2023.Related content
Comments: 608
These are Badass! I'm definitely gonna make one of these some time!
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Are these guys an open species!? I love them so much!!! <333
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This is so awesome I can't even asdfgjkl;lskflkjaslkjf;aij
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Okay I have to ask because I didn't even REALIZE this came from here, despite their being an artist name on the picture itself. But I adopted thisΒ img850.imageshack.us/img850/90β¦ character on a site called Chickensmoothie, like on the forums it was placed as up for grabs. So I'm just wondering if that's an okay thing to do. I didn't even know it was a juvi version of this raptor and if this is an okay thing, can I draw it as the adult version or should I keep it as the juvi? Personally was having trouble drawing the juvi version and wouldn't mind trying out drawing the adult one.
I just wanted to make sure this was all in order before I start drawing things. I would of course link back to you on any images.
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Hi! Thanks for getting in contact with me 
I HAVE given people the OK to make adoptables out of the psyrap species as long as no real cash was being interchanged (and credits were not removed). So yes it is perfectly fine that you draw your psyrap as any age you wish.Β
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Awesome! Thank you.
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late: but I might go ahead and make a char based off this species, it's interesting; and from the color spectrum I've seen displayed on other characters- this looks like it could be a LOT of fun to design!
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This is an awesome species. I was wondering though, could this species, is it possible for them to mate with a Yez species?
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Just letting you know that I made myself one of these guys: [link]
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these are wonderful.
//plans on making one soon
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I might be late for this party, and my art skills might not do this any justice, but might I use this sheet of yours to help make a psychoraptor of my own? I love dinosaurs, and this just seems to appeal to me greatly.
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Where did you get the idea for these guys? They are very well thought out, and very interesting!
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sir do you have a template that people can use? i can't find one any where and some have the same design as if just recolored. may i have a template by any chance?
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whats ur rules on making a char for my self of this pritty beastie of urs
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OMG i just want a baby that stats baby forever XD sooo cute!
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Question. How do they feed the pups? I'm assuming it's from some form of regirgitation, but I'd hate to make an OC and be wrong.
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So gonna make my new sona one of these! Full credit will go to you obviously!
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very awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!! i LOOOOVVEE velociraptors, they've been my favourite dinosaur since i was very young. so naturally, psyraps looking so like velraps (lol), i HAVE to fave this. unfortunately i have never been good AT ALL at drawing really any dino-like heads, so i have a lot lot lot of practice ahead of me. how could i not make my own one of these? btw.....how do i make a link when i finally do? (prolly won't be for quite a while 
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Do you oppose to people using these as their permanent character/fursona, as long as proper credit is given of course?
I would love to use one and possibly some day make a costume of one.
I tried making my own type of raptor but it just wasn't as cool lmao.
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i dont mind that as long as people credit.
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This is so awesome i can tell u put a lot of work and detail too it! i just lurv these creatures and ur creativity, u r one of my favorite artists on dA 
Oi wow! in the wild they only live 10 years but in captivity they live 30???? thats amazing
Fav
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I find this very fascinating! I'm going to create a Psyrap character if you don't mind. I also have a few questions for you.
Dose the father take active interest in the whelps? What is the purpose of the tendrils? What kind of animals do they eat? How big is a newborn whelp? Do psyraps pair for life? Is a grip made up of one family (Like the wolf pack)? Sorry if I'm being to nosy, but I have a tendency to want to know everything about everything LOL.
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In the original psyrap wilderness, the psyrap father will most likely not be a highly active part in a juveniles development. The purpose of the tendrils is for communication, since they have a limited ability to shift colors similar as a chameleon. They also help them blend in with their wild environment. They eat mostly small furry animals, but will also band together to hunt larger prey. They will also hunt and eat rival grips young. Domestic and city-psyraps are omnivorous. A newbown is probably about the size of a medium size dog breed puppy, but depends on the species of psyrap. They likely do not mate for life. A grip, at the moment, is loosely based on the spotted hyena clan.
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I have a question! o u o
How long is the incubation period from conception to birth / Live birth or eggs?
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I have not worked out those details yet.
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Oh okay. I look forward to when you do / if you do. I really love psychoraptors and the amount of detail you put into them. They seem so real! I want to make some OCs but I'm no good at drawing animals with that type of facial structure so this should be GREAT practice. C:
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This is an updated version of 1 of my previous comments on page 11. In said comment, I discussed cooperative hunting, criticized Roach & Brinkman (I.e. R&B) 2007 ( [link] ), & made some book recommendations. However, I didn't know as much about cooperative hunting, R&B 2007, or good books then as I do now.
1stly, based on what I've read, there seem to be 3 levels of cooperative hunting (in order from least to most complex):
-2 or more individuals are genetically preprogrammed to regularly hunt together in a division of labor & share the prey they catch (E.g. The ants in quote 3).
-2 or more individuals learn to opportunistically hunt together & some catch prey missed by the others (E.g. The pelicans in quote 3).
-2 or more individuals learn to regularly hunt together in a division of labor & share the prey they catch (E.g. The lions in quote 3).
2ndly, after having read R&B 2007 itself (as opposed to 2ndary sources) in its entirety, I now know what's wrong w/it (in order of appearance):
-R&B claimed w/o supporting evidence that only a few raptors hunt in packs & those that do only hunt prey that individuals can kill alone, which is basically the opposite of what Ellis et al. claimed w/supporting evidence (See quotes 2 & 7). R&B probably knew about Ellis et al. 1993, given that they cited Bednarz 1995 (Bednarz co-authered Ellis et al. 1993), but chose to ignore it.
-R&B claimed that if lone Komodo dragons can kill prey 10x their size w/only their teeth, then so could lone Deinonychus w/both their teeth & claws. However, it's been known since at least 2005 that the former can kill said prey b/c they're venomous (See the 15th comment: [link] ).
-R&B claimed that the YPM 64-75 Deinonychus were all sub-adults. However, said Deinonychus "were all adults" (See "What Could Clump Raptors in Life?": [link] ). As indicated by quote 1, this has been known since at least 2003.
-R&B claimed that Bakker's lair sites were more likely kill sites despite the bones/sediments/lack of other predators suggesting otherwise (See quotes 4-5). Also, R&B claimed that the presence of both baby & adult tooth marks is coincidental despite the fact that "the baby shed teeth are always found with adult shed teeth" (See quote 4).
-Speaking of "coincidental", see quote 6.
3rdly, I'd still recommend "Raptor Pack" ( [link] ), but not "A Field Guide to Dinosaurs: The Essential Handbook for Travelers in the Mesozoic" ( [link] ) for anything other than the illustrations. As indicated by quote 8, the former gives the best idea of what eudromaeosaurids were like when alive AWA how we know what we know.
P.S. In reference to "1stly", only the most complex level of cooperative hunting counts as true pack hunting.
1 Quoting Bakker ( [link] ): "Those three or four adult Deinonychus we dug were probably a pack, a group from one species who hunted together."
2 Quoting Ellis et al. ( [link] ): "Highly developed cooperative hunting may be important for many raptors."
3 Quoting Gardom & Milner ( [link] ): "A surging army of soldier ants will make a concerted attack on a wasps' nest and destroy it with great efficiency. This is certainly co-operative, although the level of interaction it requires is pretty low. At a more complex level, pelicans fish together, and lions have complex techniques of encircling and stalking that may include several individuals operating as a highly organized team."
4 Quoting Levin ( [link] ): "Eventually, Bakker excavated 33 separate sites in Como Bluff. As digging proceeded, he started investigating a question that had long perplexed him: Did allosaur parents feed their young? "The books I grew up with said that the chicks of carnivorous dinosaurs had to catch prey all by themselves, the way baby crocodiles do," Bakker says. The teeth tell a different tale. Under the microscope, Bakker could see that baby allosaur teeth are miniature replicas of the adult teeth. To him, that similarity carries a significant message: "They ate the exact same thingβbig hunks of meat. If baby allosaurs were feeding by themselves on little things, they'd need different teeth." Sure enough, bones of prey exhibit both baby and adult tooth marks. Equally important, the baby shed teeth are always found with adult shed teeth, implying that adult and child were eating in the same place. The family that shed together, fed together.
In similar fashion, Bakker concluded that allosaurs maintained guarded lairs where they ate and protected their young until they were fully grown. As Bakker uses the term, lair means not a nest or a den but a feeding area, potentially something as simple as a shaded spot on the plain. These sites contain abundant allosaur shed teeth mingled with bones from giant herbivores' meaty parts, such as the rump, thigh, and upper tail. Feet, which offered less nourishment, are missing. The sediments at these sites are fine-grained, meaning they were deposited by slow-moving water. "These carcasses didn't wash in," Bakker says. "It looks like somebody dragged them in.""
5 Quoting Levin ( [link] ): "Piled with pungent carcasses, lairs almost certainly would have attracted other predators, hoping to poach some food or make a meal of the vulnerable babies. But the sites that are rich in allosaur teeth do not contain shed teeth from other predators, Bakker found. Evidently, the beasts maintained good security. Teeth from all growth stages appear together in these lairs, hinting that allosaurs, like modern hawks and eagles, maintained extended families in which older siblings sometimes helped their parents raise the next generation."
6 Quoting Li et al. (See "Behavior" under "Discussion": [link] ): "Roach and Brinkman (2007) proposed that trackway data previously presented in support of gregarious nonavian theropods are perhaps better interpreted as coincidental instances of normally solitary individuals converging on a common point (e.g., food source). While we agree that some footprint associations may have been misinterpreted as gregarious, many convincing examples remain (see Lockley and Matsukawa (1999) for review). Group behavior more parsimoniously explains their numbers and diversity through the Mesozoic than does postulating that all such occurrences coincidentally represent parallel trackway segments of otherwise divergent trackways."
7 Quoting Stevens ( [link] ): "Dr. Ellis and his colleagues speculate that when raptors hunt alone, they will not even try to capture prey that they know can be captured only through teamwork; it is not worth the expenditure of energy. But bigger game or the quicker capture resulting from group efforts can make the expenditure worthwhile."
8 "Raptors. Kick-boxing pack hunters who could slice open a veggie-saur with a single stroke. Tree-climbing cannibals who fed their babies the way eagles feed their chicks. Says who? Scientists. Bone sleuths. Follow them as they read rocks and fossils and study modern predators to figure out "who did what, where, and how?" during the Age of Dinosaurs" (See "Back Cover": [link] ).
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I have to have one! I'll link when I'm done!
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I've been meaning to ask the following since you posted the updates: Are Psyrap tongues still conical (like they were in the original Ref Sheet) or flat (like the tongues of Earth's carnivores); Are Psyrap tongues still prehensile (like they were in the original Ref Sheet); & what are Psyrap tongues for (eating/drinking/grooming/showing affection/etc)?
Also, many thanks for taking my advice about Psyrap claws. It makes me feel appreciated.
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They are flat when relaxed but when stretched out beyond the mouth they gain a more conical shape near the tip, and they are still prehensile. The purpose for these traits is because currently they use their tongues to help them camouflage with their surroundings when trying to ambush prey, since some of the fauna from their planet display "tongue like" adornments, or tendrils.
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If I'm understanding you correctly, then you're saying that Psyraps blend in w/some of their prey by standing around w/their tongues hanging out & curled up like tendrils, right (If not, then please correct me)? Also, does that mean that Psyraps don't use their tongues for either grasping (that's what I originally figured they were for based on Freak grasping beers w/his in several pics) or anything that Earth's carnivores use their tongues for (eating/drinking/grooming/showing affection/etc)?
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They could use it for grasping light objects but it would not be necessary for survival considering they have well adapted hand-like front paws (sort of like a raccoon).
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That reminds me of some other questions I have: What do Psyraps use their front paw dewclaws for (I originally figured tripping some of their prey during high-speed chases ALA cheetahs); Can they protract their front paw claws ALA cats; & are said claws thick/round in cross-section ALA raptor birds (for grasping prey) or thin/blade-like ALA cats (for grasping & slashing prey)?
Also, the Psyrap tongue stuff made me wonder: Since Psyraps can't lap up water ALA Earth's carnivores, how do they drink; Is it safe to assume that they use their claws & teeth to groom if not their tongues; & how do Psyraps show affection if not by licking?
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Their front dewclaws are currently somewhat used for digging out smaller prey from burrows. Their claws are not retractable. The claws are somewhat of a mix between a large flightless birds, and a canine. They are thick and strong.
I have contemplated giving their tongues an inner tube so they work similar to straws. They would use their teeth for grooming, prolly not claws so much, and tongue is not out of the question as a tool for showing affection. They would also use nudging heads, necking, and intertwining tails.
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If the front paw claws curve up, then how do they grasp prey w/out being protractable?
I like your tongue tube idea. It's very unique. I also like your intertwining tails idea (partly b/c I thought of it independently, but wasn't sure if it was a good 1 'til now).
Some other stuff I was wondering: What's the full scientific name of the "Psychoraptor" (which I figured is either its common name or its genus name); When kicking at rivals w/their back paw dewclaws, do they have to jump or can they lean back on their tails ALA kangaroos; What's the psychoraptized version of "Jose" or "Jerk"; & am I understanding the "grips" & "mating" info correctly in thinking that adult females & their young live in grips while adult males are nomadic loners (If not, then please correct me)?
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Theirs claws dont curve up, they have a normal curve such as dogs do. Their main way of grasping prey is however with their mouths.
The term psychoraptor is actually their species nickname, which stuck after they where initially mislabelled as a raptor species (such as aardwolves or koala bears). "Psycho" comes from the sounds they make. The name also persisted since "psychoraptor" can be loosely translated to "mind thief," which matches not only the manner in which they hunt, but also the fact that they seem to fight over the brain matter of their prey.
They cannot lean back on their tails. I cant really tell you the psychoraptorized version of single words. And realistically males would have to leave a grip after a certain age to avoid inbreeding. They can join other grips or become nomadic.
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When asking about the front claws, I was referring to the Ref Sheet saying that they "curve up from the top of the toe so that even with the paw flat on the ground, the claw does not dig into the ground." Is it that Psychoraptors use their front claws more for fighting rivals than for grasping prey?
The brain stuff is pretty cool. Is it that the brains are their favorite part, eating that 1st after making a kill? Or is it that, b/c the brains are their favorite part, they save it for last?
As for the name stuff, I thought you'd be able to b/c the Ref Sheet lists "Tomfoolery" as the psychoraptorized version of "Tom". I've been thinking up a Psychoraptor character for myself for a while, & my characters usually go by either "Jose D" or "Jerky D" (b/c I think of myself as more-or-less an "average Joe", both my parents are Latin American & "Jose" is spanish for "Joe", D is the 1st letter of my real last name, & I like being a jerk when in character).
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Oh, I meant to type that they COME up from the top of the toe, as opposed to straight out as say emus have, so as to allow some curvature.
It's difficult to explain the brain thing. It is not that big a deal to them. It is simply something that stood out to the observer. For example, how we think of hyenas as scavengers, even though they are efficient hunters. But their scavenger image stuck. Same with psyraps, they pretty much like all organs the same, but since they make the extra effort to actually crack the skull and get at the brain matter, it has stuck that they prefer the brain above all else.
As for psyrap name, I would say it could be as simple as combining the two to create "JoseJerky."
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Thanks for the brain explanation. That's interesting stuff. Also, thanks for helping me name my Psychoraptor character: "JoseJerk".
Back on page 11, you asked me for help in developing Psychoraptors. Would you still like my help? I ask b/c I'm not sure if you would, given my lack of DA-related activity since then. It's just that I've been so busy w/finishing school & getting work that, until relatively recently, I haven't had time to do DA-related stuff. If you would, then the following are some of the suggestions I've been meaning to suggest (there's more, but I'm having trouble remembering them all off the top of my head).
You've said b-4 that Psychoraptors were inspired by several terrestrial animals (specifically, hyenas & raptor dinos). Was Hyenadon 1 of them? I ask b/c when watching the "Razor Jaws" episode of "Prehistoric Predators"( [link] ), I couldn't help but be reminded of Psychoraptors. This brings me to my suggestion: Have you considered making Psychoraptor teeth either self-sharpening (like those of Hyenadon) or continuously-growing (like those of Tasmanian devils)? I figured that either would be a good adaptation for a bone-crushing Psychoraptor to have.
Under "CHANGES, UPDATES AND NOTES", you said that you can't give a more definite weight estimate than >100 pounds. May I suggest about 340-400 pounds? This is b/c JP's raptor "weighed only about 170 to 200 pounds" ( [link] ). Since your (presumably) solid-boned Psychoraptor has similar dimensions to JP's hollow-boned raptor, I figured the former would weigh about twice as much as the latter. If you think that's too heavy, then I'd suggest about 200-340 pounds.
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They are actually loosely based on mesonychids, had they evolved to remain on land rather than return to the sea as they did on earth. In fact at the moment I use a combination of Sinonyx, possums, domestic dogs, and spotted hyenas as reference for their skulls. Their teeth are self sharpening.
And yes around 250 pounds would be realistic because they weigh about as much as a large mastiff breed dog. This is average, because there are several psyrap subspecies. But even the largest wouldn't weigh more than a medium sized bear.
I unfortunately havent had the time yet to set time aside specifically for continuing to develop the psyrap, but when i do ill let you know :]
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Alright, I finished the ref for my Psyrap, mostly.
I still have a few kinks to work to make it more psyrapish but this is what i have: [link]
And i gave you 100% credit as well.
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May I make one? Don't worry about credit, it shall be there.
Oh, and by the way, would DismalWind be an Ok name? I'm not sure...
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