Steiner Phlyer
| Ancestor: | Descendants: |
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As Ramul drifted further from Drake into truly subtropical territory and Steiner rose from the sea to the south, the Courier Phlyer found it increasingly difficult to migrate between their original homelands of Drake and Ramul. While some still do this, the sedentary population came to exceed the migratory population. This population would expand outwards into Steiner and become distinct from the migratory population, giving rise to the Steiner Phlyer.
While the Steiner Phlyer is very much morphologically distinct from its ancestor, these differences are largely superficial and driven by sexual selection. Its patterning has become somewhat more elaborate with yellow markings not just on the crest, but on the wingtips and chest too. The body is now white, light blue, and blue, instead of the original yellow, blue, and light blue. Lastly, the tail-nostril is no longer ringed with spikes, as much of its range lacks predators and discouraged the development of such defenses.
The Steiner Phlyer is significantly more territorial than its ancestor. This is due to the limited resources on their island homes. There are two types of flock. One consists of large, sedentary flocks of females that carve out a plot of land many kilometers in size. This often encompasses the entirety of the islands they inhabit. Flocks on the main island of Steiner and Ramul, however, often have to contend with neighboring flocks and often get into territorial disputes. The other type of flock consists of males. These flocks are smaller, containing at five individuals at most. These flocks are nomadic, jumping from island to island to search for mates and food. If the females are receptive, the males will engage in a crude sort of lekking behavior, strutting about in unison while bobbing their heads and occasionally flapping their wings. The females will often choose the brightest male, which will be mated with the most. Since the proportion to males to females in a mating encounter is so unequal, the other males often get some opportunities in mating. However, these other males are mated with less. The nomadic behavior of male flocks also presents interesting interactions on the high seas, as these flocks are known to rest atop topship fuzzpalms and even feed on the fruit, much to the dismay of the topship shrogs that may inhabit it. However, they never venture into the open oceans, as they cannot subsist on the berries of topship fuzzpalms alone. Nor are there any mating opportunities in venturing further out into the sea.
The nomadic, island-hopping behavior of the males has spread some of the plants they eat to new lands. The Mangot has been spread to Steiner's subtropical beaches. The Mainland Fuzzpalm has been introduced to Steiner's subtropical and tropical beaches and rainforests. While the Greatcap Baseejie and Weeping Baseejie were initially introduced to Steiner, they would eventually deviate from the original population and evolve into the Emperor Greatcap and Honeyfruit Weepress respectively.