Paraceph

The paraceph is a species of eusocial herbivorous ornithopod dinosaur that lived in North Alor and even Chao.

Appearance

 * Worker paraceph - The worker paraceph can be roughly about 4.5 meters (15 feet) long and have a shoulder height of up to 1.6 meters (5 feet). They can weigh a ton (2,204 pounds) in average weight. The crest is connected to the main face and had a frill connected to it. They have hoof-like toes that can travel at a speed of 65 kilometers per hour. Their teeth are specialized to grind vegetation and have a lot of them. Their skin is about an inch thick, making them highly durable to attacks from predators. They have short tails with long, slender limbs.


 * Queen paraceph - The queen paraceph is about twice as large as the worker paraceph (but smaller than the soldier paraceph), being up to 10 meters long (33 feet) and standing over 3 meters (10 feet) tall at the shoulders. The queen has an elongated muscular body with tough scales that protect them from predators. Overall, they superficially resembled their ancestors in body shape and size, though has two crests connected to eachother by a frill. They also have a balloon organ next to their crests.


 * Soldier paraceph - The largest of their group, the soldier paraceph can reach a length of up to 14 meters (46 feet) and stood at a shoulder height of 4 meters (13 feet). Unique among hadrosaurs, the soldier paraceph has six crests each connected by a highly durable frill. A colossal behemoth, soldier paracephs can reach an average weight of 5 tons (11,023 pounds), though the weight may vary depending on the amount of food available. Their skin is over 6 inches thick, able to endure attacks from predators with strong bites.

Behaviour
The paraceph are gentle giants that are dedicated to serving their queens, much like the far much smaller ants. The queen is by far the most intelligent of the colony, able to think through problems, this allows her to signal other paracephs to protect her. Usually, a paraceph colony contains 1,000 individuals averagely, though some may be larger. Soldier paracephs are the ones dedicated to protecting the queen, using their frills and highly durable skin to endure attacks, they come in groups of up to 40 and form a circle with the queen in the middle. The queen can inflate her balloon organ and split her crests to reveal her frill, she uses this to signal other paracephs to either protect her or to attack predators.

When paraceph colonies meet with eachother, they share food to eachother and might even join with one another for better defense. Worker paracephs collect food for the queen for her to produce eggs. During the winter season/dry season, the colony will migrate to a new location to find more food, as the colony will not be able to survive for long without the queen around. When a predator is near the colony, the queen will often signal other paracephs to flee or to attack it. A kick from a soldier paraceph has enough force to kill an adult human. Workers that breed with the queen are called "partners", and die shortly after breeding with the queen. Only the queen is able to reproduce, and the other paracephs rely on this to obtain company. After being fully grown, several worker paracephs will venture out from the queen to make a new colony.

Diet
Paracephs are herbivorous, feeding on both grass and leaves. Due to them being facultative bipeds, they are able to both walk on two legs, or by all four legs, allowing them to reach trees. While they may consume the leaves/grass by themselves, paracephs often bring them to the queen to produce more eggs. Queen paracephs also feed her offsprings, as they may become hungry and will eventually die of starvation when they only bring food to the queen.

Reproduction
The queen paraceph is polygnous, and is able to mate with many partners. They usually store the sperms before making a colony. After making the den for the colony, the queen will produce 2-5 eggs that will serve as the first workers. Then, the queen will teach the workers to support her after 6 weeks. When mature, the workers will serve the queen to improve the den. After the workers are born, the queen will later produce about 3 eggs of soldier paracephs. Like before, the queen will teach them to protect her and the colony. When offsprings are produced, the queen will produce more eggs, and the workers will help her. It takes approximately 5.7 years for a worker paraceph to mature, and 10 years for soldier paracephs. When fully grown, several worker paracephs will disperse from the colony, and restart the cycle over and over again.