Long-eared Lumpelope

A flashy dancing trunko, the long-eared lumpelope makes its home in newly-formed southern jungles.

Lumpelopes are several species of lightly-built, fast-running trunkos recently evolved from duckbilled sealumps which colonized Serinaustra 5 million years ago. Males of most of these species are now known for their large facial display flanges, which form ear-like horns in one species, and for their incredible rainbow-like plumage patterns of green, red, violet, blue and gold. In several species, even the females have impressive color. Social and gentle, the lumpelopes are now widespread across the southern continent. They remain capable swimmers by necessity to cross the many swamps and waterways of the landscape, but their bodies are much thinner and more streamlined for speed. Long, sturdy legs propel these shy birds across open areas and into thick cover in forest patches where they seek to hide from their enemies. These trunkos are mostly plant-eaters, feeding on the leaves of bushes, on fruits and seeds, on algae, and occasionally on insects.

Long-eared lumpelopes, mainly native to the upland regions around the Clearview Mountains (really forested hills) of northern Serinaustra, have a very unique social structure and a reproductive strategy all their own. Nomadic herds of ten to twenty females live together while males are territorial and live in small, closely-bonded groups of four to six. Herds are segregated by sex for most of the time, perhaps because more brightly colored males could endanger young chicks with their lack of camouflage. Instead the males spend their time apart in closely-bonded coalitions which meet up with the roaming females only on their own terms. When females seek to mate they will visit several male territories and judge their groups based on how well they can strut their stuff and impress her. The females' tastes are very fancy, however, and no single male can win their admiration. They want to see a show. So all of the males cooperatively display with one another, putting on a remarkable presentation of coordination and flashing color, particularly the large eyespot markings on their facial flanges. An older, experienced lead male is always central to the performance, with the movements of the others helping to frame him in the eyes of the females. 

After an exhausting, well-rehearsed dance of jumping, strutting, and head-swinging lasting as long as twenty minutes, the females vote among themselves to see if they will accept this group, or move on to another, expressing approval or disinterest with differing gestural behaviors and vocalizations. A dominant lead female, the matriarch, has the final say, but her decision will be swayed by whether her sisters express approval or disinterest. A successful group of males will be allowed into their fold and to take their pick of all receptive females, though the dominant male gets first choice. The group will stay together for a honeymoon lasting a week to ten days, forming short-lived pair bonds (with trios and quartets being relatively common if sex ratios are unequal, as they often are). Eventually the females come out of season, and begin picking on the males, letting them know it's time to get going. So the boys depart, leaving their seasonal partners to raise their young as a community, and they return to a bachelor's life  - at least until the next group of discerning ladies comes their way, and it's time to dance again.

Like other trunkos, lumpelopes incubate their eggs in a pouch below their chins. Females of this group usually only lay a single egg, however, as though they cooperatively care for one anothers' chicks the males don't stick around to help incubate a second egg. Young can run on the ground within a few days of hatching, but will return to their mothers' pouch to rest for several weeks after, until they are simply too big to fit.