Cava

Cava
Scientific Classification
Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Class	Aves
Order	Phorukoryfrogamae
Family	Aborealantus
Genus	Sapiopteryx
Species	S. cava

Cava are a species of beaked, Paravian therapod which are the direct descendants of the Dromaeosauridae clade of dinosaurs. They are one of many intelligent, sapient species native to Urth, and are characterised by their striking bird-like appearance featuring shiny black plumage, colourful crest feathers and corvid-like heads. Anatomically modern cava evolved in central Aurora approximately 2 Mya. They remained the dominant form of sapient life on the continent until their decline during most recent period of glaciation, when they were largely supplanted by humans and elves outside of several geographically isolated regions, the most notable of which being the Axdelian peninsula.

Evolution

The cava are the descendants of a species of small dromaeosaur that survived the C-P mass extinction 66 million years ago that were isolated on Aurora and Sempiternica. Competition from birds and mammals left few ecological niches to exploit, however a number of arboreal species that had abandoned gliding flight for enhanced climbing ability and dexterity. Known as treeclaws, they led similar lifestyles comparable to the primate ancestors of the human species group.

An omnivorous species of treeclaw entered a trend of rapidly increasing cranial capacity approximately 10-15 Mya, resulting in a range of new species capable of creating and using basic tools and achieving a rudimentary use of fire. This alongside the long-term aridification of Central-East Aurora led to upright bipedalism evolving as a response to the thinning forests and the expanding plains biome as a means of faster locomotion and predator detection. Anatomically modern cava evolved 2 Mya in the Ethaln Plain and quickly spread to dominate the continent, however without any continuous land bridges to Yasteria at the time they remained geographically isolated.

History

Although highly disputed, evidence from uncovered tools suggests that cava hunter gatherers in modern Staynes may have domesticated and farmed several crops for a brief period of time approximately 500-300 Kya. It is unknown how developed this culture became, how long it lasted or why reversion to hunter-gathering occurred due to the advanced decay of the recovered artefacts.