TLOS - Lava Lizard

Was wanting to get this done yesterday, but it was late, but was about finished. This would be the 2nd redesign of these guys from Spyro 2 and I like how much better they look from what I envisioned. Might do some speculative headcanon for the species this thing is in the future.

Lava Lizard (Igenous Lacertilian)

Large carnivorous tyrants known to the region of Skelos badlands. Scales that shield them from lava and fire. While They do hunt in their home region, forest fires draw their attention. Which they became invasive seeking opportunity

Background

During the young years of civilization of the Dragon Realms, many journeyed throughout the realms to see what lies beyond. Those who ventured towards the volcanic regions were met with great hostility from the environment and the creatures. However one would scare and drive away those who ventured too far, reigning as the apexes, the Lava Lizards.

Their main home is Skelos badlands, a volcanic region that connected all the way to the Volcano, long before Malefor reigned dominance upon the realms. They are most commonly seen there and are the largest tyrants known to the volcanic regions along.

Ecology

They are hypercarnivores, meaning they eat both meat and bones, this is due to their size and strength they grow to possess and due to the region. When consuming bones they eat stone and sometimes other minerals, rarely including obsidian to help grind the bones. If its too big they will break the bones with either their jaws or slamming it down to break them into smaller pieces.

They claim territory by flicking magma around and leaving marks from either their horns or teeth, however male Lava lizards will compete for territory or females if one intrudes. Intimidation is first by rearing up, showing their teeth, and opening their wings. If not, they will fight by using their and teeth, through a series of charging, biting, and scarring from their horns.

Female lava lizards will often look for males who have the most fiercesome look and attitude which again can lead to males fighting over them. When both are paired the female will take care of the young until they're adolescent which by that age they are large enough to hunt and handle the region on their own. They are one of the few tyrant species that mate for life, despite their territorial behavior.

Biology

Their life cycle begins when they are born with hard shelled eggs, as the eggs incubate in hot temperatures the shell hardens, becoming tough enough to survive lava. Once they hatch their scales are weak at birth, however as they grow, their scales harden overtime and the top ones become darker. At a child age their scales can resist fire, adolescent can resist cooled magma, and adults can completely resist lava, even walk or swim in it.

They uniquely are dragon like however one confusion about is the size of their wings and horn placement. Male lava lizards have larger center head horns but smaller wings, while females have smaller but larger wings. While it seems pointless to have wings due to their size and weight, it actually aids in their balance, and helps them navigate rough terrain easier.

Their size from their back to their feet makes them 11 meters tall, (36 feet) they do become taller when they rear up. Their whole body is muscle with strong bones to help with their weight, making them brutes when fighting. Possibility of a tall lava lizard to exist was said to be 20 meters (65 feet) which was confirmed to be an elder.

It can also depend on their age, living on average of 60 years, with the longest being over 70.

Other Info

Uniquely few species variants of them exist but are different in terms of color and features. The obsidian lava lizards are darker, resulting from harsher and dangerous volcanic regions. The blaze lava lizards are much slimmer and somewhat smaller, but posses the ability to breath blazing fire, and can glide with their wings.

One of the times lava lizards become dangerous is becoming invasive when forest fires happen. However it's rare but they will take the opportunity if they seek abundant food if they have not had any for a while. Another reason leaving their homes into unfamiliar territory is wanting to drink fresh water, which they mostly and reluctantly drink from hot springs.

Unfortunately after the war with Malefor, they have started to become more invasive due to losing parts of their home to Malefor's forces. This had led many being mixed about them, worse are those wanting them extinct. This has also caused a group to from to help protect lava lizards but also regroup them to help take back their homes.