Loved your point about how Great Jagras is still a top order predator despite being easy. Not all strong animals have good defenses against humans, and especially not humans that can hold swords twice the size of their body.
Yeah , also top order carnivores can easily lose in conflicts against other top order carnivores : constrictor snakes and accipitrids birds are either too slow or too small and frail to directly fight other top order carnivores in their enviroment , yet they are still formidable predators who can hold their hown and consume large preys with some frequency
@@davidegaruti2582 What singular predators even fight off other species of predators on the regular? Some big cats, badgers and bears. Others fighters like hyenas, lions and canines only fight in groups. Most other predators won't fight at all unless they have no other option. So even carnivores capable of consistently killing other carnivores would rather not risk it.
Dodogama is mentioned to eat Bazelgeuse eggs because it “mistakes them for rocks.” It might not be a mistake and Dodogama might prey on anything in the rocky substrate and their diet of rocks is simply was a byproduct now turned to a convenient resource. They still probably would nab any small creature in the substrate- including eggs
I was called boring for liking The Great Jagras but look at it. It’s an Iguana with Dinosaur Pack tactics and the carrying abilities of a pelican. It’s not too flashy or complex but it’s a solid early game monster
@@An_Actual_Rat had no idea you watched this channel. Cool👍 But yes those are my favorite as well. Designs like anjanath, lagiacrus, the blos wyverns etc. Feel like they could fit into our world and that's why I love them.
@@Cylly_Jinx Yeah, I'm on a bunch of animal and spec evo channels. I do tend to comment a lot more on the Maasai and Kruger sightings channels thanks to the presence of "intellectually challenged people".
I always loved how the early game lizards had a much richer life out there in the world of ... World than many of the higher ranking monsters. Regarding Jagras cannibalism, could it be that the Great is preying on "small morph" male Jagras that are trying to infiltrate the harem? It's not confirmed at all but the species may have different breeding strategies depending on the habitat (Rise's lack of great Jagras could suggest this, if we decide to count it as legit and not just another case of random monsters in random places), with the Ancient Forest favouring the large, food-providing males. Sneaker males would be extremely unsuccesful since no females would look at puny mate who can't bring meat back home, but may still exist to live life as a doomed failure that leads to a quicker one if the resident Great catches them.
I like this idea, of Great Jagras culling sneaky males or his sons to minimize competition. It is also possible that Great Jagras don't prey on their own packs but on packs not their own, to reduce competition and possibly reduce rival male breeding success.
As for lack of Great Jagras in Rise, it could be due to competition with the packing bird wyverns. Despite Great Jagras being the most formidable of all starter monsters, Jagras packing behaviors aren't as complex as that of the raptors and the likes of Great Izuchi and Great Wroggi would both be better at hunting available prey and would better take pressure from higher level predators.
I remember in a previous vid there was the sneaky male strat of iguanas, I imagine the greats quite literally eat puny males that step outta line, either due to the breeding competition or the risk of inbreeding or The greats genuinely can't tell the difference between small males and standard females and when discovered they're culled. The joke in that vid of iguanas being "progressive" by animal standards might be magnified here, The Great jag may straight up intervene when seeing forced copulation and actually EAT the sneaky male.
@@thenerdbeast7375 yeah I was thinking a combination of that and lack of large prey (Flooded Forest has Slagtoth, but they don't seem to be as common as Aptonoth and with their semiaquatic lifestyle they might not be as easy to encounter). Shrine Ruins also seems to have a colder climate, which might further impact the growth of Jagras. As a result male Jagras retain a smaller size and female-like bodyplan, and the species overall seems to form smaller social units.
@@matteolucarelli4615 colder regions typically suggest larger sizes in creatures to combat the cold. Fur helps this immensely, which is likely why Izuchi has fur instead of scales. Baggi is an outlier mainly to the fact that it is found in arctic regions, while Jagras is found in tropical regions. Baggi may also be an endothermic, while Jagras is an exotherm.
Acidic Glavenus is also quite vulnerable to paralysis like Odogaron is. And given how it was throwing around that Great Girros quite aggressively, it's possible that the Acidic Glavenus wasn't giving it any inch to flee, so the Great Girros decided to fight instead. And if the pack had bitten the big brute enough, they might well have succeeded in bringing it down.
I was thinking the same thing- namely because I got to see firsthand what happens if a Great Girros ambushes an Acidic Glavenus. They just kept chain paralyzing and knocking them down until the Greay Girros decided to leave zones, then Acidic Glavenus limped away- this happened near the start of the hunt.
Agree I honestly find the acidic glav cutscene funny cause the same glav will forget how to deal with girros. Girros is such a danger threat to the animals of the vale. I do wish the cutscene actually held true with glav actually struggling to handle the girros compared to the anime style annihilation in the cutscene
@@magmafeline8239 Wdym snake the real life basilisk is a lizard I guess a poison snake wyvern that can emit a paralysis gas could be cool for one based on the mythical basilisk
Probably cause there is a distinct difference between the mammalian and lizard fanged wyverns, possibly even more distant and tied to the isolation of the continents than the psudeo wyverns and flying wyverns
The thing i want to point out is that the girros are loyal to their great, as they rely on it for defence, whereas jagras arent to their great. This might be the reason the great girros continued to fight the acidic glavenus even though it was an impossible battle, as the pack is close knit and loyal to one another. The great girros might have been trying to scare off the acidic glavenus maybe because the glavenus was close to the girros' nest. Just a thought.
Girros were the one small version of monsters I adore more than the large monster form. Like I always see them picking on odo when odo is distracted by the hunter I wonder if great is the tank while the small girros are the actual killers with great girros being the one to kill larger prey items
Well to be fair Zinogre and Lunagaron are highly derived Old World fanged wyverns and likely not closely related to the ones of the New World, it still appears the majority do not practice parental care. The only New World fanged wyvern I might hypothesize practicing parental care would be Odogaron (both variations) due to their hostile environments making it a necessity to ensure survival.
@@thenerdbeast7375 Zinogre and Magnamalo seem heavily derived and distantly related (if related at all- in fact, their unique talons on their forearms might be remnants of pseudo wyvern wings) but Lunagaron seems related to Odogaron (at least related to their ancestor this “Paleogaron”)
@@TsulaAngenati2292 Imo seems likely the three Old World native Fanged Wyverns make a clade with each other. They all have mammal noses, are all large, have pinnae, and are not pack hunters but show sociality or at least seem to tolerate each other outside of breeding season with Magna. (Zinogre has a harem iirc, Magna has a harem it shares territory with, Lunagaron seems to be monogamous with the concept art of it raising its cubs showing two parents.)
@@dromeoraptorpennato2931 I agree with Zinogre and Magnamalo. Lunagaron however has a body plan more similar to some new world fanged wyverns- the only exception being the nose, ears, and bipedal movement (the latter being entirely unique to it)- so they feel more like a new world fanged wyvern rather than an old world one
I think the gills of the girros might be just like the adaptations that the other cake dwellers bring. Vaal likely originated from the sea and girros’ could share that same origin. It’s possible they originate from shallow waters and hunted terrestrially similar the crabs you mentioned. Joining the vale’s ecosystem early on and adjusting the gills to filter out effluvium makes some sense. If they gradually adjusted from a more sea snake like appearance the reactivation of a previously selected against neurotoxin with the arrival of odogaron also lines up.
I hope the sequel to World could finally reintroduce Lagiacrus in like a mangrove swamp habitat if he can't appear in the Ancient Forest, maybe do a whole invasive situation where one is driven to search for food closer to the forest but still retreats back to deeper waters
given some of Val hazak’s angler fish inspired features, maybe great girros having gills points to the vale at some point being an ocean or a deep lake great content as always :)
That and the mega coral that grow from and above the Vale. some kind of ecosystem that was underwater, but thrived so much that even after the water drained the flora and fauna retained their aquatic adaptations.
In parts of the vale you can see and hear the lava flows from the Recess, and the mission where you have to redirect Zorah Magdaros shows that, right next to the Vale, there is a massive cave system partially submerged by ocean water, that connects the Recess and the Vale. You can also see this water in other parts of the Vale, and the entrance of the Recess. This leads me to believe that, before it was the charnel pit we see in the modern day, the Vale was a volcanic seaside cave riddled area and the high nutrient content from the volcanic soil led to the growth of the coral. The coral highland eventually attracted enough creatures and became enough of an obstruction to migrating elders that they started dying there instead of the recess, and that is what formed the Vale. Its amusing that the sea inspired Vaal is only present in the Vale and not the coral highlands, but I need to remind myself that the Vale is just the bottom of the Coral Highlands, and if the meat wasn't in the way, would look just as coral filled and oceanic as the highland does.
Oh, and we also know that the water levels dropped quite dramatically even in only a few decades, as the Gathering Hub in Astera was apparently at sea level when the first fleet arrived. Which, given the Vales location in semi submerged oceanic volcanic caves, means that the lower levels of the Vale were underwater only a few decades ago.
@@ASpaceOstrichnot sure if they could've adapted within the span of a few decades though. Evolution on that scale would take at least several thousand years
@@evodolka A giant sloth, chalicotherium or a estemmenosuchus would be my get go. And a flagship bird wyvern would be dope to maybe akin to a terro bird or secretary bird
@@julianswinton5355 would be neat, hell if it wasn't for the questionable classifications, odds are Kirin would count as a fanged wyvern due to being a reptile shaped like a horse think I heard birds are limited by size so odds are they would make a bird like flagship a flying or brute sadly that or just say it's the biggest bird ever
I think Girros is better adapted for efluvium, since their nest and hunting area appear to have a higher dencity of it, Raddobahn hunts on the upper zone of the veil and rarely goes deeper, odogaron's nest seems to be pretty efluvium free and it only seems to venture through the zones with a lot of efluvium to get carrion.
One of the reasons there arent fanged wyverns in the wildspire could strictly be due to Diablos and Jyratodus, both of which can attack from below, which is particularly dangerous for the low-to-the-ground fanged wyverns. Just an idea.
I have hypothesis that the fanged wyverns are actually synapsids and therefore closer to mammals than dragons. The only one thet doesn't share any obvious traits with mammals is dodogama. Shamos and female jagras have an erect gait, girros have heterodont teeth, and then there's wulgs which you can't tell me aren't at least therapsids. Odogaron looks for all the world like a giant gorgonopsian, while lunagaron and zinogre have convergently evolved with canids, but it seems plausible they evolved from cynodonts.
Dodogama is actually based on a mammal- whales. I had a similar theory but that was only for the new world fanged wyverns (the Garons, Kadachi, Shamos, Wulg, and Thief Wyverns) and I theorized that old world fanged wyverns (Magnamalo and Zinogre) are more closely related to pseudo wyverns who also have mammalian features, large forelimbs, and the wrist blade of Magnamalo and extra long fore claw of Zinogre might be remnants of the pseudo wyvern’s wings
@@jonesrizal8981in all honesty applying irl taxonomy and relations is a bit wonky, I think it would be better to look at all the taxa and and make thier own clades independently of our ecology That being said tobi could be an example of convergent evolution if we go at thing you’re way
I've no joke have watched this about 8 times, I've been trying to do some spec bio myself and your videos are apsolutly amazing for what goes where, how to make fantasy concepts realistic, and how to base these concepts in realism. And I really liked how you explained culture in animals for example, that's just an interesting concept to think about
I had a theory that Capcom chose to not introduce Great Jagras in the flooded forest because they knew that would require tweeking the monster ranks a little bit or better define monsters place is the ecosystem. Since a Great Jagras would no doubt make short work of Great Wroggi
It also fills a role similar to Royal Ludroth in combat, large lumbering and spitting monsters that call smaller versions to attack from the flanks with little coordination
@@DanielisAwesome52 Its crazy I never noticed that similarity, makes me think maybe Leviathans and these Lizard Fanged Wyverns could be connected cause they're all reptilian and didn't evolve longer legs, except maybe Aulmudron and Mizutsune who likely were alike to the mammalian fanged wyverns but came back to the water like otters
@@julianswinton5355 Ok good It was hard to tell since Great Wroggi's gas is kinda venom but it could have also been poison. And yeah size wise Great Jagras does have the advantage...
Random thought ive meant to say for awhile, imagining red khezu occaisionally getting swarmed by Qurio only for it to bug zapper and suddenly have the swarm as a snack. Would be interesting if red khezu were a color morph or maybe even a deviant/variant (not certain on the term usage) that occasionally takes advantage of the swarms after surviving an attacking swarm
Rather than being an actual top order predator, Great Jagras seems to bein reality a vassal predator, that is to say, he is in a trophic level just below the actual top order carnivores (in this case Anjanath and Rathalos) but above all of the mesopredators like Tobi Kadachi, some real life examples of vassal predators are painted wild dogs, brown hyenas and cheetas
Makes you think of how Great Jagras seem to be missing from Rise despite having regular Jagras in the game, looking at available large prey in the shrine runes the Gargwa seem to be the only prey large enough and abundant enough to feed a Great, but they are much faster than your average aptonoth who are no where to be found, it could be due to this that males tend to stay small. Or its just Capcom being capcom considering how we have a whole bunch of baby monsters without their Adult forms.
Yeah, I honestly think Capcom was just like ‘eh, just use these monsters why bother adding the beloved/ depised adult forms of them’ especially jagras cause there is selective pressure to have greats in the form of the great raptors. Great jagras could act as a deterrent to help the smaller jagras out in conflict with the raptors
When they mention Great Girros has venom for hunting, my immediate thought isn’t active hunting, but more along the lines of finishing off dying prey. The vale’s carcasses are more than likely not all carcasses, and we already know that legiana corpses fall down there. If legiana injures a paolumu, a coral Pukei-pukei, or one of its own and said wyvern falls into the veil, for instance, Great Girros’s venom might be used to finish the job and gain a considerably more energy-rich kill compared to their usual scavenging
Would be interested in your take on why Shamos doesn't have a Great version in the credits of the next video. My initial thought was that there are not enough large prey items for a large terrestrial carnivore, but Tzi Tzi Yaku is still a thing and Shamos still run in packs which would imply that it feeds off of prey larger than itself.
@@keganbancroft3617 I think the Wulgs make sense that there is no Great version as the Hoarfrost is so stacked with top order carnivores (Beotodus, Viper Tobi, Fulgur Anja, Barioth, and Shrieking Legi to name just the endemic ones) that the only way for the Wulgs to survive is to be smaller meso carnivores and target the smaller prey items like Macaques and Anteka.
Always liked this trio even if they weren't as fleshed out or as combat-focused as the other monsters in World, especially Dodogama. Not much else to add unfortunately since I think you did a great job covering it, but I am VERY excited for the next video, might be one of the ones I've been looking forward to the most.
5:00 I know this looping footage is just supposed to be a visual aid, but I can't help but look at it and think, "the boys on their way to bully Aptonoths".
I still love that its stated that whilst Dodogama is Phenotypically a Fanged wyvern Its hypothesised by in game scholars to be Genotypically a Massively derived Blast toad, the development of which was caused by its changed diet of rather pure elder dragon bio-energy crystals.
On the topic of Girros, we know from your posts and discussions of the Vale and Coral Highalnds and the monsters once there that its highly likely that the ecosystem used to be an aquatic one, with Val Hazok basically being an ancient Hagfish-Dragon, thus it makes sense that Girros may have once been some manner of aquatic or amphibious animal adapted to this ancient dilluvial Vale before it drained just like Val was. With that in mind, both the hooded appearance and the neurotoxic venom makes more sense when you start looking at the Girros as a species of aquatic (or semi-aquatic) Elapid like a krait or sea-snake. A krait that was effectively dragged back onto land as its home dried up and whose aquatic adaptations were repurposed for the strange ecology of the Vale. And since its an elapid, then the hooded appearance could be seen as a callback to more well known Elapids such as cobras. From there, this also makes the relationship with Odogaron interesting, as Odogaron could be viewed as parallel to a mongoose. Heck, if we follow the idea that Girros were once semi-aquatic, then perhaps Odogaron were once shore-hunters that used to hunt the Proto-Girros when they'd come back to shore to lay eggs or mate. In such cases, since pain-inducing venom wouldn't work too well as a defense mechanism for the same reason bee stings aren't too effective against badgers and wolverines, then perhaps the neurotoxin became an adaptation used for both hunting aquatic organism as well as a defensive mechanism against predation from Proto-Odogaron, an adaptation they kept when the Ancient Vale-Sea dried up since it was still a viable strategy to fend off their ancient predator.
Yes! I’m so excited for Gammoth You mentioned in the past that Diablos should be more garish while Gammoth should be more mottled in coloration. I was thinking as to why Gammoth might have said coloration and it might be as a way to see Tigrex as they have the inverse of Tigrex’ colors and might’ve evolved this to train their eyes to see Tigrex. Males might be similar to Kingfishers in that they are more bland in coloration compared to the females but they could use this as a way of recognizing these colors of Tigrex which would make them viable as partners to Gammoth as they’d want those traits past down. That or Gammoth are like Kingfishers in that they simply have more testosterone due to their more competitive nature and therefore more coloration. Their armored legs might be an adaptation to prevent frostbite with defense against small predators being a bonus. Their armored crest might be a defense against thugs like Tigrex and Ukanlos as well as a signifier of herds as each herd might have their own unique crest shape
@@Kevin-hx2ky Basically yes, this would improve their offspring’s chances against Tigrex as that is the likely reason Tigrex is able to sneak up on things like Popo- poor mammalian color vision. Tigrex being such a threat to Gammoth would lead to an evolutionary arms race for the Gammoth improving color vision and putting a mating system in place to increase this feature It’s weird but it’s the most logical solution as to why a female animal would be so colorful that I could come up with.
I am absolutely giddy, I was just thinking "I wish UHC would cover the packing fanged wyverns" and my wish came true! I especially love the respect given to Great Jagras, one of my favorite monsters in general not just among starters. I think the Thief Wyverns evolving partially has to do with the lack of packing raptor wyverns in the New World, allowing for the diversification of fanged wyverns to fill the niches with Jagras, Girros and Shamos of smaller social predators though of course the translation isn't one to one because like you pointed out it is more like harems than a pack. This may explain why Great Jagras isn't in the Flooded Forest and the Shrine Ruins but Jagras is, the likes of Great Izuchi and Great Wroggi out-competing Jagras for larger prey and prey-switching to smaller prey discourages male Jagras from fully maturing into Great Jagras. As for Great Girros I think the sound resonating came first and effluvium filtration came as its ancestors evolved for the Vale, as sound resonators would be helpful regardless of environment and there is evidence that fanged wyverns might have pnuematized air sacs like pterosaurs and saurischian dinosaurs. As for the venom it is possible inflicting pain could be the primary purpose, as since the paralysis isn't fatal you could be "paralyzed by pain" instead and get a similar result of being unable to move in agony as seen in the game. Also the venom could be used to hunt monsters that come to vale, as it was said that monsters don't just die and fall into the vale but sometimes dying monsters actively seek out the vale to die and here Girros could use its venom to bring them to their demise a little earlier. Even an Elder Dragon at death's door could be brought down with a little venom.
Great Girros and Odogaron are two of my favorite New World monsters, and their ecological interactions with both each other and the environment of the Rotten Vale are so intricately thought out that I find them both to be some of the most fascinating lore from Worldborne overall. Really happy to see their competition interactions discussed in detail here ^.^
Honey, quick! Another Unnatural History Channel video has come!! I think a cool video could be one about the wild felyne and melynx tribes that exist in the old world. What does anyone think? Also I think a video analysing the general world building of Monster Hunter would be awesome too, specifically the human and wyverian settlements. I am a writer so i look at Monster Hunter from a writing perspective
@@unicorntomboy9736 Well evidently they resemble early humans in their technology, as they seem to be proficient, obligate tool users as opposed to an animal using its own tooth and claw. They're certainly past the point of being a "smart animal"
I like Great Girros. It gets a lot of flak for being forgettable, but I think it’s pretty memorable when you’re fighting in the Vail and it keeps interrupting fights with Odogaron.
Something worth noting about Girros is that much like Acidic Glavenus, they intake higher levels of effluvium and wield paralysis in thier arsenal. It could be that both species process effluvium making their own paralytic enztmes out of it (or in Girros case applyfing existing venom). Its also likely why we see Girros succumb to efluvium despite being native to the vale unlike Raphinos, they simply overestimated thier ability to process the bacteria.
Excellent video as always! Just one nitpick: I wouldn't simply say Anjanath lives in open areas. Maybe open forests but it seems to be well suited to forest life despite its size. They probably favor forests that have a good amount of both space and dense foliage; the latter of which help the beast hide in ambush from aptonoth and other large to medium sized prey AND from the tropical heat. "Client: Inquisitive Handler They say that Anjanaths are built for the forest. They roam it like kings, but now that an Azure Rathalos has showed up, we got a real fight on our hands!"
Great Jagras is one of my favorite monsters for its many interactions with the world. Some time ago I learned that you can actually get a Great Jagras to instigate an attack if it looks at you for ~20 seconds while you are in the underground Jagras cave. You can get Great Girros to attack you too if he briefly looks at you in area 7 in the Rotten Vale.
@@lonradb That's not true. Great Girros does not attack you on his own as long as you're not in its home territory, in the arena or in combat with another monster. The small Girros however do always attack you.
I've always liked the concept that the thief wyvern and the dromes/greats used to have a lot of overlap and once the old and new world separated they out competed each other in the respective continents for the niche of lower end pack hunting predators, which is why I'm legit annoyed we never got a great wulg in iceborne to be the next step in the thief wyverns using thier pack, especially with the pin move that wulgs have would have been great to see the great wulg command the small wulgs to pin you, it's something I really feel was missing from iceborne
My headcanon for odogaron is a high-performing immune system. It might also literally "heat up" after eating, who knows what the optimal temperature for effluvium is... maybe that can be a barrier to infection.
15:18 I always thought a reptile evolving gills was weird. I have a headcannon that Giros is actually a type of axolotl like amphibian that resembles a reptile, but it's not, just convergent evolution.
YEEESSS! Finally GAMMOTH is going to feature in its own video! Can't wait for the next video comes out! Also amazing video on Jagras, Girros and Dodogama. Thanks a lot, man! You're the best!
You not finding Dodogama particularly cute, and most importantly not engaging in the almost obligatory, infantile "chonky boi"-banter only made me like you even more. As for the video, I am a huge fan of Great Jagras, so this absolutely hit the spot.
Unpopular opinion I liked the ancient forest hierarchy over the three lords, great jagras, anjanth and rathalos are in the higher brackets of my favourites and each has a logical reason why they beat the other. Unlike how garanglom is this massive well armoured animal who can’t protect him self from a small ice puppy.
It has been done to death by now, but the only thing that really worked in Risebreak was the combat, which was however very, very good, obviously. Neither the yokai nor the western gothic horror themes worked that well for making believable, living, breathing monsters, and the designs constantly reminded me that I was playing a video game - not exploring an unknown ecosystem ( a strength of many past MH titles).
@@1brushstudioYup the Designs were not my cup of tea either. And lets not speak about Magnamolo because oh boy. If unnatural history does a video on him its gona be glurious to see him rant about it overdisgned features
@@1brushstudio I think if you give them another chance if they were in a world like game they could be expanded on, tho something like magnamalo would need to be done from the ground up. But yes as much as I liked some of the monsters from rise I do have a bias for MHWs designs.
I wonder if Great Girros evolved from an aquatic Wyvern similar to Lagiacrus? Considering just how deep the Veil seems to go, there may have once been a subterranean waterway connecting it to the ocean. This underground river could have been blocked off by seismic activity, trapping a population of these gilled wyverns in the Veil. The gills that were originally to help in its aquatic lifestyle then adapted to help filter effluvium?
Great Jagras regurgitating to escape or under duress can be seen in gameplay, if the hunter damages the engorged belly enough before it spits up everything (either by using the smaller attacks too frequently or its one large attack) you can topple Great Jagras and force it to spit up around it. Its mostly seen in the Greatest Jagras hunt, where it has extremely boosted stats and access to new attacks. Greatest Jagras really is the best fight, its similar to G Rank Odogaron where they start in their alt modes. Odo has a heat up mode that it never gets a chance to use in Low and High Rank, and Jagras's Full Belly mode is how the Greatest Jagras fight starts, at first it was a really tough fight. unfortunately the community figured it out pretty quick because farming decorations was so necessary
13:00 is it not also possible that the great Jagras is killing unrelated immature males? There seems to be little to differentiate males and females at their earlier life stages. And killing younger males is well represented in the animal kingdom.
i didnt know there were frogs that could stretch their mouths like a Jagras can! A comparison you didn't make however, but a connection i always made, was with Pelicans. Pelicans are the poster child of 'animal that eats big things whole', and well it might seem odd to make the connection when Jagras are so clearly lizards, its worth noting that they are still Wyverns, and Wyverns as a whole descended from avians. We know the ancient forest once had more giant trees then it currently has, and i think its possible that the trees that used to reside there had wide, flat canopy's that stretched over the water. The beaches are stuffed full of fish and are likely breeding grounds to many species. If the ancient forest once looked closer to the flooded forest in appearance, its quite possible the Jagras's distant ancestor focused on hunting big aquatic game that resided in the shallows, and hid in the trees to avoid predators. We know the arrival of Rathalos changed the appearance of the Ancient Forest, but its likely they didnt just kill these tree species. It is more likely that they were simply the nail in the coffin and burned away all the dead and dying undergrowth that had built up over the centuries from the great tree snuffing out the smaller plants in the area. Without shade above the water, large sea dwelling creatures moved out and large land herbivores moved in, leading to Great Jagras steadily moving away from sea based prey to land based ones. Great Jagras's ancestors may be more similar to modern day Gobul then other fang wyverns, and i always imagined that like Pelicans, its mouth was more to catch its prey, and all it had to do was stretch an extensive series of throat and stomach muscles to create a hole for its prey to fall right into its stomach.
I think that the presents of jargras in the Old World is accidental, maybe they are escaped pets, invasive species by traveling with ships when they are young, introduced to be hunted for sport, or they were already in the Old World. What do you think is the motive that the jagras is in the Old World?
I have a very different take on great jagras as a starter. I think it is a uniquely excellent starter in all respects except for a small HP pool. It is an excellent monster to allow new players to fill out the weapon that they chose to start with against. The fact that it is basically a moving punching bag that occasionally has well telegraphed attacks is what makes it so excellent for this purpose. If it had more HP for your first encounter, it would serve this purpose much better. Even a new player will be hard pressed to not learn how to defeat this monster to have a guaranteed win during their first hunt even with an increased HP bar. The other two members of this trio have a distinct issue in my opinion however. They are both far too easy of a fight, and both far too underwhelming of a battle for where they land in the game. I personally theorize this is because of the way the monsters and biomes were introduced in world, and in a game where you were simply presented with a large number of hunts and a less rigid quest and biome order, they could have been presented much sooner and come off as much more suitable.
It's possible that the cannibalism is similar to the killing of cubs lions do too, eliminating other males who will become competition later, or perhaps even removing females pregnant with another male's eggs. With the probable high turnover of great jagras, a male moving in and culling the existing pack to suit him makes sense to me
Even just having a Girros along makes any Odogaron hunt go so much smoother it isn't even funny. Also, I'm somewhat surprised you barely mentioned how the Girros are the most cooperative of the three; not only is Great Girros commonly seen flanked by two Girros, their smaller ilk also can be commanded to lunge all at once with a cry from the biggun, and unless I'm just crazy they also seem to up their ferocity if the Great Girros is tripped. Is it stated anywhere in the Complete Works that Girros also don't look after their young? Because if there's anywhere it would make sense for such behaviors to develop, it could well be the Rotten Vale. It could have started out as a habit of moving eggs if effluvium density increased, and maybe when that became commonplace it branched out into at least rudimentary parental care behaviors. (Granted, I'm going off on this unlikely thought based purely on their cooperative behaviors when it's probably just as simple as "big fangs = big boss leader lizard".) ...Although I forgot if it loses the ability to command/receive support from the Girros if said fangs are broken. Also I'm still baffled that only the Great Jagras had a unique weapon model in base World. And that it was for the HBG of all things. That, plus Tzitzi and Paolumu getting similarly shortchanged, probably didn't help that "mid-game slump" feeling you had. Either way, thank you for another wonderful video!
Concerning dodogama’s size and social behavior: this is just me spitballing, and I haven’t done as much research on the topic, but the only real biologically unifying factor I can see between dodogama, jagras, and girros is that they’re fanged wyverns that share similar postures and gaits, so I’m not sure whether it’s safe to assume that dodogama shares sufficiently recent common ancestry with them that their last common ancestor exhibited the same extreme sexual dimorphism and harem behavior. Is it just as possible that dodogama’s ancestors started out small, without the harem behavior or extreme sexual dimorphism, and then independently evolved large sizes? I feel like dodogama's ancestors, both male and female, being significantly smaller than their descendants would also better fit with the insectivorous scoop feeding you hypothesize, with the higher energy density of dragon crystals, the need to process rock, and the harsher environment of the elder’s recess all being strong motivating factors in increasing size over time. Again, just the amateur paleontology nerd in me spitballing, I could be totally wrong on this.
I personally split Fanged Wyverns into 2 groups, Mammal-like and Reptile-like. Mammal-like are monsters like Zinogre and Magnamalo having extended digits on their forelegs used for various different purposes and generally have "fur" on their body while Reptile-like lack those characteristics and generally have a more basal body structure to lizards and such, notable exceptions being Odogaron and Lunagaron who still lack the extended digits like Zinogre and or Magnamalo but are more derived then the sprawling posture the New World Fanged Wyverns have
I personally find the classes fanged beast and fanged wyvern confusing sometimes. Fanged beasts contain mammals like: Rajang, Garongolm, Arzuros and Gammoth. Fanged wyvern contain animals with scales like: The thing wyvern listed above, magnamalo, Zinogre, and Lunagaron. I usually class them as: Wolves, big cats and lizards are wiverns Primates, bears and tusks are beasts.
Regarding Girros' paralytic venom. In games I tend to assume that there is more to ecosystems and envirionments than what we see. Theres probably some prey animals that Girros hunts that we just don't see in game. Hell, it could even be young Odogaron. I think you're right about the gills originally allowing the filtering of volcanic gasses. There are parts of the Vale where you can see and hear the lava flows from the Recess, and its likely that the area was once volcanic before it became the charnel pit that we know today. Volcanic soil being so high in nutrient content does have a neat way of slotting into the development of the coral highlands and then by extension the Vale. And it may well be that the coral highlands came first, though not originally high enough to be called a highland. Especially if the coral can use dragon energy. EDIT: In fact, I just remembered that you redirect Zorah Magdaros in an area right in between the Vale and Recess. An area of volcanic caves partially submerged in the ocean, and this water is visible in both parts of the Vale and the entrance to the Recess. From this I would infer that the Vale was once seaside volcanic caves and the high nutrient content of the volcanic soil led to the growth of the coral, which likely began in the water and survived on land due to water levels dropping (which we know happened quite dramatically even in only a few decades, the gathering hub in Astera was apparently at sea level when the first fleet arrived). As this coral grew higher, enough creatures were living in it and it became enough of an obstruction to the Elder Crossing that Elders began dying in the Highlands instead of just the Recess, which is what caused the formation of the Vale on its lower levels. EDIT 2: I would love a video on that subject actually. The water level in the New World dropped so severely, so recently and in such a short amount of time. The ecosystem has surely been affected by this. If we can assume that this flucutating water level is responsible for the coral highlands existing at all, (and by extension the Vale), what other effects might it have had? It could be that the New World is rising out of the water rather than the water level of the entire world dropping 60 metres in as many years.
I would love to have a big ol'jagras in my room and just feed him and scratch him and give him pets. He has the lovable look between a bearded dragon and an iguana.
It could be possible great jagras has a mechanism to prevent choking. Instead of the flexible bones being in it’s skull and jaw there in it’s throat and ribcage in order to allow the breathing canals more room to expand.
Great Girros always was my favourite of the fanged Wyverns for me, I always thought their gill displays were a captivating and unique feature as well as its striking red eyes and the bright yellow warning colouration. In worlds during the launch months of gameplay, paralysis hammers were my weapon of choice making it a natural monster to hunt consistently for me. When you get to fighting them in their nest as well in high rank as well as tempered versions, the sheer weight of numbers too made even the pack Girros a dangerous threat on account of them paralyzing me before the Great can get a damaging attack off, which has carted me more than once. I can easily see that feature being handy, especially against the paralysis weak Odogaron, while the game play might not support it, having a pack Girros be able to put up a credible threat display, even if its physical weapons are not a great threat may be enough to disuade Odo, especially if it has weight of numbers that might not make it rely on the Greats as much as other Dromes and Greats do.
My boy Great Girros finally got a video! Almost all of my boys have gotten a video hopefully Paolumu will be soon... That and I agree with you on Dodogama not being that cute... I said it! Hang me by the stake Dodogama fans you'll fail trust me! Just ask the many flagship fans like Nargacuga they tried it!
I hope gammoth and uragon will have their own episodes plus gravios because I have heard somewhere that they are tamed as pets and that’s interesting because is it possible to domesticate some of these monsters?
I'm entertaining the concept of a "low rank hunter" game where you spend most of your time with the lower rank monsters doing more varied missions and ecological stuff.
I can see Great Girros originally being semi-aquatic, maybe in more murky/polluted water (hence the muscle-reinforced gills). Any animals that come across the water it lies in gets bit, paralyzed, then dragged into the water to drown for an easy kill (or vice versa for predation on aquatic life). There are also fishing areas in the veil which means there was at least some freshwater ecosystem before everything started rotting. Though some of the fish are now found in the acidic/basic pools (not sure which, just it is extreme either way), so they might have been pushed out of their previous habitat when the elder died and made due entirely on land.
Lot of Giroses attacks involve him either running at you while holding its mouth open or jumping at you headfirst. Makes me think Girros were more like Crocodiles before Vale. Living in water and waiting for prey to pass and then they launch themselfs at the prey with their fangs
Part of me is really upset that the Shamos were shafted of a Great. Pre Iceborne there’s really not a lot of variety in the area with the three main residents plus the occasional visit from Odogaron, Bazel, Deviljho, and Kirin. A Great Shamos could’ve had a potential Turf War with TziTzi and Odogaron. TziTzi due to it preying on Shamos and also the species’ weakness to their flashes. Odogaron due to competition. In World it seemed Thief Wyverns were taking the place of the Raptor trios we would usually see in other games so a Great Shamos would’ve created the trio we’d usually see with the Raptors just this time Fanged Wyverns. Something else CapCom could’ve done to set it apart from normal Shamos and other Thief Wyverns is allow it to use the Sleep element which was also underutilized in World and Iceborne(can’t complain too much about that though) so only having Great Shamos utilize it would add more diversity and not make it too annoying since normal Shamos cannot. If, rather when, we ever return to the New World a Great Shamos is something I wish to see happen.
Haha funny Lizards. Great Girros is like a variant to Great Jagras, probably a group of Jagras that fled into the Rotten Vale, and evolved to live there. YAY! Gammoth vid coming soon Can't wait for that!
I always figured that great jagras being able to regurgitate it's recent kill was also utalized as a defense mechanism. During the fight if you deal enough damage after its recently eaten you can 'pop' it to get a knock down. I though that maybe that was sort of like a last ditch effort to get away. If an enemy is strong enough to get in that much damage then why not cut your losses? The enemy would probably be more interested in the already killed offering and the jagras would be considerably lighter and able to run away more effectively. It's in a similar vein to how some lizards will snap off their tails to get away from a predator.
I'm not a huge fan of all 3 but I do think some lower ranking fanged wyverns bring better variety to a part in the games that is largely dominated by bird wyverns
I really love the questions monster groups like these lizard fanged wyverns bring up on how the wyvern evolution might have taken twists and turns in its history. My running theory is that they're probably the most primitive form of wyvern that simply diverged to become the other monster forms we see at present. Outside of the insects, amphibians and piscines who predate them, maybe also the mammals to a lesser extant, though we see creatures like Zinogre, Magnamalo, Odo and Lunagaron becoming very mammalian they're still not quite to the level of mammalian looking as Fanged Beasts. It might be these reptiles are evolving down a convergent path already taken by the Fanged Beasts.
I've heard fan ecology speculation about Great Jagras that actually took the opposite direction. That the large monster is a female, and sort of the "matriarch" of the jagras pack. Both ideas seem equally valid for their own reasons, but I found it interesting nonetheless.
Loved your point about how Great Jagras is still a top order predator despite being easy. Not all strong animals have good defenses against humans, and especially not humans that can hold swords twice the size of their body.
Yeah , also top order carnivores can easily lose in conflicts against other top order carnivores : constrictor snakes and accipitrids birds are either too slow or too small and frail to directly fight other top order carnivores in their enviroment , yet they are still formidable predators who can hold their hown and consume large preys with some frequency
@@davidegaruti2582 What singular predators even fight off other species of predators on the regular? Some big cats, badgers and bears.
Others fighters like hyenas, lions and canines only fight in groups. Most other predators won't fight at all unless they have no other option.
So even carnivores capable of consistently killing other carnivores would rather not risk it.
@@Stroggoiialligators
Dodogama is mentioned to eat Bazelgeuse eggs because it “mistakes them for rocks.” It might not be a mistake and Dodogama might prey on anything in the rocky substrate and their diet of rocks is simply was a byproduct now turned to a convenient resource. They still probably would nab any small creature in the substrate- including eggs
The bomb beetles and blast toads!
@@jerichopz2620 exactly! Probably those gloom geckos and Vespoids (specifically their eggs) as well
@tsulaagenati2292 no the gloom gecko would possibly kill the dodogama because there poisonous very poisonous
@@magmafeline8239 Oh- I never knew that.
@@magmafeline8239Maybe their mineral-rich diet neutralizes toxins?
I love the yellow iguanas that are the jagras. The pack dynamic, the stretchy stomach, general design. One of my favorite world monsters.
I was called boring for liking The Great Jagras but look at it. It’s an Iguana with Dinosaur Pack tactics and the carrying abilities of a pelican. It’s not too flashy or complex but it’s a solid early game monster
@@fist-of-doom487 agreed
Same here. I personally like monsters with more subdued design, and this big lizard resonates well with me thanks to that.
@@An_Actual_Rat had no idea you watched this channel. Cool👍
But yes those are my favorite as well. Designs like anjanath, lagiacrus, the blos wyverns etc. Feel like they could fit into our world and that's why I love them.
@@Cylly_Jinx Yeah, I'm on a bunch of animal and spec evo channels.
I do tend to comment a lot more on the Maasai and Kruger sightings channels thanks to the presence of "intellectually challenged people".
The jagras got me hooked on monster hunter because i had no idea what to expect and an absolute unit of an iguana runs me over from out of nowhere.
I always loved how the early game lizards had a much richer life out there in the world of ... World than many of the higher ranking monsters.
Regarding Jagras cannibalism, could it be that the Great is preying on "small morph" male Jagras that are trying to infiltrate the harem? It's not confirmed at all but the species may have different breeding strategies depending on the habitat (Rise's lack of great Jagras could suggest this, if we decide to count it as legit and not just another case of random monsters in random places), with the Ancient Forest favouring the large, food-providing males. Sneaker males would be extremely unsuccesful since no females would look at puny mate who can't bring meat back home, but may still exist to live life as a doomed failure that leads to a quicker one if the resident Great catches them.
I like this idea, of Great Jagras culling sneaky males or his sons to minimize competition. It is also possible that Great Jagras don't prey on their own packs but on packs not their own, to reduce competition and possibly reduce rival male breeding success.
As for lack of Great Jagras in Rise, it could be due to competition with the packing bird wyverns. Despite Great Jagras being the most formidable of all starter monsters, Jagras packing behaviors aren't as complex as that of the raptors and the likes of Great Izuchi and Great Wroggi would both be better at hunting available prey and would better take pressure from higher level predators.
I remember in a previous vid there was the sneaky male strat of iguanas, I imagine the greats quite literally eat puny males that step outta line, either due to the breeding competition or the risk of inbreeding or The greats genuinely can't tell the difference between small males and standard females and when discovered they're culled.
The joke in that vid of iguanas being "progressive" by animal standards might be magnified here, The Great jag may straight up intervene when seeing forced copulation and actually EAT the sneaky male.
@@thenerdbeast7375 yeah I was thinking a combination of that and lack of large prey (Flooded Forest has Slagtoth, but they don't seem to be as common as Aptonoth and with their semiaquatic lifestyle they might not be as easy to encounter). Shrine Ruins also seems to have a colder climate, which might further impact the growth of Jagras.
As a result male Jagras retain a smaller size and female-like bodyplan, and the species overall seems to form smaller social units.
@@matteolucarelli4615 colder regions typically suggest larger sizes in creatures to combat the cold. Fur helps this immensely, which is likely why Izuchi has fur instead of scales. Baggi is an outlier mainly to the fact that it is found in arctic regions, while Jagras is found in tropical regions. Baggi may also be an endothermic, while Jagras is an exotherm.
Acidic Glavenus is also quite vulnerable to paralysis like Odogaron is. And given how it was throwing around that Great Girros quite aggressively, it's possible that the Acidic Glavenus wasn't giving it any inch to flee, so the Great Girros decided to fight instead. And if the pack had bitten the big brute enough, they might well have succeeded in bringing it down.
Probably also trying not to get bit like secretary birds if you smack it from afar it won't probably get a hit in
I was thinking the same thing- namely because I got to see firsthand what happens if a Great Girros ambushes an Acidic Glavenus. They just kept chain paralyzing and knocking them down until the Greay Girros decided to leave zones, then Acidic Glavenus limped away- this happened near the start of the hunt.
Agree I honestly find the acidic glav cutscene funny cause the same glav will forget how to deal with girros. Girros is such a danger threat to the animals of the vale. I do wish the cutscene actually held true with glav actually struggling to handle the girros compared to the anime style annihilation in the cutscene
I hope we get a higher level fanged wyvern based on a basilisk lizard imagine how cool that would be
Snake wyvern
@@magmafeline8239 Wdym snake the real life basilisk is a lizard I guess a poison snake wyvern that can emit a paralysis gas could be cool for one based on the mythical basilisk
Water combat against something that can swim, go on land and run on the surface would be really cool
I was expecting you to be covering Lunagaron, but this trio are so amazing and underrated I don’t mind for a second.
Probably cause there is a distinct difference between the mammalian and lizard fanged wyverns, possibly even more distant and tied to the isolation of the continents than the psudeo wyverns and flying wyverns
He only acknowledges Rise/Sunbreak when he's forced to by his patreon.
@@StroggoiiAnd that's so based.
“Man where did my car go- I swear I parked it right here”
*suspiciously car shaped jagras* : “no idea-“
The thing i want to point out is that the girros are loyal to their great, as they rely on it for defence, whereas jagras arent to their great. This might be the reason the great girros continued to fight the acidic glavenus even though it was an impossible battle, as the pack is close knit and loyal to one another. The great girros might have been trying to scare off the acidic glavenus maybe because the glavenus was close to the girros' nest. Just a thought.
Girros were the one small version of monsters I adore more than the large monster form. Like I always see them picking on odo when odo is distracted by the hunter I wonder if great is the tank while the small girros are the actual killers with great girros being the one to kill larger prey items
"With only Zinogre possibly being the aberration with having parental care." Isn't there concept art showing Lunagaron having parental care as well?
He is, I merely forgot about him
Well to be fair Zinogre and Lunagaron are highly derived Old World fanged wyverns and likely not closely related to the ones of the New World, it still appears the majority do not practice parental care. The only New World fanged wyvern I might hypothesize practicing parental care would be Odogaron (both variations) due to their hostile environments making it a necessity to ensure survival.
@@thenerdbeast7375 Zinogre and Magnamalo seem heavily derived and distantly related (if related at all- in fact, their unique talons on their forearms might be remnants of pseudo wyvern wings) but Lunagaron seems related to Odogaron (at least related to their ancestor this “Paleogaron”)
@@TsulaAngenati2292 Imo seems likely the three Old World native Fanged Wyverns make a clade with each other. They all have mammal noses, are all large, have pinnae, and are not pack hunters but show sociality or at least seem to tolerate each other outside of breeding season with Magna. (Zinogre has a harem iirc, Magna has a harem it shares territory with, Lunagaron seems to be monogamous with the concept art of it raising its cubs showing two parents.)
@@dromeoraptorpennato2931 I agree with Zinogre and Magnamalo. Lunagaron however has a body plan more similar to some new world fanged wyverns- the only exception being the nose, ears, and bipedal movement (the latter being entirely unique to it)- so they feel more like a new world fanged wyvern rather than an old world one
I think the gills of the girros might be just like the adaptations that the other cake dwellers bring. Vaal likely originated from the sea and girros’ could share that same origin. It’s possible they originate from shallow waters and hunted terrestrially similar the crabs you mentioned. Joining the vale’s ecosystem early on and adjusting the gills to filter out effluvium makes some sense. If they gradually adjusted from a more sea snake like appearance the reactivation of a previously selected against neurotoxin with the arrival of odogaron also lines up.
cake dwellers
This is such interesting trio and hope they return for future games.
The Wildspire was likely dependant upon Lagiacrus due to the fact that the Ancient Forest was supposed to be partially flooded
I hope the sequel to World could finally reintroduce Lagiacrus in like a mangrove swamp habitat if he can't appear in the Ancient Forest, maybe do a whole invasive situation where one is driven to search for food closer to the forest but still retreats back to deeper waters
given some of Val hazak’s angler fish inspired features, maybe great girros having gills points to the vale at some point being an ocean or a deep lake
great content as always :)
That and the mega coral that grow from and above the Vale. some kind of ecosystem that was underwater, but thrived so much that even after the water drained the flora and fauna retained their aquatic adaptations.
Oh damn, maybe they were a species that were becoming or were leviathan adjacent like the Ludroth
In parts of the vale you can see and hear the lava flows from the Recess, and the mission where you have to redirect Zorah Magdaros shows that, right next to the Vale, there is a massive cave system partially submerged by ocean water, that connects the Recess and the Vale. You can also see this water in other parts of the Vale, and the entrance of the Recess. This leads me to believe that, before it was the charnel pit we see in the modern day, the Vale was a volcanic seaside cave riddled area and the high nutrient content from the volcanic soil led to the growth of the coral. The coral highland eventually attracted enough creatures and became enough of an obstruction to migrating elders that they started dying there instead of the recess, and that is what formed the Vale.
Its amusing that the sea inspired Vaal is only present in the Vale and not the coral highlands, but I need to remind myself that the Vale is just the bottom of the Coral Highlands, and if the meat wasn't in the way, would look just as coral filled and oceanic as the highland does.
Oh, and we also know that the water levels dropped quite dramatically even in only a few decades, as the Gathering Hub in Astera was apparently at sea level when the first fleet arrived. Which, given the Vales location in semi submerged oceanic volcanic caves, means that the lower levels of the Vale were underwater only a few decades ago.
@@ASpaceOstrichnot sure if they could've adapted within the span of a few decades though. Evolution on that scale would take at least several thousand years
All love for Dodogama ❤. Cute lizard he is.
Pet the chonk. :3
detail i love about all fanged wyverns is that they are all reptiles with some strong mammalian traits
Yup. They are technicly the monster hunter version of therapsiden or synapsiden. I realy want a herbivores fanged wyvern
@@julianswinton5355 a herbivore 1 would be cool to see, like a big cow one, or some sort of rhino
@@evodolka A giant sloth, chalicotherium or a estemmenosuchus would be my get go.
And a flagship bird wyvern would be dope to maybe akin to a terro bird or secretary bird
@@julianswinton5355 would be neat, hell if it wasn't for the questionable classifications, odds are Kirin would count as a fanged wyvern due to being a reptile shaped like a horse
think I heard birds are limited by size so odds are they would make a bird like flagship a flying or brute sadly that or just say it's the biggest bird ever
I think Girros is better adapted for efluvium, since their nest and hunting area appear to have a higher dencity of it, Raddobahn hunts on the upper zone of the veil and rarely goes deeper, odogaron's nest seems to be pretty efluvium free and it only seems to venture through the zones with a lot of efluvium to get carrion.
One of the reasons there arent fanged wyverns in the wildspire could strictly be due to Diablos and Jyratodus, both of which can attack from below, which is particularly dangerous for the low-to-the-ground fanged wyverns. Just an idea.
Fun fact! Dodogama was based on a collective hallucination had by the MH team
What
Come on now, ya know ya can't just drop some bullshit like that and not elaborate.
This sounds like a joke about toad licking.
A vision of God no doubt, that's right, god is a big thicc lizard
Source?
I have hypothesis that the fanged wyverns are actually synapsids and therefore closer to mammals than dragons. The only one thet doesn't share any obvious traits with mammals is dodogama. Shamos and female jagras have an erect gait, girros have heterodont teeth, and then there's wulgs which you can't tell me aren't at least therapsids. Odogaron looks for all the world like a giant gorgonopsian, while lunagaron and zinogre have convergently evolved with canids, but it seems plausible they evolved from cynodonts.
Dodogama is actually based on a mammal- whales.
I had a similar theory but that was only for the new world fanged wyverns (the Garons, Kadachi, Shamos, Wulg, and Thief Wyverns) and I theorized that old world fanged wyverns (Magnamalo and Zinogre) are more closely related to pseudo wyverns who also have mammalian features, large forelimbs, and the wrist blade of Magnamalo and extra long fore claw of Zinogre might be remnants of the pseudo wyvern’s wings
What about Tobi-Kadachi? It,s abnormal among its class and its anatomy suggests it is archosaur.
@@jonesrizal8981in all honesty applying irl taxonomy and relations is a bit wonky, I think it would be better to look at all the taxa and and make thier own clades independently of our ecology
That being said tobi could be an example of convergent evolution if we go at thing you’re way
Great Girros from the side definitely gives off anteosaur dinocephalian vibes to me lol
I've no joke have watched this about 8 times, I've been trying to do some spec bio myself and your videos are apsolutly amazing for what goes where, how to make fantasy concepts realistic, and how to base these concepts in realism. And I really liked how you explained culture in animals for example, that's just an interesting concept to think about
You have quickly become one of my favorite youtube channels, S tier content.
Each of them has something unique that makes them memorable as good design should. My favourite od probably dodogama due to its cuteness.
I had a theory that Capcom chose to not introduce Great Jagras in the flooded forest because they knew that would require tweeking the monster ranks a little bit or better define monsters place is the ecosystem. Since a Great Jagras would no doubt make short work of Great Wroggi
It also fills a role similar to Royal Ludroth in combat, large lumbering and spitting monsters that call smaller versions to attack from the flanks with little coordination
@@DanielisAwesome52 Its crazy I never noticed that similarity, makes me think maybe Leviathans and these Lizard Fanged Wyverns could be connected cause they're all reptilian and didn't evolve longer legs, except maybe Aulmudron and Mizutsune who likely were alike to the mammalian fanged wyverns but came back to the water like otters
Would he though? Great Wroggi does have a venom (Is it venom?) but this is just my Great Wroggi bias talking...
@@MatthewTheEmperorYup venom is correct. I say is more a stalemate and little more favored for great jagras
@@julianswinton5355 Ok good It was hard to tell since Great Wroggi's gas is kinda venom but it could have also been poison. And yeah size wise Great Jagras does have the advantage...
Random thought ive meant to say for awhile, imagining red khezu occaisionally getting swarmed by Qurio only for it to bug zapper and suddenly have the swarm as a snack. Would be interesting if red khezu were a color morph or maybe even a deviant/variant (not certain on the term usage) that occasionally takes advantage of the swarms after surviving an attacking swarm
The Red Khezu is the original species though, regular Khezu's are albinos.
Rather than being an actual top order predator, Great Jagras seems to bein reality a vassal predator, that is to say, he is in a trophic level just below the actual top order carnivores (in this case Anjanath and Rathalos) but above all of the mesopredators like Tobi Kadachi, some real life examples of vassal predators are painted wild dogs, brown hyenas and cheetas
Makes you think of how Great Jagras seem to be missing from Rise despite having regular Jagras in the game, looking at available large prey in the shrine runes the Gargwa seem to be the only prey large enough and abundant enough to feed a Great, but they are much faster than your average aptonoth who are no where to be found, it could be due to this that males tend to stay small. Or its just Capcom being capcom considering how we have a whole bunch of baby monsters without their Adult forms.
Yeah, I honestly think Capcom was just like ‘eh, just use these monsters why bother adding the beloved/ depised adult forms of them’ especially jagras cause there is selective pressure to have greats in the form of the great raptors. Great jagras could act as a deterrent to help the smaller jagras out in conflict with the raptors
I am beyond happy to see my baby Great Girros being covered. Absolute favorite underrated monster
When they mention Great Girros has venom for hunting, my immediate thought isn’t active hunting, but more along the lines of finishing off dying prey. The vale’s carcasses are more than likely not all carcasses, and we already know that legiana corpses fall down there. If legiana injures a paolumu, a coral Pukei-pukei, or one of its own and said wyvern falls into the veil, for instance, Great Girros’s venom might be used to finish the job and gain a considerably more energy-rich kill compared to their usual scavenging
Excellent work, UHC. I enjoyed the fanged wyverns of World, and especially all there was to learn about them.
Would be interested in your take on why Shamos doesn't have a Great version in the credits of the next video. My initial thought was that there are not enough large prey items for a large terrestrial carnivore, but Tzi Tzi Yaku is still a thing and Shamos still run in packs which would imply that it feeds off of prey larger than itself.
same thing for the Wolgs
@@keganbancroft3617 I think the Wulgs make sense that there is no Great version as the Hoarfrost is so stacked with top order carnivores (Beotodus, Viper Tobi, Fulgur Anja, Barioth, and Shrieking Legi to name just the endemic ones) that the only way for the Wulgs to survive is to be smaller meso carnivores and target the smaller prey items like Macaques and Anteka.
Always liked this trio even if they weren't as fleshed out or as combat-focused as the other monsters in World, especially Dodogama. Not much else to add unfortunately since I think you did a great job covering it, but I am VERY excited for the next video, might be one of the ones I've been looking forward to the most.
5:00 I know this looping footage is just supposed to be a visual aid, but I can't help but look at it and think, "the boys on their way to bully Aptonoths".
I still love that its stated that whilst Dodogama is Phenotypically a Fanged wyvern Its hypothesised by in game scholars to be Genotypically a Massively derived Blast toad, the development of which was caused by its changed diet of rather pure elder dragon bio-energy crystals.
On the topic of Girros, we know from your posts and discussions of the Vale and Coral Highalnds and the monsters once there that its highly likely that the ecosystem used to be an aquatic one, with Val Hazok basically being an ancient Hagfish-Dragon, thus it makes sense that Girros may have once been some manner of aquatic or amphibious animal adapted to this ancient dilluvial Vale before it drained just like Val was.
With that in mind, both the hooded appearance and the neurotoxic venom makes more sense when you start looking at the Girros as a species of aquatic (or semi-aquatic) Elapid like a krait or sea-snake. A krait that was effectively dragged back onto land as its home dried up and whose aquatic adaptations were repurposed for the strange ecology of the Vale. And since its an elapid, then the hooded appearance could be seen as a callback to more well known Elapids such as cobras.
From there, this also makes the relationship with Odogaron interesting, as Odogaron could be viewed as parallel to a mongoose. Heck, if we follow the idea that Girros were once semi-aquatic, then perhaps Odogaron were once shore-hunters that used to hunt the Proto-Girros when they'd come back to shore to lay eggs or mate. In such cases, since pain-inducing venom wouldn't work too well as a defense mechanism for the same reason bee stings aren't too effective against badgers and wolverines, then perhaps the neurotoxin became an adaptation used for both hunting aquatic organism as well as a defensive mechanism against predation from Proto-Odogaron, an adaptation they kept when the Ancient Vale-Sea dried up since it was still a viable strategy to fend off their ancient predator.
Yes! I’m so excited for Gammoth
You mentioned in the past that Diablos should be more garish while Gammoth should be more mottled in coloration. I was thinking as to why Gammoth might have said coloration and it might be as a way to see Tigrex as they have the inverse of Tigrex’ colors and might’ve evolved this to train their eyes to see Tigrex. Males might be similar to Kingfishers in that they are more bland in coloration compared to the females but they could use this as a way of recognizing these colors of Tigrex which would make them viable as partners to Gammoth as they’d want those traits past down. That or Gammoth are like Kingfishers in that they simply have more testosterone due to their more competitive nature and therefore more coloration.
Their armored legs might be an adaptation to prevent frostbite with defense against small predators being a bonus. Their armored crest might be a defense against thugs like Tigrex and Ukanlos as well as a signifier of herds as each herd might have their own unique crest shape
So they select for partners that are the least colorblind?
@@Kevin-hx2ky Basically yes, this would improve their offspring’s chances against Tigrex as that is the likely reason Tigrex is able to sneak up on things like Popo- poor mammalian color vision. Tigrex being such a threat to Gammoth would lead to an evolutionary arms race for the Gammoth improving color vision and putting a mating system in place to increase this feature
It’s weird but it’s the most logical solution as to why a female animal would be so colorful that I could come up with.
I am absolutely giddy, I was just thinking "I wish UHC would cover the packing fanged wyverns" and my wish came true! I especially love the respect given to Great Jagras, one of my favorite monsters in general not just among starters.
I think the Thief Wyverns evolving partially has to do with the lack of packing raptor wyverns in the New World, allowing for the diversification of fanged wyverns to fill the niches with Jagras, Girros and Shamos of smaller social predators though of course the translation isn't one to one because like you pointed out it is more like harems than a pack. This may explain why Great Jagras isn't in the Flooded Forest and the Shrine Ruins but Jagras is, the likes of Great Izuchi and Great Wroggi out-competing Jagras for larger prey and prey-switching to smaller prey discourages male Jagras from fully maturing into Great Jagras.
As for Great Girros I think the sound resonating came first and effluvium filtration came as its ancestors evolved for the Vale, as sound resonators would be helpful regardless of environment and there is evidence that fanged wyverns might have pnuematized air sacs like pterosaurs and saurischian dinosaurs. As for the venom it is possible inflicting pain could be the primary purpose, as since the paralysis isn't fatal you could be "paralyzed by pain" instead and get a similar result of being unable to move in agony as seen in the game. Also the venom could be used to hunt monsters that come to vale, as it was said that monsters don't just die and fall into the vale but sometimes dying monsters actively seek out the vale to die and here Girros could use its venom to bring them to their demise a little earlier. Even an Elder Dragon at death's door could be brought down with a little venom.
Great Girros and Odogaron are two of my favorite New World monsters, and their ecological interactions with both each other and the environment of the Rotten Vale are so intricately thought out that I find them both to be some of the most fascinating lore from Worldborne overall. Really happy to see their competition interactions discussed in detail here ^.^
Honey, quick! Another Unnatural History Channel video has come!!
I think a cool video could be one about the wild felyne and melynx tribes that exist in the old world. What does anyone think?
Also I think a video analysing the general world building of Monster Hunter would be awesome too, specifically the human and wyverian settlements. I am a writer so i look at Monster Hunter from a writing perspective
Might lean too far into Anthropology for UHC to cover
@@Kevin-hx2ky How so
@@unicorntomboy9736 Well evidently they resemble early humans in their technology, as they seem to be proficient, obligate tool users as opposed to an animal using its own tooth and claw. They're certainly past the point of being a "smart animal"
I knew it let’s go I gotta watch this video immediately I love Jagras, dodo, and girros
I like Great Girros. It gets a lot of flak for being forgettable, but I think it’s pretty memorable when you’re fighting in the Vail and it keeps interrupting fights with Odogaron.
Was waiting for this for a while since I saw the video on greats & dromes
Something worth noting about Girros is that much like Acidic Glavenus, they intake higher levels of effluvium and wield paralysis in thier arsenal. It could be that both species process effluvium making their own paralytic enztmes out of it (or in Girros case applyfing existing venom). Its also likely why we see Girros succumb to efluvium despite being native to the vale unlike Raphinos, they simply overestimated thier ability to process the bacteria.
Excellent video as always! Just one nitpick: I wouldn't simply say Anjanath lives in open areas. Maybe open forests but it seems to be well suited to forest life despite its size. They probably favor forests that have a good amount of both space and dense foliage; the latter of which help the beast hide in ambush from aptonoth and other large to medium sized prey AND from the tropical heat.
"Client: Inquisitive Handler
They say that Anjanaths are built for the forest. They roam it like kings, but now that an Azure Rathalos has showed up, we got a real fight on our hands!"
"Could I offer you a lizard in these troubling times?" ~Unnatural History or something
Great Jagras is one of my favorite monsters for its many interactions with the world. Some time ago I learned that you can actually get a Great Jagras to instigate an attack if it looks at you for ~20 seconds while you are in the underground Jagras cave. You can get Great Girros to attack you too if he briefly looks at you in area 7 in the Rotten Vale.
Pretty sure Great Girros attacks you on sight no matter where or when
@@lonradb That's not true. Great Girros does not attack you on his own as long as you're not in its home territory, in the arena or in combat with another monster.
The small Girros however do always attack you.
I've always liked the concept that the thief wyvern and the dromes/greats used to have a lot of overlap and once the old and new world separated they out competed each other in the respective continents for the niche of lower end pack hunting predators, which is why I'm legit annoyed we never got a great wulg in iceborne to be the next step in the thief wyverns using thier pack, especially with the pin move that wulgs have would have been great to see the great wulg command the small wulgs to pin you, it's something I really feel was missing from iceborne
Time stamps for each beastie:
3:14 Vore Awakener
14:46 Average Twitter Denizen
20:45 B E S T B O I FEED HIM ALL THE ROCKS HE WANTS AAAAA-
My headcanon for odogaron is a high-performing immune system. It might also literally "heat up" after eating, who knows what the optimal temperature for effluvium is... maybe that can be a barrier to infection.
I absolutely love your content, and it is always interesting. I actually started playing Monster Hunter because of your videos
15:18 I always thought a reptile evolving gills was weird. I have a headcannon that Giros is actually a type of axolotl like amphibian that resembles a reptile, but it's not, just convergent evolution.
You know its a good week when he uploads
YEEESSS! Finally GAMMOTH is going to feature in its own video! Can't wait for the next video comes out!
Also amazing video on Jagras, Girros and Dodogama. Thanks a lot, man! You're the best!
You not finding Dodogama particularly cute, and most importantly not engaging in the almost obligatory, infantile "chonky boi"-banter only made me like you even more.
As for the video, I am a huge fan of Great Jagras, so this absolutely hit the spot.
Unpopular opinion I liked the ancient forest hierarchy over the three lords, great jagras, anjanth and rathalos are in the higher brackets of my favourites and each has a logical reason why they beat the other.
Unlike how garanglom is this massive well armoured animal who can’t protect him self from a small ice puppy.
It has been done to death by now, but the only thing that really worked in Risebreak was the combat, which was however very, very good, obviously.
Neither the yokai nor the western gothic horror themes worked that well for making believable, living, breathing monsters, and the designs constantly reminded me that I was playing a video game - not exploring an unknown ecosystem ( a strength of many past MH titles).
@@1brushstudioYup the Designs were not my cup of tea either. And lets not speak about Magnamolo because oh boy. If unnatural history does a video on him its gona be glurious to see him rant about it overdisgned features
@@1brushstudio I think if you give them another chance if they were in a world like game they could be expanded on, tho something like magnamalo would need to be done from the ground up.
But yes as much as I liked some of the monsters from rise I do have a bias for MHWs designs.
@@julianswinton5355
@@afroling2096Wouldn't the community get upset if they saw some of the Rise monsters return in MH6?
I wonder if Great Girros evolved from an aquatic Wyvern similar to Lagiacrus? Considering just how deep the Veil seems to go, there may have once been a subterranean waterway connecting it to the ocean. This underground river could have been blocked off by seismic activity, trapping a population of these gilled wyverns in the Veil. The gills that were originally to help in its aquatic lifestyle then adapted to help filter effluvium?
Great Jagras regurgitating to escape or under duress can be seen in gameplay, if the hunter damages the engorged belly enough before it spits up everything (either by using the smaller attacks too frequently or its one large attack) you can topple Great Jagras and force it to spit up around it. Its mostly seen in the Greatest Jagras hunt, where it has extremely boosted stats and access to new attacks.
Greatest Jagras really is the best fight, its similar to G Rank Odogaron where they start in their alt modes. Odo has a heat up mode that it never gets a chance to use in Low and High Rank, and Jagras's Full Belly mode is how the Greatest Jagras fight starts, at first it was a really tough fight. unfortunately the community figured it out pretty quick because farming decorations was so necessary
Why does nobody talk about the fact that Dodogama makes whale noises?
Honey… wake up, new Unnatural History Channel video.
Great Girros is easily my favorite pack leader type monster
Me and my brother just went hell yeah when we saw this video pop up in the recommended. This is a great video.
29:07 BOO THIS MAN!
13:00 is it not also possible that the great Jagras is killing unrelated immature males? There seems to be little to differentiate males and females at their earlier life stages. And killing younger males is well represented in the animal kingdom.
i didnt know there were frogs that could stretch their mouths like a Jagras can! A comparison you didn't make however, but a connection i always made, was with Pelicans. Pelicans are the poster child of 'animal that eats big things whole', and well it might seem odd to make the connection when Jagras are so clearly lizards, its worth noting that they are still Wyverns, and Wyverns as a whole descended from avians.
We know the ancient forest once had more giant trees then it currently has, and i think its possible that the trees that used to reside there had wide, flat canopy's that stretched over the water. The beaches are stuffed full of fish and are likely breeding grounds to many species. If the ancient forest once looked closer to the flooded forest in appearance, its quite possible the Jagras's distant ancestor focused on hunting big aquatic game that resided in the shallows, and hid in the trees to avoid predators.
We know the arrival of Rathalos changed the appearance of the Ancient Forest, but its likely they didnt just kill these tree species. It is more likely that they were simply the nail in the coffin and burned away all the dead and dying undergrowth that had built up over the centuries from the great tree snuffing out the smaller plants in the area. Without shade above the water, large sea dwelling creatures moved out and large land herbivores moved in, leading to Great Jagras steadily moving away from sea based prey to land based ones.
Great Jagras's ancestors may be more similar to modern day Gobul then other fang wyverns, and i always imagined that like Pelicans, its mouth was more to catch its prey, and all it had to do was stretch an extensive series of throat and stomach muscles to create a hole for its prey to fall right into its stomach.
Pretty sure he did mention pelicans in dodogama's section.
I think that the presents of jargras in the Old World is accidental, maybe they are escaped pets, invasive species by traveling with ships when they are young, introduced to be hunted for sport, or they were already in the Old World. What do you think is the motive that the jagras is in the Old World?
I have a very different take on great jagras as a starter. I think it is a uniquely excellent starter in all respects except for a small HP pool. It is an excellent monster to allow new players to fill out the weapon that they chose to start with against. The fact that it is basically a moving punching bag that occasionally has well telegraphed attacks is what makes it so excellent for this purpose. If it had more HP for your first encounter, it would serve this purpose much better. Even a new player will be hard pressed to not learn how to defeat this monster to have a guaranteed win during their first hunt even with an increased HP bar.
The other two members of this trio have a distinct issue in my opinion however. They are both far too easy of a fight, and both far too underwhelming of a battle for where they land in the game. I personally theorize this is because of the way the monsters and biomes were introduced in world, and in a game where you were simply presented with a large number of hunts and a less rigid quest and biome order, they could have been presented much sooner and come off as much more suitable.
UHC: Talk about all three Big Lizards.
Shamos: Am I a Joke to You?
the fact that there is no great shamos is very sad for sure
"I don't think Dodogama is cute. Shoot me."
Shots fired!
I would tame a Dodogama and be the best of friends if they existed in our reality
It's possible that the cannibalism is similar to the killing of cubs lions do too, eliminating other males who will become competition later, or perhaps even removing females pregnant with another male's eggs. With the probable high turnover of great jagras, a male moving in and culling the existing pack to suit him makes sense to me
Even just having a Girros along makes any Odogaron hunt go so much smoother it isn't even funny. Also, I'm somewhat surprised you barely mentioned how the Girros are the most cooperative of the three; not only is Great Girros commonly seen flanked by two Girros, their smaller ilk also can be commanded to lunge all at once with a cry from the biggun, and unless I'm just crazy they also seem to up their ferocity if the Great Girros is tripped.
Is it stated anywhere in the Complete Works that Girros also don't look after their young? Because if there's anywhere it would make sense for such behaviors to develop, it could well be the Rotten Vale. It could have started out as a habit of moving eggs if effluvium density increased, and maybe when that became commonplace it branched out into at least rudimentary parental care behaviors. (Granted, I'm going off on this unlikely thought based purely on their cooperative behaviors when it's probably just as simple as "big fangs = big boss leader lizard".)
...Although I forgot if it loses the ability to command/receive support from the Girros if said fangs are broken.
Also I'm still baffled that only the Great Jagras had a unique weapon model in base World. And that it was for the HBG of all things. That, plus Tzitzi and Paolumu getting similarly shortchanged, probably didn't help that "mid-game slump" feeling you had. Either way, thank you for another wonderful video!
Surprised you didn't bring up the idea of a generalist ancestor that all these fanged wyvern species derived from.
Concerning dodogama’s size and social behavior: this is just me spitballing, and I haven’t done as much research on the topic, but the only real biologically unifying factor I can see between dodogama, jagras, and girros is that they’re fanged wyverns that share similar postures and gaits, so I’m not sure whether it’s safe to assume that dodogama shares sufficiently recent common ancestry with them that their last common ancestor exhibited the same extreme sexual dimorphism and harem behavior. Is it just as possible that dodogama’s ancestors started out small, without the harem behavior or extreme sexual dimorphism, and then independently evolved large sizes? I feel like dodogama's ancestors, both male and female, being significantly smaller than their descendants would also better fit with the insectivorous scoop feeding you hypothesize, with the higher energy density of dragon crystals, the need to process rock, and the harsher environment of the elder’s recess all being strong motivating factors in increasing size over time.
Again, just the amateur paleontology nerd in me spitballing, I could be totally wrong on this.
Great girros I have high hopes for
I personally split Fanged Wyverns into 2 groups, Mammal-like and Reptile-like. Mammal-like are monsters like Zinogre and Magnamalo having extended digits on their forelegs used for various different purposes and generally have "fur" on their body while Reptile-like lack those characteristics and generally have a more basal body structure to lizards and such, notable exceptions being Odogaron and Lunagaron who still lack the extended digits like Zinogre and or Magnamalo but are more derived then the sprawling posture the New World Fanged Wyverns have
I personally find the classes fanged beast and fanged wyvern confusing sometimes.
Fanged beasts contain mammals like:
Rajang, Garongolm, Arzuros and Gammoth.
Fanged wyvern contain animals with scales like:
The thing wyvern listed above, magnamalo, Zinogre, and Lunagaron.
I usually class them as:
Wolves, big cats and lizards are wiverns
Primates, bears and tusks are beasts.
Still disappointed by the lack of a Great Shamos
I bet i could tame a Jagras and i am not joking
Regarding Girros' paralytic venom. In games I tend to assume that there is more to ecosystems and envirionments than what we see. Theres probably some prey animals that Girros hunts that we just don't see in game. Hell, it could even be young Odogaron.
I think you're right about the gills originally allowing the filtering of volcanic gasses. There are parts of the Vale where you can see and hear the lava flows from the Recess, and its likely that the area was once volcanic before it became the charnel pit that we know today. Volcanic soil being so high in nutrient content does have a neat way of slotting into the development of the coral highlands and then by extension the Vale. And it may well be that the coral highlands came first, though not originally high enough to be called a highland. Especially if the coral can use dragon energy.
EDIT: In fact, I just remembered that you redirect Zorah Magdaros in an area right in between the Vale and Recess. An area of volcanic caves partially submerged in the ocean, and this water is visible in both parts of the Vale and the entrance to the Recess. From this I would infer that the Vale was once seaside volcanic caves and the high nutrient content of the volcanic soil led to the growth of the coral, which likely began in the water and survived on land due to water levels dropping (which we know happened quite dramatically even in only a few decades, the gathering hub in Astera was apparently at sea level when the first fleet arrived). As this coral grew higher, enough creatures were living in it and it became enough of an obstruction to the Elder Crossing that Elders began dying in the Highlands instead of just the Recess, which is what caused the formation of the Vale on its lower levels.
EDIT 2: I would love a video on that subject actually. The water level in the New World dropped so severely, so recently and in such a short amount of time. The ecosystem has surely been affected by this. If we can assume that this flucutating water level is responsible for the coral highlands existing at all, (and by extension the Vale), what other effects might it have had? It could be that the New World is rising out of the water rather than the water level of the entire world dropping 60 metres in as many years.
I would love to have a big ol'jagras in my room and just feed him and scratch him and give him pets. He has the lovable look between a bearded dragon and an iguana.
It could be possible great jagras has a mechanism to prevent choking. Instead of the flexible bones being in it’s skull and jaw there in it’s throat and ribcage in order to allow the breathing canals more room to expand.
Great Girros always was my favourite of the fanged Wyverns for me, I always thought their gill displays were a captivating and unique feature as well as its striking red eyes and the bright yellow warning colouration. In worlds during the launch months of gameplay, paralysis hammers were my weapon of choice making it a natural monster to hunt consistently for me. When you get to fighting them in their nest as well in high rank as well as tempered versions, the sheer weight of numbers too made even the pack Girros a dangerous threat on account of them paralyzing me before the Great can get a damaging attack off, which has carted me more than once.
I can easily see that feature being handy, especially against the paralysis weak Odogaron, while the game play might not support it, having a pack Girros be able to put up a credible threat display, even if its physical weapons are not a great threat may be enough to disuade Odo, especially if it has weight of numbers that might not make it rely on the Greats as much as other Dromes and Greats do.
My boy Great Girros finally got a video! Almost all of my boys have gotten a video hopefully Paolumu will be soon... That and I agree with you on Dodogama not being that cute... I said it! Hang me by the stake Dodogama fans you'll fail trust me! Just ask the many flagship fans like Nargacuga they tried it!
I hope gammoth and uragon will have their own episodes plus gravios because I have heard somewhere that they are tamed as pets and that’s interesting because is it possible to domesticate some of these monsters?
Well if you listen to the roar at the end of the episode, I think you have some good news coming your way!
@@temporal712 ( happy gammoth noises)
gammoth gaming, great video on the greats, and thank you for doing great jagras some justice
I can’t wait for the Gobul video so you can talk about the weird critters of the deep ocean
We need an aquatic great jirros boss if they bring back underwater combat
I’m not the biggest fan of these guys, but I’m glad that they exist and that they didn’t let fanged wyverns die at Zinogre
Ayo, is that gammoth I hear?
I'm entertaining the concept of a "low rank hunter" game where you spend most of your time with the lower rank monsters doing more varied missions and ecological stuff.
I personally prefer the bears as a similar set of early game threats. But these are equally endearing.
I can see Great Girros originally being semi-aquatic, maybe in more murky/polluted water (hence the muscle-reinforced gills).
Any animals that come across the water it lies in gets bit, paralyzed, then dragged into the water to drown for an easy kill (or vice versa for predation on aquatic life).
There are also fishing areas in the veil which means there was at least some freshwater ecosystem before everything started rotting.
Though some of the fish are now found in the acidic/basic pools (not sure which, just it is extreme either way), so they might have been pushed out of their previous habitat when the elder died and made due entirely on land.
Lot of Giroses attacks involve him either running at you while holding its mouth open or jumping at you headfirst.
Makes me think Girros were more like Crocodiles before Vale. Living in water and waiting for prey to pass and then they launch themselfs at the prey with their fangs
Part of me is really upset that the Shamos were shafted of a Great. Pre Iceborne there’s really not a lot of variety in the area with the three main residents plus the occasional visit from Odogaron, Bazel, Deviljho, and Kirin.
A Great Shamos could’ve had a potential Turf War with TziTzi and Odogaron. TziTzi due to it preying on Shamos and also the species’ weakness to their flashes. Odogaron due to competition. In World it seemed Thief Wyverns were taking the place of the Raptor trios we would usually see in other games so a Great Shamos would’ve created the trio we’d usually see with the Raptors just this time Fanged Wyverns.
Something else CapCom could’ve done to set it apart from normal Shamos and other Thief Wyverns is allow it to use the Sleep element which was also underutilized in World and Iceborne(can’t complain too much about that though) so only having Great Shamos utilize it would add more diversity and not make it too annoying since normal Shamos cannot.
If, rather when, we ever return to the New World a Great Shamos is something I wish to see happen.
Haha funny Lizards. Great Girros is like a variant to Great Jagras, probably a group of Jagras that fled into the Rotten Vale, and evolved to live there.
YAY! Gammoth vid coming soon Can't wait for that!
I always figured that great jagras being able to regurgitate it's recent kill was also utalized as a defense mechanism. During the fight if you deal enough damage after its recently eaten you can 'pop' it to get a knock down. I though that maybe that was sort of like a last ditch effort to get away. If an enemy is strong enough to get in that much damage then why not cut your losses? The enemy would probably be more interested in the already killed offering and the jagras would be considerably lighter and able to run away more effectively. It's in a similar vein to how some lizards will snap off their tails to get away from a predator.
I'm not a huge fan of all 3 but I do think some lower ranking fanged wyverns bring better variety to a part in the games that is largely dominated by bird wyverns
I really love the questions monster groups like these lizard fanged wyverns bring up on how the wyvern evolution might have taken twists and turns in its history.
My running theory is that they're probably the most primitive form of wyvern that simply diverged to become the other monster forms we see at present.
Outside of the insects, amphibians and piscines who predate them, maybe also the mammals to a lesser extant, though we see creatures like Zinogre, Magnamalo, Odo and Lunagaron becoming very mammalian they're still not quite to the level of mammalian looking as Fanged Beasts. It might be these reptiles are evolving down a convergent path already taken by the Fanged Beasts.
Personally I think Dodogama would be a great starter monster if they just introduced it early.
I disagree, on the basis that you would have to fight dodo in the early game, possibly multiple times.
@@FatManWithNoPlans Just make it a capture quest, problem solved.
I've heard fan ecology speculation about Great Jagras that actually took the opposite direction. That the large monster is a female, and sort of the "matriarch" of the jagras pack. Both ideas seem equally valid for their own reasons, but I found it interesting nonetheless.
Oooooh looking forward to the Gammoth video!