Maip

Maip, macrothorax, was a large, agile, carnivorous dinosaur that had long, sickle-like claws on its forelimbs. Maip lived in the Late Cretaceous period in what is now Argentina. It was the largest member of its group, the megaraptorids, reaching up to 10 meters (33 feet) long. Maip’s preferred environment was in a warm, humid forested plain.

Tier: 3

Dimorphism: Males are brightly colored while females take on duller colors.

Habitat

Riparia: Tallbrush Coasts, Volcano Islands, Crag bluffs
Gondwa: Darkwoods, Titan’s Pass, Birchwoods, Hunters Thicket

Diet: Carnivore

Active times: Nocturnal; Active during nighttime and sleeps during the day if able

Group Size: 3 individuals

Attackers/Defenders: 3 individuals

Nesting Season: Spring and Summer

Offspring: Up to 5

Adoption: ✅

Behavior

Maip is a territorial carnivore that defends its territory and hunting grounds, especially from rival predators like Carnotaurus. Territorial clashes between Maip and Carnotaurus are common. Though naturally solitary, Maips will sometimes form small hunting groups of 2-3, made up only of their mate and blood kin. They hunt together out of practicality rather than companionship, knowing that cooperation helps them bring down larger prey. Maips never hunt during the day. Instead, they only scavenge during the daylight hours, until they find a target to taunt and follow around, calling at it or cackling to instill fear into their unfortunate victim. The Maip will do this till dusk, before finally letting out one final, piercing screech (broadcast), signaling the doomed fate of the intended quarry.

Maips do not form flamekin bonds.

Courting & Nesting

Male Maip initiate courtship by stalking a female in a manner similar to how they would track prey. For approximately one full day cycle, from dawn until dusk, the male follows the female while periodically using cackle vocalizations toward her. A receptive female does not respond aggressively and instead answers only occasionally with quiet returning cackles. If the female rejects the male, she will respond with aggression, which may escalate into a potentially lethal confrontation for either individual.

At dusk, if the female has remained accepting of the male throughout the courtship period from dawn until dusk, he must present her with food. The pair then perform synchronized “❔ ” and “❤️ ” emotes to finalize their bond.

Maip offspring remain within the nest until reaching the juvenile stage. If another creature enters the line of sight of the nest during the day, nearby Maip continuously screech warnings until the intruder leaves. Should the creature continue approaching and come within roughly 3–4 Maip body lengths of the nest, the parents will attack. At night, Maip become significantly more aggressive around their nesting grounds and will attack intruders on sight without warning, regardless of hunger level.

As juveniles, young Maip begin exploring farther from the nest and may occasionally wander a little too far from their parents, often warranting loud screeching scoldings in response. During this stage, juveniles become highly curious and begin nipping at nearby creatures and objects, most commonly their parents and siblings. These interactions remain playful in nature and are not intended to cause serious harm, never allowing the health of their family members to fall below 50%.

Upon reaching adolescence, young Maip begin closely observing and imitating the hunting and combat behaviors of their parents, including stalking techniques and coordinated tactics.

Once reaching sub-adulthood, offspring that intend to seek mates of their own are expected to leave the family unit, either alone or in smaller groups. If the group has not reached its maximum size and a sub-adult offspring does not intend to pursue a mate, it may remain with the family group.

Screech of Adoption

When a lost juvenile Maip is accepted into a family group, the adoptive parents perform a nighttime broadcast screech to symbolically recognize the juvenile as part of their bloodline.

Mandatory Traits

Patient but hungry

Maips wait all day scavenging from corpses (only 2 meat chunks) or critters, but if their hunger reaches 25% or less, then they may hunt any Tier 1 to Tier 3 during the day. If hunger drops to 60% or below at night, Maips will hunt Tier 3 to Tier 5 dinosaurs under the cover of the moon.

Meet your end

During the day, Maips will follow around a dinosaur or its herd, stalking it from a safe distance while cackling till it reaches nightfall. Once it’s dark enough, Maips will screech (broadcast) to initiate the hunt.

Horns vs Claws

Carnotaurus and Maip live in the same areas and often compete for food. Rather than focusing on other targets, Maip would focus on pushing the Carnotaurus out of its hunting grounds, starting a territory dispute, or killing it if it refuses to leave.

Optional Traits

Are you scared yet?

Once their prey has death scars, they will retreat a safe distance and begin to mock (mask emoji) the scared and injured dinosaur while it either bleeds out for 30 seconds or they land the killing blow.

Credit: Spook and Onyxmoonn

Source:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-09272-z

Last updated: 5/18/26