Terapusmordax is a huge bat-like flying rat and possibly one of the largest flying mammals of all time. It is the largest member of the Volucerattidae, the family of winged rodents peculiar to Skull Island, and the convergent replacements to both bats and pterosaurs. It has a body-length of 3 to 4 feet and a wingspan of 8 to 10 feet.
Description
Feeding
It feeds on almost anything, including birds, lizards, rats, small dinosaurs, other flying rats, and even Humans on rare cases. But unlike the rest of its carnivorous kind, it is especially omnivorous; it will eat fruits and nuts. Their common prey are their smaller relatives, Volucerictises, and the flying theropods Vultursaurs, which they catch at dusk. Like its smaller and wingless counterpart, the naked mole rat, Terapusmordax is totally hairless, with translucent naked skin and strong bones for its size.
Lifestyle and Abilities
A highly agile flyer, they are able to easily keep up with much smaller birds and flying rats. They dwell in huge upland caverns, roosting there by the hundreds in colonies ruled by the elder females. The males live in small colonies of a dozen or so and fight constantly among themselves, with injuries and death to infection common. The most notable feature about the Extemporaneous is its eye-watering stink. Its waste contains chemicals that cause an incredibly pungent reek, and since waste often is caked and smeared on the animals, they also tend to smell, regardless of where they go. Interestingly, this smell serves to keep predators away, as it is far too strong for many to deal with.
History
Several Terapusmordax made refuge within the mountain tops of Skull Island, even within the ceilings of Kong's lair. With the Imprimaturs Kong drastically depleted, Terapusmordax multiplied and nested in Kong's lair, sleeping by hanging upside down above Kong below. Several Terapusmordax swarmed around Kong when they became agitated by him attacking Jack Scolder when trying to protect Ann. Jack took advantage of the bats distracting Kong to abseil down the mountain top with Ann on his back. The Terapusmordax seemed to have started retreating when Kong grabbed the humans vine and started pulling them back up towards his lair, forcing Jack to grab hold of a retreating Terapusmordax by it's wing and glide down to land in the river back toward the wall.
Appearances
A Terapusmordax in attack positon, Peter Jackson's King Kong game
Terapusmordax appear in the King Kong video game , as very common enemies. It is shown that they follow large blue-skinned Queens, and like also in the movie, they are extremely dangerous, and would hunt for Humans if ever spotted.
To Jack, they can vary from very small pests to larger predators that attack by swooping towards him and swiping their clawed feet. Jack can also take advantage of killing any bats for acting as a distraction, such as luring V-Rexs away from friends.
To Kong however, they are small pests that can nonetheless swarm in large numbers around him, even managing to latch on and bite. Repelling any bats will discourage them from latching onto Kong, plus any that are grabbed can be bitten to death and thrown at others.
- Terapusmordax appears in King Kong (2005) where a swarm of them attacks King Kong when Jack is trying to save Ann.
- Terapusmordax also appears in the new ride Skull Island: Reign of Kong in Islands of Adventure. It attacks several explorers and one Terapusmordax abducts one of the explorers. The Terapusmordax carries the explorer to the chasm which the explorer grabs her machete and cuts off the left leg of the animal. The Terapusmordax then lands in the mud and is trapped and was devoured by two Carnictis.