Plurk paste

So broad strokes worldbuilding: some theropods (that aren't modern birds) survived the extinction event that killed off the rest of dinosauria (and ...the several subsequent ones) and they evolved (they're descended from either troodons or one of the various dromaeosaurids)--primarily in the Americas, and during that time period were actually the top competitors with the developing cariamiformes (well the large "terror bird" ones).

they won that particular evolutionary arms race with all the other American predators by becoming much, much smarter, and eventually reaching human intelligence. they also developed much more articulated hands (with opposable digits) and feet (the first toe actually lengthened and can be used almost like an opposable digit, and of course they still have the large claw on the 2nd toe.

never developed a beak, though they developed more varried dentition and are semi-omnivorous. still primarily a meat diet, but they also eat a good deal of plant matter--however, can barely digest complex carbs

along with intelligence, came tool-making and a more complex social structure, and of course language--one that's very, very difficult for humans to effectively reproduce. and with language did come speech-adaptations--they can speak human languages too, but reproduce most of the sounds in a method more similar to how parrots mimic. the oral cavity is still muzzle-shaped and not conducive to human speech sounds but they do have a sound chamber in the snout-- so they sound very "nasal" when they use human speech.

as a species they're not overly large (most length in their tail, and most height in the legs) so maybe between deinonychus and utahraptor in size, but generally very gracile, so not nearly as heavy. Much more of a "speedy" build than utahraptor and the other large dromeosaurids with the kind of lower leg adaptations that make ostriches super fast on land.

they're feathered, of course. the actual wing feathers have become smaller over time, but are still present and winglike. the tail feathers are more prominent, and evolved as a display, so colorful and patterned. tail is thinner and much more flexible, and can even be used as a flail, almost. getting smacked in the face when a neodino was turning quickly would hurt.

they also developed feathered crests and all sexes possess the display feathers. "females" are slightly larger, but genitally, all of them are all but identical, and as a survival adaptation that allowed them to survive so many extinction events, they're technically sequential hermaphrodites. there are three distinct reproductive roles, and they have an aplacental viviparity (eggs are incubated internally with gas, and later some nutrient, exchange from the brooding parent), followed by a stage where the young are carried in a pouch and nursed until they reach first fledging. the fluid is secreted from a depression inside the pouch that is able to be licked up (suckling is a little difficult) and it's different than mammalian milk, but similar enough concept. the parents switch roles, and tend to only have a pair of twins (very rarely singletons or triplets) once every five years or so at the most). the 'male' fertilizes the eggs, the 'brooder' caries the eggs until hatching, and the 'mother' nurses and guards the young until they're old enough to defend themselves. the latter two are considered "female" by humans, but again, it's possible for a single neo-dino to have performed all reproductive roles in life. In a really bad situation, it is possible for the brooder to also fill the mother role (or even more rare, the sire to do so), but it makes things much more difficult, exhausts the parents' reserves, as well as greatly increasing infant mortality. It almost never actually happens.

before dinosaurs were discovered, they were probably considered a kind of bird (albeit a weird one). they do have a couple living relatives (though currently endangered), in south America. One bulkier and heavier, also fully terrestrial, that lives in the plateaus and other places in the Andes. overall, larger but with shorter, heavier legs. very hooked claws on all digits, and a longer snout. not sentient, but near chimpanzee or corvid intelligence. very suited to climbing rough terrain, and enduring colder temps. pack-structure of a bonded breeding trio and subadult offspring--also k-strategy reproduction, so the offspring stay with the parents for up to a decade and help with younger siblings.

the other relative is much smaller, fully arboreal and can even achieve powered flight over very short periods (but is primarily a glider). these live in the rainforests, mostly, and can even range as far north as Mexico and south US. they operate in a more flocklike environment, with several breeding pairs grouped together, with juvenile and unmated hangers on.

in regards to humans, first real contact would have been when humans crossed the land-bridge over into the americas, and some of the neodinos crossed over in the other directions and before agriculture, when they weren't trying to kill each other, it was actually beneficial for groups of these smart dinos and humans to work together. having evolved from active predators instead of omnivores, the neodinos are more adept physically at hunting. the humans lack claws and wings that get in the way of fine manufacturing work. so the humans gather and make things while the neodinos hunt and haul. works pretty well.

but when grain starts becoming a big part of the human diet and agriculture develops, tensions rise again. so throughout most of history, neodinos and humans haven't really gotten along that well. though neodinos went into animal husbandry around the same time as agriculture--easier than hunting. there are different relations depending on geographical area, of course. They tend to be very well respected among Native American peoples, for example, but not well-liked in Europe.

Their common name in English decends from proto-germanic through the Old English eorðhafoc (which roughly glosses to "ground-hawk") and then through language change, became the modern Artavoc (stress first syllable, and the other vowels tend to be reduced, in some dialects down to something like artvik)