They are a very successful, widespread clade of warm-blooded tetrapods, and were simultaneously some of Pluvimundus's most familiar and most confusing wildlife to early explorers. Many representatives of this broad clade have evolved striking levels of similarity to Earth counterparts that betray their actual relations.Hematotherms today mainly comprise two major living groups, the, which are also known collectively as(flying species in particular, but the term can apply to all), and the, which were only firmly allied as sister lineages with DNA sequencing and later sparse fossil discoveries. Both groups share a variety of traits which evolved separately on Earth; they are furry, active animals with upright limbs and a respiratory system that includes pneumatic bones. The birds and mammals of Pluvimundus split off from an intermediate common ancestor almost 300 million years ago, and have since become more divergent, building upon different aspects of their anatomy and adapting to different lifestyles.The Pluvimundan fossil record is incomplete, but an animal showing a lot in common with - and quite plausibly ancestral to - both birds and mammals was discovered some 250 years ago in sedimentary deposits within a research station on the plains of what is today central Andromere. Dating back 290 million years,. Named, only one specimen has ever been found, but it was found wonderfully preserved, with even traces of hair visible along the finely articulated skeleton of the animal, which had likely drowned and been buried in sediment. It was a small, long-tailed creature with a set of toothy jaws suited to a generalist diet, which walked on four legs but probably could run or hop on just two, and powerful forearms with long claws suggest it may have been semi-arboreal. Most likely, it laid soft-shelled eggs, like some living mammals, but if it practiced parental care like its descendants unknown. Traces of small "scales" present on the arms and legs and along the tail were likely homologous to the scales of living birds and theropodents (actually buttons of compressed hairs) and may have provided some degree of protection from rough vegetation when running or climbing, though the exact impetus hematotherms had to change some of their pelage to these scales is unknown.Read more about the hematotherms and life of Pluvimundus here - specevo.jcink.net/index.php?sh…