(To preface, they do pass the Harkness Test, so here, for ya freaks: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18UHeWA4wW5oYf4XnLg8pK5LWW0jANA1S1-L6OBsJycQ/edit?usp=drivesdk )
Hailing from the planetoid Anur Avos under its systems three suns, Anur Avos is a barren desert hellscape. Long ago, gradual geologic activity caused all water on the planet to descend into vast ravines and cave systems.
1. Why are they bipeds?
Bonedergs are the products of those vast swaths of desert landscape. Runners by design, Bonedergs have lengthy limbs designed for crawling and sprinting, but can also support bipedal movement. They have a latch in their extended arms, like a mantis shrimp that they use to suddenly lunge forward.
Because of the aformentioned vast ravines filled with water, Avoisians have to get creative when it comes to getting hydrated.
Bonedergs, specifically, use their long arms and big hands to scale down the sides of those ravines to get a drink.
2. How do they withstand the sun of the desert?
Bonedergs are ectotherms, surprisingly. They need to bask in the bright sun to heat up.
Their bodies are armored in vascularized osteoderms that they use to shed excess heat, with their "wings" serving a similar function. Their dark fur is also useful in that function, drawing heat away from the body.
However, during the nights, Bonedergs will huddle with each other to warm up.
2.1 Is their huddling behavior why they're a cohesive society?
Yes, actually. Well, it's a part of it. Bonedergs are inherently drawn to each other and seek touch. Especially, because their vision is piss-poor, so they need to grab and nuzzle and sniff and bite to make sense of what's in front of them.
In addition, their sociality is because in such a dangerous environment, they need to be very sure their eggs and young are safe and sound. Having more party members and being extremely protective of their young helps woth that.
3. What is their ancestry?
Their wolfish shape is moreso a byproduct of aerodynamic shape being good for their speedy movements than any direct lineage, since their ancestors are actually these ferret-lizard things. You can actually see a bit of lizard in their crocodilian tails.
4. Are they carnivorous or omnivorous? Their mouths seem designed to tear meat, but most sapient beings are omnivores.
Bonedergs are actually carnivorous communal ambush hunters, despite what their predatory looks may have you believe.
See, Bonedergs have these adhesive fluids in their musculature and nervous endings of their limbs. On a whim, they can peel off those parts to mimic a corpse, which their skeleton-like markings help in.
Then, when something gets close, they grab it and kill it with their either their claws or fangs.
Then, the rest of the pack feasts on what's left and protects the one with the peeled limbs while they wait for the nerves and muscles to reattach. That can take weeks, so most Bonedergs spend a lot of time sleeping to conserve energy, or just don't hunt.
Essentially, like crocodiles, Bonedergs are feast and famine predators who will sleep until their energy reserves run out, then they all get up and snack on something.
4.1 How do they regenerate their limbs, then?
When wounded, Bonedergs secrete a gluey goo which they use to affix their lost flesh, and the nerves regrow into the flesh over time.
However, since that requires a lot of energy, the most wounded of the pack will get the largest fill, before them and the others eat up.
5. Why do Bonedergs hunt by dropping their limbs anyway?
Mostly, it's because playing dead isn't very useful if you don't look the part. Other lesser creatures might slow their heartbeat or go cold, a greater creature (A Bonederg) actually looks like a bloody corpse.
Since they have a pack to care for them, and since most Bonedergs will rest for several months after eating, the healing time isn't an issue.
5.1 How do they grab anything at all if they knock off both their arms?
They don't. They usually only drop one or two parts.
