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Common Name: Alanqa Species: Alanqa saharica Time Period: Late Cretaceous Diet: Carnivore Temperament: Aggressive Wild Soaring over the vast landscapes of ARK, the Alanqa dominates the skies with its imposing 20-foot wingspan and spear-like beak. This massive pterosaur, reminiscent of a giraffe in stature due to its elongated neck, primarily thrives in the warm climates of Valguero, though it can also be found patrolling the island, the sanctuary in Extinction, Ragnarok, and coastal regions. Despite its formidable frame, the Alanqa curiously preys on smaller creatures such as Dodos and Dilophosaurs, but it has the capacity to consume much larger prey like Mammoths and Carnotaurus when given the opportunity. The Alanqa typically spawns in groups of 3-6, akin to Allosaurus, with a dominant pack leader that enhances its already lethal capabilities. Its high torpor rate makes it a challenging tame, but those who succeed will gain access to one of the most versatile aerial creatures in ARK. Domesticated Once tamed, the Alanqa proves to be a highly efficient mount for both PvE and PvP scenarios. It possesses a unique combination of strength, utility, and mobility, making it invaluable in battle and resource gathering. Taming Method: The Alanqa is a force-tame creature, requiring raw meat to domesticate, with preferences for mutton, prime meat, and prime fish. Each piece of meat grants 2% taming progress. Saddle Options: A standard 2-person saddle, or an advanced 2x3 foundation platform saddle, offering strategic customization for aerial combat and transport. Dimorphism: Males are identifiable by a small head crest and bright coloration, whereas females feature darker tones and lack this crest. Abilities & Attacks Peck Attack: A powerful beak strike that delivers considerable damage. (Right Trigger / Right Click) Hookclaw: Inflicts a five-second bleed effect with a four-second cooldown. When used skillfully, this can result in nearly infinite bleed damage. The pack leader variant extends the bleed duration to six seconds. (Left Trigger / Left Click) Wind Gust: Generates a strong gust of wind, capable of knocking back enemies and providing battlefield control. (Left Stick / C when landed) Grab: Enables the Alanqa to carry creatures, much like the Argentavis, allowing for transportation of allies or enemies. (Right Stick / C on PC) Utility & Weight Reduction The Alanqa is not only a fearsome predator but also an excellent utility tame. It can efficiently collect large amounts of wood and thatch while boasting weight reductions on key resources: 35% reduction: Obsidian, Crystal 20% reduction: Oil, Stone, Metal 15% reduction: Wood, Thatch, Flint 10% reduction: Meat Base Stats (Level 1) Health: 2000 Stamina: 600 Weight: 500 Melee Damage: 300 Oxygen: 200 Food: 1500 Conclusion The Alanqa is a formidable addition to any tribe, whether for resource gathering, aerial dominance, or boss fights. With its powerful Hookclaw bleed ability that can even affect bosses, it serves as an essential ally in high-stakes battles. Its ability to spawn in coordinated groups and receive a pack leader buff ensures that taming multiple Alanqas can shift the tide of war in a tribe’s favor. Would you dare to tame this skyborne predator and reign supreme in the skies of ARK?

Artist Credit: Pablo Rivera. Vorombe Titan, also known as the Elephant Bird, is the largest bird that has ever existed. Native to ancient Madagascar, these massive birds stood nearly ten feet tall and weighed over 1,500 pounds. Elephant Birds have adapted well to life on the Ark. Commonly seen wandering the beaches, jungles, and grasslands, these giants are exciting tames full of utility for any survivor lucky enough to acquire one! Abilities: Stone Launching: Modern ratites like ostriches sometimes swallow small stones to help grind up the food they eat. Elephant Birds also do this and can be trained to keep stones stored in their gizzards. These stones can be spat out at high velocity and inflict high levels of torpor. Whiskers: Like Kiwis, they have small whiskers around their faces that can root out and collect higher-quality crops from bushes. Bellow: Like other very large and heavy birds, Elephant Birds can emit a low, deep bellow. This bellow can be used to startle smaller predators and make them flee. Peck/Bite. Kick. This is a slower but powerful attack that causes knockback and bleeding. Gatherer: Apart from using their whiskers to gather crops, they can use their talons to scrape off flint and collect stone. Weight reduction on flint and stone. Insulation and Incubation: Like Dire Bears, they provide insulation when ridden. When fertilized eggs are placed near them, they’ll passively incubate them. Eggs: Elephant Bird eggs are massive and can be used in cooking to make hard-boiled and scrambled varieties. Hard-boiled eggs provide enormous health benefits for survivors and creatures, and scrambled eggs are a highly effective food for taming a wide variety of creatures. Image Description and art credit: The above image displays the proposed size of the in-game Elephant Bird when compared to Ark’s current largest flightless bird, the Terror Bird, and an Allosaurus. This size could be altered slightly, but ideally an adult Elephant Bird would stand just slightly shorter than a mammoth. Credit goes to Nix Illustration for the silhouette used. Taming Method: Elephant Birds are tameable. The taming method has two steps. The first step is a simple passive tame using rare mushrooms. The second step can start after the taming bar reaches over 50%. At this point, you’ll be able to mount the bird. Once mounted, place a stack of stones in its inventory. Now, all you have to do is knock out whatever is around you. Every knocked-out creature will fill up the remainder of the taming bar. Image Description: The sheer size of an Elephant Bird egg when compared to the eggs of an ostrich and a chicken. In fact, Elephant Birds laid the largest eggs of any creature ever! These eggs carry about two gallons of yolk, and are even bigger than the eggs laid by sauropods! In Ark, it would only be fitting that they keep this title. Despite being nowhere near the size of the adult species, Elephant Birds lay eggs that are even bigger than the eggs of creatures like Bronto’s and Giga’s. Additional Notes/Information: Diet: Elephant Birds are herbivores. Temperament: Passive, but will attack if provoked and flee if on low health. Rideable: Yes, and can be ridden with or without a saddle. Saddles: Credit to Captain Fatdog’s Moa submission for this idea. Elephant Birds are large enough to hold a small platform saddle. They can also be equipped with a regular saddle. Standard saddle unlocks at level 45. The platform saddle unlocks at level 60. Torpor inflicted and damage dealt can be improved with leveling in a similar way to the Therizinosaurus. Another idea credited to Captain Fatdog’s moa idea could be a weight reduction on eggs. Elephant Birds reduce the weight of stone and flint by 80% and the weight of eggs by 50%.