Classification: D/0.1/A/A1/A
Description: Artifact #3 is a specimen of koala, binomial name Phascolarctos cacophonius, which was found living in the eastern wild of the continent of Nova Germania. Strongly resembling its closest relative, Phascolarctos cinerus, it was not discovered to be a separate species until the expansion of Nether Germanians into the region in the 1860s.
Physically and behaviorally, P. cacophonius is nearly indistinguishable from P. cinerus, sharing dietary, mating, and sleeping habits with its sister species. The prevailing difference in P. cacophonius is displayed when it is gravely threatened. If the stress level of the animal is raised above a certain threshold, it will open its mouth and emit an incredibly piercing scream. This sound has been measured by audiometric equipment to be upwards of 175 decibels, causing immediate, excruciating pain to any animals in range, as well as extreme nausea, vomiting, acute headache, and psychological trauma. Prolonged exposure to the sound can physically damage an animal's internal organs, musculature, and nervous system.
Once the screaming has begun, the koala will sustain it for an average of three to five hours using a cyclical breathing technique; slow-reel kinematographic recordings of the specimen have revealed that it can persist as long as fourteen hours under extremely stressful conditions.
Naturally, obtaining the animal was problematic. Vibromite-powered robots were not able to come near the animal, as its screeching shattered their kinetic crystals. A method was devised by the Archive's resident audiometrist Dr. Bassam Shakeel, using an intricate lattice of lenkium rods to craft an attenuation cage. The carrier was handled by vintage clockwork robots until the animal was captured, after which its scream could only reach a mere 115 decibels. From this point it was handled by both standard robots and humans wearing wax earplugs until it was received at the Archive's zoological annex.
No other specimens of P. cacophonius have been reported in Nova Germania as of this writing.
Listen: 20 sec. audiometric recording of P. cacophonius
No comments:
Post a Comment