The thanator, also known as the banshee, was unquestionably the most powerful native aerial predator on Pandora—bar none!
It was related to the banshees the Na'vi hunters liked to ride, but it was at least twice as large. Its wingspan reached at least twenty-five meters, making it the largest winged beast humans had discovered on Pandora so far, and one of the planet's most magnificent animals.
Of course, that was true at least on land and in the air. Compared to some of the terrifying behemoths in Pandora's vast oceans, it still came up a little short.
In the RDA's database, it was generally called a "Leonopteryx," meaning "flying lion."
That was where the name "thanator" came from!
These creatures generally had beautiful, artistic stripes of red, yellow, and black. They had dark blue bony crests on their heads and lower jaws. The crests were sharp and sturdy enough to tear into prey or smash into it, ripping its belly open?
Unlike the "banshee," which looked more like an ancient pterosaur from Earth, the "thanator" had hindwings separate from its legs, as well as two tail fins that gave it better aerodynamics and let it spread its wings across the blue sky... It could take off and climb at unbelievable speeds, vanishing into the sunlight in an instant!
Its feet had evolved into a pair of sharp talons that could easily seize prey in a crushing grip. This made hunting simpler, much like an eagle's, and also let it perch easily on Pandora's enormous branches, where it could lie in wait and search for prey on the ground.
A ferocious creature at the very top of Pandora's land and sky food chains, it often fed on all kinds of animals. Banshees, direhorses, Na'vi, thanators, sturmbeests, and even hammerhead titanotheres were