Rathalos Ecology

In-Game Information
Rathalos is a male Wyvern that keeps a nest and patrols its patch of territory from the air in search of prey. Its claws are filled with a poison that weakens its quarry.

Taxonomy
One of the most recognized of the true flying wyverns, Rathalos are bipedal creatures that sport a pair of strong wings and long tails that hold a spiked end frequently used as a weapon in combat. Rathalos are easily distinguished by their brightly colored bodies. Like other true flying wyverns, Rathalos are extremely proficient in the use of their fire breath, using it to scorch foes from great distances. They are known for being some of the most intelligent speices of flying wyvern, along with Berukyurosu and Doragyurosu.

Habitat Range
Rathalos can survive in almost any environment, save for environments with extreme cold such as the Snowy Mountains and Tundra . Their high metabolism means medium sized prey must be relatively abundant, so many Rathalos stick to forested areas where grazing herbivores are plentiful. Rathalos and their mates nest almost exclusively in large, wind-sheltered caves near mountain tops. It is one of the most territorial of true flying wyverns. One curiosity among Rathalos is the reason for which silver colored Rathalos are sometimes spotted at the ancient tower; none have studied the subject thoroughly enough, or tracked a Silver Rathalos long enough, to come up with a logical conclusion. This is due to many factors, including the fact that Silver Rathalos' are incredibly rare and almost cryptic.

Ecological Niche
Rathalos fear almost nothing else found in their habitat range, except other wyverns and Elder Dragons. The creature's territorial nature means many young males never reach adulthood, as they are forced from hunting grounds by older males and forced to seek easier prey. This often accounts for many of the attacks on human villages or lifestock. Rathalos will even prey on lesser wyverns, particularly bird wyverns such as Yian Kut-Ku or pelagus such as Congalala or Bulldrome. Only a few monsters in a Rathalos' territory are strong enough to fight back if a Rathalos is attacking. Foremost among them are other wyverns and large monsters that live in the same habitat. Among these monsters are the Uragaan, Agnaktor, Lagiacrus, Tigrex, and Deviljho, as they are large and powerful enough to threaten an adult Rathalos.

Biological Adaptations
An adept flyer, Rathalos often use fire-balls to attack foes from both land and air. Rathalos have powerful hind legs, making them extremely fast on ground, as well as giving them the capability to launch devastating claw attacks from the air, often severely injuring its target. While in the air, they are also capable of diving to claw foes on the ground. A Rathalos' claws contain a potent toxin that will often kill a hunter if they don't seek immediate treatment after the blow that inflicted the wound. Rathalos, like many others of its kind, have a powerful roar that they use to intimidate rivals and stun prey. Its bright red scales most likely serve the purpose of attracting a mate. The different color variations may also indicate the wyvern's age (though highly unlikely); Red being the youngest, Azure being middle-aged, and Silver being relatively old.

The Rathalos's body build, along with the Rathian's, seems to differ between regions. In the areas surrounding Moga village, Rathalos have a wider wingspan, while in the areas surrounding Kokoto and Pokke village, their wingspan is decreased. Their elemental weaknesses also change. Some hunters debate whether these changes are because of the different areas the monsters are in, or because the game creators just changed the monsters weaknnesses and looks because they wanted to, with the former theory being strengthened by the largely unchanged Diablos and the latter by the drastically changed Aptonoth.

Behavior
Like all true flying wyverns, Rathalos possesses the cunning, speed and strength to fell almost any threat or prey they come across in the wild, though they will rarely challenge anything larger than themselves outside of their territory. It also seems that whilst in combat with a significant threat, Rathalos become enraged far more often than most other monsters.

One of Rathalos supporting factor of their successful survival is their intelligence that seems to be beyond of normal Wyvern's (Even Monster's) standard, there are several possible proves of this: in MH opening video, Rathalos claims the kill of a group of Velociprey, it is possible that the Rathalos simply waited for the Velociprey to do their job and then came to snatch the kill. In MH Tri opening video, Rathalos, once again spoiled from other's effort, preys on Aptonoth slowed down by a Jaggi pack. When confronting the Lagiacrus, Rathalos's challenging pose might be just a mere taunt so that the Lagiacrus would try to bite the evasive Rathalos instead of his catch, thus making Rathalos's escape with his prey a success. In MH 4 trailer, the Rathalos shoots down the unstable platform to remove his competitor the powerful Tigrex, this was not accidental, because it can be seen clearly that the Rathalos was aiming down to the platform.

Rathalos are especially aggressive during mating season, when territorial disputes are common. A single adult male's territory may exceed several hundred square kilometers, and competition for the best hunting grounds is fierce. Although Rathalos are known to fatally wound each other over said competitions, they are remarkably docile over the opposite sex. After mating with a female Rathian, Rathalos will play the role of a protective father, actively patrolling his territory for a significant threat, freeing the Rathian to hunt for food and care for offspring.