of a clan of tree runners. He is a clever tree runner, but also very selfish and underhanded. He has an unsteady alliance with a diatryma that is wounded on one of its legs, so it cannot successfully chase down prey. She must have Adapis bring her food or she will starve; in return, she protects Adapis' clan from any danger. Adapis tries feeding Icaron's group to the diatryma, but fails because of Dusk's brave actions that save many of the Chiropters. The enraged diatryma still demands a feast, and it is implied that tree runners - possibly including Adapis himself - would be offered in compensation. Species In Darkwing, animal species are often referred by their taxonomic clade name, rather than their own, which makes it difficult to know exactly what species each creature is. Where the species name is not known, they are listed under the name that they had in the book. The creatures are listed in the order of their appearance. The chiropters are fictional; a hypothetical species intended to represent a primitive bat. Chiropter Prehistoric Birds Quetzalcoatlus (referred to as "Quetzals") Miacis (referred to as "Felids") Paramys Prehistoric Owls Alphadon Prehistoric Primates (referred to as "Tree-runners") Gastornis (referred to as "Diatryma") Crocodiles (referred to as "Swamp Saurians") Phenacodus (referred to as "Equids") Hyaenodon Bisonalveus browni (referred to as "Soricid") Giant Spiders Theropod dinosaur (referred to as "Saurian") Note Although it's clear from the ending that there was more to come, no further prequels, to date, have been written. Publication history Darkwing was first released in Canada and the United States in August 2007. It was shortly followed with its release in the United Kingdom in May 2008. Below is the release details for the first edition hardback and paperback copies in these three publication regions. 2007, CAN, HarperCollins , Pub date August 16, 2007, Hardback 2007, US, Eos , Pub date August 21, 2007, Hardback 2008, UK, Faber Children's Books , Pub date May 1, 2008, Paperback 2008, US, Eos , Pub date August 26, 2008, Paperback 2008, CAN, HarperCollins , Pub date October 17, 2008, Paperback External links Darkwing Homepage 2007 Canadian novels Canadian young adult novels Canadian fantasy novels Novels by Kenneth Oppel Silverwing (series) Novels set in prehistory Prequel novels HarperCollins books Children's novels about animals 2007 children's books