Cimetroiani

Examples of various species of cimetroianians

### Size

0,1 - 15 meters long (a tentacled species can stretch its tentacles to a maximum of 100 meters and have a diameter of over 200 meters when stretched horizontally)

### Geographic distribution

Terra Septentrionis, Media Insula, Micha, Vadum Mare

### Canonicity

Canon

The genus Marecrimex are a highly derived form of Cobalpede cimetroians, evolving from an extinct transitional genus between organisms similar to modern 'Goblin Walkers' and the Cimelamina clade. They live an aquatic lifestyle, mostly concentrated in the west of Media Insula and Vadum Mare, but the cribeis species also has populations on the southern coast of Terra Septentriornis. They are restricted in habitat by current temperature in water, and are generally incapable of surviving in areas with cold water currents. They live similar to Manatees and Dugongs of earth (hence the common name 'Beetong', a portmanteau of 'Beetle' and 'Dugong'), floating along the surface of water and eating aquatic plants (though they can be omnivorous), often living in herd-like structures for protection. They are capable of dragging themselves onto dry land and eating land plants, but they are even more slow and sluggish outside of water. To remain buoyant, they have large, highly specialized lungs which are capable of retaining air in pockets without respiration, while the main body of the lung still functions normally. They also have more blubbery, low-density flesh than most Cimetroians. Similar to the Boulderback, Beetongs' shells are often host to small communities of many organisms. There are two species of Beetong- cribeis (the grazers) and pascoris (the filterers\* The type species shown is pascoris. The two species are very similar in morphology, save for two adaptations in the pascoris- the sensory fibers on their arms have grown into baleen-like, numb filters, designed to collect small organisms in the water. Eating them is where the second adaptation comes in- the longer, more mobile tongue, which rakes through the fibers, eating whatever is trapped in them. Calling the two species 'Grazing' and 'Filtering', while not entirely inaccurate, is somewhat misleading, as both species rely on grazing as their primary form of consuming food, and both can be omnivorous.

The mud skimmer lives in shallow water, scanning the seabed with camera-style eyes and two proboscis that have evolved into sensitive feelers to look for camouflaged prey. It has evolved holes on the top of its head to detect if there is a larger predator directly above it so that it can hide.

The serene sand swimmers evolved from the Mud Skimmer and a member of the Cimetroian family. It is terrestrial and burrows through sand to find smaller prey or rooted polyspeculates. It has basic eye structures on the top of its head to poke out of the sand and watch out for predators or unsuspecting prey. Its primary eyes are covered with eyelids and eyelashes which protect them from the sand.

The Sand Swimmers lay hard-shelled eggs in the sand similarly to turtles and does not look after its young.Two proboscis evolved into shovel-like claws which, along with its fins, help it move through sand very quickly.

Goblin walkers are a descendant of Sand Swimmer and a member of the Cimetroian family.
They live in the savannahs primarily, but migrates to different biomes in large social herds. It communicates with other members of the species by changing the colour of its eyes and changing the pattern too.
The shovel-like claws of the sand swimmer have evolved to be grasping claws, which are used to pick up smaller dispeculates and polyspeculates.
They are about the size of camels and have comparatively high intelligence (parenting, communication, teamwork, problem solving).

Beetlebacks are a descendant of the Goblin Walker.
They travel in large herds over long distances to find food to eat. Their beak structures have inverted to appear like horns, which they use for fighting off predators or fighting for mates.
Like the Goblin Walker, it retains the ability to communicate through changing eye colour.
They fill a similar niche to a modern Rhino.

Yeti claws are a descendant of the Beetlebacks.
 It is an omnivore that lives in the Tundra/Arctic environments. They travel in large herds searching for slow moving prey. They huddle together in blizzards to survive and use their hair to help incubate eggs.
These creatures are very territorial and will work together to fight back against anything that threatens them. Anything unlucky enough to be caught in the middle of a herd would likely be torn apart by their claws.

Tree huggers are a descendant of Goblin Walker.
They live in dense forests and cling to branches with tentacle-like legs, using its brightly coloured claws to attract pollinators. If it sees prey on a lower down branch or if it sees no food in its direct area, it uses membranes between its legs to glide short distances between branches.
It is omnivorous and usually eats anything it can get a hold of. They are very small, about the size of a crow. They can use the colour changing of their eyes to hypnotise less intelligent prey.

Caped skyders are a descendant of the Tree Hugger.
This species evolved to become an aerial hunter that dives down from trees in forests and uses the membranes between its legs to fly and contracting its legs for powered flight. It has a tough time getting off of the ground, so it prefers to climb trees and jump off of them. When it is on the ground, it uses its 8 legs to crawl similarly to a spider.

It has evolved 3 digits to its claws rather than just 2 so that it can get a better grip on what it is hunting as it dives down from above. Its eyes are also larger and forward facing to ensure the best vision for hunting prey from long distances.

When hunting, it uses two claw-like proboscis as well as a rake/tusk structure on the front of its head to drag through the sand and displace anything hiding in it. Anything that tries to swim away will be chased and caught.

Tusked sand drakes are a descendant of the Mud Skimmer.
Similarly to the mud skimmer, it is a bottom feeder that lives in shallow water. It is more mobile and finds it easier to hide in the sea bed due to the eyes on top of its head. Due to this, it has outcompeted the mud skimmer to exctinction.

Catchers are a descendant of the Goblin Walker and a member of the Cimetroian family.
It has moved from being terrestrial to being aquatic, hunting marine animals as a result. Floats on the surface of the ocean and when it senses movement underneath, it will strike out with its long arms to catch it. It senses movement with long and sensitive structures on their forearms covered in trigger hairs that can sense even the smallest of disturbances nearby.

Due to its limited movement, the animal can be mistaken for a corpse being carried off in the current, which is why so many scavengers fall to the claws of this creature.

Marsh treaders are a descendant of the Tree Hugger and a member of the Cimetroian family.
This species evolved to walk along the ground again and tread through shallow water to catch water dwelling prey. It uses the membranes between its legs to cast a shadow which draws prey under it, similarly to a modern day heron. It is very tall, so it uses its long arms to reach down into the water to grab prey rather than its mouth.
It is camouflaged to look similar to vegetation that could be found in a marsh and stands very still when hunting, waiting for something to swim along so that it can catch it.

Dig lumps are a descendant of the Sand Swimmer and a member of the Cimetroian family.
This species is semi-sessile and barely moves when it finds some good soil to settle in. This creature half buries itself in the ground and digs using its legs. Some of its legs have developed into sensory organs with claws on the end, similarly to its proboscis at the front of its body.
Its mouth has migrated to be placed beneath it, allowing it to grab and eat prey beneath it rather than straight ahead of it. Its mouth can also extend and move around like the other two proboscis. Its spiracles have moved up to be above the soil so that it can still breathe air when buried.

Boulderbacks are a descendant of the Beetleback and a member of the Cimetroian family.
It is a larger omnivore, about the size of an elephant, that is semi-sessile (like the dig lump). Unlike the dig lump, these creatures settle in ponds or lakes and have formed a symbiotic relationship with moss and pond scum. The boulderback produces waste that acts as food for the pond scum and the pond scum/moss also grows along the body of the creature for more sunlight. The boulderback eats the moss and pond scum, but also eats anything unlucky enough to come to the pond for a drink.

Their front arms have sentidigits, which are sensory structures to help them detect prey due to having bad eyesight. Their legs are large and thick, being used to hold up the huge body of the creature while also helping it dig ponds deeper so that they can fit in them.

Adults have such hard shells and large bodies that they have no natural predators, while the young can be vulnerable. The adults only leave their ponds once a year to find a mate, using their back legs as claspers to help in this process.

Pond skimmers are a descendant of the Tree Hugger.
The smallest known Cimetroian (maximum of 10cm long), it uses its light weight and bony plates on its legs to skim along the surface of water or walk on particularly viscous or algae covered ponds. Its front and back limbs have evolved to face upward and grab onto branches, while the other legs are long, thin and walk on water using their bony plates.

Its diet mainly consists of smaller creatures that have fallen into the water or things that swim near the surface, similarly to a modern day pond skater.

Rainbow faces are a descendant of Beetleback and a member of the Cimetroian family.
Behaviour and diet similar to Beetlebacks, but these animals have lost their horns to make space for intricate patterns used to attract mates. They have a thick and compact shell to protect them from predators, but this does mean that they move quite slowly.
Like its relatives, it can change its eye colour to communicate with other members of its species, warning them if a predator is nearby so that they can group up for protection. They primarily live in savannahs or grassy plains but are known to move around a lot.

Vampire beetles are a descendant of the Tree Hugger and a member of the Cimetroian family.
This Cimetroian has evolved to have a predatory/parasitic niche, using its beak and mandibles to draw out the blood of its prey. It is nocturnal and it attracts prey using reflective pads on its limbs, which reflect moonlight.
it lives on the forest floor and primarily hunts smaller animals by standing beneath a gap in the trees and waving around its limbs to attract nocturnal animals before catching them with its mandibles.

The so-called Mountain Eater (tentatively classified as Gigafodius Mandos) is a gargantuan Wallafodian Cimetroian, belonging to the same subclade as the Diglump, albeit a highly derived genus. The mountain eater mates for only a short period of time in its life, as an adolescent (about 5 years of age) that walks on its eight limbs, standing about 2 meters tall. After this, males will stay the same size and mate until they die, while females will mate only once. Once this mating season is over, the females will find rich soil to start to dig into, burying themselves in it. As they fully mature, they grow bioluminescent apendages, and have their eyes and head migrate to the ventral portion, directly under the large, protective shell. They live off of anything and everything living in the soil they consume, hollowing out massive caverns underneath their bodies, which can grow up to 12 meters tall (not counting the tentacle limbs, which can get up to 50 meters in length, but have the capability to stretch to nearly 100 meters). They use their waste matter to support their massive weight, allowing them to stay suspended above their feeding caverns for hundreds of years, thanks to their slow metabolism. Females will lay their eggs in clutches of 20-30 in this stage, with decades-long gestation periods, with the offspring's first year spent around the mother, living off of the microecosystem these behemoths have around them. Due to things like disease and malnutrition, these massive organisms rarely live past an estimated 2 centuries, though evidence that they can live up to 3 has been found. When they do die, they fall into the pits they made, which causes the ground they've taken up residence in to collapse, making huge sinkholes that are very nutrient-rich, thanks to the massive dead organism at their center.

Giant vampire beetles are a descendant of the Vampire Beetle and a member of the Cimetroian family.
A larger variant (size of a large dog) of the vampire beetle that crawls through the forests in search of sleeping animals to bite and drink the blood of. It still preys on smaller animals by using the reflective pads on its limbs, but it has learned to exploit the giant sizes of the animals of Wallace II by using its beak and mandibles to break open armour and suck blood from their target.
Females lay their eggs in corpses of animals that they have killed so that when they hatch the babies have something to eat, allowing them to grow quickly.

Plague doctors are a descendant of the giant vampire beetle and a member of the Cimetroian family.
This cimetroian has adapted a longer and sharper beak and a stronger biting force to break through the armour of larger aliens. It is the largest member of the genus and its jaws can even break through the armour of bone trees. Despite filling out a parasitic role, it is common for its prey to die of their wounds, which is perfect for the plague doctor as it is free to eat or drink as much as it likes.