Turpiscarnifex mesomelas - black faced butcher

by Happycat

## Etymology

The family name Saburramhabitatoria translates to "resident of rocky wasteland" in Latin. It was given by Dr. Bob Smith. The holotypic species was Turpiscarnifex mesomelas, commonly known as the black faced butcher. It is a dweller of barren high deserts of Media Insula. They grow as large as 90 centimeters long from front claw tip to the end of their tail and mass up to 9 kilograms.

## Evolution and classification

By 270 MYA, members of Gomphiobia had diversified through the salt marshes of much of the supercontinent of Wallace II. Before Planacorporia fully evolved into their modern flat body shape, their ancestors had begun to visit the land. At first, this was probably short trips to better marshlands or to scavenge at the shore.

By now, the primal Planacorporians had evolved large front pincers and respiration of air. Although their cartilaginous skeleton had fully ossified, their bodies still were mostly cylindrical and they still had most of their bony scales. Possibly attracted by the abundant ambulospeculid food source, a branch of the Planacorporia had begun to permanently colonize the land by 280 MYA. They could drag themselves by their two powerful front pincer arms and their kicking back legs.

Their large pincers with opposable grasping claw were ideal for catching and cracking apart the hard shells of ambulospeculids. Powered by powerful muscles in their tail, their rear sets of legs lengthened and strengthened for fast movement on land. Their grasping fingers developed into wide feet with three powerful and opposable claws. Their rostrum spike reduced greatly. They evolved and formed the genus Saburramhabitatoria.

Approximately 242 MYA, tectonic plate movement ripped the supercontinent of Wallace II apart at its seams. As a result, fountains of scorching lava and toxic gasses gushed from the massive volcanic activity covering millions of square kilometers. This violent upheaval started a mass extinction. Wallace II was strangled by volcanic ash, carbon dioxide, and sulfuric acid rain. The global temperature skyrocketed and oxygen levels plunged.

Any time there is a change, there is a chance to get ahead. The formerly thriving population of land Ambulospeculida couldn't get enough oxygen through their spiracles to support their large size. In addition, their respiratory organs couldn't handle the fine volcanic ash. This drove larger Ambulospeculida into extinction, leaving the niche of apex land predator wide open.
Unlike members of Ambulospeculida, the long proboscis with complicated structures resembling photosynthesis organs and fine sensory hairs offered a measure of protection against volcanic ash. The ancestral respiratory organs that let basal submerged Planacorporia pull air down to them filtered sufficient air through their proboscises to permit Saburramhabitatoria to rule the volcanic wastelands.

## Physical characteristics

While a male of the largest extant species, Turpiscarnifex draconis, can reach over 2 meters and weigh 100 kilograms, most species are far smaller. A meter long and ten kilograms is more typical. This was not true in the past. Fossil skeletons of ancestors of Turpiscarnifex draconis, notably Ambulolanius horridus, range up to six meters long with an estimated mass of well over a ton.

Atavism returned their thick dorsal ridge of heavy bone, only serving as their skull. Their brain is now housed under their dorsal ridge, giving them the fastest reaction time possible in their limbs, eyes and olfactory organs. Compared to a gomphiobian or even a planacorporian, their brain is quite large. This allows for more complex behaviors, memory, and learning.
Saburramhabitatorian skin is covered by osteoderms derived from those on gomphiobian but smaller and far smaller, with an interlocking chain mail pattern. Generally, they are colored to be camouflaged in the local terrain.

As in planacorporians, their lower proboscis atrophied and formed a mouth with teeth plates. Both remaining proboscises connect to an air sack that forces air into an organ composed of a series of blood vessel filled chambers structurally resembling the fractal form known as a Jerusalem sponge. This serves as their two "lungs." Sphincters and air sacks pull the air through a one-way path, inhaling through their proboscis and exhaling through their ancestral gomphobian spiracles.

Most species evolve features on their proboscis to resemble local foliage. For example, the holotypic species, Turpiscarnifex mesomela, evolved horny needles to resemble the stem and spines of Pedeacus wheeleri or Wheeler's common foot-needle.

They have a simple pit eye with a sensitive infra-red detector in their proboscis that, along with their electroreceptors, is used for hunting. Their compound eyes expanded to near 360-degree vision, allowing quicker reactions to avoid predators.

## Distribution and habitat

Saburramhabitatoria may be found in warm deserts throughout Wallace II.

## Food and foraging

Saburramhabitatoria locate their prey by smell, infra-red detection, and electroreception from two widely spaced proboscises. This allows them to quickly triangulate on the location of their target. Their powerful rear legs enable them to jump as much as ten meters. Once their prey is within range, they spring onto them and engage their victim with their pincers and occasionally with kicks from the claws on their rear feet.

## Behavior

Almost all extant Saburramhabitatoria are nocturnal. Saburramhabitators are solitary and hide in burrows or between rocks during the day. At night, they creep out to their hunting perch. There, they lie in ambush, safely hidden except for the tips of their proboscis, which generally resembles a common celestiphyta in their home range.

## Reproduction

Unlike egg-laying planacorporians, all extant Saburramhabitators are ovoviviparous. Males inseminate the females with the aid of an extension on their anus. The eggs form and are hatched within the mother, in effect giving live birth. Intrauterine cannibalism is the norm, with the strongest and most aggressive individual being the only one of tens of fertilized eggs that lives to birth. This one offspring receives extended maternal care and protection.