Dentamontia

**Dentamontians** are clade of celernantids that are alive today.

## Evolution and taxonomy

Dentamontians are ancient celernantids, and the basalmost clade of the Celeramontia clade, one infamous for including most land-dwelling celernantids alive today, known by paleontologists as the "first wave of terrestrial celernantids". Dentamontians have diverged from the other extant celeramontians (the Celerantula clade), some 303 million years ago, before the Tenerian, suggesting celernantids were already making their transition onto land way earlier than previously thought. Extant dentamontians themselves haven't diverged themselves very later, estimated to have diverged 286 million years ago, still as aquatic species. Though the sensumontians, which already had developed limbs to walk on land, if needed, evolved 269 million years ago, still in the Tenerian. The Zomonties clade has been very common over the last millions of years, first arriving some 250 million years ago in the late Tenerian, seemingly restricted to colder northern waters. After the Tenerian-Accomodatian extinction event, they diversified into many species, into the Scelusian, Compsogene and Recensgene, but only one species survives today.

Dentamontians have historically been assigned to other clades, before rigorous genetic analysis took place. It was believed these were basal ambulospeculids, that were still transitioning from the water to the land, but eventually it was realized that they were celernantids.

Celeramontia (303-0)

* Dentamontia (286-0)
	+ Dentacranial ichtioid
	+ Sensumontia (269-0)
		- Sensum
		- Zomonties
* Celerantula (301-0)

## Characteristics

Dentamontians are usually regarded as an example of what the first land-dwelling celernantids would have looked like. Despite many of them having flippers they show the versatility of celernantid limb structures, already proving an erect posture that allows them to easily crawl into land. Most dentamontians display an abbility to breath atmospherical air. They all have eight limbs and three proboscises. Their respiratory orifices at the sides of the body have migrated to more upper positions, indicating that the migration of them might have been the first step to make the transition onto air-breathing. Sensum is likely the one that is most derived. Just like many dispeculates, the number and distribution of the respiratory orifices is variable and highly mutational, forcing taxonomists to not usually use them as standards for classifying a species. Sensum has a vertical row of orifices just at its "shoulders", which allow this creature to breath both air and water when shifting between the two. Dentamontians are jawless. They might show a pronounced, tough and even serrated rostrum, but the proboscis do the proboscis are largely elementary. Sensum proboscises are very simple, but Zomonties frontal proboscis has a large spine, used to break ice and bore into the flesh of its prey. Some dentacranial ichthioids have proboscis covered in external skin, which makes them look seemlessly attached to the overall head. Their eyes are usually smaller than the typical ancestral celernantid, but Sensum retains a large bulbous "eye" that is just two large compound eyes merged into one bulbous orb that gives it stereotypical vision. The limbs are articulated, which allows them to walk on the bottom of the water, or, in some species, on land. Sensum is the most terrestrial, but young extant Zomonties (as well as some extinct species) have been observed crawling and standing on land or ice. Aquatic species have flippers too. Sensum has some fins in the legs to help with underwater locomotion, Zomonties use them for traditional swimming, and dentacranial ichthioids are known to use their flippers to even glide. Armour in dentamontians is present in the dorso, and sometimes in the head as well, for protection.

The size of dentamontians is pretty variable. All of them are smaller than a man, but the only extant species of Zomonties reaches a maximum size of 11 meters in length.

## Distribution and habitat

Dentamontians are found both in water and on land. Sensum is the only "terrestrial" dentamontian, and likely evolved terrestrial habitats independently from celerantulans. Sensum is also found in brackish and even freshwater courses in the coasts of Media Insula. Otherwise dentamontians live in the ocean. Their geographical distribution is mostly restricted to the northern hemisphere. It is not known to have any particular reason for that, and its likely coincidential. The most diverse group of dentamontians, the dentacranial ichthioids live in tropical and temperate waters surrounding Occidentis. The deeper waters meet stable shallow lagoons that make it the perfect environment for these highly aquatic dentamontians to reside. Sensum benefits from the tropical shallow waters of western Media Insula to move from water to land with efficiency. Zomonties, in contrast, lives in the cold icy waters of the north, in Terra Septentrionis and northern Occidentis coasts.

## Diet

The diet of dentamontians is very variable. Sensum, for example, is a herbivore, benefiting from the abundance of flora in the warm climates of tropical Media Insula, and also something its simple proboscis can support. Meanwhile the "arctic" seas are less favourable for herbivores, and Zomonties is a carnivore. It hunts for large dispeculates in the seas, but also hunts some walking on the ice line. Its rostrum and proboscis is adapted to perforate the ice and hunt the unfortunate creatures. For hunting, the Zomonties is also equipped with a venomous sting in its proboscis that might be useful to take down prey that are much larger than anticipated. Dentacranial ichthioids belong to a basal and diverse clade that includes various creatures, often with inter-symbiotic relationships. There are various herbivorous and carnivorous species, the latter even prey on other related species.

## Sociality and intelligence

Dentamontians are not very social, at least the sensumontians. The basal dentacranial ichthioid clade usually live in groups and use their colorful structures to signal each other when they found food, which is a sign of advanced sociality in these basal celernantids. When comparing the intelligence of Zomonties to that of Earth animals, its intelligence is close to that of a beta fish.

## Reproduction

Just like most celernantids, dentamontians are oviparous. Dentacranial ichthiois lay lots of eggs, a survival strategy to make sure at least some of their babies survive, as most of the eggs and babies are eaten before becoming adults. Sensumontians usually use their proboscis to carry their eggs after they have been laid, and later they are laid somewhere else, usually close to other living beings, like in another dispeculate's burrow, latched onto their skin, on polyspeculates or even inside living dispeculates. Zomonties is likely the most intriguing, storing the eggs inside the proboscis and then hunting for a large prey item, where it eventually stuns them with its venom. After the prey is immobilized or weak, it will inject its eggs inside the body of the creature and eventually let it swim free. The heat of the body of the prey will incubate the eggs and protect them from the frigid water. The venom also acts as a body temperature raising mechanism to help in that task.