Haplobrachids

This is a peculiar group of land animals that are united by the
lack of their upper arms and legs. While the comparisons with the organs of
Earth-based vertebrates are not exactly accurate, Haplobrachids have the
equivalents of hands and feet sticking straight out from their shoulder and hip
joints. Surprisingly, this hasn’t stopped them from being wildly successful in
numerous sprogland, forest-floor or even arboreal habitats. Haplobrachids are
very diverse as small-sized predators and herbivores in these environments and
they have some especially large bodied species as well.

Haplobrachids are thought to be closely related to Lophophids
and the problematic Sprogophidian clades, and these three groups are loosely
united under the clade Panophidia.

Species: Vermiphagus hessai
Common Name: None.
Size:
Around 20-25 centimeters long.
Habitat: Two isolated populations live on the
isolated forest patches in Pansavannah.

Blind, deaf and almost legless, this unassuming creature
belongs in a sister group to all other Haplobrachids. At first looking like a
Chasmostome, a further examination of Vermiphagus’ second head and limb
structure reveals that it indeed is a Haplobrachid, and the similarities between
the two groups are the results of convergent evolution.

Unlike most other burrowers of Snaiad, Vermiphagus
really lives underground instead of the surrounding layers of Sprog. It burrows
through the rich soil of the forest floor, feeding on whatever it bumps into.
Although Vermiphagus hessai has a very limited distribution, related
species of Vermiphage Haplobrachids live everywhere in the main landmasses of
Snaiad.

Species: Ophimus fossorialis
Common Names: Ofimus, Ratsnake,
Chirky.
Size: 12-15 centimeters long.
Habitat: All of Isterna above the
Ankyranian desert and Oroland, found mostly in the undergrowth.

Thanks to their high breeding rate, small size and omnivorous
diet, Ophimus and related Ophimyids can be found all over Snaiad in a
variety of different environments. These creatures skitter along the undergrowth
with their unique claw-crawling locomotion and nest together in communal
burrows. The species pictured here, O. fossorialis, is notable for its
brightly colored cheek flanges; extensions of the first-head mouth that give it
a larger storage area for food when foraging and space for a large litter of
babies during the breeding season. They feed on anything they can find, be it
Picozoans, Trikes, fruit, seeds, sprog-stalks or even the spongy fibers of sprog
itself. In return, they provide food for many species of small predators. As a
defense some Ophimyids, including O. fossorialis, have developed a
mildly venomous bite of their first heads. Found only in the males, this venom
is actually derived from their semen and is not harmful to human beings.

Some species of Ophimus (O. domesticus, O
melanocephalus) have proved easy to keep and breed in captivity, and are
well on their way to domestication. “Fancy” varieties with special colors and
lengthened cheek flanges are widely available in pet stores in the large cities.

Species: Citognathus sedator
Common Name: Pitsnake,
Headsnake, Hookjaw.
Size: Up to 120 centimeters long.
Habitat: Interior
plains and sprogland in Vesterna. Does not occur close to the sea.

The plains of the Western continent are dotted with burrows of
Citognathid Haplobrachids such as this; underground carnivores that lure their
prey with specialized, scented lures. The lure of Citognathus sedator
has specialized to mimic the ubiquitous spider-seastar invertebrates (Trikes)
that many small animals feed on. Other species have differently shaped lures
that mimic the prey items of different would-be predators. C. sedator
is the largest known species, easily growing over a meter long. Starting out
life as small, worm-like burrowers, they gradually replace active hunting with a
more sedentary luring behavior as they mature. While a well-positioned Citognath
may not need to leave its burrow for more than a year, they are still capable of
abandoning the nest and hunting their own prey if they go hungry for a long
time.

Like the closely related Ophimyids, members of this group
subdue their prey with venom that is deadly to local animals, but has
hallucinatory side-effects on humans. (Unlike the Ophimyids, both sexes have
venom in the Citognathids.) Teenagers from the cities of Savannah and Link
sometimes engage in “snake-riding,” deliberately inducing the Citognaths to bite
in order to get a buzz. Overdoses are known to be fatal.

Species: Bradypython insignai
Common Names: Slothsnake,
Slothworm.
Size: Up to 4-5 meters long, usually smaller.
Habitat: The
Azonic jungle, on the western tip of Vesterna.

Not all Haplobrachids are small ground scurriers. In the vast
expense of jungle in the Azonic region of Vesterna, a group of Haplobrachids
have grown larger than many other species in their lineage. The large, sluggish
Slothsnakes are more often heard than seen, with their stereo screams echoing
across the impenetrable chaos of the jungle. These calls serve to stake out the
individual Slothsnakes’ grazing territories and also attract mates. Slothsnakes
feed almost exclusively on vegetation and the fruits of the green and red plants
abundant across their range. They move rather slowly from tree to tree, usually
spending a few days on each gigantic plant to eat the best portions it has to
offer. Although they look defenseless their cryptic body shape, secretive habits
and finally, their sharp claws make sure that few predators in the jungle dare
to bother them.

There are more than ten known species of Slothsnakes living on
Snaiad, four of them in the Azonic jungle. It is certain that more await
discovery in the jungles, forests and the pinnacle ranges of Vesterna. The
species pictured here, B. insignai, is the largest one known, although
even larger “Megasnakes” are reported time to time by visiting explorers.

Species: Cynophis giganteus
Common Names: Garden of Eden
Serpent, Drop-snake.
Size: Up to 2.5 meters long.
Habitat: The Azonic
Jungle, also present on the Vesternian Pinnacle Range and surrounding
forests.

A predatory counterpart to the calm and peaceful Slothsnakes,
the Cynophidians are arboreal carnivores that developed independently from
ancestral Haplobrachid stock. The diverse and species-rich forests, pinnacle
ranges and jungles of Vesterna are home to an incredible variety of Spinostome
climbers, Jos, Slothsnakes and other herbivores, not to mention countless
invertebrates. Over time, carnivorous relatives of the Ophimyids seem to have
taken to the trees after them and developed into the Cynophidians. Like the
Ophimyids, some Cynophidians have sperm-borne poisons but the largest species,
like Cynophis giganteus pictured here, kill their prey solely through
the brute force of their claws and vise-like jaws on their first heads. Because
of their wait-and-pounce lifestyle, Cynophidians have secondarily tuned down the
efficiency of their metabolisms, remaining torpid and sluggish until they
encounter potential prey, which gets captured in a sudden spasm of frenzied
activity.

C. giganteus also employs an infamous
predatory strategy called “dropping” to capture large prey on the forest floor.
As suggested by its name, this behavior involves pouncing onto the prey animal
from a low-lying branch, usually killing it through the force of the drop alone.
However, this is a very risky strategy that leaves C. giganteus
vulnerable to other predators or even physical injury. One eyewitness account
reports the demise of an unfortunate individual that attempted to jump on a
passing Azonic Lophophid (Erion pentalophus,) but accidentally broke
its own backbone upon hitting the ground the wrong way!

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associated with this project belong to Nemo Ramjet, unless otherwise stated.