Pedesorm

Living in a rather isolated environment, the pedesorm arose when several populations of shieldworms moved inland on Maineiac island. Now thriving in a more temperate climate, these tiny creatures have had to adapt to more treacherous terrain, thus giving rise to their most prominent features, their long, slender primary legs. These limbs allow them to walk about and upon the various rocks and fallen flora, giving them increased mobility, but at a price. Because they are now supported higher off the ground, their shells have become lighter and thinner in order to reduce the weight of them. While now serving as a mere pitiful defense against such predators as the karybdos, they still function in providing internal attachments, acting as a sort of partial exoskeleton. A warmer climate means more available decaying food to feed on, but also means that said food will rot away faster and likely attract other scavengers before a pedesorm can get to it. Thus the pedesorms needed to evolve a stronger sense of "smell" from their tentacular lips running down their "nose". These taste the air for the tantalizing flavor of decay, and they then follow these trails back to the source. Large corpses can provide an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord that can last for weeks at a time, and also serve as prime mating sites. Males and females will often gorge themselves before mating with one another, then lay eggs encapsulated in protective mucus membranes which are then buried in the rich volcanic soil for protection. These eggs will then hatch in a relatively short time, and then mature and reach a breeding age within several weeks, before fulfilling a rather short lifespan within a year or two, if they're lucky.