Fanhead Gossalizard

The fanhead gossalizard split from its ancestor, the rainforest gossalizard and moved to the North Barlowe Boreal and the Barlowe Rocky areas, where they are in constant competition with the woodland gossalizard. The fanhead gossalizard has traded its armour for speed, allowing it more maneuverability and agility than the significantly larger woodland gossalizard. They hunt most creatures in their local areas, though they avoid the poisonous bandersnatch and the both the larger beaktrunk and woodland gossalizard, and cannot dig to reach the spelunkhoe. They may scavenge corpses or even use their superior numbers to steal kills from the woodland gossalizard when the going gets tough. It also now hunts nocturnally in packs of around 6-8, allowing it to set elaborate ambushes and traps for prey. Its front legs have also evolved into arms, which it uses to pin smaller prey to the ground and scratch larger creatures. When hunting larger prey, they use their stealth and razor sharp teeth to tear open the back of the targets legs, preventing escape. They are also partially arboreal, resting in trees or crags during the day and sometimes ambushing prey from the trees. The packs they live in are usually made up of the young offspring, several females who look after the young and sometimes assist in the hunt, a dominant alpha male, and several younger beta males (often the alpha's offspring or from another pack), who will have left the pack to join another by the age of 5 if they have not already done so. The fanhead gossalizards will smash rival packs eggs and kill the young, meaning that only a couple of young on average make it to the fully-grown age of 4 a year in each pack. Those that survive can live to around 30. Packs mark their territory and eggs with silk which is unique in terms of smell to every individual. This silk can be spun with the 2 front arms which have evolved into dedicated-silk producing organs The fanhead gossalizards fans work by pumping blood into them, which causes them to become brighter than the usual dull colouring used for camouflauge. They use the fans to startle and intimidate both prey and predators; the males also use them in conjunction with their silk to attract mates. Most fanhead gossalizards are now developing tiny amounts of bioluminescent bacteria under their skin.