Wriggletail Chromoleoxus

The wriggletail chromoleoxus split off from their ancestor when some populations of Chromanke began to hunt prey close to the water’s edge. Often descending to the ground and waiting for small prey to pass by before snatching them with their tongues. To better capitalize on this resource, the descendants of these chromanke populations would develop several different adaptations to better suit them for such a lifestyle.

While the wriggletail chromoleoxus is no longer arboreal, which resulted in them getting larger since they no longer need to support themselves on thin branches, the tail is still prehensile and highly flexible. This is because they use their color changing abilities to have the tail tip resemble a species of the Vermees genus group that had fallen into the water. The promise of a tasty morsel lures in the small carnivores of the river such as Hammerhead Shockers and will also draw the attention of critters such as the tadpoles of Sailmails or migrating Glowsnappers. As they move closer and closer to the bait, the mobile eyes of the wriggletail chromoleoxus lock onto the target while the saganisuchian remains still except for the tail tip. Once it is in range, the wriggletail chromoleoxus will shoot out its long tongue, which now wraps around its target and hold on as the prey is then brought back to the mouth. The large backward-curving teeth in the wriggletail chromoleoxus’ jaws prevent the prey’s escape as it struggles. While its lost the majority of its sticky saliva of its ancestors, the wriggletail chromoleoxus still secretes it at the tip of the tongue to aid to grabbing prey to further increase the chances it will be caught.

While it does spend a good amount of its time luring prey in, the wriggletail chromoleoxus does not solely rely upon this strategy and can also hunt down prey by entering the water. Because of its shape, the wriggletail chromoleoxus is not a particularly good swimmer and so it instead moves underwater by crawling along the river bed with its sticky toe pads. The wriggletail chromoleoxus will rely on ambush when actively looking for prey rather than luring it in, often using its forelimbs in a sort of giant push-up to lunge towards a victim such as aquatic Bubblehorns or an unwary Sloshbelly and snap them up in their elongated jaws.

Due to its lifestyle, the wriggletail chromoleoxus often experiences competition with the Loafshell, which often culminates in the two species getting into fights with the two species killing and eating one another being not uncommon. The two species manage to coexist because they both hunt slightly different kinds of prey (with loafshells also hunting terrestrial prey while the wriggletail chromoleoxus only hunts in and around the rivers) and because the ectothermic metabolism of the wriggletail chromoleoxus means it does not need to hunt as frequently as an endothermic loafshell. The only time a wriggletail chromoleoxus climbs a tree is to lay their eggs, since they still keep them within a foamy nest which keeps them moist until they hatch. Once they do hatch, the young wriggletail chromoleoxus will drop into the water and feed upon small small aquatic prey until they become developed enough to adopt the lifestyles of the adults. Much like their ancestors, the wriggletail chromoleoxus does not exhibit parental care, and adults will occasionally eat the tadpoles of their own species since they do not differ that much from their regular prey when they are young.

Much like their ancestors, the wriggletail chromoleoxus will change their colors for communication, turning black and red as warning colors to drive off intruders since they may compete for resources.