Swiftstrainer

When the combstrainers found themselves prey to both the dome-headed and shorthorn gulpers, a small group arose who split off from the rest of their species. These new creatures were capable of taking to flight significantly faster than their combstrainer cousins, and were at the same time faster flyers. Although they may have been able to replace their ancestors, this was not to be - the swiftstrainers instead moved away from their predators with their newfound speed, and eventually found their way to Somarinoa Beach.

Here they found new hardships, and adapted to feed on the microorganisms here; this mainly consisted of them taking mouthfuls of fine purple-gray sand near the surf to sift out the testudohexapodia acta and trisphourus living therein. Due to the differences in consistency between this sand and the water of Slarti River, they take a bit longer to sift out their prey, which makes them more susceptible to predators. Because of this, they have also adapted a small throat pouch, to hold a small amount of sand in case they need to take off in a hurry, to keep from making the sift a waste of effort and time. Unfortunately, their light weight and small size prevents them from taking full mouthfuls of sand, and most of the sand is lost in the process of escape.

Due to the lack of natural cover for them to use during resting periods, they are known for returning to the Huggs-Yokto Savanna, where they continue their commensal relationship with sailbacked bearhog plents. Even in doing so, however, they do not often come in contact with their ancestors, as they reside in a completely different part of the savanna now, generally being within 25 miles of the Somarinoa Beach as opposed to Slarti River.

Swiftstrainers have not retained the mating habits of their ancestors, and have instead gained a new style. They do continue to make nests out of the violetgrass within the savanna, but instead of making quiet "tick-tick-tick" sounds using their comb-thorns, they will make tiny hops to and fro on the ground, and then zip quickly into the air before returning to the ground. This "zip" shows off their speed to a potential mate, and is highly sought after by female swiftstrainers, although it is known to give away the position of their precious nest. When this happens, the swiftstrainers will fly away if they spot the foe in time, only to return when the predators have gone to continue their ritual.

The ungainly-looking beak still allows for swift speeds by certain areas within the skull being hollow, to reduce its weight. Most of the remaining weight of the skull is mainly distributed around the eyes and the base of the neck.