Coastrunner Bandersnatch

Splitting from its ancestor, the coastrunner bandersnatch has taken to the warm seas surrounding its ancestral island home. Akin to the floating bandersnatch, a distant cousin, it too has adapted to aquatic life. Membranous skin now connects its fingers together, and powerful back legs help them to move quickly along the surface, as well as dive below when in search of food. No longer as brilliantly colored as its ancestor nor possessing distinct forms of locomotion defined by gender - they are solely quadrupedal now - they nonetheless retain some morphological differences, such as in the jaw and the length of their front fingers. Females are also larger, by roughly 10 cm, and also more robust in form in order to nurture their developing young. Forming flocks consisting of several hundred individuals, this species is often encountered either lazily floating in the shallows or, several times a year, congregating on the shore. Mating occurs here, and the resulting young are also born here, typically in batches of five to six. These tiny snipes are somewhat helpless at first, yet within a week they are already walking, and will cling to their parent's backs as they go swimming. Such a mobile lifestyle has led to the coastrunner bandersnatch to be able to spread to the nearby island and establish several colonies upon its warm red beaches. (image depicts a female)