Wingless Florasnapper

The wingless florasnapper split from its ancestor. It has completely lost flight via deletion of its wing finger, as it rarely flew and the wing was often torn as it used its forelimbs for other things. This deletion was caused by a change in morphogen levels, similar to that which handles the number of digits on the limbs of Terran vertebrates, which resulted in the last finger simply never developing at all. It is a grazing herbivore which lives over much of Lamarck, mostly eating vingrasions and related flora which it clips using its beak and chews using its teeth. It is able to exist as a grazer in the woodlands due to Lamarck’s trees not providing significant shade, thus allowing a lush undergrowth to thrive. It has developed a tympanic ear which allows it to listen for danger. As it lives in generally warmer climates than its ancestor, its plumage is shorter and its tail has returned to a greater length for better balance. Northern populations have longer, shaggier plumage, however, and southern populations have a longer winter coat. Over the winter, the wingless florasnapper survives by using its clawed forelimbs to uncover the prongs of dormant vingrasions for sustenance.

Much like its ancestor, the wingless florasnapper lays hard-shelled eggs. In the northern part of its range, it must take advantage of the short subpolar summer and nest as early as possible, while further south its nesting season is a little bit more relaxed, spanning late spring and early summer. It nests hidden among shrubs such as tetrabrachs, and both parents watch over the nest and incubate the eggs. They will brutally attack anything that even looks like it might be a predator, ensuring their young are safe. Chicks are fully feathered and able to run very soon after hatching, allowing them to follow their parents and flee from danger. Wingless florasnappers reach maturity in one year and can live for up to nine.