Shorelance

The shorelance split and has evolved to be considerably different from its ancestor. For starters, the shorelance has a much more omnivorous diet, feeding on all sorts of things that can fit into its beak including vermees, dartirs, sunstalks, and marbleflora. It has also evolved a body more suited for running on land by considerably reducing the webbing in its feet and developing stronger legs than its ancestor. In order for it to defend itself, the shorelance has not only evolved small wooden spines on its back, but it has also evolved petrolignin (calcified cellulose), much like its distant relative, the stonebeak phlyer, in its entire skeleton; with this petrolignin, its reinforced beak and teeth make pecks and bites that are considerably more effective than other plents of similar size. The more rigid structure of the petrolignin-reinforced skeleton, while heavier than wood, allows the shorelance to run without its limbs twisting or bending under it. It has also evolved peculiar patterns that help camouflage it on beaches; the dominant phenotype having blue splotches while the recessive phenotype has green splotches instead. In terms of behavioral evolution, the shorelance is still social, migratory, and aggressive, much like its ancestor. A group of shorelances is called a 'meander' and these meanders typically consist of 6 to 10 members. The shorelance now uses the sun and moon to orient itself and to migrate north and south. During the winter, they travel to more temperate regions to keep warm; whereas in the summer, they travel to more polar regions to keep cool. When shorelances cannot see either one, typically during cloudy days, they typically stay put and wait for the sun or moon to show up again. If this takes too long, the shorelances will wander in circles, along with eating and drinking. Shorelances are crepuscular and when it's time for them to sleep, they gather together and rest; being crepuscular further helps them avoid nocturnal and diurnal predators. Shorelances have also taken upon hitch-hiking seashrog nests, which has caused them to spread further out from their island origin. Shorelances living in seashrog nests also live in somewhat smaller groups than those living on the beaches and they still manage to migrate either by waiting for the seashrog to travel to their destination or by hopping from one nest to another that’s nearby. Shorelances living in these nests tend to mooch off some of the food stored by seashrogs, but they make up for this by not only keeping out pests, but also killing kakonats on board as well. This makes them fairly useful for the seashrogs keep in their nests. The shorelance and the kakonat are practically mortal enemies as kakonats will eat baby shorelances and sometimes weaker adults, while meanders of shorelances will gang up on and peck and bite kakonats to death and eat them.