Nudesferatu
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As dense tropical forests gave way to more open woodlands, scrub, and plains upon the continent of Wallace, any creature that moved into these habitats could become quite successful. For some populations of gnawsferatu, this opportunity would tempt them to leave behind the dense rainforests they originated in and become more adapted for open environments, eventually becoming a unique species in their own right.
Known as the nudesferatu, this species of dweller has become a very successful herbivore within the interior of Wallace. The main changes seen in this species relate towards its new habitat and an increasing trend for cursoriality, such as having grown bigger now that it does not dwell in dense forests where being big makes it harder to navigate through foliage. Additionally, the hind limbs and caudal leg have become longer in the nudesferatu, increasing overall stride length and thus allowing to both cover more ground in a day and to run faster so it can escape predators like the cicatrizargo. The species has also completely lost the armor plating on their back, since they now rely on speed and endurance to avoid predation and the armor merely weighed them down. The species also relies on their senses to avoid predators, possessing excellent eyesight and smell and decent hearing. The species still hears by using the crests to pass sound through the skin that resonates with the thin bone core to be detected by the jawbones adjacent to it. The crests have also become important for thermoregulation, as nudesferatus can flush blood to the crests so they can shed heat, an important adaptation in a generally hot climate.
While many other herbivores in parts of their range generally feed upon a few types of foliage and are specialized for such diets, the nudesferatu differs in that they are generalists, being willing to eat nearly any kind of foliage. Although a bulk of their diet comes from phenophytes, who are by far the most abundant group of flora in the area, nudesferatus will also feed upon melanophytes, glass flora, crystal flora, and other kinds of flora if they come across them. The front teeth still grow continuously throughout the dweller's life, allowing them to keep up with the regular wear experienced by feeding on tough vegetation like bark and hard shells. These front teeth still snip off bits of foliage so their large molars can then grind it up into an easy to swallow pulp. While the claws on the forelimbs have shrunk down slightly, they are still useful for digging and can be used to expose tasty roots. While the diets of certain populations can vary quite a bit due to what is present and what isn't, a general trend seen is that nudesferatus have a preference for small species of ferries as well as swordgrasses and shrooms. Indeed, in certain areas as much as 80% of a nudesferatu's diet consists of the berries, leaves, and twigs of various ferry species.
The outer toes on the caudal leg are further raised off the ground and are smaller in size, due to the more cursorial nature of the nudesferatu compared to its direct ancestor. Despite this, the claws on the outer toes are still sharp since the species does still use them as offensive weapons. These claws are deployed as weapons when a nudesferatu is facing off against a smaller threat, where they will lean forward and lift up the caudal leg to lash out with violent kicks.
Much like their ancestor, nudesferatus make a wide range of high frequency sounds to communicate with others of their kind. Since they live in more open habitats, nudesferatus herds are slightly larger than those of their ancestor, but still typically consist of females and their young being protected by one mature male. Males who are not protecting a herd still hang out with other males in small bachelor herds, who are more vulnerable to predators due to having less members watching out for danger. During the beginning of the wet season, these males break up to seek out typical herds to challenge the resident male for mating rights. When this happens, both opponents size each other up by holding their heads high up to display their crests, with one of the two often backing down. If neither is willing to give up, however, the two males will then turn to what can be best described as a series of "attack hugs". This is when both combatants would turn towards each other and charge with their arms outstretched, colliding with their opponent and trying to use their arms to grapple the other male and tossing them to the ground. While males often get scratched up or bruised from these "attack hugs", serious wounds are extremely rare. This is for the best, since a major wound could slow them down, and thus make them more susceptible to predation.
Like the gnawsferatus they descend from, nudesferatus lays hard shelled eggs within a communal burrow, with each female entering the burrow to lay their eggs inside of before exciting it. The male still guards the entrance, protecting the eggs and later on the young from potential nest raiders, though a female will still take his place briefly when he needs to feed himself. When the young have hatched after a two week incubation period, females are only allowed in one at a time to feed their specific hatchlings. This helps prevent the burrow from getting overcrowded, which would risk some of the youngsters being accidentally trampled. After about a month and a half of this, the young are old and large enough to keep pace with the herd, and are thus led out of the burrow by the male to join their mothers. Due to being slightly larger, it takes a total of thirteen months for a young nudesferatu to reach sexual maturity, compared to the twelve seen in their direct ancestor. Once this happens, both females and males will leave the herd they were raised in, with females searching for either a different herd to join or for a male to start a herd of their own. Males, meanwhile, typically join a bachelor herd since it's safer than being alone, though occasionally they will instead try to directly challenge an alpha male of a typical herd right away for mating rights. On average, the species can live to be around 20–30 years old, with the females usually breeding about 6-8 times over their entire lifespan(males can potentially breed every year after their first birthday for the rest of their lives).