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Slithering Goblin (Radiosimius lamiae)
Creator: Jarlaxle
Ancestor: Crystal Goblin
Habitat: Darwin Subtropical Woodland, East Darwin Chaparral, Mid Darwin Temperate Woodland
Size: 90 cm long (Female), 50cm long (Male)
Support: Endoskeleton (Bone)
Diet: Prongleg scaleworms, paneltopedes, Rolyknights, Shed Knightworms, Nightworms, Spardiflies, Darwinian Crestgills, Tambug, Sentrok (juveniles), Hoppok (juveniles), Eriken (juveniles), Catbug (Juveniles)
Respiration: Active (Lungs)
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm
Reproduction: Sexual (male and female, live birth)

The slithering goblin has replaced its ancestor within its territory, evolving sexual dimorphic forms to support two distinct lifestyles.
Unable to carve out their own territory or mimic crystal flora bigger than themselves, juveniles had to adapt to a lifestyle of active hunting.
While males would lose these adaptations in adulthood and settle into a lifelong sedentary lifestyle once they were large enough to acquire their own territory, females had to risk abandoning their territory each year in search of mates, a time when they wouldn't necessarily be near crystal growths and have to actively hunt for prey, sometimes longer if they can't reestablish a territory after the mating season.
Retaining the juvenile adaptations for an active lifestyle helped them survive such situations, eventually maintaining the active hunting lifestyle throughout their lifetime, culminating in female neoteny in form (but not in size) and extreme sexual dimorphism.

Juveniles:
To better navigate the active lifestyle, they have further specialized their arms, slithering about utilizing a combination of strategies similar to those used by various species of terrestrial snakes of another time and place.

The anal arm has specialized in the classical serpentine lateral undulation, lowering parts of it and raising others while pushing against the ground with a continuous wavy motion propagating from the main body.
The two side arms have specialized in sidewinding lateral displacement, each curling up into an S shape and pushing against two main anchor points in a sidewinding wave, using an asymmetrical gait when trying to conserve energy, shifting the main body's weight from side to side and placing it between opposing wave curves, or a symmetrical gait that puts the main body at the tip of the curve when trying to maximize speed.
The forearm has specialized in a pulling concertina motion, reaching forward, anchoring down, and scrounging up to pull the main body along. The forearms fingers have hardened significantly and are mostly bone, similar in structure to horns, giving them a better grip on the ground as well as prey. It is the lightest and fastest of the arms, with the main muscles concentrated at its "hip" from the main body, looking like a thick thigh though in function more like the base of a terrain elephant's trunk. For juveniles, it is the forearm that will be used to capture prey and deliver it to the mouth, almost exclusively.

Adult females:
The females will retain the same locomotion as the nymph stage, and continue to grow the muscle of their anal and side arms. The anal arm will continue to grow and be the thickest of the 4 arms, allowing more of the digestive system to extend into it, distributing more of the weight along the arm and less in the main body.
Females will often prefer larger prey, especially after giving birth, to avoid competing with their own juveniles for the same food. If she grabs something larger that won't die as easily she will use the two side arms in constriction to subdue the struggling prey.
Their faces have also adapted to their lifestyle. The edges of their mandibles harden like their forearm fingers, with mature females sporting a hind-mandible crest shaped like a hooked bill curving over the fore-mandible to tear pieces of flash from constricted prey, and ridges over the eyes and nostrils to avoid blood splatter when the prey can't be gobbled in one bite.

Adult males:
In males the passive lifestyle allows all 4 arms to utilize the less efficient concerti pulling motion, freeing all of them to be used to grab food and extend the feeding radius, and upon maturity, all the arms will develop hardened fingers that mimic the shape of crystal flora.
Like the females, they too have a hardened boney crest extending from the hind mandible, but the main purpose is to better mimic crystal flora and attract potential prey to approach their mouth.
If two adult males encounter each other, or if a young male tries to challenge the territory of an older male, they will use their hardened fingers and crests as weapons and shields respectively, though most encounters end in intimidation by waving their arms and competing for who has the larger healthier crest rather than allow themselves to be harmed and risk the quality of their mimicry.

They reproduce much like their ancestors, with the nomadic females seeking mates during summer and springtime. If they successfully find one, they will eventually give live birth to several babies and leave them to fend for themselves.

Love this stinzer. Wonder what this could possibly become when accepted.

QUOTE (Future Tyrannosaurus @ Mar 1 2023, 07:04 PM)

Love this stinzer. Wonder what this could possibly become when accepted.

Thanks, though you won't have to wonder if you'll make descendants to it yourself next gen
(if it gets accepted)