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Hundreds of millions of years ago in-universe, the legs of the Sheilded Stumpworm were inexplicably misinterpreted as its head, resulting in by far the most implausible evolutionary jump in all of Sagan 4's history, which has left living descendants in the form of gossalizards, kruggs, and more. Fixing this error would be impossible without causing a massive rippling effect, due to how prolific and ecologically important scuttlecrabs are. But what if it wasn't? What if there was a way to explain what happened here without retconning ancestry or creating major continuity problems for later descendants?

I am proposing rewrites of the two species between the original stumpworms by Ovi and the first scuttlecrab to explain how and why the legs did that.

First, the Four-Eyed Stumpworm:

QUOTE

The four-eyed stumpworm has some major developments to its anatomy compared to its immediate ancestor, the sheilded stumpworm. To remain safe from predators, its body has shortened to the point that it is permanently in a "collapsed" state without having to expend energy, and its arms are almost always covering its soft head. The latter detail may be the reason for its most bizarre development--that is, it has evolved two pairs of primitive eyes on its arms, rather than on the actual head which they are guarding. This allows it to sense light, dark, and movement without leaving any part of its body vulnerable to attack. It dwells in the leaf litter of Sagan's forests. It has also evolved articulated claw-like extensions of its arms serving as mandibles, which it uses to puncture the bark at the bases of purple bubble trees so that it can feed on the fluids within.

Next, the Crawling Stumpworm:

QUOTE

The crawling stumpworm evolved from the four-eyed stumpworm. Its eyes have advanced greatly, allowing it to see in color and detail. Further, its arms have fused together, granting better muscle attachment for its mandible claws. Its original fleshy head remains inside its new "pseudo-head", albeit now mostly fused to its arms, including its chitinous teeth which it uses to chew up the beach puffs which it eats with its mandible claws. In addition to these developments, the crawling stumpworm has also evolved eight small legs through the same developmental pathway that created the ancestral stumpworm's limbs. These legs are not yet strong enough to lift its body. Instead, the creature uses them to drag itself through the sands of the beaches where it lives. While the beach puffs are not blooming, the crawling stumpworm will dig a burrow in the sand, where it will hibernate until its food source returns. This behavior occasionally puts it at risk of infection by testudohexapodia acta or Testudohexapodia Spherus (Beach Puff) microbes.

This makes the weird legs-to-head transition far smoother, and as a bonus it explains where the heck the later legs came from. It also adds in a method for how this lineage is chewing food, as some descendants have diets far too complex for just mandibles and no other mouthparts. What do you all think?

This post has been edited by Disgustedorite: Jan 27 2021, 12:04 AM

There was a vote on the discord about this and it was unanimous, so this is canon now.

I hadn't said anything yet because I wanted to look over the biology of the organisms first, but I suppose it's a moot point now.

Minor edit proposal for lizardworm jaws, as well, which didn't make sense before but can maybe make some sense now:

QUOTE

The lizardworm branched off from the leatherback scuttlecrab after the scuttlecrab colonized the Irinya Islands. It feeds on its ancestral scuttlecrabs using its newly formed jaw. This feature is the result of the insectoid mandibles of the scuttlecrab fusing together and attaching to the fleshy real head inside of the pseudo-head, allowing them to move up and down rather than together and apart. The oral ring muscles of its original head serve to open and close the jaw, and the teeth of the oral ring are now anchored to the pseudo-head and mandible-jaw sclerites to increase their effectiveness. The pincers of the scuttlecrab became down turned and specialized for walking, while its first rear legs moved further towards the rear. The body lengthened and became more worm-like. They evolved a primitive endoskeleton in addition to their exoskeleton. Its second rear legs degenerated and became a pair of small spines halfway down and on each side of its tail. At some stage during its evolution, the lizardworm lost its symbiotic relationship with testudohexapodia spherus. The lizardworm is native to the Irinya Islands.

As a bonus, the teeth are now explained too.

MNIDJM ?

QUOTE (Disgustedorite @ Feb 3 2021, 09:41 PM)

Minor edit proposal for lizardworm jaws, as well, which didn't make sense before but can maybe make some sense now: QUOTE The lizardworm branched off from the leatherback scuttlecrab after the scuttlecrab colonized the Irinya Islands. It feeds on its ancestral scuttlecrabs using its newly formed jaw. This feature is the result of the insectoid mandibles of the scuttlecrab fusing together and attaching to the fleshy real head inside of the pseudo-head, allowing them to move up and down rather than together and apart. The oral ring muscles of its original head serve to open and close the jaw, and the teeth of the oral ring are now anchored to the pseudo-head and mandible-jaw sclerites to increase their effectiveness. The pincers of the scuttlecrab became down turned and specialized for walking, while its first rear legs moved further towards the rear. The body lengthened and became more worm-like. They evolved a primitive endoskeleton in addition to their exoskeleton. Its second rear legs degenerated and became a pair of small spines halfway down and on each side of its tail. At some stage during its evolution, the lizardworm lost its symbiotic relationship with testudohexapodia spherus. The lizardworm is native to the Irinya Islands. As a bonus, the teeth are now explained too.

Anyone gonna make any comments on this?

QUOTE (OviraptorFan @ Jan 15 2022, 08:02 PM)

QUOTE (Disgustedorite @ Feb 3 2021, 09:41 PM) Minor edit proposal for lizardworm jaws, as well, which didn't make sense before but can maybe make some sense now: QUOTE The lizardworm branched off from the leatherback scuttlecrab after the scuttlecrab colonized the Irinya Islands. It feeds on its ancestral scuttlecrabs using its newly formed jaw. This feature is the result of the insectoid mandibles of the scuttlecrab fusing together and attaching to the fleshy real head inside of the pseudo-head, allowing them to move up and down rather than together and apart. The oral ring muscles of its original head serve to open and close the jaw, and the teeth of the oral ring are now anchored to the pseudo-head and mandible-jaw sclerites to increase their effectiveness. The pincers of the scuttlecrab became down turned and specialized for walking, while its first rear legs moved further towards the rear. The body lengthened and became more worm-like. They evolved a primitive endoskeleton in addition to their exoskeleton. Its second rear legs degenerated and became a pair of small spines halfway down and on each side of its tail. At some stage during its evolution, the lizardworm lost its symbiotic relationship with testudohexapodia spherus. The lizardworm is native to the Irinya Islands. As a bonus, the teeth are now explained too. Anyone gonna make any comments on this?

??????

Approved

I'm interested in a visual diagram of this, would it allow for a second set of jaws to be developed?

QUOTE (colddigger @ Feb 27 2022, 11:58 PM)

I'm interested in a visual diagram of this, would it allow for a second set of jaws to be developed?

Hmm, that's a good question