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Name: Palmcap-Tailed Wortopede (Tetraplatyskelos arboradixmimus)
Creator: Cube67
Ancestor: Wortopedes
Habitat: Mid Barlowe Temperate Woodland, Barlowe Chaparral, Botanist Bayou, Pawulonic Marsh
Size: 6.5 cm long
Support: Exoskeleton (chitin)
Diet: Omnivore (Talllstrand crystals (reproductive organs), Tabletufts, juvenile Purple spheres, Myserchen, juvenile Flopleaves, Fur mycostrum, juvenile Fur knightworm, Balloon mycostrum, Balloon knightworm, juvenile Scale knightworms, juvenile Prongleg scaleworms), photosynthesis
Respiration: Passive (tracheae)
Thermoregulation: Ectotherm
Reproduction: Sexual (Sequential hermaphrodite), Asexual (self-pollination)

Among the biota that arrived on Barlowe around the time of the End-Binucleozoan Atmospheric Disturbance were the wortopedes. Although this group is highly adaptable, their primitive mouth and cold-bloodedness mean that they greatly benefit from staying warm and getting additional energy via photosynthesis—both of which can be done by sunbathing.

The palmcap-tailed wortopede is so named for the resemblance of its rear end to the palmcap: an extinct species of photosynthetic plant parasites that latched onto the tops of large violetflora. Despite being phylogenetically, temporally, and spatially distant, these two species both evolved a similarly shaped structure for capturing light. While this does make for an excellent example of convergent evolution, groups such as the paneltopedes show that this shape is far from the only shape that a wortopede can evolve to capture more light; the tail’s resemblance to a palmcap in particular is merely an eerie coincidence.

Another trait that this species shares with its paneltopede cousins is the evolution of its front legs into mouthparts. While not as efficient as the paneltopede’s mandibles are for munching leaves, the palmcap-tailed wortopede’s mouthparts are still better than having no mouthparts at all, and do a fine job of bringing flora and fauna alike closer to its mouth. These mouthparts’ lack of serrations mean that palmcap-tailed wortopedes break up larger pieces of food by piercing and tearing them, rather than chewing.

Palmcap-tailed wortopedes retain a similar reproductive cycle to their ancestors. The female adults, being the quicker of the two life stages, seek out the male larvae and secrete their eggs into the male’s spiracles, leaving it up to the male to fertilize the implanted eggs and secrete them in a trail of mucus. However, palmcap-tailed wortopedes have accelerated limb development compared to their ancestors. Larvae hatch with the same number of segments as the adults. They also hatch with segmented thorns/legs that are positioned near the sides, instead of having unsegmented thorns near the midline of the body. This unique larval condition helps save energy during metamorphosis, as they no longer need to grow new segments or migrate their limbs as they age. That said, larvae still hatch quite small, and are unable to use their legs until the briefly hermaphroditic period of their development, which occurs when they are about 2 centimeters long.

In all stages of their life cycle, palmcap-tailed wortopedes spend most of their time perched in the highest places they can find, giving them better access to light and making it hard for ground-dwelling predators to reach them. They must still occasionally come down to find new food, though. Palmcap-tailed wortopedes are otherwise behaviorally and anatomically similar to their photosynthetic, myriapod-like ancestors.

Newly hatched male larval form. Note the higher resemblance to the adults than in other wortopedes.

This post has been edited by Cube67: Feb 24 2023, 03:11 PM

I've made a change to this submission now that I remembered that the larval form still exists. It's a bit of an attempt to 'fix' the strange limbs seen in most wormflora larvae (which keep being misinterpreted as a singular row of spines on their back; tssl confirmed they're not).

Yes the palmcap tribute organism is complete