Azderoo

The Azderoo split from its ancestor and became a carnivore. It has also become a biped with a reduced raptorial arm, hopping away from predators on legs similar to those of a Terran flea--albeit with an endoskeleton rather than an exoskeleton. It has very unusual dentition compared to any of its relatives: long teeth jut out forwards from its upper jaw, and it has corresponding backwards-facing spikes on its lateral mandibles. In order to kill its prey, it snatches it with its lateral mandibles and pulls it into the long teeth on its upper jaw, stabbing them to death. When hunting flying prey such as the Corpse Spardi, it may leap into the air to snatch it. It usually eats relatively small prey, like its ancestor. To support its more active lifestyle, the Azderoo is a mesotherm.

The Azderoo has developed a ridge around its saddle, making the saddle even more conspicuous than before while also allowing its babies to stay on more easily during sustained hopping. Each scale of the ridge is actually made of a thick layer of multiple scales. These are derived from the same scales that flushed in its ancestor but the thick layering makes any flushing invisible, so now the saddle itself flushes instead. Apart from these scales, most of the scales on its body have become smaller, making its skin more leathery. The saddle serves the same purpose as before--carrying its helpless pseudo-radial young. That said, however, usually only one parent carries babies on its back at a time, so when the parents are out together and a predator appears, one can flee with the babies while the other distracts the predator using rougher escape maneuvers that would cause babies to lose their grip. Its mating method is unchanged from its ancestor, with the male mounting the female and curving his anal arm under hers rather than holding hands due to the cloaca’s position. With its taller stance, this is usually accomplished while crouching for stability.