Chkarsher
Split off from the Spectacled Arthrothere, the Chkarsher doubled in size and became a carnivore. Its powerful crushing jaws rip right through the thin exoskeleton of the Spectacled Arthrothere. With its increased size, its own exoskeleton has rethickened to prevent it from breaking as it struggles with larger, tougher prey such as the Sentrok. A thicker exoskeleton is advantageous because its muscles attach to the exoskeleton, as the name implies, thus it cannot risk any injury to it. As it has no predators itself, its spikes have become shorter and duller in favor of a solid streamlined build.
To hunt, the Chkarsher hides among the flora and sneaks towards its prey before lunging, grabbing on with its powerful forelimbs and biting down with its powerful jaws much like a terran panther. Its goal with a given prey item is to effectively decapitate it, either literally or just by severing the connection between the brain and the body, as its prey cannot struggle without a head. After killing an especially large prey item, such as a Sentrok, multiple Chkarshers may gather together to feed. As it does not use its antennae in any of this, they are reduced. Likewise, the ancestral fin segment on each hindmost leg has also finally been lost.
The Chkarsher’s eyes are set deeper into its head and can be rolled upwards to clean them, like a very strange blink. Like its cousin, the Sentrok, it has developed the ability to feel itchy and the instinct to scratch, reducing the chances that it will be infected with Wormrot by scraping it off before it causes any problems.
The Chkarsher is otherwise much like its ancestor. Its facial markings play a role in mate selection, its erect posture is supported by “vertebrae” under its exoskeleton, and it is ovoviviparous.