Pseudopods are perhaps the most diverse latapods present on the Rhynia, taking all shapes and sizes and occupying a wide range of niches. Pseudopods reach peak diversity and are the most dominant group on the southern micro-continent, but in the north, they play second fiddle to the older two-legged dromaeopods. It is unclear why pseudopods never invaded the north like they did in the south, but it has caused a great difference in fauna both large and small between the two regions. However, the north is not completely devoid of pseudopods. Here lives a family of enigmatic creatures with traits both seemingly very advanced and primitive. Neither morphological nor molecular analysis has determined where they fit within the pseudopods and who their closest southern relatives are remains inconclusive.
The Meleaspididae, commonly known as Panzerdachse (or Panzerbären for the larger species) are a family of skunk-to-jaguar-sized carnivores and omnivores which are the sole representation of pseudopods in the northern micro-continent.
Their anatomy is peculiar. They are fully endothermic and retain a mantle of filaments, but they walk in a semi-sprawling manner and strut with a typical primitive pseudopod swagger in their hind body, though at a faster pace. Their brain-cases are much larger than would be expected from primitive pseudopods and the many fusions of the armour plates combined with the existence of two large claws on the hind legs indicate a more derived origin, though they outwardly seem very basal.
One of the most common species of Meleaspids is the Spectacled Panzerdachs (Meleaspis perspicillata). At around 90 cm long from head to tail, it is considered medium sized. A devoted carnivore, the Spectacled Panzerdachs has extremely powerful jaws designed to crush the armour of other placoderms. With their barbed, cat-like tongues, they make short work of scales and hard skin. This allows them to clean their prey accurately, as well as provide them with an advantage for scavenging that most dromaeopods do not have.
What purpose the mantle serves in the Spectacled Panzerdachs is uncertain. It might be used to intimidate potential threats or just thermal regulation in cold nights. Recently though, it was discovered that many Panzerdachs species smell like buttered popcorn, including M. perspicillata. This odor emanates from their mantle, but isn’t produced in smell glands. Instead, Panzerdachse often roll in their own urine, which has been found to contain the molecule 2-AP, which causes the distinctive smell. This molecule might be made by gut-bacteria, but how and why these are present in Panzerdachse remains unclear.
Found from open forests to deserts, the Spectacled Panzerdachs is a burrowing predator that feeds on a wide array of prey items, but their most important food source are Pleccles. Pleccles are small, common animals in the north and seem to fill niches that would be occupied on earth by rodents and tortoises, which makes them a reliable food source for Panzerdachse.
Though the Spectacled Panzerdachs is normally nocturnal, it won’t let a diurnal Long-tailed Pleccle that accidentally wandered into its lair off the hook that easily. The Pleccle can’t outrun the Panzerdachs when ambushed from the side.
There is no escaping the Panzerdachs' deadly jaws; it is doomed to become breakfast.
These illustrations, as well as the accompanying text were a fan-submission by DemonicManchot from DeviantArt, best known for his flattacanth project. If you have similar fan-contributions in mind, you can send them to us and we might include them if we consider them fitting for the world.
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