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Description
The Forest Strider, or it's species name, "Rostrum Intentus," which means, "Beaked Strider" is a large, successful plant eating organism on the planet Hades. Superficially, it resembles an incredibly large "crab," but in reality it is a highly adapted, shelled alien. Though they're immense size is intimidating they are quite peaceful, usually just walking through the forest eating the incredibly tough plant material that is the Hadian rain forest, with there powerful, parrot like beak and further mulching it with there inner mouth. The animal is 25 feet tall, most of it is the immense crab like legs and 14 feet long The long scythe like arms of the creature are actually just used to bring down high branches and vegitation to it's mouth for feeding.

Striders do not possess eye's, instead they have an opening in there shell, further in the back they possess a highly developed "pinging" organ that constantly hits a part of the shell and then projected out through the hole. The sound hits any solid objects in the animals path, then bounces back to the animal forming a "picture" in the animals brain. Basically an advanced form of echolocation. Striders also possess bio-luminescent receptors on the "neck" which is located at the base of the beak and under the overlapping shell.

Striders reproduce in an odd way as well. What looks like an extended "head" on the creature is actually it's reproductive organs. This paticular specimen is a female, the holes you see on the side of the "head" are actually ovipores, which receive the sperm, and the back of the organisms "head" is it's womb, when the animal gets impregnated the womb swells in size, usually quite large as hundreds of eggs fill it. When the eggs hatch, the miniature baby Striders tear holes in it, eventually spilling out, this does not harm the female as it's womb skin will re-grow eventually. The male equivalent possesses "gill slits" to release sperm, which hopefully floats into the ovipores of a female. The actual mating of a pair of Striders can happen two ways. One is the male and female Strider, "nuzzle" they're heads together, the other is the male shakes his head releasing his sperm, then the female walks into the cloud.

Comments and questions about this animal are appreciated, hope you enjoy!

Description
The Forest Strider, or it's species name, "Rostrum Intentus," which means, "Beaked Strider" is a large, successful plant eating organism on the planet Hades. Superficially, it resembles an incredibly large "crab," but in reality it is a highly adapted, shelled alien. Though they're immense size is intimidating they are quite peaceful, usually just walking through the forest eating the incredibly tough plant material that is the Hadian rain forest, with there powerful, parrot like beak and further mulching it with there inner mouth. The animal is 25 feet tall, most of it is the immense crab like legs and 14 feet long The long scythe like arms of the creature are actually just used to bring down high branches and vegitation to it's mouth for feeding.

Striders do not possess eye's, instead they have an opening in there shell, further in the back they possess a highly developed "pinging" organ that constantly hits a part of the shell and then projected out through the hole. The sound hits any solid objects in the animals path, then bounces back to the animal forming a "picture" in the animals brain. Basically an advanced form of echolocation. Striders also possess bio-luminescent receptors on the "neck" which is located at the base of the beak and under the overlapping shell.

Striders reproduce in an odd way as well. What looks like an extended "head" on the creature is actually it's reproductive organs. This paticular specimen is a female, the holes you see on the side of the "head" are actually ovipores, which receive the sperm, and the back of the organisms "head" is it's womb, when the animal gets impregnated the womb swells in size, usually quite large as hundreds of eggs fill it. When the eggs hatch, the miniature baby Striders tear holes in it, eventually spilling out, this does not harm the female as it's womb skin will re-grow eventually. The male equivalent possesses "gill slits" to release sperm, which hopefully floats into the ovipores of a female. The actual mating of a pair of Striders can happen two ways. One is the male and female Strider, "nuzzle" they're heads together, the other is the male shakes his head releasing his sperm, then the female walks into the cloud.

Comments and questions about this animal are appreciated, hope you enjoy!