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Published: 2022-08-07 19:48:58 +0000 UTC; Views: 1594; Favourites: 32; Downloads: 0
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Description

This is something I made a while ago. It's not really spec but it's spec flavored; I really just wanted to draw a big beast. I was inspired by those people who make up dinosaurs and other creatures and have them fight each other. I'm not really interested in that but it was fun to create anyway. This isn't a dinosaur but a type of ancient creature called a eurypterid. The eurypterids , or “sea scorpions”, were a diverse group of arthropods that ruled the seas for a grand total of 215 million years, going extinct just before the rise of the dinosaurs in the Permian-Triassic mass extinction, as I'm sure most of you know. This creature is based on Hibbertopterus , a roughly 2-meter (6.5 ft) long beast that weighed at least a hundred kilograms (220 lb) and lived on land as an adult.


Keraunotitan (Greek for “thunderous titan”) is a genus of terrestrial eurypterids. At 4.5 meters tall and 5.3 meters long, this creature is large even for a eurypterid. Well-adapted to the land, it breathes air and has long, pillar-like legs ending in wide feet with tough pads for supporting its weight.

To hunt, it can wait in darkened groves to snatch out at prey, but more often it treks the land looking for animals to overpower, taking advantage of those that hold their ground, or pursuing prey a small distance. Despite its appearance, Keraunotitan is relatively mild-mannered and much of its diet is plant food. It often wades into the water and uses the tooth-like projections on its graspers to strain out algae and water plants, which it eats with great gusto. Fruits on trees are on the menu as well.

Their front legs are modified into large, spiked “graspers”, lined with tooth-like serrations and used to grip and tear at prey or to crush it with their immense strength. Its claws are sharp and sturdy, usually used to slice carcasses into pieces to be fed into the mouth, but they are also useful in combat. The pointy end of its “tail”, called a telson, is a fine weapon for stabbing and slashing. Each leg can deliver a powerful stomp, and even the carapace is a weapon: By rearing up, the animal can charge a target and slam it against a surface, pinning it.

These animals are visual creatures, with good all-around vision. Their exoskeletons are extremely durable to bear their weight and they are strong even for their size. They are not very fast, however, and are incapable of running, instead doing a fast walk like elephants do. They are not smart animals, but definitely not dumb either. When they want to hide, they will tuck their brightly-colored parts under their matte, splotched carapace and crouch.

Male and females are virtually identical in appearance. Although the young are amphibious, they grow up to be completely terrestrial.


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