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Description
Scientific Name: Craniocephalus Taotienensis
Codename: Skullcrawler, Rama'Rak, Cranial Vermin, Gulosusaurus, Species-013017

First sighting: 17th March, 2001

Size: Estimated around 5 to 40 meters tall; 30 to 180 meters long

Weight: Indeterminable, estimated between 200 to 8000 tonnes

Category: Beta Cryptid

Group: Vertebrate

Diet: Carnivore

History and Story:
   The 2000s was a significant era in the history of modern civilization, as it is the beginning of the integration and assimilation of electronics into society. For S.C.O.R.D., it was the year where a major rehaul within the organization had commenced and a number of discoveries were made as well. Around mid 2000 to early 2001, S.C.O.R.D. has detected a series of underground explosions underneath the border line between China and Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. The origins of the explosions are not fixed, but regular in their size and pattern based on the seismic readings obtained by the Geological Phenomenon Observatory Station of the S.C.O.R.D. Nusantara Division located at Thailand. While the explosions are far away from the rest of South East Asia and was believed to be some sort of underground mining operation done by Chinese mining companies, the explosions led to a series of critical events on Pulao Tengkorak that nearly crippled the ecosystem of the island.

Over the course of a few months since the supposed underground seismic events, the reconnaissance satellites have picked movement all over the island, however they noticed a spike in the thermal signature readings on the chasm located south west of the island. Initially believed that it could be tectonic activities causing the spike in the thermal signature, however Pulao Tengkorak has not demonstrated any signs of geological catastrophe over the past millennia and the simulation does not indicate any kind of major tectonic activity that could sink the island any time soon. However concerns for the island still loomed around the discussion room, which led to the decision of conducting an on-site expedition on the island. The expedition was then decided to be conducted on the month of March 2001, where the climate and the oceanic drifting patterns at the region was deemed to be stable and safe for them to get through. The SMOL Preston was chosen to be deployed, carrying a dozen of Sea Stallions and Hueys given to S.C.O.R.D. by the US military during their overhaul period. A few VTOL AV-8 Harriers were also deployed as well to provide firepower and security for the expedition team from the air, as a result of their experience gained from the previous expeditions done throughout the 60s to the 80s which ended disastrously. Around the 14th of March, the expedition team disembarked from Patong Bay, Thailand due to it being located northeast and much closer to Pulao Tengkorak.

At the daydreak of 17 March, the fleet led by the SMOB carrying the expedition team arrived at the shores of their destination. When the expedition team on the helicopters entered the island's airspace, a sense of dread and fear eerily loomed over the crews as they noticed a number of animal corpses scattering across the landscape of the island. Amidst the corpses, the presence of a number of never-before-seen two-legged reptilian organism caught the attention of the expedition team. Baffled by the appearance of the never-before-seen species on the island but quickly realizing the direness of the situation. , the S.C.O.R.D. crews aboard the helicopters took photos of the unidentified creatures while the pilots and soldiers quickly relay the situation to the SMOB command ship. As soon as they reached the edge of the mountain where the chasm was located, they saw Kong and Gorosaurus fighting while being swarmed around by a number of lanky two legged reptilomorphs. While the creatures have the numbers and were able to overwhelm the dinosaur and giant ape, both Cryptids managed to subdue the reptilomorph swarm albeit not without any resistance put up by the swarm themselves. While underarmed and underequipped at that time, the encroachment of the unidentified reptilomorphs was temporarily resolved, for the time-being through impromptu precision bombings via calling the AV-8B Harriers deployed on the SMOBs. The bombings were done hastily but it did more than enough to help the giant Alpha Cryptids to drive off most of them back into the subterranean world.

Over the next few days, repeated encroachments were attempted by the then-codenamed Bipedal Reptilian Cryptid Organism but they were intercepted by the giant Crpytids and the humans. Assessing the critical situation that occurred over the last few days, they came to the conclusion that the then-unidentified reptilomorph is strongly related with the series of underground explosions, whose emergence was traced back 3 months ago at the south Chinese-SEA border. The subsequent expulsion of the reptilomorphs from their purported place-of-origin might have led to their emergence and rampage on Pulao Tengkorak, which temporarily plunged the island's ecosystem into a period of chaos and disorder. If not for the timely intervention, the reptilomorphs would have been able to overrun the entire ecosystem of Pulao Tengkorak. The unfortunate event was particularly devastating for the zoological faction within the scientific branch: a number of keystone species had their numbers sharply decreased from nearly hundreds to less than half, especially the Brontotitans due to their size and slow movement which makes them an ideal prey for the reptilomorphs. The abelisaurs are no less immune from the encroachment as well, their numbers decreased from hundreds to only a few dozens left. However, it presented an opportunity for S.C.O.R.D. to kickstart their own Cryptid repopulation programme to maintain the island's ecosystem as much as they could.

  From then, The Craniocephalus were aptly placed on the higher security priority list by the Nusantara Division of S.C.O.R.D., making them one of the few Cryptids to be classified as a Level 6 Threat Species on the Hausen Scale. The security branch of S.C.O.R.D. will be in charge of watching over the entry point looking out for any potential encroachment onto the island and destroy any specimen that was found on the island's surface; whereas the the scientific branch of S.C.O.R.D. will secure or capture any viable specimens killed or discovered on the island. As the chasm serves as the only entry point into the subterranean world big enough for Kong and Gorosaurus to enter through, a tough decision was made by both the scientific and security branch together: the chasm opening is left unblocked so to enable the two Cryptids to enter and exit the subterranean world. With the entrance being on constant check by the giant megaraptor and the simians, S.C.O.R.D.'s reconnaissance and attack aircrafts were occasionally deployed to keep watch on the situation at the chasm, in case another similar event happens again in the future.

Physiology, Powers and Abilities:

The Craniocephalus's emergence around the early 2000s was considered a huge anomaly amongst the vertebrate Cryptid kingdom, due to their seemingly chimeric physiology which combines a number of physiological traits seen on both endothermic and exothermic organisms. Despite their seemingly varanid-like appearance and behaviour, they were later discovered to be actually endothermic organisms and the most surprising revelation is their close relationship to a group of small long tailed pterosaur family, Rhamphorhychidae. Such classification was made from the discovery of their endothermic physiology and the vestigal wing spurs which is absent with the younger Craniocephalus but present in adult specimens. The mix-and-mash of both poikilothermic and endothermic traits led S.C.O.R.D.'s scientific division to expand and focus their resources and effort onto researching the pterosauromorph.

The most striking feature of the Craniocephalus is their skeletal mosasaur-like head covered by two bony plates encasing their snouts. While seeming as if they have no eyes, their actual eyes are actually positioned behind their bony snout. The "eye sockets" on the bony portion of their head was discovered to be their nostrils, deceptively convincing enough to confuse both predator and prey alike. The small nostril-like openings were discovered to be similar to the pit organs of pit vipers, allowing them to search their prey and navigate around the terrains of the subterranean world via the biological thermal signature emitted by potential prey. The pterosauromorph's skeletal head allows them to access through carcass openings, reaching in for the soft innards underneath the dense bones. Their head allows them to deceive both prey and predator by playing dead and hiding amongst the carcass of any deceased Cryptids. Using the carcass as cover, the pterosauromorphs can either quickly ambush their prey or to patiently wait until their predator is out of their sight. Due to the stench they carry from burrowing through the carrions or carcasses of their prey, the stench provides them a form of passive protection from other predators whose sense of smell are extremely sensitive. The stench also acts as an additional cover for the pterosauromorphs while laying still to give out the illusion that they are no longer living.

Other than their trademark bony head packed with teeth-like protrusions, the Craniocephalus are known for their seemingly voracious appetite, constantly in search of anything they can devour and swallow into their jaws. Capable of unhinging their jaws up to a range of nearly 140 degrees, the Craniocephalus can take in a huge portion of their prey into their jaws within a bite, similar to a snake albeit on a much larger scale although they still have to disable their prey to ensure that they are no longer a hazard. Their voracious appetite is present across all specimens both wild and captive, however adult specimens have demonstrated the ability to only eat when necessary and do not enter into a psychotic state when consuming their prey.

While lacking the ability to crush bones due to their thin lower jaw, the teeth-like protrusions growing on their skeletal snout allow them to puncture, shear and tear open the flesh of their prey with ease. These pseudoteeth branches off as they grow to a certain length, giving them more pointy protrusions as they mature over time. As their teeth-like protrusion is nothing more than keratinous growth that continuously grows, that effectively makes them immune from teeth sheathing like many other predators do however these growths have to be grinded down and can result in overgrown and interlocking teeth that can starve them to death and other health issues if left unchecked. Similar to Komodo Dragons, their teeth-like growth houses a variety of pathogens that can cause improper wound healing and lead anything unfortunate enough to succumb to their increasingly gruesome and gnarly wounds. However most Alpha and Beta Cryptids can make it through and have their bite wounds healed over time due to their more efficient immune system.

The other physical trait they possess is their unusually muscular forelimbs ending with massive hand-like palms. Their large palms support their entire body and allows them to climb, grapple or latch onto structures whenever they navigate through the caverns and crevices of the subterranean world. Their arms also enables then to grapple, grab onto and restrain their prey in place, in conjunction with their numbers (for the juveniles and subadults) or mass and size ( for the adults) to overwhelm them before neutralizing them. Tipped with 3 massive claws and a spur at the end of their arms, the claws provides the pterosaurs close range defenses by delivering slashes and lacerations onto predators and prey alike. Their claws are capable of leaving dents on small patrol crafts, ship and aircrafts. These claws are also sharp enough to puncture and cut through the lesser armored skin of other Cryptids, although they seem to only leave surface-level scratches on the tough hide of Anguirus and Baragon.

Beneath their tough skin, powerful muscle and flexible tendons is their skeleton which starts out flexible and cartilaginous but slowly undergoes ossification and hardens as they mature over time. Juvenile and subadult Craniocephalus  are extremely flexible to the point of capable of squeezing their bones into a much more narrower profile, easily cramming and twisting their way through areas too narrow for other Alpha Cryptids to pass through. While adults are less flexible than the juveniles and subadults due to their gradually hardened skeletons and larger body mass from their growth, they compensate their decreasing flexibility and speed with increased endurance and strength output, as a result of their more structurally stable skeletal system. However, their speed and response time is still comparable to that of the younger Craniocephalus albeit slower by a slight margin.

Connecting to the end of the abdomen is a massive but prehensile and flexible tail, reaching nearly two thirds of their overall length and ending with several pairs of caudal spikes. Their tail serves as an extremely capable tool for their survival on both the subterranean world and the surface world, functioning in a triple combination between a monkey, a monitor lizard and a kangaroo: They could use their tail as an extra limb to coil onto objects and structures for support during hunting, their tails also serves both as a hunting tool and weapon when confronting either predators or their own kind. By quickly turning their back around and transferring the momentum from the turn to their tail, their whip can effectively stun, incapacitate and even kill both predators and prey alike. Their tail also acts like a springboard which push themselves forward via arching their back, as the tail ligaments and tendons provide the burst with the assistance of their two forelimbs to extend their leaping range. The ridge spikes at the base of the tail functions like a mace club, capable of delivering blunt traumas and partly supporting the pterosaur's body whereas the spikes at the tip of their tail functions similarly to a dagger by landing quick cuts in conjunction with their tail slam.

While endothermic in physiology, the Craniocephalus possess an ability which is unseen in many endothermic animals: active metachrosis, also known as Active Camouflage. While many endothermic organisms like mammals and birds do possess the change their body coloration, it is a very gradual and seasonal change, only happening during the winter or mating season. These pterosauromorphs however possess the capability to change their body coloration within a span of hours and even minutes, similar to many reptiles like anoles and chameleons albeit on a more efficient level. The Craniocephalus are capable of using this ability to blend into their environment as a measure in both hunting prey and evading predators. Postmortem autopsy on several individuals over the course of decades since their discovery led to the discovery of the cause of their metachrosis capability: chromatocytes (portmanteau of chromatophore and melanocytes) which parallels the chromatosphore in its efficiency while remaining similar to melanocytes structurally, however the details on their metachrosis is a subject that requires to be studied further due to the pterosauromorph's more recent emergence. However it has been confirmed that their metachrosis is partly responsible for their seemingly voracious appetite, as metachrosis is a process which burns a lot of energy where the chromatocytes have to rapidly expand or contract to allow the pterosauromorphs to change their coloration as quick as possible.

Behaviour and Personality:

  Due to their gluttonous nature and often observed in a constant state of hunger, they have been seen cannibalizing on each other. This prompted the zoological branch of S.C.O.R.D. to theorize that their seemingly ravenous behavior may have been caused by the seemingly dwindling resources in the subterranean world. However, their autonomous observatory vehicles and organized expedition teams noticed that cannibalism seems to be frequent in their juvenile stages of their lives, which is observed in their nesting grounds where adult Craniocephalus will lay their eggs ranging between dozens and leave them to gestate on their own. It was believed that the pterosauromorphs utilize their nesting ground and their massive numbers as a form of protection from other predators which was proven to be true, however it also results in a situation where the hatchlings would fight with their siblings and neighbors to survive underground, particularly during adverse geological changes in the subterranean ecosystem. The corpses left over will be devoured and fought over by the hatchlings. While cannibalism is also observed amongst adults, it is rare and seemingly only occurred when one of the individuals has demonstrated sickness or old age which makes them much more easier to be preyed upon. Otherwise, adult Craniocephalus would only cannibalize on those younger Craniocephalus when provoked or feeling hungry to the point of insatiability.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finally, the first Monsterverse kaiju entry for PROJECT 54

I was reluctant on adding the Skull Crawler into PROJECT 54 initially due to its less-than-plausible appearance, but my mind changed when I realized that some of the more crazy things on the Skullcrawlers can also be found in nature albeit on a smaller scale. And it led to the inclusion of the two-legged creature into PROJECT 54
Finding a balance between plausability and incredibilty for the Skullcrawler is actually much easier than I initially thought, just a bit of tweaks needed for some sections XD
There are some abilities that are not existent with the actual Skull Crawler in the movie, but I found them compelling and interesting enough to be included for my own spin of the Skullcrawlers in PROJECT 54. Incorporating those abilities together with the Skull Crawler's voracious appetite just makes more sense IMO
Story-wise it might be a bit sloppy since I have been working on this piece for a few months but the story was not really up to my own liking and I made some changes until I am satisfied with how it turned out

There will be more GUUD stuff coming soon! To those BOIz and GURLz following me for whatever stuff you are following me for, HOLD ON TO YOUR BUTTS AND STAY SAFE!

Description
Scientific Name: Craniocephalus Taotienensis
Codename: Skullcrawler, Rama'Rak, Cranial Vermin, Gulosusaurus, Species-013017

First sighting: 17th March, 2001

Size: Estimated around 5 to 40 meters tall; 30 to 180 meters long

Weight: Indeterminable, estimated between 200 to 8000 tonnes

Category: Beta Cryptid

Group: Vertebrate

Diet: Carnivore

History and Story:
   The 2000s was a significant era in the history of modern civilization, as it is the beginning of the integration and assimilation of electronics into society. For S.C.O.R.D., it was the year where a major rehaul within the organization had commenced and a number of discoveries were made as well. Around mid 2000 to early 2001, S.C.O.R.D. has detected a series of underground explosions underneath the border line between China and Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. The origins of the explosions are not fixed, but regular in their size and pattern based on the seismic readings obtained by the Geological Phenomenon Observatory Station of the S.C.O.R.D. Nusantara Division located at Thailand. While the explosions are far away from the rest of South East Asia and was believed to be some sort of underground mining operation done by Chinese mining companies, the explosions led to a series of critical events on Pulao Tengkorak that nearly crippled the ecosystem of the island.

Over the course of a few months since the supposed underground seismic events, the reconnaissance satellites have picked movement all over the island, however they noticed a spike in the thermal signature readings on the chasm located south west of the island. Initially believed that it could be tectonic activities causing the spike in the thermal signature, however Pulao Tengkorak has not demonstrated any signs of geological catastrophe over the past millennia and the simulation does not indicate any kind of major tectonic activity that could sink the island any time soon. However concerns for the island still loomed around the discussion room, which led to the decision of conducting an on-site expedition on the island. The expedition was then decided to be conducted on the month of March 2001, where the climate and the oceanic drifting patterns at the region was deemed to be stable and safe for them to get through. The SMOL Preston was chosen to be deployed, carrying a dozen of Sea Stallions and Hueys given to S.C.O.R.D. by the US military during their overhaul period. A few VTOL AV-8 Harriers were also deployed as well to provide firepower and security for the expedition team from the air, as a result of their experience gained from the previous expeditions done throughout the 60s to the 80s which ended disastrously. Around the 14th of March, the expedition team disembarked from Patong Bay, Thailand due to it being located northeast and much closer to Pulao Tengkorak.

At the daydreak of 17 March, the fleet led by the SMOB carrying the expedition team arrived at the shores of their destination. When the expedition team on the helicopters entered the island's airspace, a sense of dread and fear eerily loomed over the crews as they noticed a number of animal corpses scattering across the landscape of the island. Amidst the corpses, the presence of a number of never-before-seen two-legged reptilian organism caught the attention of the expedition team. Baffled by the appearance of the never-before-seen species on the island but quickly realizing the direness of the situation. , the S.C.O.R.D. crews aboard the helicopters took photos of the unidentified creatures while the pilots and soldiers quickly relay the situation to the SMOB command ship. As soon as they reached the edge of the mountain where the chasm was located, they saw Kong and Gorosaurus fighting while being swarmed around by a number of lanky two legged reptilomorphs. While the creatures have the numbers and were able to overwhelm the dinosaur and giant ape, both Cryptids managed to subdue the reptilomorph swarm albeit not without any resistance put up by the swarm themselves. While underarmed and underequipped at that time, the encroachment of the unidentified reptilomorphs was temporarily resolved, for the time-being through impromptu precision bombings via calling the AV-8B Harriers deployed on the SMOBs. The bombings were done hastily but it did more than enough to help the giant Alpha Cryptids to drive off most of them back into the subterranean world.

Over the next few days, repeated encroachments were attempted by the then-codenamed Bipedal Reptilian Cryptid Organism but they were intercepted by the giant Crpytids and the humans. Assessing the critical situation that occurred over the last few days, they came to the conclusion that the then-unidentified reptilomorph is strongly related with the series of underground explosions, whose emergence was traced back 3 months ago at the south Chinese-SEA border. The subsequent expulsion of the reptilomorphs from their purported place-of-origin might have led to their emergence and rampage on Pulao Tengkorak, which temporarily plunged the island's ecosystem into a period of chaos and disorder. If not for the timely intervention, the reptilomorphs would have been able to overrun the entire ecosystem of Pulao Tengkorak. The unfortunate event was particularly devastating for the zoological faction within the scientific branch: a number of keystone species had their numbers sharply decreased from nearly hundreds to less than half, especially the Brontotitans due to their size and slow movement which makes them an ideal prey for the reptilomorphs. The abelisaurs are no less immune from the encroachment as well, their numbers decreased from hundreds to only a few dozens left. However, it presented an opportunity for S.C.O.R.D. to kickstart their own Cryptid repopulation programme to maintain the island's ecosystem as much as they could.

  From then, The Craniocephalus were aptly placed on the higher security priority list by the Nusantara Division of S.C.O.R.D., making them one of the few Cryptids to be classified as a Level 6 Threat Species on the Hausen Scale. The security branch of S.C.O.R.D. will be in charge of watching over the entry point looking out for any potential encroachment onto the island and destroy any specimen that was found on the island's surface; whereas the the scientific branch of S.C.O.R.D. will secure or capture any viable specimens killed or discovered on the island. As the chasm serves as the only entry point into the subterranean world big enough for Kong and Gorosaurus to enter through, a tough decision was made by both the scientific and security branch together: the chasm opening is left unblocked so to enable the two Cryptids to enter and exit the subterranean world. With the entrance being on constant check by the giant megaraptor and the simians, S.C.O.R.D.'s reconnaissance and attack aircrafts were occasionally deployed to keep watch on the situation at the chasm, in case another similar event happens again in the future.

Physiology, Powers and Abilities:

The Craniocephalus's emergence around the early 2000s was considered a huge anomaly amongst the vertebrate Cryptid kingdom, due to their seemingly chimeric physiology which combines a number of physiological traits seen on both endothermic and exothermic organisms. Despite their seemingly varanid-like appearance and behaviour, they were later discovered to be actually endothermic organisms and the most surprising revelation is their close relationship to a group of small long tailed pterosaur family, Rhamphorhychidae. Such classification was made from the discovery of their endothermic physiology and the vestigal wing spurs which is absent with the younger Craniocephalus but present in adult specimens. The mix-and-mash of both poikilothermic and endothermic traits led S.C.O.R.D.'s scientific division to expand and focus their resources and effort onto researching the pterosauromorph.

The most striking feature of the Craniocephalus is their skeletal mosasaur-like head covered by two bony plates encasing their snouts. While seeming as if they have no eyes, their actual eyes are actually positioned behind their bony snout. The "eye sockets" on the bony portion of their head was discovered to be their nostrils, deceptively convincing enough to confuse both predator and prey alike. The small nostril-like openings were discovered to be similar to the pit organs of pit vipers, allowing them to search their prey and navigate around the terrains of the subterranean world via the biological thermal signature emitted by potential prey. The pterosauromorph's skeletal head allows them to access through carcass openings, reaching in for the soft innards underneath the dense bones. Their head allows them to deceive both prey and predator by playing dead and hiding amongst the carcass of any deceased Cryptids. Using the carcass as cover, the pterosauromorphs can either quickly ambush their prey or to patiently wait until their predator is out of their sight. Due to the stench they carry from burrowing through the carrions or carcasses of their prey, the stench provides them a form of passive protection from other predators whose sense of smell are extremely sensitive. The stench also acts as an additional cover for the pterosauromorphs while laying still to give out the illusion that they are no longer living.

Other than their trademark bony head packed with teeth-like protrusions, the Craniocephalus are known for their seemingly voracious appetite, constantly in search of anything they can devour and swallow into their jaws. Capable of unhinging their jaws up to a range of nearly 140 degrees, the Craniocephalus can take in a huge portion of their prey into their jaws within a bite, similar to a snake albeit on a much larger scale although they still have to disable their prey to ensure that they are no longer a hazard. Their voracious appetite is present across all specimens both wild and captive, however adult specimens have demonstrated the ability to only eat when necessary and do not enter into a psychotic state when consuming their prey.

While lacking the ability to crush bones due to their thin lower jaw, the teeth-like protrusions growing on their skeletal snout allow them to puncture, shear and tear open the flesh of their prey with ease. These pseudoteeth branches off as they grow to a certain length, giving them more pointy protrusions as they mature over time. As their teeth-like protrusion is nothing more than keratinous growth that continuously grows, that effectively makes them immune from teeth sheathing like many other predators do however these growths have to be grinded down and can result in overgrown and interlocking teeth that can starve them to death and other health issues if left unchecked. Similar to Komodo Dragons, their teeth-like growth houses a variety of pathogens that can cause improper wound healing and lead anything unfortunate enough to succumb to their increasingly gruesome and gnarly wounds. However most Alpha and Beta Cryptids can make it through and have their bite wounds healed over time due to their more efficient immune system.

The other physical trait they possess is their unusually muscular forelimbs ending with massive hand-like palms. Their large palms support their entire body and allows them to climb, grapple or latch onto structures whenever they navigate through the caverns and crevices of the subterranean world. Their arms also enables then to grapple, grab onto and restrain their prey in place, in conjunction with their numbers (for the juveniles and subadults) or mass and size ( for the adults) to overwhelm them before neutralizing them. Tipped with 3 massive claws and a spur at the end of their arms, the claws provides the pterosaurs close range defenses by delivering slashes and lacerations onto predators and prey alike. Their claws are capable of leaving dents on small patrol crafts, ship and aircrafts. These claws are also sharp enough to puncture and cut through the lesser armored skin of other Cryptids, although they seem to only leave surface-level scratches on the tough hide of Anguirus and Baragon.

Beneath their tough skin, powerful muscle and flexible tendons is their skeleton which starts out flexible and cartilaginous but slowly undergoes ossification and hardens as they mature over time. Juvenile and subadult Craniocephalus  are extremely flexible to the point of capable of squeezing their bones into a much more narrower profile, easily cramming and twisting their way through areas too narrow for other Alpha Cryptids to pass through. While adults are less flexible than the juveniles and subadults due to their gradually hardened skeletons and larger body mass from their growth, they compensate their decreasing flexibility and speed with increased endurance and strength output, as a result of their more structurally stable skeletal system. However, their speed and response time is still comparable to that of the younger Craniocephalus albeit slower by a slight margin.

Connecting to the end of the abdomen is a massive but prehensile and flexible tail, reaching nearly two thirds of their overall length and ending with several pairs of caudal spikes. Their tail serves as an extremely capable tool for their survival on both the subterranean world and the surface world, functioning in a triple combination between a monkey, a monitor lizard and a kangaroo: They could use their tail as an extra limb to coil onto objects and structures for support during hunting, their tails also serves both as a hunting tool and weapon when confronting either predators or their own kind. By quickly turning their back around and transferring the momentum from the turn to their tail, their whip can effectively stun, incapacitate and even kill both predators and prey alike. Their tail also acts like a springboard which push themselves forward via arching their back, as the tail ligaments and tendons provide the burst with the assistance of their two forelimbs to extend their leaping range. The ridge spikes at the base of the tail functions like a mace club, capable of delivering blunt traumas and partly supporting the pterosaur's body whereas the spikes at the tip of their tail functions similarly to a dagger by landing quick cuts in conjunction with their tail slam.

While endothermic in physiology, the Craniocephalus possess an ability which is unseen in many endothermic animals: active metachrosis, also known as Active Camouflage. While many endothermic organisms like mammals and birds do possess the change their body coloration, it is a very gradual and seasonal change, only happening during the winter or mating season. These pterosauromorphs however possess the capability to change their body coloration within a span of hours and even minutes, similar to many reptiles like anoles and chameleons albeit on a more efficient level. The Craniocephalus are capable of using this ability to blend into their environment as a measure in both hunting prey and evading predators. Postmortem autopsy on several individuals over the course of decades since their discovery led to the discovery of the cause of their metachrosis capability: chromatocytes (portmanteau of chromatophore and melanocytes) which parallels the chromatosphore in its efficiency while remaining similar to melanocytes structurally, however the details on their metachrosis is a subject that requires to be studied further due to the pterosauromorph's more recent emergence. However it has been confirmed that their metachrosis is partly responsible for their seemingly voracious appetite, as metachrosis is a process which burns a lot of energy where the chromatocytes have to rapidly expand or contract to allow the pterosauromorphs to change their coloration as quick as possible.

Behaviour and Personality:

  Due to their gluttonous nature and often observed in a constant state of hunger, they have been seen cannibalizing on each other. This prompted the zoological branch of S.C.O.R.D. to theorize that their seemingly ravenous behavior may have been caused by the seemingly dwindling resources in the subterranean world. However, their autonomous observatory vehicles and organized expedition teams noticed that cannibalism seems to be frequent in their juvenile stages of their lives, which is observed in their nesting grounds where adult Craniocephalus will lay their eggs ranging between dozens and leave them to gestate on their own. It was believed that the pterosauromorphs utilize their nesting ground and their massive numbers as a form of protection from other predators which was proven to be true, however it also results in a situation where the hatchlings would fight with their siblings and neighbors to survive underground, particularly during adverse geological changes in the subterranean ecosystem. The corpses left over will be devoured and fought over by the hatchlings. While cannibalism is also observed amongst adults, it is rare and seemingly only occurred when one of the individuals has demonstrated sickness or old age which makes them much more easier to be preyed upon. Otherwise, adult Craniocephalus would only cannibalize on those younger Craniocephalus when provoked or feeling hungry to the point of insatiability.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finally, the first Monsterverse kaiju entry for PROJECT 54

I was reluctant on adding the Skull Crawler into PROJECT 54 initially due to its less-than-plausible appearance, but my mind changed when I realized that some of the more crazy things on the Skullcrawlers can also be found in nature albeit on a smaller scale. And it led to the inclusion of the two-legged creature into PROJECT 54
Finding a balance between plausability and incredibilty for the Skullcrawler is actually much easier than I initially thought, just a bit of tweaks needed for some sections XD
There are some abilities that are not existent with the actual Skull Crawler in the movie, but I found them compelling and interesting enough to be included for my own spin of the Skullcrawlers in PROJECT 54. Incorporating those abilities together with the Skull Crawler's voracious appetite just makes more sense IMO
Story-wise it might be a bit sloppy since I have been working on this piece for a few months but the story was not really up to my own liking and I made some changes until I am satisfied with how it turned out

There will be more GUUD stuff coming soon! To those BOIz and GURLz following me for whatever stuff you are following me for, HOLD ON TO YOUR BUTTS AND STAY SAFE!