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Description
The Garden of Eden Serpent or Drop Snake. Another of s aliens from Snaiad.

A predatory counterpart to the calm and peaceful Slothsnakes, the Cynophidians are arboreal carnivores that developed independently from ancestral Haplobrachid stock. The diverse and species-rich forests, pinnacle ranges and jungles of Vesterna are home to an incredible variety of Spinostome climbers, Jos, Slothsnakes and other herbivores, not to mention countless invertebrates. Over time, carnivorous relatives of the Ophimyids seem to have taken to the trees after them and developed into the Cynophidians. Like the Ophimyids, some Cynophidians have sperm-borne poisons but the largest species, like Cynophis giganteus pictured here, kill their prey solely through the brute force of their claws and vise-like jaws on their first heads. Because of their wait-and-pounce lifestyle, Cynophidians have secondarily tuned down the efficiency of their metabolisms, remaining torpid and sluggish until they encounter potential prey, which gets captured in a sudden spasm of frenzied activity.

C. giganteus also employs an infamous predatory strategy called “dropping” to capture large prey on the forest floor. As suggested by its name, this behavior involves pouncing onto the prey animal from a low-lying branch, usually killing it through the force of the drop alone. However, this is a very risky strategy that leaves C. giganteus vulnerable to other predators or even physical injury. One eyewitness account reports the demise of an unfortunate individual that attempted to jump on a passing Azonic Lophophid (Erion pentalophus,) but accidentally broke its own backbone upon hitting the ground the wrong way!

The Garden of Eden Serpent can grow up to 2.5 meters (8 ft) in length.

Description
The Garden of Eden Serpent or Drop Snake. Another of s aliens from Snaiad.

A predatory counterpart to the calm and peaceful Slothsnakes, the Cynophidians are arboreal carnivores that developed independently from ancestral Haplobrachid stock. The diverse and species-rich forests, pinnacle ranges and jungles of Vesterna are home to an incredible variety of Spinostome climbers, Jos, Slothsnakes and other herbivores, not to mention countless invertebrates. Over time, carnivorous relatives of the Ophimyids seem to have taken to the trees after them and developed into the Cynophidians. Like the Ophimyids, some Cynophidians have sperm-borne poisons but the largest species, like Cynophis giganteus pictured here, kill their prey solely through the brute force of their claws and vise-like jaws on their first heads. Because of their wait-and-pounce lifestyle, Cynophidians have secondarily tuned down the efficiency of their metabolisms, remaining torpid and sluggish until they encounter potential prey, which gets captured in a sudden spasm of frenzied activity.

C. giganteus also employs an infamous predatory strategy called “dropping” to capture large prey on the forest floor. As suggested by its name, this behavior involves pouncing onto the prey animal from a low-lying branch, usually killing it through the force of the drop alone. However, this is a very risky strategy that leaves C. giganteus vulnerable to other predators or even physical injury. One eyewitness account reports the demise of an unfortunate individual that attempted to jump on a passing Azonic Lophophid (Erion pentalophus,) but accidentally broke its own backbone upon hitting the ground the wrong way!

The Garden of Eden Serpent can grow up to 2.5 meters (8 ft) in length.