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Description
  Within the last year I decided to revisit the Khaernal alien from my old sketchbook (now in scraps), and make some heavy changes to its design. While two species are shown, the majority of the page is taken up by the "tidal" species. Major changes were made to the arms, legs, head, and abdomen (which is now just a tail). I sort of borrowed the arms from my scrapbook concept of the Venutian.

Journal Entry #1:
  Khaernals are the dominant, sapient species of the planet Khaerne. "Khaernal" is just a nickname given by us humans after video surveillance of the creatures was obtained from several surface drones sent to the planet. This simplification of the nomenclature is more or less due to the our inability to pronounce practically any khaernal words, as their vocalizations consist mainly of high pitched shrieks, clicks, croaks, and hissing. It also doesn't help that they aren't advanced to the point of studying themselves and the world around them. Advanced khaernal communication involves combining the sounds they can make with different visual patterns made with their dewlaps; capable thanks to the numerous chromatophores on that section of tissue. The rest of their body is also covered in chromatophores, but the patterns and colors are very limited, and typically only change slightly according to their emotions. They don't have flexible tongues, and their mouths are filled with small, sharp, knife-like teeth and strong, flat dental plates. They have zygodactyl feet and hands. A portion of skeleton found by a team of human planetary surface explorers showed that they also have two sets of scapular bones that are fused together, along with two separate sets of differently shaped clavicles for different forms of muscle movement. They have tails that seem to serve primarily for fat storage. These features are shared by both species.
   The two species have yet to receive proper scientific names or detailed classification, as much of the planet's lifeforms have yet to be properly classified. The less common species is the "tidal" khaernals, which possess a slightly longer and flatter head with prominent cartilaginous crests. They also have webbed toes and have been shown to be fairly well adapted for swimming and holding their breath longer underwater. However, there preferred surroundings have not lent themselves to the advancement of the tidal species' societies. They prefer to live in coastal areas and environments of aquatic nature, because of the territorial nature of the terrestrial species preventing them from living further inland, and the aquatic adaptations they obtained over time from this separation from drier inland areas lend themselves more to aquatic environments and act more as a hindrance in dryer, rockier environments. This also means that they have little experience with fire, and there aren't very many metal ore deposits for them to use, so the tribal individuals have no actual understanding of metallurgy. They seem to be particularly picky about how soft the ground is when walking around. Due to the relatively primitive nature of their societies and the available abundance of aquatic food, the tidal species seems to be more peaceful and agreeable; trying hard to avoid conflict as much as possible. They also seem to either think little of human presence on their world, or incapable of devising formal interaction due to lack of materials and cultural advancement. This has however, made them easier to work with.
  The "terrestrial" khaernals have a broader head with a shorter proboscis, smaller mandibles, and sharper teeth. They also lack the crests exhibited by the other species. The tails of the terrestrial khaernals are much longer than the tidal khaernals. Scans of the planetary surface have shown that they have spread much further across the planet than the other species. At the time of discovery of the two species, the terrestrials were at a bronze age level of society. Though few interactions with humans and human made drones have been made, they have been shown to react to human presence mostly with violence; mainly in the form of either attacking the drones and exploration teams out of fear, or performing ritual sacrifices.
   After the sixth manned surface expedition, interactions with the terrestrial species had been prohibited until further notice. Interactions and experiments with the tidal species are still ongoing, and show promise. It would be best if both species would cooperate with one another and maybe intermingle if that's still genetically possible. They're only considered separate species due to minor physiological differences and the lack of inter-species interaction, but there isn't enough evidence to suggest that hybridized individuals aren't possible. Then again, they've been living separate from each other long enough for such differences in physiological characteristics to rise and proliferate. Who knows how different their DNA is, especially considering all the diseases they must have had to deal with since the split?
  Unfortunately, neither species seems willing to donate the bodies of their freshly deceased members of society, and our board of directors doesn't exactly approve of us breaking our code of ethics and going down there to steal corpses. If there wasn't a vast inhospitable space between me and the planet's surface, I'd grab a few friends, some dark clothing, digging equipment, and start excavating come nightfall. At least our geologists, paleontologists, and archaeologists have been able to do work. Well, I call them that, but considering how long our colony has been away from life bearing planetary surfaces, they're more like historians with little to no experience in the field. On the upside, we do have a few adult individuals living on board in a contained sector of the colony. Thus far linguists are still working very hard to translate their language, and no further interactions other than the most basic IQ tests are permitted until further notice. It took us a while to study their diet, but we've been doing well to keep them fed.

Description
  Within the last year I decided to revisit the Khaernal alien from my old sketchbook (now in scraps), and make some heavy changes to its design. While two species are shown, the majority of the page is taken up by the "tidal" species. Major changes were made to the arms, legs, head, and abdomen (which is now just a tail). I sort of borrowed the arms from my scrapbook concept of the Venutian.

Journal Entry #1:
  Khaernals are the dominant, sapient species of the planet Khaerne. "Khaernal" is just a nickname given by us humans after video surveillance of the creatures was obtained from several surface drones sent to the planet. This simplification of the nomenclature is more or less due to the our inability to pronounce practically any khaernal words, as their vocalizations consist mainly of high pitched shrieks, clicks, croaks, and hissing. It also doesn't help that they aren't advanced to the point of studying themselves and the world around them. Advanced khaernal communication involves combining the sounds they can make with different visual patterns made with their dewlaps; capable thanks to the numerous chromatophores on that section of tissue. The rest of their body is also covered in chromatophores, but the patterns and colors are very limited, and typically only change slightly according to their emotions. They don't have flexible tongues, and their mouths are filled with small, sharp, knife-like teeth and strong, flat dental plates. They have zygodactyl feet and hands. A portion of skeleton found by a team of human planetary surface explorers showed that they also have two sets of scapular bones that are fused together, along with two separate sets of differently shaped clavicles for different forms of muscle movement. They have tails that seem to serve primarily for fat storage. These features are shared by both species.
   The two species have yet to receive proper scientific names or detailed classification, as much of the planet's lifeforms have yet to be properly classified. The less common species is the "tidal" khaernals, which possess a slightly longer and flatter head with prominent cartilaginous crests. They also have webbed toes and have been shown to be fairly well adapted for swimming and holding their breath longer underwater. However, there preferred surroundings have not lent themselves to the advancement of the tidal species' societies. They prefer to live in coastal areas and environments of aquatic nature, because of the territorial nature of the terrestrial species preventing them from living further inland, and the aquatic adaptations they obtained over time from this separation from drier inland areas lend themselves more to aquatic environments and act more as a hindrance in dryer, rockier environments. This also means that they have little experience with fire, and there aren't very many metal ore deposits for them to use, so the tribal individuals have no actual understanding of metallurgy. They seem to be particularly picky about how soft the ground is when walking around. Due to the relatively primitive nature of their societies and the available abundance of aquatic food, the tidal species seems to be more peaceful and agreeable; trying hard to avoid conflict as much as possible. They also seem to either think little of human presence on their world, or incapable of devising formal interaction due to lack of materials and cultural advancement. This has however, made them easier to work with.
  The "terrestrial" khaernals have a broader head with a shorter proboscis, smaller mandibles, and sharper teeth. They also lack the crests exhibited by the other species. The tails of the terrestrial khaernals are much longer than the tidal khaernals. Scans of the planetary surface have shown that they have spread much further across the planet than the other species. At the time of discovery of the two species, the terrestrials were at a bronze age level of society. Though few interactions with humans and human made drones have been made, they have been shown to react to human presence mostly with violence; mainly in the form of either attacking the drones and exploration teams out of fear, or performing ritual sacrifices.
   After the sixth manned surface expedition, interactions with the terrestrial species had been prohibited until further notice. Interactions and experiments with the tidal species are still ongoing, and show promise. It would be best if both species would cooperate with one another and maybe intermingle if that's still genetically possible. They're only considered separate species due to minor physiological differences and the lack of inter-species interaction, but there isn't enough evidence to suggest that hybridized individuals aren't possible. Then again, they've been living separate from each other long enough for such differences in physiological characteristics to rise and proliferate. Who knows how different their DNA is, especially considering all the diseases they must have had to deal with since the split?
  Unfortunately, neither species seems willing to donate the bodies of their freshly deceased members of society, and our board of directors doesn't exactly approve of us breaking our code of ethics and going down there to steal corpses. If there wasn't a vast inhospitable space between me and the planet's surface, I'd grab a few friends, some dark clothing, digging equipment, and start excavating come nightfall. At least our geologists, paleontologists, and archaeologists have been able to do work. Well, I call them that, but considering how long our colony has been away from life bearing planetary surfaces, they're more like historians with little to no experience in the field. On the upside, we do have a few adult individuals living on board in a contained sector of the colony. Thus far linguists are still working very hard to translate their language, and no further interactions other than the most basic IQ tests are permitted until further notice. It took us a while to study their diet, but we've been doing well to keep them fed.