atrous' SECOND art blog

arirals' love of shrimp made me think that they have a crustacean equivalent on their home planet, and its a staple of their diet. the need for a super strong bite force became arbitrary as they entered into an industrialized age in their civilization, where they use mechanized force to crack open these alien crustaceans and process the edible bits. perhaps some groups still prefer the old-fashioned way of eating, cracking them open with just their maw, maybe as a part of a tradition or a sport.

i'm thinking these alien crustaceans contribute to arirals vibrant hair/fur color, in a similar vein to how flamingoes and roseate spoonbills get their vibrancy from their shrimp heavy diet. genetics still play a large part in determining the true underlying color, but an alien crustacean heavy diet influences the saturation and vibrancy.

the large jowels they have are home to very large salivary glands that produce their highly acidic saliva. it also serves as an extra cushiony barrier between the glands, and whatever prey they would've had fighting in their mouth.