ExquisiteProject

The Beast has moved closer and closer to the shallows, finding itself mainly in brackish waters and estuaries. It’s large, heavily-armored head has become spade-shaped, and the beast has become increasingly flattened out as it moves more inland. Slow moving and massive, it is highly curious with a tendency to put things in it’s mouth to figure out what they are, like a massive armored toddler. 

Being so large, slow and weighted down by the bony crest on it's forehead the beast has terrible trouble manuevering.and diving. It inflates air-pockets between it's skin to float at the surface. As it now spends so much time at the surface, the algae on it's back has given rise to a mutualistic parisitic relationship with mosses and seedless plants. As the tail and flippers become stubbier the animal moves to shallow waters where it can push-off from sand-bars, positioning itself to feed on tiny plankton.

Now one of the most adept filter-feeders of the sea, the Beast has developed a large, grooved crest that better amplifies its' cries throughout the ocean, and serves the double purpose of an offensive battering ram when meeting predators or rivals. Such heavy plating has slowed the beast down tremendously, and sometimes it's difficult to tell the crest apart from the shells and barnacles that grow on top of it and offer a layer of camouflage when it comes to the surface.

The beast now has fibrous filaments that are very efficient in scooping up small crustaceans and tiny fish. It's mouth expands into two pouches  Tiny barnacles attach themselves to the creature. It's 'crest' seems to form a hard shell on it's head. The pair of hind flippers have merged into a single spiraling tail.

((Late, I was working on deciding on classes for Fall semester. ;) ))

In search of bigger prey, the Beast is no longer hesitant to dive right for its' meal. Few fish can escape the cage of its' beak, and the Beast is quick to swim after those that do, with a tail that serves as a rudder both underwater and in the air. It hunts in flocks, calling to each other with a loud bugle that reverberates through the Beasts' crested beak.

Living along the mouth of a river as it empties into the sea the Beast has developed a body better accustomed to skimming the water as it hunts for fish. The once prehensile main 'tails' have started to fuse together and stiffen. The Beast's nostrils have migrated further up the head and it can submerge it's head into the water as it skims over the surface to pick up fish. It's beak now has teeth to better catch fish and it's eyes point downwards to search for prey.

The Beast has started to stick to territory near rivers, using it's prehensile tails to both disturb the water's surface to herd prey into easy-to-spear groups, and to attract mates. The most successful make their way down the river to where they empty out near the sea, riding the strong winds to stay airborne as much as possible, and adding small fish to their diet.

(Sorry for running so late - it has been a ridiculous week and snow storms do not help)

(Sorry for the lateness, it was a wonky-week.)

The beast now bears all of it's weight on it's former third leg, using the strong muscles to anchor itself among the trees in wait so that its' former upper jaws can do the work of snatching lured-in prey out of the air. Basic light-sensing eyes have evolved in clusters between the two main ones, but  the beast still gets the most information about it's environment thanks to the passing of scents and wind along it's cilia. 

In it's search for more food and bigger meals, the Beast has taken to an arboreal lifestyle using the sticky pads it it has developed to move up and down trees. The third leg has become an sort of anchoring appendage. Finding a good position to hunt, the Beast will allow the top 'lips' filled with sticky cilla to hang down invitingly and emit a scent that is irresistable to small birds, rodents, and insects. 

The beast has now taken a more predatory bent, using it's low profile to blend in with the surrounding environment, and it's cilia have grown to also lure in prey as well as capture it, making it a more efficient hunter. Not only does it draw in insects, but very small vertebrates as well. 

In a similar vein as The Exquisite Beast Project as headed by Evan Dahm and Yuko Ota,  Elizabeth Smith (that's me!) and Chelsie Sutherland are going to try and create a visible theoretical evolution of a creature. In the future, I will be posting on Wednesdays (except for this Wednesday) and  Chelsie will post on Saturdays.