A little series of monsters done for each day in the first week of April. Unlike a similar project of mine, these critters aren't based on any particular myths and stories but instead common creature design elements.
April Ghouls! '23
Double-Ended
The necks of the Janusuchus are so absurdly long they can wrap around the entire planet. Their necks are also so absurdly long that, should the individual heads find each other, it takes days upon days before their brains can send signals back and forth informing the pair that they are in fact the same individual. Fortunately they're naturally quite friendly and agreeable, happily spending those long weeks complimenting each other until they realize it was themself the whole time, and usually continue doing so for several weeks after.
Its long snout evolved to prevent prey from damaging its soft gooey eyeball. Why it evolved such a prominent weak spot in the first place is anyone's guess.
These little gliders each contain a seed that'll grow into a much larger organism, making them more akin to plants than animals. They also contain sharp jaws to tear apart rival gliders and to hitch a ride on other creatures. While their journey normally only lasts a few days, one pod has managed to stay aloft for over 100,000 years. It evidently never found a place good enough for its cargo and is willing to wait for the world to change to something better.
A mutant hairball coughed up by some beast that clearly got into something it shouldn't have, Tricho believes itself to be a harbinger of a dread new species destined to rule the planet. Just as soon as these other pellets wake up...
*poke*
*poke*
lazylittlebuggers
A gas giant trawler. It feeds exclusively on sky-plankton, but also unwittingly catches diamonds that on occasion rain on its world. In recent years a new kind of creature have arrived seemingly just to pick these useless rocks out of the trawlers' mandible-slits. How helpful!
Since their favored prey rely on hearing, these pack hunters have developed a complex system of blinks to communicate stealthily. A great many of these secret codes are gentle reminders to watch those clodhoppers!
These creatures evolved spectacular horns to attract mates — or rather they attract vicious predators that they can then valiantly fight off to prove their worth. Some tribes of hornheads have evolved extra defense measures instead of relying purely on strength, such as venom or quills. One tribe experimented with explosive horns — unsurprisingly, they wiped themselves out.
