Alien Predator

From a Biology Class project to create an alien for a specific extreme environment. I chose a desert, and created this elephant tyrannosaurus whale: christened, Cetaceros. Meaning whale nose.

It's kind of a boring profile as originally I didn't plan to go back and rework it as much as I did. All I had intended at the time was to show off his odd anatomy.

The idea behind this guy is that its planet was originally covered in an ocean, which eventually dried up into underground sources due to some sun related factor. Aquatic and amphibious creatures had to adapt to the changing environment, and the cetaceros would evolve from a cetacean like mammal. It lacks eyes and relies on its acute sense of smell, echolocation and vibration sensitive feet to locate prey. They would hunt either alone or in pairs, like tyrannosaurs, and share an intelligence and communication similar to elephants. Their tails function like a camels hump, storing vast amounts of fat as well as helping to balance against the weight of the monsters head.

Like elephants they release low vibration rumblings and foot stomping to communicate with other Cetaceros miles away. Which they feel through the support sacs in their feet. The lip is prehensile, and probably served a more important function for the creatures ancestors, but for now is mainly used for communication and display. When the creatures gather in vast numbers to mate, the males pair off to battle and show off for the attention of the females.

As for capturing prey, they hunt large herd grazers which they wear down with their slashing grabbing mantis limbs and bites from their massive jaws. These mantis limbs can jut out at surprising speeds, and are useful for snagging smaller faster prey in addition to the typical large lumbering beast. They typically tuck them under their bodies when running or hold them out at their sides for balancing when making tight turns.

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Graphite, cs5