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| - Traveling in small groups, sedge-sliders' enormous pink biolights shine like lanterns in the gloom of a receding storm. At first they appear headless, but as the sky grows lighter small dark beaks appear from beneath their anterior flaps. These gradually extend until an entire head is visible. The newly-emerged black heads steam for a few moments in the frigid air until they cool off. These large creatures have evolved a unique means of keeping their bare heads protected during arctic storms, by retracting them deep into their insulated body cavities.
- Arctic Sedge Sliders are massive organisms, bipeds standing 10m (33ft) tall and adapted to life in the cold, polar environments of their homeworld, Darwin IV. They are bipedal, dragging themselves along with their two front legs, while supporting themselves in the rear with a central skid. Their name originates from the furrows that their skids leave in their path. As a way to survive the cold, they utilize a specialized adaptation. Whenever the temperature drops or a fierce arctic storm approaches along the horizon, they can retract their head deep into their warm body cavity, only extending it again once conditions have become favourable once again. Their species is notable for having what may be the biggest sonar bulge of any fauna on Darwin IV. This massive organ produces sonar pings i
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| abstract
| - Traveling in small groups, sedge-sliders' enormous pink biolights shine like lanterns in the gloom of a receding storm. At first they appear headless, but as the sky grows lighter small dark beaks appear from beneath their anterior flaps. These gradually extend until an entire head is visible. The newly-emerged black heads steam for a few moments in the frigid air until they cool off. These large creatures have evolved a unique means of keeping their bare heads protected during arctic storms, by retracting them deep into their insulated body cavities. Sedge-sliders are anything but quick, pulling their 10-meter-tall bodies across the crunchy ground with laborious strokes of their huge, hooked feet. They are among the noisiest animals found on Darwin IV, slamming out their pings with deafening regularity. The sedge-sliders are placid animals, digging peacefully in the frozen arctic soil for the subterranean snowbulbs that comprise their diet. Because of the proximity of the glacier, the sedge-slider has developed the ability to ricochet sonar signals off the ice wall; in fact, this seems to be its preferred means of echolocation. While a group of sedge-sliders feeds, one of them is always stationed near the glacier wall bouncing its pings off into the tundra while the other individuals remain silent. Sonar analysis indicates that these are not single but multiple pings that reach into a number of directions simultaneously. The complexity of the retuned signal must be considerable, explaining the huge sonar bulge atop the creatures' bodies. Nature, as opportunistic as ever, has taken full advantage of the glacier and its acoustic capabilities. A clever arctic bolt-tongue can catch any sedge-slider unawares.
- Arctic Sedge Sliders are massive organisms, bipeds standing 10m (33ft) tall and adapted to life in the cold, polar environments of their homeworld, Darwin IV. They are bipedal, dragging themselves along with their two front legs, while supporting themselves in the rear with a central skid. Their name originates from the furrows that their skids leave in their path. As a way to survive the cold, they utilize a specialized adaptation. Whenever the temperature drops or a fierce arctic storm approaches along the horizon, they can retract their head deep into their warm body cavity, only extending it again once conditions have become favourable once again. Their species is notable for having what may be the biggest sonar bulge of any fauna on Darwin IV. This massive organ produces sonar pings in, not one, but multiple frequencies. Also, as this bulge is situated on their back, it gives the species the ability to "see" in 360ยบ, which makes it far more difficult for a would-be predator to catch one of their kind by surprise.
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