FRIC — Viewing Species: Dontorex

This short-furred newborn is very peculiar; it has a snakelike body with six legs and a very large, thick tail. Its eyes are closed, and the only real reaction it gives to being handled is a tiny growl and weak struggling.

The creature has become more active, and developed hard scales on its neck and tail. Though it's fairly obvious the end with eyes and a nose is the creature's head, the tail has split open to reveal a large, apparently functional, mouth. Now that it can see and react to its environment, the youngster is aggressive and hostile to its handler and to other juvenile creatures, attempting to bite anything larger than it and swallow anything smaller. It therefore must be kept away from other young creatures, even those of its own species, until it can be trained not to try to eat everything.

The Dontorex is a frightful, chimeric therapsid and an aggressive predator. A known maneater, it is one of many reasons why exploration of Crop Circle Canyon was delayed. Dontorexes are highly solitary, coming together only to mate and then going their separate ways; a non-mating encounter between two adults is a violent affair. The gaping jaws on their tails allow them to swallow prey much larger than they would normally seem to be able to; much like a snake's, these jaws can unhinge to accommodate for wider animals. Though large prey can make a Dontorex's stomach distended, the acid found in their digestive tract dissolves everything in mere hours. It typically swallows its prey alive and whole.

Though the creature's head is smaller than its tail, a Dontorex will drink and eat smaller prey with the mouth found on its head. This predator has keen eyesight and sense of smell, and its short crest hides its ears from view. Scales cover its back and about a third of its tail, but the rest of the animal is covered in short fur. Its tail-mouth has incredible bite strength but little ability to pierce or tear; the eight "teeth" it has are in fact adapted scales to hold struggling prey in place. The strength of these jaws can cut off both airflow and circulation, causing the prey to pass out so that the Dontorex can swallow it more easily.