function more like arms,” Otto continued. “The first pair is connected to its lower jaw and is furless. These seem to be chelate appendages with slender pincers that are white in color…very strange. They emerge from a wide lower jaw of an almost frog-or birdlike hinged mouth with long teeth that are packed close together and seem to be rather sharp. The teeth are extremely hard and dark gray. The mouth has dark blue lips drawn back that can apparently close over the teeth.”
“What is that, a skullcap?” Nell’s pencil flew as she sketched the outlines of the animal. “On top of its head?”
“The subject appears to have a light brown, furless cranial cap of some sort,” Otto said.
“Jesus,” Quentin said. “Either I’m dreaming or we are making history here, folks.”
“You aren’t dreaming,” Nell told him.
The scientists clapped and whooped, finally releasing their anxiety and exhilaration.
Nell quickly penciled in the snaggle-toothed mouth in the creature’s round head, her face frozen with grim concentration.
Henders Rat
Rodentocaris hendersi
(
after
Echevarria et al,
Proceedings of the Woods Hole Scientific Meetings
, vol. 92: 87-93)
This animal looked like a miniature version of the deadly lunging animals she had seen on the beach, except that its jaws were horizontal instead of vertical like the ones that came from the crevasse.
“It looks like a deep-sea angler,” Andy said.
“Like a cat crossed with a spider.” Nell carved its outline deep into the sheet of paper with her pencil.
“Right, like the spigers you mentioned,” Quentin said.
“Right.” Nell nodded.
“The specimen has a pair of large green-red-and-blue eyes with three optical hemispheres,” Otto narrated, and he tested the flexibility of the creature’s eyes with a poking index finger. “The eyes are mounted on short stalks that pivot or swivel inside a socket in its head. They also toggle in a socket at the end of the stalks, apparently, having a very ingenious mechanism.”
“I sure hope that thing’s dead,” Andy said.
Otto ignored him and wiggled the forelegs behind the head to see how they bent. “The large legs behind the head are very muscular and have spines at the end. They are fur-bearing, but the heavy spikelike spines are hairless, hard black exoskeleton or horn, and they seem to have a very sharp edge.”
“They look like praying mantis arms.”
“Yeah, that’s how they fold,” Otto agreed. “They may be able to act as shears or vises, too.”
“Or spears,” Nell suggested, shivering as she thought of what the others must have faced inside the crevasse. “The spigers speared the sand in front of them to back away from the water.”
Otto continued. “These mantislike subchelate arms are articulated to a bony ring under the skin, from which the neck musculature also extends. The next pair of limbs appears to be true legs. They resemble a quadruped’s forelegs…with one extra joint… and they seem to be attached to a broad central ring of bone that can be felt under the dermis and which forms a medial hump on the dorsal surface of the animal.”
“Those are eyes!” Nell exclaimed.
“Huh? Where?” Andy said.
“See, on top of that hump on its back, Otto?”
“Oh,” Andy said.
“There are eyes on the medial hump,” Otto confirmed, rinsing off more blue blood. “Which are similar to the eyes on the head.”
“Do you think it has a second set of optic lobes in its back?” Nell asked. “I mean, look, they’re image-forming eyes, not just light-intensity receptors.”
“Either there’s a brain under there or they have ridiculously long optic nerves,” Andy continued.
Otto continued his description. “There are three eyes on the central hump, reminiscent of the eyes on a jumping spider. One eye looks directly behind and one to each side. They each toggle inside a socket. I think you’re right, Nell. There could be some kind of ganglion structure under this
“What is that, a skullcap?” Nell’s pencil flew as she sketched the outlines of the animal. “On top of its head?”
“The subject appears to have a light brown, furless cranial cap of some sort,” Otto said.
“Jesus,” Quentin said. “Either I’m dreaming or we are making history here, folks.”
“You aren’t dreaming,” Nell told him.
The scientists clapped and whooped, finally releasing their anxiety and exhilaration.
Nell quickly penciled in the snaggle-toothed mouth in the creature’s round head, her face frozen with grim concentration.
Henders Rat
Rodentocaris hendersi
(
after
Echevarria et al,
Proceedings of the Woods Hole Scientific Meetings
, vol. 92: 87-93)
This animal looked like a miniature version of the deadly lunging animals she had seen on the beach, except that its jaws were horizontal instead of vertical like the ones that came from the crevasse.
“It looks like a deep-sea angler,” Andy said.
“Like a cat crossed with a spider.” Nell carved its outline deep into the sheet of paper with her pencil.
“Right, like the spigers you mentioned,” Quentin said.
“Right.” Nell nodded.
“The specimen has a pair of large green-red-and-blue eyes with three optical hemispheres,” Otto narrated, and he tested the flexibility of the creature’s eyes with a poking index finger. “The eyes are mounted on short stalks that pivot or swivel inside a socket in its head. They also toggle in a socket at the end of the stalks, apparently, having a very ingenious mechanism.”
“I sure hope that thing’s dead,” Andy said.
Otto ignored him and wiggled the forelegs behind the head to see how they bent. “The large legs behind the head are very muscular and have spines at the end. They are fur-bearing, but the heavy spikelike spines are hairless, hard black exoskeleton or horn, and they seem to have a very sharp edge.”
“They look like praying mantis arms.”
“Yeah, that’s how they fold,” Otto agreed. “They may be able to act as shears or vises, too.”
“Or spears,” Nell suggested, shivering as she thought of what the others must have faced inside the crevasse. “The spigers speared the sand in front of them to back away from the water.”
Otto continued. “These mantislike subchelate arms are articulated to a bony ring under the skin, from which the neck musculature also extends. The next pair of limbs appears to be true legs. They resemble a quadruped’s forelegs…with one extra joint… and they seem to be attached to a broad central ring of bone that can be felt under the dermis and which forms a medial hump on the dorsal surface of the animal.”
“Those are eyes!” Nell exclaimed.
“Huh? Where?” Andy said.
“See, on top of that hump on its back, Otto?”
“Oh,” Andy said.
“There are eyes on the medial hump,” Otto confirmed, rinsing off more blue blood. “Which are similar to the eyes on the head.”
“Do you think it has a second set of optic lobes in its back?” Nell asked. “I mean, look, they’re image-forming eyes, not just light-intensity receptors.”
“Either there’s a brain under there or they have ridiculously long optic nerves,” Andy continued.
Otto continued his description. “There are three eyes on the central hump, reminiscent of the eyes on a jumping spider. One eye looks directly behind and one to each side. They each toggle inside a socket. I think you’re right, Nell. There could be some kind of ganglion structure under this
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