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@socialistpuffin.bsky.social Sep 11, 2026, 3:06 PM

RIP Herman Melville, you would've loved speculative zoology. #AllTodays #AllYesterdays #SpeculativeEvolution #SpeculativeZoology

@riverraptor12.bsky.social Sep 7, 2026, 6:20 PM

New Art!

Spectember 2026 Day 7: Lakyr

Land Whale

For my Drecel project, a myrmecophagous ambulocetid whale with an aggressive demeanor like a living wildfire. \

#spectember #spectember2026 #speculativeevolution #specbio #worldbuilding

Day 7: Land Whale

For my Drecel project.

Drecel has only one family of true whales. A primitive lineage that is still furred and four-limbed the ambulocetidae. Most have remained basal in appearance, filling out semi-aquatic predator niches across the temperate mainland, coastlines, and remote islands. In plain tongue they are called otter whales but to the basilisk, they are morslin (translates to worm-like death). But another bizarre beast known to the basilisk of the Western Steppe and Ikon Desert as the Lakyr (grass-fire) also belongs to this clade.

Lakyrs are a myrmecophagous species, convergent in adaptations with earthly mammals like aardvarks and anteaters. Powerful limbs and sharp claws, quite unlike their amphibious kin, allow them to dig down into the dusty earth after ant colonies or into the tall land-spires of micklets (eusocial mothdeer). Due to their semi-aquatic ancestry, their nostrils are located on the top and middle of the skull. In order to accommodate their diet, it is the snout that is greatly reduced while the rest of the skull is extended. The long sticky tongue is rooted at the back of the jaw and coils down in the throat when not in use. It can expertly probe the tunnels, lapping up hundreds of insects and larvae at a time. Lakyr have developed an immunity to the stings and bites of their prey.