Current settings: Earth, Human | Common Names
Biome Log SVKWG-0285
Planet: Letrum
Biome Name: Venemont
Often called “poison peaks” or “fountain ranges,” Venemonts are regions of high tectonic activity on the planet Letrum. This tectonic activity results in the formation of spikey, tall mountains and intricate networks of tunnels. In addition, due to the unique makeup of Letrum’s crust, this results in a heavy blanket of incredibly toxic fog blanketing the area. This fog is heavier than air, resulting in nearly all life forms that make their home in venemonts living up among the peaks.
Species Log FHSKVC-47295
Common Name: Floating Rockhopper
Home Planet: Letrum
Habitat: Venemont
Classification: Animal
Diet: Plants
Lifespan: 5 Earth years
Floating Rockhoppers are herbivorous animals native to the venemonts of Letrum. Its body is roughly spherical, measuring one meter in height when excluding other body parts. The front of their body is adorned with six eyes and two nostrils, while the mouth is located on the bottom of the body. They possess four arthropod-like legs that are each one meter long. Rock-like protrusions cover the top of their body, including a central “spike” in the center. On the sides of the body exist inflatable air sacs.
Floating Rockhoppers make their homes in the toxic tunnels that fill venemonts in order to avoid predators. The heavy, toxic fog that blankets the area keeps these tunnel homes safe, and years of evolution have rendered Floating Rockhoppers immune to not only this toxin, but every known poison.
Because the gas that keeps Floating Rockhoppers safe also prevents nearly all other life from existing in the area, Floating Rockhoppers have to venture higher up into the mountains in order to find the plants that they survive off of, and have developed several evolutionary traits in order to make the trek up the mountain more practical. Their most prominent adaptation is their air sacs. Floating Rockhoppers will suck in massive amounts of air at the base of the mountain and store it in their air sacs. While this air is relatively heavy, the increased surface area is enough to offset this and make them more buoyant in the thick Letruminian air. In conjunction with their deceptively strong legs, this allows them to jump massive distances. It also has the benefit of making falls less deadly, allowing them to take more risks and ascend more quickly.
Storing air in their air sacs also helps them to avoid negative effects from the thinner air higher up on the mountain. Floating Rockhoppers are able to hold their breath for approximately 32 hours without risk, and tend to limit their excursions to 24 hours or less. In addition, their respiratory system is completely isolated from their digestive system, allowing them to eat while holding their breath. Floating Rockhoppers eat by walking over patches of vegetation and pulling the food into its mouth using its several grasping tongues.
The rock-like protrusions of the Floating Rockhopper help it to blend into the rocky terrain of the mountains where it forages for food. However, they are soft and light so as to avoid weighing the Floating Rockhopper down, meaning they do not provide significant protection. If this camouflage fails and a Floating Rockhopper is confronted by a predator, it will jump into the air and then expel the stored air in its air sacs towards the attacker. This serves two purposes. Firstly, the attacker is met with a cloud of toxic fog, usually enough to disorient if not kill it. Second, the force of the expulsion propels the Floating Rockhopper away from the threat. This will often result in the Floating Rockhopper flying off of the mountain, desperately sucking in air to slow its descent. The survival rate for this strategy is estimated to be approximately 71%.
Floating Rockhoppers use sexual reproduction and lay eggs. Beyond this, nothing is known of their reproductive or mating habits, due to the difficulty of observing them in their tunnels due to the toxic gas.