Eoai'ei



An herbivorous terrestrial hexapedal organism, native to the high-gravity planet Reyone.

Phylogeny
Unlike most of Reyone's land animals (which belong to the Reyonean class of chordates known as "Platytheria"), eoai'ei are some of the only surviving members of the ancient class of Reyonean animals known as "Hexallopodia". Eoai'ei (meaning "marsh beast" in Reyonese) and their relatives (unlike the platytherian quadrupeds) dealt with Reyone's heightened gravity (about 2.4 times that of Earth) by developing three pairs of sturdy, column-like legs, rather than contentedly sprawling across the Reyonean landscape on four limbs, practically crawling with one's belly mere inches from the ground. It has not been determined conclusively, but the leading theory as to the reasoning behind the unusual decline in hexallopodian animals on Reyone is simply that the placement and relative weakness of each of the six limbs allowed for a far lower maximum speed in locomotion as compared to that of the nimble platytherians, which led to the latter gradually hunting the hexallopodians to near extinction (with only three distinct orders remaining: "Testudotauria", "Allohippotheria", and "Reyonohelotheria"--the latter being the class to which eoai'ei belong).

Physiology
Eoai'ei are adapted to the temperate and subtropical wetlands of Reyone's humid equatorial continents. This habitat of marshland and bogs has led the eoai'ei and their relatives to evolve large, flat feet, allowing them to move freely on the muddy, wet ground, even despite their weight of 350 pounds (on their planet). Primarily fungivores, eoai'ei and their relatives feed almost solely on soft-bodied fungi and lichens which grow on and among the trees and plants of the Reyonean wetlands, licking portions off with a small tongue-like radula (concealed within a chitinous tube on its snout when not in use). Eoai'ei also possess tough keratin "tusks" (technically specialized, tusklike horns, as hexallopodians lack teeth) just beneath the radula, for use in digging through the thick hides of some of the heavier fungi they feed on, and also in defense against predators (both males and females have these "tusks"). Having evolved millions of years ago from the same quasi-arthropodal creatures as their distant cousins the platytherians, hexallopodians are equipped with a sturdy, segmented carapace on their backs. Unlike platytherians however, hexallopodian animals like the eoai'ei have slender, articulated necks, which, with regards to powerful splenius muscles at the back of the three-segment neck, easily retracts into a narrow cavity within the eoai'ei's chest (protected above by the creature's carapace, and on the sides and below by a unique "second ribcage" specially developed to surround and protect the hexallopodian's head and neck when retracted). This position is often assumed by the eoai'ei and its relatives when not feeding, with only its false tusks partially exposed. As with virtually all Reyonean land animals, eoai'ei (and all other hexallopodians) lack true eyes, and instead possess unique heat-sensing organs called "thermoculi". In eoai'ei however, even these eye-like organs are highly diminished, being not only hidden inside the creature's keratin-covered skull, but are also incredibly small in relation. Eoai'ei (as well as most other terrestrial hexallopodians) therefore percieve their environment almost solely through a powerful sense of smell, detecting chemical signals so sharply through the highly-developed "whiskers" (actually chemical-sensing organs called "reyonofibres") beneath their false tusks as to form almost sight-like images out of pure scent.