>>5421028>>5421031>>5421032>>5421033>>5421039>>5421049>>5421055>>5421059The Flounder Feeder has revolutionized its sensory apparatus and is now far more perceptive of its immediate environment than before. Its long-vestigial under pincer nerves have grown thick and wiry, coiling on themselves into a set of soft and sensitive ridges which are capable of detecting vibrations at a much larger distance. This not only reduces the danger of incoming collisions and active tectonic shifts but makes the movements of prey far more obvious and lowers their chances of escape. It is nearly a match for the vibration senses of the extinct Ripple Tracker, hampered only by its smaller surface area and lower density.
At the same time, the Flounder Feeder’s many internal nerves have threaded themselves denser and have begun transmitting signals faster and clearer, exponentially increasing the Flounder Feeder’s tactile sensation. Though the Flounder Feeder’s outer shell of lead is completely numb to sensation apart from a few, inconsistent specks of cartilage, the prehensile tongue sees an incredible advancement. Where before, a Flounder Feeder was incapable of discerning the difference between silt and food except in how the latter didn’t disperse when its pincers snatched it, now, the Flounder Feeder is able to feel slight differences in texture at sufficient resolution to identify flesh, cartilage, silt, stone, ice, and vegetable matter. This massively reduces accidents and makes cleaning the insides of their teeth much easier, as they can reliably detect stuck food.
Both of these would be a significant improvement in their own right but together, they have an unexpected synergy: the advent of taste. While Flounder Feeders don’t have a wide enough diet or sufficient brainpower to have a varied palette or conscious preferences, they are in constant contact with their pack members and groom them for Latchers on a near-hourly basis. Previously, this behavior was purely instinctual but with frequent exposure and their newfound senses, they are able to discern the very subtle differences in how each Flounder Feeder of their pack tastes. This encourages grooming and more importantly, improves pack dynamics by enabling an unconscious sentimentality toward a Flounder Feeder’s offspring, mates, and pack members, usually but not always related. The Flounder Feeder population explodes, in part due to heightened hunting success, in part due to regular intrapack caretaking.
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