>>5415778>>5415780>>5415781>>5415782>>5415783In a bid to stave off starvation between rare Lump Grazers and more common but fiercer, swifter, and less nutritious Flesh Gnawers, the Flounder Feeders have taken a radical leap in their psychology and begin to consume plants. Their digestive system isn’t adapted for vegetable matter but its recent improvements see the nutrition yield of Sulfur Clumps, Growth Strands, and the rare Growth Lump slightly outweigh the effort of breaking them down. While nearly useless for amassing blubber at this stage of development, this allows the Flounder Feeders to survive when prey is absent and would’ve stopped the population decline on its own. In the starving times, natural selection is fierce even in the least numerous of species and this change in behavior isn’t alone.
Gradually, the Flounder Feeders grow mouth glands beside their tongue, which release a slightly adhesive, mildly corrosive liquid to assist in breaking down food before it enters the digestive system. The impact of this primitive saliva isn’t much but when taking into account that the Flounder Feeder is a specialized carnivore trying to subsist on plants, it might as well be a second stomach. The benefit of this to a species a handful of deaths from extinction cannot be overstated. Due to broadening their diet and lucking into a means of aiding their digestion, the Flounder Feeder population has rejected its fate to grow more than tenfold over, bringing them back to merely critically endangered.
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