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>Mutation result : Overwhelming negative
The <span class="mu-s">Under Hunter</span> evolved talons on its short limbs.
Those claws, made of Keratin, are hard and sharp, dangerous enough for every member of <span class="mu-s">the Crack</span> to be wary of it if they know what's good for them, as it can inflict serious wound to the soft flesh of every delver, even at the softer segment of the hard shell of the Ivy Fatty.
Barring one small, petty, but oh so important detail : the limb holding them usually tear away before the target.
The talons are hard and durable enough to act as climbing studs. <span class="mu-s">Under Hunters</span> that attempt this previously unheard acrobatic stunt leave their climbing gear behind.
The talons are sharp enough to tear the flesh into munchable bite, opening the opportunity to fight back or feed on carrion. Opportunity almost always turning into the target literally pulling your leg.
The aggravated limb loss turns into its own issue : most Under Hunter turns into limbless blobs around 45 days, unable to move anymore.
In the meantime, two unrelated events featuring as main protagonist <span class="mu-s">Depth Crawlers</span> impact the Rift's ecosystem.
The first one is concerning the Depth Crawlers themself :
>Depth Crawlers mutation : Partial development
The little scavenger develop their own channel of communication using pheromones. However, the smaller Crack dwellers are not a social species yet and most time the pheromones disperse without any Crawler leveraging the information.
Still, this is a first step toward unification of the small ones against the bigger, tougher, meaner species.
The second one is an oddity. One particular Under Hunter swallowed a Depth Crawler while pregnant. The species' close DNA mixed, resulting in a litter of newborns without talons, and with Crawler Mandibles - scaled to an Hunter.
Those <span class="mu-s">Scissor Hunter</span>, with the double advantage of keeping their limbs AND better weapon, able to feed on carrion, seems more adapted to the Crack than the main branch. Scissor Hunter also wins most confrontation between themself and Under Hunter.
The silver lining is that young Scissor Hunter are almost indiscernable to Depth Crawler, providing occasional sustenance to the Under Hunter. However, the opposite is true too.
The changes in the Under Hunter and the new competition filling the same Niche but better is quite disastrous to the Under Hunter, sending their number tumbling - reduced to one third of their recently reached maximum - while the Scissor Hunter grow rapidly, already outnumbering their cousins.
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