Mummy Nest Sculpture

I saved the best one for last  

The Mummy-Nest is a mysterious creature mentioned in the Book "Expedition", in it, the in-universe Author encounters a strange three-meter tall husk while exploring the Darwinian Tundra in spring.

The bizarre "mummy" has a lot of intriguing features, like a gaping hole where its head is supposed to be, an atrophied-looking front leg, root-like formations that attach it to the ground, spinchter-like holes on its sides, a whip-like projection on its back, and most enigmatically, a functioning biolight on top of its neck. As the author wonders what sort of thing lies in front of him, a little flyer enters the carcass and takes shelter in it and we learn that somehow, the mummy is providing warmth and food tho the little critter. 

The Author notices that the head-hole of the thing corresponds somewhat with the shape of the flyer, and eleborates a theory in which the disembodied head of the mummy becomes a little flyer that takes shelter and feeds on what was once its lower body.

Practically speaking, this theory raises a lot of questions, even in a bonkers world such as Darwin IV; How does a simple head functions without its organs?, does it grow a new body each year? where does this creature fit in the natural history of its world?... 

While reading the book I stumbled upon what can only be described as an early concept on the Mummy-Nest, that actually makes a lot more sense. It turns out that this creature started out as an "Artic Tripedalien", a predator that grows an insulating layer of skin during winter, detaches from it and uses it as a shelter during Winter.

With this background, I envisioned an alternate theory on what the flippin' hell is the "canon" Mummy-Nest...




Here is my interpretation;

The Arctic Mummy-Nest is a rare low-profile boreal omnivore/predator that lives in Darwin IV's Northern Tundra, essentially filling a niche similar to the Terrestrial Bears, the 3-meter tall creature changes it's appearance drastically during the course of the year. 

On spring, the Mummy-Nest is a lanky omnivore that roams the tundra on three legs, but during summer and autumm, it starts gaining a lot of weight. it's skin begins to grow baggier, harder and wrinklier, and a crease forms around its head while the bizarre biolight and whip structures grow on its back.

Eventually, it gets so fat that it finds harder and harder to move, and its hind legs begin to fuse in a sort of cocoon. during this stage it becomes sessile and uses the whip on its back to "fish" small flying animals.

When the long darwinian winter starts, the triped detaches itself from the thick and blubbery skin and crunches inside of it. creating a double insolation effect, the skin traps the heat inside and mantains a slightly warmer temperature in which the tripod can pass the winter confortably. Still it barely moves, and when it does is just to grab a bite of fatty tissue of its "nest.

When spring comes, the again lanky tripod eats as much of its nest as it can, and then goes back to actively hunting other creatures, often leaving behind a hollowed-out carcass standing on the tundra, to which they periodically return to sleep or take shelter. Of course, without the aggresive creature to guard the "nest" its an easy target for scavengers and predators; "homeless" tripeds are an increasing sight during spring, and some of them steal shelters from one another.

Several species of tundra dwellers have learned to use this shelters during late spring, but none are as specialized as the Mummy-Nest Flyer. it's head resembles somewhat the original head of the Mummy-Nest, and when the original owner, or some other usurper comes around to the Nest, they pretend to be an aggressive triped, essentially dissuading most attacks.



Come to think about it is quite an elaborate theory... and it kinda makes sense... at least to me XD
I'd love to read some thought on this one... 

greetings!