Leafback Titan

maraínofolium munitum ( "Withered Leaf Shield" )

Average cockroach on Earth vs average cockroach on Hoxia

Physical Biometrics:

Wingspan: ~6.2 ft / 1.9 meter

Length: up to 3 ft / 1 meter

(Excluding cerci )

Weight / Mass: 1-2 pounds / 450-900 grams / 0.45 - 0.9 kilograms

Can reach up to 5-7 pounds / 2-3 kilograms

Distribution and Environment:

In the tropical forested regions of the equatorial belt land masses.

Description:

Their lifestyle and strategy are not very different from their original common ancestor, with them camouflaging posing as giant dead leaves in the forest floors litter. They are primarily herbivorous, consuming the fallen leaves it lives alongside. They however are also willing to scavenge other sources of biomass any chance they get. Intraspecific combat sometimes occurs in competition for mates, though its not as prominent. Their display behavior primarily consists of the unfolding of the wings and rearing up.

They host the endosymbiotic bacteria Blattabacterium in a mutualistic relationship. Their purpose is nitrogen recycling, and is passed down from generation to generation. Most other herbivores have similar relationships with microorganisms to deal with poor nitrogen content in plant matter.

Evolution / Anatomy:

Enormous compound eyes wrap around the head like alien sunglasses, a signature description of the face for most roach lineages in the Protypocene. Its antennae are elongate, and pick up chemical trails for navigation and detection of predators. Robust mandibles hear through vegetation and potential carcasses alike.

An enormously widened pronotum shields the head. Cerci surprisingly are elongate, mostly to detect airborne mechanosensory vibrations in order to know of any predators coming from behind. They have an extremely powerful pulvilli to maintain their grip on the ground, usually to prevent being flipped over. They resort to rapid flicking of the wings to right themselves if flipped over.

Their limbs have large tibial spines, serving as a hazard for deterring predators. Their middle pair as well as the hind pair, serve as a way for the Titan to stand "upright", with their forelimbs extended serving as weapons.  Their four wings are then rapidly unfolded and expanded, their wings' primary purpose is to contribute to this deimatic display.

The smaller males are capable of powered flapping flight even when fully grown. Larger females are capable of flight too, but do so less often and usually glide rather then flap. The wings are primarily used by juveniles for flight to evade predators. 

Known Descendants: 

( N / A, coming soon )