Brute Grazer and Forest Walker

A successful new lineage appears on the grasslands forcing others to adapt to its presence

230-MYH Horned Terra Squids of the infraorder (Ceratoteuthinae-horned squids) Continue to experience great success as the Ice Box Age marches on Squeezebras continue to dominate along the open plains well Super Stars have split along two lines of evolution with certain species moving into more open terrain well others stay in the forest's they first evolved in. But now a new threat has appeared on the grasslands as fast-running Cephalopes come face to face with the terrifying Brute Grazer an animal so much larger than them it's almost worse than there natural predators.

Tusk Grazers continue to find success in the Ice Box Age where Cephalopes become faster and better at running Tusk Grazers survive by simply being massive and being less picky in their diet than their contemporaries.

With large crushing beaks that can crush plant matter, meat, and bones alike, 9 feet tall and 4 to 6 tones Brute Grazers are the largest living Tera Squid and the second largest ever only behind the Mega Squid. These animals can now effectively compete with the more specialized herbivores by simply bulldozing their way over everything else with highly aggressive temperaments to secure the best food often at the exclusion of competitors furthermore, Brute Grazers themselves are social animals living in large herds that stripe grass from across the landscape. Well, their feeding method is less efficient than Cephalopes that have sharp-beak pectin to grind plants between the top and bottom Brute Grazer's large size lets them bite threw anything they eat putting further evolutionary pressure for large sizes as larger Brute Grazers can eat more plant matter faster.

The large size of this group has evolved extremely quickly meaning most predators won't even touch them as herds of Tusk Grazers plod the land in search of food. Combined with their ornery nature and propensity to inflate the skin around their tusks which connects to their sinuses and nostrils behind their eyes with there long tusk mean few animals dear to hunt them to the point that there among the most common megafauna on the grassland.

Brute Grazers have a tremendous impact on the grasslands their trampling of the terrain often causes cave-ins letting larger animals like Jutter Jaws move into burrows displacing other burrowing Squid Rodents and Dodirts. This trampling of grass also stomps out the growth of taller sedge brush and the Absorbent Suckers Lichen Tree host resulting in successful seedlings surviving closer to the parent trees and encouraging other larger plants to grow closer to the Lichen Trees creating stands of Lichen Tree forest in places normally to dry to support tree's

Brute Grazers and their genus (the Dinoteuthids) along with there more ghoulish relatives are here to stay in the ice age although in time predators big enough to hunt them will evolve slowing there meteoric rise.

Meanwhile, Cephalopes will learn to deal with their new giant neighbors. Some survive by getting faster others will get smaller well others will take on bizarre new appearances to gain a competitive edge.

Forest Walkers are a genus of Squeezebra that have diverged from all other Squeezebra in the last 3.5 million years, as these formally cursorial ancestors were driven to spend more time in forested environments to avoid competition from aggressive Dinoteuthids and early plains dwelling Super Stars.

These Squeezebra have now developed longer front legs giving them an arched appearance at 6 feet tall they tower over the forest-dwelling Super Stars they share their environment with. Their front hooves have become longer and less blunted letting them cling onto trees easier at the expense of a less efficient running gate as they no longer have to run from predators on open plains. Forest Walkers use camouflage as their main defense cloaked in cryptic crisscrossed skin patterns meant to resemble branches and horns speckled with green chromatophores, despite being the largest animals in the forest it is rarely actually seen as it stalks elegantly through the trees only the glow of its orange eye showing through the gloom.

Forest Walkers are high browsers using their extra size to reach food that Super Stars can't reach their hooked tentacle horns let them pull down branches stripping them of foliage. The Forest Walker's teeth reflect their switch to being a folivore. The beak pecten is lined along their cheek for grinding down leafy plants unlike other Cephalopes whose beak pecten points straight down to grind down tough grass

Forest Walkers are also unique among the Cephalopes and Stalk Eyed Terra Squid in general in that they can stand on there back two pairs of legs for periods of time. These two back pairs of legs are shorter than their front legs giving them extra support when rearing on their back legs letting them reach the tallest branches with their horns.