Spectember 22: Analog Horror

This entry is inspired by the Vita Carnis analog horror series

Fifty million years in the future, the largest predator in Africa's Congo rainforest is an unusual one. An amphibian, the Giant Meatsnake (Necrosarcophis calvagnathus) is primarily an aquatic creature, spending most of its time in the deep river channels crisscrossing the rainforest. It is not a fast swimmer, and is even slower on land, but it doesn't need to be; it is an ambush predator filling a niche somewhere between a crocodile and a large python. Its usual form of attack is to lie concealed in shallow water or under low-growing vegetation, before lunging out to consume its prey; it also scavenges a great deal, using its wide gape and powerful jaws to swallow carcasses whole.

The Giant Meatsnake is, in fact, not a snake at all, but the largest and most spectacular member of a little-known group of amphibians-- the caecilians. Usually no more than a few feet long, they are mainly burrowers, though some species are also aquatic, and it was likely from one of these that the Greater Meatsnake evolved. Unlike many amphibians, caecilians have powerful jaws with sharp teeth, and the Giant Meatsnake takes this trait to its logical conclusion. Its jaws, which are partially exposed outside of its lips when its mouth is closed, have heavy, robust teeth adapted for crushing bone.

Another trait the Giant Meatsnake retains from its caecilian ancestors is the sensory tentacles on its face. In most caecilians these are used to smell, but in the Giant Meatsnake they have become more important for sensing the vibrations of approaching prey while the animal is hidden and waiting to ambush. Meatsnakes do, however, have an incredible sense of smell, due to the fact that they scavenge as well as hunt. They can locate a carcass from miles away.

Meatsnakes give birth to live young; the eggs are internally fertilized and hatch inside the mother, growing into fully-formed larvae. A female Giant Meatsnake will give birth to no more than two or three of these larvae, which may be up to a quarter of her size. These young are fed on skin secretions of their mother until they become independent after about a month.