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Fauxs Feeshlizzards

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"The seas in these waters are plaugued by such fabulous beests one can scarce believe his eyes. I have been fortuneate as to see these creatures during the expedition's voyage. The sailors, sum of whome have been in these parts befor say that they have seen them onlie rarely and others not at all."

"...It was a great and mighty beest and leap supedously frome the boiling seas, even the quicke an fireiy swordfeesh avoided the great form."

"...The reptill was thick and wallowing in the turgid rivermouth with the rope around its taile. Yett despite its ponderousnuss it mov'd through the sunken forests of the esttarys like a serpent, using a fin then and agane. Nott too surprising sinse I am shure that they be cousins, perhaps twice removed. "

"...They are quicke litill pigs. With rosey cheeks and sides. A group numbering a dozen followed us in the longboat to the shore. They gazed into our faces with eyes like sausers which flickkered from object to object like that of byrds. Whne one leap'd then the others woold follow like corks held at the bottom of a buckett."

"... The crew swears that they had corght them befor and that they were a welcomme change from bisket and saltbeof. But all I got was wett and bitten fore my troubles."

Excerpt from the writtings of Edward Faux 17--


Edward Faux was the first and last man of science to sight the "Feeshlizzards" as he dubbed them. The forgotten 18th Century naturalist and explorer visited the "South Seas" in the first half of the 1700's. Unfortunately large sections of Fauxs' notes have been lost, the excepts above and the illustration, loving drawn by his own hand, being all we have on these strange animals.

a. Fauxs Great-toothed Feeshlizzard (Piscavultus major), is large bodied and resembles the swordfish and the prehistoric Ichthyosaurs. The front of the jaws bear small conical teeth used to grasp slippery prey and the large teeth in the middle of the jaw seem to have been used in display and to guide food items down the long rostrum to the gullet. The throat has a special groove that was used to increase the volume of the mouth and throat suddenly and help engulf fishes and squid. It was described as very aggressive and it's body was covered in scars.

b. Fauxs Lesser Feeshlizzard (Piscavultus minor) unlike the P. major was seen socialising in small groups, communicating via grunts and squeaks. While the head is short, in section it is rather narrow and used by the animal to pluck reef fish from their hiding places. It was this small creature that attacked and nearly drowned Faux. When he ordered one to be captured and was helping to beach the animal (it is noted that this was not something he would ordinarily do but he had some distaste for the staple salt beef) he had the misfortune to become entangled in the rope used and was bitten severely on the arm.

c. Fauxs Sledgebelly (Piscavultus ventexi) is denizen of the river and mangrove swamp. The whole first section of the torso around the fore-fins is fused together and to the belly ribs, which forms almost a kind of sledge, hence the name. The other ribs, both belly and other wise are fused together in their pairs to form a kind of reinforced flexible tube out of the body. This obviously is to support the weight of the animal in very shallow water. Equipped also with well developed limbs it can extricate itself from almost any tight spot. Added to this is the jelly filled pits around the jaws. Faux pointed out that they were similar to those of sharks, which are used to sense prey. Handy for a creature that may not be able to see the food it's trying to catch.

The line beside each was modified from Faux's "feet" to give the scales in metres.
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You know its not so much boredom as study avoidance, which I have down to a fine art.
Mostly traditional. Couple of layers in photoshop.
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Wertyla's avatar
Just out of curiosity, where did you find this?! Edward Faux doesn't even have a Wikipedia page. He must be very forgotten indeed.