Inktober Day 4: Exotic

Inktober day 4: exotic

Thanks to today’s velvet worm brainrot, you get this. Velvet worms (or onychophora) are closely related to arthropods and tardigrades. They are adorable, soft bodied with many small chubby legs. Their skin is ornate with lots of little papillae that make the skin texture resemble velvet.

Velvet worms are predators that hunt by squirting sticky fluid from glands on their face on their prey. The fluid is produced and stored in large mucous glands that occupy almost half of their body. The mucus is also full of digestive enzymes that soften the immobilized prey, so that the velvet worm can just slurp it up. Nom nom.

These animals are surprisingly intelligent and some even live in social groups of up to 15. These groups are similar to wolf packs - they are families consisting of one dominant female, her partners and her kids. Females are the leaders of the group and they and their kids get to eat the prey first. Also, females fight each other for territory.

Lastly, velvet worms have three different ways of having babies. Some species lay eggs. Others are ovoviviparous meaning that females keep fertilized eggs inside of their bodies and babies hatch inside of the mother and are then expelled out. And some give live birth and even have special structures to feed their babies.

Absolutely wild creatures, I love them beyond words.

The finals this year are taking quite a toll on my mental health. But at least I can draw Baby Bill in the notes to cheer myself up :3

Headcanon: Bill turned Ford into a backscratcher during Weirdmageddon because Ford used to hold his muse like a fucked up cat and give him scratches like this:

This Inktober’s gonna be interesting!

Today was supposed to be my last test of the year, but I got up this morning with a bad flu.

College is now going to last 5 years.

I am thinking of killing myself.

But i won't, cuz I;ll be completely free until Janury and I''ll be drawing all the time. I just need to get better.

And yeah, as much as it sucks, college sometimes lasts 5 years. I hate it. I hate myself, but I gess the Universe wanted it to be that way

This is the dumbest thing I've ever made, but it's cute.

(also tomorrow is my last exam, wish me luck if you want to)

Peruvian Green Tree Snail (Drymaeus valentini), family Bulimulidae, Peru

photograph by Josh Allen