Jewel-Eyed Saucebacks

Jewel-eyed saucebacks are a subgroup of saucebacks in the family Lumenoculidae. They are so named because, unlike most saucebacks which are blind, jewel-eyed saucebacks have eyes derived from their nostrils--called "eyestrils"--which have a shiny, jewel-like appearance. Most jewel-eyed saucebacks can flutter or glide, and some species are capable of powered flight.

Anatomy
Jewel-eyed saucebacks have most of the same anatomy of other modern saucebacks, but there are many important differences.

Their namesake are their eyestrils. Derived from the scent pits found in all beastworms, they are used for both sight and smell. The pupil is open to allow air in, and as this constraint prevented them from evolving lenses, they instead focus light using mirrors at the back of the eye. In effect, the entire eye is a highly efficient tapetum lucidum which reflects and focuses light into a photoreceptive patch on the inside next to the pupil hole. This causes them to appear to have white pupils, and if one were to look into a jewel-eyed sauceback's eyes, they would see exactly what it sees reflected back at them. The eye itself is stretched and squashed to focus and to push out old air, and the external part of it is featherless and rubbery. As having an open eye makes it prone to particles and small fauna becoming trapped inside, jewel-eyed saucebacks produce tears which they then remove from their eyes using the centrifugal force generated by shaking their heads like dogs.

The legs and outer toe bear long aerodynamic feathers similar to those of terran birds. They can be moved independently of the limbs they are attached to, and when not in use they are usually folded upwards. In some flighted species, the wings are slotted to allow for thermal gliding.

Flight-capable species have large keels derived from the front protrusion of their cephalopelvis, which supports their massive wing muscles. Their hips are also more flexible, as necessitated by the use of their legs as wings, though this comes at the cost that the protrusion which supports the pillar-erect posture of other species is tilted upwards, therefore requiring them to use more energy to stand upright.

In most jewel-eyed saucebacks, the spiracles and microlungs are supported by chitinous shells called ceres. These are inherited from their harnessback ancestors and allow them to breathe more strongly than most other saucebacks.

Jewel-eyed saucebacks lack the lips that are present in other saucebacks, as their jaws, so much larger than the pincer-like jaws of more basal saucebacks, completely took over the role of closing the mouth; the lips only got in the way. This comes at a cost; some species cannot close their jaws fully because of secondary adaptations, so their mouths are exposed to open air and more prone to water loss.

Locomotion
Like most other saucebacks, jewel-eyed saucebacks are obligate bipeds with pillar-erect legs. However, while they walk and run like other saucebacks, they are also capable of other forms of locomotion and locomotion-tangent movement.

The most universal of these is the flutter jump, where they appear to run in midair while their flight feathers flap furiously, which slows their fall, adjusts their trajectory, and allows them to land directly into a sprint. Similar to the flutter jump is a form of wing-assisted incline running where the furious left-right flapping of the leg feathers creates a pushing force which allows smaller species to climb steep slopes without tumbling down.

Flightless species are usually capable of gliding at some stage of their life. As implied by the presence of specifically flightless species, some species can fly as well; the legs of the interbiat and its descendants are long and feathered like a bird's wings, and they flap them to fly.

Some jewel-eyed saucebacks only walk on their inner hoof, unlike most double-hoofed saucebacks which walk on both hooves.