Squeaky Gremlin

As the global climate continues to change, many species are forced to adapt or otherwise risk extinction. The rolling flunes are one such example. Without any adaptations towards the chilling temperatures of the polar regions they inhabit, the populations of these ectothermic snappers have been steadily dwindling. Fewer batches of eggs are surviving each year, even despite the parental care showed to them in regards to the males carrying them about within a special indentation underneath their shells. Unlike other species with frog-like eggs which take advantage of the snowmelts of spring, the rolling flune had not, thus its eggs were ever at risk of desiccation. Even adults aren't safe, for even with their partially-hollow shells providing them with some degree of insulation, the same cannot be said for the rest of its body, and its exposed limbs and bellies have difficulty warming up. Combined with a lack of insulation or even size necessary to promote warmth through gigantothermy, winters and early frosts can be deadly to flunes. All of this has caused a sharp increase in the mortality rates of adults and especially juveniles. Faced with imminent extinction, the rolling flunes were forced into a difficult situation, one where they would need to either evolve adaptations towards the cold, or migrate and adapt towards living in a warmer climate.

The squeaky gremlin is the end result of the choice, descended from rolling flunes native to Colddigger Polar Beach which migrated from those colder regions towards the neighboring temperate ones. There they flourished and grew in numbers, and with time they went on to spread into more tropical beaches as well, eventually coming to inhabit most of the beaches of the Dixon-Darwin supercontinent. While their ancestor had grown larger as an attempt to combat the cold, the squeaky gremlin no longer needs too, and as such it has instead grown smaller. They have developed a distinct pinkish/purplish coloration that helps them to hide amongst the purple flora whose leaves and fallen fruit they gorge upon, thus they are no longer wholly reliant on their shells for defense - why risk holding out against a predator when one can instead avoid them altogether?

Defenses
The most prominent of the squeaky gremlin's defenses, beyond bite from its beak or a scratch from its claws, is the hard, segmented shell that adorns its backs. While the segments that made of the shell were uniform both in shape and spacing in its ancestor, evolutionary pressures have seen to change that. The shell segments now vary in size, with the front-most pair and trio of middle segments being noticeably smaller compared to the third and final ones. This overlap, compared with their ancestral capacity to somewhat flatten themselves into their shells, allows them to more effectively curl up into a protective ball. However, unlike most other flunes, the squeaky gremlin has lost the capacity to roll about. It is not a major loss for them, for most flunes cannot see where they are going while rolled up into an armored sphere, but it is a loss nonetheless. The spines that adorn their shell segments have reduced in both size and number, as for the most part they simply made easier gripping points for smaller, more dexterous predators, as well as the fact they had a habit of getting them stuck in foliage.

The second most prominent defense of the squeaky gremlin, and the source of their namesake, only becomes apparent when they are under distress. When grabbed, snatched, picked up, bitten down upon, and all other manner of rough handlings, the squeaky gremlins will squeeze tightly into their durable shells and release sharp, high pitched squeaks in rapid secession. They produce this sound not with vocal cords - which they, like their kin, lack - but by taking in and then violently forcing out air from their lungs. While it is certainly an exhausting and terrifying experience for them to undergo, the sudden cries are often enough to startle most predators and curious juveniles into releasing them. Less common, there is even a chance that the distress calls might attract another predator that can distract their assailant long enough for the squeaky gremlin to make a relatively speedy getaway into the underbrush. The few predators this tactic won't work against, though, would be flunejaws. While encounters with them are rare, they - like their cousins the squeaky gremlins - are deaf and don't even possess ears, instead relying on detecting vibrations. Combined with their powerful, crushing jaws, they tend to be the few predators very well - if unintentionally - adapted to hunting and consuming this species.

Reproduction
Mating in the squeaky gremlin has not changed in any significant way from that of their ancestors, the rolling flunes, primarily due to a lack of evolutionary pressure making it disadvantageous. What has changed, however, is what follows. While the males still carry the sticky eggs underneath their shells, the warmer climate means that permanent freshwater sources are available year-round, thus they are able to submerge their lower halves from time to time. A combination of warmer temperatures and access to clean water encourages a faster development, and the eggs will often hatch within just two weeks rather than three. When the time approaches and the eggs do finally hatch, they drop off their father's shell and into the moist sand beneath, whereupon with a series of twists and wriggles they burrow down about a foot deep. Their newly formed beaks, more of a sheath around their mouths, help to prevent them from accidently swallowing down grains of sand and other potentially hazardous materials. Down in the darkness they will remain for about a months, gnawing and rasping upon the roots of flora as they slowly begin to undergo metamorphosis, growing first hind then forelimbs, followed by a more distinct head and beak. The shell is the last part to form, and once it does, they will emerge from the sand as miniature versions of the adults.

Should they manage to survive, they will be fully capable of breeding within two years, and capable of living over nearly thirty should they successfully avoid succumbing to predation or disease.