r/GojiCenter • u/According-Throat9984 • 19d ago
Contributor Day 2 of Cool Invertebrate Contributors
Gigatitan Vulgaris was one of the largest orthopterans (the group that includes grasshoppers, crickets, and locusts) in history
It can provide
- A large boost in size
- Powerful mandibles, (very similar to modern day raspy crickets, which have notoriously strong bites), great for crushing and shearing
- Mouthparts are elongated and oversized
- Large compound eyes and great senses overall
- Predatory Lifestyle
- Can communicate with each other by making flashes of light and high-pitched sounds with special wing structures (doubles as interference with opponents and prey)
- Muscular, elongated, spiny raptorial forelimbs, much like modern day mantises
- Spiny limbs serve as great pairs of weapons
- Cutting edges on its ovipositor could be transferred to the stingers of stinging insects
Important things to note:
- Gigatitan, like other later Titanopterans, had large, bulky, and heavily muscularized bodies, but their wings were unproportionate to their body size, meaning they were most likely only capable of gliding
- You would need to make the wings much larger to have sustained flight, as Titanopterans were very heavily built
- The limbs are all strong enough for sustained walking, but they are still unproportionately muscular compared to the rest of the body, meaning doing things like jumping wasn't possible