HOME | DD

Description

I’M STILL GARBAGE AT DESIGNING REF SHEETS!! I need to hire a graphic designer to put my art together into decent ref sheets or something lmao
anyways, some of y’all may remember Divalves from a few years ago dragimal.deviantart.com/art/Di… . I never did much w/ them after I finished their ref sheet, but Crowninq-Kinqs inspired me to redesign these guys and give them a wider range of variability~ I’m REALLY pleased with how this turned out, especially the trunk– I think it’s a lot more fun than the prehensile tongue Divalves originally had

IMPORTANT NOTE: THE VARIATIONS FOR THIS SPECIES ARE LISTED HERE dragimalsdaydreams.tumblr.com/…
also sorry these are so big– I’d suggest right click->view image to zoom in if you want to read these easier
these are still my one and only open species, so I’m still not super sure how this all works. if you want to make one of your own, all you have to do is credit me for the species. you don’t HAVE to link me your Divalve if you make one, but it would be really fun to see what y’all come up with!
ANYWAYS here's some behavioral/physiological info:
Diet: detritivorous– Divalves essentially eat anything that’s dead/dying and/or decomposing. they use their strong trunks to tear chunks off of and consume their meals
Habitat: Divalves don’t have gills, and aren’t actually very good swimmers, but they enjoy living near water and dipping their “hooves in the sand” as it were. thus, they enjoy living on the shorelines of oceans, lakes, swamps, and rivers. more specific biomes depend entirely on their personal temperature preferences
Senses:
vision- Divalves only see infrared radiation. essentially, they have heat vision, and see the world in splotches of heat-oriented color. their “shades” help protect their eyes from more intense light. while it’s not detrimental to have their skull plates open for too long, they need to be careful not to keep them open all the time
scent/taste- very sensitive, the tips of their “fingers” have olfactory sensors and taste buds to help detect food
hearing- heavily dependent on ear shape, though multiple inner ear ridges help improve their hearing over animals that don’t have them. since opening their skull plates pulls the plates over the bases of their ears, Divalves’ hearing is temporarily blocked while their skull plates are pulled open
touch- Divalves feel very little in terms of pressure and pain (thus have a high pain tolerance). however they are HIGHLY sensitive to temperature fluctuations. temperature preferences vary widely among individuals, and these preferences are deeply rooted in their psychological state. they’ll do just about anything to get an object or to be in an environment that’s just the right temperature. their fins help regulate their body temperature, and depending on whether they want to cool off or warm up, they’ll flare or collapse their fins
Reproduction: monoecious (hermaphroditic) sexual setup involving a cloaca and stylet-type penis. every few years, Divalves gather together during spring and set up individual, temporary nests. they surround these nests with objects that exhibit a similar temperature to what they prefer, as a sort of unconscious “signature” to their genes. here, they lay 4-5 eggs (spherically shaped, about the size of the eye holes, semi-translucent, and gently glowing). these eggs are soft, moist, and pliable, so must be gently handled, and the nest must have a layer of mud or water lining the bottom. once the eggs are secure, the Divalves browse the other nests nearby, looking for a nest that catches their attention. they generally avoid nests that exhibit a similar heat preference to their own– an unconscious way to avoid inbreeding. they usually choose one or two eggs (whether from the same or different nests), and gently pull them into their crops (eggs not chosen will be left to be consumed by other scavengers, or will be consumed by the parent Divalve themself). later, they will gently insert their sperm into the eggs and deposit the eggs into a permanent nest (usually located in a static water source such as a tide pool, muddy riverbank, etc.). the Divalve will tend to the eggs for the next 6 months before they hatch, then will care for the hatchlings for the next few years
Gender: typically agender, in that they have no concept of gender in the first place. some Divalves who have interacted with other species who have concepts of gender may adopt a gender for themselves, but this is a rarity
Communication: while Divalves can make guttural grunts and rumbling/purring noises, their throats/mouths can’t support much more in terms of a vocal language. they instead use a complex integration of body language and “heat language” to communicate. they can manipulate the blood flow in certain parts of their body (particularly their face and fins) to create different patterns of heat that are only visible to other Divalves. while they don’t have their own written language, Divalves are surprisingly adept at picking up other written languages, and use their trunks to write
Temperament: personalities vary, but Divalves tend to be curious to a fault. even cautious individuals are known for sticking their trunks places where they don’t belong, and having to pay the consequences after. luckily Divalves are rather quick on their feet, so they can race away at the first sign of danger

Description

I’M STILL GARBAGE AT DESIGNING REF SHEETS!! I need to hire a graphic designer to put my art together into decent ref sheets or something lmao
anyways, some of y’all may remember Divalves from a few years ago dragimal.deviantart.com/art/Di… . I never did much w/ them after I finished their ref sheet, but Crowninq-Kinqs inspired me to redesign these guys and give them a wider range of variability~ I’m REALLY pleased with how this turned out, especially the trunk– I think it’s a lot more fun than the prehensile tongue Divalves originally had

IMPORTANT NOTE: THE VARIATIONS FOR THIS SPECIES ARE LISTED HERE dragimalsdaydreams.tumblr.com/…
also sorry these are so big– I’d suggest right click->view image to zoom in if you want to read these easier
these are still my one and only open species, so I’m still not super sure how this all works. if you want to make one of your own, all you have to do is credit me for the species. you don’t HAVE to link me your Divalve if you make one, but it would be really fun to see what y’all come up with!
ANYWAYS here's some behavioral/physiological info:
Diet: detritivorous– Divalves essentially eat anything that’s dead/dying and/or decomposing. they use their strong trunks to tear chunks off of and consume their meals
Habitat: Divalves don’t have gills, and aren’t actually very good swimmers, but they enjoy living near water and dipping their “hooves in the sand” as it were. thus, they enjoy living on the shorelines of oceans, lakes, swamps, and rivers. more specific biomes depend entirely on their personal temperature preferences
Senses:
vision- Divalves only see infrared radiation. essentially, they have heat vision, and see the world in splotches of heat-oriented color. their “shades” help protect their eyes from more intense light. while it’s not detrimental to have their skull plates open for too long, they need to be careful not to keep them open all the time
scent/taste- very sensitive, the tips of their “fingers” have olfactory sensors and taste buds to help detect food
hearing- heavily dependent on ear shape, though multiple inner ear ridges help improve their hearing over animals that don’t have them. since opening their skull plates pulls the plates over the bases of their ears, Divalves’ hearing is temporarily blocked while their skull plates are pulled open
touch- Divalves feel very little in terms of pressure and pain (thus have a high pain tolerance). however they are HIGHLY sensitive to temperature fluctuations. temperature preferences vary widely among individuals, and these preferences are deeply rooted in their psychological state. they’ll do just about anything to get an object or to be in an environment that’s just the right temperature. their fins help regulate their body temperature, and depending on whether they want to cool off or warm up, they’ll flare or collapse their fins
Reproduction: monoecious (hermaphroditic) sexual setup involving a cloaca and stylet-type penis. every few years, Divalves gather together during spring and set up individual, temporary nests. they surround these nests with objects that exhibit a similar temperature to what they prefer, as a sort of unconscious “signature” to their genes. here, they lay 4-5 eggs (spherically shaped, about the size of the eye holes, semi-translucent, and gently glowing). these eggs are soft, moist, and pliable, so must be gently handled, and the nest must have a layer of mud or water lining the bottom. once the eggs are secure, the Divalves browse the other nests nearby, looking for a nest that catches their attention. they generally avoid nests that exhibit a similar heat preference to their own– an unconscious way to avoid inbreeding. they usually choose one or two eggs (whether from the same or different nests), and gently pull them into their crops (eggs not chosen will be left to be consumed by other scavengers, or will be consumed by the parent Divalve themself). later, they will gently insert their sperm into the eggs and deposit the eggs into a permanent nest (usually located in a static water source such as a tide pool, muddy riverbank, etc.). the Divalve will tend to the eggs for the next 6 months before they hatch, then will care for the hatchlings for the next few years
Gender: typically agender, in that they have no concept of gender in the first place. some Divalves who have interacted with other species who have concepts of gender may adopt a gender for themselves, but this is a rarity
Communication: while Divalves can make guttural grunts and rumbling/purring noises, their throats/mouths can’t support much more in terms of a vocal language. they instead use a complex integration of body language and “heat language” to communicate. they can manipulate the blood flow in certain parts of their body (particularly their face and fins) to create different patterns of heat that are only visible to other Divalves. while they don’t have their own written language, Divalves are surprisingly adept at picking up other written languages, and use their trunks to write
Temperament: personalities vary, but Divalves tend to be curious to a fault. even cautious individuals are known for sticking their trunks places where they don’t belong, and having to pay the consequences after. luckily Divalves are rather quick on their feet, so they can race away at the first sign of danger