Sharks Sub-Index: Land Sharks

There are five classes of land sharks. Wrigglers writhe along on their bellies, polypsuedopoidals scamper on six stumpy fin-legs, and striders leap along on fully developed legs. Snow sharks swim through snow while sand-swimming sharks swim below the ground surface through loose earth and gravel, as well as through sand.

In common, all sharks require far less food, and so require far smaller territories, than a mammalian carnivore of similar size. Sharks spend more time in leisure, snoozing, and are more patient, waiting for prey to come to them. The scent of approaching prey wakes the sharks in a trice. Despite being cold blooded, sharks are active both day and night; being cool does not slow them down in the least.

The numbers suggested per group are somewhat misleading. Due to their keen sense of scent, when a pack of sharks strikes, others down wind may sniff the spilled blood and come to join the feeding frenzy. Whether later arrivals are considered comrades-in-arms or detested rival packs depends upon the specific species - or perhaps on recent availability of prey.

Wriggler Land Sharks

Wrigglers

Only a few of the air breathing species are comfortable away from water for long save in humid climates. Swamp Sharks, which SEE, are transitional amphibious forms, equally capable in the murky water or on the quivering mudflats; some class sand sharks as wriggler land sharks but others class them as sand swimmers. SEE also the Wriggle Pup Sharklettes and Marsh Mauler example entries. The especially supple variety called Snake-In-The-Grass, which ranges form four to twenty foot in length, dines only on vermin and is generally harmless.

Polypseudopodial Land Sharks

Polypseudopodial Land Sharks

The sinuous motion of the Hammerhead Hexapseudopodial Land Shark, which SEE, best exemplifies the swimming-like movement of this group. While some move with a scrabbling scramble, most move with the rhythmic elegance of a centipede. The Stone Suckers' legs end in gecko-like suction cups, ideal for skittering across shear surfaces, even up side down.

The Orca Land Behemoth, which SEE, is superficially quite similar, but is a mammal, a terrestrial whale, and not a land shark.

Striding Land Sharks

Striders

Unlike other sorts of sharks, almost all striders are aggressive hunters; only a few hadrosaur-like species dine on lesser prey such as land-clams or vermin or are flamingo-like filter-feeders. The 2' long painted duck strider shark is an extreme example of the latter harmless striders; painted duck sharks are sometimes kept as living ornaments in estate gardens.

Snow Sharks, Various

Snow Sharks

As with other groups of sharks, snow sharks populations are rather denser than their warm-blooded mammalian counterpart populations would be. Sharks, like crocodiles, require far less food and mammals, and so require far smaller territories. Sharks spend more time in leisure, snoozing, and are more patient, waiting for prey to come to them. Despite being cold blooded, sharks are active both day and night; snow sharks are invigorated, not slowed, by cold.

There are three distinct classes of snow shark; confusingly, all commonly called "winter sharks." Each class has many species, large and small, including harmless baleen feeders; SEE Sharks, Various, for basic types.

Mottled Snow Sharks

Milk Sharks

Pallid Snow Sharks

Rousing a sleeping shark in a "graveyard" is foolish in the extreme; disturbing one shark soon wakes an ever-increasing circle of the sleeping sharks. Curiously, when roused during their period of aestivation they are not hungry; their hunger only returns in strength when the weather cools and they disperse through the snow pack. It seems likely that eating when they should be sleeping would give them indigestion, while waiting until they disperse prevents the newly awakened sleeper snow sharks from massacring each other.

Arctic snow sharks may be active throughout the year. Amphibious snow sharks winter on land, swimming through the snow, and summer in the water, both salt seas and fresh lakes and rivers. Other snow sharks are true air breathing fish (which SEE) that cannot survive in water.

Curiously, snow sharks seem to create, or at least attract, snow cover. Some say the sharks perform instinctive ritual swimming dances that summon snow. Others claim it is the specialized sep stone, or carbuncle, in their foreheads that caused snow to fall in their vicinity. Even without additional snow falling form the sky, it has been observed that snow shark infested snow blankets grow, in an almost amoeboid fashion, and retain their coolth even when ambient air temperatures ought to melt them. The snow sharks in the more "aggressive" snow banks may be observed to have skin denticles like small teeth of blue crystal; these seem to be a form of symbiont Ice Slug, which SEE.

Snow sharks are hunted extensively for the natural antifreeze in their body oils; the hunt is a dangerous occupation. Due to the antifreeze the meat of snow sharks is inedible.

Sand Swimming Sharks, Various

Sand Sharks

Relatively isolated habitats have given rise to nearly as wide an array of sand sharks as there are marine sharks. Very little different from their marine cousins, sand sharks may swim about, scenting for prey, or they may lie still, waiting for telltale vibrations. Some are deep-diving predators, hunting those strange creatures that live not near the surface of the sand seas but rather deep in the depths.

Most sand sharks have a large rough plate in their forehead. This thickened section of skull overlays a great carbuncle; SEE Sep Stone Sand Swimmer Symbiont. This carbuncle, the sep stone, provides the shark with a specialized form of telekinesis, used to separate the sand in front of the shark. As the shark swims, the sand slides out from in front of it and fills back in behind it. Sharks lacking a sep stone are limited to areas of sand and looser earth while those with a sep stone can swim through surprisingly form ground.

It is only the telekinetic ability to their symbiotic sep stones that allows such large creatures to swim through the earth silently; not so much as so much as a ripple betrays their passage below until they erupt through the surface. Areas with frequent sand shark activity may appear somewhat churned.

Many species of carbuncle-assisted sand sharks have their pectoral fins divided, forming crude digits armed with raking claws. It is commonly assumed that these claws are used to help propel them forward through the sand. The truth is almost the opposite. These clawed sharks are among the fastest, outracing horses with ease. Their telekinesis not only moves sand out of their way, it also propels the sharks forward; they do not so much swim as telekinetically fly through the sand. They use their raking claws to catch at the sand to one side or the other for drag when they wish to turn, or for friction when a sudden stop is desired.

Sand sharks are exquisitely sensitive to vibrations carried through the earth; they can sense footsteps a mile away or further, depending on the local geology. Many have chemosensory pits along their dorsal fins. When they hunt, these sand sharks may do so with their dorsal fin raised, cresting the surface as they scent out prey. Some have bioelectrical sensory pits as well.

Most varieties of sand shark are smart enough to encircle their prey before revealing themselves, terrain permitting. In attacking, sand sharks use a strategy of leaping to bite, then burrowing a round to a new position before leaping again. While this delays successive attacks slightly, it gives them the benefit of surprise at every bite.

Like other groups of sharks, sand swimming sharks require far less food than do mammals of similar size. This means the sharks tend to have smaller territories - and greater population densities. Sharks spend 90% of their time snoozing, waiting for prey to come to them. Despite being cold blooded, sharks are active both day and night; being cool does not slow them down in the least.

While Adventurers are commonly most concerned with aggressive, carnivorous varieties of sand swimming sharks, they should not be ignorant of the filter-feeding baleen sand sharks classed as "churners." Churners, including sharks from 2' to 200' in length, are responsible of the maintenance of the sand seas Adventurers often cross; SEE Sand Seas; Grain-Plankton, Churners and Snufflers.

SEE also The Apocalyptic Post for a very thorough interpretation of Gamma World type land sharks.

Sep Land Shark to Separate Sep and Sand-Swimmer Shark: Evolution of a Concept

SEE Gamma World, TSR 1978, for the original "sep," also called a sand shark.

When Folk think "sep," they often think "land shark." The Sep land shark was described by James M. Ward in Gamma World, TSR 1978, as simply a land shark with a "powerful organ in its head (somewhat resembling a brain) [that] enables the sep to force even packed sand out of its way telekinetically," making the sep a terror of desert sands and open plains. J. M. Ward also noted that the sep, after biting, burrowed through the ground for a round, launching successive attacks from different directions. Vanquished prey is hauled beneath the sands for consuming.

In the Fourth Edition of 1992, the brief description was enlarged to fill a full column of type. Physical changes gave the revised sep a hide rough and rubbery and mutated its front fins into stubby clawed paws, but did not change the sep's impact. No mental changes were made, although the strategy of attack-burrow-attack was made more explicit, and its social dynamics - constant ravenous hunting as a pack but without any cooperative strategy - were outlined. The sep's ability to hear movement on the ground's surface for a distance of 60 meters and to do its burrowing silently were also described.

The 4th Edition added a mention of "snow sharks," practically identical to the sep land sharks, found in winter, "when large areas of contiguous snow pack make it possible for these hunters to follow game easily." No mention is made of where the snow sharks are the rest of the time, but SEE Snow Shark entry for my ideas on the subject.

I had previously designed a panoply of creatures of marine origin adapted to swimming through the ground. I adapted J. M. Ward's original version of the sep by re-envision the sep as a separate symbiont creature, one that enables - and even forces - a terrestrial habit upon a wide variety of host creatures of marine origin. As my version of the sep is not intelligent and has no ego, this sep is suitable for use as a tool for terrestrial adaptation by Folk, including player characters.

The 4th edition enlargement of the sep is useful in that it makes explicit the formerly implicit hunting strategy. Still, I think of sand sharks as having the same behavior as their real marine counterparts; they are sleek and silent killing machines when on the hunt, but their great numbers are not suspected because most of the time they are peacefully resting, cruising and exploring.

Vibrations carry very well through the ground; sep stone sand swimmers, such as sand sharks and sand rays, can hear surface walkers up to a mile away. They zero in on irregular, wounded-sounding patterns. Each round there is a 10% chance (modified by terrain and population density) of an additional 1-6 sand swimmers arriving at an active killing field.

I prefer to refer to sep-hosting sharks as sand sharks, as they swim through the ground, rather than as land sharks, as my land sharks are legged and run across the surface.

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Last update Apr 6, 2006