Dalma Monster

Dalma Monsters are large chameleon-like carnivores belonging to the jungle planet of Freehome.

Appearance
The Dalma Monster is about 5.1 feet long, with a long tail that it uses to balance, and a sort of "dorsal frill" on it's back that it uses in mating season.

Possessing a rather slim body, with strong legs that allow it to pounce at prey, the Dalma Monster is a known carnivore. Preying on smaller creatures, and even small intelligent species such as Gnomes and Halflings, the Dalma Monster uses it's sharp teeth to bite off small pieces of it's prey. In most cases, a Dalma Monster will not eat it's victim entirely, as it would have escaped with a severed limb during it's clumsy swallowing process.

The Dalma Monster, unlike most lizards, is warm blooded. Because of this, it can hide in the shade for as long as it wants while stalking prey.

Behavior
Living in solitary from other of it's species, the only time Dalma Monsters meet with each other in a non-hostile situation is during mating season (the first few weeks of Summer). During this process, the female lays her eggs in a rocky nest, and the male fertilizes them with a gland located in it's hind legs. The average female can lay up to 4 eggs at a time, though only 1 or 2 usually survive.

When young, Dalma Monsters are looked after by their mother. By the time they reach the age of 8 weeks, and are almost full adults, the mother leaves and they are forced to fend for themselves.

When adults, Dalma Monsters tend to wander. Moving in strange patterns across the world, they tend to stay in the shady jungles.

Abilities
The Dalma Monster's most impressive feature is it's bear-trap jaw. When stalking prey, it leaves it's mouth open, stressing the muscles to "trap" it's victim once it bites. The bite of a Dalma Monster is enough to fracture Plasteel and dent iron. After trapping it's target, the Dalma Monster scrapes it's teeth together, essentially sawing off whatever it can grab. This is known to be extremely painful and agonizing.

Another of the Dalma Monster's abilities is it's regenerative features. When the Dalma Monster loses a limb, part of it's tail, or even bits of it's face, the tissue will begin to grow into a replacement. This process takes quite a bit of time, however, with a new forearm taking roughly 3 weeks to grow back. This is often believed to be due to the sheer size of the creature.

Trivia

 * The Dalma Monster is thought to be a distant relative of Nack's Lizard, one of the massive leviathans that lived on Freehome until the roughly 6000 BGE.
 * Many view the Dalma Monsters as a pest, not as a legitimate threat, due to it's tendency to break off armor panels of vehicles and machinery, thinking them to be prey.
 * The Dalma is the Eryphian word for "sneak", meaning the Dalma Monster's real name is the Sneak Monster.