Szamela

Massive, buglike species of Zatrides.

The szamela can grow up to about 30m in length and are comprised of almost 100 'segments'. Each segment is connected to others via points that can rotate slightly and accommodate all of the creature's organs. The szamela was one of the main predators of the Irziell, as it could sense them without vision using large antennae. The antenna detects movement, so the irziell would often stop moving when they spotted one that does not seem to be approaching them. Now that irziell technology is very advanced, the szamela are not a large problem anymore and most of them are tracked by the United People of Zatrides.

The szamela have a massive profile, like almost all megafauna predators, and easily alert prey to their position so they have evolved to be persistent predators, known for chasing prey for huge distances to exhaust them. They are quite fast as well due to having longer legs than most of its prey. 

They reproduce by laying a large number of eggs. Newborn szamela can sometimes be seen eating their own species and sometimes the corpse of their parents if they have died before the hatching. After hatching it will take them about 30 years to grow to full size and will become capable of reproduction after 35 years. 

Sometimes the Irziell might try to eat dead or young szamela, the latter of which are not yet large enough to kill irziell. This is a cultural taboo though, because as the szamela are not transparent their material would be visible as it goes through an irziell's digestive tract. This would also make them more visible to predators so if they do eat this meat, they often retreat to a specific hiding place.

Tamed szamela have also been used by the irziell in war. Before the invention of tanks, they were some of the most well armoured objects they had access to. Tanks have made tamed szamela largely obsolete but they are sometimes still present for cultural reasons.