Midgard - Traskodil

Traskodil
Name meaning: swamp (träsk) crocodile (krokodil) in Swedish

Sharing the northern swamps with the Hodart are these 3 meter long predators. Traskodils (occasionally anglicised as Traskodiles) share a similar niche to Earth's crocodilians but are fully aquatic and rarely ever venture on land. The only time they can be seen above the water's surface is when females climb onto fallen algae trees to lay their eggs inside a cavity. Walking long distances on land is too difficult when all six of your feet have been modified into paddles. That being said, scientists actually study Traskodils in the hopes of understanding how Pliosaurs used to live on Earth.

The diet of Traskodils is mostly made up of large fisks. If the fisk population is dropping however, they will not hesitate to attack juvenile Hexabisons that venture too close to the shore. The upper and lower beaks are equipped with cone shaped teeth that a best used to hold a grip on the slippery fisk, but the forward portion also features a notch behind the first row of teeth that enables the Traskodil to get a grip on larger animals. The caught animal will definately thrash about as its survival instincts kick. To completely disable its prey, the Traskodil's left and right beaks have been converted into sharp tusks that are connected to the skull with very powerful muscles. It used those tusks to impale the animal, usually in the ribs, to severely damage its vital organs. Once the prey dies, the Traskodil can eat at its leasure.

"I first made the draft for this creature several years ago but completely forgot about it. I'm glad I did though, now that I can draw animals at different angles, I was able to get a satisfying result. To be honest, I am a little disappointed with how the Hodart turned out. It looked better in my head. The Traskodil's final design was inspired by crocodiles, baryonyx, metriorhynchus and Midgard's Nidhogg."

FUN FACTS:
Traskodils are distantly related to Nidhoggs but have a more closely related to an equally aquatic predator larger than themselves found in the desert oasis called the Mammudil.
Traskodils are one of the last remaining underwater predators that still have heat pitts instead of eyes.
the sound a Traskodil makes sounds very similar to the hissing sound of Earth's cicada.