Rattler Head Revisited

Guess who still doesn't know how to color digitally? Luckily I'm slowly figuring it out... 

So after a little deliberation I figured rattlers needed a revised head design. I made their head a little more sensible, and now you get to see what's under their skin and inside their buggy mouths. 

Like other highly derived "animals" from Vishnu, rattlers have purple/red photosynthetic pigments contained in their plastic-like bristles. Depending on where the individual is from, the color of a rattler's pelt can range from dusty mauves and reds to blacks and grays. Their skin is typically a dingy grey-blue, but can range anywhere from this baseline pigmentation towards very dark or very light extremes. Though some of the blue color is due to pigment in the skin, rattlers also rely on hemocyanin-like molecules for oxygen transport which tints their blood and flesh coppery blue. 

Rattler "skulls" are very interesting structures. Their distant ancestors had bony radula-like mouth parts which over time had their outer four teeth hypertrophied and fused into an exoskeletal head. The very top of the throat still contains tiny teeth for grinding food before it is swallowed. The single eye is also part of this large chewing apparatus, and takes advantage of cells similar to those in the rattler's photosynthetic pelt to allow the creature to see complex images. The eye is protected by a clear, hard coating which is shed and regrown periodically to prevent scuffing from obscuring the vision.

To compensate for a lack of visual depth perception, two feelers on either side of the "tongue" create a consistent, weak electrical field around the head. Just like earth animals that rely on active electroreception, rattlers can then judge the distance and identity of objects which disturb this field. While usually used complement a rattler's sight, the electroreceptive feelers can also be used to effectively maneuver in the dark. While eating, they are usually retracted into the throat. The rough tongue like organ can also be retracted to an extent and, although lacking in taste receptors, can manipulate food and be used for drinking with a catlike lapping motion 

Like vertebrates on earth, more derived Vishnuvian "animals" possess a sort of spinal chord attached to the base of the cranium. Unlike earth animals, though, it isn't entirely responsible for supporting the body. Thanks to much lower gravity Vishnuvian creatures can get away with a basket like weave of very flexible, very tough "bones" and wiry supportive muscles to hold their structure together. Needless to say, they wouldn't fare well on earth.