DAGGERWRIST - If there is any creature other than the floating Eosapien that exhibits well-developed social behavior upon Darwin, it is the arboreal Daggerwrist. Living exclusively in the dwindling pocket-forests of the planet, these roughly man-sized creatures travel in small bands, communicating with bursts of sonar pings and following the movements of their prey, the small, quick flyers called Trunk-suckers. Bearing piton-like forelimbs, gliding membranes and powerful ricochetal hind-limbs, the Daggerwrists are perfectly adapted for life in the tree-tops.

This is, perhaps, the signature painting and animal from the book, a painting that seems to appeal to the public. It is an intentionally iconic image of what was to become my favorite animal on Darwin IV. I've always wanted to go back and do a more in-depth piece of short fiction evoking Jane Goodall's research, investigating these bloodthirsty animals, their social structure, their cannibalistic tendencies and, more interestingly, their interactions with humans. This was the second painting I did for my EXPEDITION proposal and, with it, I set some important templates for myself. There was to be no hair, no eyes or external ears. And while the biolights don't appear in the late-afternoon light, they do show up in the second painting of the animal later in the book.