Speculative Anatomy for a Designer Feed Animal.
The Meat-Orbs, or, 'M'orbs', as Seeking Dusk has named them, are a man-made creature of genetic reconstruction for the purpose of feeding carnivorous animals, and every aspect of their anatomy is designed around this purpose.
You may notice, firstly, the lack of any form of reproductive system.
This is because the M'orbs are Not, strictly speaking, a species in and of themselves.
They are, instead, grown out of the convenient stem cells birds, reptiles, fish, and even some amphibians love to leave around-- eggs.
Each M'orb is manmade. The stem cells are encouraged, by Science Lord Seeking Dusk [mononym pending] to grow into the designated shapes. In this manner, the M'orbs are not a species, but a procedure.
And that procedure is built to create the optimal feed item for carnivorous creatures.
To this end, you may take note that, while the M'orb does possess an oral orifice, this is the only orifice that it possesses-- a squid like beak, to tear into chunks of meat and swallow them, largely, whole. This is not strictly necessary, and it is not for the M'orb's benefit, but for the process of 'gut-loading', an optional, mildly controversial(?) practice meant to improve the ultimate nutritional value of the prey item. Most commonly seen in crickets kept for insectivorous reptiles, Seeking Dusk determined the potential benefit to be worth the extra effort of building a digestive system.
You may also notice the enlarged heart and thick network of blood vessels. These, too, were deliberate choices; meant to increase the over-all body temperature of the M'orbs and make them more appealing as a prey item.
Similarly maintained for appeal is the very rudimentary nervous system; only distinguishing 'hot' from 'cold' and 'bright' from 'dark', the M'orb is left able to wiggle itself towards warmer positions, and roll away from predators to trigger the hunting reaction.
The dual-ribcage and dual-sternum, meanwhile, are concessions to calcium, and the need for bones in the diet of whole-prey eating animals. In a trait some have called 'horrifying' while others have described it as 'weirdly cute', these rib bones are 'hinged', like those of certain snakes; allowing a degree of mobility to be obtained by wiggling their ribs.
Finally, the outer flesh of the M'orb offers a number of choices; depending on predator needs, they can be covered in various lengths of fur-- or none at all-- feathers, scales, or even chitinous shells like those of a crab.
Science Lord Seeking Dusk [mononym pending] finally, would like to remind one and all, that the M'orbs Are Not Tribbles.
Unlike tribbles, M'orbs cannot fuck.
