Canyon crawler



The Canyon Crawler is a large, dangerous animal that resembles a strange mix of a crocodile and a spider. The creature primarily inhabits the canyon of the Great Divide, but its habitat widely extends throughout the arid terrain of the Western Earth Kingdom. It has eight eyes on either side of its face, and a forked tongue in a sharp-toothed jaw. Much like a traditional arachnid, the Crawler retains a two-segmented body made up of a cephalothorax and an abdomen, and its four skinny legs attach to this center body. With its arachnid characteristics, the Canyon Crawler is able to run up sheer mountain walls, obviously earning it its name. The Canyon Crawler also contains multiple sensitive nostrils, causing it to be easily attracted by the scent of food. Though the Crawler prefers live meat and its various useful features make it the perfect hunter, the Canyon Crawler is primarily an omnivorous scavenger that is willing to eat whatever it can find.

Canyon Crawlers are first seen in the episode "The Great Divide". Food brought by the Gan Zins and the Zhangs attracted them. In the end, Aang ties the food to the creature's mouth and asked them to toss the food down the cliff.

In Avatar: The Last Airbender, Canyon Crawlers are the most powerful enemy.

Connection
The creatures seem to be based off real life ants. Their body structure is somewhat similar to an ant's, with the long insect-like legs connecting only to the center of the body as an ant's legs connect to its thorax. In addition to its appearance, the canyon crawler is also like an ant in behavior.