A guide to the skull structure of Maranaga. ^^ I've been meaning to make more detailed anatomical notes and diagrams like this for a while, but the skull one had to come first since I've gotten some concern expressed that my naga have arbitrarily humanoid faces... as is plain here, humanoid... is not really the best word to describe this skull structure.

For one, the cranium is wicked tiny and reptilian compared to a human's very puffed out and rounded mammalian cranium. That's to say nothing of the jaws... just... that's as close to snake-like as it gets without the jaws literally being just like a snake's. Maranaga do exhibit a whole barrel full of mimicry designed to make them more recognizable to the human eye as something non-different (as humans often view creatures more similar to them in a more favorable light and those very different in a fearful and often violent light). Maranaga evolved parallel to the various species of humans, the facial features shifting more and more towards a modern human's the more "primitive" human species died out... or were killed off by the modern day species of humans. :P So much for that survival strategy of relatability. Though the surprise of a non-hominid that looks somewhat human-like seems to be working, as Maranaga still exist in the world in which Mara Island exists.

When the mouth is closed, Maranaga's heads typically look like an almond with a three-quarter turn downwards. XD