Armored Cannon Beetle

The Armored Cannon Beetle is a very large, and highly armored Lithopod discovered during Captain Olimar's first expedition onto PNF-404. While juveniles are fairly common, adult Armored Cannon Beetles are strangely hard to find.

Biology
These large creatures, as the name suggests, resemble large beetles. Their backs, legs, and head are covered in a black, shiny carapace that is highly durable, able to withstand most attacks from predators. Its mouth resembles and functions the same way as members of the Blowhog family.

Armored Cannon Beetles are inorganic consumers and had been observed eating and digesting Ores. This ore is digested through metabacteria.

Like other Lithopods, the signature feature to the Armored Cannon Beetle outside of its armor is its ability to shoot stones at enemies. The exact method it can do this is unclear, though speculation aim evidence to the "blowhole" above its head, which it uses to inhale air before firing. Any damage done to this area will proceed to cause a chemical reaction to its carapace, causing it to overheat, and will force this Lithopod to open its back end to lower its internal body temperature.

Reproduction
Armored Cannon Beetles start off their lives within underground burrows. Juveniles are highly vulnerable, having yet to develop their armor and aren't born with metabacteria. Both parents feed their young with partially digested ore, thus giving their offspring the metabacteria they need to digest said ore.

Evolution
After studies of the fossil record, the ancestors of the Armored Cannon Beetle (Greater Lithopods as they're known) believed to have migrated to the creature's current habitats thanks to a global climate shift within PNF-404's atmosphere that had occurred over the course of the last century since Captain Olimar's first arrival.

This migration, in theory, was what developed the stronger carapace of this species compared to other Lithopods.