Are skyeels native to Roshar?

[Trutharchivist he/him]

Once upon a time I'd have dug up the threads to check if my theories have been discussed, but I'm starting to realize this is unfeasible. So if you know that this has been discussed feel free to direct me there. 

Anyway, skyeels. We know most Roshar animals have some form of carapace, especially land animals (the fish in purelake, as far as I know, are regular fish). The exceptions are almost universally actually from Ashyn - like horses, or chicken, or cows and sheep. Some horses specifically have adapted to Roshar - Rishadiums. So my question is, are skyeels similar? Did they, too, come from Ashyn as just eels or something and then evolved to fit Roshar better? Or are they just one of numerous Roshar creatures that are ever so slightly different? Roshar does seem to have fish similar to ours, after all, so maybe skyeels naturally evolved from an existing species?

[Frustration]

Well there are examples of some native Rosharan fauna that don't have carapce, such as the Sharpenthyn.

Spoiler

https://coppermind.net/wiki/Sarpenthyn

I honestly don't know how eels would have come through the elsegate. When we see it it appears to be exclusively on land when they are on Ashyn, and we know it drops them in Shinovar.

Personally I think the most logical explanation is that they are native to Roshar, though I suppose we can't rule out the possibilty that they are not.

[Treamayne]

5 hours ago, Trutharchivist said:

Once upon a time I'd have dug up the threads to check if my theories have been discussed, but I'm starting to realize this is unfeasible.

Native Rosharan is implied both by the linguistic etymology and the ecological niche and natureal Nahel bond. WoBs:

Spoiler

Quote

Ben McSweeney

The major mandate for the entire Rosharan environment is "coral reefs above water". We leaned into it hardest in the first book, partly 'cause we were still working out what's what and partly 'cause Brandon wanted to put that design theme up front.

So the luckspren and windspren are evocative of fish and schools. The prickletac rockbuds are actually shaped like branch coral, and the leaves of the stumpweight trees are seawead. Markel trees gots clamshell leaves. Axehounds are turtle-faced lobster-dogs, chull are giant hermit crabs, skyeels are so Moray they even got pharyngeal jaws.

General Reddit 2019 (Nov. 13, 2019)

Quote

JD Thorne

Now I love [The Stormlight Archive] as much as the next person, but I see a hole that just gets under my skin no matter what!

Brandon Sanderson

?

JD Thorne

SKYEELS! They would have been discovered first and called Eels. It's always bugged me, unless you can offer a reason that is

Brandon Sanderson

The hound question is what you should be asking. Roshar has regular water eels, so skyeel isn't nearly as odd as axehound.

JD Thorne

Ahhh but that's my point exactly. shouldn't it be eels and water eels? Not skyeels and eels. Watereels discovered second.

Brandon Sanderson

The answers are there in the books. They will be made clear soon, but I suspect many have guessed already.

General Twitter 2015 (Sept. 3, 2015)

In that, the non-native humans arrived from Ashyn, saw what to them looked like a flying eel and said "Look, a sky eel" (because they already had a name for Eels from Ashyn - just as an Axehound is Native Rosharan - but named for Ashyn Hounds in Human-derived languages. 

Hope that helps

Edited May 24 by Treamayne
SPAG