The 1%er is not an early version of a Slig. It’s an early version of a Meetle. I suspect it was repurposed at some point during development. The conceptual development of Meetles seems very complicated. Here’s some information I’ve worded previousy (and which I found very easily with a simple Google search):
http://www.oddworldforums.net/showpo...&postcount=297
http://www.oddworldforums.net/showpo...8&postcount=27
http://www.oddworldforums.net/showpo...&postcount=537
Abe is now! That level is ‘Brewery to Be’, which takes place in a valley surrounding a windmill temple. Scrabs live in the valley. The Scrubs are kept in industrial pens—you can see the entrance to one—so if Abe tries to free the Scrubs while the Scrubs are still around, loss of Mudokon life will shortly follow. Abe and Munch need to lure the Scrabs into holding pens first.