Farming Slipskunik

The farming slipskunik split from its ancestor, the slipskunik. Originating from a population of slipskuniks living near the northern end of Slarti Polar River, some began taking advantage of the fact that slarti glasstowers would grow in piles of waste and sediment excavated from their tunnels. Some began to scrape seeds off the edges of female glasstowers, and transplant them in piles of dung set on the surface of the ice. While this method was successful, it wasn't long before other herbivores began to take advantage of the bounty. Those that grew the glasstowers underground did not lose so many, and were selected for. Over time, the slipskuniks evolved into their present form.

They will now form massive burrows consisting of hundreds of individuals, and encompassing the entire vertical span of the glacier. To accomadate the glassdomes, chambers a few meters wide will be constructed just a few meters toward the surface, then covered in sediment gathered from beneath glacier, as well as the wast products of the individuals that make up the colony. These chambers will be linked by smaller tunnels, just large enough for an adult slipskunik, and over each chamber a tunnel toward the surface will be made to facilitate gas exchange, primarily the release of methane by the cryodome hydroutine. Slightly smaller chambers made in the same fashion will allow the growth of the female glassdomes, which have to be fed glassdome fruit to grow. The slipskuniks will spawn in these, with the sessile larva filter-feeding the nutrient-rich soup inside of their bowls.

A number of changes have occurred in their anatomy to better suit their environment and lifestyle. Becoming more streamlined, they have also become twice as long to help them dig through the ice. Also helping to move large quantities of ice and sediment is the specialization found in its front pair of spades. They have become scoop-shaped, and serrated to help them not only dig tunnels, but to transport various materials. Its eye-stock has grown larger, and is used to feel the surrounding envirnoment, as well as to communicate with other slipskuniks. The eye can retract into the stalk, covering it in skin, while the slipskunik is so far underground where as no light penetrates. A groove has also formed that fits the eyestalk when it is moving through tight tunnels.

After a colony has used up all the available ice in an area, which can take decades, the colony will divide into smaller groups and migrate to new locations. The area left open will often last for several decades, supporting brief tundra communities whose seeds have been spread either by fauna or by weather.