Thument

The thument replaced its ancestor in Yokto Taiga. The chunky pipents of Yokto Taiga didn't have any natural predators, plus lots of food, so their population thrived. They also evolved shorter legs, having long legs able to support its weight took too much energy, and they didn't need to be able to run fast. They now have even more body fat, which makes it handle the cold perfectly well. Since they don't need a broad line of sight to detect enemies their eyes now sits more on the front of their skull, giving them a better ability to focus their sight. Since they spend all their time on the frozen ground of the Yokto Taiga both the front feet and the back feet now have the heel-like pseudo-fingers to protect their feet from the cold. The pipe is never used and it is only a small devolved version of it that still remains, it will disappear totally in a few generations. Other changes are that the ears now lacks a pinna, since this part was easily damaged by the cold, and the thument doesn't need their hearing just as much as they did before. However, the ears are still decent, since they need them for hearing the laughter of other creatures in their family, which is the way they locate each other.